At first I would like to thank Synology for offering a sample of the DS212 2-bay NAS Server for testing and reviewing.

 

About Synology:

"Founded in 2000, Synology is a young and energetic company dedicated to developing high-performance, reliable, versatile, and environmentally-friendly Network Attached Storage (NAS) products. Our goal is to deliver user-friendly solutions and solid customer service to satisfy the needs of businesses, home offices, individual users and families."

Product Features:

 

Optimal Price/Performance Ratio

 

Synology DS212 delivers an average 110 MB/sec reading speed under RAID 1 configuration in a Windows environment, and 54.3 MB/sec writing. DiskStation DS212 provides a reliable solution for data sharing with an easy to use interface, and comprehensive office applications, including a complete backup solution making it one of the best values in 2-bay NAS devices available today.

 

Coming with USB 3.0 support which offers transmission speeds of up to 5 Gbps, namely 10 times faster than USB 2.0, DS212 takes less time for data transfer for external hard drives and consumes less power. In addition, hot-swappable drives make it easier for maintenance and hard drive replacement.

 

Simple Sharing

 

Synology DS212 offers comprehensive network protocol support, assuring seamless file sharing across Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. Windows ADS and LDAP integration allows the Synology DS212 to quickly and easily fit into an existing business network environment with no need to recreate user accounts on the Synology DS212. Internet file access is simplified by the encrypted FTP server and the web-based File Browser. HTTPS, the built-in firewall, and IP auto-block support ensure file sharing over the Internet is protected at a high security level.

 

If you are always on the move, Synology provides a handy app, DS file for iPhone, iPad and Android users. Anything stored on Synology DS212 can now be accessed remotely using DS file via the Internet.

 

Business Applications

 

Synology DS212 runs on the award-winning operating system, Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), offering comprehensive applications and features designed specifically for home and business workgroups.

 

The built-in mail server turns Synology DS212 into a dedicated mail service provider, and the USB printer sharing capability minimizes businesses’ cost by sharing printing resources throughout the office. VPN Server package offers an easy VPN solution that turns your DS212 into a VPN server, providing a secure way of connecting to a private LAN at a remote location.

 

Synology Web Station with support for PHP/MySQL web content allows hosting of up to 30 websites, and 3rd party web applications such as Content Management, Customer Relationship Management & e-Commerce system.

 

Effective Backup Solutions

 

Synology DS212 offers a centralized backup target to consolidate fragmented and unstructured data across a network. PC users can back up their data to Synology DS212 using Synology Data Replicator software, and Mac OS X users enjoy native Apple® Time Machine integration.

 

A backup wizard is provided for backing up data from Synology DS212 to another Synology DiskStation, to other rsync server, or to an external drive. Backing up to Amazon® S3 cloud service is also supported. The add-on package, Time Backup, keeps DiskStation data in multiple versions, so IT administrators could easily keep track of them and restore to a previous version whenever required.

 

USBCopy and SDCopy provide a plug-n-save solution to store data. By pushing the «Copy» button on the front panel, you can quickly back up all data from your USB storage device or SD card to your DiskStation.

 

Peace of Mind with Data Encryption

 

The Synology DS212 is equipped with an encryption engine which offloads the encryption calculation task away from the main CPU, helping to improve file transfer speeds of the DiskStation.

 

Data protection is an important matter for businesses of all sizes. High-end features previously available only on enterprise level hardware are now accessible via Synology DS212 to small and medium-sized businesses. DS212 provides share-level AES 256-bit encryption to aid in the prevention of unauthorized access attempts to the hard drives.

 

Energy Efficient with Cool and Quiet Design

 

Synology DS212 is designed with energy efficiency in mind. Not only does it provide a 92x92 mm fan and the smart airflow to keep the system running cool 24/7, its noise dampening design makes it really quiet compared to PC counterparts. The support of Wake on LAN/WAN, multiple scheduled power on/off, and hard drive hibernation can further reduce power consumption and operation cost.

 

All Synology products are produced with RoHS compliant parts and packed with recyclable packaging materials. Synology acknowledges the responsibility as a global citizen to continually work to reduce the environmental impact of every product produced.

