Price : Too low to display
Synology DiskStation DS111 is an affordable and full-featured 1-bay NAS server designed to increase productivity for office workgroups. Cross platform file sharing, office oriented applications, data backup and security are easily achieved in a flexible solution. Running on DiskStation Manager 3.0 (DSM 3.0) operating system, it delivers ease of use and variety of features.
This review is from : Synology DiskStation 1-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS111 (White)
Great home/small business server replacement . Initially, I was reluctant to purchase another "inexpensive" NAS device, as the previous purchase I made for one years ago (still PATA interfaced) provided a very slow I/O device that had no robust feature set, and a very proprietary disk configuration.
I have been using the DS-111 the past few days to see what it's made of, and it hasn't disappointed.
Embedded Software-
The Synology DS-111 runs it's own operating environment, called DSM. I am reviewing this running the 3.1 release, which is slightly newer than the 3.0 release that it was shipped with. Updating the device was as easy as downloading the update file from synology's website, logging into the device with a browser, and pointing it at the file.
Installation--------
Installing the hard disk was very simple, though they didn't provide the correct screws to put a drive in, so have some on hand if you want it put together properly.
Construction-------
The unit has a USB and ESATA port on the front, 2 USB ports on the back, and a minimalist design with lights on the front for power, lan, disk, OS status, and ESATA I/O. It does have a cooling fan in the back that appears to be a standard size (20mm). If you've worked around these type of devices before, you know that is the first thing to go - and it seems to be standard enough that it can easily be replaced or upgraded to something with better bearings or less noise. The unit is all plastic except for the backbone of the device.
Noise-------------
It is quiet. You can hear when the disk spins up, and the obvious head movement motions of a hard drive, but no louder than if they were in a computer case. The fan doesnt make much noise, and the power supply is external, so no humming or fans to rattle.
Operation----------
You can set up disks, volumes, areas, as an iSCSI target. I have confirmed this works with vmWare ESX 4i, and I/O is about what you'd expect. You probably COULD run a Virtual Machine from here, but only in a home lab. File sharing works with internal file permissions you can define. Users, passwords, and password strength are customizable. You can enable guest type access to file shares as well.
You can set up the device as an NFS target.
Windows file service, as well as apple file service are supported.
LDAP and domain connectivity are supported.
SNMP connection is supported.
Account lockout on subsequent login failures is supported, as is auto-blocking offending IP addresses. You can receive email alerts or SMS alerts to your mobile phone when either happens. While I like this alerting, it is noteworthy that when you change a password, it emails you the password, unencrypted, across the internet.
There are photo, audio, and file sharing sub-applications that allow you to view your photos, or stream audio to your iphone/ipad with free applications. The update speed of the photo software is slow - but it is a very nice interface, and allows port pinning so you can target this device from the internet without exposing it outside your firewall on any un-essential ports.
iTunes sharing is supported, but I've not successfully gotten the apple-tv to see the shares. I suspect you probably need a computer running itunes to point at the storage locations for their material in order to share the media.
There is an underlying SSH/Telnet Connection available to manage the device. The interface is all browser based. SSL is supported.
The device has email alerting, where you can specify the email addresses you want notified of any failures or changes.
The device can be configured to power on automatically after a power outage.
Performance---------
Using a 7200RPM 3MB SATA disk, it takes about 19 seconds to copy a 1.05GB avi file from my Macbook to the DS-111. It takes about 22 seconds to pull the same file back down. Figure about 50mb average file speed on a 1000mb network connection. Not remarkable, but not bad for a cheap NAS.
Multiple file copy up, speed holds true at about the same 50MB/s
Copying 2gb up while copying 1gb down, it slows down noticeably to more like 20MB/s both ways.
That said, it seems to be about 4x faster than copying to the same hard disk in a Windows XP share on the same network.
Overall-------------
If you consider all the other features value-added, and you just want something on your home network for picture, movie, and document storage - you'll be pleased. All the other plugins are value added features that may or may not work well, but are nice to have. I believe this replaces my need to have a home server, and cuts the electric consumption into about 1/10th of what the computer acting in this fashion was using, while actually gaining some features over the server.
