Synology DS218+ Review

Regarding cloud computing, N.A.S., and networking equipment, Synology DS218+ Review doesn’t need to be introduced because they are already at the top of the market. They constantly improve their software and hardware; customer service is second to none.

The company was started in 2000, and its main products are network-attached storage (N.A.S.), I.P. surveillance solutions, and network equipment that change how users manage data, do surveillance, and run the network in the cloud era.

Synology is dedicated to making products with forward-thinking features and the best customer service in the industry. They do this by making the most of the latest technologies. Synology tries to change what an N.A.S. can do by combining public and private cloud features into a mixed cloud solution with a web-based platform. This turns an N.A.S. into a device that can be used for many things.

Hardware innovation is driven by software innovation. Without powerful software, hardware is as good as poorly designed and deployed software. Because of reason, Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review covers both hardware and software.

By hiding complex hardware abstraction and computing with intuitive, user-friendly, and highly flexible software, Synology products and services can be deployed to drive and facilitate data storage and sharing needs easily.

Synology’s basic values—5S—drive constant innovation and are reflected in its products and services. 5S: Store, Sync, Service, Secure, and Share.

Synology generously lets us test its DS218+ NAS. This Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review box is from their Plus line of storage and sharing solutions, built for high-performance, data-intensive applications and on-the-fly encryption and scalability. The compact but powerful dual-bay N.A.S. box DS218+ has a dual-core CPU, AES-NI hardware encryption engine, and 2GB DDR3L RAM.

It supports 2.5″ and 3.5″ HDDs/S.S.D.s with 108TB single volumes and 28 T.B. internal raw capacities. This machine supports Btrfs, EXT4 for internal drives and EXT3/4, F.A.T., NTFS, HFS+, and exFAT for external devices. It has one 1GbE LAN port, three USB 3.0 ports, one eSATA port, and a copy button.

The DS218+ supports Synology Hybrid RAID, a default RAID, Basic, JBOD, and RAID 0/1 with the ability to add an HDD. Maximum local user accounts are 2048, with 256 sharing folders and local groups. Log up to 400 events per second. Cloud station servers can host 500 concurrent devices.

Synology DS218+ Review

Adding 4 GB of RAM can increase this figure to 1500. It supports 80 simultaneous downloads. As a surveillance station, DS218+ can host 25 I.P. Cams. This device supports 120 FPS at 4k with H.264, 200 with H.265 and 130 with M.J.P.E.G.

The Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review Drive can host 500,000 files. Maximum 2 channels transcoding at 30 F.P.S. at 4k and F.H.D. resolutions. Given the baseline RAM and CPU configuration, a VPN server can accommodate 20 connections and 2 virtual machine instances.

 2 Bay N.A.S. DiskStation DS218+ Specifications

Synology Diskstation Ds218+ Unboxing and Packaging

The product comes in a sturdy brown cardboard box. The box has Synology DiskStation at the bottom left. The top right side has a sticker stretching from the top. Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review is on the left, and the box photo is on the right. A 2-Bay DiskStation. More N.A.S. box features are printed below.

Synology is written in the middle of the back of the box. At the bottom, there is a sticker stuck on. On the left side, there are pictures of the unit with names. On the right side of the sticker are written the most important details.

On the top of the left side of the box, it says “Synology.” In the main section, the most important parts are highlighted. Taiwan is where the unit was made.

On the right side, the layout is the same as on the left, but more features and information about which operating systems work with it are highlighted at the bottom.

On the left side of the top of the box, it says Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review. A black handle makes it easy to carry in the middle of the box. A sticker with the EAN and serial number is in the top right corner. The Plus series of the product and the model of the unit are both written on the part of the sticker that sticks out towards the front.

When you open the box, you’ll see that the things inside are neatly stacked and packed. On top, there is a white polystyrene pad. A protected sheet is put around the DS218+. The accessories and user instructions are on the far end of the inside.

Diskstation DS218+ Accessories and Contents

Synology has made the following available:

• 1x Main Unit
• 1x A.C. Power Adapter
• 1x A.C. Power Cord
• 1x RJ45 LAN Cable
• 1x Quick Installation Guide
• 1x Accessory pack with small screws

What is N.A.S.?

Before we examine the unit more deeply, let’s talk about the N.A.S. What is the N.A.S.? Network Attached Storage is what N.A.S. stands for. It is a smart and easy way to add data to your network, keeping in mind that it can grow. Depending on your need, this network could be at home or the job. On the N.A.S., you can store all of your family’s and coworkers’ files, from important papers to collections of photos, music, and videos.

Using a web browser or mobile app, you can connect to the N.A.S. over the Internet to access files and use its different services. When you connect a storage solution to a network, you get a centralized storage solution that anyone with permissions can use. For people who use their computers at home, this could mean putting their pictures, videos, and documents in a central place where everyone can access them.

This is especially critical when digital file sizes grow, especially 4k entertainment, which takes up more space. This centralized storage also protects data, ensuring its safety.

Your next inquiry may be whether to save digital files on cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. That is possible, but there is a catch. A subscription is needed to increase storage space on the free account. Second, we rely on the third party to protect our data. One can also wonder about pen drives. Data can be shared using pen drives.

In addition to the trouble of copying and downloading data, pen drive capacity is a big barrier. These drives don’t have automation. Thus, they don’t have automatic backup or off-site access. USB flash drives are convenient but not long-term.

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My home has two PCs, one laptop, and three smartphones. Most of the time, my wife and I share many files. She also wants to preserve and access her phone’s photos and movies on her PC and laptop. The discomfort of moving these files from one P.C. to another and watching them on T.V. is another consideration. You only get one average scenario.

N.A.S. will reside between these devices on my home network and be visible to them and user accounts. My wife sends smartphone and laptop data to the Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review. This data is visible to me.

N.A.S. and user credentials on my home network will be visible to these devices. My wife sends Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review smartphone and laptop data. Data is visible to me.

Drive lets family members sync files from an N.A.S. to their P.C./Mac. Drimaximizes restoring previous versions and transferring data from local PCs to maximize efficiency. CCustomization is enhanced by efficient packages like Moments, which organize and automatically back up photos from mobile devices. N.A.S. can stream videos, as described previously.

Video Stations broadcast videos to PCs, mobile devices, Apple T.V., and Android T.V. without copying them. Auto-downloaded posters, Internet subtitle searches, and movie sharing with pals enhance your video collection. Name it. The Synology N.A.S. solution’s characteristics are only apparent after use.

N.A.S. benefits for residential users have been discussed so far. N.A.S. makes more sense for corporations. Small businesses must properly store their expanding data in a central area so employees can back up, share, and work on one file at a time. N.A.S. achieves all this without much knowledge.

