We recently looked at a new 4-bay NAS Server from Synology that was touted as being budget friendly, while still offering plenty of higher end features. The Diskstation DS414j definitely impressed, but after the review we were left wondering if that is what you get for just over $400, what can you expect from some of the even more expensive offerings from Synology? It didn't take long for us to get a chance to find an answer to that question, because in this review we will take a look at Synology's Diskstation DS415play; another 4-bay device which offers upgraded hardware, an upgraded set of features, and a price tag just north of $500.



The promotional image above shows the DS415play, and before we get to the sample provided for review, let's take a look at some of the features and specifications for this NAS server. For a complete list of features and specifications, please visit the official product page on the Synology website.

Features and Specifications:

CPU:
» CPU Model: Intel Atom
» CPU Frequency: Dual Core 1.6 GHz
» Floating Point: Yes
» Hardware Transcoding Engine: H.264 (AVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1

Memory:
System Memory: 1 GB DDR3

Storage:
» Drive Bay(s): 4
» Compatible Drive Type:
   » 3.5" SATA(III) / SATA(II) HDD
   » 2.5" SATA(III) / SATA(II) HDD
   » 2.5" SATA(III) / SATA(II) SSD
» Max. Internal Capacity: 24 TB (6 TB HDD X 4) (Capacity may vary by RAID types)
» Hot Swappable Drive: Yes

External Ports:
» USB 2.0 Port: 3
» USB 3.0 Port: 2

File System:
» Internal Drives: EXT4
» External Drives:
   » EXT4
   » EXT3
   » FAT
   » NTFS
   » HFS+

Storage Management:
» Max File System Size: 16 TB
» Max Internal Volume Number: 256
» Max iSCSI Target Number: 10
» Max iSCSI LUN: 10
» Supported RAID Type:
   » Synology Hybrid RAID
   » Basic
   » JBOD
   » RAID 0
   » RAID 1
   » RAID 5
   » RAID 6
   » RAID 10
» RAID Migration
   » Basic to RAID 1
   » Basic to RAID 5
   » RAID 1 to RAID 5
   » RAID 5 to RAID 6
» Volume Expansion with Larger HDDs
   » Synology Hybrid RAID
   » RAID 1
   » RAID 5
   » RAID 6
Volume Expansion by Adding a HDD
   » Synology Hybrid RAID
   » RAID 5
   » JBOD
» Global Hot Spare Supported RAID Type
   » Synology Hybrid RAID
   » RAID 1
   » RAID 5

SSD Support:
» SSD TRIM: Yes

In terms of hardware, the main differences between the DS414j and the DS415play include the following (DS414j specifications on left, DS415play specifications on right):

» CPU: MindSpeed Comcerto 2000 Dual Core 1.2 GHz versus Intel Atom Dual Core 1.6 GHz
» Memory: 512 MB DDR3 versus 1 GB DDR3
» USB Ports: 1 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0 versus 3 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0
» Hardware Video Transcoding Engine: None vesus H.264 (AVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, VC-1