Synology Launches PAS3600 Rack-Mount Storage
The 2U system pairs two active controllers with SATA-based drive bays and scales to 24 drives with an expansion unit.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Data Centers
Synology has introduced the PAS3600, a 2U rack-mount storage system built around two active controllers. The device is initially available in the Asia-Pacific region, with a global rollout to follow.
Why it matters
The dual active-controller design is aimed at keeping storage services running if one controller faults, which matters for organizations that depend on continuous file access. Its deduplication, compression, and encryption-key management features target businesses managing growing data volumes.
The PAS3600 offers 12 drive bays expandable to 24 with one PAX212 unit, reaching peak sequential SMB throughput of 6,053MB/s read and 3,650MB/s write. Peak 4K random NFS performance is listed at 607,000 read and 180,000 write IOPS, though these are vendor-provided figures without independent verification.
The players
Synology
Synology is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of network-attached storage and data management hardware and software.
The details
The PAS3600 uses an active-active design with non-disruptive failover, supported by IP Failover and Multi-Path I/O to maintain client connections. It runs DSM Enterprise, supports Snapshot Replication and Hyper Backup, and includes a KMIP remote key client for managing encryption keys on an external server. Synology says Storage Efficiency, Hybrid Share, and Synology Tiering will arrive in later software updates.
Timeline
November 4, 2026: PAS3600 becomes available in the Asia-Pacific region.
Following the Asia-Pacific release: global rollout of the PAS3600 is planned.
The Tech Race
The PAS3600 extends Synology's DSM Enterprise software, including Snapshot Replication and Hyper Backup, into a dual-controller 2U chassis aimed at mid-sized enterprise deployments. It positions the company against rack-storage vendors offering high-availability controller pairs.
IT teams at organizations with 100 to 1,000 employees can consider the PAS3600 for file storage that stays online during a single-controller fault. Buyers should weigh its 24-drive ceiling and vendor-provided benchmarks against their own capacity and performance needs.
The takeaway
Organizations evaluating rack storage should compare controller redundancy, encryption-key management, and expansion limits side by side before committing. Independent benchmarks will be worth watching as the device rolls out beyond Asia-Pacific.
What happens next
Synology has said Storage Efficiency, Hybrid Share, and Synology Tiering will arrive in subsequent software updates, and a global rollout of the PAS3600 will follow the Asia-Pacific release.
Further reading
Explore more Data Centers coverage for context on enterprise storage hardware.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Guru3D.
