Synology Disk Station DS409slim Ultra-Compact 4-Drive NAS

Careful where you pour that hot water: on the right is a 12oz coffee cup, while on the left is Synology's latest NAS, the 4-bay Disk Station DS409slim.  Squeezing up to four 2.5-inch hard-drives into a 120 x 105 x 142 mm box, the DS409slim still offers up to 2TB of storage or various levels of RAID secure data redundancy.

Ports include gigabit ethernet, two USB 2.0 and a single eSATA which can be used to add extra external storage to the drive.  Inside there's a 1.2GHz processor together with 128MB of DDR2 RAM, and the DS409slim can apparently operate normally without its fan being on.

As well as basic backup duties, the DS409slim will act as a file server, email server, web server and DLNA home media server.  Synology include Disk Station Manager 2.1, which manages RAID settings, backup, a BitTorrent downloader, FTP and HTTP settings, as well as UPnP streaming; meanwhile a new version, 2.2 Beta, will be released sometime this month, offering iPod touch/iPhone photo and audio access.

The Synology DS409slim is available now, priced at around $400 without drives.

Press Release:

Synology Introduces the DS409Slim, the Most Compact, Energy Saving 4-Bay NAS on the Market for Home and Small Business Users

Synology® America Corp. today launched the new 2.5" 4-bay Disk Station DS409slim, a highly anticipated addition to the 09 series product line bringing lower power consumption, virtually quiet operations and an extremely small footprint both physically and financially while providing the same reliable data sharing and backup solutions that Synology is well known for. The DS409slim is one of the most versatile, energy efficient and stylish network attached storage devices on the market

Synology® America Corp. today launched the new 2.5" 4-bay Disk Station DS409slim, a highly anticipated addition to the 09 series product line bringing lower power consumption, virtually quiet operations and an extremely small footprint both physically and financially while providing the same reliable data sharing and backup solutions that Synology is well known for.

The DS409slim uses 2.5" hard drives which increases shock tolerance and reduces power consumption. The DS409slim consumes only 19 watts of power under normal operating conditions with all four hard drives installed. The smart fan design keeps the DS409slim's fan off under normal operations resulting in an extremely quiet Disk Station that is perfect for sitting on an office desk or in living room.

"The DS409slim is one of the most versatile, energy efficient and stylish network attached storage devices on the market," says Heather Morford, marketing director of Synology America Corp. "When you look at its compact size, you would never dream that it's a full featured file server, backup solution, surveillance station, email server, web server and home media server. It's designed for the SMB market but as an 'all in one solution'; it's also a great choice for home users. Home users will appreciate the surveillance features to keep watch on the house or kids, being able to stream or share files over the internet and the peace of mind that it serves as a solid backup solution to protect important memories and financial information. Best of all, it can sit on a bookshelf and won't look like you have an IT department in your living room," adds Morford.

Though small, the DS409slim is configured to perform. With 4 hot-swappable drives, a 1.2 GHz CPU, 128MB DDRII RAM, one Gigabit LAN port, two USB2.0 ports and one eSATA port it can handle all the needs of a small to medium business. The DS409slim supports up to 2 TB with the combination of four 2.5" SATA or SSD hard drives of 500GB each. The physical footprint of the DS409slim remains stylish and compact with the total size being just larger than a 12 oz coffee cup (120 x 105 x 142 mm).

The DS409slim comes with Disk Station Manager 2.1 firmware which supports Windows ADS integration, cross platform data sharing, RAID data protection and several backup alternatives. Multimedia applications include; Download Station 2-functions as a 24x7 BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule and NZB dpwnload center. Audio Station supports music, Internet radio stations, and iPod playback with connected USB speakers. UPnP support allows users to stream multimedia files with an UPnP DMA on a stereo system or a TV-set. Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox360 are also supported.

DSM 2.2 Beta will be released in July 2009 with the official version releasing in September 2009. DSM 2.2 includes many new features that the DS409slim will be able to utilize; a new DLNA compliant Media Server which ensures interoperability between the DS409slim and various DLNA certified CE, PC and mobile devices. iPhone support allows users to upload photos to DS409slim or to browse photos stored on DS049slim with iPhone/iPod Touch and the ability to stream music with the iPhone/iPod Touch.

DSM 2.2 Beta will be free for download on Synology's official website in July 2009

Availability

DS409slim is now shipping in the US.

About Synology

Founded in April of 2000, Synology Inc. develops next-generation Network Attached Storage (NAS) products for the home, small and medium sized business markets. Providing a secure way of storing and sharing digital content, Synology products are feature-rich, easy-to-use, energy-efficient and affordable. All Synology product investments are enhanced with free software upgrades and 24/7 online support.