Best Home Nas For Plex (2024 Update)

Would definitely recommend this. I've had it for just a few weeks now as a replacement for an old 4-bay Drobo. Set up was easy and straight forward, and the USB drive in the back helped make the initial backup from a temp backup HDD quick and painless. Having it attached to our wi-fi and accessible from anywhere in the world is handy. The software you use to access it is pretty easy to understand. I didn't have any problems with the UI, and this kind of tech isn't my area of expertise. Build quality seems just fine, although seeing the board on the inside made it look kinda flimsy? This is the only point of contention and it's a mild one, wish I could give it 4.5 stars for this reason. That said, there were no problems with installing the disks. And I was able to set up a RAID5 with zero difficulty. Even someone like me, who doesn't know much about RAID, was able to figure it out pretty quickly and easily. For someone who just wanted to replace an old, failed DAS with near zero difficulty, this did great, and I didn't realize how much I'd benefit from an NAS.Jason

The box is appears well built and is noticeably quieter than my Drobo. I am using it to backup my office server and some family members computers (kids at college) every weekend. I really like that it has a feature to let you set it to automatically turn on and shut off on a set schedule. Since I only use it for these weekend backups, I don't need it running all week long. I have it set to automatically turn on Friday afternoon and to turn off on Sunday night. Being turned off is also the best security possible from hackers and ransomware attacks. I use Acronis Backup for both my office server and my other computers. Acronis Backup 12.5 for Windows Server has an option to backup to cloud and allows you to select an sftp server. The Synology NAS easily allows you to setup an sftp server. Then on my office sever I just put the following as my backup location, sftp://my home IP address//folder, so it looks like sftp://108.000.000.106/backup. I don't have a static IP address at my home (where I have the NAS), so this number may change at some point, which means I would have to update it on my office server, but my FIOS IP address rarely ever changes. The Acronis software then asks for my user name and password. You can add users for the NAS and give them access to certain folders or features. So I added a user for my office backup and gave it access to the sftp service on the NAS. I then put that user's name and password into Acronis and it confirms the connection. I then created a backup plan that runs a full backup every weekend. I did the same basic thing for my other computers, like my brother's home computer. The only real difference is that the Acronis software for Windows 10 does not use sftp, it use regular ftp. You do need some basic computer/networking skills to set this all up. I am an insurance agent, not a computer pro, but I do have a fair amount of basic networking knowledge. For example, you will need to add port forwarding rules to your router to send port 22 for the sftp and port 20-21 for ftp to the IP address of your NAS on your local network. You can also use it to have your phone automatically backup all of your photos. I have not tried this feature, but it does not look like it would not be hard to setup. Unfortunately, I think Apple only allows you to backup the entire phone to iCloud or iTunes, so you can't automatically backup your entire iPhone to the NAS. In terms of speed, you will most likely be limited by your Internet speed or the gigabit connection to your local computer. My Internet speed is 150Mbps, so that limits me to a data transfer online of about 15MB/s. When transferring a file directly to my local computer over the Gigabit connection (only using 1 of the 2), it does transfer at the max speed of 100MB/s. I am using Western Digital Red 5400 rpm drives. Since it appears the limiting factor in terms of data transfer speeds is the Gigabit connection, not sure if you would benefit from faster drivers. It does allow for the connection of two Gigabit connections. My WD Red's have a read speed of 150MB/s, so if using both Gigabit connections does give you a transfer speed of 200MB/s, you might benefit from faster drivers. This is my first NAS, so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I was able to get it to do exactly what I wanted, so I like it.William

to buy this products is just replace the old synology diskstation ds412+, never exceptation that the workstation is dead before the hard disk, and no more choice except to buy another similar products to replace the old dead one. just remind once buy such diskstation and setup raid storage to sure how to do if the disksatation dead before the hard disk. the staff give me great help in the dealing process. a good purchase experience.QirenG

As part of my business, I've installed dozens of this brand's various products with great results, so I decided to buy this unit for my home, to use as a local-network media server. I've been very pleased with the results. (My entire family can watch any of our movies or listen to their music on each of their own computers.) I should point out that setup requires some basic networking and firewall knowledge, especially if you do not plan to use this as a local-network access only device like I am doing. This unit supports mirroring (Raid 1), so it also gives some protection against data loss due to drive failure, which is a relief. (But remember, this is not a backup solution. if you accidently delete the wrong file, it's gone! RAID 1 only helps protect against hardware failure, not user mistakes.) Conclusions: A very reliable brand, this unit is feature-packed and a great value for the money (assuming around MSRP). Setting up for local-network-only use isn't too difficult for someone with basic networking skills. but to properly set up for remote use with optimal performance and security will require a pretty solid understanding of both networking and firewalls. Note: I didn't need tech support help, nor have I needed it during prior installs, so I can't comment on how Synology's support is for this review.William C.

I am a first time user of a NAS device at home and of Synology DSM software. It's been a couple of months since I setup the device so these are still some preliminary observations of a first time user: Despite all the hype around Synology NAS software as super easy to use (a major factor in my decision to go with Synology than QNAP), my experience has not been that smooth. My primary use case was to be able to sync up photos and videos across various devices and stream them onto TV and mobile devices. This hasn't worked well. Apparently to use Synology media apps like Photo Station, Moments, Video station etc., you need to first copy all your media into some specific folder, otherwise they don't work! This is so cumbersome. I now need to give up all my file organization strategy and move them over to a Synology designated folder This approach is so different from any other popular photo/media library app where you can specify the location of your media files and the app can scan and index files. Reading through the posts, there was some suggestion to use symlinks and mount the folders. Even that didn't work. And that's another observation: Synology community threads are not much help, I see quite a few questions unanswered or threads left open.. Even setting up Plex doesn't help much, it looks like such a bloatware with more focus on external digital contents like TV/movies rather than personal home media. Also the mobile app will require you to purchase license if you want to stream videos. Again, these are my observations as a novice user of the app, so maybe there are some ways to make it work which I don't know yet. Coming to the basic function of centralized file storage, not much happiness there as well. On my Mac, the smb connection keeps dropping/re-connecting. I suspect maybe the wifi signal is to partly blame, but I don't get any major problem in my video/zoom calls, so wifi may not be a major factor. I did some configuration changes to prevent these connection drops (smb3/removed encryption etc), but not much improvement. I will working at it for few more weeks, hopefully with time I get to resolve these issues.Shankz