Great home/small business server replacement . Initially, I was reluctant to purchase another "inexpensive" NAS device, as the previous purchase I made for one years ago (still PATA interfaced) provided a very slow I/O device that had no robust feature set, and a very proprietary disk configuration.
I have been using the DS-111 the past few days to see what it's made of, and it hasn't disappointed.
Embedded Software-
The Synology DS-111 runs it's own operating environment, called DSM. I am reviewing this running the 3.1 release, which is slightly newer than the 3.0 release that it was shipped with. Updating the device was as easy as downloading the update file from synology's website, logging into the device with a browser, and pointing it at the file.
Installation--------
Installing the hard disk was very simple, though they didn't provide the correct screws to put a drive in, so have some on hand if you want it put together properly.
Construction-------
The unit has a USB and ESATA port on the front, 2 USB ports on the back, and a minimalist design with lights on the front for power, lan, disk, OS status, and ESATA I/O. It does have a cooling fan in the back that appears to be a standard size (20mm). If you've worked around these type of devices before, you know that is the first thing to go - and it seems to be standard enough that it can easily be replaced or upgraded to something with better bearings or less noise. The unit is all plastic except for the backbone of the device.
Noise-------------
It is quiet. You can hear when the disk spins up, and the obvious head movement motions of a hard drive, but no louder than if they were in a computer case. The fan doesnt make much noise, and the power supply is external, so no humming or fans to rattle.
Operation----------
You can set up disks, volumes, areas, as an iSCSI target. I have confirmed this works with vmWare ESX 4i, and I/O is about what you'd expect. You probably COULD run a Virtual Machine from here, but only in a home lab. File sharing works with internal file permissions you can define. Users, passwords, and password strength are customizable. You can enable guest type access to file shares as well.
You can set up the device as an NFS target.
Windows file service, as well as apple file service are supported.
LDAP and domain connectivity are supported.
SNMP connection is supported.
Account lockout on subsequent login failures is supported, as is auto-blocking offending IP addresses. You can receive email alerts or SMS alerts to your mobile phone when either happens. While I like this alerting, it is noteworthy that when you change a password, it emails you the password, unencrypted, across the internet.
There are photo, audio, and file sharing sub-applications that allow you to view your photos, or stream audio to your iphone/ipad with free applications. The update speed of the photo software is slow - but it is a very nice interface, and allows port pinning so you can target this device from the internet without exposing it outside your firewall on any un-essential ports.
iTunes sharing is supported, but I've not successfully gotten the apple-tv to see the shares. I suspect you probably need a computer running itunes to point at the storage locations for their material in order to share the media.
There is an underlying SSH/Telnet Connection available to manage the device. The interface is all browser based. SSL is supported.
The device has email alerting, where you can specify the email addresses you want notified of any failures or changes.
The device can be configured to power on automatically after a power outage.
Performance---------
Using a 7200RPM 3MB SATA disk, it takes about 19 seconds to copy a 1.05GB avi file from my Macbook to the DS-111. It takes about 22 seconds to pull the same file back down. Figure about 50mb average file speed on a 1000mb network connection. Not remarkable, but not bad for a cheap NAS.
Multiple file copy up, speed holds true at about the same 50MB/s
Copying 2gb up while copying 1gb down, it slows down noticeably to more like 20MB/s both ways.
That said, it seems to be about 4x faster than copying to the same hard disk in a Windows XP share on the same network.
Overall-------------
If you consider all the other features value-added, and you just want something on your home network for picture, movie, and document storage - you'll be pleased. All the other plugins are value added features that may or may not work well, but are nice to have. I believe this replaces my need to have a home server, and cuts the electric consumption into about 1/10th of what the computer acting in this fashion was using, while actually gaining some features over the server.
Synology DiskStation 1-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS111 (White) Reviews
Ridiculously good and professional NAS that rivals what I maintain at my work. . I was using my Linux desktop as my NAS, FTPS and other misc. services server for a while and I was always looking for a personal NAS to cut down on power reqs and really to have a dedicated NAS unit for my centralized storage needs.
After researching for a while, 2 names kept coming up in many sites - Synology and QNAP. After lots of research at Amazon, I went ahead and ordered the Synology DS111 based on some glowing reviews. Thanks to Prime, I got it in under 2 days.
