Question 1

Can you install a plex media server on this?

Accepted Answer

Yes. I run Plex Media Server in a Docker container on my DS918+ and it’s works beautifully. I don’t do much in terms of transcoding but the little that I’ve done worked well, likely because of the hardware transcoding that this Synology unit and the latest release of PMS support.

Question 2

My old Windows Server running on hardware 10 years old does 360 Mbps, why is this slower?  Can encryption be disabled to make it faster?

Accepted Answer

Sounds like a network issue to me. I max mine out at 110-130 MB/s over gigabit on local unmanaged switches. I do also have it bonded across two switches, but that only improves throughout to multiple clients simultaneously, a single client can still only max out 1Gbps (it is a regular bond not Link aggregated).

Question 3

Does this support raid 10?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you I stall supported drives in it. Google: synology raid calculator. They have an official tool on their website that should be the first hit.

Question 4

Can you run two pairs of drives at RAID 1? Meaning can you have two drives at RAID 1 acting as a single HDD and another two drives acting as another?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can create two or more separate volumes, no problem. You can create what you asked in your question easily....

Question 5

Wanting to get into a Plex or home media server finally.  I see this has an NVME M.2 option.  Is that for storage or to help the system processing?  What have you used for NVME's?

Accepted Answer

The NVME slots can only be used for cache. If one stick is used, it can only be used as read cache. If two sticks are used, they can be configured for read/write cache.

Question 6

If the device itself fails (not the drive), can you install the drive in another NAS and retrieve the files?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I've done this many times (synology to synology).
They have a migration wizard even from synology to synology.
You can hook up the drives to a standard computer and use raid
recovery specific software to recover files (not encrypted). Don't
use their hybrid raid if you plan to use the latter option of PC based
recovery.

I doubt this would work in another NAS, Qnap etc., never tried.

Question 7

When I put in a hard drive is it automatically reformatted or can I keep the information that is on the disk already?

Accepted Answer

NAS units utilize  different Raid Levels and the formatting is based on the number of drives and the Raid level you select when you first setup the NAS unit. Depending on the raid level, you can experience 1 or 2 drive Failure and not lose any data. When you replace the failed drive with a new drive, the raid is rebuilt. If you are asking if you can just put  a hard drive into a new NAS unit that you have had in a PC and still access it's data, the answer is no.

Question 8

How does adding RAM work? Are there 2 bays for the RAM so I just buy another 4GB DDR3L SO-DIMM Ram card or is there only 1 bay and I need to buy a 8gb ram card and replace the one in it? Sorry for Noob question.

Accepted Answer

There are two slots for ram. It comes preloaded with a 4gb ram on one of the slots. You can purchase a second 4gb ram for a total of 8gb ram. However, if you want, there are many internet post with users upgrading to 16gb. Apparently the CPU supports this much. You can research this if it is something you want to consider.

Question 9

Is there a maximum limit to the actual storage drives this NAS will accept?

Accepted Answer

From the product specs page:
"Maximum Internal Raw Capacity48 TB (12 TB drive x 4) (Capacity may vary by RAID types)
Maximum Raw Capacity with Expansion Units108 TB (12 TB drive x 9) (Capacity may vary by RAID types)
Maximum Single Volume Size108 TB"

Question 10

can this be upgraded to 10Gbs expansion card?

Accepted Answer

No, you need the 5 disc model.

Questions & Answers