I bought this unit for household media storage. That's it. No internet, no anything else, because WD went and borked their MyCloud with internet only functionality. Side note: Whoever at WD decided that would be good, must have been dropped on their heads…But this thing can do so much more. I probably overbought by getting this model instead of the DSj, but dang. It's fast, it doesn't get bogged down in the middle of file transfers, and it just keeps running. You can add servers, like Web, git, mail, backup, and cloud sync, all through their package "store". These are awesome abilities, but as I don't want my data to be web-facing, I'm not going to use any of them. Well, maybe the local backup.Their interface, for those not used to "remote desktops," will find its operation odd at first. It's literally completely administered through its web page interface as if you're running a desktop on your browser. You install/remove app packages through it, check logs, control panel, etc. Its file manager app even supports drag and drop in-browser, although I prefer direct NFS/SMB connections. You can even plug in external USB drives, mount them and use them to transfer data if need be. Because I bought big enough drives, I have not experimented to see if the external USB drives plugged in can be shared. Given their interface, I'm pretty sure they can.Web support is robust, just start your googles with "Synology" and the answer is almost always quick to find.It's refreshing and made me wonder why I hadn't gotten one sooner. Oh yeah, the cost. the device itself isn't horrendous, but the NAS hard drives certainly start to rack up the $$ pretty fast. When you're looking at $300 for device and an additional $400-600 for NAS drives, it's easy to see why many, including me, chose the WD MyClouds option originally. Yes, I know, they had junk drives comparatively. I must have been lucky, in 7 years I haven't lost even one.Setup is easy, but drives HAVE to be installed before it will even set up the device. At least they did on mine. Kept saying I had to install drives to continue setup. So to those who said to do the updating before drives are installed, I'm not sure what you were doing. You basically snap the drives into their carriers, stick the carriers in the frame, boot, add them to a group and let it spend the next 48 hours parity checking them. Good greenhorn test for the drives, TBH. Yes, you can do stuff while it's checking, but file transfers are obviously slowed down.TL;DR: Powerful storage/lightweight server. Even has expandable RAM if you need to run more intensive apps. I heartily recommend them if you have the $$, but may I suggest that if your data isn't backed up elsewhere, just spend the extra for the 4-slot model if you have over 8TB of data, otherwise you're going to be using JBOD and playing roulette with said data.Marc

I ended up purchasing this product because it had decent reviews online and based on some YouTube reviews of the QNAP product overall. Although this is my first NAS, I'm not new to IT. I've developed a ton of software, built my own computers, etc. I was hoping that thing would just kind of work for what I needed it for – as an extra storage unit for my home network because our media library has grown a bit enormous. Alas, this has been nothing but a headache since I purchased it last year. From the initial setup and configuration to the major security problems, to their cloud access solution, to their virtual switches, etc. Everything I try to use with this software seems to have bugs of some sort. This is the worst hardware/software purchase I've made in the past two decades and it's not close. I've contacted their technical support team twice. Once I was connected with a technical representative who had to do some research on the problem I was having for about a week before he informed me that what I was trying to do wasn't possible because they use a unique version of Linux for their OS. Another time I called and someone from India answered the technical support line to tell me he couldn't really help me with any technical problems. I can't really understate the security issues that have been going on either. This past year, it's one security notification after another including what appears to be a major security concern associated with the web access for their myQNAPCloud service. I feel like having that access configured is basically creating a big hole in my own home network inviting ransomware in. And the pace of 'security alerts' that they've been sending out lately doesn't make me feel any better. I mean – it's great that they are looking for, finding, and fixing security problems. But it does seem like I get one security alert a week from QNAP saying that found another vulnerability. I could go on and on about how much of a pain in the side this machine has been for me but I'll just wrap up by saying this if you want something that just works don't even consider QNAP – just go with the Synology.Anonymous

My biggest issue with this product is that the product pushes 200+ MB/sec transfer rates. Sadly, I missed the fact that I had to purchase an optional 2.5/5gb USB dongle for the NAS. I thought it was getting 2gb over LACP/LAG paired 1gb connections. Dont get me wrong, the built in interfaces work fine at 1gb, but when you buy the additional QNA-UC5G1T for the NAS, as well as a 2.5gb/10gb QNAP switch, AND another QNA-UC5G1T for my PC…. all I get is my QNAP locking up the QNA-UC5G1T network adapter in the middle of file transactions. The only way to recover is to reboot the NAS. The adapter will suddenly go from working to just a rythmic on/off flashing state and no longer will respond to ICMP/ping. If you set the internal ports on the NAS to another address for fail over management, you can log into the NAS and see that the QNA-UC5G1Tadapter has gone disconnected. You can unplug, and replug but the only way to get it to work again is reboot the NAS. I have a support ticket with QNAP open for over EIGHT weeks now and they want me to RMA both the NAS and the adapter. I am confident this is an adapter only problem, but what am I do to? I am an enterprise QNAP customer as well with a QNAP device with over 32TB presented to vShpere hosts with dual linked 10gb iSCSI and it has been rock solid for years. I guess you really get what you pay for, I wanted a small economical NAS for home that I can also remote replicate to my QNAP in the data center, and all I got was a FARSE with NO support. If QNAP cannot address my issues with their product failure, I will be forced to sell this to someone else where 115MB/sec single gig is fast enough and move vendors to Synology. Just my experience and $0.02.Chris T.

I was lured by features and hardware specs that were priced below Synology’s equipment. But now I regret this purchase after experiencing the QNAP interface. Even my 2012 Synology DS712+ has better and way more responsive interface. It’s a stark difference. Also, I will not dare expose my QNAP NAS to the internet since their devices have been targeted multiple times by ransomeware. Apparently QNAP does not take security seriously.W.S.

