Buffalo Terastation WS5220 Network Storage Review

Single Client Throughput

• HD Video Play - 720p HD stream from Windows Media Player, 256kB reads
• HD Video Record - 720p HD stream, 256kB writes
• File Copy from NAS - 4GB file copy, 64kB reads
• File Copy to NAS - 64kB writes

In testing the WS5220, I used the 10Gbe port with a direct connection to the test system. The NAS was tested in its default configuration from the factory.

Single Client testing showed the Buffalo did well with standard playback and read options reaching 120 MB/s in HD Video Playback and File Copy from NAS. Write operations were slower at 92 MB/s in File copy and 56 MB/s Video Record.

Benchmarks - Sequential and Workloads

Our Sequential read/write workload is centered on 128K transfer sizes at QD32.

Sequential performance was on par with the best two bay platforms tested. Read topped out at 112 MB/s and write 118 MB/s.

Workloads were at the bottom end for the WS5220; it actually performed worse than many Linux two bay platforms. That said we reached a peak of 300 IOPs in Web Server.

Looking at workloads with QD scaling, Web Server is a clear strong point for the Buffalo reaching 500 IOPs at QD128. On the other hand, the rest of the workloads seemed to almost be constrained by the drives with a near identical scaling pattern.