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acidrain
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- Jan 7, 2007
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SYNOLOGY DS220J 2BAY NAS - YOUR OWN CLOUD STARTS HERE
NAS devices are becoming more and more popular as a replacement to desktop or micro-computers which, in their time, were used as media devices for home use.
Previously NAS devices were thought of as just a storage medium, but with Synology, they have realized that these devices are capable of so much more than just storage and therefore are known as one of the favorites in the market.
In this review, we will look at the DS220j, which is the recent upgrade to the DS218j.
UNBOXING
Those who have previously bought Synology in the most recent years would be very familiar with the packaging…. It has not really changed.
NAS comes in a light brown cardboard “case” with a carry handle on it. The print on the box is very minimalist, in my opinion, giving the overall packaging a very clean and professional look.
Opening up will reveal compartments for all the accessories ( PSU, Power Plug, 1m Network Cable, mounting screws, and HDD Support Bracket (presumably for longer drives) and a nicely packaged Synology in a protective package.
APPEARANCE
Not much has changed from the predecessor in terms of looks, so if you have seen a DS218 then prepare to, well, not expect much. It's not a bad thing anyways as the device looks sleek and fits very nicely into the home. As they say... if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and that is exactly what they have done.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Being the latest derivative of the 218j, one would expect there to be improvements on the specs of the device and there are indeed improvements, but not major ones.
CPU has been improved upon from the previous 2 core, 32 bit Marvell ARM SoC to now, sporting a 4 core, 64 bit Leadtek ARM SoC. Clock speeds are al;so slightly improved from the previous 1.3Ghz to a now 1.4Ghz.
Memory size remains unchanged and still sits at 512MB however is now DDR4 instead of the previous DDR3 in the 218j. Memory is built-in and therefore not upgradeable which will be a decision breaker for those looking at setups involving, most especially, Docker.
SETUP
Setting up for the first time is quick and painless with the exception of the power socket. The power socket used is, what appears to be, a CEE 7/7 plug with grounding terminals on the side. These terminals affect the depth of the slots so fitting it into a normal round socket won't be possible without cutting away at the "guides/wings" in the socket. Personally I would prefer a 3 prong plug but for the sake of international standards, you can't blame them for using these (even my PC PSU uses these plugs). If you can find a socket that supports these grounding terminals then buy those for compliance otherwise just trim the "guides/wings".
Now that the power was sorted, the NAS was placed next to my TENDA home router, ready to be booted up. Due to limitations on the switch, network connectivity was limited to 100Mbps instead of the full 1Gbps that the NAS supports. Not a total train smash IMHO.
For testing purposes, I installed a 3TB Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive.
When starting up any new network device for the first time, one always needs to find out its default IP address (if DHCP is not supported OOB) and more often than not the IP address is not within your network requiring you to set up a temp network just to gain access and changed the IP address. If DHCP is enabled, you would then have to locate its IP address within your routers DHCP server. Both these methods, whilst acceptable, do take some time and this is where Synology thought to make life easier for its users.
For the first time startup, all you need to do is ensure the NAS is on your network and browse to http://find.synology.com and it will automatically detect your device. SIMPLE AS THAT and now you are ready to get going. DSM installation can be expected to take up to 10 minutes.
Remote access is another great feature of this brand in such that they have what is called QuickConnect, which is a user-friendly remote connection that requires no port forwarding or dynamic DNS to setup. Personally for me though I use Dynamic DNS as I am familiar with the setup and isn't hard to do anyways.
USAGE CASES FOR THE DS220J:
With the abundant APPS available in the Synology apps manager, and not talking about just 1st party apps but also 3rd party apps, it would be hard for one to say what these units should specifically be used for as the possibilities are endless. What I will say, and previously have, is that the memory will be your choke point. Docker is also not supported so unlike the 220+ (which I assume is similar in functionality to my 218+) you would not be able to run apps not natively supported by the apps manager in containers.
For my review, I set the unit up as a media server with some apps automating my downloads (Linux distros only... promise). For the media server, I tested 3 different apps, namely DS Video, Plex Media Server, and Emby Media Server. DS Video often encountered issues with codecs so I immediately dumped that because no point in troubleshooting something when there are apps natively supported that do not encounter this. Emby Server worked well and I really enjoyed the look of the application, however ended up dropping it as it was memory hungry causing hang up. Perhaps Emby is a nice alternative to Plex on the 220+.
Finally, I settled on old faithful, Plex. Other apps installed was: Transmission, Radarr, and Sonarr. Altogether memory is now sitting on 65% used so you can see the limitations kicking in now, but for a home user looking for a media server/storage device, who cares right?
With everything set up, it was time to test streaming, and off I went to locate two "open-source" video files.... one in HD and another in 4K. The HD file ran without any issues however the 4K video just would not play and got stuck on loading. This was slightly disappointing as I would have expected the new processor to be able to handle this, but after some "duck-duck-go'ing" I found out that 4K more often than not, said to not work due to the memory issue. Direct Play was used for those that might say to disable transcoding. This is where my test stopped but overall I was suitably happy with the performance given that this unit is an entry-level device.
VPN Server is also a nifty app for those that want to set this device up at their small office as a remote gateway whilst working from home. In my instance, I used OpenVPN which was a breeze to get working.
Unfortunately, given time limitations, it would be impossible to test all the use cases of this device but just off the bat, I can comfortably say that you would not have any issues running this as:
- Web Server
- Backup Server
- NVR using Surveillance Station (I think it is an additional payment service)
- Mail Server.
CONCLUSION:
Overall I am very happy with this device and would recommend this to anyone looking at setting up even a home media server, albeit not for 4K use. For the price you pay, you will be hard-pressed to find anything that comes close with regards to the endless abilities that this unit has, given Synology's DiskStation Manager.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Affordability given use cases | Memory limitations - Only 512MB non-upgradeable |
| User-friendly UI ( Great for beginners ) | No Docker |
| Sleek design | 4K playback problematic |
| Low Noise - Almost Silent | |
| Extensive app and community support for troubleshooting |
