Synology PAS7700 in the UAE: active-active NVMe storage, and who to buy it from
The PAS7700 is Synology’s active-active all-NVMe array: 48 NVMe bays in a 4U chassis, two AMD EPYC controllers, and expansion to 1.65 PB. Both controllers serve I/O at the same time, so losing one is a capacity event rather than a failover your database notices. This page explains where the PAS7700 fits in a UAE enterprise, lists Synology’s certified system integrators here, and puts you in front of the person who runs the region.
The UAE storage conversation has moved on from capacity
Khaleej Times reported in 2026 that UAE data storage priorities are shifting away from simply adding capacity toward control, protection and reliable recovery. The reasons are local and concrete: data sovereignty rules, and a threat level that does not let up. Cyberattacks across the GCC rose nearly 40% year on year, and the UAE absorbs over 200,000 attempted intrusions a day.
Our priority is to help UAE enterprises build scalable, resilient data infrastructure that can evolve with their business needs.
Mike Chen, Senior Regional Sales Manager for the Middle East, Synology (Khaleej Times)
That reframing matters when you evaluate the PAS7700. Judging it on IOPS alone misses the point of the architecture. One distinction worth carrying into any procurement conversation: synchronisation is not backup. When ransomware deletes, corrupts or encrypts, sync faithfully replicates the damage to every device. Only an independent recovery layer gets you back.
What the PAS7700 actually is
| Form factor | 4U chassis, two controllers |
| Drives | 48 NVMe SSD bays; up to 1.65 PB raw with 7 expansion units |
| Controllers | AMD EPYC, up to 1 TB memory each (2,048 GB total) |
| Performance | Up to 2,000,000 IOPS (4K random read), 30 GB/s (64 KB sequential read), under 1 ms latency |
| Networking | Up to 100 GbE |
| Protocols | NVMe-oF, iSCSI, Fibre Channel, SMB, NFS |
| Resilience | Active-active controllers, RAID triple parity, synchronised in-memory write protection, IP and protocol-level failover |
In an active-passive array the second controller idles until something breaks, and the handover is an event your applications can feel. In the PAS7700 both controllers carry traffic and the write cache is mirrored between them. Firmware updates and a controller failure become non-events rather than change windows.
Is the PAS7700 the right array for you?
It is worth a conversation if any of these are true.
- A SAN is coming off support and the renewal quote approaches the cost of replacing it.
- Virtualisation or database latency is the bottleneck, not capacity.
- A controller firmware update is not something your change window allows.
- You need block and file on one platform: NVMe-oF, iSCSI, Fibre Channel, SMB and NFS.
- Data residency is a requirement you have to evidence, not a preference.
It is not the right fit if you need a few terabytes of shared storage for a small office, if the workload is archive rather than transactional, or if nobody on the team administers block storage today. Those are better served by a smaller Synology platform, and the honest answer saves everyone a quarter.
Scale, in local terms
Dubai’s Museum of the Future generates roughly 110 TB of additional data a year, including 8K content, and runs on Synology. That is the shape of the problem the PAS7700 is built for: data that grows faster than the refresh cycle, on infrastructure that cannot be taken offline to grow with it. Synology has over 14 million installations across more than 120 markets.
Synology-certified system integrators in the UAE
Synology sells through partners in this region rather than direct. These are the system integrators currently certified for the UAE, listed on Synology’s own Where to Buy directory.
| System integrator | Phone |
|---|---|
| ACRUX Infotech | +971 54 58 68889 |
| Adnan Bayan Systems Co. LLC | +971 52 578 4707 |
| ALAN Technology LLC | +971 4 351 2460 |
| CADD Emirates | +971 4 447 1400 |
| Hedges Information Technology LLC | +971 4 263 6288 |
| HPC Technology | +971 52 252 1655 |
| Insights Gulf Trading Co. L.L.C | +971 58 571 0155 |
| TechX Distribution | +971 4 354 4115 |
| UNIVEST BUSINESS MACHINES | +971 2 441 8000 |
All markets across the region are currently experiencing growth rates exceeding 30%.
Mike Chen (Arab Overclockers, Computex 2026)
Mike Chen on the PAS7700 at COMPUTEX 2026
Arab Overclockers interviewed Mike Chen at COMPUTEX 2026 in Taipei. The conversation covers the PAS7700 launch, why Synology went all-NVMe with dual controllers, the shift to processing data on-premises rather than through public AI services, and what he expects of enterprise storage in the region. It runs about 17 minutes, in Arabic.
Tell Mike Chen what you are running
Mike Chen is Synology’s Senior Regional Sales Manager for the Middle East. He works directly with the integrators above. Describe your environment and he will come back with a professional recommendation — including telling you if the PAS7700 is more array than you need.
Data security today is no longer just about backups — it is about building continuous resilience, ensuring rapid recovery.
Mike Chen (GEC News Wire)
PAS7700 questions we get from the UAE
Can I buy the PAS7700 directly from Synology in the UAE?
No. Synology works through its partner network in the Middle East rather than selling direct, so the purchase goes through one of the certified system integrators listed above. Mike Chen can point you to the one that fits your project.
How much does a PAS7700 cost?
There is no list price that means anything on its own, because the figure depends on drive capacity, expansion units, networking and support term. Send your capacity and workload through the form and you will get a configured quote rather than a guess.
Does active-active really remove the failover pause?
Both controllers serve I/O concurrently and the write cache is mirrored between them, so losing one reduces available performance rather than interrupting service. That is the practical difference from an active-passive array, where the standby has to take over.
Can the PAS7700 serve both VMware and file shares?
Yes. It presents block storage over NVMe-oF, iSCSI and Fibre Channel, and file over SMB and NFS, from the same platform. That is usually the reason it replaces two separate systems.
How does this help with data sovereignty requirements?
The array sits in your facility or your chosen data centre, so you can evidence where data resides and who reaches it rather than relying on a provider’s assurances. That control is the point, and it is what the UAE market has been moving toward.
Is a backup still needed if the array has triple parity?
Yes. RAID protects against drive failure, not against deletion, corruption or encryption. Synchronisation does not help either, because it replicates the damage. An independent recovery layer is a separate requirement.
Sources
- Synology — PAS7700 announcement
- Khaleej Times — UAE data storage is shifting from capacity to control, protection and recovery
- GEC News Wire — Synology highlights cyber resilience and AI infrastructure in the Middle East
- Arab Overclockers — Mike Chen interview, Computex 2026
- Synology — Where to Buy, United Arab Emirates