A while back, I got a new wireless router which had the ability to support an external USB (2.0) hard disk and to treat that as a network-attached-storage device. This worked acceptably, but there were issues. The "DLNA" functionality wasn't very well-designed (something I've only recently been able to confirm, now that I have this device up and running). The speed of transfer was painfully slow. And the device itself would fail on a regular basis, both dropping out and becoming "undetected" and, worse, corrupting data during larger transfers (such as, say, movie files). So, this quickly became an exercise is frustration - a great idea, but not a great implementation (FYI, I was trying to do this using my Asus "Dark Knight" router with a Western Digital "MyBook" 3TB drive.)
http://www.amazon.com/RT-N66U-Dual-Band-Wireless-N900-Gigabit-Router/dp/B006QB1RPY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356367477&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+dark+knight
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Essential-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B0042Z55RM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356367503&sr=1-1&keywords=western+digital+mybook+3tb
So, the last time I "lost" my network access to my entertainment files, I decided to finally take the plunge and buy an ACTUAL "network storage" system. I'd been shopping for some time, and had experimented with the "online demo" for Synology's "Diskstation Manager" software... and had read pretty much ALL the reviews for this device. Yes, I knew that there had been some issues with installed memory chips on one of the earliest production runs of this device, which led to the infamous "Blinking blue light of death" you'll see referred to in a number of reviews here, but that Synology had moved quickly to fix this, and had repaired/replaced the defective units (barring, potentially, any which no one had located and identified as needing to be returned)... about 400 or so total devices. So, I felt confident buying this.
Setup was a breeze. I ordered five Western Digital "Red" 3TB drives (actually about 2.73TB in "binary" terms), which, when set up in a "Synology Hybrid Raid" configuration, would provide me with about 10.5TB of actual addressable storage in a single volume, with the ability to survive the failure of a single drive (and the ability to "hot swap" a replacement drive in without even powering off the system) without data loss... or so the claims go, though I have yet to test this out in practice!
Total setup time for the physical side took me about a half hour. Setting up the basic software installation took another half hour. I then let the system run overnight... it took about 20 hours total to fully configure the system, including the full disk "parity check" (to ensure that I didn't have a bad drive) which is part of the default setup process, but this period didn't require any interaction from me, and didn't require me to leave my computer on, and in theory, I could have accessed the volume during that period (though I chose not to).
The device itself is, quite literally, a small dedicated-purpose computer. You COULD build your own NAS system, using standard computer hardware, which would be largely equivalent to this, except that you would not have the Synology "Diskstation Manager" operating system, which is really a very nice software platform, essentially a "Linux-like" OS but custom-made to serve the needs of this device.
One thing to realize is that this device does not accept a keyboard, mouse, speakers, or monitor. There is NO "user interface" in the physical hardware, except for the power button and a few indicator lights. To control and configure the device, you'll need to access it through your own network, using a standard computer (the interface is actually a "web page," albeit one which is configured to resemble a "desktop" like you might have on your Mac, Windows PC, or Linux PC. I recommend going to the Synology website, looking into the "Diskstation manager" section, and checking out the "live demo." Here's the link to that, if Amazon will allow it to remain:
[...]
That'll give you a pretty clear idea of what using your Diskstation will be like. (This "demo" isn't a simulation... you're actually logging onto a device at Synology's offices which is set in a "Demo mode" so you can't screw it up... but you can experience the REAL THING.)
One very nice feature of this is the ability to "link-aggregate." It has two gigabit network lines - you can combine those (once set up, through the control panel) to act as a single "two gigabit" ethernet connection. While most of the devices you'll be working with on your network will only be able to accept data at 1GB or lower speeds, this means that you can "serve" multiple clients downstream without any lag... not unless you're supporting a LOT of devices, all drawing lots of data at the same time (in which case, this device is probably not the one you'll want... you'll want one of the rack-mounted systems, tied into a much more complicated network infrastructure).
Now, if all you want to do is share media and/or use this as a network backup system, it's very well suited for that. But you might be surprised to find out just what else this system can do for you. Synology likes to advertise this as "you become your own cloud," and that's really accurate. You can do many of the things that you currently have to rely on your internet service provider or some other remote service for, locally.
In my own case, I'm starting to set up a website on this device. It has (free) software available through the "Package manager" application which can let you host webpages on here, set up "blogs" and "bulletin board/chat board" features, run a WIKI, engage in "eCommerce," create your own email service which you can host yourself, and so forth. You'll still need a network connection, but you can do pretty much everything else "locally." In the current situation, where so many "web service providers" are starting to claim that if you store data on their servers, you've given them "right of use in perpetuity" to anything you store there... meaning that they can sell your family pictures for use in advertising, for example... there's a lot to be said for keeping your own total control of these assets.
Mind you, doing this more complex "professional-level" tasks isn't entirely trivial... I'm having to learn a lot of new information about how to set up and configure "SQL" databases, for example... it's not TOO painful, and I plan to carry this through to complete implementation, all using this device.
One nice thing re: this device is that you can expand it fairly easily. I can easily imagine upgrading myself, using one of the two potential "expansion box" housings and another five 3TB drives, which will give me a total storage of about 24.5TB. I could add a second one if I wanted to, but I can't imagine how I'd use that much more storage (about 38.2TB if I stick with 3TB drives). Also, note that this CAN support 4TB drives, but these are very expensive and not very reliable right now, so I'd stick with the Western Digital "RED" 3TB drives for now. (The "RED" drives are designed specifically for always-on, heavy-access RAID-type devices like this NAS.) The headroom seems large, to be sure, but it's nice to know that it's there if I find that I need it at some point in the future!
There is one other thing that this device is set up to do by default... to act as the hub of a security system, using networked "IP cameras" such as those made by Foscam, like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Foscam-FI8910W-Network-Camera-Two-Way/dp/B006ZP8UOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356370128&sr=8-1&keywords=foscam
There's a small drawback there though... for reasons I don't really understand, Synology has set it up so that you have to "buy a license" for each camera you add... and those aren't inexpensive.
http://www.amazon.com/Synology-IP-Camera-License-Pack/dp/B001MJ0JAO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356370205&sr=1-1&keywords=synology+camera+license+pack
By contrast, if you use Foscam's software (which requires a computer to be on at all times, of course) you can run up to 64 cameras using a single purchased software package:
http://www.amazon.com/Foscam-Blue-Iris-Professional-Compression/dp/B008YD80KC/ref=sr_1_21?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356370259&sr=1-21&keywords=foscam
I think that this is a mistake on the part of Synology... and I hope that they'll reconsider their policy on this, and just make the software open to multiple cameras up-front. Otherwise, I would NOT recommend this server as a "security hub" system.
The one thing I really can't comment on is what happens when/if this device fails. I know what's SUPPOSED to happen, but whether that's what really happens... I won't know until it actually does (which I hope is a long, long time in the future!) So... if I have a failure, I'll add to this review based upon that, telling you if it goes well or if it's not so smooth.
Ultimately, though this was a PRICEY purchase, so far I've had literally no problems or concerns... I'm a very satisfied customer and I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to, as I do, "become your own cloud."