Synology has not been hell bent of launching new models every month. Instead, the company has been constantly trying to improve its present product range by incorporating some changes in the NAS software used in its devices. This is a smart as it engrossed new as well as old buyers.
Talking about the Synology DiskStation DS216+II, this 2 bay network attached storage can also act as a media server. The maximum quality supported is 4K. With one of the most efficient and impressive software suites, a visually pleasing design and satisfactory performance, the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is a pretty amazing product.
The design of the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is pretty simple. Not being too flash, it features the elegance in simplicity. The body is black in colour and boasts a glossy front panel. Behind the front panel, the two bays where hard disks can be inserted are present. Both the bays contain removable trays that enable the user to insert the HDDs without messing with nuts and bolts.
The LEDs are present on the front side along with a copy button, the power button and a USB-3.0 port. On the back, two USB-2.0 ports lie along with an eSATA port and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The device is powered by a dual-core Intel Celeron N3060 processor. The amount of RAM under the hood is 1GB.
The maximum storage supported is 20TB. Setting up the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is super easy. All one needs to do is connect the ethernet cable, insert the hard disks, follow the on screen steps displayed by the DSM(Synology’s OS) and it is done. Also, the intensity of the light of LEDs can be controlled via the software suite.
File transfer speeds are not bad at all, but they are not breathtaking either. A large file of about 20 Gigabytes transfers at an average transfer rate of approximately 118 Megabytes per second. However, when a bunch of different files is transfered, the speed is lower as compared to a single file of the same size. Different files amounting to about 8 Gigabytes transfer at an average transfer rate of 57Mbps.
Other Synology systems have definitely performed better in terms of file transfer speeds. However, the fact that the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is a media streaming system as well, it is harsh to judge it on the basis of file transfer speeds alone. As the brand claims, the device can handle 4K videos.
However, there is a catch. 4K videos that exceed the frame rate of 30 frames per second don’t run efficiently. Obviously, watching 4K videos at 30fps is not any fun. Being said that, full HD videos run in a superb manner. Even the 4K videos stored on the device are downscaled to 1080p for better playback on different devices.
Despite having some issues in the transcoding department, the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is an excellent NAS. Also, transcoding is inefficient only when the files are highly complex. For the awesome software suite alone, the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is a good buy.
It isn’t much of an upgrade from the Synology DiskStation DS216+, but if it is considered as its own beast, the Synology DiskStation DS216+II is a satisfactory NAS in every way.
Price: AED 1409
