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Synology DSM 5 Released – Full features list

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Synology DSM 5 was released today. Improvements range from the improved interface with a fresh look and new icons to improved performance for enterprise applications. There are so many improvements under the hood that the DSM version is the best release ever. Synology is defiantly a leader in NAS market and with DSM 5, they left the competition in the dust. I was really looking forward to a new version of Synology Surveillance Station 6.2, but unfortunately, it was not updated. Knowing Synology pace, I am sure it will be released soon. Synology DSM 5 was covered on ITSMDaily.com before, you can also read my review of DSM 5 Centralised management

Update: DSM 5.1 Announced

Some of the DSM 5 features that deserve a mention are:

The revamped user interface, Apple-like app store, automatic software update, Improved quick connect, Centralised management, Multiple backup copies, Improved SSD caching, Text editor you can use to edit plain documents directly from DSM, Improved HA, Improved Performance, Memory compression, Improved snapshot manager with Windows and VMware applications/add-in.

Full DSM 5.0 features list

    1. Brand New User Interface
      • Visual design has been totally revamped to provide a cleaner look and touch-friendly user experiences.
      • High-resolution images are displayed when launched with Ultra HD or retina-display supported devices.
      • Badges-style notification counters appear on application icons.
      • Login page displays local weather information.
    2. QuickConnect
      • QuickConnect now supports DSM, Photo Station, Audio Station, Surveillance Station, Download Station, Video Station, File Station, providing simplified remote access, without the hassle of setting up port-forwarding on your router.
      • All mobile apps support QuickConnect.
      • Enabling QuickConnect requires registering a MyDS Center account.
      • Web Station and Mail Station does not support QuickConnect.
    3. Backup and Replication
      • Multiple version backup is now available on local backup, backup to another DiskStation. Only the differential blocks of data are retained among each version, allowing file history to be maintained with better storage efficiency.
      • Overview page displays scheduled and completed backup tasks.
      • Credentials for creating backup destinations can be saved as a profile to make backup task creation easier.
      • Data and configuration backup created in DSM 5.0 can only be restored in DSM 5.0.
      • Data and configurations that were backed up in DSM 5.0 cannot be restored using DSM 4.3 or earlier.
    4. Control Panel
      • Layout has been redesigned for better navigation and organization.
      • Service list displays related firewall and port-forwarding settings.
      • VPN client settings have been integrated into Network > Network Interface.
      • Shortcuts on DSM Desktop that were created previously will be cleared after upgrading to DSM 5.0.
    5. Shared Folders with Windows ACL Permissions
      • The access permissions of shared folders are based on Windows ACL, allowing you to fine-tune permissions beyond just Read Only, Read/Write, No Access. Newly created shared folders implement the permission settings of Windows ACL.
      • For shared folders created in DSM 4.3 or earlier, you can either convert the existing permissions to Windows ACL, or leave the permission unchanged.
      • The shared folders – photo, surveillance, and shares on external storage or volume with ext3 file system cannot use Windows ACL permissions.
    6. Storage Manager
      • New overview displays the overall health of all disks and volumes, as well as hard disk utilization, volume, and iSCSI LUN usage.
      • Disk health information includes the current and historical health of hard disks
    7. SSD Cache
      • Read/Write cache is supported. Two identical SSDs can be combined to create a RAID 1 read-write cache and enhance the performance of a volume or block-level iSCSI LUN.
      • A high-availability cluster cannot be created when SSD read-write cache is enabled.
    8. Package Center
      • Auto updating allows packages to be updated automatically.
    9. Log Center
      • Syslog Server and System Logs have been integrated into a single, centralized application.
    10. Support Center
      • Support tickets can now be sent directly from DSM.
      • Remote access and log generation allow Synology support engineers to remotely diagnose technical issues on your Synology NAS.
    11. File Station
      • File sharing links can be created and shared with your Google+ and Facebook friends. Those who receive the link will be asked to enter their Google+ or Facebook login credentials before accessing the folder or file.
      • You can view Microsoft Office documents using Office Online when QuickConnect is enabled.
    12. Text Editor
      • Plain text files can be edited directly in DSM.
      • Rich features are available, such as the ability to change character encoding, recognize file types, and see variable highlighting.
    13. DSM Help
      • Online help files can be viewed in DSM Help, allowing you to read the latest versions of documentation regarding DSM and packages.
      • Font size can be changed to larger sizes.
    2. Web Station
      • The “http” group (http) is the service account for Web Station, introducing better flexibility and security. Web applications will run as the same permission as “http” group. We suggest reviewing the permissions of the web folder and assign appropriate permissions to http group.
      • The PHP version has been updated to 5.5. Please check the compatibility of your PHP-based web apps with php 5.5. The details can be found at Migrating from PHP 5.3.x to PHP 5.4.x and Migrating from PHP 5.4.x to PHP 5.5.x documentation.
      • Performance has been enhanced with Apache MPM worker.
    3. Media Library
      • The default indexed folders – photo, video, audio – are removable from indexed folders.
      • The types of media to be indexed in each default folder can be changed.
    4. Synology High Availability
      • When binding two or more ethernet connections to create an aggregated heartbeat connection, load balancing and failover are supported.
    5. iSCSI Performance
      • For iSCSI LUN with Advanced LUN option enabled, iSCSI random read performance has been enhanced by over 6 times, as illustrated in the below comparison:
IOPS (4KB) DSM 4.3 DSM 5.0 Improvement
Read IOPS from DS1813+ 135 995 637 %

*Configured with 4 HDDs composed in SHR-1, the LUN used for testing is a 100G LUN with advanced LUN features enabled. Tested by IOmeter by 100% random read with 4k block size.

