Synology DS212J 2 Bay NAS Enclosure

A NAS drive is the econmoical solution to backup and distribute your digital life within your home!

Synology NAS enclosures are so much more than just storage as they provide numerous additional features. The Synology DiskStation DS212j is designed to be an energy efficient server that can manage media, print, downloads, surveillance and mail. If you are a proud Android or iPhone/iPod Touch owner you can remotely interact with the DiskStation DS212j as well via a downloaded app.

I use the apps on my iPad 2 which work flawlessly allowing me to stream my photo's and music direct without having to storm them ont he iPad, easy to setup and surprisingly good!

The Synology DiskStation DS212j is operating system agnostic so it can be used on home/work networks running either Windows, Mac or Linux systems. The built in Media Server is DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) capable allowing the NAS to stream seamlessly to DNLA ready devices such as the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 or other media streamers around the house. I use mine to stream movies to my tv by mapping the shares to my htpc and then using xbmc.

Synology recently upgraded their DSM (DiskStation Manager) software to version 4, which is designed to feel more like an OS than typical NAS software and this is where the Synology drive really excels above and beyond the competition in my opinion. Make sure you update to the latest firmware form the control panel. A recent one released boosts performance by up to 20%.

Opening the Synology DiskStation DS212j involves removing the two screws on the back of the device and then sliding the left side cover off of the unit. The inside of the DS looks pretty similar to its predecessors as the primary upgrades in the unit involve the CPU and memory capacity. Those who have previously owned the DS210j or DS211j will be familiar with this as the drive use sthe same format but with a boost to cpu/memory.

As mentioned Synlogy also provides mobile apps that interface with the DS211j for both the iPhone/iPod Touch and Android devices. The DS Audio iPhone app, allows music to be streamed from the NAS to your iPhone both within and outside of your home network. DS Photo offers browsing and uploading photos and videos stored on DiskStation from your mobile devices. I found the apps very good in practice, but would like to see the inclusion of a video streaming app next! Best way to think of this is your own personal dropbox without limits, though the nas drive needs to be online for you to do it.

Aswell as being able to operate with Linux, OS X and Windows it functions as an entertainment server through its DNLA enable media backend and built in iTunes server. The Download station allows Bit Torrents to run on the DiskStation DS212j without any other computer being on within the network.

The recently upgraded DSM 4 interface makes managing settings and applications on the machine much smoother and simpler and less intimidating for those with limited knowledge of networks and all the various settings. If you can navigate around Windows then the DSM 4 interface should seem quite familiar.

If you are looking for an affordable first NAS then DS212j is a terrific choice for both the savvy computer user and even the technologically challenged. I am using two 2tb WD Green drives. Make sure you check Synology's compatability list first if buying new drives to make sure they are known to work, as they test drives regards compatability. The two drives in raid provide a level of data redundancy so should one drive fail you can fall back on the other drive mirroring it.

Another good feature is the ability to hook up a USB printer making it available across the network for everyone. Ideal in the home if you have a couple of users and saves having to hard connect to the printer and it could be tucked away somewhere out of sight!

On my previous DS210J the fan started rattling but Synology sent me a replacement from Taiwan which only took a few days and was very easy to install. Their customer service is top notch and they have some very helpful people on their forums.

A fantastic enclosure that builds on previous excellent efforts by Synology.

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(I have only had this unit for two days, so bear in mind this review is based on initial impressions - I'm also using an old and relatively slow 250GB drive, as I'm not prepared to pay the current post-flood prices for TB drives!)

The DS212J has only been on sale for a few weeks, but it builds upon a well regarded line of NAS devices, and shares Synology's mature DSM operating system.
I've bought the unit as a backup device and media server.

Day 1 thoughts:
- looks cheap and cheerful, no problem with the aesthetics.
- comes with an ethernet cable, which is good, as I've run out.
- case construction is flimsy, and buckled alarmingly when I first opened it (I subsequently learned the knack of avoiding this problem).
- inner drive bays seem well made and sturdy enough.
- acceptably quiet, and my HDD is quite old so this should improve when I get a new one
- windows install software on CD didn't run from Windows 7. The package I downloaded from Synology's site did though, and also contained newer firmware, despite the one on the website saying it was the initial release.
- the installer warns you it will wipe the data on your drives. There may be a way to avoid this, but it wasn't immediately obvious. So, if you plan on using existing drives you will need space to archive the data from them elsewhere before installing them in the Diskstation.
- logging in for the first time isn't covered by the quick guide, necessitating a quick Google search to find out what the default username is (it is "admin") - I did find out later on that the user manual does walk you through this though.
- the web admin interface is quite nice, giving a browser based GUI to the device's OS and apps.

Day 2 thoughts:
- my Robocopy backup works fine with the NAS's mapped drive.
- I'm liking the DSM3.2 interface, it's really rather slick - basically a nice little desktop that runs on your browser.
- free iPhone / iPad apps are useful and easy to setup. There are apparently even more offerings for Android. Sysadmins will especially like them, you can even make the device beep so you can find it in a cluttered server room :-).
- DSM renders great on iPad in mobile mode, and is even acceptable in desktop mode.
- streaming 1080p from my PS3 is flawless, even using my old test drive. Note I have a wired connection - PS3 wi-fi streaming can be flakey anyway, but I haven't tested it with this device.
- if the PS3 is turned on and has previously accessed data, the device periodically wakes itself up even though the PS3 isn't being used. This isn't a serious problem though
- Synology community forums are packed with enthusiastic ideas and good advice. This is an extremely versatile device that can be hacked and played with in the knowledge that community support will be available.
- basic system logging and "email admin" notifications seem to work well.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase so far. My next job is to move my iTunes library onto the NAS, hopefully that will go as smoothly.
Note that if your computing experience is limited to installing Windows occasionally, that there is a learning curve associated with this product (this applies to any NAS). Provided you allocate yourself a few hours and read the manuals though you should be fine.

/\dam

A great product, one of the cheapest dual drive NAS on the market with more features than more expensive competitors.

Small (just bigger than 2 external drives, silent and very simple to set up, although it will take a few hours to initially format new drives (depending on size).

I have 2 3GB drives mirrored (RAID 1), the performance both read & write is great. I also use the NAS as a print server and can access my media via DNLA.

Recommended.