Storage & iSCSI

With the new Storage Manager of DSM, you can choose between different types of storage volumes and easily create a volume that best suits your data protection needs. You can even create multiple volumes on a single RAID for better storage space arrangement and expand the space when the needs arise. The new iSNS support helps to manage iSCSI devices for enhanced organization and performance.

Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR)

Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) is an intelligent volume type that optimizes volume size when combining hard disks of varying sizes into an array. When set as the Standard volume type in DSM, SHR provides 1 to 2 hard disks fault-tolerance of data protection. It can be expanded to an optimal volume space when a lager or additional hard disks are inserted into the array.

For users who prefer to manually configure the volume type, DSM offers RAID-protected volume types (2-4 way RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, and RAID 6) as well as volume types without data protection (Basic, JBOD, and RAID 0).

Multiple Volumes on RAID

Sometimes it’s just not that easy to fully utilize every inch of the space. In business environments, IT staffs demand flexible volume allocation for that very reason. Volume size should not be limited to RAID type or hard disk capacity, yet having sufficient data protection is a must-have. Multiple Volumes on RAID introduces a new way of space allocation. Storage manager allows you to create more than one volume on a RAID structure, or under one disk group in the new Storage Manager. Volume size is no longer bonded to RAID. You can either dedicate a volume for a specified task of personal use, or create each volume for each workgroup in a business.

Storage Expansion Made Easy

Scalability then becomes particularly important when there is a mass use of the storage space – you don’t know when you will need to expand, and by how much at a time. With the new Storage Manager, you can expand the RAID without impacting the volume size – by adding new hard drives to enlarge physical storage space. You can also expand the volume by simply allocating more storage space on the UI, and DSM will do the rest for you. Small volumes can be expanded whenever needed by changing the volume size on the fly. With just a few clicks in the Storage Manager, the new, larger volume will be created and ready to use in no time.

Change Volume Type

DSM provides the following four types of volume change¹ :

• Basic to RAID 1
• Basic to RAID 5
• RAID 1 to RAID 5
• RAID 5 to RAID 5+Spare
• RAID 5 to RAID 6

EXT4 File System

The Synology DSM incorporates EXT4 File System to provide users with the ability to create larger size files, setting no limitations. EXT4 file system is the next generation file system, developed as a successor of EXT3. Compared with EXT3, EXT4 comes with many new features, such as “enlarged file system”, “exceeding the 32,000 subdirectory limit”, “delayed allocation”, “multi-block allocator”, “backward compatibility”, etc.

EXT4 file system helps Synology DiskStation to create a volume with much larger capacity and support storing huge files. With the enlarged file system, EXT4 can support volumes with sizes up to 1 exabyte (EB), which is 1 million TB². Single file size can be up to 16 TB.

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1. Refer to the help file in DSM for more information on applicable volume type.
2. Available on specific models only.

Applied Models

DiskStation
11-series: DS3611xs, RS3411xs, RS3411RPxs, DS2411+, RS2211+, RS2211RP+, RS411, DS1511+, DS411+, DS411, DS411j, DS411slim, DS211+, D211, DS211j, DS111
10-series: RS810+, RS810RP+, DS1010+, DS710+, DS410, DS410j, DS210+, DS210j, DS110+, DS110j
9-series: RS409+, RS409RP+, RS409, DS509+, DS409+, DS409, DS209+II, DS209+, DS209, DS209j, DS109+, DS109, DS109j, DS409slim
8-series: RS408, RS408-RP, DS508, DS408, DS108j
7-series: RS407, CS407, CS407e, DS207+, DS207, DS107+, DS107, DS107e