People need to understand one thing about single drive NAS drives, this is just a SINGLE DRIVE running through a network controller which adds latency and slows down transfer speeds, if you are a tech savvy person and want blazing fast transfer speeds then go for a raid setup with multiple drives, this drive is meant for the regular consumer that wants to have his or her data stored outside of their computers and accessible to any other device within your local network and some occasional remote accessing of files, for these uses this drive performs admirably, i know, i have installed many and own one myself. (FYI) to those out there that have a hard time installing, as soon as you install it on your network, you WILL NOT see the drive pop up in your computer like a standard portable hard drive does, you have to FIRST AND FOREMOST go to the website written on your welcome little piece of cardboard that comes in the packaging and set up your drive by following the instructions. Only then will you be able to access it and set it up to work the way you want it to work, after you do this then you NEED TO (map a network drive) to whatever folder you created on the setup page initially, only then will you be able to access your files in your Drive folder normally, you can also install the WD Access program from the WD website and access your files from there no prob, but to many peoples taste you might prefer to just Map the Drive manually and just access it from "MY PC" like you would a normal portable hard drive. Oh and if you think the USB 3 port on the back is to fisically connect it to the PC then you got another thing coming, that USB port is ONLY to connect a flash drive or portable hard drive for the Cloud Drive to use as a "Backup" if you want to set it up that way, you can also access whatever drive you connect there through your network as well. All in all, this drive is decent, please do your homework before buying and save yourself a headache, it normally takes me 5 to 10 minutes to set up and be ready to roll, but that's me because i already know the system well, if you do your homework it could be you too. All in all this brings me back to the biggest issue here which is the elaborate setup this drive needs, to all you guys at WD please make the installation process less of a homework and more of a plug and play for those that aren't tech savvy which is the vast majority of the people that want to buy this little Cloud Drive. I am giving it 5 stars because frankly it WORKS WELL, assuming you set it up correctly that is. Anyone else will just hate on it and i don't think its fair for this Drive to receive such bad reviews over Software issues..Felix B.

WD has generally been a great hardware platform with solid HDD performance for decades. But, NAS requires software. WD have never been able to deliver reliable software or even software designed to meet bare expectations above the level of a home user. WD's development teams don't seem to comprehend why or even what that software should do. The PR series is a "professional" level family of products that barely meets that designation. It's a semi-professional player wrapped in nursery school software. My latest PR2100 purchase was due to complete lack of trust in OS5, the mandatory NAS OS upgrade required because WD had failed so badly on security of the prior OS3 version (with customers uninformed and none the wiser.) It offered no rollback capability and no reasonable data recovery option in the event of a failed major OS. That and the ignorant efforts leading to the necessity of OS5 are inexcusable any way you slice them. Making yet another unfortunate purchase seemed my only way to proactively address WD's total disrespect of customer data. I would have a blank slate for the upgrade and could later migrate from the old NAS. While awaiting the new NAS I found a less expensive alternative to offload a disaster recovery copy. The new NAS was returned unopened for refund. Sadly, OS5 is an embarrassing and childish bit of work that has severely damaged WD's image. It's clear that WD leadership and development teams are clueless and far from any reasonable quality metrics and best practices. It's simply unfathomable how WD can allow this to continue.Dave S.

Works just as expected. I use with 2 Red Plus Drives and is very fast. Upload and download speeds at around 110MB/s on big size files, around 30MB/s on small files. Works flawlessly with Mac OS and Time Machine backups. Fan is silent and I do not hear it running, the only noise is when hard drives are in use. The OS for the NAS works well and is snappy. Powder coated metal case looks nice and gives it a great build quality. I highly recommend.Steve K

I bought the original EX2 and that's why I purchased this. The original EX2 was nice to use out of the box, but after WD updated the software, there was a little bit of improvement in performance over the network, but still, not enough. With this new version, I expected major improvements, but now we have missing features that we had originally. I wanted to do so much more, but this device is not able to do it. My original EX2 is now acting real weird ever since I started getting a notification email with a coupon to upgrade to a newer model. Both that model and this model struggle to serve up our home videos recorded with a resolution over 1080p, and even the 1080p movies with a high bit rate cause problems. I was tempted to use the coupon WD sent me, but to me, performance is more important than saving a few bucks in the short term. I have decided to not use the coupon and instead purchase a Synology base unit and then purchase two Seagate drives. Sorry WD, you lost a customer who has been buying WD for more than 20 years.Ladino

I bought two My Cloud EX2 Ultra servers about 8 years ago. They are 8TB each, both configured as RAID-1, giving me 4TB each. One is our "Media" server, used to store photos, videos, movies, and music. The other is our "Resource" server, used to store documents, e-books, articles, PowerPoint presentations, virtual machines, and databases. My wife and I travel a lot and we wanted all our files to be available locally and also to be stored securely. These two servers have now travelled with us all over the world, packed securely in my rollaboard suitcase. They have been jostled, dropped, chipped, and scratched. Several rubber feet are missing, and the case on one of them is warped so that the lid pops open all the time. Despite all of this rough handling, they have been amazingly reliable, providing us with peace of mind that our precious files are protected by mirroring. As it happens, one of the drives recently started giving errors, but the mirror drive is still active. I will be replacing both servers sometime soon and I'm hopeful that WD is still making robust servers that will withstand our rough and tumble lifestyle.RW651

This is the third WD NAS I have purchased. The first being an EX4, which I never felt was adequate, but it worked well enough over eight years ago. I then, four years later, purchased a PR4100 and relegated the EX4 to my backup to my PR4100. Well, the EX4 was no longer serviceable, and basically quit working, so I bought this PR4100 to replace the EX4. These PR 4100’s work so much better than the EX4 ever did. And while I put off upgrading to WD OS-5 for as long as possible, to allow WD to work out the bugs, I did upgrade about six months ago, and it seems quite stable and user friendly. I keep little to no files on my computer, but run the primary NAS as my C Drive in RAID 10, and then do a synchronized back up that NAS onto a second NAS, also in RAID 10. My data isn’t worth the storage devices I have on them, but there should be a slim chance that I should ever loose what I have using this arrangement. WD is THE BEST for helping resolve any problems I have ever had with any of these NAS units, and I use Red Drives in the bays, and knock on wood, they have held up great so far. I don’t use PLEX or any other APPs other than my backup APP, so I cannot give you any information on that, but I do regularly use the remote APP on my iPhone/iPad, and OS-5 and the newest APP work quite well, with few failures to connect, which was very common on OS-3 with the older APP.StevenB

il est assez performant et tres facile a modifié je le fait tourné avec openmediavault l'os d'origine a des qualité mes aussi des défautangelus77

I ended up purchasing this product because it had decent reviews online and based on some YouTube reviews of the QNAP product overall. Although this is my first NAS, I'm not new to IT. I've developed a ton of software, built my own computers, etc. I was hoping that thing would just kind of work for what I needed it for – as an extra storage unit for my home network because our media library has grown a bit enormous. Alas, this has been nothing but a headache since I purchased it last year. From the initial setup and configuration to the major security problems, to their cloud access solution, to their virtual switches, etc. Everything I try to use with this software seems to have bugs of some sort. This is the worst hardware/software purchase I've made in the past two decades and it's not close. I've contacted their technical support team twice. Once I was connected with a technical representative who had to do some research on the problem I was having for about a week before he informed me that what I was trying to do wasn't possible because they use a unique version of Linux for their OS. Another time I called and someone from India answered the technical support line to tell me he couldn't really help me with any technical problems. I can't really understate the security issues that have been going on either. This past year, it's one security notification after another including what appears to be a major security concern associated with the web access for their myQNAPCloud service. I feel like having that access configured is basically creating a big hole in my own home network inviting ransomware in. And the pace of 'security alerts' that they've been sending out lately doesn't make me feel any better. I mean – it's great that they are looking for, finding, and fixing security problems. But it does seem like I get one security alert a week from QNAP saying that found another vulnerability. I could go on and on about how much of a pain in the side this machine has been for me but I'll just wrap up by saying this if you want something that just works don't even consider QNAP – just go with the Synology.Anonymous

My biggest issue with this product is that the product pushes 200+ MB/sec transfer rates. Sadly, I missed the fact that I had to purchase an optional 2.5/5gb USB dongle for the NAS. I thought it was getting 2gb over LACP/LAG paired 1gb connections. Dont get me wrong, the built in interfaces work fine at 1gb, but when you buy the additional QNA-UC5G1T for the NAS, as well as a 2.5gb/10gb QNAP switch, AND another QNA-UC5G1T for my PC…. all I get is my QNAP locking up the QNA-UC5G1T network adapter in the middle of file transactions. The only way to recover is to reboot the NAS. The adapter will suddenly go from working to just a rythmic on/off flashing state and no longer will respond to ICMP/ping. If you set the internal ports on the NAS to another address for fail over management, you can log into the NAS and see that the QNA-UC5G1Tadapter has gone disconnected. You can unplug, and replug but the only way to get it to work again is reboot the NAS. I have a support ticket with QNAP open for over EIGHT weeks now and they want me to RMA both the NAS and the adapter. I am confident this is an adapter only problem, but what am I do to? I am an enterprise QNAP customer as well with a QNAP device with over 32TB presented to vShpere hosts with dual linked 10gb iSCSI and it has been rock solid for years. I guess you really get what you pay for, I wanted a small economical NAS for home that I can also remote replicate to my QNAP in the data center, and all I got was a FARSE with NO support. If QNAP cannot address my issues with their product failure, I will be forced to sell this to someone else where 115MB/sec single gig is fast enough and move vendors to Synology. Just my experience and $0.02.Chris T.

I was lured by features and hardware specs that were priced below Synology’s equipment. But now I regret this purchase after experiencing the QNAP interface. Even my 2012 Synology DS712+ has better and way more responsive interface. It’s a stark difference. Also, I will not dare expose my QNAP NAS to the internet since their devices have been targeted multiple times by ransomeware. Apparently QNAP does not take security seriously.W.S.

I ended up purchasing this product because it had decent reviews online and based on some YouTube reviews of the QNAP product overall. Although this is my first NAS, I'm not new to IT. I've developed a ton of software, built my own computers, etc. I was hoping that thing would just kind of work for what I needed it for – as an extra storage unit for my home network because our media library has grown a bit enormous. Alas, this has been nothing but a headache since I purchased it last year. From the initial setup and configuration to the major security problems, to their cloud access solution, to their virtual switches, etc. Everything I try to use with this software seems to have bugs of some sort. This is the worst hardware/software purchase I've made in the past two decades and it's not close. I've contacted their technical support team twice. Once I was connected with a technical representative who had to do some research on the problem I was having for about a week before he informed me that what I was trying to do wasn't possible because they use a unique version of Linux for their OS. Another time I called and someone from India answered the technical support line to tell me he couldn't really help me with any technical problems. I can't really understate the security issues that have been going on either. This past year, it's one security notification after another including what appears to be a major security concern associated with the web access for their myQNAPCloud service. I feel like having that access configured is basically creating a big hole in my own home network inviting ransomware in. And the pace of 'security alerts' that they've been sending out lately doesn't make me feel any better. I mean – it's great that they are looking for, finding, and fixing security problems. But it does seem like I get one security alert a week from QNAP saying that found another vulnerability. I could go on and on about how much of a pain in the side this machine has been for me but I'll just wrap up by saying this if you want something that just works don't even consider QNAP – just go with the Synology.Anonymous

My biggest issue with this product is that the product pushes 200+ MB/sec transfer rates. Sadly, I missed the fact that I had to purchase an optional 2.5/5gb USB dongle for the NAS. I thought it was getting 2gb over LACP/LAG paired 1gb connections. Dont get me wrong, the built in interfaces work fine at 1gb, but when you buy the additional QNA-UC5G1T for the NAS, as well as a 2.5gb/10gb QNAP switch, AND another QNA-UC5G1T for my PC…. all I get is my QNAP locking up the QNA-UC5G1T network adapter in the middle of file transactions. The only way to recover is to reboot the NAS. The adapter will suddenly go from working to just a rythmic on/off flashing state and no longer will respond to ICMP/ping. If you set the internal ports on the NAS to another address for fail over management, you can log into the NAS and see that the QNA-UC5G1Tadapter has gone disconnected. You can unplug, and replug but the only way to get it to work again is reboot the NAS. I have a support ticket with QNAP open for over EIGHT weeks now and they want me to RMA both the NAS and the adapter. I am confident this is an adapter only problem, but what am I do to? I am an enterprise QNAP customer as well with a QNAP device with over 32TB presented to vShpere hosts with dual linked 10gb iSCSI and it has been rock solid for years. I guess you really get what you pay for, I wanted a small economical NAS for home that I can also remote replicate to my QNAP in the data center, and all I got was a FARSE with NO support. If QNAP cannot address my issues with their product failure, I will be forced to sell this to someone else where 115MB/sec single gig is fast enough and move vendors to Synology. Just my experience and $0.02.Chris T.

I was lured by features and hardware specs that were priced below Synology’s equipment. But now I regret this purchase after experiencing the QNAP interface. Even my 2012 Synology DS712+ has better and way more responsive interface. It’s a stark difference. Also, I will not dare expose my QNAP NAS to the internet since their devices have been targeted multiple times by ransomeware. Apparently QNAP does not take security seriously.W.S.

