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Synology DiskStation has become a go-to solution for many clients looking to replace their Apple-based servers and improve file sharing …
Overview
What is DiskStation?
DiskStation is a line of network-attached storage (NAS) solutions from Synology headquartered in Taiwan.
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Product Details
- About
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is DiskStation?
Synology's storage solutions provide data availability and simplify IT challenges with software and data management tools.
DiskStation Features
- Supported: Network Attached Storage
- Supported: Acts as the user's own Private Cloud
- Supported: Offers a variety of sizes to suit the user's needs
DiskStation Competitors
DiskStation Technical Details
| Deployment Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Linux |
| Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android, Mobile Web |
Frequently Asked Questions
DiskStation is a line of network-attached storage (NAS) solutions from Synology headquartered in Taiwan.
Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 9.7.
The most common users of DiskStation are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Reviews and Ratings
(84)
Community Insights
TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
Synology DiskStation has become a go-to solution for many clients looking to replace their Apple-based servers and improve file sharing capabilities. Users rely on this product for a range of use cases, from serving as a backup solution with built-in tools like Hyperbackup and Cloud Sync, to managing large amounts of information across departments and warehouses. It is also utilized as a versatile file server, photo management solution, VPN server, and Active Directory Server. Additionally, Synology DiskStation offers an inexpensive way to add storage to servers, provides backup space, and acts as a replacement for servers in other locations. This low-cost NAS solution requires low maintenance and excels at storing archived data. It is commonly used as network-attached storage for smaller offices and serves as a backup server, eliminating tapes and offering deduped backups with offsite data repositories. Companies rely on Synology DiskStation to save documents, collaborate on projects, and ensure centralized storage for work files. With its beautiful operating system, large storage capacity, and included backup solutions, this product earns praise from users who appreciate its seamless file sharing capabilities, easy access to files, and speed of file transfer.
Easy-to-use Interface: Many users have praised the simplicity and intuitiveness of the storage controls' user interface, finding it easy to navigate and manage their files efficiently.
Convenient Remote Access: Several reviewers have mentioned that the built-in DDNS/QuickConnect tool provided by the product makes it effortless to access their files and data remotely, adding a level of convenience and ease of use to their experience.
Competitive Pricing: A significant number of users have found the price of the unit itself to be very competitive compared to other options they considered. They consider it a cost-effective solution for their storage needs, making it an attractive choice.
Lack of Timely Updates: Several users have expressed frustration over the lack of timely updates for the next operating system, with some stating that they have been waiting for over 2 years. This indicates a significant delay in delivering new features and improvements to customers.
Inconsistent Customer Support: According to multiple reviewers, customer support from Synology is inconsistent and unreliable, varying depending on the nature of the problem. Some users have reported difficulties in getting prompt and effective assistance, which can be frustrating when encountering issues or needing technical help.
Cumbersome Reporting Process: Many users find the reporting process in Synology software to be cumbersome due to the excessive number of reports. This makes it difficult to manage them efficiently and slows down productivity.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-4 of 4)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
February 02, 2022
Synology NAS - A must have for any organization
Used as an inexpensive way to add storage to servers and also for backup space. It also backs up all our O365 data.
We have also used it in other locations to replace servers completeley and to function as a Domain.
We have also used it in other locations to replace servers completeley and to function as a Domain.
- Backup O365 - OneDrive & Sharepoint
- Simple to setup iSCSI for additional server storage
- Replication between Synology for off-site backups
- mobile device backups
- Reliability
- Features
- Performance
- Cost
- Inexpensive server space equals saving money not having to purchase new server
- Reliable backups
- Low cost virtualization
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.
October 19, 2021
Synology DiskStation is a best in class NAS system with the power and features to do so much more
Synology DiskStation is being used for multiple purposes across multiple organizations. The primary use is as a generic file server, but it is also being used as an all-in-one photo management solution (utilizing Synology's PhotoStation or Synology Photos in the latest version of DiskStation), a VPN server (either L2TP or OpenVPN), and an Active Directory Server. It is also used to host virtual machines to handle functions that the DiskStation can't handle natively (such as running a QuickBooks database, Ubiquiti UniFi Controller, etc.)
