Synology DiskStation

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
DiskStation
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
DiskStation is a line of network-attached storage (NAS) solutions from Synology headquartered in Taiwan.N/A
Pricing
Synology DiskStation
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
DiskStation
Free Trial
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Synology DiskStation
Considered Both Products
DiskStation
Chose Synology DiskStation
We had used an HPE MSA for one of our offices, the ROI was not as good as the Synology DiskStation due to the price. It required more of a setup needing to have a Windows OS to manage it. While the DiskStation just needed a few clicks to set up. There was no additional software …
Chose Synology DiskStation
Easy setup. Good price for TB. Easily accessible hdd drives.
Thanks to e-mail notification. In the event of a disk failure, I will immediately get a notification to replace the HDD.
Chose Synology DiskStation
We honestly went with Synology DiskStation because of the cost solution and how quickly we were able to acquire the units. After acquiring and we were able to work through setup, it far exceeded our expectation in the ability to configure and be able to get things running. We …
Chose Synology DiskStation
I basically use it because it's cheaper in terms of cost. Also it's good for document backup on private cloud and it's DSM 7 looks great.
Chose Synology DiskStation
These are very similar products. QNAP is known for better high end performance. I really like the Synology interface. It makes it very easy to use. There are so many applications that are available that expand the functionality significantly.
Chose Synology DiskStation
Synology DiskStation is by far the best all-around NAS solution on the market. QNAP provides more hardware variability and some better prices, but QNAP's OS, QT, is simply not as good as Synology's DSM OS. FreeNAS is an extremely powerful and robust open-source NAS solution …
Chose Synology DiskStation
I have a Qnap, and I hate it compared to Synology. Synology is the easy button of a NAS. You can literally have it all up and running, configured, and backing up servers in 30 minutes. I have not used it for cameras, but I hear it's great. My qnap just sits in a box now, won't …
Chose Synology DiskStation
When we were making a decision on what to go with we looked at storage capacity, extra features offered, package deals, and overall cost. When we considered Dropbox, it felt like it was too much for how much we would get and that we needed some growing to do before we moved …
Chose Synology DiskStation
We have evaluated the QNAP units (which have higher processor ratings, but the software isn't good), and the Western Digital NAS unit, and FreeNAS setup but none have the simplicity with their DSM software and support that Synology provides yes, being able to call Synology …
Chose Synology DiskStation
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.
Chose Synology DiskStation
When using Arlo on a device - if you log into another device, then you'll be kicked off on the device previously used. but i like Arlo for personal use as it's free to use.
Chose Synology DiskStation
We transitioned from a standard Windows File Server. This solution is much cheaper. Easy to use and extremely reliable. We will be replacing our two Synology boxes in 2020 with newer versions.
Chose Synology DiskStation
Easier to use. Cheaper.
Chose Synology DiskStation
Synology stacks up very well against the QNAP and the Nexsan. We used to find the Nexsan was very power-hungry in the data centre as well as being very loud to run. We still run a QNAP in our environment which works in a very similar way and with a similar interface as Synology …
Chose Synology DiskStation
Synology meets a different need. Smaller companies do not need the scalability of the NetApps, Equalogics, Isilons.
PowerVault was too complicated for customer self-support. Synology met the storage capacity needs, and was easy to set up and use.
Chose Synology DiskStation
When we decided to look for a nearby storage solution, we briefly considered QNAP NAS. From a technical data sheet point of view, it has complete feature parity to DiskStation. Ultimately, we decided to go with DiskStation because of word of mouth from one of our team members;…
Chose Synology DiskStation
I considered the WD MyCloud NAS as well as the Seagate Ironwolf. I found the Synology was a better overall product with a lot more features and value for the investment. I also briefly considered brands such as Asustor and TerraMaster, but kept coming back to Synology because …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Synology DiskStation
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
FreeNAS
FreeNAS
Score 7.7 out of 10
Enterprises
FreeNAS
FreeNAS
Score 7.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Synology DiskStation
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(21 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.7
(7 ratings)
User Testimonials
Synology DiskStation
Likelihood to Recommend
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
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
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
Synology
It provides us with great ROI compared with other solutions. It is also a versatile product, having NAS and SAN product lines depending on the business requirement. Furthermore, the implementation of dual controller lines would allow us to consider it for more critical applications to supplement the more enterprise-level SAN solution. It also is a wonderful backup solution, having all the applications available after purchase of the appliance without the further need to purchase additional software or licensing.
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Usability
Synology
The Synology DiskStation is fairly easy to use, but maybe a challenge for those who not super IT savvy. With some trial and error, you can pretty much figure out how to configure the NAS the way you want it configured. I would say it is easy to use once it is set up and maintaining the device is likewise pretty straightforward as well.
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Support Rating
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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Alternatives Considered
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.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Synology
  • It has helped us go from printing things out to file them away to going 100% digital with our files and documents because we have a secure place to save stuff.
  • We are organized. I can't really put a value or number to how amazing this is for us, but when we deal with so many documents and files it can be so hard to keep things organized, but with Synology DiskStation, we have all our files in specific places and it helps us stay organized and definitely saves time because things are so easy to find.
  • One negative thing has been that our Synology DiskStation relies on us either being plugged into the network in the office or having a strong internet connection at home. With the pandemic and everyone working from home, we have had "outages" where we were not able to sync our data, and things were lost and we had to start over.
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