    1. File Service
      • AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) performance has been improved, as illustrated in the below comparison of transferring 5000 x 1MB files to Synology NAS:
Mac to Synology NAS DSM 4.3 DSM 5.0 Improvement
DS213j 25.14 MB/s 31.42 MB/s 25.0%
DS1513+ 31.64 MB/s 41.61 MB/s 31.5%
  1. SPDY
    • Support for SPDY v3.0 accelerates the overall responsiveness of the user interface when using HTTPS connections.
  2. Memory Compression
    • Least recently used data in memory is compressed, improving system responsiveness when under heavy load.
  3. Wi-Fi
    • Connecting up to two USB Wi-Fi adapters is supported, allowing your Synology NAS to share its Internet connection via both 2.4GHz and 5GHz ranges.
    • You can bridge your wired connection with Wi-Fi hotspot(s) to extend your wireless network range and unify your existing local network and the wireless network hosted on your DiskStation.
  4. Snapshot Manager
    • Synology Snapshot Manager software plugin available on vSphere and Windows Server environments to create application-consistent snapshots in DSM.
    • For VMware environments, you can install Synology Snapshot Manager for VMware vCenter Server on Windows Server. After installation, when a snapshot is triggered on DSM, vCenter Server will be notified and flush all the data from memory to the LUN to guarantee data consistency. Once the snapshot is complete, vCenter Server will resume normal I/O operation of VMware datastore.
    • For Windows environment, you can install Synology Snapshot Manager for Windows Server. After installation, when a snapshot is triggered on DSM, Synology Snapshot Manager will use the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) technology to produce consistent point-in-time copies of data. Synology Snapshot Manager for Windows Server also supports performing snapshots when triggered by 3rd party software via VSS.
    • Synology Snapshot Manager for VMware vCenter Server supports vSphere 5.1 or later, and vSphere web client server plugin is required for application interface. Snapshot Manager for Windows supports Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2. VMWare applications support up to 3 maximum concurrent snapshot tasks.
  5. Surveillance Station Max. Camera
    • The maximum number of IP cam has been increased. Please refer to product page for detailed information.

What’s New in Mobile Apps

  1. DS audio for Android
    • It’s now possible to stream to a Chromecast.
    • The lock screen controls now also apply to the remote player.
    • Supports force transcoding of all formats, even those natively supported by Android devices (notably .FLAC).
    • Streaming quality can be adjusted if your Synology NAS supports audio transcoding.
  2. DS audio for iPhone/iPad
    • It’s now possible to stream to a Chromecast.
    • The lock screen controls now also apply to the remote player.
    • Improved the mini-player design (notably for the portrait mode).
    • Supports force transcoding of all formats, even those natively supported by the iDevice (notably .ALAC)
    • Streaming quality can be adjusted if your Synology NAS supports audio transcoding.
  3. DS photo+ for Android
    • Photos can be displayed on Apple TV with AirPlay support.
    • Instant Upload has the option to upload “photos only” (skip videos).
    • Logging in to your Personal Photo Station has been simplified.
  4. DS photo+ for iPhone/iPad.
    • Instant Upload has the option to upload “photos only” (skip videos).
    • Logging in to your Personal Photo Station has been simplified.
  5. DS photo+ for Windows Phone
    • Smart albums, Tags and Categories created in Photo Station can be viewed.
    • Photos can be displayed on Apple TV.
  6. DS file for iPhone/iPad
    • User interface has been redesigned, and overall usability has been improved.
    • Thumbnails are now displayed.
    • The following features require DSM 4.3 or later:
      • Files and folders can now be shared with users without DSM accounts.
      • Advanced search options are now available in addition to local folder search by keyword filtering.
      • Supports compress/extract files as in File Station.
      • Folders can be added to “Favourites” like in File Station.
    • Video playback can now switch to HTTP when using a HTTPS connection. (iOS only)
  7. DS file for Windows Phone
    • Image thumbnails are now displayed in list view.
  8. DS cloud for Android and iPhone/iPad
    • Folders can be selected on multiple Synology NAS servers.
    • You can view the status of files being synced, such as the progress and sync speed.
    • DS cloud update is required to be compatible with Cloud Station 3 in DSM 5.0.
  9. DS download for Android and iPhone/iPad
    • Supports selecting the destination folder for your downloads.
  10. New DS download for Windows Phone
    • Monitor Download Station and view download task information.
    • Create tasks using the BT search, embedded Web-browser, or inputting the URL directly.
    • Update RSS feeds.
    • Enable download schedules.
    • Select the destination folder for your downloads.
  11. DS video for Android and iPhone/iPad
    • It’s now possible to stream to a Chromecast
    • Videos can be downloaded for offline viewing.
    • Quality options are now available when streaming to an Apple TV.
  12. DS video for Windows Phone
    • Quality options are now available when streaming to an Apple TV
  13. DS video for Samsung TV
    • Browse and stream your video collection with a dedicated app for Samsung TV.
    • Stream Live TV with a DVB-T/DVB-S dongle plugged into your Synology NAS.
    • Option to enable transcoding (on Synology NAS models which support transcoding).
    • Subtitles are supported (.srt support, and embedded subtitles for .mkv).
    • DS video for Samsung TV is available on Samsung Smart Hub for USA market. Manual installation is possible for other countries, please refer to this link.

Known Issue

  1. Plex Media Server

    • Users need to manually set read permission for the “plex” user at the User page in Control Panel to allow Plex Media Server to read the shared media folder content.

  2. Cloud Sync

    1. If a file in Google Drive cannot be transferred within one hour, it has to be re-transferred.

You can find more information on DSM 5 on the Synology website.

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