First Impressions: Synology DS212j

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Nick Geraedts
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Posts: 561
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 8:22 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC

First Impressions: Synology DS212j

Post by Nick Geraedts » Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:43 pm

Really quick writeup for anyone else looking into a NAS.

I managed to pick one of these up on a crazy clearance sale today ($89!). Installation is quite straight forward. Pop off the cover, install your drives, replace the cover, plug in cables, power on. Run the setup software from Synology and follow the instructions.

I'm not going to go over a lot of the features of the device, since you can find those reviews elsewhere. From what I've seen so far, the features you'll read about elsewhere all work as advertised and without any major hiccups.

As for the sound and noise of this device - it will be as quiet as the drives you put inside of it. The stock fan is nearly inaudible, and only really noticeable if you are within 2-3 ft of the NAS. I have two WD 2TB Green drives in my DS212j, and I cannot hear the seek noises when copying files to the device. The NAS is sitting on a bookshelf about 10 ft away from me while I'm writing this and I haven't noticed it yet.

Feel free to ask questions!

Das_Saunamies
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Location: Finland

Re: First Impressions: Synology DS212j

Post by Das_Saunamies » Fri Mar 21, 2014 6:39 am

Thanks for the impressions - this, among other things, prompted me to go for the 213j (and a 214se for dad)! This is the successor model if I'm not mistaken.

The 213j is definitely quiet as well, the fan is smooth and introduces only a whisper of fan noise into the workspace I've deployed the unit in. Once I can move it further away from the PC the sound will undoubtedly disappear - I cannot hear it when walking up to the computer, only when sitting down.

I have a 3 TB Red (WD30EFRX-68AX9N0) and a 3 TB Seagate NAS HDD (ST3000VN000-1H4167) in there. The Red is inaudible at all times but the NAS HDD has seek noise. Very muted and soft compared to my AAKS, however, so no bother at all when working. The HDD cage structure was half-open, but it seems to handle these drives quite well: the case stands on rubber feet, and no vibrations are being resonated by my PC's Define Mini case. I wasn't sure what to expect because the unit's case is mostly plastic, but they've done a really good job even noise wise!

Getting the unit to run and RAIDing the drives couldn't be easier. The software is way more intuitive and responsive than the Buffalo stuff I've been using in the old NAS. It's like it's a proper OS or something... :mrgreen:

Definitely excellent bang for buck if you want to do more than just plug a drive in over the network.

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