Many store files on a typical file server, but backup and collaboration concerns quickly render it insufficient. Others use public cloud storage, which is useful for collaboration but boosts data control and subscription costs. N.A.S. simplifies work and fixes the following issues. Most importantly, it’s simple and affordable.

The benefits of N.A.S. for small office setup include using it as a next-gen file server for on-premises centralized storage and modern file sharing and collaboration. Synology Drive enables local S.M.B. access, online portal, and mobile app remote access. Selecting a D.S.M. account lets you transfer files internally with notifications.

Centralized backup is another N.A.S. function. Backups of PCs, servers, and V.M.s are difficult, but remote offices and personnel make them even harder. A unified, straightforward console makes backup easy with Active Backup for Business without licence fees. Another advantage is service continuity.

You need a High Availability (H.A.) solution for constant employee data and service access if you can’t tolerate server or storage failures. Synology N.A.S. can cluster H.A. Active N.A.S. handles all service and data requests and mirrors them to standby, passive N.A.S. in real-time.

If the active N.A.S. fails, the passive device takes over in seconds, allowing employees to access files and services. The simplicity of Synology N.A.S.’s High Availability setup makes it even more appealing.

Small business monitoring is another use case. Video monitoring deters thieves and improves staff accountability. Surveillance Station offers many security alternatives to protect your investment and livelihood, including remote feed monitoring and camera switching.

The preceding attempted to scratch the surface of the N.A.S. and its various features and capabilities. The Synology 2 bay N.A.S. diskstation ds218+ review website details the N.A.S.’s features.

Ds218+ Closer look

Let’s examine the unit before examining the D.S.M. and a few key packages. The enclosure’s sturdy plastic frame. The item measures 165x108x232.2mm. The 60W power supply/adapter uses 100V to 240V A.C.

Single-phase power is 50/60Hz. Access uses 17.23W and HDD Hibernation 5.4W. Access has 58.79 BTU/hr and HDD Hibernation of 18.43. The working temperature rating is 5°C to 40°C, which worries me as my ambient temperature without A.C. is 45°C to 49°C in summer. Storage temperature is -20°C to 60°C. Between 5% and 95RH is relative humidity.

The product is E.A.C., V.C.C.I., CCC, R.C.M., K.C., F.C.C., C.E., and B.S.M.I. certified and has a 2-year warranty. It is a mini P.C. since it is a complete processing unit. Dual-core Intel Celeron J3355 with 2.5GHz turbo boost powers the CPU. Supports H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, and VC-1 with a maximum resolution of 4k (4096×2160) and F.P.S. of 30. Hardware encryption AES-NI engine.

It includes 2GB DDR3L system memory and one slot for adding up to 4 GB extra to make 6GB. The box can read and write 113 and 112 MB/s encrypted.

The enclosure’s front cover is detachable. The right side has L.E.D. indicators. The top L.E.D. is DiskStation Status. Network indication L.E.D. follows. Next, two L.E.D.s show the drive status. One USB 3.0 port, USB copy, and power on/off buttons are above the bottom. The front cover features two finishes. The main body is matte black with a fingerprint-attracting smooth surface.

DS218+ is printed white on its bottom left. The left, right, and bottom are glossy black. Status, LAN, Disc 1, and Disc 2 are white on the right glossy frame. These printouts face the main housing L.E.D.s. This cover makes the unit look stylish and bold, adding a subtle touch.

The mounting mechanism is another stunning design element of this cover. Smart design, for sure. The back of the lid includes four mounting supports with screws holding rubber mounts. Rubber mounts go inside the unit and fill the slots to secure the cover to the main housing. Therefore, no magnetic or bolted mounting is needed. The Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review design team deserves 10/10!

The right side contains an enormous Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review text cutout in a lined design. This helps their design team ventilate disc drives and gives the visual appearance that looks great in person. The right side top frame features an angular or curve design. The overall design is consistent.

The left side of the unit has the same Synology pattern but no top frame with an angular or rounded edge. The left side of the front cover stretches. This glossy and matte blend makes the unit stand out and look amazing.

The system fan is 92 mm x 92 mm on the back of the machine to exhaust heat. D.S.M. has three fan speed modes in the control panel. These are:

• Full Speed Mode
• Cool Mode
• Quiet Mode

Quiet mode is the default and works well. I tested Disc 1 at 27°C and Disc 2 at 28°C while copying 200GB of data to the discs with RAID enabled. With the fan on Quiet and 16°C ambient temperature. The fan is silent. However, the unit generates a short-pitched hum from disc vibration.

The four feet of the machine have rubber mounts. However, they don’t seem to absorb vibrations. I lifted the unit, and the noise stopped. The noise disappeared forever once I inserted thick Styrofoam padding under the device. This fan is 19.3 dB(A). The fan grill is a major housing plane.

We have two USB 3.0 ports, one R.J. 45 GbE LAN port, a Kensington lock, a reset button, eSATA, and D.C. input. Synology supplied the power adapter and Cat 5e Rj 45 LAN cable.

Remove the front cover to see the two drive caddies. The top latches on the housing side lock the caddies when slid. Push is printed on. If you look closely, the primary housing has a white dot and two white dots on top.

The single dot represents Disc 1, while the two represent Disc 2. To slide the caddies out, push the latches up to release the lock. Pull them out.

Each caddy has two arms, one on each side. Take them off by pulling. Put the arms back on and place the HDD on the caddy. They lock the HDD to the caddy. The drive can be screwed to the caddy. S.S.D. must be screwed in.

For anyone curious about the caddy’s drive orientation. It’s simple. SATA HDD ports should face the caddy’s open end, not the handle. Refer to the image above.

Remove caddies to see the enclosure within. We notice the steel frame. The drives dock to two hot-swappable SATA ports at the bottom. Also visible is the 92 mm x 92 mm fan’s front. Black with 7 impellers.

The N.A.S. box P.C.B. is blue. The P.C.B. has a second RAM slot on the rear for adding RAM if needed. It is DDR3L; thus, comparable RAM should use the same interface and 1866MHz parity.

The underside of the unit features 7 front cutouts and 4 bottom or right cutouts. There are four rubber-mounted feet. They have enough height to clear the unit from the surface for efficient ventilation. Also pasted is an information sticker.

The top of the unit is simple and solid without branding or decoration. Looking at the unit from above shows the space between the front cover and the main housing. This is a good design since it lets the unit breathe fresh air.

Setting up NAS

NAS setup on Synology DS218+ is simple. Before installing N.A.S., you must do a few things. The Synology NS218+ has a Gigabit LAN. The local LAN ports on ISP-provided DSL modems/routers are not Gigabit-rated. You can still connect the N.A.S. box to these modems/routers.

