Virtualization Storage
  1. DiskStation Manager

Virtualization Storage

Accelerate virtual workloads by seamlessly integrating Synology solutions with mainstream virtualization platforms.

Virtualization Storage

Built for your SAN storage needs

Certified for VMware® vSphere™, Microsoft® Hyper-V®, Citrix® XenServer™, and OpenStack Cinder, Synology systems easily integrate with common virtualization platforms.

Integration

Built-in data protection and up to 5 years of warranty1 means you can focus on making the most out of your storage without worrying about maintenance contracts or license fees.

Cost-effective

Choose the right storage solution for your virtualized workloads, with support for 10/25/40GbE2 interfaces to maximize bandwidth.

All-flash FS series

Delivers high IOPS and low latency for databases, analytics, and financial transactions.

Hybrid storage

Combines HDD arrays with SSD cache to provide an optimal balance between performance, cost, and storage capacity.

Performance

Synology systems can be expanded up to 180 drive bays without interrupting services by attaching compatible expansion units.3

Scalability

Efficient integration

Enhance virtual environments and manage storage devices on VMware and Windows with Synology plugins and packages.

VMware/Windows

Synology Storage Console

Manage and monitor multiple Synology NAS/SAN on VMware or Windows environments. Learn more.

VMware

Synology Storage Replication Adapter

Enable disaster recovery directly via VMware vCenter Server with Synology Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) to simplify complicated configurations and optimize the process.

Windows

Synology SMI-S Provider for SCVMM

Manage multiple Synology NAS servers as storage nodes using Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager user interface.

Storage protocols for deployment flexibility

 iSCSI / Fibre ChannelNFS
Availability/load balancingMPIONFS multipathing (NFS 4.1)
VMware VAAI 4
  • Faster VM performance is achieved by offloading cycles from ESXi to the storage array.
  • More effective utilization of storage arrays delivered by virtual machines with VAAI support.
  • Better flexibility in deploying and migrating VMs. Higher storage performance and efficiency with VMFS-5 file system.
  • Smoother access and management with load balancing automation in Storage vMotion.
  • Atomic test/set
  • Full copy
  • Block zero
  • Thin provisioning
  • UNMAP
(Built into ESXi)
  • Full copy (only with cold migration—not with VMware vSphere Storage vMotion)
  • Preallocated space (WRITE_ZEROs)
  • Cloned offload using native snapshots
(Plug-in required)
Windows ODX 4
ODX dramatically improves the speed of data manipulation by offloading data transfer operations from the host's CPU to the Synology device. This frees up the host's CPU and networking resources, so that they can be used for other important tasks.
-
Citrix iSCSI Storage Repository-
OpenStack Block Storage (Cinder)-
Data protection / management granularityDatastore-levelVM-level
SecurityCHAP (iSCSI)IP-based
Use casesTo achieve consistently high performance in larger deploymentsFor quicker setup and smaller deployments; easy file/folder-level management

Built-in data protection

Snapshot Replication Active Backup for Business Hyper Backup Synology High Availability
RPO Minutes Hours Hours Instant
RTO Seconds Seconds Hours Seconds
Protection Level Shared Folder / LUN Virtual machine5 File / Shared Folder / LUN Whole system
Destination Another Synology system6 Another Synology system7
  • Synology systems
  • External devices
  • Cloud services (for shared folders only)
 Another Synology system8
Failover to replica (Manual) (Manual) -
(Requires restoring from the replica first) 		(Automatic)
Transfer differential data only
Encryption (in transit) (in transit) -
Compression - -
Versioning For shared folders only -
Use cases

For most use cases that require faster backup/restore time or resume services quickly from a replica when the primary storage fails.

Suitable for users who wish to keep multiple versions with minimal performance impact.

For VM-level protection.

Suitable for users who need to restore individual VMs, restore VMs to a different hypervisor (e.g., from VMware to Hyper-V) or directly on the backup storage in case of a hypervisor failure.

For archiving cold data with higher data efficiency.

Suitable for users who don't require fast backup/restoration or those who wish to back up to third-party devices.

