Synology 4 bay NAS DiskStation DS418j (Diskless)

It's only been a week since I've had it, but it's been fantastic so far. The camera angle used in the photos makes it appear large and ugly, but it's actually a very small and attractive device. This is why I chose the Synology DS418j over all the other NAS boxes: 1) Is it better to have two or four bays? Data redundancy is necessary if you have data that you can't afford to lose, such as years of family photos or tax returns. RAID1 requires 2 drives but 50% of the total drive capacity is usable for storage only 50% of the total drive capacity is usable for storage only. RAID5 needs at least 3 drives but 67% of total drive capacity can be used for storage. With 4 drives, twenty-five percentage of total drive capacity is available for storage. I'm using a Synology SHR (RAID5) with three WD 8TB drives for 16TB of storage and 8TB for redundancy, leaving one bay empty for the time being. If I run out of space later, I can add another 8TB drive for a total of 24 TB of storage while still having one drive fail redundancy. br>2) The Media Server complies with the DLNA protocol. I have a large number of MP4 files that I'd like to watch on two LG 4K smart TVs, a Sony 4K smart TV, and an old Roku2 (1080p). Each of those devices has a video player that searches the network for a DLNA server. Each device can see the Synology as well as all of the MP4 files stored in the Media Server's special video folder. The smart TV app is then used to choose the desired movie, which is then played in a smooth and continuous manner. It really works. br>3) Which CPU should I use? A high-end CPU is required if you need to transcode videos from one format to another on the fly to stream to a smart TV. Because I don't need to transcode, I went with the 418j with a medium CPU. It is both cheaper and more energy efficient. All of the videos I want to watch are MP4s, and LG, Sony, and Roku2 are all aware of this. All that is required of the Synology is for the data to be streamed out in its original form. That does not necessitate a large amount of CPU power. br>4) When accessed through a browser, the DSM (Disk Station Manager) behaves similarly to a Windows desktop, and the File Station resembles the Windows File Explorer. It took me a couple of days to figure out where everything was and what each item did. It took a few hours to figure out the user and group permissions, but it's all up and running now, and all of the PCs on the home network can see it. br>5) The NAS is for personal use; it won't be hammered by 50 users 24 hours a day, so I won't be swapping drives every month. As a result, I'm not bothered by the fact that the box must be powered down, the back of the box opened, and the drives slid into the cage from the back. br>br>I considered a QNAP, Synology's main competitor, but since both of my brothers own Synology NAS units and are happy with them, I decided to go with Synology as well. br>br>Only minor gripe is that the LG video app is supposed to read the mp4 file, take a screenshot from the movie, and replace the default icon for the file with a thumbnail when it detects it. If the mp4 file is on a USB drive plugged into the LG USB port, it works fine; however, it does not work with the mp4 files on the Synology. On the Synology forums, there are several discussion threads about this issue, but no official solution has been found. This minor annoyance is tolerable to me. br>br>APRIL 2019 UPDATE: My LG 43UK6300 Smart TV's movie-playing app has changed its default icon to a slowly updating series of thumbnails after Synology updated the Media Server app. So it's a step forward. My older LG 55UK6200, on the other hand, continues to only see the default icons, with no thumbnails. Still happy with the DS418j, which has performed flawlessly for the past six months.

Paloma Wang

| Aug 31, 2021

I'm *slightly* tech-savvy, but not excessively so. Setting up and using this as our home file and media server was a breeze. I couldn't find anything about how SSD drives work, so I bought four 2TB Samsung 860 QVO drives anyway. It's fantastic! It's not even necessary to use a tray adapter. The drives screw in from the bottom of the provided trays and fit perfectly. The Synology hybrid RAID, which appears to be the same as RAID5, was automatically set up by the NAS after it recognized them as SSD drives. I also have a regular 4TB USB connected HDD connected to this (the USB port), and I use the included software to easily schedule a backup of specific NAS folders to my USB HDD. You can adjust the fan speed to make it very quiet or make it louder. I've tried a few other NAS solutions (mostly from Seagate), and this is by far the most user-friendly. I believe I have "future-proofed" this system by using four 2TB SSD drives in RAID5 (6TB usable).

Troy Dillon

| Jan 05, 2021

I already owned a DS1813 Synology Box with eight bays. For years, it has performed flawlessly. br>As my storage needs grew, I gradually replaced the 4 TB HDDs with 10 TB HDDs, and now I was stuck with a 4 TB surplus. DS418j: br>br>Enter the following: DS418j: DS418j: DS418j: DS418j: Synology has yet again delivered a fantastic product. The DSM operating system is the same as on the DS1813. It's a well-designed, compact box (I'm tempted to use the word "cute," but this is a NAS, not a stuffed animal). It was fairly simple to set up and get into a usable state (see one minor complaint below). br>br>I've installed my extra 4TB HDDs and configured a SHR-based backup system. 1 disk group, and made the DS418j a remote backup (archival - server (with version history) for my DS1813 For the past few days, it has been quietly backing up my data. This replaced my USB-connected external backup drive, which didn't support version history and didn't have SHR's single-disk fault tolerance. My only minor quibble is that installing disks necessitates opening the box. The DS1813, on the other hand, uses a caddy for fast HDD installation (no screws required). However, once you've read the instructions, opening the DS418j isn't too difficult, and I don't believe this should be a major factor in deciding whether or not to buy it.

Kyra Pollard

| Oct 18, 2021

Simple to work with. The ability to expand with four bays is fantastic. I've been amassing a GoPro video collection of my bike rides. I was previously using a DS212J NAS. Despite the fact that the DS212J NAS has two bays and a gigabit Ethernet port, it did not transfer at gigabit speeds across my LAN. It could transfer files at a rate of around 50 Megabytes per second at best. I could live with it for a while, but as my video collection grew, I needed a new NAS that could accommodate and expand. The DS418J was within my budget and met all of my requirements. There are four bays in this vehicle. I currently have two 12TB drives and one 2TB drive in them, as well as two external drives connected to it (via USB) for redundant backup. It transfers files at true gigabit speeds (100 MB/s), as I was able to confirm. It was a breeze to transfer my hard drives from the DS212J to the DS418J. It was easy to set up. I believe I needed to reinstall some apps and make some changes to my settings, but even that was simple. The DS212J has a slower interface. Overall, this NAS has been a positive experience for me. They offer live chat support, which I found to be extremely helpful and knowledgeable. It's something I'd strongly advise anyone to try.

Alden Kaplan

| Feb 07, 2021