Conclusion
Conclusion
The Synology DiskStation DS213 is not just another NAS. Packed in a small form factor, it has an easy to access buttons and 2 bays for mounting the HDDs. It also has USB 3.0 ports for quick data transfer.
Setting it up is really a breeze with the Web assistant. I particularly like the DSM Operating System. It provides a bird’s eye view of the software and system status. Moreover, it allows you to install tons of applications to enhance the capability of the device.
With the small office use in mind, it is a piece of hardware that you would seriously consider for easy backup of your important data across the network. In our tests, we were also able to get decent speed running it in both RAID 0 and RAID 1 setups.
To date, we still regard it as a NAS and probably use only less than 20% of it’s real capabilities. The extendability of the functionalities DS213 is something that really interests me. You can turn it into a web server to host your own site (even with the free DDNS) with PHP/Wordpress or Drupal (a list of all services that can be install). You can also run a VPN server and mail server on it. For downloaders, there is a also a Download Station where you can use bitttorent to download without powering on your PC. The options are there and can be used right out of the box. (Try out the interface here).
In Conclusion, the DS213 really impressed me with it’s capabilities. It is simply an amazing product with more than what a NAS usually do. I give it our Gold Award.
| Category | Score |
| Performance | 9 / 10 |
| Features | 10 / 10 |
| Ease Of Installation | 10 / 10 |
| Documentation | 6 / 10 |
| Packaging & Bundle | 6 / 10 |
| Cost / Performance | 9 / 10 |
| Overall Rating : | 8.3 / 10 |
Hi, thanks for this review with its great pics. What would you say are the advantages of the WD Red harddisks? They cost quite a lot…
The cloud app, DS Cloud, doesn’t seem to be exactly what we really expected.
Look at the reviews for the android app -> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.synology.dscloud&hl=en
Main dislike would be that it will sync the whole folder down into the mobile device. If the mobile device’s storage currently is just 16GB – 128GB, it it were to sync the whole folder down into the mobile device, it would take up most of the storage.
They could do it like DropBox. ie. Showing an index of the files in the cloud folder, and selectively download the files. If it’s a photo, perhaps a thumbnail of it showing.
Personally, i hope i can sync my photos on the mobile to the cloud folder the moment the shot is taken. Currently, there’s no such options.