I ended up purchasing this product because it had decent reviews online and based on some YouTube reviews of the QNAP product overall. Although this is my first NAS, I'm not new to IT. I've developed a ton of software, built my own computers, etc. I was hoping that thing would just kind of work for what I needed it for – as an extra storage unit for my home network because our media library has grown a bit enormous. Alas, this has been nothing but a headache since I purchased it last year. From the initial setup and configuration to the major security problems, to their cloud access solution, to their virtual switches, etc. Everything I try to use with this software seems to have bugs of some sort. This is the worst hardware/software purchase I've made in the past two decades and it's not close. I've contacted their technical support team twice. Once I was connected with a technical representative who had to do some research on the problem I was having for about a week before he informed me that what I was trying to do wasn't possible because they use a unique version of Linux for their OS. Another time I called and someone from India answered the technical support line to tell me he couldn't really help me with any technical problems. I can't really understate the security issues that have been going on either. This past year, it's one security notification after another including what appears to be a major security concern associated with the web access for their myQNAPCloud service. I feel like having that access configured is basically creating a big hole in my own home network inviting ransomware in. And the pace of 'security alerts' that they've been sending out lately doesn't make me feel any better. I mean – it's great that they are looking for, finding, and fixing security problems. But it does seem like I get one security alert a week from QNAP saying that found another vulnerability. I could go on and on about how much of a pain in the side this machine has been for me but I'll just wrap up by saying this if you want something that just works don't even consider QNAP – just go with the Synology.Anonymous

My biggest issue with this product is that the product pushes 200+ MB/sec transfer rates. Sadly, I missed the fact that I had to purchase an optional 2.5/5gb USB dongle for the NAS. I thought it was getting 2gb over LACP/LAG paired 1gb connections. Dont get me wrong, the built in interfaces work fine at 1gb, but when you buy the additional QNA-UC5G1T for the NAS, as well as a 2.5gb/10gb QNAP switch, AND another QNA-UC5G1T for my PC…. all I get is my QNAP locking up the QNA-UC5G1T network adapter in the middle of file transactions. The only way to recover is to reboot the NAS. The adapter will suddenly go from working to just a rythmic on/off flashing state and no longer will respond to ICMP/ping. If you set the internal ports on the NAS to another address for fail over management, you can log into the NAS and see that the QNA-UC5G1Tadapter has gone disconnected. You can unplug, and replug but the only way to get it to work again is reboot the NAS. I have a support ticket with QNAP open for over EIGHT weeks now and they want me to RMA both the NAS and the adapter. I am confident this is an adapter only problem, but what am I do to? I am an enterprise QNAP customer as well with a QNAP device with over 32TB presented to vShpere hosts with dual linked 10gb iSCSI and it has been rock solid for years. I guess you really get what you pay for, I wanted a small economical NAS for home that I can also remote replicate to my QNAP in the data center, and all I got was a FARSE with NO support. If QNAP cannot address my issues with their product failure, I will be forced to sell this to someone else where 115MB/sec single gig is fast enough and move vendors to Synology. Just my experience and $0.02.Chris T.

I was lured by features and hardware specs that were priced below Synology’s equipment. But now I regret this purchase after experiencing the QNAP interface. Even my 2012 Synology DS712+ has better and way more responsive interface. It’s a stark difference. Also, I will not dare expose my QNAP NAS to the internet since their devices have been targeted multiple times by ransomeware. Apparently QNAP does not take security seriously.W.S.

I'm a software developer and I've been testing a few different brands to make sure my software works properly. It's connecting to a NAS box's built-in MySQL Server (in this case mariaDB). Brands like WD are actually more solid – they seem better built but inside even the more recent WD boxes is quite an old processor so I had to do quite a bit of tweaking to my software to make it work with the low powered WD devices. But this Synology flies. It's got a fast, recent, 64 bit processor and a ton of memory. If you're looking for a solid door stop or a step to reach a top shelf then get the WD. But if you want a fast device and you don't mind putting it somewhere safe so it doesn't get kicked or stood on then get this synology.I.S.

A very good mid-range NAS. Specifications… – Quad Core 64bit CPU running at 1.4GHz – 1GB DDR4 RAM memory – 112 MB/sec data transfer (reading & writing) – Confirmed IRL – HD & 4K Video Hardware Transcoding on-the-fly – 2 x USB3 Sockets on the back. – DSM 6 (Disk Station Manager) Cautions – – Space for 1 hard drive only. No redundancy, so shouldn't be used as the one-and-only backup. – Internal Hard Drive is EXT4 only. No btrfs. There is not much else to say, other than it works flawlessly, is very fast & responsive, and transfers data at the upper limit of what is possible on a gigabit network. Finally, DSM 6.2 is just the best software interface I've come across for checking & altering network settings. DSM allows you to install apps of various sorts to increase the NAS functionality in multimedia or backup. Definitely recommended.J.W.

Although many small NAS units allow for file and print sharing both locally and via the internet, Synology is SOOO MUCH more. It's a media server, backup system, web server, mail server, camera surveillance system, VPN, Torrent downloader, etc. It can be used to store contacts, calendars, and files as well as chat between desktops, laptops, phones, and tablets. These devices can also make use of your DiskStation via multiple apps…..play your music, videos, and view pictures anywhere (the Videostation is almost like running your own Netflix). All this usually comes with complex setups but Synology makes it as easy as it can be without sacrificing functionality. This unit has features I didn't know I wanted but can no longer live without. Once you add a hard disk and USB drive for backup it becomes a bit pricier than other NAS systems but, for what it offers, it's worth every dollar and more.David

Implemented this NAS last March 30 in our home office. All good until it failed with 'Power Supply Failure' three times late September. Wd wanted to replace with 'reconditioned' one, I insisted on a new one. Replacement arrived 2 weeks later obviously used. Meantime I discovered mine works if I don't use my surge protector. And a caution:. This device is discontinued and no longer supported. Tech support could not figure out the problem. I returned the replacement and kept mine. I have mine loaded with 22tb of data and system backups, and I'm a bit nervous.skeleton

I am a 73 year-old retired Marine. I wanted all my files, pictures, music and programs backed up if one of our computers failed. I had my IT employed son on stand by to help me with the installation of my My-Cloud Expert SeriesEX4100. I unboxed the unit, looked through the quick start information and decided that I couldn't mess it up more than he could fix. In less than an hour, I had it attached to my home network and purring like a kitten. I proceeded to each of my home computers and selected the frequency and files to back up. I then set up each of our kids and grandkids with permissions as to what they could view and/or contribute to. Incredibly easy to set up. I went with a 40TB unit so I could have a RAID system to protect against one drive failing. This unit replaced a ten year-old MyCloud 4 TB that reached end of life. Never had one problem with it so -stay with what works.MarineBob48

