Synology DiskStation DS918+ Review: Perfect NAS for home or small office

Synology has a range of network-fastened storage (NAS) enclosures that cater to different segments, and while the two-bay DS218+ is a bang-up manner to get started if you're looking for an affordable habitation media server, the DS918+ has plenty more to offer. For example, the DS918+ has 4 trophy that tin accommodate a total of 48TB of storage, and the NAS can transcode two 4K streams simultaneously. It too offers extensibility that makes information technology a cracking NAS enclosure for SMBs.

Great for home and part

Synology DS918+

$539 at Amazon

Bottom Line: The four-bay DS918+ is platonic if yous're looking for a powerful media server or are in the market place for a NAS enclosure aimed at a small office environment. Its power to transcode ii 4K streams at 30 frames per second (FPS) allows it to stand out, and DiskStation Manager (DSM) is incessantly customizable.

Pros

• Splendid performance
• Dual 4K transcode
• DSM is in a league of its own
• 24/7 reliability

Cons

• Pricey
• No x GbE ports

What you'll dearest about the DS918+

The DS918+ is the latest offering in Synology's four-bay Plus serial, with the model featuring several upgrades from the DS916+ that debuted two years ago. Beginning up is an Intel Celeron J3455 processor clocked at one.5GHz (upwardly to 2.3GHz boost), and the NAS also comes with 4GB of DDR3L RAM as standard. In that location'south a secondary And so-DIMM slot available that allows you to bump the retention to 8GB.

What'southward particularly interesting is the transcoding engine, which at present lets you transcode two H.264, H.265, MPEG2 and VC-1 4K streams at 30 FPS simultaneously. Head to Synology'due south knowledge base to meet how transcoding works with target devices.

When information technology comes to the design, the DS918+ features individual drive bay doors instead of the unmarried front plate that featured prominently on the DS916+. The exposed drives have locks at the bottom, and there are five LED status indicators to the right — ane for each bulldoze and an overall status. Down at the lesser, yous have a unmarried USB 3.0 port and power button.

Effectually the back, there are two Gigabit Ethernet ports, another USB 3.0 port, Kensington lock, and an eSATA port. Cooling is provided by 2 92 mm fans that spin at 1900 RPM. They're adequately quiet at 23 dBA, and they don't kicking in when the NAS is idling.

You can slot up to 12TB HDDs in the DS918+, with the four-bay unit providing 48TB of storage in full. As with all Synology enclosures, you can extend the storage space by attaching a five-bay Synology DX517 expansion unit, which increases the available storage to 108TB. The DS918+ as well has ii slots at the bottom for 1000.2 NVMe solid-land drives (SSDs), and these can be used solely for caching duties.

Category	Specs
Processor	Intel Celeron J3455 (2.3GHz).
RAM	4GB DDR3L (8GB max).
Transcoding	H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-ii and VC-one at 4K30.
Bulldoze bays	Iv (three.5/2.v), two NVMe SSD.
Max storage	48TB (12TB*4).
Cooling	Two 92mm fans.
Ports	Two Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0, and one eSATA.
Power Consumption	28.8W.
Weight	five lbs (two.28 kg).
Dimensions	166 mm x 199 mm ten 223 mm.

Installation of the 3.5-inch drives is tool-free, but you do need to install screws to affix 2.v-inch drives to the bays. Synology includes the requisite screws as well every bit 2 Ethernet ports in the box. You can utilise link assemblage to bridge the dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, and the DS918+ also includes an AES-NI hardware encryption engine. The NAS supports RAID 0, 1, 5, half dozen, and 10, and you can e'er use the custom Synology Hybrid RAID if you lot haven't fix a NAS previously.

Setting up the NAS is about equally easy as it gets. Install the drives in the bays, hook up the ability cable, connect the Ethernet ports to your router or switch, and head to the Synology Spider web Assistant to detect the NAS on your network. You'll demand to prepare a proper noun for your server and provide a password, and and then install DSM, Synology'due south spider web-based OS. Installation takes anywhere between 10 minutes and 15 minutes, after which you lot can become started.

I've been using DSM for more than 5 years, and Synology has continually added new features to what was already the best NAS OS around. DSM offers a vast array of utilities, including a media server, post server, congenital-in chat service, Role suite with real-time collaboration that works with Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, a robust photo management service, and seamless integration with public cloud services similar OneDrive and Google Drive.

The web-based DSM OS is what makes the DS918+ stand up out.

The DS918+ doubles upwards as a pretty reliable streaming service. Synology offers an array of apps for Android that let y'all stream music and videos directly from your NAS anywhere in the world. That's made possible with a service called QuickConnect.

You'll be able to set up QuickConnect by heading into the DSM Control Panel. All yous need to practice is prepare a Synology account, requite your NAS a unique proper noun, and select what applications take access to the service. When you're outside your home network, the service leverages Synology's relay server to requite you lot admission to your NAS. It'southward a smashing solution that works seamlessly.

My habitation network setup includes an ASUS RT-AC5300 hooked up to a Netgear GS110TP managed switch, which is what the DS918+ plugs into. My principal PC is besides connected to the switch via a Cat 6 cablevision. I started off by sending over a single 32GB file to and from the DS918+, and the NAS registered read speeds of 114MB/s and write speeds of 108MB/s.

What you'll not beloved nearly the DS918+

It would have been nice to see 10 GbE ports on the NAS. Currently, Synology is offer ten GbE ports on nearly of its five-bay enclosures, but considering the DS918+ is also aimed at an SMB environment, information technology would've turned the NAS into a more well-rounded production.

The DS918+ retails for $539, and that's before yous add any drives. You tin hands cantankerous $1,900 if you're interested in filling up the storage with 12TB IronWolf drives, but you're essentially paying for a product that will run 24/7 without whatever issues for at least five years.

Should you buy the Synology DS918+?

If you're looking for a powerful media server to stream 4K videos, or are in the market for a robust NAS for a pocket-size office, the DS918+ will non disappoint. The switch to the Celeron J3455 provides a meaning uptick in performance, and the power to slot in two NVMe SSDs for data caching volition come in handy for office environments.

The $539 price tag isn't exactly affordable, but the hardware on offering makes the DS918+ a worthwhile investment.

The four-bay DS918+ has enough storage for almost dwelling house or office needs, and you tin always expand it with the Synology DX517. The feature-prepare and extensibility of DSM make the NAS an even more compelling selection.

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