Synology Expands RackStation Range

Synology introduced three new RackStations, the RS3617xs+, RS3617RPxs, and RS217. The powerful rackmount servers are equipped with upgrades compared to their predecessors that enable faster data processing speeds and higher data quality for growing businesses.

“The addition of RS3617xs+, RS3617RPxs, and RS217 to Synology’s lineup offers businesses more premium storage options that bring flexibility and efficiency to IT operations,” said Michael Wang, Product Manager at Synology Inc. “The RackStations come with comprehensive business services such as multiple data backup applications to protect critical business data and various collaboration tools to increase work productivity.”

The new RS3617xs+ is powered by a 2.2 GHz six-core processor and it can deliver an unparalleled performance with over 4,937 MB/s sequential throughput and 556,727 IOPS when used with 6 x 10GbE Link Aggregation enabled. As a base, the RS3617xs+ comes with two 10GBase-T and four 1GbE ports, but it allows you to install two additional 10GbE Network Interface Cards (NIC).

The RS3617RPxs comes with a 2.4 GHz quad-core processor which is a little slower, but not by much. It can deliver a solid performance with over 3,829 MB/s sequential throughput and 433,873 IOPS when used with 4 x 10GbE Link Aggregation enabled.

Both RS3617xs+ and RS3617RPxs are equipped with 8GB DDR4 ECC RAM that can be upgraded to 64GB for those who need that extra memory and the ECC capability ensures data integrity when handling high-value data. The two RackStations also support Synology High Availability and offer a suite of redundancy mechanisms including system fans and network ports with failover support. Redundant power supplies are also available on the RS3617RPxs to further maximize system uptime. RS3617xs+ and RS3617RPxs both provide seamless storage solutions for virtualisation environments including VMware, Citrix, Hyper-V, and OpenStack.

Next to these two amazing systems, Synology also released the two-bay RS217 with its 1.33GHz dual-core processor that still can deliver a great performance with encrypted reading and writing speeds of 113 MB/s and 67 MB/s, reaching a 214% performance gain in overall encrypted data processing when compared with its predecessor2.

The RS217 also delivers outstanding non-encrypted performance exceeding 210 MB/s in reading and 127 MB/s in writing. Its compact 12-inch design fits perfectly into 2-post racks and wall mount racks without the need for additional rail kits, making it suitable for deployment in both industrial standard environments, smaller server rooms, and other work areas with limited space.

The RS3617xs+ is the successor of RS3614xs+ and is the first Synology RackStation model with the new Intel Xeon D processor.

• Xeon D-1531 6-core processor at 2.2 GHz (turbo boost 2.7GHz)
• 2 x 10GbE RJ-45, 4 x 1GbE RJ-45 and 2 x PCIe 3.0 slots, allowing up to 6 x 10GbE ports for great data transmission performance: 4,937 MB/s sequential throughput and 556,727 IOPS under a RAID 5 configuration with 6 x 10GbE Link Aggregation enabled.

The RS3617RPxs is the successor of RS3614xs and features the same generation CPU.

• Xeon D-1521 4-core processor at 2.4 GHz (turbo boost 2.7GHz)
• 4 x 1GbE RJ-45 and 2 x PCIe 3.0 slots, allowing up to 4 x 10GbE ports for great data transmission performance: 3,829 MB/s sequential throughput and 433,873 IOPS under a RAID 5 configuration with 4 x 10GbE Link Aggregation enabled.

Both RS3617xs+ and RS3617RPxs are equipped with 8GB DDR4 ECC UDIMM (up to 64GB) and the raw storage capacity can be upgraded to 36 drives / 360TB with Expansion Unit RX1217/RX1217RP.

The RS217 is the successor to the two bay RS line. Featuring a vastly upgraded Marvell Armada 385 Dual-core processor operating at 1.33GHz, it delivers an impressive increase in performance power over its predecessor, the RS214.

• 214% Encryption performance increase over RS214
• 210.87, 127.51 MB/s sequential performance in Reading and Writing respectively
• Dual Gigabit LAN with Link Aggregation and Failover support
• Enhanced chassis and thermal dissipation design for operating in environments up to 50C (122F)
• Shallow depth (12″) for simple installation in two-post racks and wall mount racks

Next to the new Rackstation systems, Synology also released a new 10GbE NIC (pictured further up in the article). The E10G17-F2 is a dual-port 10 Gigabit SFP+ PCIe 3.0 x8 Ethernet adapter specifically designed for Synology XS+/XS series NAS servers. With CPU Offload (RDMA over Ethernet) support, the E10G17-F2 satisfies the demands of high-performance computing.

Last but not least, we need to talk money and availability. All the above should be available worldwide now and below is a list of the respective prices with and without VAT:

• RS3617xs+ : £3,546.00 including VAT or €3,545.00 excluding VAT
• RS3617RPxs : £2,772.00 including VAT or €2,775.00 excluding VAT
• RS216 : £390.00 including VAT or €390.00 excluding VAT
• E10G17-F2 : £226.80 including VAT or €225.00 excluding VAT