 

Product Specifications:

Hardware

Applications

General

Packaging

 

The DS212 NAS from Synology is shipped inside a medium-sized light blue box, with a handle on the top:

 

 

 

On the front side we can find pictograms with some of the product main functions:

 

 

 

Next, the outside packaging also comes with explanations regarding the hardware, product features, languages and package contents:

 

 

 

The features can be again seen on the opposite lateral, in form of graphical icons:

 

 

 

A connectivity example can be also found on the external packaging:

 

 

 

After opening the top cover, we can find some warnings that advise us to read "Quick Installation Guide" found in electronic format on the CD, to avoid issues; also, we should take a look on the compatible HDDs that are listed on the Synology website (to make sure they work correctly with the product and if we need or not to update the HDD firmware):

 

 

 

The inside contents of the box is modularized so the NAS itself is located in a separate cardboard enclosure:

 

 

 

For additional protection, the main product is fully covered with foam material; the rest of the bundle is inside a clear cardboard box and the power lead is packed separately:

 

 

 

Here are the full contents of the bundle box:

 

-2m LAN cable

-additional documentation

-power adapter

-screws for mounting 2.5'' and 3.5'' HDDs

 

 

 

The power adapter shipped with the NAS was made by Channel Well Technology and is rated on the output +12V, 5.4A:

 

 

 

 

Along with the CD with applications and electronic guides, we can also find an explanation regarding the modules which use GPL licenses and a "Read This First Guide":

 

 

 

 

The DS212 NAS from Synology is all black and the frontal side has an easy to remove cover, made from a shiny black plastic (this is why it is also covered by a transparent plastic film, to avoid scratches):

 

 

 

Here is a closer look on the front side of the product; besides the cover which comes with the product code name on the bottom left side, the right side is filled with buttons and activity LEDs:

 

 

 

On the top there is the Status LED, which lights up green after the NAS has booted up and everything is in order, along with the LAN, Disk 1 and Disk 2 activity LEDs:

 

 

 

Further down, we can find a SD card reader, along with an USB 2.0 port:

 

 

 

Next to the Power Button, there is another C button, which can be pressed when it lights up (and an USB device is connected to a spare port, or a SD card is inserted) to copy the entire contents of the device to the NAS internal HDD:

 

 

 

On the left side, we can find the Synology logo with some ventilation holes for intake; here we can also take a better look at the rough and matte plastic finish the NAS does have:

 

 

 

The opposite side looks exactly the same:

 

 

 

In the back of the unit, there is a 90mm exhaust fan, 2 USB 3.0 ports, one RJ45 Ethernet port, and a DC-IN connector; the NAS is also equipped with a small Reset button and a Kensington lock hole:

 

 

 

The sticker placed in the vicinity of the ports contains the MAC and the product serial number:

 

 

 

When looking on the bottom side of the unit, we can find some additional ventilation holes and a sticker, which informs us of the product model name and the power rating:

 

 

 

 

In each corner there is also placed a rubber foot, for keeping the NAS steady on the table:

 

 

 

By removing the frontal plastic cover we can find the two plastic HDD trays:

 

 

 

Each tray is set to be used with both 2.5'' and 3.5'' HDDs, by providing the necessary holes:

 

 

 

For the 3.5'' HDDs, we do also have rubber grommets for vibration dampening:

 

 

 

 

Here is an example of how a 2.5'' HDD or SSD is mounted:

 

 

 

 

For the 3.5'' HDDs we are provided with shorter course screws, so we won't cancel by mistake the effect of the rubber grommets by over tightening the screws:

 

 

 

 

 

When looking inside the product, we can find the SATA Data and Power connectors:

 

 

 

The PCB is not accessible to be viewed, being covered by a metallic plate:

 

 

 

After installing the drive/drives inside the NAS, connecting it to the network and powering it up, we can proceed with the software and drive setup; the CD that came with the product has an Autorun menu, which prompts us to start the setup procedure, or access the other available utilities like Synology Assistant, Data Replicator 3:

 

 

 

By clicking the Start button, we will proceed by installing the Synology Assistant, an application needed to set up the product:

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the application, Management tab, we can search for available NASes in our network; when found, we can click on Install, to proceed with the DSM installation:

 

 

 

For installing the latest DSM version, we can browse to the Synology website and access the product page; the application must be pointed to the recently downloaded file:

 

 

 

 

Next, we will have to enter the adminstrator password for initial login; in the same window we can specify the NAS name inside the network and if it should use or not SHR:

 

 

 

 

The next step implies to get an IP for the NAS (DHCP is recommended to be the best choice):

 

 

 

The installation steps and progress will be shown on the screen and it might take up to 10 seconds, depending on the HDD speeds and sizes:

 

 

 

 

After the installation is completed, we are prompted to login inside the browser interface:

 

 

 

Here is how the login screen does look, where we are prompted for a user and password:

 

 

 

