Synology's DiskStation DS1813+ ($1,000 street) is the updated version of the already praise-worthy DiskStation DS1812+. The new model is also an eight-bay standalone desktop unit with a whopping storage capacity of up to 32TB. Synology raises the bar for the prosumer/SMB NAS space, with excellent write speeds and the second-highest read speeds I've seen in testing with ixSystems FreeNAS Mini edging it out on reads, just slightly.

Even better, the NAS has updated its software and interface, and its feature set is even more impressive than that of the DS1812+. The device can also do double duty as an affordable SAN solution, one that is compatible with virtualization and can handle multiple domains in a business environment. Disk recovery and fault-tolerance is still solid, with Synology Hybrid Raid. The DS1813+ is a five-star Editor's Choice for SMB NASes.

Specs
The DS1813+ ships with a dual-core 2.13 GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM which is expandable up to 4GB (memory specs have been bumped up from the DS1812+'s default 1GB,/3GB maximum), and 8 drive bays that support 2.5- or 3.5-inch SATA II or III hard disk drives as well as SSD. The number of drive bays can be upped to 18 with a Synology expansion unit providing a storage capacity of up to 72TB.

The drives are hot-swappable. The unit has two USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and two eSATA connections. The DS1813+ has an impressive four Gigabit LAN ports versus the DS1812+'s twin ports. The casing hasn't changed from that of the 1812+ model except for the two additional LEDs that correspond to the activity of the two additional Ethernet ports. There is also an LED for "Status" and "Alert," as well as a power button on the front of the device. Each disk bay has its own LED; when it's green, the drive is in working order.

The DS1813+ ran cool and quietly during the course of testing, despite having dual fans (which are replaceable).

Setup and Interface
Setup of the 1813+ varies a bit from that of the DS1812+. There is no included disk. There is a small booklet included in the packaging which instructs users in installing disks, connecting the NAS to a network and then firing up a browser to http://find.synology.com. This address loads Synology's Web Assistant, which will detect the DiskStation on the network. Web Assistant replaces the Synology Assistant desktop application. The Web app detected the DS1813+ I had connected to my test network and displayed within a browser window the device's model name, IP address, MAC address, and status. It also showed me a Connect button. Clicking this button takes you to the DiskStation Manager version 4.2, the DS1813+'s software interface. Synology recently released version 4.3, I updated my testing unit this version from the interface. The new version has several new features that I'll detail below.