Designed to provide space-sensitive deployments for business and IT enthusiasts, the RackStation RS1221+ 8-Bay NAS Enclosure from Synology is equipped to handle heavy workloads in data-intensive environments, with sequential read speeds of up to 2315 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 1147 MB/s. This unit has 8 drive bays, each of which natively supports 3.5" SATA hard drives, as well as 2.5" SATA hard drives and SSDs. Should users need to expand the overall capacity of their RS1221+, the optional RX418 expansion unit offers an additional four drive bays. This model is powered using a single 250W power supply.

The RackStation RS1221+ is powered by a 2.2 GHz AMD Ryzen V1500B Quad-Core processor, which will allow you to run multiple functions simultaneously. The 4GB of DDR4 ECC RAM will allow quick access to frequently used files and programs and may also be upgraded to a total of 32GB by installing a 16GB module into each of the SO-DIMM slots. Also featured are two USB 3.0 Type-A ports and one eSATA port. Network connectivity is achieved via the four Gigabit Ethernet ports with failover support, which help to provide redundancy in the case that a LAN connection malfunction occurs on one port. In addition, link aggregation, powered by four LAN ports, helps to increase connection speeds beyond the limits of a single network port or cable. If you're looking to expand this NAS, there is one PCIe 3.0 x8/x4 slot that can be used to create an NVMe M.2 SSD cache, add a 10GbE network card, and more.

The RackStation RS1221+ runs on the DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, which helps simplify managing your NAS, as well as accessing and sharing data. A variety of RAID modes are supported, which help provide users with data redundancy, speed, or a combination of both. Supported RAID modes include RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, Basic, and Synology Hybrid RAID. For those who do not require a RAID, JBOD is also available, allowing each drive bay to be individually utilized.

Synology has engineered the RackStation RS1221+ to be energy efficient. Not only does it offer two 80 x 80mm fans to help keep the system running cool, the server supports numerous scheduled power on / off cycles and hard-drive hibernation to further minimize power consumption and operational expenses. The RackStation RS1221+ operates on 100-240 VAC at 50/60 Hz and includes an accessory pack, an AC power cord, and a C13 to C14 power cord. Protection is provided by a limited 3-year hardware warranty.

8 x 3.5"/2.5" SATA Drive Bays    2.2 GHz AMD Ryzen V1500B Quad-Core    4GB of DDR4 ECC RAM (1 x 4GB, Max 32GB)    4 x Gigabit Ethernet Ports    2 x USB 3.0 Type-A | 1 x eSATA    1 x PCIe Gen 3.0 x8 Slot (x4 Link)    RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and JBOD    AES-NI Hardware Encryption Engine    250W Power Supply    Synology DiskStation Manager OS (DSM)

The RS1221+ and its RX418 expansion units are designed to help you save space in compact deployments. At 11.8", which is half the length of a typical 2 RU unit, it fits snugly onto 2-post or shallow rackmount enclosure.

When paired with another identical unit, Synology High Availability enables automatic minute-level failover between two clustered servers in the event of a server failure to minimize service downtime

ECC memory and the Btrfs file system bring higher reliability and snapshot capabilities to help prevent data corruption and simplify data protection.

Sequential reads of up to 2315 MB/s and sequential writes of up to 1147 MB/s, with random reads over 100,000 IOPS and random writes over 54,000 IOPS all help to ensure ample performance for demanding workloads.

Easily upgrade the RS1221+ to match your usage environment, whether it's for performance, faster networking, or higher storage capacity.

SSD Cache
Boost read/write IOPS over HDD-only arrays with an NVMe or SATA SSD cache.

10GbE Ready
Improve I/O performance with faster SFP+ or RJ45 networking.

Storage Expansion
Expand to 12 drive bays with an RX418 expansion unit.

A comprehensive backup and recovery solution for added data protection. Create backup destinations locally, on another Synology device, rsync servers, or cloud-based destinations, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, S3-compatible destinations, and Synology C2 Storage, a dedicated backup destination for Synology devices. Deduplication, integrity checks and incremental transfer technology reduce bandwidth and storage use.

