[Review] Synology 1513+

[Vulpix]

Packaging
The packaging is simple, no frills. The only things in the box are the NAS itself, with a smaller box containing some screw and the power cable, along with 2 RJ45 network cables.

The Unit
This NAS comes with plenty of ports, like 4 RJ45 sockets, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 USB 3.0 port and even 2 eSATA ports. The 1513+ uses a power supply built into the unit itself, so there is no cumbersome external power brick. There are two fans at the back that are user removable. The quality of the casing is pretty sturdy, and it’s a great looking NAS.

 

[Vulpix]

Installation
The installation was a breeze, and the ejection mechanism makes it really simple to remove and install drives. You can use the screws included, or you can use the clips for a tool free installation if you intend to do a lot of drive swapping. The clips were easy to remove and install, and they felt sturdy enough to hold the drive in place. You’ll know for sure when the drive is seated inside the NAS securely when you hear the reassuring click sound when you press the lever like cover of the drive holders.

Internal
The top case of the 1513+ is held by 5 screws at the back. Removing the top involves a bit of gentle sliding and maneuvering.

This unit is using a mini ITX power supply made from Delta, model DPS-250AB-44 B. There is a RAM slot that supports another 2GB, bringing the total to 4GB of RAM. I tried putting in a 4GB piece but the system refused to boot up since there is a 4GB total system RAM limitation. There is also a plastic shield probably to prevent any accidental shorts. RAM installation is easy, as the only thing you need to do is align the RAM properly and push it in place.

The back of the unit is equipped with 2 fans of 80mm size. The fans are 2900rpm, but it works between 1500~2500 rpm to achieve a lower acoustic levels. It is easy to remove, with 2 screws securing each fan in place. This is an important feature as it allows quick replacement of faulty fans during operation, or for those who want more powerful fans can replace it with aftermarket ones with higher CFM.

 

[Vulpix]

Migration
This is one of my favourite Synology feature. I have an existing Synology 412+, and migrating the 4 drives over to the 1513+ was a breeze. I followed the instructions available on the Synology wiki, and it involved me just making a backup, removing the drives from my existing unit, and putting them in the same order in the new unit. Setting it back up only required me to use Synology Assistant to check that the unit has a “Migratable” status, and logging into the NAS with 4 simple and easy to follow steps. If you want to speed things up, just download the firmware for the 1513+ from Synology’s site before doing the migration. Once setup was done, I was able to use the NAS immediately.

Benchmark taken down to investigate.

NAS benchmark

This was done with NAS performance tester 1.4 with the 4 drives installed in SHR. The unit is connected to an Engenius ESR9850. The drives installed are the Western Digital Red series, 3TB in size each.

412+ vs 1513+

Conclusion
Great build quality, good speeds, and lots of powerful features good for SMBs. Definitely a recommend for anyone looking for a full featured 5-bay NAS.

 

[danxiaogui86]

Nice! how much did u got it for?

 

[quekky]

the read so slow?

 

[Vulpix]

the read so slow?

Think it's mostly because my router a bit slow. If you check smallnetbuilder, mine is quite slow when it comes to such things. Waiting for the AC68 late this year before upgrading.

 

[DiscMan]

Think it's mostly because my router a bit slow. If you check smallnetbuilder, mine is quite slow when it comes to such things. Waiting for the AC68 late this year before upgrading.

Hi,

the read speed is suspiciously low for a DS1513+.. not too sure if you are running the NAS performance tester off a wireless networked device? Even my DS412+ results are better.. maybe should do another test to do more justice to the DS1513+?

My result for my current DS412+ is as follows,

 

[yukita]

Im migrating my data on nas also, but worry it fail so doing copy nas to nas to be safe...
Also i read if doing disk migration, later cannot expand the disk anymore?

 

[fribro]

Think it's mostly because my router a bit slow. If you check smallnetbuilder, mine is quite slow when it comes to such things. Waiting for the AC68 late this year before upgrading.

Agree with you on your ESR9850 router cause last time using same as yours. 2 days later the speed goes back to normal.

 

[Gribber]

Vulpix is super rich..

keeps changing gadget makes me envious

 

[Vulpix]

Hi,

the read speed is suspiciously low for a DS1513+.. not too sure if you are running the NAS performance tester off a wireless networked device? Even my DS412+ results are better.. maybe should do another test to do more justice to the DS1513+?

My result for my current DS412+ is as follows,

Hrmm ok. I'll do that once my drive is back from RMA. What router are you using?

 

[DiscMan]

Hrmm ok. I'll do that once my drive is back from RMA. What router are you using?

If I remember correctly, I should be on my Asus RT-N66U...

 

[HeeroYuy84]

Ts don't want to use liao,can sell me cheap lol

 

[Vulpix]

If I remember correctly, I should be on my Asus RT-N66U...

I check the benchmark of your router against mine, even in official ones is like 3x slower than yours. I try disable my anti virus but I have a feeling that my router is the bottleneck here.

 

[Gribber]

I check the benchmark of your router against mine, even in official ones is like 3x slower than yours. I try disable my anti virus but I have a feeling that my router is the bottleneck here.

i used to have the EnGenius ESR9850, it shouldnt be the router issue.

 

[Vulpix]

i used to have the EnGenius ESR9850, it shouldnt be the router issue.

Okie, hope it's the AV issue.

 

[Chys]

Fwah, last time 412+ think so long then buy... now 1513+... got a good deal issit?

 

[DiscMan]

Okie, hope it's the AV issue.

Or if u have enough ram, can create a ram drive to run the has performance tool from so that that eliminates any bottle necks on the local hdd as well..

 

[HeeroYuy84]

does this device uses port trunking 802.1q or link aggregation 802.3ad ?

 

[quekky]

802.1q and 802.3ad are different things
synology works with both (at the same time if you need)