Synology 8 Bay RackStation RS1221+ (Diskless)

ES MAS DE LO QUE ESPERABA

As a basic NAS / RAID device, it is great. But the RAM is too limited to take advantage of all its software features.

Solid performance. This is the first rack mount Synology I’ve owned everything else has been desktop (we have three 8 bay desktop NAS as well). This is excellent, although much louder than our desktops but it does have redundant power supply and a smaller form factor so to be expected.

I've been toying with the idea of setting up a NAS at home after helping put together a few for my various offices. Originally I was drawn to the backup potential, but I soon realized I could significantly decrease the load on my home PC by taking out a lot of the storage drives. I used this bad boy with a few Seagate NAS ready drives and my UDM-Pro and I've never been happier with a piece of tech. Upload speeds are so good it's like the drives are still attached to the computer. Setup was a breeze with a few simple steps (your standard "mount it to the rack", "plug it in", etc.) and the software pretty much sets itself up. I'm using the native Synology Quickconnect by the way. Very happy with the unit and I would highly recommend it for NAS purposes.

An upgrade on an older '+' style Synology box. The previous physical drives transferred over fine and the new PAT rebuilt the DSM without too much hassle. I forgot to delete the Bond setting from the previous Synology box (before backing it up) and thought I'd have to fry the DSM on the RS1221+ in order to clear that setting (moving from 2 ports bonded to 4 ports bonded) but I managed to use the reset and force it to delete and reconfigure. Only one Cat 5 could be plugged in while achieving this reset—not all four—once realised easily fixed. The password reset method isn't well described but otherwise everything is fine. Still running the drives back in on the new box without upgrading the RAM (32GB) or network connection (10Gb). It's nicely built, not over the top, and fits well into the rack. The fan noise has increased considerably over the smaller Synology boxes but not quite as loud as a dedicated server build (though this is only a quarter of the size). A two bay Synology is whisper quiet, a 5 bay had some fan noise but can be drowned out by drive chatter, this 8 bay unit has real fan noise (on it's lowest, 'quiet' setting) and has a presence in the office. Destined for a cupboard anyway but I'd suggest planning for isolation if you like peace and quiet. My last Synology box lasted for over 10 years without any huge issues but doesn't match this for pace of file delivery, build quality (much more metal involved) or simple storage capacity. It doesn't present the fastest preview yet (for really big files) but with plenty of upgrades to come it has the legs to be a powerful performer in a small form factor. It came double boxed and is well protected for transportation. It's a nice unit for those who just need things to work; have large storage needs; don't like constantly rebuilding backup solutions or having multiple drives rolling around. The Synology DSM has many reviews elsewhere. Thumbs up.