You can! To maximize high-speed connectivity, select a medium with Gigabit ports. My configuration is here. I got an 8-port Linksys Gigabit Ethernet switch.

Since my home network is rudimentary, I didn’t need a managed one to test the N.A.S. box or network. I used Cat 6 Ethernet to link the Switch to the PTCL DSL Modem.

I know it’s worthless because the modem has no high-speed ports. This wire would be useful for future updates. Next, I connected my motherboard’s Gigabit LAN port to the Switch using a Cat 6 Ethernet cable. My last step was connecting the Synology DS218+ to the Switch. Thus, the N.A.S. machine connects to the Internet and any network device.

Simply attach it to the P.T.C.L. modem/router. The modem/router from the I.S.P. would be the bottleneck. Since you know the configuration, let’s set up the N.A.S. box. Make sure your network is online and powered. Type find.synology.com into your browser. I use two Seagate IronWolf 2 T.B. drives in this two-bay N.A.S. setup.

This would make the website search for your network’s Synology. If found, it will display the N.A.S.’s picture, model, I.P. and M.A.C. addresses, and status. It is not yet installed. Click Connect.

Accept the End User Licence Agreement next. I guess I don’t need to teach you how to proceed!

Next, your Synology N.A.S. box will be pictured and welcomed. Mouse over Device Info to see Device, Serial No., I.P., and M.A.C. addresses. Rock and roll with Set up.

Watch your browser’s address bar for the local IP address, such as 192.168.10.5:5000/web_index.html. This is the default IP address. Install D.S.M. when requested. The Synology N.A.S. Box OS is DiskStation Manager (D.S.M.). I recommend doing it immediately, but you can do it manually.

Next, a warning will appear that the installation will erase all Disc 1 and 2 data. Check I understand data loss and click OK to enable.

This starts D.S.M. installation on your N.A.S. Sit back and relax, as installation may take time.

After installing the D.S.M., you’ll be asked for essential parameters. Watch out for these. The server name is unassigned. Any name can be used. Enter the username and password. Below the password text boxes will be password strength. Enter a strong password. Click Next. The storage space will be prepared.

The following screen offers D.S.M. update and maintenance options. There are 3 possibilities. One is automatic update installation. The second option is the automatic update of essential ones. Third, notify you of available updates and let you install them yourself.

You could choose any choice, but I chose the third. The bottom has two more alternatives. S.M.A.R.T. frequently tests the drives’ health, and bad sector warnings are enabled if faulty sectors exceed 50. This is crucial; tick both options.

On the next screen, set up QuickConnect. QuickConnect is one way to connect to your Synology N.A.S. system online without port forwarding. Though I created my QuickConnect ID here, this step is optional.

Email and password are required. Select the correct Region and input a unique I.D. if not already shown. Click Next. You will learn about the Synology Account and its benefits.

Next, see the Synology Account Privacy Statement. Do the work and click Next. Your QuickConnect address and readiness will be validated. Save the URL and click Next.

Synology’s recommended packages will be installed next. Skip this step or install them now. It depends on your N.A.S. box needs. For easy data backup, download and install Hyper Backup. Click Next.

The next screen will confirm your readiness. Check the box to share your network’s location with find.synology.com. I didn’t check. Start a DSM-guided tour with Go.

Once finished, the D.S.M. interface will appear. I finished setting up your N.A.S. box. It was simple and convenient, like a walk in the park.

Synology Diskstation Ds218+ Disk Station Manager (D.S.M.)

Any N.A.S. station is only as good as its software. It’s useless to have great hardware but poor software. Synology was ahead of the curve and prioritized both sides. Synology N.A.S. units run Disc Station Manager.

Before diving into D.S.M., I’d like to highlight certain DiskStation characteristics that make you reconsider that N.A.S. is only network-attached storage. When coupled with the D.S.M., Synology Disc Stations offer more than storage. Synology’s Disc Station D.S.M. features and functions are categorized as follows:

• File Sharing
• File Syncing
• Data Backup
• N.A.S. Protection
• Virtualization
• Productivity
• Multimedia
• Cloud Services
• Management
• Data Security

File Sharing

File Station is a D.S.M. file-sharing package. D.S.M. lets you securely transfer vital digital assets quickly. You may share files on your Synology N.A.S. with anyone using File Station and customize access settings for security. File Station simplifies file sharing on Windows®, macOS®, Linux®, and mobile devices.

Users may construct shareable data linkages using a straightforward interface, giving them unlimited alternatives. These URLs can be public, so anybody with the link can access the data or customizable with passwords.

Anyone with a link and password can access the info. Accessing and browsing files and folders on a P.C., M.A.C., or digital device is easy and user-friendly.

Mounting public cloud storage to the N.A.S. allows centralized file access. D.S.M. supports FTP, SMB2, SMB3 (encrypted), AFP, N.F.S., and WebDAV for smooth file sharing on Windows®, macOS®, and Linux®.

The Recycle Bin functionality on AFP, S.M.B., File Station, and WebDAV lets you choose when to delete files based on rules permanently.

All organizations today need rapid, worldwide, and stable file interchange with clients and partners. FTP, WebDAV, CalDAV, and CardDAV support in one file server is great with D.S.M.

File Syncing

Data syncing lets users sync data across devices, public clouds, and servers. Synology Drive package unifies several file portals on Synology N.A.S. and facilitates data management by synchronizing files across platforms. Drive offers frictionless sharing to meet your business collaboration needs and prevent information loss.

All team members can manage files in Synology Drive’s Team Folder without permission settings. Drive’s directory service and internal account system let you share files with coworkers by selecting their accounts.

Unique passwords and validity periods ensure external link sharing. The drive supports strong Synology Universal Search to find files rapidly. A desktop version for major platforms and the web-based client is provided.

With Cloud Station Suite, any file modification is automatically synced to PCs, mobile devices, or another Synology N.A.S. Various data versions are kept so you may recover files from a previous period. Selective Sync and offline editing in Cloud Station Suite allow files to sync across devices when connected to the Internet.

Choose one-way or two-way synchronization based on needs. Cloud Sync lets you link your Synology N.A.S. to Amazon S3 API, OpenStack Swift, or WebDAV protocols for smooth storage. Cloud Sync improves collaboration between your local N.A.S. and remote cloud services, making backing up data from or to public clouds easy.

Data Backup

Cloud Station optimizes P.C. backup. Cloud Station incrementally backs up updated files and separates them even smaller, using fewer system resources than standard backup methods. Cloud Station Backup performs the most extensive real-time backups.