** I was stunned when I setup this product. **
This is one polished professional unit. I will break my review down into multiple sections -
1. Amazon packaging -- I ordered this NAS DS111 with the Samsung 1TB SATA II HDD. It arrived nicely packed. Even the HDD was well packed with proper drive supports plastic packaging suspending the drive properly inside the box. There was enough airfoam bubble pellets inside to keep the contents snug inside so they don't thrash about inside. Overall, it was as expected
2. The unit and unboxing -- The packaging for the DS111 is very impressive and rivals that of Apple products and Sony PS3. Elegant with carrying handle and very little plastic inside making it eco-conscious. Colorful packaging and overall looks nice and businesslike. Something that you'd now come to expect from Synology given all the reviews. It has the unit inside which is a white book sized plastic box with the power/adapter, 2 meter network cable, manuals, CD, warranty. Good job here.
The unit is well designed with rubber supports so it won't move or slide, easy to open cover and has plenty of screws to affix the drive inside. There's a fan on the back along with 2 x USB 2.0 ports. There's also 1 USB 2.0 port in the front along with an eSata port. Sadly, you cannot use the eSata port to connect to a PC to make it an external HDD. Its just to add to the storage on the DS111. This was a lone bummer but not a major one.
Overall, I have seen plenty of external drives and this is one of the best designed ones in that category.
3. Setup -- the physical setup took all of 2mins. Slide out the cover, insert the HDD and close the cover and screw them all in. Very easy. Connect the power and NIC and the fun begins
4. Initialization -- the unit beeped and flashed orange in Status screen upon first bootup and I was worried about the drive. Looked up the online manuals and it said this was because the volume crashed or there is no volume. So I was a little worried but realized that its because there's nothing there yet, so normal.
The initialization is where the unit shone really well and I was mesmerized by the product. The synology Assistant (which works on Windows, Mac and Linux!!!) made it a snap to discover the unit, configure it and prep it for first use. Afterwards, it autodiscovered the Verizon FIOS router (including its model Actiontec and version) and made everything so easy.
5. Software -- This was ridiculous. It has the essential NAS feature, FTP (with RFC compliant FTP over SSL), Mail server, Web hosting, LDAP, Terminal access(telnet and ssh), DDNS so you can get to it from its companion iPhone apps, functional Resources monitor (cpu, mem, network), robust firewall, SNMP management, Backup and a whole slew of "applications" and you can download a few more. These apps allow the synology to serve up media, act as iTunes server, photo sharing, Downloads, Surveillance Camera, Filestation! I added mail server feature, Webalizer to parse the weblogs and couple more.
This is unbelievably ridiculous. Now, I'm a Linux Engineer at work and these things are a dream come true and a true geek toy for someone like me. I work with all these technologies pretty much everyday and so I am very happy to see all these in a $199 system !!! Now, granted many of these you can do on your own quite easily with a $150 ubuntu laptop, but to get this in an appliance in a standardized way so even my mom/dad can have this unit and get all these features in an easy to manage session is unbelievable and truly what sets this unit apart from its competition. Nay, it actually blows its competition away.
6. WebOS -- the NAS can be managed entirely from the web (or through an ssh/telnet session if you so choose) via the DSM (3.2 as of writing) OS. It looks somewhat like the MacOS and controls easy. It worked without hitch on Firefox 6.1. Its so polished and well done - you can even theme your login screen on this webos. Sweet.
Everything you can ask for is pretty much in this unit.
7. Performance -- this unit is quite fast. It connected on my wired network (100Mbps full duplex) and transfers files at around 10MB/s. This is phenomenal and what I really expected from this connection speed. (10MB/s is 80Mbps which is 80% util on the 100Mbps link). When I switched it to GigE network, the transfers averaged 50-60MB/s (400-480Mbps on the 1Gbps link which is excellent). Additionally, you can turn on Jumbo frames (i.e. mtu over 1500) for better performance for large transfers. (your switch should support and enable it as well). I didn't really need it so it left it.