- Synology's DiskStation Manager (DSM) provides a robust RAID experience with multiple RAID types available, including Synology's own RAID implementation (Synology Hybrid RAID - SHR)
- DSM includes a full-blown app ecosystem to extend its functionality beyond its built-in features.
- Synology is constantly updating DSM with not only performance, bug and security fixes but with major changes as well. In fact, the newest version of DSM, DSM 7, was just recently released.
- The same version of DSM comes with all of Synology NAS products, from simple single drive models all the way up to enterprise-grade models with upwards of 20 drive bays.
- DSM is not just a simple firmware OS, it is a full-blown Linux OS with all the features and benefits (and pitfalls) that entails.
- The default file system for DSM is BTRFS. BTRFS provides some advanced functionality (such as snapshots, bit rot protection and compression) over Linux's default ext4 filesystem.
- 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.
- Robust RAID support and hot swappable hard drives
- Easy backups via built-in HyperBackup
- Ability to fully replicate a file system from one NAS to another using the snapshot feature of BTRFS and Synology's built-in replication service.
- A robust app ecosystem allowing you to expand the functionality of your NAS, including a VPN server, a virtual machine manager (with the ability to run Windows OS'), a full-featured Dropbox-style service in Synology Drive, a Google Apps style service in Synology Office, Docker, and a plethora of other first-party AND third-part app packages.
- With as feature rich and flexible as DSM is, it is shockingly easy to use.
- The initial cost of Synology DiskStation can be substantial (in the thousand of $ depending on the type of NAS and number and type of hard drives used). But once set up, maintenance costs are minimal.
- When using Synology DiskStation has a cloud server (akin to say Dropbox), once the initial setup is done, there are no monthly costs regardless of the number of users.
- Synology DiskStation does require some amount of IT knowledge and the ability to maintain and troubleshoot when issues may arise. For small businesses with little or no IT knowledge, Synology may simply cost too much in unavailable man-hours.
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 that can be installed on generic hardware but is extremely complex and difficult to set up. TerraMaster provides some budget-friendly NAS hardware, but the TerraMaster OS, TNAS, leaves a lot to be desired.
Yes
QNAP, TerraMaster and FreeNAS were all considered. In the end, Synology simply had the best feature set and ease of use that it was a no brainer. QNAP is still a viable alternative if
October 06, 2021
Long Time 16 Year Satisfied Synology Business User
storage of corporate files (documents, ebooks, videos, notes), sharing of multimedia files (audiobooks, videos) streaming of multimedia files via ds audio and ds video, and plex backup of all android/ios/windows pc computers providing VPN access by remote users to the above corporate files essentially a massive digital library for all our staff.
- Storing ebooks and documents
- Streaming of music and audiobooks (i.e., ds audio)
- Streaming of videos and tv shows and movies (i.e., ds video and plex)
- the focus of synology is on SMB users, we have a 1.3PB Synology NAS unit that needs higher-end DiskStation software to handle the 95 x 16TB drives we have
- in summary, Synology NAS software doesn't handle enterprise customer needs
- syncing of files with android and IOS devices, in particular with DSM 7, the Synology Cloud SYNC software doesn't work (the staff are working on a release in the coming months). But syncing files from mobile devices to the Synology NAS is a key reason 2 of our Synology NAS units were purchased, and without the syncing we are limited
- quick connect feature
- easy of use and maintenance
- okay for streaming videos (not great, but good)
- positive impact, allowing access to terabytes of data files at any place, any time, anywhere
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 support in Washington during working hours for technical questions is a great deal, something many companies don't do anymore.
October 25, 2019
Just set it and forget it.
We needed a low-cost NAS solution, and low maintenance, due to a lack of staffing within the IT department.
- Easy to setup.
- Synology App Store grows with time and have access to a lot of 3rd party app options.
- Ability to scale easily and economically.
- Provide more options for expansion other than eSATA connectors.
- Easier access to RAM and SSD upgrades on the lower end models, without having to pull the unit almost completely apart.
- Management UI is slow to load on the lower end models, especially with multiple network connections.
- Saved a lot of money for my customers when compared to more robust NAS or SAN deployments.
- NFS shares for VMWare works quite well.
- Didn't like the fact I have to use specific branded SSDs for caching.
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.
PowerVault was too complicated for customer self-support. Synology met the storage capacity needs, and was easy to set up and use.