Real-time backups prevent large data loss from unexpected disasters during backup cycles.

Synology Active Backup for Business lets I.T. manage and backup data on physical and virtual devices. The production site or Synology N.A.S. can immediately recover service after a disaster to assist enterprises in maintaining business continuity.

Businesses must own and secure corporate data created and stored on cloud services as cloud collaboration becomes more popular in the workplace due to its flexibility and ease.

Thus, Active Backup for Office 365 provides an on-premise backup solution to prevent accidental events and keep data for legal or litigation purposes, ensuring complete control over employee data.

Active Backup for G Suite lets companies manage and secure G Suite data. Syncing mail, contacts, calendar, and Drive data to Synology N.A.S. protects against accidental events and meets data retention obligations.

N.A.S. Protection

Protect your precious data against accidental deletion, tragedy, and device failure with N.A.S. Synology N.A.S. uses state-of-the-art data snapshot technology to recover information at any moment using a fraction of the traditional backup’s storage space and computational power (the Btrfs file system is available on more models).

When operators have eligible privileges, File Station or Windows File Explorer can recover without system administrator intervention. The snapshot calculator transparently reports shared folder snapshot storage space. I.T. administrators can save storage space by removing large snapshots.

S.H.A. integrates two Synology N.A.S. systems into one H.A. cluster. One server becomes active, and the other passive. The active server handles all data requests and services while replicating to the passive server.

This enables total hardware and data redundancy for unexpected accidents. Synology N.A.S. data protection demands a dependable backup plan.

Hyper Backup makes retrieving data from numerous recovery locations with little disc consumption easy. Local shared folders, external devices, another Synology N.A.S., a rsync server, or public cloud services like Google Drive, Amazon Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft Azure, S3-compatible storage, and Synology C2, a Synology-specific cloud backup service, can be backup destinations.

Virtualization

Synology offers high-performance, reliable virtual storage. These solutions provide business continuity and efficiency for large, demanding companies. Synology storage supports productivity-enhancing virtualization technologies, including VMware® vSphere™, Microsoft® Hyper-V®, Citrix® XenServer™, and OpenStack Cinder. Virtual Machine Manager offers several options.

The Synology N.A.S. can run Windows, Linux, and Virtual D.S.M. virtual machines. Additionally, you can test a new software version in a sandbox, segregate customer machines, or boost server flexibility. Check if the hardware can support the required virtual machines.

Docker is a lightweight virtualization tool that lets you run thousands of containers made by developers worldwide on D.S.M. Docker Hub, the popular built-in image repository, lets you uncover shared apps from creative developers.

Productivity

The drive is a versatile but essential productivity package. Synology Drive synchronises files across platforms to simplify data administration and unify several file portals on Synology N.A.S. Drive offers frictionless sharing to meet your business collaboration needs and prevent information loss.

How about an N.A.S. mail server? The MailPlus suite lets your organisation set up a safe, dependable, and private mail server, giving employees a web-based email management and productivity client.

Do you need better staff communication? Synology Chat helps firms improve internal interactions and lowers email composition time. Synology N.A.S.’s Chat messaging feature enhances teamwork.

Need more flexibility setting alarms, agendas, etc.? Calendar on Synology N.A.S. protects sensitive corporate data, making sharing calendars and scheduling meetings easy. Synology does not ignore office solutions.

Office’s sophisticated editing capabilities make it easy to create Word documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint; real-time synchronisation and saving enable your team to be productive and secure.

The serious and petty everywhere. Note Station syncs your important thoughts to all your devices securely and privately. Thoughts or sensations now? Open the package, create, edit, and enjoy!

Multimedia

While we’re at it, why not give more robust software packages for customers to conduct various activities on their stored data? This is the idea behind certain sophisticated D.S.M. programs.

Audio Station and its mobile app D.S. Audio Everywhere lets you listen to the radio, manage your music collection, make a playlist, and share with friends. Your mobile device’s storage won’t limit your inventiveness again.

Securely backup everyday images in Moments and free up space. All photographs will be viewed in chronological mode, like on your smartphone.

The deep learning system on Synology N.A.S. automatically groups random photographs by faces, subjects, and locales. Photo Station simplifies photo storage, mobile file sharing, customer feedback, and more.

Video Station manages Synology N.A.S. movies, T.V. shows, and home videos. To give a nonstop, entertaining viewing experience, it can stream videos to computers, cellphones, media players, and T.V.s.

Cloud Service

Synology offers various cloud services to help D.S.M. users connect to their Synology N.A.S. easily and securely and protect their data in a dedicated data centre.

QuickConnect lets you access your Synology N.A.S. from any device and browser without port forwarding or firewalls using Synology’s stable worldwide infrastructure and hole-punching technology. D.D.N.S. lets you access your N.A.S. by domain name, which is easier to remember than the I.P. address.

IPv4 and IPv6 functionality and SSL certificate encryption allow you to set up Synology D.D.N.S. yourself. Dedicated to Synology clients, Synology Cloud² provides robust public cloud storage options for data availability and business continuity.

Management

Do you require intuitive, smooth software to control your N.A.S.? Synology took care of it. Control Panel includes everything you need to manage N.A.S. D.S.M.’s integrated accounts management tools let you apply storage limitations, speed constraints, and access privileges to users or groups.

Each account can share files with other D.S.M. users and have a secure “Home” folder. D.S.M. delivers next-generation file system Btrfs with versatile RAID options like S.H.R. and RAID F1 to suit your N.A.S.’s data integrity, performance, and cost-effective maintenance needs.

Businesses need reliable backup and file corruption prevention. Btrfs, the next-generation file system, saves two copies of important metadata on a volume to assure data integrity and use flexible, efficient data protection and recovery mechanisms. Btrfs is available on several Synology N.A.S. devices.

D.S.M. offers rich network management systems and security. D.S.M. offers multiple Internet or private remote network access solutions. For individuals who prefer to set up port forwarding and do everything manually, Synology offers free IPv4 and IPv6 D.D.N.S.

With Let’s Encrypt, connecting to your Synology N.A.S. through HTTPS with a valid Certificate is safer and free. QuikConnect lets you conveniently connect to your N.A.S. from any browser or mobile device.

Active Directory Server efficiently turns your Synology N.A.S. into a domain controller. I.T. administrators can manage accounts and install programs or system upgrades on all company machines with Active Directory Server. These are all possible with a few clicks.

C.M.S., Resource Monitor, Storage Analyzer, Storage Manager, Log Centre, and other D.S.M. built-in capabilities efficiently manage Synology N.A.S. servers. D.S.M. simplifies N.A.S. management; however, managing numerous DiskStations is still laborious.

