Synology 8 bay NAS DiskStation DS1817+ (8GB) (Diskless)

Pros: The product is easy to use, and is very intuitive. Don't think just buy it already... Because it was my first NAS, I had to learn how everything worked. One resource I used was synoguide.com I reviewed the guide before I bought to see if the instructions were complicated. For me, they were simple and straight forward, and it was just as easy to follow for my own machine. If the guide works for you, then everything below can be easily done. Overall, this NAS has far exceeded my exceptions, and I can simply list all of the tasks that I'm currently using. My only regret was not buying a NAS sooner. * SHR1 for all my disks so I don't lose my data if a drive goes down. * SSL certificate from let's encrypt. * Data accessible from anywhere all through https. * Webdav server to connect to all my files from work. * Personal Cloud, so files automatically sync to the server from all my devices (no more flash drives). * Cloud Sync - all data automatically backup to cloud service. All data available from cloud app. * Plex for all my videos, and music (multiple 1080p not a problem). * Photo library - you can easily map icloud from a PC to the NAS, so pictures backup to the NAS the moment you take the pic. No more icloud storage. * Personal website for playing around. * VPN server * Snapshots to quickly recover accidentally deleted data (probably don't need after using the recycle bin). * Offsite backups to cloud services (Hyper Backup +encrypted). Even if my house burns down, or any ransomware, all my data is recoverable. After initial upload, muliple terabytes only take 15min to update the data versions, meaning i can recover data versions from days, months, or even years ago. I also encrypt all my personal data, so only a synology unit can unlock the data with a personally created key/ password. * Link Aggregation with 4 lans *SSD Cache * WakeOnLan - DS Finder will wake your machine when it's turned off. It won't say, but when you try to access it, it will ask you then:) Start with one task, follow the referenced guide/ google if needed, and implement one thing at a time. By doing this you will learn as you go, and will be well versed by the end. I thought about QNAP, but glad I went with the Synology. The software is rock solid, and intuitive. Things that are not the NAS. An gigabit Ethernet line only goes 115 MB/s, so you won't go faster without link aggregation. A faster connection like USB 3.0/ eSata will improve performance for inital data transfers. It did take a longtime to transfer terabytes of data. Also internet connection, you can only pull as fast as your service allows. My upload speed is 50 MB/s, so don't expect more than that. It takes a longtime to transfer again terabytes to the cloud, but once you're done, everything works pretty quickly. Plex - I haven't had any issues with the CPU power, but here is what I did just in case. I have plex on my PC & NAS accessing the same files. I run plex with the NAS, but if I ever need more power, I can easily switch to the PC. Within plex you can switch between all connected servers. The end result, I have access to all my data through every app I want. Everything works fast, and I don't wish I had more speed, or anything. Everything loads quickly without complaints. At first i wanted to backup my data, and use plex, but this machine is so much more, and I look forward to learning about all of its capabilities.

Cons: Should have bought one before

Overall Review: I would highly recommend to anyone who can follow the guides, and google.

Pros: Significantly more powerful processor than previous desktop NAS's we have had. 8GB of RAM is more than adequate unless you are runnIng an exceptional number of add-on features. This unit was coupled with 2x10g Synology E10G17-F2 NIC using the expansion port configured as 20g switch dependent LAG. We used 5x4TB WD RE series 6gbps SATA3 drives. Write speed for a single client on SMB share is averaging 375-400 MB/s when transferring backup copies of VHDX files in the terabyte size range. Very pleased with performance.

Cons: The latches to lock the hard drive doors are all plastic and a bit flimsy, caution should be used to avoid breaking them. Initial setup was accomplished using one of the 1g LAN ports until basic configuration was complete and 10g card was configured then the cable was removed. With SHR 5x4TB the array took 2 days to run through a full check. It was useable during the check but did take about a 30% performance hit.

Overall Review: This NAS comes with very little documentation. If you have setup in DSM before it is easy, if not you will need to google quite a bit. I debated SHR versus RAID10 in a 4 drive configuration and opted for the larger amount of storage with SHR taking a performance hit on read/write. This unit is secondary storage for us and we are specifically not using any LUNs. On 10g I can only get 400MB/s if the source is SSDs on one of the HyperV boxes. Any sources that are 4 drive RAID10 are capped at 300MB/s regardless of 10g network speed. A pair of 10g machines transferring large files to NAS might see 160MB/s each but speed will fluctuate due to head movement. Overall the unit is very quiet with the RE drives. Have another NAS with Enterprise grade HGST drives and the drives are very loud. (Mark W IT for Karen B purchasing 6/2017)

