The Next Big NAS for Growing Businesses

With an increased demand for high-resolution photos, near-constant video capture, and an increase in data sources, the storage space in PCs is filling up faster than ever. An external hard drive may help with offloading and backing up files, but upon disconnection, the drive is inaccessible to anyone. Fortunately, you can get access to data on hard drive, and even share them with work colleagues through implementing a NAS solution.

One such solution is the new SA3400 NAS from Synology. Replacing the RS18017xs appliance, this new rackmount NAS offers enterprises better features and performance. The SA3400 is the first model in Synology’s inventory to adopt the “SA” name convention in reference to its support for SATA and SAS3 storage.

In addition to providing support for SAS3, this 2U 12-bay NAS features an 8-core 2.1GHz Xeon CPU that’s combined with 16GB of server-grade DDR4 ECC RDIMM memory module, which is upgradable up to a powerful 128GB. In terms of ports, this model has four Gigabit and two 10GBaseT ports. Two USB 3 ports in the rear allow adding new storage devices, while the external SAS port offers support for up to seven RX2417sas or RX1217sas expansion shelves so that the unit can host up to 180 drives.

Exterior Design

This Synology SA3400 has a classic, sturdy build featuring a sturdy steel chassis, a signature build design of the maker. The metal drive carriers in this NAS do not feature a key lock; instead, they have a small tub that can be pushed across to prevent the drives from accidentally popping out.

Opening the lid exposes a neat interior with the CPU mounted on a large passive heatsink as well as the four DIMM slots. The base memory of this unit is a single 16GB stick. Storage on the SA3400 is managed by the Synology SAS12G PCIe card, which also supports the external expansion port for SAS and directly cable to the drive’s backplane.

At the back are two PCIe slots that offer further expansion for an extensive range of 40GbE, 25GbE, and 10GbE network adapters. A bank of four hot-plug fans located just behind the drive backplane creates the necessary cooling air for the system. A solid shroud runs from two center fans and direct air over the CPU.

Deployment and Backup Features

The Synology SA3400 NAS is the go-to solution for enterprises looking for alternatives that come with superior-quality protection and backup features. Synology’s DSM 6.2 software is packed to the brim with critical apps. For example, Snapshot Replication offers invaluable support for both scheduled and manual NAS and IP SAN snapshot via Btrfs volumes, and fast recovery. You also get the option of browsing the different NAS snapshots and restoring specific files or folders directly from File Station.

The Active Backup for Business (ABB) app from Synology provides enterprises with the next level data protection features. The app creates a central location for securing servers, virtual environments, and workstations. Further, it also offers agentless backup services for VMware vSphere applications vCenter and ESXi by creating consistent application backups of virtual machines, and it is free to use.

On loading ABB agents on Windows servers and workstations, you can schedule bare-metal, file, and volume backups. The recovery options allow you to recreate entire systems like VMware virtual machines or utilize the ABB web portal to carry out quick folder and file restoration.

The included Hyper Backup software offers a single console for the management of various backups, including iSCSI LUN, cloud, Rsync, local, and remote. Further, Hyper Backup also integrates with the C2 Backup cloud service from Synology for storing data off-site. Drive software offers sync services that replicate Dropbox for workstations running on Windows, Android, and iOS via a Drive agent.

Virtualization Capabilities

The high capacity on this SA3400 makes it a great candidate for running apps such as the Synology Surveillance Station 8.2. With support for over 7,200 IP cameras, the software brings the enterprise world a host of video playback and recording tools, as well as the capacity to enforce double authentication for stored video files.

With the SA3400, you can turn an Android or iOS phone or tablet into an IP camera using the downloadable LiveCam app. The app sends all live audio and video streams directly to a Surveillance Station console for recording. Use is as easy as entering the NAS address in the device LiveCam app, log in, and tap the Play button. Virtual Machine Manager brings added versatility by allowing the NAS to host VMs running on any OS.

Conclusion

Built-in support for SATA and SAS3 12-bay storage makes this Synology SA3400 NAS solution a good investment. Performance of NAS and iSCSI over the 10GbE network is commendable, while plenty of expansion room and Synology DSM software with myriad features and plenty of free backup apps make this Synology SA3400 NAS an impressively forward-thinking unit.