The 9 Best Synology Diskstation models (2023 reviews)

If you often find yourself scrambling for good model, this is your solution. If you are using it as a integral means for file services then it is a nice feature and reduces the amount of wait time. It easily categorize your photo memories, smoothly manage files across computers and mobile devices, and enjoy blazing fast web applications. The drive can be augmented with additional RAM and there are two slots for SSD drives for read/write caching if you need it. The big thing is having a USB port or Ethernet to connect between the UPS and the Synology.

The built in CPU is more than enough for NAS tasks and offers quicksync GPU acceleration for use as a PLEX box. The drives mount quickly and easily with snap in-rails on the drive trays and slide right in. There is an indexing service that can be enabled which will significantly speed up searches when you look for files on your NAS and much faster than otherwise would be the case.

Why We Like This:

Dual networking ports for high speed internet data transfers
Versatile and well worth the extra money
Installing hard drives is super easy
Super easy to add drives and expand the storage space

Best box: Synology Diskstation model

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The synology diskstation model is the best desirable product on the market today. Synology has a proprietary connection mechanism called QuickConnect that you can use for proxying to your NAS without having to open any ports in your firewall for the mobile and desktop apps. The Diskstation allows you to stream 4k videos to high-definition tvs, digital media players, mobile handsets, and computers, making it easy to watch your entire multimedia library without having to install a 3rd party player. It's intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy to manage files and applications.

This NAS does so much more than just backup or store information. It only stores data which can be an audio or video file. It is easy to use out of the box + powerful features once you set them up, and good performance. It also underperforms in windows VMs for several uses.

Why We Like This:

Stores video, pictures and documents accessible to all users on the network
Fast acting nas for video surveillance
Easy to set up, much improved over earlier models

Best For photographer: Synology shared Drive

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The synology shared drive should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. The Synology Diskstation Manager (DSM) with its web-based interface does have a lot of included features, and an app library in the "Package Center" where you can download and install free and purchased apps to add functionality to the NAS. It integrates with Finder and acts like any other external drive. The NAS claims that the fans will adjust in speed as the drive temperatures rise automatically in all three modes so. It has a removable front panel too.

The configuration wizard makes setup quick and easy. It's extremely quiet and builds up minimal heat. There is a USB port in the back along with 2x 1GB LAN ports (link Aggregation compatible) and a USB port up front.

Why We Like This:

Easy to follow set up instructions
Link aggregation for improved network performance
Good brand reputation

Best With DOCK: Synology One Drive

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Synology makes beautiful and great model with classic and smartly choosen materials. It is an entry-level 2-bay nas designed for home and personal users to store and share photos, videos, and documents. It is easy to set up, and a nice compact size. It has configurable hibernation modes for both internal and usb connected drives. It is suitable for high-volume, high-traffic file sharing and access from a large number of computers at once. It is easy to setup password protected "drives" for different family members and assign storage quotas. DSM makes it easy to backup files for all your devices and avoid accidental data loss. It is suitable for basic use and also will hold up to 12 tbs.

Why We Like This:

Levels of support for legacy video codecs
You can synch back and forth bidirectionally
Good for basic backup and storage and small network
Has a lot of software and options, customizable storage and almost plug and play

Best With minimal learning curve: Synology Network Drive

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The synology network drive's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. It is best for transposing 4k video as synology has models that are designed for transposing. It is called SHR (Synology Hybrid Raid) which automatically matches to the best possible RAID level. It does a simple mirror with two drives and switches over to other modes like raid5 as soon as you add a third drive. It includes an app with several options that allow backing up to other devices, locally or in the cloud. It has a backup app where you can connect almost any kind of outside source as a backup destination.

This box defiantly outperforms the DS1515+ by far and the disk transfer rates are in par with the documented specifications. It is essentially an extension of the shared folders, with one extra configuration required to make the folder appear as a native network time machine backup destination.

Why We Like This:

Works perfectly with x520 sfp+ network card
You can add 2 cache drives and more ram
You can add more drives to your raid array
Easy to get setup and going

Best With different base units: Synology dedicated local Backup solution

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Best part: synology dedicated local backup solution costs comparatively low and it is available to ship in 24 hours. The DX517 is a “Disk Expansion” unit that will hold 5 drives, and is released in. It easily adds 5 additional drive bays to the synology diskstation. The swappable drive trays of the DX517 allow easy drive installation and replacement without powering down the system. It has a plastic enclosure to hold the drives, fans, esata interface, and power supply.

The DSM has very strong base functionality that is complimented by a long list of applications that you can add from both Synology and 3rd party vendors. It takes a hell of long time to resync but it works on ext4 and raid 5 too. It can be used as a dedicated local backup solution for the synology diskstation.

Why We Like This:

You will speed up file transfers by 15%+ with ssd read / write cache
Top value prosumer/small business storage solution
You can allocate those drives to any volume you create

Best For Backup Storage: Synology One Unit

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Best part: synology one unit costs comparatively low and it is available to ship in 24 hours. The Surveillance station helps you protect your home or business by offering the ability to manage multiple network cameras, check live camera feeds from anywhere with the mobile app, catch suspicious incidents quickly with intelligent alerts, and easily find relevant recordings. It is capable of a read/write cache. The array will sleep with it not in use to save energy and reduce noise.

This unit supports two expansions. It works great as a plex server. It has USB3 ports that can be used for backup. It is easy to operate and feature extraordinary nas. It is ideal for backup storage.

Why We Like This:

You will increase speed by more than 2x, reduce cpu load 20x
Powerful, fast, versatile, expandable, and easy to use
Reduce the stress on the disks
Not just performance, but nice features and admin ui

Best With customer Support: Synology USB Drive

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Compared with other products by Synology, the synology usb drive has a convenient design. DiskStations run Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), a Linux based software package that is the operating system. It automates backups of photos, music, and documents from two laptops. It is extremely simple to configure as a dnla server and as an itunes server. It has a very nice graphical interface that makes it friendly to use.

The DS214+ has dual 1Gbps network interfaces. It is great for basic file storage. It works very well as a music server at home. It is technically possible to connect two computers with a special USB cable.

Why We Like This:

Great applications to support all kind of home file and media sharing activities
Easy to install and configure and runs quiet
Simple and reliable, perfect nas choice

Best With SSD Drive: Synology operating System

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Compared with other products by Synology, the synology operating system has a convenient design. The Rs1221 + is a rack mounted unit that has eight hot swapable drive bays. It provides automated near-instantaneous data protection for shared folders and luns, while file self-healing detects and recovers corrupted files using mirrored metadata and raid configurations. It does not include any rack rails, but the chassis does have rack mount ears on it. It will hold either 2.5in or 3.5in drives. It's much faster to response, has twice the drive bay, and has dual power which is nice. It's a nice unit for those who just need things to work.

It is fully capable of handling heavy file workloads and protecting digital assets in small business environments through the comprehensive file management and data protection options found in the diskstation manager (dsm) operating system.

Why We Like This:

Speeds drop to around 7gbs for large bundles of files like entire folders
Fast rack based synology server—nice build quality
New and hot release