Pros: + Performance + Amazing web UI + Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR) + 5 drive bays + Btrfs file system + 4 Rj-45 ports + A lot of packages (apps) + Continuous free OS feature and package upgrades + Detailed product information and support on website I'm starting to list the spec sheet you can find on their website. That pretty much defines all of the pros to this beast in a small box. The DiskStation Manager software is genius. I wanted to buy a little more than what I needed today to extend its use. The DS1517+ cpu doesn't flinch to handle my home and home lab needs. It may even get bored. I am utilizing Hyper Backup to my DS413j, Snapshot, Cloud Sync to Backblaze, Active Backup from a Linux, file server, downloads, etc. No problem. I am probably going to add more. I decided to go with the 8GB instead of the 2GB. I am sure it would have been fine with 2GB, but it wasn't that much to upgrade. At the time, it was only $100 for 6GB of RAM. I couldn't think of why I shouldn't. The web desktop UI is just like a local OS desktop UI. It is very intuitive. If you do have a question, the help that is accessible on each screen, via ? on the top right, is clear and concise. The Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR) allows you to upgrade hard drive size incrementally. The btrfs allows you to take quick snapshots of your data without overhead. I am resisting the urge to go on and on about all of the features since I do not have enough space in this review. Features, features, features… more than you will need and many you didn't know you needed; or at least, why not since it comes with the NAS. They are continuing to add new packages (apps). Active Backup for G Suite and Office 365 is in beta as well as Intrusion Protection.

Cons: - Hard drive locks on the case seem a bit flimsy. - Additional license purchase for more than 2 cameras or 5 email accounts. I do wish the hard drive locks and keys were a bit stronger. They work well enough, but they're plastic and I feel like I have to be mindful and careful when using them. The hope is that I won't need to access the hard drives except on a blue moon, so the con should not be a big deal even if I have to change out a drive once a year. Maybe I'm spoiled because of all of the features that come with the DiskStation without additional charge. Maybe I'm a little scared that they might start charging for apps like a store. I don't like that you have to buy additional licenses for some of the features. In the end, it's not a big deal for me. I don't use the email or the camera (currently). The DiskStation provides so many features out of the box, that buying additional licenses for the camera or email would not decrease the value of the purchase. At the end of the day, there is not a single reason to break an egg.

Overall Review: I bought a Synology DS413j back in March 2013 from Newegg after reading a lot of reviews and researching how I can best use the Synology NAS compared to the competition. I believed that Synology was ahead of the competition back then. This time around I did not bother to look into other company products. I was not at all interested in anything other than a DiskStation. Synology has hit the ball out of the park and, in my humble opinion, there is no competition. So my 4 year old DS413j series was starting to strain to keep up with all the new features and demands that have been released over the years. Synology does not give up on providing more and more value to their products. Free OS upgrades that continue to add value to your purchase. What's not to love. It was a j series that lasted 4 years in an ever advancing technology world without a single technical issue with the NAS itself. I feel like I got good use of it and my moneys worth. It was time to upgrade. This time I decided to skip the j and value series and jump into the plus series. The price differences compared to specifications of the DS416j, DS416, DS1517, DS916+ and DS1517+ were reasonable and, for me, the DS1517+ was a great value. It was the "for a little bit more, I get all of these upgrades" situation. There wasn't an unreasonable jump in price. I am using five WD Red 4TB NAS hard drives which have been great drives so far. I started using the WD Red 3TB drives with my DS413j and found them to be more reliable than a competitor's drives that I had to replace. I decided to do the SHR2 for two disk protection. The available space of a formatted 4TB drive is roughly 3.64TB and then deduct some space for the OS and swap, my available space is 10.47TB. Not all DiskStations can run all apps. Verify the features you want come with the DiskStation you're interested in.

Pros: -Great interface with a lot of support by different apps and 3rd party suppliers. You want Plex, they have it. You want Serviio, they have it as well. -Loads of options for those of us that like to tweak because we somehow think it is a hobby. On this, it might be a con as well if you do not find all the information out in front of you in plain English. It can be a little daunting looking up the explanation to everything that you do not know about. -Kind of sexy looking. I do have mine sitting next to my router and cable modem in the basement going right into a 24port switch and so this really doesn't matter for me, but for someone using it in an entertainment cabinet or something it looks quite nice. -Super easy to load up drives and do a memory upgrade. I put together a 1515+ 3 months ago and it is near the same. I used the same 16gig memory pack from Crucial and it went fine https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148614. Memory goes right in two slots under a small cover on the bottom, uber easy. Four WD RED drives 8gig each @5900 rpm, one drive for redundancy. -Super easy using the Synology SHR to make a contiguous single volume with loss protection. -Too many apps to list them all but I am using it as a DLNA server as part of the setup and although I haven't figured everything out, it works well.

