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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Windows

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AWindows is an operating system with editions to support business workstations.N/A

    DiskStation

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/ADiskStation is a line of network-attached storage (NAS) solutions from Synology headquartered in Taiwan.N/A
    Pricing
    Microsoft WindowsDiskStation
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft WindowsDiskStation
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft WindowsDiskStation
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Synology
    Chose DiskStation
    Synology DiskStation is head and shoulders above WD and Seagate NAS servers I've used. The most immediate standout for me is the user interface on Synology DiskStation is far better. A real user oriented experience.

    Performance I get from my Synology DiskStation NAS is much …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    90%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    29 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    29 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    29 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    80%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    26 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    27 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft WindowsDiskStation
    Small Businesses
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    FreeNAS
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    FreeNAS
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft WindowsDiskStation
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (10 ratings)
    9.2
    (30 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (7 ratings)
    9.1
    (9 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.7
    (7 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft WindowsDiskStation
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    I think for every business in the world Microsoft Windows is a good use as standard OS system. It’s easy to use and a lot of other company's use it which make it very appealing for user to learn more about Microsoft Windows. The Office 365 suite is really good as a free feature and used a lot by every user of Microsoft Windows. If you got a designer business I would recommend other brands that are specialized in that kind of work. I feel Windows will come short on that end.
    Incentivized
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    Synology
    The Synology DiskStation is well suited as a NAS solution, easy enough to mirror a Windows file server shares setup. Access to the Hyperbackup utility eliminates the need to purchase a tape backup solution. A portable USB drive can be used as the initial backup target. For air gap purposes can connect Hyperbackup to the various cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, GCP to copy backup data there. Utilizing it as a backup solution has also been great, instead of purchasing a tape solution, tapes and an offsite tape repository. Active Backup for Business is another excellent backup utility for physical servers, VMWare virtual machines, etc. Restoring files is fairly intuitive. Until Synology introduced the dual controller setup, using it as a SAN was less appropriate as there was occasional downtime when the controller had an issue but this was less important for the scenarios we were using it for. It would be more of a concern if we had used it for things that require more robust uptime requirements. Overall we are happy with the features of the Synology DiskStation.
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    Pros
    Microsoft
    • It is very easy to use, can be picked up by a novice in minutes.
    • It is aesthetically pleasing, and appears clean and modern.
    • Most programs that people use in their day to day run on windows natively.
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    Synology
    • Synology DiskStation offers lots of options for creating links to share files or request that some uploads files. It makes it really easy to just share a link that can have an expiration or a set number of times it is accessed.
    • We always had enough storage on our Synology DiskStation, we never had to worry about something being too big to upload or share.
    • Love how you can create folders that are shared and also have some that are private. This makes it so easy to have shared collaborations with coworkers or clients, but also allows you to have a private place to save things that only you need.
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    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Forced updates occasionally have bad timing when ignored for too long
    • Microsoft Edge Web Browser is a bit clunky
    • The 3D desktop still needs some improvement
    Read full review
    Synology
    • While BTRFS is a more advanced file system than ext4, it also is in a perpetual state of development, with many features not fully functional and a plethora of bugs. Synology has managed to overcome many of these limitations by placing BTRFS on top of a LVM, but there are much better file systems that Synology could have used, such as OpenZFS.
    • DSM's built-in backup software, HyperBackup, while robust, oftentimes runs into issues. Specifically, backups can be working fine for months or years, and then suddenly the backups will fail. Sometimes these failures can be resolved, but oftentimes the backups need to be completely restarted. Fortunately, even when the backup fails, the existing backups are still accessible, it is just that new backups can not be performed.
    • The underlying Linux OS provides significant benefits, but also adds a fair amount of complexity. Most of that complexity is wonderfully hidden by the DSM interface, but when certain problems arise, delving into the Linux command line is not out of the question.
    • Perhaps the biggest issue with Synology DiskStation is Synology's support. The issue isn't that the support is bad, but it can be frustratingly slow when dealing with a major issue. Synology does have a very active community that is always willing to help, but nothing beats first-party support.
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Synology
    As long as Synology give us support for our hard drivers we will not change. I know Synology has now forced their hands to buy their own hard drivers and their new line of products. But if we still have support for old hard drivers from other manufacturers then we will still use Synology Nas. Otherwise we change manufacturers
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    Usability
    Microsoft
    It's easy to use, very straightforward, and user-friendly. It has improved over the years, but you still need to be careful not to shut it down improperly because that may lead to corruption and Windows being unable to boot. There is plenty of software available that covers most needs.
    Incentivized
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    Synology
    The Synology DiskStation is easy to set up and manage. The interface is clean and features are well documented. These units are reliable and can be set up to do scheduled integrity checks so failures can be mitigated before they halt business operations. The available packages for expanded roles makes these devices versatile.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    support remains spotty, researching online articles are a pain
    Incentivized
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    Synology
    Unfortunately, the one time I've had to reach out to DiskStation support, it did not go well. My NAS appliance wasn't appearing on the network, and no matter what the support team tried, they could not get it back online. Instead of offering to send me a new unit, they told me to go buy a new one - obviously, this was a disappointing response and not very eco-friendly either! Fortunately, through some internet research of my own, and some ingenuity, I figured out I could restore my NAS to factory settings by removing all the drives and resetting. Only then did I realize I had a bad disk. I had to experiment for a while to figure out which one it was. Once I had done that, though, I was able to get the latest DiskStation loaded back on, no thanks to the DiskStation support crew. If notifications were rock solid, I suspect I would have caught the bad disk before it because an OS problem, but I never received a bad-disk notification.
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    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    MDT helped deploy OS to users machines via PXE boot.
    Incentivized
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    Synology
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Windows and macOS are both useful operating systems. There are businesses who much prefer macOS and some that prefer Windows. Businesses that revolve around industries such as game design, art design, graphic design may opt to use macOS due to its optimization with programs that revolve around these topics. Other businesses that are more focused towards Data or text processing may opt to use Windows due to its familiarity across the world and ease of access.
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    Synology
    Synology DiskStation packs a punch with the latest and greatest feature set which goes above and beyond many other vendors. It allows for a turn-key solution to cover almost every use case in the SMB market leaving other vendors behind.
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    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Positively effects our easy of use of other programs
    • Take it for granted because it is so transparent in use
    • Definitely worth the price.
    Incentivized
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    Synology
    • Minimal investment in the hardware, big return on productivity
    • Streamlined IT needs, we no longer have to hire our IT vendor to assist us as regularly as we did when we were running servers
    • Productivity on the road through web access has increased productivity and billable hours for remote employees
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots