Synology DiskStation DS214 NAS Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. Synology DS214 NAS4. The Disk Manager 4.3 Operating System5. Testing Methodology & Performance6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

When you first receive the Synology Device it will of course not have anything installed onto it. The first part of set-up is therefore to install the DiskManager Operating System onto the HDD's. 

The handy Web Assistant will find the device for you, or you can type in the IP address, if known, directly into your browser. You can then connect to the device.

If the device has not yet been set-up the DiskManager software will tell you a few details and then warn you that all data on the HDD's will be erased.

Then you can select how to install the new Operating System. For most users, you will simply be able to press install software automatically and it will find the latest version – we had to install the software manually as the DS214 had not been released when we were testing this device.

Before installing the new operating system the software asks for you to set-up a password and also asks whether you want to set-up the Synology Hybrid Raid – which is effectively a Raid 1 configuration.

Finally the device begins to install the DiskManager Operating System onto the device. This process may take a few minutes, but we know from experience it is certainly worth the wait.

Once it has installed, which took around 10 minutes from start to finish, you are met with the log-on screen.

Once logged on you will be met with a standard looking desktop arrangement.

In the top left-hand corner of the screen we find a ‘start menu' style button, which allows us to access a basic menu. There are 11 options installed by default, including; Control Panel, File Station and System Information.

Taking a look at the control panel we find a large list of options, allowing you to set-up everything from FTP and sharing settings to firewall and VPN settings.

The next option from the Start Menu is the File Station allowing you set-up all your folders, and then which ones you want to share with which users.

The third option is the Storage Manager, which gives you all the intricate details of the installed HDD's and their current health. You can of course create more than 1 volume, much like on Windows with multiple partitions.

As with most NAS devices, it is now possible to install lots of Apps, or in this case ‘Packages' onto the device. These range from Antivirus protection to Backup software to PHP servers. These are all easy to install and only take a few clicks to set-up.

We chose to install the Essential Antivirus, and while it may lack a lot of features you'd see on a desktop computer, it has a simple but intuitive user interface that allows you to set it up in seconds.

As with previous DiskStation devices, the DS214 features the ‘EZ Internet Wizard', which is a very simple and useful tool that will alter your router configurations and set-up your domain configuration all in one handy wizard. This is easily the best set-up wizard for any router/NAS device.

Another option from the Control Panel is the Resource monitor. This is a very thorough application that gives you graphs for CPU usage, Memory and Disk Usage, as well as network traffic. This application can also show you all the running processes and connected devices.

If you want to see all the system information  there are 5 pages relating to Network, Storage, Service, Support and a general overview.

As already mentioned, Synology haven't just made packages for their devices, they have also made a range of products for Android and iOS mobile devices. We searched on Google Play and found 8 official Synology products which are all compatible with this device, allowing you to easily access files, stream music and much more straight to your mobile device.

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