Synology DS220J NAS - Network Attached Storage
Last year I purchased an entry-level, two-drive Synology NAS for network storage. There is no need to review the features and capabilities because it works exactly as hoped.
The DS220J is an entry-level NAS. I loaded mine with two 4-terabye disks, mirrored. It lives on the internal network and holds the backups for four other computers. It also streams music to the phone, PC, and TV. Files can be made available from offsite-Internet.
Compare to Western Digital's "Cloud Drive"
I previously owned a Western Digital "Cloud Drive," which is a competitor to Synology.
Two years ago (perhaps three), Western Digital abandoned their drive, leaving it to a slow death.
First, their backup program mysteriously quit working -- the sole reason for buying their product. They clearly knew of a problem because the forums were on fire, but it was never patched. A year later their backup software was replaced with a subscription. The new software has identical features, and looks nearly the same, but costs ($12.00 US) per month.* Can you imagine paying a subscription to backup files to a local disk already paid for?
Then, in 2021, a security vulnerability was found in the hardware, making national headlines. Their recommendations: "Take the drive off-line and '...buy another drive. We no longer support this product.'" No BIOS flash, no software patches.
A better answer: Re-format the disks and mount them in a new Synology array.
Like its predecessor, the Synology sits in a dark closet,
next to its battery backup. I mostly ignore it -- a
meek little mouse, doing its job. Once a month, the drive sends an unobtrusive, non-sales report, saying things like, 'Ping! I am alive and happy" or it might say, "an update is needed. Login and
patch me.' Western Digital did none of this.
Solid hardware. Good software. Always being patched. This is an all-around recommended product. If needed, I bet I could call the Synology folks to ask a technical question, and I bet they would be
a bit geeky. My kind of people.
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*I was so mad at Western Digital's backup program, I wrote my own, called "Directory Pulse".
Download and use it for free. No strings, no registration, no logins:
http://keyliner.blogspot.com/2021/05/directorypulse-keyliner-backup-software.html
This backup program is way-better than a drag-and-drop backup. It can manage backup generations, multiple destinations, scheduling, and other features. I use this program to backup to the Synology. It is fast, with full reporting.
Or, you can use Synology's desktop backup (which I have not tried):
https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/How_to_back_up_data_on_my_computer_using_Drive
Technical note for me:
Use URL find.synology.com to locate the admin panel for your local drive.
