Synology RackStation RS422+

Synology · rack-mount network storage, 1U, four bays · Synology RackStation RS422+

what it is

Network storage for a rack cabinet: four bays for 2.5 or 3.5 inch drives, one rack unit high, two gigabit network ports and an expansion slot for a 10-gigabit module.

The enclosure measures 430.5 × 44 × 295.5 mm — and the first number is the most important, because the product datasheet does not give it. The datasheet says "44 × 478 × 327.5 mm", i.e. the dimension with rack ears. Planning cabinet space from the number 478 is off by 47.5 mm. The width of the chassis alone appears only in the hardware installation guide.

The front is a black bezel, the back — bare light-colored sheet metal.

what we read from it

Over SNMP — in version 3 with authentication and encryption, or in v2c:

• system and power status, fan status and chassis temperature;
• model, serial number and DSM version together with the pending update flag;
• disks and volumes via discovery, not from a fixed list. Of the four bays, three may be populated; a fixed list would show the fourth as a failure and would not notice a disk added later;
• the full set of network link data — negotiated speed, duplex, error counters, number of link drops.

In the manufacturer's branch the device returns 673 items.

port layout

The front panel has four drive bays at a 106.4 mm pitch and a strip of nine elements along the right edge: power indicator, power button, warning indicator, four drive status indicators, alarm beep mute button and system status indicator.

Rear panel, from the left: three 40 mm fans, a power inlet rotated by 90 degrees (pins one above the other), two gigabit network ports, a serial port, a USB port, a recessed reset button and a blanked-off network module slot.

The serial port is not a diagnostic console port. The manufacturer's guide states plainly that it is for manufacturing use only. Emergency access cannot be built on it.

The reset button has two modes, distinguished by how it is held. Holding until one beep resets the address, name server and administrator password. Holding, releasing and holding again until three beeps puts the device into the "not installed" state and forces a reinstallation of the system — configuration included.

what to watch out for

• The panel can refuse to enable SNMPv3, even though the device supports it. In DSM 7.3.2 the settings API rejected enabling v3 with code 2202 for every combination of algorithms and passwords. The daemon is plain net-snmp 5.9.3: a v3 user created from the system side works and survives later settings changes in the panel.
• Code 119 with a valid session means a missing CSRF token, not missing permissions. It appeared in DSM 7.4.1 for the SNMP and terminal settings; in DSM 7.2 the same calls went through without a token.
• SNMP reports two aggregate fan statuses — system and CPU — although at the back there are three fans.
• Ports combined into one link (bond) report speed 0. The speed belongs to the member ports, not to the aggregate interface — a "fastest interface" reading will then show zero.
• An update started from the command line does not restart the device by itself. It prepares the package and waits; the system is installed only at the next boot.
• By default SNMP v2c is sometimes enabled with community public.

what we cannot read

• Contents of network shares. We can see that the services are running; nobody reads the files.
• The speed of each of the three fans separately — see above.

full parameter list

A full parameter list for this model is not here yet — the ones described above are those we have read and verified. A missing list does not mean the device exposes nothing more.