Synology DS925+ NAS Review
My journey or let’s say experiments with NAS has come a long way. My first Single Bay NAS, tearing them apart, just a simple thing nothing fancy. Then my usage and requirement went up manifold. That’s was when I started acquiring components to build a NAS. Got the BananaPi, Sata port Multiplier, 4x4tb Hard drives, Sata Back plane to connect them all and an ITX cabinet with FlexATX Psu to power it, All these were built when data was rationed by ISP’s. We have come a long way since then. All this was done with help from friends & forum members and a special mention to @dheerajjotwani who coached me thru my NAS experiments.
So now, let us come to the little bundle of joy, and powerful one at that the Synology 925+powered by AMD Ryzen V1500B, 2.2 GHz 4core 8 Thread processor, the NAS with 4 Bays for 3.5” HDD. And additional 2 slots for NVME ssd’s. Apart from the internal drives, Synology 925+ gives us additional 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port where you can simply plug in your existing USB drives to expand your storage and apart from the 2 USB ports, the NAS has one USB C slot where you can attach the DX525 expansion chassis. And remember, even the RAM is expandable up 32GB. Synology has given 2x 2.5GbE Lan ports on this model, which is very useful in a multiuser scenario. The Synology 925+ can have a mind blowing 200 TB of storage. This model supports the various RAID options like Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 RAID 6 RAID 10**. The supported file system for internal drives are BTRFS and ext4, The NAS kept cool by Dual 92mm fans and a well-ventilated chassis keep internal temperatures low even in Indian conditions. I will not bore you with the details that are easily available on its website.
Let us discuss the software, you just have to pop-in the hard drives and follow the on-screen instructions and Synology’s Operating System DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.2 gets installed. You can have multiple users who can access the NAS , max local users – is limited to 512 users, and one can have a maximum of 128 shared folders. This is more than sufficient for SOHO, MSME level operations. The Synology NAS comes with multiple packages for Backup, Multimedia, Businesses, Utilities, Productivity etc.,
For a SoHo user like me the best part I found was ability to create a user ID for each of my family member and give them space to store memories (photos and videos) given the limited capacity of mobile phones, Synology NAS gives us the perfect option to create back folders for individual people and they can store their videos and photographs, now these can be shared with their friends and family for viewing. Install the Synology apps from Android or Apple store and you are good to go. No, you don’t have to pay extra for the apps.
The Synology comes with Download Station a web-based download application which allows users to download files from the Internet, which can be shared across all users. But given todays options available from OTT’s, music apps, Movie apps, this Download Station will soon become obsolete.
I am merely surfing at the basics of the NAS, the options provided by Synology are various and of great use. Every user has their own usage scenario. Office use you can install Synology Office is a collaboration-oriented application for creating documents, spreadsheets and slides in Synology Drive. You can edit files with various built-in tools and exchange ideas with collaborators via interactive comments and the Synology Chat plugin. For confidential content, you can also encrypt files with passwords for extra privacy. For users who are more into multimedia, DSM supports apps like Synology Photos, Audio Station, and Plex Media Server. Synology’s mobile apps work in tandem with DSM services, offering secure access to files, surveillance feeds, photo backups, and more.
As days go by, I am discovering newer things on my NAS. Let me conclude by saying, Synology has everything for every type of user, Let it be a medical hospital where doctors need to access patient’s records, or an insurance agent who has 1000s of customers, and he caters to the medical, life, vehicle insurance requirements of his clients. A blessing for Home users where personal memories can be stored and shared with relatives across the world without compromising security and privacy.
I am so glad that Synology India had a contest where I had won the Synology DS925+ ; Synology didn’t have any editorial control over my review
