External SSD on Synology - what improvements?

Roon Software Discussion
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So, my Synology DS916+ (8GB RAM) has generally been running quite well, and I’ve not put the database onto an SSD. I know all about the advantages of SSD over spinning disk, but what exactly in Roon would be faster? I do notice from time to time I get the jellyfish icon when browsing/discovering in Qobuz, but this doesn’t happen with my local files, so I am trying to determine if moving the database to SSD would help this specific problem.

And now a few follow-ups:

My Synology has USB 3.0 (gen 1) ports. I was considering a simple, bus-powered SSD, no larger than 250GB. Any problem with this (either bus powering it, the fact that it is external, or the capacity)?

Is there a procedure for moving the location of RoonServer, or do you just start from scratch?

What data do you lose if you move/create a new database location? I’ve only been using Roon for 2 weeks, so it’s not like the database can be filled with enormous amounts of data.

Thanks, everyone.

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Excerpts from ‘Roon Server on NAS’:

We strongly recommend 4GB of RAM and an SSD for the Roon databases . Your music files can be on spinning disks, but ideally the Roon database should be on an SSD. This one optimization can provide the single biggest improvement to Roon’s performance and user experience.

Note: If your NAS does not have a free slot for an SSD, you can use a SSD via an external enclosure connected via eSATA or USB 3.0. Anything 64GB or larger should be fine – extra space will not help you any.

What will happen if the Roon database runs on a spinning disk (non-SSD)?

Roon database performance is impacted most by the media the Roon database is run on. We don’t run Roon databases on spinning disks, and neither should you. Will it work? Yes. Will you have the best Roon experience: NO. Everything will be noticeably sluggish if you run on a spinning disk.

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You won’t lose any data if you take a backup of your database prior to creating the new database location and restoring from the backup afterwards.

https://kb.roonlabs.com/Backup

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Thanks for the reply, BlackJack. I was aware of the best practice you posted above, but was curious if running this on an external USB SSD would yield good results. I have no open bays in my Synology, so I can’t populate it with an internal SSD.

I’ll check out the backup link and see if that answers my questions about losing the database.

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Yes, anything that’s better than rotating disks should yield better results.

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When restoring a backup to your new NAS core, you probably need to edit the storage locations of you media files in the Roon Settings > Storage. Click the 3 dots next to each entry and select “Edit” and point to the new storage location.
This is also required, if your files have been stored on your NAS before. As it was a network mount before and is now, with the core on the Synology, a local path.

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Hey, Chris. My Roon core has always been on my Synology NAS. Currently, the database resides on a folder on the internal RAID (spinning disk). I’m considering moving it off to a locally attached (via USB 3.0) SSD. Do you still think it would be necessary to relink to the media location? That’s not changing.

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I am having trouble finding a way to rename my external SSD (USB connected). It formats as usbshare1, but there seems to be no way to edit the name of this volume, so I can’t change it to RoonServer. Can anyone help?

Thanks.

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Um… never mind! :wink:

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Hi,
I tried to move as well from RAID hdd to esata connected ssd but failed to get it running on my 918+.
Any hint what to do besides changing description of esata share?

Thanks Michael