Synology DS218 2 Bay NAS Enclosure

I wanted a device to consolidate all my photos , spread across multiple phones, tablets, laptop and desktops (mostly apple). I didn't want to have them on a cloud service so NAS seemed the way to go. My review compares the decisions I was trying to make and compares what I expected find with my experience after a month or so of use. Synology vs QNAP ? Apparently QNAP are better made and a bit more "Pro" whilst Synology software was thought to be more comprehensive and capable. I have been very impressed at every turn with the Synology software on the NAS and the client apps for iPhones etc. I can't fault the hardware - but its early days I suppose. It was extremely easy to set up and get working - although I had to buy a cheap ethernet switch as my router didnt have enough spare ports, and it didnt startup on first try as I hadn't pushed the disk in firmly enough. There are several apps to manage photos. I went for Photostation. This has less automatic functionality to categorise photos than the more recent "moments" and does everything I need for now. Which model ? I went for the 218 (rather than the 218+ or above) as I wasnt wanting to transcode 4K videos, just manage 20,000 or so photos. I am glad I didnt go for any of the slower models as whilst the machine performs well there are some tasks (like creating the 20,000 thumbnails that took 48 hours to complete). I would probably get the more powerful and expandable 218+ if I were doing this over. The noise on the NAS (fan) is audible - but only just - Which Disk. In the end I went for the Ironwolf (not the pro) drive 4Tb. but I suspect more NAS specific drives are fine. My main worry (Apart from reliability) was noise - and this drive is proving to be more or less silent. Overall There is enough functionality in the software to allow basic management (Not editing) of the photos so I can start to rationalise my collection (de dupe, organise into folders etc) from whichever laptop I am using - so the tasks actually get done. Speed of access is quicker than the HDD/Router setup I had before (I suppose because of the painstaking creation of the thumbnails). The iPhone photo backup seems to work well. I was able to access across the internet and on my LG TV with no extra effort So far so good (I am backing it all up onto a separate HDD!)

This is a great wee NAS for backing up. I also have a Synology DS718+ but I was looking into a dual disk USB caddy with RAID ability for backing up the DS718+ and after looking at prices and reviews for USB/HDD solutions I paid the extra few pounds for the DS218. The DS218 will not have the ability to use Virtual Machine and Docker and a few other things available on the DS718+ but for a backup solution it was perfect for my needs and it also has the ability to use SHR (Synololgy Hybrid Redundancy) or RAID so I have a redundancy if a disk fails on my backup. I’m currently using the Hyper Backup Vault on the DS218 and just set up Hyper Backup on the DS718+ and select whatever I want to backup straight over to the DS218. I’m getting 110 MB/s read/write speed over a 1Gigabyte network which is perfect. There is also a Beta version of Plex now available for the DS218 but have not tested this as I use Plex on my DS718+ but I don’t think there would be a problem when using it as the DS218 seems pretty quick at read/write. It uses the usual DSM software which is awesome and very intuitive and still has useful apps to choose from. Overall it’s a great wee NAS but as an all-in-one NAS it lacks somewhat in the apps department with no VM or Docker but as a file backup system as opposed to an external USB HDD it is the best option to go for. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a file backup solution as it’s pretty fast and dependable and has the ability to give you redundancy and would probably also be suited for Plex as long as you weren’t using it and streaming loads of media at the same time as I think the CPU would struggle somewhat. At the end of the day it's Synology, so you know you're getting quality!

So far I'm very pleased. Initial setup was extremely easy, and it takes almost no time to reach a point where you are adding your files to the storage. A couple of minor (or maybe not so minor) irritations. Firstly, the latest version of the management operating system (called DSM) now uses something called Synology Drive for local folders on your network devices (phone, pc's etc). It's very similar to Dropbox or Google Drive in concept. This is great, except that as it turns out, Drive is a direct replacement for 2 other packages, called Cloud Station Server and Cloud Station ShareSync. You should install the new Drive (because the other two are deprecated), there is no real indication of this when you begin, and the documentation is not really very clear on this. If you install the older packages first, then try to install Drive, you are warned that the other packages are incompatible and will be removed. I could go into more detail, but for anyone reading this before you install any packages, just don't install the old two, install Drive only. To add to the confusion, there is another package called Cloud Sync. This isn't related, and is used for backing up your NAS to your Cloud Drives such as Dropbox, Google Drive or Baidu. Fine, you will work that all out eventually, it's just a transitional period, and Drive is ultimately going to be a better solution anyway. The next thing I had trouble with though, was setting up the NAS for external access using my own custom Domain name (not DDNS). You are almost funnelled down the route of using the Synology DDNS service. It's a pain in the proverbial backside. This is clearly something aimed at "home" users, so if that's you, then actually it's pretty nice, but if you want to use this as storage for a small business, and would like to use your own domain name an you also have a static IP address, do not make the mistake of setting up DDNS and allowing the NAS to configure your router ports, because you will only have to undo all of that, and then set up your port forwarding manually. So a couple of irks, but overall I'm very pleased. Definitely a good buy at the price.

If Win10 drops the connection you need to download Synology Assistant. Then unplug the drive (not cool but necessary) Even if you can see the drive in Synology Assistant, search again to find a fresh link, and then the 'Set Up' button should appear. Press that and log in as administrator. The Desktop should eventually appear (takes a few minutes) then click File Services/ Advanced / and scroll down for WS. Click that to allow Win10 to link to the drive. After that the link should be rock solid and stable. It took me 2 solid days to find this solution. Don't try following some of the more technical solutions on youtube which can lead nowhere (I tried) and there is always the danger of clicking the wrong option and forgetting what you did. This solution is simple and safe.

Very pleased with this 'NAS' so far. I use it as a file server / back up / media streamer [local] with two Iron wolf drives. I made sure drives where completely ready - no files, no format no nothing! Put drives in bays, power in socket and LAN connected. Switched unit on. Shortly after I had two independent and very easily accessible drives on network. The no lan / online web utility for the unit is comprehensive enough for my needs, very easy to use and has many other facilities [some via apps] available as advertised. I actually bought the unit as a replacement for the newly bought replacement for my old NAS. That first replacement seemed good in the first hour or so of use but then failed terribly and nothing I could do - including using my own skills and reaching out to other users and the manufacturer could resurrect the device. AS noted though THIS unit worked out of the box and is simply doing it's job. I would say that some technical experience is a good thing for setting the device up but then again just following the given instruction for basic setup is very easy. Make sure to use recommended drives [see manufacturer web links] and you should be good to go! My two 8TB Iron Wolf (3.5 / network) drives work a treat.

Too locked in

I bought a Synology NAS about 10 years ago with the intention of streaming audio around the house, but put it on E-Bay after a couple of weeks because it played album tracks in alphabetic order of title, not the order on the CD. There was no way of changing this.and Synology did not seem interested in patching the OS Times move on and you can now define the play order on a number of parameters. And I can listen to my music via my phone using the Synology app when I am away from home. Brilliant ! It is a great bit of kit, and I'm still experimenting with it. Hosting web sites is easy, but getting SMTP working is ongoing. An excellent Photo album app.is provided. Excellent provision for backup. Runs cold and silent. B ery pleased with this purchase

The Synology system works reliably and is easy to use. The case is easy to populate with drives. The big disadvantage is that the case does not isolate the drives very well and consequently vibration is transferred through the housing to whatever the case is sitting on. The NAS drive can be accessed directly via a PC on the DS File app on mobile phones etc. I have had mine installed with WD Red drives for six years and it has worked flawlessly.