Easily schedule flexible point-in-time backups of shared folders and LUNs with an RPO as low as 5 minutes and recovery in seconds. Set up replication and failover to other Synology storage systems for fast RTOs and minimal service disruption.

The Active Backup suite enables administrators to easily secure their entire IT infrastructure by backing up mission-critical data to their NAS, including Windows & Linux workstations and servers, file servers, VMware and Hyper-V virtual machines, and Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace accounts. Benefit from deduplication and multiversioning to quickly jump back in time, and additional data efficiency optimizations for reduced bandwidth and storage use.

Synology iSCSI storage fully supports mainstream virtualization solutions to enhance work efficiency with an easy management interface. VMware vSphere 6 and VAAI integration helps offload storage operations. Windows Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) speeds up data transfers. OpenStack Cinder support turns your Synology NAS into a block-based storage component. Additionally, Synology Storage Console enables even more simplified storage provisioning and management options in VMware and Windows environments.

Engineered to handle 24/7 workloads, Synology drives are designed to provide high performance. This NAS works well with Synology's SAT5200 2.5" SSD and SNV3400 M.2 SSD.

Related Questions and Answers

Q: 1. Is a NVMe M.2 drive required, what function does it provide?

A: The Synology DiskStation DS1621+ 6-Bay NAS Enclosure does not require M.2 drives to operate, however is benefited greatly by them. Adding M.2 drives for high-IOPS system caching allows you to maximize performance and capacity efficiently.

Q: 2. Can I install 2 "Samsung 8TB 870 EVO SATA III 2.5" Internal SSDs" out of the box (no DSM upgrade needed)?

A: Yes, you can use the Samsung 8TB 870 EVO SATA III 2.5" Internal SSD in the Synology DiskStation DS1522+ 5-Bay NAS Enclosure out of the box.

Q: 3. Since it is now November of 2023, this is a followup question to the compatibility of the Seagate 20TB Ironwulf drives. Support?

A: Synology does not list any 20TB drives on the compatibility list for the Synology DiskStation DS1821+ 8-Bay NAS Enclosure. The 16TB IronWolf Pro, B&H # SEST16000NT1, is the highest capacity IronWolf drive on Synology's compatibility list.

Q: 4. Is this NAS compatible with WD 20TB drives (WD201KFGX)?

A: The Synology DiskStation DS224+ 2-Bay NAS Enclosure, (B&H # SYDS224PLUS), is officially compatible with drives up to 16TB according to Synology's compatibility list. We could not guarantee that a larger drive would work.

Q: 5. Does the DS1823XS+ support 3rd party NVMEs? Also for storage pools? Otherwise going to buy the competition.

A: Synology only guarantees full functionality, reliability, and performance for Synology drives listed on the compatibility list, so although other brands will work they are not officially supported.

Q: 6. what is the max stowage?

A: The Synology DiskStation DS223 2-Bay NAS Enclosure BH #SYDS223 is a 2 bay enclosure. Max storage is determined by the currently available HDD capacities.

Q: 7. Does this use hardware or software RAID?

A: The Synology RackStation RS1221RP+ 8-Bay NAS Enclosure uses software RAID.

Q: 8. Does Ddr Ram have to be added in equal sized pairs? So if i start with 4gigs of ram can i add one 16gig card and get optimal performance, or shd I only add either one 4 gig card, two 8gig cards or two 16gig cards?

A: If multiple RAM modules are installed inside the Synology DS1821+, both modules should be of the same speed and capacity.

Q: 9. Is the outer casing of the DS1621+ plastic or Metal?

A: It has a metal shell.

Q: 10. How large can the NVME drives be and how much ram is needed to use the nvmes as cache based on the size?

A: The Synology DiskStation DS1823xs+ 8-Bay NAS Enclosure can use up to two 800GB NVME SSDs in it's two NVME slots as cache.