Synology 5-bay DiskStation DS1522+ (Diskless),Black

Bought this to replace an old Apple Time Capsule. Populated it with two WD Red Pro 8TB 7200rpm drives running in RAID 1 protection. Im very happy with its performance. Its operating system (DSM) is easy to work with. Highly recommend this for NAS storage.

Once installed and set up, the quality build on the drive together with the vast library of useful software available for Synology Drives clearly sets Synology apart form the competition. However, installation and setup is complicated and difficult for MAC users because the installation and setup instructions are clearly oriented for PC users. Furthermore, the vast majority of online Youtube videos regarding How to install and set up a Synology Raid network are PC oriented. Had it not been for the the great support that I received from Synologys truly outstanding telephone customer help desk, which literally saved the day and hours of frustration by guiding me thru the installation and setup of my MAC-based Raid network, I would have given the product a 4-star ratingl

After canning my MyCloud due to lack of support I started looking for a replacement. I kept functionality, cost and ease of use at the forefront of my decision making process. I am thoroughly impressed with the DS220+ because it does so much more than what I need it to do which opens doors down the road for upgrading home security, networking, streaming etc., not just a cloud device. I purchased 2 - 6tb Western Digital Red drives and run them in Raid (but I do not have too) for my backup preference. Also, my download and upload speeds are way faster (and I havent upgraded the memory yet). Very happy with this piece of equipment. I will add that this is not a plug and play/forget device. You should have a working knowledge of what you want out of a cloud service and read instructions on how to get there.

It was always a desire of mine to get my own home NAS. When I finally pulled the trigger and picked this DS220+ up, I was not disappointed! I have it fit with 16GB of RAM, 2 8TB Iron Wolf HDD drives. Here is a list of the functions I am using it for: - Jellyfin server for movies, tv shows, and music - Plex server for audiobooks - Homebridge - Pi-Hole - Docker - Local backups of home PCs

I am an avid consumer of courses and content. I have tons of external hard drives as backup information storage devices. I wanted a way to get all of the MP4s and MP3s I have in one place. I looked at the Qnaps, and the other Synology devices and found this one to be the most practical. I like that I can add ram up to 32Gb (some say unofficially I can get to 64), I like that I can add PCIE drives for extra write and rewrite (some say you can use other drives than the Synology ones on version 7.1+). I opted for (5) 14TB Western Digital Red Drives. Overall the device is not that large and it can be expanded with 10 more drives. The one bad thing :( The one thing that is mentioned is how much noise this device makes when you have more than 2 drives in it. I can hear this device vibrate with each and every drive I add.

So, anyone shopping Synology NASs should understand: 1) you are paying for a solid software package and infrastructure support 2) you are paying for scalability 3) you are paying a lot for what it is It will not save you from needing to learn, but it will, as long as you stay within the provided options, land you in the realm of having a good NAS solution. The DS15s hit an odd spot, and most users will want to go bigger or smaller. The DS1522+ is a markedly better performer than its predecessors, except as a media server. It also underperforms in windows VMs for several uses. This is unfortunate because, otherwise, it ticks off all the boxes for a practical NAS/server platform for the savvy home user with a couple of grand to spend. It really does seem like Synology missed the mark by not giving this one an intel chip with better video processing. Or (gasp) start including options like a thunderbolt port to attach external video processing units. If that were all, I would rank it 4 stars and say, make sure it fits your use case, and if so, a solid buy. Maybe 2024s will be perfect. The DS15 sits in an awkward place, providing the software functionality of a serious NAS server rack mounted system, but with the hardware capacity of a *slightly* beefier consumer NAS aimed at backing up family photos. And, in spite of this less than amazing hardware package, it is sold at a pretty penny over the less doped up options. But, none of that is really new. I just think they cut a couple of corners (mainboard and processor) too short for this price point. What is new, and why I drop this to 3 stars, is that Synology is moving to increase their capture of the consumer into the platform without providing improvements aimed at the likely user of a NAS in this class. They are aiming to lockdown which hard drives you can use, and seem to be gearing up to do the same for RAM and their M.2 drive bays as well. They are claiming this in the guise of reliability while ignoring that users in this, and lower end, markets are far more sensitive to price and the ability to repurpose and play around with the device. I think Synology is truly missing the mark, and, while this NAS fits my needs well, I likely wont stick with them and likely will have moved in in 2-3 years. I suspect most home and home-professional users would prefer their NAS last longer than that. For those users, Synologys business strategy may make buying into this a bad choice. That said, if you are all in on team Synology, or, like me, have some specific projects in mind and want the DSM experience, I would say, this is probably the best built and featured of the DS15s to date.

This is great if you want two bays. I should have bought the 4 bay model… just better redundancy… so far the DSM system software is great, many apps or software. The 4 bay just has better raid options just bec of the number of bays. Watch the YouTube videos of the Synology… I think they are great because of the options available either for the consumer grade or even more for businesses. Additional 6/9/2022…. I ended up purchasing a 5 bay Synology 1520+. It has a slightly better CPU and 8GB of RAM vs the 220+ or the 920+. If you were to buy the 920+ for 150 less and you wanted to upgrade the ram with synology module, would cost you another $80. ( you can upgrade the ram in the 220 for about $20, but if you use third party upgrade, you can void your warranty) You can get the 1520 for a little additional money with another bay vs the 920. There are apps that you can install from synology most of which are free. With the 5 bays using 4TB arrives, I have about 15 Gb of space using Synology Hybrid Raid configuration SHR, which is plenty of space for me. If you use standard RAID a configuration, you cannot mix drives, whereas with SHR, you can upgrade your NAS without having to replace all the drives with the same size.

This NAS was easy to set up, and performs superbly. There was a minor mechanical problem with one of the disk trays, but Synology support people handled it smoothly and quickly. They also provided useful advice about how to migrate my data from an older NAS.

Ive always been a frugal DIYer when it comes to technology. I have spent years building and maintaining file servers, web servers, etc. I had actually spent the last few years using an old PC with nextcloud to keep my files backed up to multiple places. However I was kind of tired of having to manage things myself and decided to try an actual paid service. I found the install and setup of the NAS to be very easy. I have multiple devices syncing so that my data is in multiple places. I have found the mobile apps to be satisfactory for accessing files and photos. My setup in around 10tb of data. Mostly movies and TV for Plex. I have not found this unit as very useful to run Plex as the app interface is slow trying to pull up data for menus. Once a movie starts it seems fine, but Ive decided to stick with my current box that streams the media. I have around 35000 photos that I have been able to access through their photos app and website. Files have also been easy to access. Overall this has been a much easier solution than what I had before. It all just works.

Pro - Its really good to have for the personal use. Cons - The mobile app that works for this device is poor, especially apple phone(rate 1/5). For Samsung phone, I would rate 3.5/5. - For uploading picture/image from iphone. The app should open and cannot use another while taking backup. - Sometime it gets noisy when I have it on wooden table. Its been around couple of month of usage. I will definitely update the review after few months/years.