C.M.S. automates processes and sets policies to apply configurations to groups of servers, making it easy to manage many Synology products and minimising marginal maintenance costs. A single dashboard displays all DiskStations’ settings and statistics, so anomalous behaviour is quickly detected.

Data Security

Synology uses D.S.M. to protect digital content from ransomware and other threats. D.S.M. uses A.E.S. 256-bit military-grade encryption to protect your business data from malicious users.

QualysGuard, a prominent vulnerability scanner, enables Synology to thoroughly scan and remediate every major D.S.M. release to secure your data. Security options for networks include:

• Account Protection
• Firewall
• More Efficient HTTP 2.0
• IP Auto Block
• Service-interface binding
• Multiple SSL certificates
• Let’s Encrypt Integration

The D.S.M. on your N.A.S. can leverage all of the above. Let’s examine how the D.S.M. Linux interface makes D.S.M. intuitive and user-friendly. One window controls everything in this web-based design.

The main interface is desktop-based. The browser, window bar, or taskbar is on top. The instances of all opened programmes will be in this bar. The Main Menu symbol is top left. Clicking it displays the menu.

The main menu defaults to Control Panel, File Station, D.S.M. Help, EZ-Internet, Package Centre, Resource Monitor, Storage Monitor, Universal Search, Log Centre, Security Advisor, Support Centre, and iSCSI Manager. Installed packages will appear here. You can build a desktop shortcut for packages like in Windows.

More taskbar icons are on the top right. The notifications come first. This displays N.A.S. notifications. This symbol will show unread notifications as a counter.

Up next is the user icon. Other choices include user account access, rebooting, and shutting down Dis Station. You must confirm before doing either action. Log out of the current session.

Public Search is the next icon, which helps you find data in digital resources. The last icon is Widgets. Show/hide widget bar toggle button. The widget is innovative, and Synology deserves credit for its implementation. The Widgets summarise essential DiskStation data. It displays disc drive volumes, consumed space, and available space.

Resource Monitor widget displays CPU, RAM, and LAN usage. The System Health widget displays the server name, LAN, uptime, and Disc Station health. Also visible are connected users. Remote user connections are CIFS.

The widget bar can be docked top right, bottom right, top left, and bottom left. It can also stay on top of open windows.

The desktop has 4 icons by default. The Package Centre is up. Package centre is a web store for downloading Synology and third-party programs. The Terms of Service will appear for the first time. Click OK after checking the terms.

The Synology website’s grid structure will appear on all bundles. Select the required package and click Install. You may be asked to download/install extra packages or services for some programs. Click OK for them. The user can search the long list for the desired package. The user can manually install the package.

Installed packages lists downloaded and installed packages. You can update any or all installed packages.

Check the Package Centre settings. Desktop and email alerts are enabled. Under Trust Level, the user can choose Synology exclusively, Synology and trusted publishers, or Any publisher for the package source.

Enabling beta versions lets users test the program before release. Users can allow automated package updates for selected ones. Certificates lists added trusted certificates. More or less can be imported or removed.

How to Create a Shared Folder

Since every package has many features and functionalities, I can’t cover them all in one content. I apologise if you’re becoming bored. As requested by Synology, I will only discuss Hyper Backup here. I will write spate guides/package overviews soon. Let me show you how to use File Station to build a shared folder on your N.A.S. disc drives.

Start File Station from the desktop or main menu. No shared folder is created? It will prompt you to create one. The Action button and Create New Shared Folder option can also be used. This starts the wizard.

Basic details will be requested. Give the shared folder a good name and location if there are many volumes. Be careful when checking enable recycle bin. Users should not be able to clean the recycle bin. For data protection, verify administrator access restrictions.

If you want to encrypt the shared folder, provide the encryption key. You need to initialise the Key Manager from the Control Panel before using encryption keys.

Check the data checksum option in the next box to verify data integrity. User-bound option. Storage capacity quotas can be set on shared folders.

A summary of selected options and tasks appears in the next window. Consider applying if they meet your needs.

Set user account rights after creating the shared folder. Read and write permissions can be adjusted in File Station Shared Folder settings/properties. In general, group user accounts inherit group rights. Modify these as needed.

Administrators can enable/disable directory browsing, file modification, and file downloading with advanced permissions.

The shared folder won’t appear in My Computer until you map the network disc. Open File Explorer. Click Computer and Map Network Drive on the top left menu bar. The Map network drive wizard starts when you click it.

Select a drive letter from the list. Specify the shared folder name as \server\share in the folder. It was 192.168.10.50\MNS in our situation. My network’s Disc Station I.P. address has been altered. I shall demonstrate that later in the segment. Check Re-Connect upon sign-in to keep the network drive available. Click Finish.

Windows will request login credentials. The username and password you created when setting up the N.A.S. must be typed. Check to Remember My Credentials, or you’ll be prompted every time you enter the shared folder. Please click OK to finish the wizard. File Explorer will now show the network drive under linked disc drives.

Control Panel

Let’s check the Control Panel before diving into Hyper Backup. The D.S.M.’s Control Panel allows full control over your Disc Station, like Windows. This is the spot for any situation. It is impossible to cover all options, so I will not go into detail. A quick note follows.

Click the desktop Control panel or access it from the main menu. The main window displays File Sharing, Connectivity, System, and Applications. Loaded Basic mode can be switched to Advanced.

This option controls Shared Folder settings. Since I discussed these settings above, I won’t repeat them here.

File Services settings include FTP, TFTP, rsync, and SMB/AFP/NFS.

The User section contains user settings. The primary panel will list generated users along with admin and guest. The advanced settings include password strength rules, two-step verification, and expiration. Clicking the user’s name opens another window.

The first page displays user account details. Here, you can change the password. Set if users can change passwords. User groups list available groups. Permission section allows read/write.

The Quota component allows user storage space quotas. The default quota is unlimited. User permissions for selected applications are under application. Speed limit limits user traffic.

The group’s section lists accessible groups. New and updated groups can be created as needed. Clicking the group name opens a window with many choices, much like for users. We can set group, application, quota, and speed constraints. Note that group users inherit these options by default.

QuickConnect can be enabled in the Connectivity settings on the control panel. Your QuickConnect ID for remote devices and D.S.M. will be displayed along with your Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review account details. Advanced options allow programmes to connect via QuickConnect with permissions.

Without these rights, distant programs cannot connect to your DiskStation. The Synology relay server can be enabled in case of direct connection failure. QuickConnect port forwarding rules can be generated automatically if the router supports port forwarding.

