There was a time when a NAS (Network Attached Storage) server was associated with a price tag as long as a network cable. That time is gone, thank goodness. Point your browser to the NAS category on the Essential IT Solutions online shop and you’ll notice that prices start at less than R2 000 for the QNAP TS-121 and just over that for the Synology DiskStation DS115J.
On the higher end you’ll find the 8-bay Synology DiskStation DS1815+ which features the award-winning DiskStation Manager OS that lets you create your own private cloud.
Synology DiskStation DS1815+ 8-Bay NAS Server
The DiskStation DS1815+ measures only 157 mm x 340 mm x 233 mm. Yet it stores as many terabytes as the hard drive capacity allows. For instance, 8 x 6GB HDDs. Beyond that, you can expand the capacity with two Synology DX513 units to a massive 144TB.
Of course, in a production environment all that data space needs to be accessible fast and the DiskStation DS1815+ obliges with a 2.4GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB DDR3 RAM (expandable to 6GB) to deliver 450 MB/s reading and 412 MB/s writing speeds. Full specs here.
It also features advanced security measures, equipped with a dedicated hardware encryption engine that encrypts files and folders on the fly. As Synology puts it, this is “the ideal digital locker for sensitive data.”
Keep in mind, this system supports hot-swappable hard drives.
Easy installation and management
As mentioned, the DiskStation DS1815+ comes with the award-winning DiskStation Manager OS. This is a browser-based operating system that makes installation and management really easy. Everything is just a click away, even setting up the auto-backup and auto-sync features.
4 x USB 3.0, 2 x eSATA and 4 x RJ45 LAN ports
Synology also offers an impressive range of add-on packages which includes an iTunes server, web station, VPN server, mail server and many more.
Synology DiskStation DS1815+ usage
This NAS system obviously is ideal for business and home business use. IT managers will find the software a breeze to use.
Thus said, we’ve been surprised by the interest shown by photographers and videographers. And here is the reason:
Files can be edited in offline mode and later synced to Cloud Station, which keeps up to 32 historical versions, allowing you to restore a file back to previous version or recover deleted files.
In fact, there are excellent reviews of the DiskStation DS1815+ by photography sites B&H Photo and Photography Life.
Price, Add-ons and Warranty
At this time of writing, Synology DiskStation 1815+ costs R21 259 and is available in the NAS category of the Essential IT Solutions online shop.
This unboxing video by British IT store SPAN gives you a good idea of what you’ll get for your money –
Please note that some are the add-on packages and some of the cloud features mentioned here are available as a paid service supplied directly by Synology. It is worth mentioning again that they are very easy to set up.
The Synology DiskStation 1815+ 8-Bay NAS system carries a 3-year warranty.
For more information, do not hesitate to call us on 021 853 4790.