The DSM looks like a normal desktop, with icons and other applications that can be launched from the top left side of the screen; a Quick Start window welcomes us and tells which steps are necessary to perform for setting the product quickly inside the network:

 

 

 

One of the first necessary steps is to create volumes on the available drives, and then we can create shared folders, which will be available everywhere inside the network:

 

 

 

During the setup, we are asked if we want to create multiple volumes on one drive or a single volume which will use the entire storage space:

 

 

 

Another important step in the setup procedure is when we get to choose the RAID type; depending on the type of the NAS and total of drives installed, only some options will be accessible:

 

 

 

The Volume Creation Wizard asks us at the end if it should also perform a disk check (this procedure is safer, to ensure we do not have any bad sectors on the drive, but it takes a lot of time to complete):

 

 

 

During the volume creation procedure, we can find the details inside the Storage Manager window:

 

 

 

 

The same Storage Manager has a HDD Management tab, where we can see if something is wrong with the installed drives:

 

 

 

To have accessible folders inside the network after volume creation, we must create some:

 

 

 

In the Create New Shared Folder window, we can specify the name of the directory, along with some extra details:

 

 

 

After the folder has been created, we are asked to specify the privileges for each created user:

 

 

 

 

If needed, some extra users can be created besides admin, which can have different access types to each folder:

 

 

 

 

The NAS can be found inside the network listing as a separate computer:

 

 

 

If the folder we are accessing is protected with a password, we are prompted to enter it up:

 

 

 

If we decide that we do not want to copy files to the NAS or from the NAS with Windows Explorer, we can choose to use the integrated File Browser:

 

 

 

By right clicking on a file/folder, we get to see options available in any other Windows based file browser:

 

 

 

After we choose what files/folders should be copied to the NAS, we can see the progress in the File Task Monitor window:

 

 

 

 

Another interesting application that we can enable inside the NAS interface is Audio Station; this app will create a separate shared "music" folder, which we can populate with the necessary music files (will be automatically indexed and inserted into the Library); the Audio Station app can also play content from services like Shoutcast or other Media Servers inside the network:

 

 

 

 

Next, we have the Synology Photo Station 5, which we can use to organize personal photos in albums:

 

 

 

After the photos have been added, the thumbnail generation procedure will begin, which, unfortunately, takes a lot of time and drives the NAS CPU up to 100%:

 

 

 

The photos can be watched in a nice slideshow, with the thumbnails located on the bottom:

 

 

 

The Download Station app lets us download files from different sources, including Bittorent or eMule; in the setup window we can specify where to put the temporary download files:

 

 

 

After the App has started, we can also specify the destination of the downloaded files:

 

 

 

Test Setup

 

CPU : Intel I5 2500K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua U12P SE2

Motherboard : ASRock P67 Extreme6

RAM : G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM

Video : Sparkle X460 Calibre 1GB

Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W

HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

To test the NAS performances, the DS212 was populated with one S599 SSD from ADATA, formatted with a single volume and the NAS was connected to the TRENDnet TEW-692GR 450Mbps router. The first simple test was performed by loading the test file onto a RAM drive and then it was copied to the NAS, at its shared folder. The speed was recorded with Total Commander:

 

 

 

The second test was to copy the same file back to the computer; for eliminating any HDD speed limitations, the file was copied back to the RAM drive:

 

 

 

For performing a more advanced test, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit was used, for performing 5 different test runs; here are the results:

 

 

 

The new DS212 NAS from Synology has a nice look, is built from high quality materials and does not disappoint regarding overall file transfer performance. The DSM is a really easy to use interface and besides the Audio Station, Photo Station or Download Station apps, we can also use the device as a Media Server, Mail Server, Surveillance Station and more.

 

For the mobile devices, we do also have available free applications like DS Finder, DS Cam, DS Audio, DS File or DS photo+, which enhance the usability of the device.

 

The noise produced by the internal 90mm fan is very little so with a quick measurement in a room which had an ambient of 27.2dBA, we could measure a total of 28.3dBA (before the HDDs turned on). The extra noise produced by the internal drive/drives varies from model to model.

 

One other feature that is interesting is the C button, which works perfectly when the USBCopy and SDCopy options enabled inside the browser interface; with it we can copy the entire contents of our USB device or SD Card, without the need to login inside the interface to do this operation manually.

 

One thing that could be improved at the future versions would be the speed at which Photo Station thumbnail creation works, which is really slow at the moment.

The DS212 can be found online for about 250 Euros.

Synology DS212 2-bay NAS Server Recommended For:

 

I would like to thank again to Synology for making this review possible!