Question 1

Does this product work with a Mac computer?  I need a device that will work with a Mac and a PC.

Accepted Answer

No matter you are a Windows or Mac user, you can back up everything on your computer directly to Synology NAS using Cloud Station

Question 2

Can I access the drives on my home network as a simple network drive without using an additional Synology software?   Thanks.

Accepted Answer

Yes. Shares are exported using standard CIFS and NFS protocols which doesn't require any proprietary software.

Question 3

How is the network performance of this device?  The performance of my WD EX2 is terrible and has actually gotten worse over time.

Accepted Answer

This is an enterprise grade NAS, not some hokey consumer grade "NAS" like those from WD and other HD manufacturers. Performance has been great for me these past 18 months.

Caveat: I have the NAS set to spin down the HDs when they haven't been accessed for a while, and i do experience several seconds of latency before the drives spin up when coming out of this power saving mode. But once the drives are spinning, performance is excellent. If this is unacceptable to you, one can disable this option. I think it was off by default.

Question 4

Having compatibility problems between Windows 10 PCs and the DS215j.  Have others seen this problem?  Only the first PC recognizes all network computers.  Computers booted after the first randomly recognize only computers not the DS215j.  MS says they are working on a fix.

Accepted Answer

I had this problem with Windows 10 recognizing my Microsoft 2003 servers, and it wound up being that WIndows 10 prioritizes TCPIP V6 over v4, so I deactivated IPv6 (google deactivate ipv6 in Windows 10) and that solved all my internal connection issues.   I have the DS215J and it works beautifully with Windows 10, after that.

Question 5

Could I use SSD drives on this? Would that be a more reliable alternative to the standard HHD? Never used one of these but have a client that now needs something like this. I'd be most grateful for an answer from the experts out there.

Accepted Answer

Sure, but it's not likely to be useful.

Speed-wise, the speed bottleneck is going to be the network connection; even the fastest network will be far slower than the slowest HDD.  Unless you're planning on hacking it to run some kind of custom database or other software on it, it would be a waste of money.  (And if you need a server to run a custom database, there are better options).  Even if network wasn't the bottleneck, if you're planning on using this mainly just to store large files, HDD's have a "burst" mode that makes their speed comparable to SSD's anyway in that use case.

Reliability-wise, I've had more issues with SSD's than HDD's.  SSD's are *supposed* to be more durable, but if so it can't be by much given my experience.  If reliability is the concern, then you'll get much more bang for your buck by using RAID with HDD's.  Even getting a 4-port Synology and four 4-TB HDD's would be cheaper than this with 2 SSDs, give you tons more space, and quadruple the backup redundancy.

So, yes it's perfectly possible to use SSD's, but no I'd not go that route.

Question 6

What is "1 Year DriveSavers Data Recovery?

Accepted Answer

Hello Wayne,

They are the guys that you ship your hard drive to incase of a mechanical failure, usually when mechanical failure happens.

Question 7

does this work with a dynamic ip?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as a matter of fact the drop downs are present to select the dynamic ip address service such as NO-ip:com and dynsns:dot:com etc. Also synology provides their own fwd service for those with dynamic ip. Synology is great hardware and exceptional software for for the value.

Question 8

From reading the reviews it doesn't sound like you can put files into the same NAS folder from different client computers.  Is this correct?  I also didn't see anything about security when accessing through the net.  I current have an NAS (MyDitto) which is junk, unreliable when accessing from offsite but has good security (usename, password, and a 256 bit physical key.  I'm looking for an NAS to store and retrieve patient files for my healthcare practice as our clinician use many different computers at many different places.  Is this a good unit for what I need?

Accepted Answer

Consumer grade NAS's are all junk.  Synology makes Enterprise grade NAS's.  The DS models are Prosumer grade products; they inherit much from their larger brethren.  They run an embedded version of Linux, which makes them pretty versatile.  In fact, one can install various Synology and third party apps, to expand the capabilities, much like you might do on a smartphone.  One can run web servers, mail servers, and more off of a Synology box.  However, for security, i wouldn't run a website and fileserver on the same box (nor network, for that matter).

I suggest you go out to Synology's website and look around.  Since you have a medical practice, you need to be sure whatever you use complies with HIPAA (assuming you're in the USA).  I'd recommend using SSH Public keys over username/password (far more secure), but also more work to set up.  If you go this route, be sure to disable the username/password option (i.e. remove the weak link).

Synology has a whole section devoted to Healthcare under their "solutions" section.  URI is what you'd expect (i.e. synology dot com).

Best of luck.

Question 9

Can I put 2xWD Red 6TB = 12 TB?

Accepted Answer

Yes. That is the max it will hold according to the specs listed by Synology. I'm using 2x3TB WD Red HDDs but 6TB should work fine.

Question 10

Are the newer 213j and 215j models backward compatible with the 212j model?  I have a Synology DS212j, which I am very happy with.  I'm simply running out of storage and looking to add, as opposed to replace, another NAS unit for additional storage.  One of the features I recall from the 212j was the ability to link multiple units together for one large storage pool.  Are the newer 213j and 215j backward compatible so that I could do that?  Thanks!

Accepted Answer

If memory serves me correctly, there are special adjunct chassis boxes to house expansion drives.  Forget offhand what Synology calls them.  I don't think one can interconnect any of the Synology boxes with onboard CPUs in the way you suggest (other than adding them as standalone NASs on the network).

As i understand it, one can use the onboard USB ports to add additional drive capacity, however.

Questions & Answers