Using nas for video editing - Synology ds1621+ review - should you edit video on a NAS performance

We look into Editing 4k video on a NAS over 10 GBe on a macbookpro and Synology DS1621+.
Although it you can have the NAS ( ds1621 plus ) in your workflow or part of your storage solution for video editing, we do not recommend editing on the NAS primarily due LATENCY. The latency introduced by going over the network and using spinning disks is multiple steps back in terms of performance for video editing.
It would be fine to have the NAS in your workflow where you use it as your mass storage for source material, but to have your library and cache storages on it would be a mistake. Although you could get away with it, the latency introduced from it would drive people looking for a high performance and smooth solution crazy and away.
Items used in video:
Synology 6 bay NAS DiskStation DS1621+ (Diskless): amzn.to/3vAi72I
Caldigit 10G connect: amzn.to/3eNMWKw
Cable Matters Cat6a cable: amzn.to/2RnySiF
Intel Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T2: amzn.to/2SiTU2x
BlackMagic Disk Speed Test
ioping
Synology DS1621+ is a powerful and compact 6-bay network attached storage solution designed to store and protect critical data assets. Today’s growing amount of unstructured data requires smarter and increasingly higher performance methods of storing, accessing, and collaborating. Designed for scalability, the DS1621+ enables you to start small, then expand as your data grows.

[@Tdog500]

Thanks for taking the time to make this. Very helpful!!

[@dominey]

This was very helpful. I've been considering Synology for both storage and direct editing of 4k video files, and for me at least it just doesn't seem worth the hassle or frustration. Perhaps a more reasonable way to approach this would be using a NAS like the Synology purely for long term storage.

[@4seas1family]

Thanks for the review! I live in the land of Synology and will be getting a DS1821+ for editing with FCPX! I'll be back here with my report!

[@jeffhutchinson71]

Nice, that's a ton of storage. Nice shirt too!

[@BrianAz]

FANTASTIC! I can barely keep up with all the geek-speak as being new to Mac/Editing/NAS, but I heard about editing on the NAS as an option. I have a new M1 Max 16" with 32 Gig RAM and 2TB of onboard storage. I always figured that editing ON the MacBook is the obvious way to go and this seems to prove it. Im still trying to understand how to manage files and if I need to copy to the Library of leave in original location choices. Understanding how to ensure Im doing the right thing by just pointing to my source files on the NAS or needing to bring the files to my Mac and making copies of the files and deleting them when done. Its hard when you are such an new guy at this and ask intelligent questions. But, thanks for what you gave me to think about.

[@tgbatg]

That computer is a beast. I just got one for editing also. The performance of that machine on final cut cannot be matched any anything else on the market at this time. The NAS is only used for long term storage. Editing on that machine would be the best thing to do.

[@MariusIhlar]

How about using the NAS as storage but using an Nvme as scratch and Cache drive? Would it still be a problem?

[@reelintensity3263]

This is a great video. Thank you so much. You’re very knowledgeable. Here’s my question… I want to use this for professional video editing, but I also want to use it as a Plex server. Is the 1621+ or the 1821+ a good choice for this? Once I load up the NAS with expensive hard drives, I probably won’t have enough left to purchase a separate computer to run my Plex server. Those little NUC’s are expensive if used just for that single purpose. Can the Synology do both for me?

[@urypodoler6382]

Thanks for the video! What about editing raw photos on the Nas using Capture 1\Photoshop? Assuming I'll be using a TB3 to 10gbe converter and plugging in directly. For me the main selling point for a NAS solution would be the privalage of setting up an automatic backup procedure, where I just have all my work done directly on the NAS and DSM backs it up to the cloud + to another lower spec NAS device located elsewhere, automatically. This way I can just import photos, edit them and go on with my life while having a 3-2-1 backup workflow happening on it's own. It's not a cheap solution, but still compelling. What do u think? Will it be fast enough for raw editing? Is there a significantly cheaper way of achieving a similar result?

[@dempsey1200]

We are going with a Qnap system so we can stay TB3. A little more expensive than this unit but you'll save on cost and latency by not introducing more components in the signal chain. After watching Max Yuryev's videos with benchmarks, it looks like the Qnap systems might be faster BUT it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. Yuryev doesn't do a latency test unfortunately. He also uses NAS-quality drives whereas this video is using consumer drives (with only 64 mb cache). Yuryev's videos aren't budget-oriented but they show actual data rates and that you can edit directly on the NAS (with 10 gb network or TB3-to-TB3). Just take his setup and scale it down a little so you can make it work budget-wise.

[@monka8112]

Thank you for lots of information on NAS/10GBe for video editing! Just curious: when will you next video on the "best" video editing setup be available - and what will it feature?

[@SofieLyngholmS]

Just have to be sure. The company that provided me my NAS, said we should go with Raid 0 (BECAUSE: we back up everyday on two different external HDDs, so that we can store them at safe locations) therefore they recommend us using Raid 0 because we didn't need the NAS to back up for us and therefore recommended us going with some extra space. But it seems like a pretty big deal (not choosing anything but Raid 10), does Raid effect speed/performance?

[@djchiii]

Curious what solution you recommend for indie home editors as the best performance/$ since not the NAS or the TB3 nvme enclosures?

