With digital media building up all around us, from photos and music to downloaded content and missed TV episodes, the need to store and organise it, as well as make it available for consumption by various different devices, has never been stronger.
Synology is a network attached storage (NAS) specialist with long experience in both the consumer and commercial markets, with devices ranging from entry level home offerings right up to large business systems in the 400+ terabyte range.
However, irrespective of the specification of the devices, the home and small office (SOHO) range all work under a single management console called the DiskStation Manager (DSM). This is a good system as it allows users the benefit of a single, unified console from which to manage every aspect of the device, and its growing accessory range. Updates of DSM are frequent, and best of all, free.
The unit on test was a DS213j and the 213Air, aimed at SOHO market with the j indicating entry level. The units are sold without drives, keeping prices low and allowing freedom to use whatever suits the end users’ needs. The test unit used Western Digital WD20EFRX drives, with 2Tb capacity. Also tested was the USB Station 2 which adds Wi-Fi connectivity to the mix.
The 213Air is basically the same unit, but with built in Wi-Fi that more or less combines the advantages of the 213J with the USB Station 2. More on this later.
The DSM management application is web-based and currently on version 4.3. Its interface is clean and set up is easy. With either USB or Ethernet connectivity, there are options for most configurations.
The basic specs of the DS213j are 512Mb RAM, running with a Floating-Point Unit enabled CPU, optimised for multimedia processing. Disc input/output (I/O) is over 100Mb/sec reading, 70Mb/sec writing, with wake on LAN and DLNA Compliant Media Server. The chassis has an efficient and quiet fan that not only helps to keep power consumption low but allows it to sit happily with other media devices in the sitting room. Which brings me neatly to my only gripe with the device: it is white. Nothing else under the table in my pile of media kit is white. Oh well.
The DS213j is a development of the 212 model and boasts a better processor, more RAM and quieter operation.
However, it is really DSM 4.3 that makes the DS213j stand out from the crowd. 4.3 is a major update but builds on a more operating system-style that was seen in version 4.2 It allows the DS213j to be so much more than network storage. First of all, it can act as a mail server, make network available a USB printer and act as a kind of cloud storage device, accessible via mobile apps for iOS and Android. Added to this is Surveillance Station, where you can connect IP cameras and have the DS213j manage them through DSM and you now have a multimedia storage and streaming device that can also be your own Dropbox and surveillance hub.
This is quite a repertoire but it is not finished there, as it also supports third party plug-ins for the likes of WordPress, Drupal, SugarCRM, OpenERP and more.
Now, with this level of capability, one might expect that somewhere in the box is an IT administrator with years of experience to which you just add water, but in reality, the configurations are very simplified allowing you to get up and running pretty quickly, with the advanced stuff, accessible but hidden so as not to unnecessarily complicate things initially.
The resultant experience is one of simplicity and ease of use that escalates as your knowledge and experience does to allow you to do some very sophisticated things.
In testing, we shared folders and allowed Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) devices to connect and stream content. This was easily done and a Samsung DLNA-enabled TV played happily with the DS213j. But the beauty of the DSM application is that it works with MacOS, Linux or Windows. Also, a remote access application for iOS and Android allows not only remote control of the box itself, but also allows upload which turns into your own cloud-accessible storage. But devices such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox are just as easily supported.
The addition of the USB Station 2 allows wireless devices within your SOHO to access directly too, meaning that you don’t have to have a PC turned on all the time to access content. This allows printing, as mentioned earlier, from a smart phone or tablet. Though, as mentioned, the 213Air variant can do this all by itself.
The two bay configuration of the device allows for more than enough storage and there are numerous options for varying RAID configurations, depending on how you want to use that storage capacity.
Overall, the 213J is a hugely capable device that is very well expanded by the USB Station 2. It neatly brings together features that allow full control to store, manage and serve content, but also offers more through the third party plug-ins and additional features such as USB access for printers and surveillance capabilities. The 213Air then neatly wraps all of this up on one package.
The DSM software means that even older devices in the line can benefit from new refinements and capabilities and allows easy exploitation through an already familiar interface.
The DS213j is available without drives from Elara.ie for €231.52, or with 4Tb of storage from Dabs.ie for €436.96.
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