Latest DSM features
Synology's Disk Station Manager (DSM) 5.1 software is brimming with features and has the best set of backup apps in town. NAS-to-NAS Rsync replication, scheduled local backup and support for cloud storage providers such as Amazon's S3, Glacier and Microsoft Azure are all present.
You can sync files with all the big names including Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and OneDrive and the setup process is the easiest we've come across. IDrive also has an app for backup to its cloud storage and we covered this in depth in our review of the RS815+.
The File Manager gets a makeover so it can assign appropriate icons to different file types while the Note Station lets you create encrypted documents remotely and share them with other DSM users. Security has a big focus as an Advisor helps you plug any leaks while Synology's Surveillance Station 7.0 delivers the best IP camera features around.
The File Manager app gets a refresh and is now a lot more informative
Conclusion
With so many Intel-based NAS appliances on the market, the Alpine SoC is an unusual choice and its limitations were revealed in our IP SAN write tests. Annapurna Labs has been very reluctant to divulge any information about itself although this reticence may be explained by the fact that Amazon Web Services acquired the company in January with a view to using these low-power SoCs in its cloud data centres.
That said, the DS2015xs scores highly for value as it delivers dual 10GbE SFP+ ports at a price competing vendors can't even come close to. NAS performance can't be faulted and Synology's DSM is still the software to beat for features
Verdict
With its SFP+ ports and Annapurna SoC, the DS2015xs is a bit of an odd-ball NAS appliance. IP SAN write performance isn’t great but it has no problems with NAS operations and you won’t get dual 10GbE ports as standard for less than this
Chassis: Desktop CPU: 1.7GHz Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-514 SoC Memory: 4GB ECC DDR3 (max 8GB) Storage: 8 x hot-swap 2.5in/3.5in SATA drive bays Array support: RAID0, 1, 10, 5, 6, hot-spare, JBOD, SHR Network: 2 x Gigabit, 2 x 10GbE SFP+ Other ports: 2 x USB 3 Expansion: 1 x Infiniband Management: Web browser Warranty: 5-year limited