8. Other thoughts -- Overall, I am extremely pleased with my purchase and would rate it 5/5 stars in every category. It is highly recommended and anyone on the fence should just buy it without further anxiety. This unit delivers. The only thing I found lacking was it doesn't seem to act as proper video server i.e. it has no transcoding features. It can transfer the file, but not really transcode/stream it. I was using Zumocast before for that which did an excellent job streaming movies over 3G to my iphone and I'm still looking into getting this working. Maybe they'll have an app for it.
9. Consideration with their other offerings -- I also looked at the 1-bay DS111j and 2-bay DS2111, DS2111j models. The rest are beyond my $250 max. budget.
The DS111j is $150 but has inferior CPU (800MHz vs 1.6Ghz for DS111). The DS211j has 2-bays if you want a RAID setup. I didn't need it because I have another Cavalry RAID unit. I just needed a NAS. Also, the DS211j is around $225 for the diskless unit so it exceeds my budget. And the DS2111 is about $300 for the diskless but has 2-bays, otherwise is identical to the DS111.
All this means the DS111 is the best bang for your buck. Simple, fast, professional, efficient and what it should do.
A stunning product worthy of every praise.
My rating - 10/10
Ridiculously good and professional NAS that rivals what I maintain at my work. . I was using my Linux desktop as my NAS, FTPS and other misc. services server for a while and I was always looking for a personal NAS to cut down on power reqs and really to have a dedicated NAS unit for my centralized storage needs.
After researching for a while, 2 names kept coming up in many sites - Synology and QNAP. After lots of research at Amazon, I went ahead and ordered the Synology DS111 based on some glowing reviews. Thanks to Prime, I got it in under 2 days.
** I was stunned when I setup this product. **
This is one polished professional unit. I will break my review down into multiple sections -
1. Amazon packaging -- I ordered this NAS DS111 with the Samsung 1TB SATA II HDD. It arrived nicely packed. Even the HDD was well packed with proper drive supports plastic packaging suspending the drive properly inside the box. There was enough airfoam bubble pellets inside to keep the contents snug inside so they don't thrash about inside. Overall, it was as expected
2. The unit and unboxing -- The packaging for the DS111 is very impressive and rivals that of Apple products and Sony PS3. Elegant with carrying handle and very little plastic inside making it eco-conscious. Colorful packaging and overall looks nice and businesslike. Something that you'd now come to expect from Synology given all the reviews. It has the unit inside which is a white book sized plastic box with the power/adapter, 2 meter network cable, manuals, CD, warranty. Good job here.
The unit is well designed with rubber supports so it won't move or slide, easy to open cover and has plenty of screws to affix the drive inside. There's a fan on the back along with 2 x USB 2.0 ports. There's also 1 USB 2.0 port in the front along with an eSata port. Sadly, you cannot use the eSata port to connect to a PC to make it an external HDD. Its just to add to the storage on the DS111. This was a lone bummer but not a major one.
Overall, I have seen plenty of external drives and this is one of the best designed ones in that category.
3. Setup -- the physical setup took all of 2mins. Slide out the cover, insert the HDD and close the cover and screw them all in. Very easy. Connect the power and NIC and the fun begins
4. Initialization -- the unit beeped and flashed orange in Status screen upon first bootup and I was worried about the drive. Looked up the online manuals and it said this was because the volume crashed or there is no volume. So I was a little worried but realized that its because there's nothing there yet, so normal.
The initialization is where the unit shone really well and I was mesmerized by the product. The synology Assistant (which works on Windows, Mac and Linux!!!) made it a snap to discover the unit, configure it and prep it for first use. Afterwards, it autodiscovered the Verizon FIOS router (including its model Actiontec and version) and made everything so easy.
5. Software -- This was ridiculous. It has the essential NAS feature, FTP (with RFC compliant FTP over SSL), Mail server, Web hosting, LDAP, Terminal access(telnet and ssh), DDNS so you can get to it from its companion iPhone apps, functional Resources monitor (cpu, mem, network), robust firewall, SNMP management, Backup and a whole slew of "applications" and you can download a few more. These apps allow the synology to serve up media, act as iTunes server, photo sharing, Downloads, Surveillance Camera, Filestation! I added mail server feature, Webalizer to parse the weblogs and couple more.