[@JohnJordache]

Thanks for all your content brother. Quick introduction: just got the 1621+ with the E10M20-T1 CARD - on which I have attached 2 X NVMe M2 ( 2228 ) of 1 TB each ( PCIe Gen 3 ). I stiil have the front NVMe slots available. Question: I’m planning to order another 2 NVMe cards of 1 TB each - this time the 4th PCIe Generation - is it worth it and will make it a difference to the overall performance of the NAS unit ? Additional information: running 32 GB RAM on it with 2 x 12 TB HDD and another 4 x 3 TB HDD - planning to configure it as a RAID 10. Mostly video editing / video content creation & photography to perform & storage on it. Much appreciated! Thank you.

[@reelintensity3263]

Hi… if this device does not have embedded graphics and the 1621 doesn’t have it either, which device is the best for me to get for video editing as well as using it as a Plex server? I want to EDIT 4K video, and also have PLEX playback 1080 and 4K video as well. Is an embedded GPU necessary? What’s the alternative?

[@DanielHasel]

Cool test! I'd be curious to see what it looks like actually editing directly from the NAS in FCPX. Any experience with that? (except for the roughly 800 ms delay)

[@GJoseeph]

I had done it with phone videos 4K and point shoot camera videos at 1080 over 100mbts Ethernet, not delay at all, even with mask, color grading, lip sync, and transitions. Renders fast 3-5 min.

[@zakhar_bykov]

Which type of RAID did you use in the test? Please.

[@tgbatg]

Raid10

[@JohnCillian]

Raid 10 has its pro and cons. Same for raid 5/6. I rather use raid 6 then 10 because the capacity penalty is too much with 10.

[@ahmadtan]

This is extremely helpful. The only video so far that helps to show that its possible to get the transfer speed. Can I confirm that my home network at 1gbps can still achieve the 10 Gigabit speeds? All you need is the Synology 10GbE (RJ45) Card 10GbE ethernet to Thunderbolt 3 adapter ???

[@tgbatg]

Yes. If your NAS support the synology 10gbe card then connecting your NAS with your computer with the thunderbolt 3 adapter directly and having jumbo frames enabled will allow you to achieve 10 gbps speeds between your computer and the NAS. In order to do this you probably want to hard code (set the IP) of the adapter and the synology nas to a different network (ie 192.168.11.5 and 192.168.11.6) such that your computer can connect via wifi to the rest of the network, as long with your NAS. But when you access your nas, you should access it over the 10gbe connection by using the IP used for the 10gbe nic.

[@SierraPrine]

what were you using for the cache drives on the NAS?

[@tgbatg]

Im trying to recall since this video was a while ago. but i don't believe any cache drives were being used. during this video.

[@pbrigham]

For 2TB disks, you should use only SSDs and RAID5 configuration, SSDs rebuilds time on RAID5 is like 30 to 45 minutes instead of a day or more compared to HDDs. For bigger disks than 2TB, yes I agree with you, probably HDD on RAID10 is better because of the cost. Just don't forget that an array in SSDs, even on RAID5, the rebuilds times in case of failure of a drive, is minutes instead of days, just minutes.

[@tgbatg]

good point

[@mrhobs]

Would SRH (1 probably) cause too much of a performance hit for 6k BRAW video projects? (Mid 2017 specced out iMac, in Davinci Resolve) That's the main feature that's pulling me toward getting a Synology NAS. Still need to watch most of the video... After getting a NAS, what should I save on my computer, other than apps? Nothing? Save it all to the NAS? Assuming that's the idea... I'm tired lol, sorry for this question lol.

[@tgbatg]

No. you should get the best computer possible. A MacBook Pro with a M1 max would be the best way to go. You should definitely use an nas for large long-term storage. But editing on the MacBook Pro would be the smartest thing

[@mrhobs]

​@@tgbatg Thanks, we'll see how it goes. (Got a DS1621+ and (4) Ironwolf Pro 18TB HDDs. Haven't even tested it yet. Might exchange the Ironwolf Pros for some Exos drives...)

[@michaelcarraghan512]

Cant I buy Synology DS1821+ and buy M1 Mac Mini and use DS1821 just for storage and stream through mac from DS1821 to transcode off mac?

[@fandibus]

You could, yes. I have that synology arriving tomorrow. I also have the most recent intel Mac mini I use for Plex now and it does great with a bunch of simultaneous transcodes. I may still use it with the synology if I have issues with multiple transcodes.

[@michaelcarraghan512]

@@fandibus Congrats on purchase. Please let me know how it is with synology and m1 mac mini ?

[@michaelcarraghan512]

@@fandibus Hi I wanted to know which Synology you ended up getting? And can you run 2x4k movies at the sametime ?

[@fandibus]

@@michaelcarraghan512 DS1821+, If you don't need transcoding you can run all the movies you want. If you need transcoding and are running plex directly on it then no, it won't do well with 4k. If you run plex on a Mac it can handle the transcoding fine. But it's pointless to have 4k and have to transcode it. At that point may as well just have 1080.

[@michaelcarraghan512]

@@fandibus so i would need mac mini or nuc? to transcode?