 For mission-critical services that require real-time synchronization to minimize any potential data loss as well as automatic failover without human intervention.

Snapshot Replication

RTO Seconds
Protection Level Shared Folder / LUN
Destination Another Synology system6
Failover to replica(Manual)
Transfer differential data only
Encryption(in transit)
Compression -
Versioning
Use cases

For most use cases that require faster backup/restore time or resume services quickly from a replica when the primary storage fails.

Suitable for users who wish to keep multiple versions with minimal performance impact.

Active Backup for Business

RTO Seconds
Protection Level Virtual machine5
Destination Another Synology system7
Failover to replica(Manual)
Transfer differential data only
Encryption(in transit)
Compression
Versioning
Use cases

For VM-level protection.

Suitable for users who need to restore individual VMs, restore VMs to a different hypervisor (e.g., from VMware to Hyper-V) or directly on the backup storage in case of a hypervisor failure.

Hyper Backup

RTO Hours
Protection Level File / Shared Folder / LUN
Destination
  • Synology systems
  • External devices
  • Cloud services (for shared folders only)
Failover to replica -
(Requires restoring from the replica first)
Transfer differential data only
Encryption
Compression
Versioning For shared folders only
Use cases

For archiving cold data with higher data efficiency.

Suitable for users who don't require fast backup/restoration or those who wish to back up to third-party devices.

Synology High Availability

RTO Seconds
Protection Level Whole system
Destination Another Synology system8
Failover to replica(Automatic)
Transfer differential data only
Encryption -
Compression -
Versioning -
Use cases For mission-critical services that require real-time synchronization to minimize any potential data loss as well as automatic failover without human intervention.

More advanced features

Fast clone

Fast clone

Create near-instantaneous virtual copies of LUNs or vDisks on NFS with a simple click.

NFS v4.1 support

NFS v4.1 support

Access an NFS server via multiple network connections at the same time and enable higher bandwidth and auto-failover.

Thin provisioning support

Thin provisioning support

Enable IT admins to maximize storage utilization and lower their TCO.

Consolidate your NAS and SAN infrastructure

For remote or branch offices that need a file server, as well as iSCSI/Fibre Channel/NFS storage for virtualized workloads, Synology allows the creation of NAS and SAN environments on one system, greatly simplifying management and reducing the hardware footprint.

Find the best storage option for your needs

FS6400

Fast and reliable with over 240,000 iSCSI 4K random write IOPS.

UC3200

Highly available active-active architecture optimized for virtualized environments.

SA3600

Flexible scalability with support for SAS and SATA drives.

RS4021xs+

A cost-effective solution offering high performance and redundancy for virtualization storage.

Customer stories

See how these organizations achieved more with Synology.

The FS3017 is more than capable of going toe-to-toe with enterprise-class all-flash arrays for a fraction of the cost.

The FS2017 is the ideal storage solution for operating load-critical virtual machines. The price-performance ratio in this storage dimension is perfect.

Two FS3017 units have the speed and scalability to effectively analyze winemaking data and provide high-performance IOPS optimized for virtualization environments.

Get started

Contact us

Send an inquiry to regional sales for more details

Where to buy

Find a Synology partner in your region

Best practices

Plan and optimize your deployment

Notes:

  1. Synology NAS come with either a 2 year, 3 year, or 5 year limited warranty. Some models with the 3 year warranty in select regions can extend this to 5 years with extended warranty options, purchased separately.

  2. For supported 10/25/40GbE network cards and their compatibility with units, please check the compatibility list.

  3. Capacity may vary by the drives and RAID types selected. Scalability up to 180 drives is currently only available on SA3400 and SA3600 models.

  4. Learn more about virtual machine platform compatibility here.

  5. Supports VMware vSphere 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, and 6.7, and Microsoft Hyper-V 2016 and 2019.

  6. The Btrfs file system is required on both the source and the destination array.

  7. The Btrfs file system is required on the destination array.

  8. Synology High Availability clusters can only be created with two identical Synology units. For more information, please refer to this FAQ.