Synology DS211J DiskStation 2-bay NAS Server for Small Office and Home Use

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- Simple to put together and set up- Exceptional software bundle- Lots of capabilities- Little- Incredibly quiet - Looks and feels like a toaster from Walmart.- Negative ventilation about the second HDD. There is no space among the HDD's controller plate and the chassis, so the drive is running hotter, with the controller being the most overheated portion. A recipe for the HDD failure. - Questionable style and assembly top quality. (See below.) I put two 2TB Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD204UI in this NAS. The server reported the second HDD failure less than 24 hrs into operations. I made a mistake of not verifying on other gear no matter whether the HDD is actually dead, and send it for replacement proper away. The NAS pronounced the replacement HDD dead right away. This time I didn't believe it, took the HDD out and re-installed it, trying to press it into the slot a bit tougher. This time the NAS started fine, restored the RAID, but reported the identical problems for the new HDD as for the original "dead" 1: greater operational temp and the Smart abnormal state ("spinoff time"). Which made me believe that the source of the failure was not the HDD but the flimsy connectors and design flaws of the NAS itself.So there are my two advices:- If you have some added cash - buy more upscale version.- Stick with the "approved" HDDs, the list can be located on the item support page.

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Incredibly speedy NAS, about 40-50 MB/s write, 50 MB/sec read by way of network on regular frames.Easy to use menu, be confident to upgrade to newest DSM from their internet site. A bit low on memory for the value, but nonetheless faster than NASes with more memory!

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Lots of functions for the cost. Reasonably quiet (just the fan is audible but it's a nice low whirr). Seems quick adequate for my tasks (file storage, streaming music). Fantastic interface. The drive is pretty quiet in the unit. Absolutely nothing yet. Utilizing Hitachi 7K3000 2 TB for storage. No problems following 4 days. No concerns with disk checking and copying over my files from my old 320GB Maxtor USB drive. Employing DSM three.1.1613.The entire NAS thing is new for me so I was hoping for much better documentation from Synology but their forum has been beneficial. I haven't seriously had a opportunity to play around with everything. It'd be good if it came in black.

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My first NAS, I am quite surprised how easy it is to set up. I am glad I bought this over another popular brand, which isn't as user friendly.

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Newegg.com definitely takes care of its consumers. When the initial one died they overnighted me a new 1. When the second one died they did not charge a restocking fee and paid for the return shipping. two dead NASs in a row. The first 1 just faded away. It would not finish the software program install, then I could no longer connect to it.The second one in no way showed up in the network at all. The network lights by no means lit. And it never got an address from the DHCP on the router. Newegg.com rocks!

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Simple hardware setup! Software program menus on the DSM 3.1 software program are straight-forward, and it is effortless to locate what I want. User & Group flexibility is really great. Network Speeds are amazing. I have MTUs set at 9K and my switches also support it. I'm getting somewhere in the range of 60MBs and is utilizing about 50% of my 1gbps network bandwidth. I have 2 Hitachi 5K3000 2TB drives in RAID . Initialization was not bad, maybe 15 minutes?It had quiet operation even in the course of full load. It's a small bigger than a D-link DSN-323 that I attempted out prior to this. No eSATA or USB3 ports. Setup of DSM 3.1 on an empty method needed downloading it from Synology, which had a fairly superior website BTW. The DSM version doesn't match the file names. Getting the DSM software on the box could have been made A LOT easier than it was. I'm running DSM 3.1 and have just completed setup and basic configuration. I'm working with this primarily as a shared backup for all of my personal computer. I strategy on expanding to use a lot more of the characteristics.

