Synology NAS 216j review

 Why did I buy?

A few years ago, I got new mirrorless camera .

Before I bought it, most of photos I had took were made with mobile camera.

 

Which means it had lower size.

However mirrorless camera required bigger storage, due to higher quality.

 

As well as that, I needed something that can share photos with family.

There were clould services like Google drive or one drive, but I had to pay for extra storage.

 

That's why I decided to get NAS, but I didn't choose specific model.
I found WD mycloud. It was exactly what I needed at reasonable price. (sharing storage online)

 

Synology DS216J

 

However many people recommended synology more,

saying 'although you get mycloud now, you will get synology in the end.'

 

I didn't understand what they meant back then, and now I think it is understandable.

It is GUI base, so I don't need to write codes in black screen.

 

If I wanted to add function on WD mycloud, I would put several lines of code that I don't know how to use.

On the other hand, the only thing I have to do with synology is just clicking icons.

Synology GUI

 

 

 How to use

Main purpose of NAS was sharing photos, but it is much more functional than I expected.

I want to let you know how I use synology.

 

1. Photo station (DS photo or Moments)

Photo station is one of apps in synology package center.

You already might know what photo station is. It is a tool for sharing photos.

 

When you upload photo, synology will create thumbnail to make search faster.

It takes some time to make it, but it is useful and poweful.

 

It shows you metadata of photo such as camera model, resolution or something.

Moreover you can tag, rate and put comments on photo, so you can communicate with others.

 

Synology Photo station 

 

 

Synology photo metadata

2.  Video station (DS video)

It is also one of apps that can play video.

 

If you have video files in synology, it brings IMDB information.

So you can have more information like director or summary.

 

The best part is we can play video on laptop, mobile or TV.

Which means synology supports all kinds of platforms.

In my case, I'm watching it with Google chromecast.

 

Synology Video station

 

 

 PROS and CONS

PROS

• Best way to share data with others
• Easy GUI interface 
• Many useful app (photo station, video station, etc..)

CONS

• Very expensive (HDD not included, you should buy HDD seperately)
• J model is low performed model
• It has just 2 bay (Max 8TB x 2 = 16TB)

 

 Should buy?

I always recommend to buy synology NAS, but most of them don't buy it, due to high price.

However I haven't seen the one who get regret after he get this.

Only regret for me is I got J model. (it's low performed, so slow and limited usages)

I'm going to upgrade my machine very soon.