Synology SNV3400 400GB NVMe M.2 SSD Review

Synology recently released several new solid-state solutions aimed at users wanting to add a NAS cache to any of their supported platforms. Just last month, we put the SAT5200 to the test, coming away quite impressed by the drives overall build quality and performance. Today, we switch to the NVMe solution, which what most users will likely purchase as not to take up any high capacity 3.5" bays.

Like the SAT5200, Synology chose Phison to design their NVMe solution as well as for opting for the E12DC. This offers the SNV3400 several features including LDPC, Power Loss Data Protection, End to End Data Protection and Encryption in line with TCG Opal.

Capacity options include a single 400GB solution built on the PCIe 3.0 interface with a 4-lane interconnect. Performance is rated at 3100 MB/s read and 550 MB/s write at QD32 with 205K Read IOPS, and 40K write IOPS QD256.

Endurance is rated at 500TBW or 0.68DWPD. MSRP of the 400GB SNV3400 comes in at $149.99 with a five-year warranty.

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Synology chose a brown box for packaging, similar to what we see with their NAS platforms. Capacity is listed bottom left.

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The drive itself is delivered in a plastic retainer, sticker on top for identification.

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A closer look gives regulatory information along with model and capacity to the left.

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Here we have a closer look at the E12DC, Hynix DRAM, and Kioxia NAND flash.

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CDM is a staple in performance testing; version 7 has seen some updates in the testing workloads. Sequential performance tops out at 1979 MB/s read and 264 MB/s write for the Synology at half fill.

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Since this is a Datacenter SSD, I chose to change up the workloads running higher queue depth benchmarks, closer to what it's designed for.

For comparison, I have the Seagate IronWolf 510, which uses the same controller and NAND. As you can see in Random Read, the IronWolf and SNV3400 are side by side through QD16; from there, we see a bit of separation with the IronWolf being slightly quicker QD64 through QD256.

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Random Write shows the Synology quite a bit slower than the IronWolf but very consistent performance from QD2 through QD128.

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80/20 showed reliable performance for both drives, the Synology right in line with the Seagate through QD16. From QD32 through QD256, the Synology levels off at 40K IOPS.

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Throwing the Synology into our Price/Performance chart lands it near the bottom due to its high price per GB.

SSDs always have a target audience, and Synology has delivered to theirs with a drive that offers increased reliability and endurance for NAS cache environments. Build quality is on point, choosing the very popular E12DC, and some would say no pairing is better than Kioxia NAND with this controller.

The performance was a bit lower than marketing, bringing in 1979 MB/s read and 264 MB/s write, but since we test drives half-filled, it's to be expected. Workload testing showed pretty impressive performance from the Synology in 4K Read, sticking right with the higher capacity IronWolf solution it was tested alongside. Write performance was more consistent but still lower than the competing Seagate solution topping out at 100K IOPS.

Pricing is crucial in the storage market, and Synology could use some help here. Its current 400GB offering does come in about $10 higher than the comparable IronWolf 510.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII Formula X570 (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 (buy from Amazon)
• Case: Corsair Carbide 275R (buy from Amazon)
• OS Storage: Corsair MP600 1TB (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)