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First off – wow! This is a really good NAS device and I was surprised to see what this little device supplied. What sets this device apart is that it gives great tools for receiving the most out of a NAS device with the least quantity of effort. The GUI makes it possible for men and women with less expertise to do more and helps experienced users get what they want performed a lot quicker.The physical design of this device is a actual plus. It is compact, yet effortless to perform with. The drives slide in nicely and are secured with screws. The casing is plastic, but there is metal where it counts. There is a certain really feel of high quality that you do not get with its competitors.The manual is usually exceptional. It is 1 of the much better manuals you will find these days. They do a superior job of explaining the terms and providing step by step instructions. There are a few small gaps, but Synology makes a wiki offered along with a forum that assists a lot. This is not genuinely a con per se, but rather a beneficial tip for the manufacturer. Synology has accomplished a good job creating NAS functionality accessible, but even still; a total novice would have a lot of terminology and concepts to discover. It would be good if the fast begin guide provided directions to promptly setup backup or media sharing. I looked at a lot of competing items (Dlink 323, Buffalo Linkstation Pro, Netgear, Thecus, WD World Book, Seagate GoFlex, Trendnet, Qnap, etc.) and I am extremely glad I went with Synology. It is the only 1 of the bunch that consistently gets five eggs and it becomes really apparent why when you own one. It is just greater than every little thing else across the board.

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Amazing functonality. Lots of great features. Linux command prompt for the geeks. Runs well. Code is common accross Synology line. Also have a DS1010 with DX510 (10 drives). Love the Synology line.

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It was in fact incredibly easy to set up and use. I use it as a Mirror RAID for my residence network. I like the schedule begin up and shut down feature due to the fact it is in a bedroom and the lights could be bothersome :) I don't have any correct now

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Overall, a great product. Can stream easily 1080p media files to 3 computer at the same time.For the price : 5/5

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Initially NAS, only had this a couple of weeks so far and I am really pleased! Does every thing that it claims so far. Not utilizing all of the functions however though. setup and list:Two Macbook Pro's (mine & wifes), Linksys WRT120N wireless router, Synology DS211j w/ two 1TB 7200RPM drives in RAID 1 mirror.ProsɅ) We each share documents and a 3,000 photo/video library located on the diskstation (navigate photos through a wireless N connection working with Adobe Bridge CS5). Speed is acceptable for this job. Some wait time for thumbnails but nothing unexpected. Even much better over ethernet.two) Each MBPs point to a shared folder for wireless time machine backups. (note: initially backup was too slow over wireless, had to use ethernet for that). So far so very good.3) Have access to my files wherever there is a browser by way of remote login to the server or via standard FTP service.4) Sharing an itunes library which is saved on the server, each MBPs point to it. Some quirks here, but works fine. Don't have cons so I'll continue with the pros :)five) Server has proprietary audio playback software (audiostation) that can be applied to stream music over the remote world wide web connection I mentioned earlier. This can be pointed at your existing itunes library w/o interferenceŐ) Server software is well organized, intuitive, and easy to use.7) Synology has an active item forum and wiki with lots of info8) Quite thorough compatibility lists on their web page for Every little thing. check it out. www.synology.com9) According to benchmarks by third party's this NAS is considerably quicker than the Lacie 2big or Iomega storcenter.Only doable con I can think of this that there isn't a lot instruction included with the product, I would dock to 4 eggs for this if it weren't for the wiki, valuable forum, and intuitive software program. Expect to invest some time studying basic terms and concepts of the capabilities if you don't know them already. I researched NAS's for a solid month before deciding. was debating among the Lacie 2big and the Iomega StorCenter. This NAS was a lot more expensive but the others all have mixed reviews and this one was almost all positive. Decided it was worth a little extra to not gamble with the mixed results getting reported on the other people. TIP: Synology has a thorough list of compatible difficult drives by model #. Discover a screamin' deal on your tough drives, purchase a diskless system and you'll only be ุ-โ additional than the competition.

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low cost. you can add a neteworked printer. i dont have to add any music to any of my computers and worry about one of them getting different songs then the other, you can use the itunes server and it will come up as shared if you set it up right. there is iphone apps for music and photos. there always updating this. also i read that they are coming out with air print for this. or atleast there attempting to get it to work. This is the initial time i set up a nas and setting it up was a little rough simply because the documentation on some factors are not the best. appear via the forums or wing it to get some issues to function. they have email support, thats what i employed for the itunes server. i couldn't get one of my computers to see the shared music from the nas. I normally use windows media player or winamp so that was more my fault but i put it as an example of the documentation. one other is the photo app for the iphone. if they could add sub albums that would be excellent. that would make it a small less complicated to sort photos. if you want to copy from a external usb drive to or from the nas you have to do that while you are in the file server on the website for your nas. if you copy it with mapped drives it will take for ever if its a lot. Other words this is fairly awesome. i got it setup with two tb drives and its greate because i can stop carrying a external usb drive about to all my computers to back stuff up