I had the EX4, and loved it. Unfortunately WD stopped supporting it and it failed a firmware upgrade and became useless and I have to destroy it. I was able to use the drives from the EX4 in the EX4100, so my data was saved. I purchased the EX4100 without any drives, but the unit still cost more than $350 USD. The EX4100 works great AFTER I found out I had to load the Twonkey server media APP in order to play videos/photos, etc. on my smart TV's connected to my network. Let's hope WD does not stop supporting the EX4100 EVER!Scott-WDEX4100

So far I have attempted to get support from Synology on 4 separate occasions. They must be in Taiwan so they work on a different schedule. One of the drive trays would not lock closed as received and now requires replacement. That was an interesting communication issue with their support people. I was able to get them to send me a replacement tray without returning the defective one. The real problem I am having is the differences between my existing Netgear NAS units. I have over 15 TB of data that I need to copy to the Synology NAS. Synology backup software does not support import of data using the Rsync protocol like Netgear does. Synology's Active backup only allows backup export using Rsync in a unique pre-packaged format that you cannot read unless you use Synology software. It has taken me multiple hours to attempt to setup the Synology NAS using Shared and Home folders that are only similar to my Netgear setup so that I can transfer files. I think it would have been much easier to stay with Netgear but it appears they are getting out of the NAS market. I wish the Synology NAS had a LCD display that provided status like IP address, Booting state, etc like all the Netgear NAS units that I own do. The Synology definitely has more software options but so far getting everything configured has been a real challenge and some features simply don't work yet with their new DSM 7 operating system.Tom

Having been on Home Fiber for over a year and noticeable differences in download speeds between PCs with the same setup, I decided it was time to upgrade my home network. I had been using a Nighthawk X4S, but it could not keep up with a family of 6 (with 4 teenage boys who game all the time). In January I started my transition to a new home network setup. I went with Ubiquiti line of products for networking/security and Synology for my NAS. My home already had CAT5e running to the majority of rooms, but I took this time to run some more lines to hard wire as many devices as possible. Below is my current setup. It may be overkill, but I am consistently getting over 900Mbps on all wired PCs (which never occurred), gaming devices are downloading faster than before, and WIFI signal across my house and outdoors (1.5 acre lot), is better than it is has ever been. For the first time, I feel like I am getting the full benefit of Home Fiber. My Synology NAS is attached by to my UniFi Switch via Link Aggregation. Setup was easy and it has been performing flawlessly. I am using it to backup 7 PCs, Photos, Home Videos, Movies, Music. B&H shipped everything out quickly and I received everything in a timely manner allowing me to stay on track with my project. It took my 2 weeks to convert everything from start to finish. UniFi Dream Machine Pro (UDM-Pro) with 8TB HD UniFi Switch 24 PoE (USW-24-POE) 2 UniFi Pro APs (UAP-AC-PRO-US) 1 UniFi Mesh PRO AP (UAP-AC-M-PRO-US) UniFi Protect G4 Doorbell (UVC-G4-Doorbell-US) 2 UniFi Protect G4-Bullet Camera (UVC-G4-BULLET) 2 IR Range Extenders for G4 (UVC-G4-IRExtender) UniFi Protect G3 FLEX Camera (UVC-G3-FLEX) Ceiling Mount for G3 FLEX (UVC-G3-F-C) DAC Cable, SFP+ (UC-DAC-SFP+) 2 Ethernet Surge Protector (ETH-SP-G2) Synology DiskStation DS720 2-Bay NAS 2 Seagate 6TB IronWolf 5400RPM SATA III HDs Synology 4GB DDR4 RAM (SYD4SO26664G)William

I have been using Synology NAS products since 2012 when I tried my first 2 disk NAS (still working). This particular model works very well for file backup, local file server, and as Synology continues evolving its DSM operating system, it provides other features that can prove useful for people with needs such as running containers (with Docker) or having a personal VPN to use with open source protocols or the Synology private VPN service. I find this 2020 version quite powerful by allowing you to add a solid state cache to accelerate commonly used files; and also adding RAM to the NAS in order to run multiple services simultaneously. I would recommend this unit to someone that needs a simple NAS implementation with 2 disks configured for redundancy.Carlos

This uses Synology's DSM software, and for my needs it offers exactly what I want in an easy to configure system. I use the NAS to do Time Machine backups for a couple of laptops, to run a Plex server for my digital music / videos, and to archive some old but important files. As I use wifi the raw speed of it doesn't matter as much to me as it might to some others. As I'm familiar with DSM the setup was easy. The hot pluggable drive trays let me install drives without tools, and Synology's web site has a page which lets my laptop connect to the NAS to do the initial configuration. The NAS itself is quiet, but the discs picked to populate it will make more noise than the NAS's fan. I have a couple of WD Reds (quiet and slow) and a couple of Seagate Iron Wolfs (louder and faster). Because of the Seagate drives I'll probably move into a cupboard. A couple of weeks in and it's working fine. It's possible to expand the memory if I want to run Docker containers in the future.mi-9372

Easy to install, reasonably straight forward to configure. I set up 2 RAID 1 storage pools and 3 volumes. Used for image storage and system backups, plus a play space for storing virtual machines. I upped the RAM specifically to run some VMs. A nice selling point is the free Virtual Machine Manager. For my use case I could probably get by with smaller cache SSDs and re-use the ones I got in another project. Network performance is fine on a gigabit wired network, and noise level is acceptable and probably depends on your disks and usage – it's actually pretty quite – probably quieter than a desktop PC with the same disk configuration. The only niggle I had was with the VMM which could not connect to the VM console during VM build from ISO. Turned out it will only connect if you open the DSM in HTTP (I'd configured mine for HTTPS). It's only a problem during VM installation – once you can RDP/VNC/SSH to your VM you don't need the console. I like it – useful tool and a fun toy all in one 🙂DavidF57

My first experience with a Synology NAS has been very satisfying. In retrospect, I should have purchased one long ago! The operating system offers so many options, I'll probably be tweaking it for years to come as I learn more about this device's capabilities. And that's a good thing! For now, I'm very pleased with the ability to use Pi-Hole through Docker. I suspect I will find Synology's unique hybrid RAID feature to be extremely helpful when I need to add storage capacity later. For now, my next task will be to set up my NAS for home video surveillance storage. I'm sure this Synology unit will serve me very well for a long time to come! Highly recommended!Paul

– During setup when creating the drive volume it went into an infinite loop on the dialog and wouldn't let me finish creating the volume. I exited the volume creation and tried again, but it then claimed that 100% of the drive was already used and that I couldn't create a volume. It said that since there was no volume I couldn't use the drive, but it stated that all drive space was used in a volume that wasn't actually there. I had to power the unit off and on and redo the volume creation twice before it finally worked. – During login it goes into a continual loop asking me to log in over and over again a random number of times until it finally logs in, I typically get the login screen three to four times in a row before it will finally go to the desktop. – The Main Menu icons don't render on the page half of the time. – Using any of the apps like the Resource Monitor actually slows down the performance of the drive transfers. – I have zero confidence in this unit for the long term. I did hours of research before buying it, and I thought that it would be the best brand buy since the other brands continually get worse reviews, but if this is the best, I would hate to see the worst. – I am using this unit with two 16TB drives as a file archive in my small personal business. I don't work directly on the NAS, I just use it for a set of network file shares that I Robocopy Mirror my computer system data files to.David G.

