Customer Reviews

Synology Disk Station 1-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS109j (White)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When shopping around, I wanted to invest about $100 in NAS box since this was my first true NAS experience. I came up on this Synology DS109j model. I probably landed on the best $100 investment I've ever made. Keep in mind there is a Synology DS109 model with a higher processer / RAM to provide you with higher transfer rates with the base product being exactly the same.

Before I begin listing all the features with this unit, let me start with the User Interface (UI). The first thing that blew me away was the UI of this product. The UI is written in AJAX, which is the latest and greatest with web design / content. It almost feels like you are running a standalone PC application over any internet browser.

Now on to the features:
FTP - First of a kind server with built in SSL technology to transfer data securely.
SAMBA - Works seamlessly with PS3 and XBOX 360. Used to watch High Def content, with no hi-cups in streaming.
DNLA - Stream media content to DNLA compatible sources. Used with my Samsung 52" LCD TV.
Web Server - PHP, MySQL, and Apache are built in. Can act as a web hosting server.
Windows Shared Drive - All computers in my house can access the drive via Windows Explorer.
iTunes Server - Can share your music to your iPod, iTouch, iPhones etc.
Print Server - Can share up to 2 printers throughout your entire network.
Folder access restrictions - Can set level of usage for each user or group.

There is just way too many features to list!! I can keep going on and on. [...].


I hope this was helpful to you! Thanks for reading.

It's just plain awesome. I'd write more, but it's been discontinued and replaced with an updated model. But I'd recommend any DSXXXj drive, or other Synology Disk Station.

This was a Christmas present from my girlfriend; something I really wanted and boy I'm glad I got one! For a while now I've been using an old desktop as a server. It works very well, but can be clunky to configure and creates lots of heat/noise. What you gain in functionality (and maybe performance) you lose in usability. So going onto the Disk Station!

Mine was diskless, so I purchased a Seagate 7200.12 500GB drive. I popped the drive in, plugged it up...nothing. I could ping it but couldn't access it. Hmm...turns out you MUST run the included software to load stuff onto the hard drive. I guess DSM is too much to keep simply on flash :P Well, that's the only reason I gave the "ease of use" 4 stars. Once the software was loaded to the unit, there have been no problems to speak of. All the features work wonderfully as described. I actually have a 250GB drive connected to it by USB and play to make backups to it every so often. While this could be automated, the external drive doesn't seem to ever spin down...

Now some people may be a little worried about this and the DS110j. I've got no first hand experience with the new one, so I can not say how much better it actually is. However, while downloading a torrent, Resource Monitor running, and accessing files on my PC, the memory sticks around 40% and CPU usage hovers right around 45%, peaking at about 75%. In other words, it's not being stressed. Now start running a web and SQL server plus some of the other features and you might have some issues. However, most users would probably be just fine.

Now I had heard of some people complaining about problems streaming videos. I don't know the exact bitrate and all, but I just copied a 720p 30FPS video from my Aiptek GVS to the DS109j and it streamed to my machine just fine with no lags to be seen. That is plenty for me.

All in all, if you can't already tell, I'd highly recommend this little NAS. And with Synology's reputation, the DA110j should be an equally awesome purchase.

I use the DS109j to backup files and store security videos for a small business. The DS109j, which is installed in the office in a hidden place, then backs itself up over the Internet to a DS209j located in the owner's home, protecting data against fire or PC theft. Works as advertised.

Puzzling through the settings to set up the first DS209j DiskStation took a while. Unless you have configured routers, firewalls, ftp and the like, the learning curve can be daunting. The Synology web site has white papers, knowledgebase and forum to help with the plunge into the icy waters of NAS configuration. However configuring the second DiskStation was easy since the DS109j and DS209j use the same interface.

One plus is that the DS109j's disk drive mount differs from the DS209j in that the SATA connection does not use a cable, making installing the drive foolproof. I mention this because I installed the DS209j's second drive incorrectly -- the right angle to straight connector cable was swapped end for end -- so there was strain on the connector. For a while I was marveling at the poor layout until I caught on to how Synology thought the cable would be used.

All in all the two DiskStations provide a relatively inexpensive solution -- compared to other NAS boxes I researched -- that offers good protection.

The Synology DS 109j is an excellent low cost disk enclosure. I paired it with a 1TB hard drive. Setup was extremely easy. I was very concerned after reading reviews of other NAS drives.that this type of unit would be hard to get up and running. The Synology unit proved to be a real snap to set up. I set it up on a Macintosh running OSX 10.6. I did not even have to worry about network addressing at all. The setup took care of everyting wiht no problems. The disk station was connected to my Time Capsule. I could not be more pleased with this product.

Can easily replace your outdated small office server (or home server) for most purposes. Anything that it cannot do can easily be done in the cloud. Powerful server, yet tiny and requires minimal power and MINIMAL MAINTENANCE.

Synology NAS devices offer a wealth of options, more than most NAS devices.