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I picked this up along with 2 2TB WD Greens which I am running in RAID-1Setup was fairly easy and the NAS comes with really good documentation to guide you through the setup process and all the features. It recognized my old printer without problems and now I can print from anywhereFaster than a cheaper NAS, but not as fast as some of the more expensive ones.All in all, a good NAS for home use if you're needs are modest

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Basically, this is a good unit for the price. The issue with the router support is that if you are using a router that it does NOT support you will be forced to manually enter all the port forwarding information yourself. This was not a huge deal for myself because I deal with things like that on a daily basis but for someone not IT inclined it might be a struggle.In short though, this is well worth the purchase. This review was modfied by poster @ 05-05-11 01:17 PM

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This is a excellent NAS for home use. Running it now with one 2TB Seagate Barracuda drive. Supports gigabit lan, but speed is only about 45mb/s, moving files from PC to NAS. Haven't tried the USB copy yet, but seen some reviews saying its faster and easy. Have hooked up a printer and 2 usb drives, no issues installing them. It would be an sweet NAS if you get it on sale.

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Voici ma configuration et les performances:Boitier: Synology DS211JDisques dur: Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2TB Configuration en RAID 1, Réseau Gigabit avec cablage CAT6 Test de transfert d'un fichier ISO d'un film Bluray de 40GB: Vitesse d'écriture sur le NAS: en moyenne 42 MB/secVitesse de lecture: en moyenne 74 MB/sec Test de transfert d'un dossier de 19GB avec 4500 de photos: Vitesse d'écriture sur le NAS: en moyenne 29 MB/secVitesse de lecture: en moyenne 44 MB/sec En conclusion: Un très bon taux de transfert et ca vaut la peine de payer un peu plus cher pour ce boitier NAS ce qui en fait un très bon serveur de fichiers multimedia. Ce qui fait la diférence entre ce boitier et les boitiers moins chers est la vitesse de 1.2 GHz du CPU au lieu des ≈ 500 MHz typique qu'ont les CPU des boitiers bon marché. Aussi l'interface utilisteur est très bien avec beaucoups de règlages et le support sur le site web de Synology est super. Pour la configuration de base, il faut suivre le wizard et c'est pas très compliqué. Idéalement l'utilisation d'un UPS pour assurer la sécurité des fichiers est à recommender. Le boitier est refroidi par un ventilateur 70mm très silencieux avec vitesse de rotation configurable. La finition du boitier est de bonne qualité et les boutons et les indicateurs lumineux le sont aussi. Le seul point négatif que j'ai trouvé est qu'il faut ouvrir le boitier pour sortir les disques durs. Par contre ce n'est pas bien grave parce que ce n'est pas souvent qu'on dois faire cela.

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Did a lot of research and waited until this price drop. Unit feels sturday and was a breeze to setup (although RAID 1 mirroring setup took almost 7 hours with 2x 2TB WD Green drives). I have had a chance to play around with all the various options and the GUI is very intuitive. The BT client supports RSS downloads. The DNLA support is great as my Samsung TV will be able to pull content right from the NAS. Great bang for the buck. Thought briefly about the QNAP or Drobo products, but I am not dissappointed in the least with the Synology unit.

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I was very pleasantly surprised at how easy it has been to use. It's easy to connect to, either by mapping a network drive, or there's a browser interface to interact with files, and administer. I was in need of a hard drive temporarily (to verify an image), and didn't have a spare one around, so I pulled the second drive from this unit. (This second drive was set up as a redundant backup). I verified that the information was still intact (coming from the first drive). After I finished my testing, and put the drive back in, the server recognized that it was corrupted (because I had loaded other information on it), and there were easy prompts to re-create  the volume.