Hardware is ok but the software requires work. I would have liked to give a 3.5 star rating but of course this is impossible. It's straightforward enough to fit the hard drives and to set the unit up, the problems start when you begin to upload files. The upload speeds are painfully slow, I was getting 4mb/sec which meant it would have taken me days, if not a couple of weeks to get all my files uploaded. There's no manual but there's a lot of information on YouTube with various video instructions. After doing various searches and reading online forums I finally found out how to set it up to be recognised as an external hard drive. I can now upload at speeds of around 100mb/sec. This information should be more clearly marked in the basic setup instructions, it would make life easier. This is designed as being a home solution so can't be expected to be very computer savvy. This is the only NAS system that I've had experience with, perhaps they're all like this. I would suggest watching the online tutorials before buying to fully understand what's needed to get this system workingsteve92b

Very nice device including lots of useful included "packages", or utilities. The backup utility will pay for the entire cost in less than a year compared to the monthly EaseUS Todo Backup fee. Pulled a drive from an external USB Expansion box and plugged it in to the second bay (I bought a Seagate IronWolf Pro 6TB on strong recommendations for the critical data). Network configurations are really not in my conceptual wheelhouse so I struggled a little with the setup, etc. I got it done with some grunting and groaning. I was using ReadyShare on my Netgear router but that was a little glitchy and not well supported. I also had a bad experience with Netgear call-in product support, another story for another day.jgoodsel

Pros: Compact and easy to install drives. Nice dashboard and plenty of apps available. Good to have a USB up-front to backup of an external source. Cons: Setup took a little more time than I thought it might. But I'm no expert and have only had 1 NAS before (many years ago). Pity it's not USB-C.Martyn

Pros: Linux based OS (though take a moment to check out use of ACLs before get confused on file/disk permissions). USB port on FRONT of unit (as well as one on back) – so much easier than on the DS214Play I previously used. Cons: Ticking fan noise, even when disks idle. Fortunately, various forums detail how to modify the fan profile to reduce the speed at lower disk/cpu temperatures – which makes a big difference. If you are not sitting next to the NAS then not a showstopper, but would like to see Synology improve on this.Oliver

Pros: Very quiet – I used the same 2 WD Red NAS HDDs that were noisy in a QNAP NAS box and I can't hear the DS218 at all.Very easy set up, just remove the front panel and mount the drives in the removable trays.Excellent performance, well worth getting this model with the 2GB of RAM.DSM is a breeze to set up and use. While it has a huge array of configuration options available they are presented in a user friendly interface. There's also a good selection of apps available for easy installation; one of the best for my use is Surveillance Station, it amazes me that it is free when you see the price of standalone Windows based programs that do the same or less for the money.Unit looks good and is well constructed. Cons: Front panel could be a bit more secure fitting; it doesn't fall off but is too easy to remove in my opinion, minor point though.HENRY

I use the DS218 with 2x Seagate Ironwolf 4TB in RAID1 (actually Synology Hybrid Raid, BTRFS), primarily for media storage and system backups on my home network. Setting up the hardware is extremely simple, and while the software requires slightly more knowledge, it is still not difficult due to the abundance of tutorials and forums online. I set it up for remote access, syncing with my other cloud accounts, etc. In only a couple hours. So far everything is working as it should! Performance is as expected, I can saturate the gigabit ethernet connection fairly easily. More than sufficient for my needs. Browsing the interface is also quite smooth. The apps and software are well designed and are fairly self-explanatory. If there is an issue or question, Googling leads to quick and well-explained answers. No complaints so far in terms of performance. The NAS runs fairly quietly with the fan on "Quiet Mode". Noise primarily comes from the hard drives spinning, which isn't Synology's fault and can be alleviated with SSDs (but the price – ouch). Other nice aesthetic/environmental features for me are the control over light brightness and the ability to schedule turning the lights off, as I don't want the super bright lights on my desk during the day, and I don't want them on at night at all. Didn't think those were things I needed, but they're nice to have. Environment/aesthetics wise, I'm pleased with this NAS.A.S.

Now that i have this up and running its great. But what hassle getting it set up. Unbelievably there is NO guidance for setting this up and despite watching youtube reviews and so on i had a relative nightmare getting this going. Now that may be because im not as tech savvy as some and it did need my IT department to log on and sort things out. In the end i just hadnt clicked on a few buttons to make cerain files visible but it would have been so easy to write some documentation to get you going. Still giving it 4 stars because as a unit its great. Small, sits out of the way in complete silence doing its thing. I think 2 hard drives will be plenty for most people and i have started with 2x3Gb which i think we will see me good for a number of years. If you have thousands of large photos, perhaps taken on an slr then you will probably need bigger. But as i said, once running it think its great, well built and discreet. Once im using the full features of what it can do this will be a gamechanger i reckon. So far im just touching the tip of the iceberg with using Plex for movies. On a significant sidenote: Be warned that if you think you're just going to plop all your blurays and dvds on this thing then think this through. Again, not being massively tech savvy, i had no idea that the transcoding process is so paaaaaaaaaaaaainstaaaaaaaaaaaking. It would be better to call it a labour of love, because oh my god its labour intensive. My PC has been on 24/7 for the last couple of months first converting the bluray to mkv file and then transcoding using handbrake which literally takes 2-12 hours per Bluray and i have a i7 6700. It does crunch a 40Gb to between 2-8Gb but it involves a lot of attention and ideally a powerful CP. But in the end its worth it and after 2 months i have gone through about 180blu rays so far!L.

