SynologyDiskStation DS124 1 Bay Desktop NAS

Doing well so far. Bought this 3 months ago and it's been working well. Very easy to get up and running and seems fast and reliable. Also like that it makes itself easy to find remotely yet feels secure enough not to get hacked.

A good, inexpensive way to back-up files and set up a media server. Easy to set absolutely no issues with it so far.

Excellent front would recommend

The DS124 is fast for browsing photos and the web UI is responsive. It's easy to set up, with a guided step-by-step process. It also has a low power consumption, which can be the real cost of owning a NAS if it's on all the time.I'm using it with a 4TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD (2.5 inch SATA III) - ignore the "supported drives" list as the cheapest equivalent on the list is 4 times the price. Note that you're meant to buy a special bit of plastic to hold the smaller 2.5 inch drive in place, but I found it stays in place without it. (Bad of them not to include said bit of plastic).Loses 1 star because this model does not support volume encryption. It is possible to encrypt individual shared folders. You can store the folder decryption key in the key manager on the device (presumably saved on the hard drive and protected in some way) and have the folder automount on bootup, or you can keep the keys separately and enter them each time you want to access the shared folder.

I bought a DS124 and a 1TB Ironwolf drive specifically to use as a media sever. I had considered a Mini PC but decided this would be more reliable left switched on 24/7.The setup was fairly straightforward, although very little in the way of instructions, so if you have never used a NAS before be prepared to watch some youtube videos.Although all the popular media server apps are supported and downloadable from Synology (free) I kept it simple and installed the Synology Media Server app which is a basic DLNA server. It works perfectly and I am very pleased.You can of course use it for backups, file sharing etc. and even access it when away from home which is a real bonus.

Slotted in the hard drive, followed instructions, worked perfectly, word of warning, Synology automatically sets up the network name as WORKGROUP (default Microsoft), so you will have to change it if your local network is different and you want to keep all devices on the same network - did not affect initial operation though

Got this to replace an aging synology NAS when it’s drive started getting errors, it’s way faster than the older unit and is very quiet. Price was reasonable and I paired it with a 6TB drive from seagate that was on offer. Really pleased with the item as it’s used just as a media streaming unit around my lan for the tv’s and tablets in the house.

Got this for easy access to often used files from various devices via wifi. Connected it to router via ethernet cable/ port and it's also on ups, which it recognises via usb connection. Straightforward to set up.