To control all connectivity settings, the network is crucial. The General tab displays the server name and default gateway. The network interface lists possible networks. LAN is the connected network source.

Double-click the LAN to alter the DiskStation’s default IP address. The Edit window opens. Change the last two numbers to your preferred I.P. address. I updated mine from 192.168.10.1 to 10.50.

Set up the DisStation network map in Wireless. Before continuing, attach a USB Wi-Fi or Bluetooth adapter to the DiskStation. DiskStation can join your wireless network or operate as a wireless A.P. or router.

Security settings include:

• Enabling Firewall.
• Adding trusted proxies.
• Setting session time out.
• Enabling DoS service on the connected network.
• Enabling auto block after defining login attempts.
• Adding/configuring certificates.
• Enabling HTTP compression.

The info centre displays the DiskStation’s serial number, CPU and RAM information, D.S.M. version, System Data and time info, uptime, thermal status, Time Zone, network information, individual disc information in the Storage section, and a list of services and their status.

If desired, the Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review can exchange device statistics. Additionally, network location can be shared. The Synology account is displayed and manageable.

The theme controls login style and theme. Light or Dark themes are available.

Regional Options modify date, time, and language.

The DiskStation fan speed can be controlled in three settings. L.E.D. brightness is adjustable. The user can choose when the DiskStation alerts them.

Users can set the DiskStation to boot automatically after a power outage. Configure disc drive hibernation. The gadget can be connected to U.P.S. for power failure support and data protection.

The user can define DiskStation update settings under Update & Restore. The DiskStation can be factory reset by wiping all data and settings here. Settings will return to factory defaults. The DiskStation’s back reset button loads factory defaults.

Synology ds218 vs ds218+ Hyper Backup

The most crucial part of data management is ensuring data integrity and safety. Hence, it’s recommended to back up and make multiple copies periodically. This depends on the single-user, multiple-user, local/remote network, enterprise-level computing, etc.

Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review may be less important for residential users than for small businesses or enterprises where data is crucial. Backups help in case of data loss. Hyper Backup, Synology’s strong and comprehensive backup/restoration solution, handles this crucial component.

Hyper backup’s intuitive U.I. makes data backup more elegant and effective. An integrated software that manages your data based on user-defined settings is a killer feature for N.A.S.

Synology lets network administrators/users create numerous backups in three categories. These are:

• Local/remote Synology N.A.S.
• File Servers
• Cloud Services

Remote/local Synology 2 bay nas diskstation ds218+ review backing up involves copying data on a local or remote Synology device. Almost all three categories have the same steps, with a few setting differences. Synology DS812+ lets customers attach an external USB drive to the N.A.S. box, so they were right when designing Hyper backup, which backs up data on the external drive.

Filers let users backup data on remote servers. The server I.P. address, user name, password, and shared folder where the backup should be made are all you need. The rest of the steps are the same as with previous backups.

DS218+ Synology 2 bay nas diskstation review was ahead of the curve by allowing users to backup to Google Driver. Again, actions are similar save for the interface’s request to sign in to your cloud service and authorise Synology for backup.

Hyper Backup’s main features are:

• Copying data for backup
• Copying application settings and system configuration
• Versioning
• Scheduling
• Encryption
• Integrity Check
• Restoring Data
• Event Logging

The number of features in Hyper Backup speaks for itself. I’ll use my data backup scenario to explain scheduling and versioning. Content creators know their data grows. Data changes over time and more is generated/gathered.

If I backed up my data once, I’d be okay with a copy-paste. I want my backing solution to automatically back up my data regularly to spare me from doing it manually. This is where scheduling matters.

Hyperback has numerous settings to set a backup on a user-selected time and date and repeat it automatically without troubling me. This dynamic application software functionality is essential for any N.A.S. I’ll demonstrate these settings soon. This was part of automatic data copying at a set time.

For example, I have a 100GB data set that will grow exponentially. I don’t want my N.A.S. to use all my resources while the scheduler runs data backup. Copying all of this 100GB data set must be painful. I prefer incremental synchronisation, which backs up the data set modification rather than the entire data set.

I have 20 primary folders/directories, each with subfolders/subdirectories and files. Assume I create another main folder, making 21. My backup solution should copy the 21st folder and its content on the next backup operation.

This will reduce copying time and network resources. This is where versioning helps. User(s) can store up to 256 data versions.

User(s) can lock versions to notify Hyper backup not to rotate or delete them and rotate the earliest or last unlocked version once the limit is reached, depending on the configuration. This reminds me of automating the local university library system.

They have a central library with thousands of books/journals/magazines. There’s one library in each department. Thus, it was centralised and decentralised. A remote backup server was required for the central library.

We had to ensure that changed data from the local library was replicated to the central library’s server quickly while maintaining a single version. However, I digress. I made two volumes from the single RAID volume on DS812+, a two-bay device. Seagate IronWolf drive, one Volume.

Thus, I could better replicate or back up data from one Volume to the folder on the second Volume. This demonstrated hyper-backup data backup. Since I only have one Synology 2 bay N.A.S. diskstation ds218+ review box, I’ll teach you how to set up a backup on a local Synology N.A.S. and then Google Drive under cloud services. Let’s begin.

Download Hyper backup from Package Centre. Log in to D.S.M. and visit the Package Centre. D.S.M. version 6.0 and higher only support Hyper backup; therefore, update if you can set a backup task. Search for Hyper Backup in the package centre and click Install.

It will prompt you to install the necessary packages if not already installed. Those programs must also be downloaded and installed. Hyper Backup can be accessed through the package centre in installed packages after installation. Create a D.S.M. desktop shortcut for it. Launch the app by clicking.

Launch the backup wizard. The first screen displays Synology ds218+ review, File Server, and Cloud service. Select Local Folder & USB and click Next.

Select the shared folder under Create a backup task on the following screen. I built a Backup shared folder on the second drive for this experiment. New tasks can be linked to previously completed tasks. Click next.

The user will see the volumes on the next screen and choose the shared folder to back. M.N.S. is the Volume 1 shared folder with Reviews, which I will back up. Backup under Volume 2 is blocked because it was the destination folder. Click next.

The next screen asks users to select applications whose settings/data should be backed up. This Synology ds218+ review will help restore the device. An optional one. Click next.

Next, the user sees backup settings. This backup task can be named usefully. I titled it Reviews_Content_Backup. Check Enable Task Notification to get task notifications. I recommend enabling this option because desktop notifications are useful for user attention.

Check compressed backup data if you’re running out of space or utilising smaller N.A.S. drives. Checking Enable backup schedule lets you choose when the backup process runs automatically at a specific date and time. Choose Daily, Weekend, Weekdays. Choose the right setting. Integrity Check schedule follows.