I've had a DS211j for almost 7 years and just upgraded to the DS218Play. WOW! I just had 5 computers syncing with the DS218Play while the DS218Play was uploading encrypted files to a cloud server, while also copying files from the DS218Play to a USB drive. CPU usage was 37% and memory was 42%. Moving between the different pages of DSM 6.1 was almost instantaneous while all this was happening. I'm so glad I upgraded. The DS211j still handled MOST of my needs but this DS218Play is a monster by comparison. I considered getting the DS218+ or the DS718+ but now I can see that the DS218Play is more than enough as a file server for home use.randylecc

Bought as a replacement of an older Synology 2-Bay NAS. By swapping over the existing hard drives the migration process was a fairly simple process. Although Ive used a NAS for a while Im certainly no IT expert but I find the DS218 play quicker and more responsive than the one it replaces. I use it mainly as a music file store and server and backups and cant vouch its use a video media server but would definitely recommend it for general domestic or home office use.jagmaster30

I have one of these loaded up with a pair of 4tb WD red drives in a RAID 1 configuration, for maximum safety. After bad experiences with a couple of other Nas devices I was very happy to find this one. The others all had some serious drawback. The Western Digital ran hot and got noisey under even moderate loads. A couple of others spontaneously started showing errors. This Synology unit is on 24/7 and so far nothing to complain about. It runs quiet, cool and fast…. which is all I need. Some noise has been made about this unit having a "cheap CPU" and to that I say … It does the job, so what's the problem?LD B.

il est assez performant et tres facile a modifié je le fait tourné avec openmediavault l'os d'origine a des qualité mes aussi des défautangelus77

Very nice device including lots of useful included "packages", or utilities. The backup utility will pay for the entire cost in less than a year compared to the monthly EaseUS Todo Backup fee. Pulled a drive from an external USB Expansion box and plugged it in to the second bay (I bought a Seagate IronWolf Pro 6TB on strong recommendations for the critical data). Network configurations are really not in my conceptual wheelhouse so I struggled a little with the setup, etc. I got it done with some grunting and groaning. I was using ReadyShare on my Netgear router but that was a little glitchy and not well supported. I also had a bad experience with Netgear call-in product support, another story for another day.jgoodsel

Pros: Compact and easy to install drives. Nice dashboard and plenty of apps available. Good to have a USB up-front to backup of an external source. Cons: Setup took a little more time than I thought it might. But I'm no expert and have only had 1 NAS before (many years ago). Pity it's not USB-C.Martyn

Pros: Linux based OS (though take a moment to check out use of ACLs before get confused on file/disk permissions). USB port on FRONT of unit (as well as one on back) – so much easier than on the DS214Play I previously used. Cons: Ticking fan noise, even when disks idle. Fortunately, various forums detail how to modify the fan profile to reduce the speed at lower disk/cpu temperatures – which makes a big difference. If you are not sitting next to the NAS then not a showstopper, but would like to see Synology improve on this.Oliver

Would definitely recommend this. I've had it for just a few weeks now as a replacement for an old 4-bay Drobo. Set up was easy and straight forward, and the USB drive in the back helped make the initial backup from a temp backup HDD quick and painless. Having it attached to our wi-fi and accessible from anywhere in the world is handy. The software you use to access it is pretty easy to understand. I didn't have any problems with the UI, and this kind of tech isn't my area of expertise. Build quality seems just fine, although seeing the board on the inside made it look kinda flimsy? This is the only point of contention and it's a mild one, wish I could give it 4.5 stars for this reason. That said, there were no problems with installing the disks. And I was able to set up a RAID5 with zero difficulty. Even someone like me, who doesn't know much about RAID, was able to figure it out pretty quickly and easily. For someone who just wanted to replace an old, failed DAS with near zero difficulty, this did great, and I didn't realize how much I'd benefit from an NAS.Jason

The box is appears well built and is noticeably quieter than my Drobo. I am using it to backup my office server and some family members computers (kids at college) every weekend. I really like that it has a feature to let you set it to automatically turn on and shut off on a set schedule. Since I only use it for these weekend backups, I don't need it running all week long. I have it set to automatically turn on Friday afternoon and to turn off on Sunday night. Being turned off is also the best security possible from hackers and ransomware attacks. I use Acronis Backup for both my office server and my other computers. Acronis Backup 12.5 for Windows Server has an option to backup to cloud and allows you to select an sftp server. The Synology NAS easily allows you to setup an sftp server. Then on my office sever I just put the following as my backup location, sftp://my home IP address//folder, so it looks like sftp://108.000.000.106/backup. I don't have a static IP address at my home (where I have the NAS), so this number may change at some point, which means I would have to update it on my office server, but my FIOS IP address rarely ever changes. The Acronis software then asks for my user name and password. You can add users for the NAS and give them access to certain folders or features. So I added a user for my office backup and gave it access to the sftp service on the NAS. I then put that user's name and password into Acronis and it confirms the connection. I then created a backup plan that runs a full backup every weekend. I did the same basic thing for my other computers, like my brother's home computer. The only real difference is that the Acronis software for Windows 10 does not use sftp, it use regular ftp. You do need some basic computer/networking skills to set this all up. I am an insurance agent, not a computer pro, but I do have a fair amount of basic networking knowledge. For example, you will need to add port forwarding rules to your router to send port 22 for the sftp and port 20-21 for ftp to the IP address of your NAS on your local network. You can also use it to have your phone automatically backup all of your photos. I have not tried this feature, but it does not look like it would not be hard to setup. Unfortunately, I think Apple only allows you to backup the entire phone to iCloud or iTunes, so you can't automatically backup your entire iPhone to the NAS. In terms of speed, you will most likely be limited by your Internet speed or the gigabit connection to your local computer. My Internet speed is 150Mbps, so that limits me to a data transfer online of about 15MB/s. When transferring a file directly to my local computer over the Gigabit connection (only using 1 of the 2), it does transfer at the max speed of 100MB/s. I am using Western Digital Red 5400 rpm drives. Since it appears the limiting factor in terms of data transfer speeds is the Gigabit connection, not sure if you would benefit from faster drivers. It does allow for the connection of two Gigabit connections. My WD Red's have a read speed of 150MB/s, so if using both Gigabit connections does give you a transfer speed of 200MB/s, you might benefit from faster drivers. This is my first NAS, so I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I was able to get it to do exactly what I wanted, so I like it.William

to buy this products is just replace the old synology diskstation ds412+, never exceptation that the workstation is dead before the hard disk, and no more choice except to buy another similar products to replace the old dead one. just remind once buy such diskstation and setup raid storage to sure how to do if the disksatation dead before the hard disk. the staff give me great help in the dealing process. a good purchase experience.QirenG