Synology RS11626xs+ overview
Following its RS segment refresh and the recent introduction of new class products such as the PAS7700, Synology has unveiled the RS11626xs+, a 3U enterprise storage solution designed for demanding data center environments.
Unlike the smaller, more conventional RS models announced in recent months, the RS11626xs+ represents a departure for the RS segment. Though it lacks the active-active, all-NVMe design of the PAS7700, the RS11626xs+ features a distinctive internal hardware configuration that sets it apart.
The RS11626xs+ unifies data management, backup, and surveillance in a storage system scalable beyond 2 PB
Luka Manestar
Luka Manestar
Luka Manestar
Speaking of its specifications, this particular model is equipped with an AMD EPYC 7303 CPU, offering a total of 16 cores and 32 threads, at its base clock of 2.4GHz (up to 3.4 GHz). This SP3 socket CPU offers 128MB of L3 cache with up to 4TB of supported RAM, but unfortunately, it arrives with 64GB of DDR4 ECC. The maximum Synology-supported RAM capacity is 1TB across 16 memory slots.
Offering 16-cores its TDP is very low at only 105W, which makes it an ideal candidate for dense deployments.
Synology's selection of the EPYC 7303 is deliberate and conservative. Though this 2020-era processor lacks the performance capabilities of the 7713 or the newer 9004 series, it delivers the power efficiency required for enterprise storage applications.
Flexible High-Performance Enterprise Storage with Multi-Petabyte Scalability
The RS11626xs+ on paper still offers impressive speeds, with up to 10,500+ MB/s read and 8,200+ MB/s write of 64K sequential throughput.
Speaking of its unique design mentioned earlier, the unit comes with 20 available bays divided into two main sections. A four (4) 2.5" bay section dedicated for Synology's SATA SSDs as a read/write cache, or a dedicated SSD volume for latency-sensitive workloads.
The rest of the NAS is a standard 3,5"/2.5" 16-bay cage that supports only Synology-branded enterprise drives.
Highlights
On-Demand Expansion
Scale up to 116 drive bays with eight Synology RX1222sas Expansion Units
High Performance
Over 234,000 4K random write IOPS and 10,500/8,200 MB/s sequential read/write throughput
Versatile Networking
Built-in dual 10GbE RJ45 ports with expansion via 10/25GbE NICs and Fibre
Channel adapters
Availability Safeguards
Hot-swappable drives, online volume expansion, dual power supplies, and high- availability clustering help keep services online
Storage Tiering
Automatically offload inactive data to lower-cost tiers to optimize storage ROI and preserve high-performance storage for active workloads
Luka Manestar
Now, what's unique about this particular model is the introduction of a built-in dual M.2 slot that offers installation of both 2230 and 2280 NVMe drives.
The embedded storage slots provide physical isolation for the DSM operating system and system operations, separate from the main data pools. Configured in RAID1, they maintain uptime despite individual drive failures while reducing I/O stress on the primary storage drives.
RS11626xs+ includes four built-in 2.5" bays for SSD caching1 and dual embedded M.2 NVMe SSDs running DSM in RAID 1
Regarding compatibility, the same rule applies as the slots will support only Synology-branded SNV5400 series NVMe drives.
Moving to the back of the unit, the RS11626xs+ follows a somewhat familiar pattern with three (3) built-in network adapters. A dual 10G (RJ-45), along with a single 1GbE management port.
Connectivity and expansion options include dual USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and two PCIe Gen4 x16 expansion slots on both sides of the chassis. The expansion slots accommodate a range of add-in cards: SFP 10/25G network adapters, NVMe expansion cards, and Fiber Channel adapters.
Eight mini-SAS HD expansion ports dominate the rear panel, each accommodating an RX1222sas enclosure capable of holding 12 drives. Including the four onboard SATA SSDs, the RS11626xs+ supports up to 116 total drives and provides raw storage capacity of up to 2.6PB.
Finally, in a device of this size, there are two 800W power supplies, packed inside a 73 cm long device, weighing just a little under 20 kg (with no drives). The RS11626xs+ is covered, as expected, with a limited 5-year Synology warranty.
Given its hardware capabilities and DSM feature set, the RS11626xs+ delivers a comprehensive enterprise storage platform suitable for small to large-scale deployments. Its expansion architecture establishes it as a long-term infrastructure solution.
Pricing has not yet been disclosed, though the system is anticipated to fall within a five-digit range based on drive selection and total capacity.
