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Review: Buffalo LinkStation 520

by Parm Mann on 4 December 2015, 15:30

Tags: Buffalo Technology

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacwrc

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Test Methodology

Comparison NAS Solutions

  CPU Memory Disk Drives RAID Mode Network Connection Firmware Date Reviewed Reviewed Price
Buffalo LinkStation 520 1.1GHz Realtek RTD1195N (dual-core) 256MB DDR3 2x 1TB WD Green WD10EZRX (included) RAID 1 Gigabit Ethernet 2.00-20151016 Dec 2015 £155
Iomega StorCenter ix4-300d 1.3GHz Marvell Armada CP (dual-core) 512MB DDR3 4x 1TB Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 (included) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 3.3.4.29856 Feb 2013 £263
Qnap HS-251+ 2.0GHz Intel Celeron J1900 (quad-core, 2MB cache) 2GB DDR3L 2x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 1 Gigabit Ethernet 4.2.0 Nov 2015 £290
Qnap TS-451-4G 2.41GHz Intel Celeron J1800 (dual-core, 1MB cache) 4GB DDR3L 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 4.1.3 May 2015 £400
Qnap TS-453mini-8G 2.0GHz Intel Celeron J1900 (quad-core, 2MB cache) 8GB DDR3L 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 4.1.4 Jun 2015 £490
Qnap TS-453 Pro-8G 2.0GHz Intel Celeron J1900 (quad-core, 2MB cache) 8GB DDR3L 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 4.1.1 Dec 2014 £520
Synology DS115 0.8GHz Marvell Armada 375 88F6720 (dual-core) 512MB DDR3 1x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) N/A Gigabit Ethernet 5.1-5022 Feb 2015 £125
Synology DS1515 1.4GHz Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-314 (quad-core) 2GB DDR3 5x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 5.1-5022 Apr 2015 £498
Synology DS414j 1.2GHz Mindspeed Comcerto C2200 (dual-core) 512MB DDR3 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 5.0-4482 May 2014 £258
Synology DS715 1.4GHz Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-314 (quad-core) 2GB DDR3 2x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 1 Gigabit Ethernet 5.2-5592 Jul 2015 £325
Thecus N4310 1.0GHz APM 86491 SoC (single-core, 256KB L2 cache) 1GB DDR3 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet OS6.build_809.a Dec 2014 £260
Thecus N5550 1.86GHz Intel Atom D2550 (dual-core, 1MB cache) 2GB DDR3 5x 1TB Samsung HD103SJ
(optional)
RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 2.03.08 Feb 2013 £450
Thecus N5810Pro 2.0GHz Intel Celeron J1900 (quad-core, 2MB cache) 4GB DDR3 5x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (optional) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 2.05.08 Jul 2015 £649
WD My Cloud DL4100 1.7GHz Intel Atom C2338 (dual-core, 1MB cache) 2GB DDR3 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (included) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 01.06.118 Apr 2015 £1,130
WD My Cloud EX4100 1.6GHz Marvell Armada 388 (dual-core) 2GB DDR3 4x 4TB WD Red WD40EFRX (included) RAID 5 Gigabit Ethernet 1.06.127 Mar 2015 £900

Benchmarks

File Copy Test (8.83GB)
Intel NAS Performance Toolkit v1.7.1
Power Consumption

Notes

All of our comparison NAS servers are tested using a single Gigabit Ethernet link with jumbo frames disabled, and are connected to our Intel client machine and network via a TP-Link TL-SG1024 switch.

Taking a look at a basic usage scenario, our file copy test involves moving a mixed assortment of files totalling 8.83GB in size from our client to the NAS. The result is recorded in MB/s.

Our second benchmark - the NAS Performance Toolkit, developed by Intel - is a file-system exerciser specifically designed to provide performance comparisons between NAS devices. Intel's utility focuses on user-level performance using real-world workload traces gathered from typical digital home applications such as HD video playback and record. Intel NASPT reproduces the file-system traffic observed in various traces onto a chosen storage device and records performance in MB/s.

Last but not least, we measure NAS power draw during three states; under load, idle and standby mode if applicable.