Network-attached storage options are more abundant than ever, but jumping into the copious bush of NAS can be quite a task, especially if you want a system that plays nice with both PC and Mac. Best Network Attached Storage for 2018. For now if you want a four-bay network storage device for your home or small office. Affordable four-bay NAS server for home users with an excellent.
Who should buy this NAS You should purchase the Synology DS218+ if you're looking for an affordable NAS that can scale to cope with a large family or small office. Not only will you be able to keep backups and important documents safe, but also enjoy some media thanks to Plex support. Kodi app for mac download. Is it a good time to buy this NAS? Synology regularly releases a new model, depending on the year, available upgrades from Intel and how many models have already been rolled out. The DS218+ is from 2018 and makes it a worthwhile purchase.
Picking one up now will not leave you feeling left out when a new model is eventually released. Reasons not to buy • Only one Ethernet port. • Can get very expensive with HDDs. Great value NAS is an ideal option for those who don't have vast amounts of PC-building experience to fall back on. Powered by a competent dual-core Intel Celeron J3355 (2.0GHz) and 2 GB DDR3L (6GB max) RAM, the DS216+ by Synology is not only a well-designed black box, but it is also a capable streaming machine for the home.
The system supports H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1 at a maximum resolution of 4K (4096 x 2160, 30 frames per second). This device will certainly put that shiny new 50-inch 4K TV to good use. Its hot-swappable drive tray design allows for easy installation and maintenance, destroying the requirement for a screwdriver to remove or install a hard drive. Simply pull out, swap, re-insert, and you're good to go. Two hard drive bays are joined by USB 3.0 and eSATA ports.
This product does not come with any hard drives, but there are some great options available like the. Throw two of these beasts into the NAS to enjoy an instantaneous 6TB worth of storage. As a bonus, the unit comes packed with advanced features to allow for secure cloud storage, and file synchronization. Popular services like Dropbox and Google Drive can be connected.
Overall, this is a great, well-rounded package. Alternatives to the Synology DS218+ The DS218+ isn't for everyone. If you only want to store a few files or need more bays for vast amounts of data, there are plenty of other options out there. We've rounded up a few recommendations to get you started. Instead of including a more expensive Intel processor, Synology opted for the Marvell Armada 37 CPU, which is perfectly fine for efficient NAS operation, but may struggle when you want to do more demanding tasks.
In fact, as of right now, Plex isn't supported, but what the DS119j does well is offer exceptional value. Bottom line The is an excellent piece of kit, allowing you to effortlessly set up a home NAS, regardless as to which model you choose. But it's not the best option for everyone, which is where our other options come in.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide.
Network Attached Storage, or NAS, devices are very handy for a variety of reasons. Beyond just acting as shared file storage for multiple users locally, most can be configured to provide that access to you while on-the-go. Microsoft word for mac student discount. Additionally, hosting some form of media server, storing images, mirroring to another unit, and more are all other reasons to get one.
Many also natively support Apple's Time Machine backup tool for Macs. Using, if a file is ever deleted, you can browse back through different states of your computer through time to recover the file, or even grab a previous version. If a Mac starts acting up, you can completely restore from any point in the past as well.
Apple's Time Capsule was a great option as both a destination for Time Machine backups and as a wireless router. Now that, many are on the market for a new NAS device, so we rounded up the best consumer-grade options for anyone with a Mac or iOS device.
There are a variety of My Cloud variants out there, but the most basic and widely appealing option is the model. Time Machine support is included as well as media streaming with DLNA, remote file access, and even an iTunes server. We particularly liked the ability to right-click a folder on our Mac and choose sync to copy all the files to the My Cloud. Mobile apps for iOS and Android make it easy to access on the go, though they aren't the best-designed ones out there. There is also a web interface available if you don't happen to have one of your devices around.