I recommend enabling this option to verify backed-up data. Select the integrity test day from the drop-down selection. Set a time limit for data integrity testing. This would help free up network resources fast for other tasks.

The last option protects data. Using a password, backup data can be encrypted. The same password will recover data. After setup, click Next.

Users will see rotation settings on the next screen. They are disabled by default. Users can choose from three alternatives. The default is From the Earliest Version. When the number of variants reaches 256, the oldest, most unlocked version is rotated/deleted. Next is Smart Recycle. This technique keeps versions till 256 counts. The system will delete versions that don’t match these conditions:

• The system stores the earliest hourly version from the past 24 hours.
• Daily variations from 1 day to 1 month: The mechanism preserves the daily-created oldest version.
• Weekly versions older than 1 month: The system preserves the earliest weekly version.

If all versions fulfil the requirements, the system deletes the oldest.

The user can customise the retention scheme. Click Customised Retention and then Settings. The user will see another screen. Those three conditions are already listed. The user can add criteria. Settings are at the bottom of the screen.

The user can choose the earliest, year, month, week, day, or hour and the interval from the next list. Click Add to add the customised version retention scheme or criterion to the list after defining it.

After defining the rotation strategy, click Apply. The wizard’s final step asks the user to run the backup. It is not required, although the user can choose.

Once done, a new screen appears. The left column lists user-created backup tasks. The right side pane shows task summaries. Note that system configuration is automatically backed up. The top portion shows the backup task percentage, files scanned and data size. The Target pane shows the target share folder summary, whereas Task Setting shows the task summary.

After completing the backup task, it will display the Success label and the last and next backup dates and times. If needed, select Back Up Now to manually backup data.

Right off the Back Up Now button are three more options. The Backup Explorer is first. The Second is Backup Statistics.

The backup statistics panel provides 3 options. The detention usage indicates the size of the backed-up data and lets the user set alarms if it exceeds the threshold. The source monitor indicates the number of files backed up between backup versions and lets users set alarms for file addition/modification and deletion.

The Backup Explorer displays source data in Windows directory format. The interface can also restore backed-up data.

The three bars on the right of the Back Up Now button offer three more possibilities. Check backup integrity, edit, and delete. The backup task can be deleted using the delete button.

Check the backup integrity button. Does integrity check for the user-selected timeframe when defining a backup task?

I want to discuss the Edit button, which again shows the backup settings screen with one big alteration. This time, the user will see the many backup schedule parameters not displayed during the wizard run.

The first Backup Schedule choice is No Schedule, which runs the backup process once. The next choice is Run Tomorrow. A drop-down list lets users choose days as needed.

Proceed to Run on the following Date. This field has two options. The top is a drop-down calendar where the user can choose the backup task date.

Task execution frequency is the second option under Run on the subsequent date. Do not repeat executes the backup process once. Repeat monthly, 3 months, 6 months, and yearly.

That means the backup operation will execute from the calendar date with the given frequency after every time interval.

Schedule the backup task by setting its first run time and frequency as Every day, Every hour, Every 2 hours, etc. The user can set the last run time. Synology DS218+ review offers a wide range of scheduling options for user convenience. They practically covered every scheduling option a user might choose.

The timing for backing up data integrity verification is also more flexible.

We’ve reviewed backup task creation and execution. Backup data can be restored. The restoration wizard displays the backup task. Click Next.

Do not restore System Configuration is the first option. The second option lets the user choose system configurations to restore from the date and time stamp. Click the desired choice and then next.

The next screen displays data restoration options. The user can choose the recovered folder and click next.

The restoration task summary and data version will appear on the next screen. Restore data by clicking Apply.

This screen displays the restoration progress. Okay will be enabled after the task is finished.

The software’s event log shows the event’s level, date/time, and details.

The user can also lock/unlock backed-up versions from the same view.

Synology Ds218+ Cloud Services

I will now explain how to set up a Google Drive backup task.

Back up using the wizard. Click Google Drive under Cloud Service. Click next.

Synology Hyper Backup will request access to your Google Account when you’re redirected. This will also reveal what the Hyper backup wants with the account. Click Allow.

This will prompt you to log in and redirect you to a permissions page. Click Agree. This closes the page and returns you to the wizard.

If the connection is successful, you will see your Google Drive folders. If you haven’t already, click Create New Folder. The My_Contents folder was created. This will create a Google Drive folder with the above name. Next, the stages are the same as above. I’m not repeating them.

Once you define all the options, Hyper Backup will take you to the main interface where the backup task status is presented. The Action button will have a little down arrow indicating more possibilities.

Suspend and Cancel appear when the mouse is over it. Suspend pauses the backup job, and Cancel ends it.

When the backup finishes, the same screen displays the success message. Please note that internet speed determines how long it takes to back up Synology data to the cloud.

By now, you should know how flexible and feature-rich the Hyper backup from Synology ds218+ review is to make backing up your precious data easy.

DiskStation for Gamers

From what I’ve said, professional content creators and individuals who want to access their material on the road will likely use the Synology diskstation’s enormous storage and perks. As digital content grows, 4k videos may require a lot of storage.

Thus, content creators will need storage solutions beyond a few P.C. discs, and centralised storage is essential when working on numerous platforms. Can gamers switch to DiskStation for gaming storage only? New games require massive storage.

Most new A.A.A. games require many G.B.s of storage. Like DOOM, it needed 80GB. Battlefield 1 could need 81.4GB. With upgrades, Assassin’s Creed Origin is 47GB. Grand Theft Auto V upgrades require 83 GB of storage. The point is that even a lousy game will grow with updates from M.B.s to G.B.s.

Thus, heavy players must consider storage space scalability. My 1TB S.S.D. is full; thus, I don’t want to delete games to install new ones. I created these case situations from the above discussion:

• Modern games have bigger bases.
• Continuous game updates that require M.B.s to G.B.s of storage.
• Once the P.C.’s drive exceeds its storage limit, you’ll have to acquire extra storage, which costs more, or delete older installations.

In these situations, DiskStations win. Most of the games I didn’t want to delete went to DiskStation. This makes room for games. Additionally, I installed and played some games on the DiskStation. The game loaded 38 seconds on the DiskStation and 20 seconds on the PC-connected HDD.

S.S.D. will reduce load time. Remember that network speed improves load times; therefore, adding RAM to the DiskStation is good. The only slowness I experienced in Single Player Campaign games was delayed load times. Unlike the Online or Multiplayer Campaign, latency was evident.

DiskStation is great for gamers with vast game libraries. Centralising the games allowed me to access them from both PCs without copying and pasting. This is my experience-based view.