This is unbelievably ridiculous. Now, I'm a Linux Engineer at work and these things are a dream come true and a true geek toy for someone like me. I work with all these technologies pretty much everyday and so I am very happy to see all these in a $199 system !!! Now, granted many of these you can do on your own quite easily with a $150 ubuntu laptop, but to get this in an appliance in a standardized way so even my mom/dad can have this unit and get all these features in an easy to manage session is unbelievable and truly what sets this unit apart from its competition. Nay, it actually blows its competition away.
6. WebOS -- the NAS can be managed entirely from the web (or through an ssh/telnet session if you so choose) via the DSM (3.2 as of writing) OS. It looks somewhat like the MacOS and controls easy. It worked without hitch on Firefox 6.1. Its so polished and well done - you can even theme your login screen on this webos. Sweet.
Everything you can ask for is pretty much in this unit.
7. Performance -- this unit is quite fast. It connected on my wired network (100Mbps full duplex) and transfers files at around 10MB/s. This is phenomenal and what I really expected from this connection speed. (10MB/s is 80Mbps which is 80% util on the 100Mbps link). When I switched it to GigE network, the transfers averaged 50-60MB/s (400-480Mbps on the 1Gbps link which is excellent). Additionally, you can turn on Jumbo frames (i.e. mtu over 1500) for better performance for large transfers. (your switch should support and enable it as well). I didn't really need it so it left it.
8. Other thoughts -- Overall, I am extremely pleased with my purchase and would rate it 5/5 stars in every category. It is highly recommended and anyone on the fence should just buy it without further anxiety. This unit delivers. The only thing I found lacking was it doesn't seem to act as proper video server i.e. it has no transcoding features. It can transfer the file, but not really transcode/stream it. I was using Zumocast before for that which did an excellent job streaming movies over 3G to my iphone and I'm still looking into getting this working. Maybe they'll have an app for it.
9. Consideration with their other offerings -- I also looked at the 1-bay DS111j and 2-bay DS2111, DS2111j models. The rest are beyond my $250 max. budget.
The DS111j is $150 but has inferior CPU (800MHz vs 1.6Ghz for DS111). The DS211j has 2-bays if you want a RAID setup. I didn't need it because I have another Cavalry RAID unit. I just needed a NAS. Also, the DS211j is around $225 for the diskless unit so it exceeds my budget. And the DS2111 is about $300 for the diskless but has 2-bays, otherwise is identical to the DS111.
All this means the DS111 is the best bang for your buck. Simple, fast, professional, efficient and what it should do.
A stunning product worthy of every praise.
My rating - 10/10
Synology DiskStation 1-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS111 (White) Opinions
Super fast NAS for SOHO applications . If you need a fast network attached storage device for your home/office this one really shines. Install drive, connect to network, and you can have up to 3TB of storage that will take up to 50MB/sec of data (Jumbo frames required to achieve that speed). Compare that to most NAS devices that top out at 10-20MB/sec.
Super fast NAS for SOHO applications . If you need a fast network attached storage device for your home/office this one really shines. Install drive, connect to network, and you can have up to 3TB of storage that will take up to 50MB/sec of data (Jumbo frames required to achieve that speed). Compare that to most NAS devices that top out at 10-20MB/sec.
Synology products and free lifetime phone support- excellent! . I bought the Synology for a Network Access Storage solution after reading some reviews of other such devices that were not so great and the person recommended Synology. They seem to have an excellent reputation and their products get excellent reviews on the web. My experience is excellent as well. Their FREE unlimited tech support for the life of the product has been great so far. I called several times before deciding to buy the product to check them out and they provided me EXCELLENT technical information. After buying on Amazon, I opened up the box, had the Seagate Barracuda 2TB drive (also great and $70 from Amazon!) installed in minutes. Since I am a novice, I called tech support to verify I had everything set because it seemed to easy. In minutes, they confirmed my setup was appropriate and guided me through advanced functions. Everything is working great so far and I have confidence in the company and their products.
1 Bay Okay . I have tried three NAS drives over time, and been consistently disappointed. I bought this one because I read good of Synology, but did not want to invest a huge amount given the history. This one is a little more difficult to set up. I put in 2TB drive and attached a 2TB USB. It is fast, and appears reliable so far. I will let you know in a couple of months.