Cons: -If you do not know what you are doing and are not tech savvy, you may have some issues getting through some of this. Google is your friend and use it; there are many things to set depending on your setup and what you want to do with it. -It would have been nice to have a basic, visual setup process that gets the small and easy stuff set quickly. Even better, more information such as tooltips for every item explaining the pros and cons of setting it up. That being said, I am more than aware that this is not your average every-day-joe hardware and it is expected to have a higher level of competence to use this product to the fullest capabilities.

Overall Review: I have no complaints in full with my purchase. It came fast, easy to set up and gave me what I was looking for fast. I am now exploring all the other options available to get the most out of my purchase and have found some real gems in the totality of what this unit can really do. I am quite happy.

Pros: Everything about it. I can't even begin... Love it! Only regret was I waited too long to purchase. I am using 5 6TB WD RED's ... so far flawless, and support for the product is amazing. Updates regularly, which is nice to see ongoing support.

Cons: Nothing yet ! Doubt there will be

Overall Review: Buy it ! You will not regret it. Options are plentiful. I like its OS... easily navigable, deep menus on some categories. I use mine as a media server for all home based computers,and Networked Tv's and devices. On both computers the Documents folder, my music, my videos, etc all point to the NAS folders, so that no stored data is actually on the computer. Also use it to stream audio and video to my networked TV. Works fantastic ! Also using the Synology Surveillance package for my video camera(TrendNet TV-IP651) recording schedule, which also has excellent options. Works flawlessly, and 100 times better than TrendNets Software.

Pros: - Simple setup and use. - Integrates with your gmail account to send updates. - remote access with free DDNS. - one included license for security camera also.

Cons: - 3 months in and I don't have any negatives to report

Overall Review: I was expecting to have to read up on volume creation, user access, etc.. to get access to this NAS, but the user interface was really easy to follow. Users, maintenance, drive creation, was easy. Also I found out there is a one camera license for this hardware - and you can run NAS (Disk manager) and Security station at the same time.

Pros: -Web GUI is amzing -Synology hybrid raid is the bees knees. Only started with 5 drives and threw in a 6th and synology did the rest after the click of a few buttons

Cons: -Expansion card M2D17 card isn't available yet to build the cache drive. Wish the card was distributed the same day the NAS was.

Overall Review: -This NAS is top notch and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone

Pros: Very flexible, intuitive and clean UI, easy to setup and manage. Loaded with apps of all kinds for media, backup and other 3rd party apps. You can expand its RAM, cache and add 10gb network support. I have 2 DS416j's as well and these have all performed flawlessly. One of those units suffered a power failure in the middle of an OS update and died however Synology support was good and replaced the unit for me. I'm sure the DS1815+ will perform just as well and it has so far. I can't say enough good about these units.

Cons: One issue is its 16tb volume limit. I was able to create a drive pool with max space but it left me with one 16tb volume and 9tb of unallocated space. I can't find a spot to expand the volume however I was able to create an additional 9tb volume and utilize the space. Maybe if I blew away both volumes and tried to create a single volume from scratch but since I can use all of the space I can live with that. The only other thing I would mention is I wish it was a bit more powerful so I could stream 1080p reliably. Also its lack of DTS support however there are very few NAS's that will do these things at this price range. The rack units will do it apparently but they're expensive.

Overall Review: I originally had 2 Synology DS416j units, 4x4tb each, 2-way replicated to each other. I was running low on space so I bought the DS1815+. After backing up all data twice, I intended to populate the 1815 with the 8x4tb from the above units and start from scratch. I added the drives in no particular order, powered up and the first thing it says is, "It appears you've moved these drives from a DS416j. Click to continue with migration". Really? I had no other choice or way to abort so I followed it through. In less than a minute the unit was up with 2 volumes, each with the data from the previous 2 units. Since the 2 units were identical, I deleted the second disk group and expanded the first one. After 26 hours it left me with a 25tb disk group and a 16tb volume. I'm not sure why because according to Synology this unit should support up to 106tb/volume but I can live with 2 volumes and it saved me days of data copying. The other 2 units are now populated and serve as Hyper Backup vaults. All this with no problems at all.