Conclusion

Network Attached Storage, Cloud services, I.P. Surveillance, and network equipment are Synology’s specialities. They let us try their DiskStation DS218+ Plus series.

The DS 218+ is a two-bay home and small office NAS. This DiskStation meets on-the-fly encryption, and scalability needs with high performance and data-intensive tasks. The compact but powerful dual-bay NAS box DS218+ has a dual-core CPU, AES-NI hardware encryption engine, and 2GB DDR3L RAM.

It supports 2.5″ and 3.5″ HDDs/SSDs with 108TB single volumes and 28TB internal raw capacities. The file system this machine supports is Btrfs, EXT4 for internal drives and EXT3/4, FAT, NTFS, HFS+, and exFAT for external drives. It has one 1GbE LAN port, three USB 3.0 ports, one eSATA port, and a copy button.

The DS218+ supports Synology Hybrid RAID, a default RAID, Basic, JBOD, and RAID 0/1 with the ability to add an HDD. Maximum local user accounts are 2048, with 256 sharing folders and local groups. Log up to 400 events per second. Cloud station servers can host 500 concurrent devices.

Adding 4GB of RAM can increase this figure to 1500. It supports 80 simultaneous downloads. As a surveillance station, DS218+ can host 25 IP Cams. This device supports 120 FPS at 4k with H.264, 200 with H.265 and 130 with MJPEG. The Synology ds218+ review Drive can host 500,000 files.

Maximum 2 channels transcoding at 30 FPS at 4k and FHD resolutions. Given the baseline RAM and CPU configuration, a VPN server can accommodate 20 connections and 2 virtual machine instances. So much to talk about, but not in one post. Check the content standards for details.

The enclosure’s sturdy plastic frame. The item measures 165x108x232.2mm. The 60W power supply/adapter uses 100V to 240V AC. Single-phase power is 50/60Hz. Access uses 17.23W and HDD Hibernation 5.4W. Access has 58.79 BTU/hr and HDD Hibernation of 18.43.

The working temperature rating is 5°C to 40°C, which worries me as my ambient temperature without AC is 45°C to 49°C in summer. Storage temperature is -20°C to 60°C. Between 5% and 95RH is relative humidity. The product is EAC, VCCI, CCC, RCM, KC, FCC, CE, and BSMI certified and has a 2-year warranty.

It is a mini PC since it is a complete processing unit. The Intel Celeron J3355 dual-core processor has a 2.5GHz turbo boost. Supports H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, and VC-1 with a maximum resolution of 4k (4096×2160) and FPS of 30. Hardware encryption AES-NI engine.

It includes 2GB DDR3L system memory and one slot for adding up to 4GB extra to make 6GB. The box can read and write 113 and 112 MB/s encrypted.

The DiskStation’s front has a bold, elegant design that looks good in person. The removable cover includes glossy ends and a matte body. On the right, four LEDs indicate Status, LAN, Disc 1, and Disc 2 activities. Their labels are glossy on the front cover.

The Copy button follows the USB 3.0 port at the bottom. The last button is powered/off. The system fan is 92 mm x 92 mm on the back of the machine to exhaust heat. DSM has three fan speed modes in the control panel. These are Full Speed, Cool, and Quiet.

Quiet mode is the default and works great. I tested Disc 1 at 27°C and Disc 2 at 28°C while copying 200GB of data to the discs with RAID enabled. With the fan on Quiet and 16°C ambient temperature. This fan is 19.3 dB(A). The fan grill is a major housing plane.

The unit generates a short-pitched hum from disc vibration when the fan is quiet, but it is not noticeable. The four feet of the machine have rubber mounts. However, they don’t seem to absorb vibrations. I lifted the unit, and the noise stopped. The noise disappeared forever once I inserted thick Styrofoam padding under the device.

We have two USB 3.0 ports, one RJ 45 GbE LAN port, a Kensington lock, a reset button, eSATA, and DC input. Synology supplied the power adapter and Cat 5e Rj 45 LAN cable. Caddies’ arms or wrapped screws secure hard drives/solid-state drives. Visit Synology’s website for a complete list of supported drives.

Installing the DS218+ was easy. The wizard was self-explanatory. It should be easy to set up for beginners. Read our NAS setup guide for more information. Synology provides a powerful but easy-to-use operating system called DSM to power this device.

It uses Linux’s web interface. Combining the DSM and DiskStation expands its features and functions beyond central storage. Functions are classified as:

• File Sharing
• File Syncing
• Data Backup
• NAS Protection
• Virtualization
• Productivity
• Multimedia
• Cloud Services
• Management
• Data Security

The user can download and customise DiskStation packages and settings for each function. The Synology website’s knowledge base makes setup easy. Drive, File Station, Snapshot, Hyper Backup, and Moments are key DSM packages.

The Control Panel has all the options to configure and drive your DiskStation, so enjoy it. Update the DSM and install packages regularly. Synology uses the JAVA run time library to bypass the constraints of the web-browser-based client on file types.

The JRE must be downloaded and installed from their website. This would enable uploading several unsupported file formats. The widget is strong and straightforward, letting users quickly view their hardware and software summary.

It monitors CPU, RAM, LAN, DiskStation health, Volume (s) and Disc Drive information, connected users, and more. Read our associated sections above for more on DSM and its functions.

While the DiskStation is an effective solution for content creators to store their ever-growing digital data on the scalable storage solution, which can be remotely accessed using Synology mobile apps like DS Photo, DS File, and DS Cloud, gamers can also use the centralised storage solution for their large games library, which takes up a lot of PC-connected storage.

Moving most of my games to the DiskStation freed up space on my local discs. I installed and played some DiskStation games. The DiskStation took 38 seconds to load the game, while the PC-connected HDD took 20 seconds.

Remember that network speed improves load times; therefore, adding RAM to the DiskStation is good. The only slowness I experienced in Single Player Campaign games was delayed load times. Unlike the Online or Multiplayer Campaign, latency was evident.

My Synology DS218+ experience has been excellent. I have two PCs, a laptop, and three phones. I could better utilise this capability after setting up a home network and putting the central storage on it. My wife and I no longer worry about device data and USB flash drives.

Our images and videos are automatically backed up, and we can stream DS218+ video. The DS218+ and other Synology NAS have unlimited potential. Synology allows you to attach another ds218+ review to increase storage without affecting present storage.

Flexible and user-friendly are Synology ds218+ review solutions’ foreheads. Home users with various devices require a centralised storage solution, and Synology ds218+ review has you covered.

Thanks to Synology for letting us test their DS218+ DiskStation.

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