Camera Licence . This is a great server. I use it to host my web site. Pull files to my Mac and my Ipad. And use it for surveillance. Now for the bad part. I got a IP camera for the living room. I bought a new one for the back yard. They site says you can have 36 camera channels. Well when I went to add the new one a screen popped up saying I needed another license to add camera. I was like what. Sure enough. I went on the Amazon and it's 62.00 bucks per camera license. So beware.
Every Digital home needs a Diskstation . The DS111 is my third Diskstation, DS107, DS109 and DS111. The DS212+ is now on my wish list.
All Three work great, Synology provides regular updates that continue to improve the product and add additional features. Synology even released an update for the DS107 to make it OSX Lion Compatible.Combine the Diskstation with a WD TV Live for a great solution to view Photos, Video and Music in multiple rooms. Skip the WD TV LIve hub and just get the WD TV Live and steam to multiple rooms from the diskstation. Also streams to PS3, Sony Blue Ray, Sony TV, LG Blue Ray, LG TV, but the WD Live has the best features and supports the most file types. Combine with 8player software for the iPhone/Ipad for a great remote to access your digital files. 8player also lets you download video files to the iPad for when your on the road.The surveillance software works great and can access from the internet. I can monitor my vacation home from my iPhone.both DNLA and Airplay devices show up in Audio Station. There are many other great features that I have not tried yet, will be trying VPN Center soon.Replace your old PC File server with a Synology DS111 that only uses 18 watts and runs cool.
All Three work great, Synology provides regular updates that continue to improve the product and add additional features. Synology even released an update for the DS107 to make it OSX Lion Compatible.Combine the Diskstation with a WD TV Live for a great solution to view Photos, Video and Music in multiple rooms. Skip the WD TV LIve hub and just get the WD TV Live and steam to multiple rooms from the diskstation. Also streams to PS3, Sony Blue Ray, Sony TV, LG Blue Ray, LG TV, but the WD Live has the best features and supports the most file types. Combine with 8player software for the iPhone/Ipad for a great remote to access your digital files. 8player also lets you download video files to the iPad for when your on the road.The surveillance software works great and can access from the internet. I can monitor my vacation home from my iPhone.both DNLA and Airplay devices show up in Audio Station. There are many other great features that I have not tried yet, will be trying VPN Center soon.Replace your old PC File server with a Synology DS111 that only uses 18 watts and runs cool.
Wow single best investment i made in a long time . What can i say about this product. It is fantastic and works as advertised. Synology does keep up to date updates and this is one of the faster 1 bay models there is. I have been running this since day one and not a single problem. Only complaint i have is the camera licenses which need to be purchased since it only comes with 1 free camera license. Otherwise a great NAS with capabilities others don't offer
An amazing product for the price . The Synology disk station is well worth the money. For a bit over 200 dollars this device allows you to host your own websites, access your media remotely, even host your own mail server, all at a reasonable speed. This is an amazing device for the price.
Terrific NAS Device . I have used several of the DS211+ devices in the past and have found them to be reliable and feature-packed. I purchased this device as a spare unit in the event I needed to add a quick NAS capability at a customer site. The performance of the unit has exceeded my expectations. I have also used ReadyNAS and QNAP devices. Synology has proven to be a better alternative due to its reliability, feature set and active user community.
Product Image
Feature Synology DiskStation 1-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS111 (White)
- Optimal Price/Performance Ratio
- Windows+Mac+Linux Cross Platform File Sharing
- Convenient Server Functionality
- Effortless File Backup
- Peace of Mind with AES 256-bit Share-level encryption
Product Details
EAN : 0846504000685UPC : 846504000685
MPN : DS111
Brand : Synology
Color : White
Weight : 4 pounds
Height : 6 inches
Length : 10 inches
Width : 10 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : Synology America Corp
Model : DS111
Publisher : Synology America Corp
Size : Diskless
SKU : U43614270
Studio : Synology America Corp
Where To Buy
You can buy Synology DiskStation 1-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS111 (White) on Amazon . Click here to Read More
