Synology DS423+ 4 Bay Desktop NAS Storage Server

Product Information

PCIe add-in cards, expansion units, and storage drives are sold separately. Refer to the compatibility list for compatible devices.

Synology Video Station – Manage all your movies, TV shows, and home videos. Stream them to multiple devices or share them with friends and family. We can see that forcing transcode is at about the same CPU utilization as with three 4K streams, 20-30%. Now, Synology does not allow upgrading that memory beyond 6GB in this configuration (Intel Max limit on this CPU is 8GB), stating that using the system in an unsupported fashion can lead to weakened/invalidated support by the brand when you need it (as you are using the device in a configuration they did not verify and/or cannot replicate). This also includes using 3rd party memory, instead of their own branded modules I can partially see their point – they want to run a smooth, reliable and stable platform. Just a shame that Synology Memory modules are a noticeable degree more expensive than alternatives from Crucial and Kingston. Next we need to discuss the CPU inside the DS423+ NAS – something of a hot point for some. Powered by the versatile Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, DS423+ offers comprehensive solutions to protect and manage business data, facilitate collaboration on documents, provide remote file access, and serve as the core of an IP camera-based surveillance system, all within a compact desktop format.Creating M.2 storage pools requires the use of Synology-verified SSDs, which are rigorously tested under extreme temperature conditions. Thermal parameters for SSDs and NAS units are fine-tuned to ensure optimal management of thermal conditions under I/O-intensive environments. ( Learn more)

This is particularly surprising, given that the Synology DS423+ is very much a non-enterprise and non-business-focused NAS system. Additionally, the DS423+ NAS bears huge comparison with the DS920+ released in 2020, a HUGELY popular NAS system, which has NOT had M.2 NVMe SSD storage pool services added retroactively – so many users (myself included) would have jsut ASSUMED that the DS423+ would not support this feature. It IS worth highlighting though that the DS423+ CPU uses Gen 2 lanes, only allows pools on Synology NVMe SSDs (SNV3400 / SNV3410), cannot currently use the M.2s for booting DSM and does not have any external connectivity that allows the performance benefits of M.2 NVMes to be realised externally. Still, if you are looking for higher speed storage areas for a VM, Surveillance alerts/recordings, high frequency data bases or just to run the Synology apps themselves in conjunction with data on the slower HDD array, you WILL see benefits! #2 – Great Performance and Support of Plex, Emby and Jellyfin Media Server Hybrid cloud capabilities provided by Synology Hybrid Share allow users to merge the benefits of on-premises and cloud by storing cold data in the cloud while keeping frequently accessed files cached on the local device for access at LAN speeds. The one and only thing I don’t like about Synology multimedia apps or drive apps…. Is they TELL you where to put your media AND GENERALLY HAVE TWO-WAY SINK AS DEFAULT An example of a mixed transfer of about 57GB of data, took just under 10 min total to complete while having a mostly sustained transfer rate of 100MB/s. About 57GB of data in about 10 min time via a simple SMB protocol Taipei, Taiwan—15 March 2023—Synology today announced the release of the 4-bay Synology DiskStation DS423+, the latest in its lineup of all-in-one storage solutions for home office and small business use.Connects to Windows® AD/LDAP servers, allowing domain users to log in via SMB/NFS/AFP/FTP/File Station protocols using their existing credentials More on the actual PLEX testing later in the review. The current latest 1.31.2 version of Plex running with no issue on the DS423+ This means that you can only officially upgrade the DS423+ via the single SODIMM slot towards 6GB with a single extra 4GB SODIMM module in the available bay. Aside from 6GB being an odd amount, people are most certainly going to make comparisons with the DS920+ having 4GB on Day 1 and 8GB max.

Passive airflow is definitely a big focus on the design of this chassis, with almost every side of the case featuring ventilation of one sort of around, with the Synology logo being vented. As this system will be in operation 24×7, it is heavily reliant on the rear fans to push air effectively through the system and over the assortment of internal heatsinks as effectively as possible and this chassis does that very well indeed. The Diskstation series at the 2/4 Bay level has always done a great job of melding modern design with necessary system temperature management and the DS423+ is no exception. As it was with the previous model, the DS423+ supports four 2,5" or 3.5" drives inside the main bays, as well as two additional M.2 NVMe drives on the bottom of the unit for cache or user-manageable volumes (only with Synology SVN3400 series drives) that is a new feature with all x23 models so far.Passive airflow is definitely a big focus on the design of this chassis, with almost every side of the case featuring ventilation of one sort of around, with the Synology logo being vented. As this system will be in operation 24×7, it is heavily reliant on the rear fans to push air effectively through the system and over the assortment of internal heatsinks as effectively as possible and this chassis does that very well indeed. The Diskstation series at the 2/4 Bay level has always done a great job of melding modern design with necessary system temperature management and the DS423+ is no exception. #5 – Supports the Whole DSM 7 Catalogue of Applications and runs them well on 2GB Memory They have tonnes fo media that they ONLY want to access remotely, but have strong internet connections, the client Hardware has the file format/licence support and/or client-side transcoding support (NVidia Shield, Xbox with the HEVC licence enabled)

DS923+ full review - another 4-bay NAS built for performance An all-in-one data management and sharing platform

Note – If you are unfamiliar with the Synology DS423+ NAS, but you want to learn more about it, what else it can do and whether it is good for more than just Plex, you can watch my video review below: