Synology DiskStation NAS question?

Hardware and technical stuff
21

In case it helps, I run my DS218+ quite bare bones but still have the following packages active (some may be pre installed as part of the OS):

  • USB copy (to copy to or from memory stick)
  • storage analyser (to show storage stats via widget)
  • antivirus essentials
  • Plex media server
  • Synology media server
  • audio station (to make music discoverable)
  • file station (to make files discoverable)
  • universal search

Basically the NAS is the file server for Sonos speakers, media server for Plex and storage location for PC, phone and camera backups.

Works well, current uptime 90 days.

22

They’re extremely reliable. I bought my DS413j in late 2013 and it’s been in use continuously since then.

root@Nastassia:~# uptime
 19:49:35 up 474 days, 10:26,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
23

Not a lot of details to add to what’s already been said, but I have a 918+ and have had zero problems. It’s great.

24

I’m a moderately heavyweight Diskstation user since we mostly run my wife’s business with them. What we use on a DS1815+ & DS412+ (after much time trying packages to figure out what is / isn’t good):

  • File Station (occasional web access to file shares)

  • HyperBackup (backup to / from a secondary older Diskstation)

  • Download Station (web interface for managing large downloads (HTTP(s), torrents, etc)

  • WebDav server (because some folks needed it to reach files remotely)

  • Plex (serving video)

  • Video Station (serving videos to devices that can’t use Plex)

  • Snapshot replication (hourly BTRFS snapshots of live volumes for rapid recovery of files (short of Hyperbackup restores))

  • Docker (to host additional services that don’t have native packages)

  • Homebridge server + plugins (to add non-native stuff to my household Homekit)

Things we don’t use (or stopped using) because they are bad solutions (for us):

  • Antivirus Essential (never did anything useful & slowed things down. Tested over a year before chucked it)

  • Central Management System (overkill for 2 servers)

  • Cloud Station Server / Sync (overlaps w and less reliable and worse supported than iCloud which we already use)

  • iTunes Server (used to use it, but it is ancient, deprecated, and only barely works. I really wish there was a modern, working, supported version!)

  • Photo Station & Audio Station (overlaps w and less reliable and worse supported than iCloud which we already use)

Comments & Discussion:

  • We were actually running more, but some services have moved to an expensive router in the last year instead

  • Synology sometimes changes strategy / direction over a few years & this can create potentially confusing overlap between solutions (especially with backup technology). for example: Do i want to snapshot files, replicate shares, replicate an entire server, setup a fail-over server, setup a nightly backup? Those can all do parts of the same job, but they are distinct solutions that are best suited to solving particular problems.

  • The GUI makes the tools easy to use, as you’ve seen. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to understand them & the documentation is often lacking. It helps to have an IT background.

Hope that’s not (entirely) overwhelming.

Diego

25

Thanks a lot for all that info. Great!