Synology DiskStation DS220+ Review

Are you looking for a storage solution that is easy to set up and use? Whether or not you are a home user or a small business owner, Synology offers many networked-based storage solutions to suit one’s needs. Synology also keeps their products up-to-date semi-annually, so it is nice to see what sort of upgrades happen between each new model. Even though 2020 has not been as great a year for people worldwide due to the COVID pandemic, products are still being manufactured and updated. Synology has been one of those manufacturers who keep their products fresh.

Here at Futurelooks, we have looked at many Synology products from their entry-level NAS products to their Wi-Fi networking offerings and have always enjoyed reviewing them and testing out their newest hardware. Synology offers Network Attached Storage solutions, more commonly known as NAS. As Synology calls them, these NAS units, or DiskStations, are small, stand-alone servers designed to store terabytes of information for you in an easy-to-use way. You can use them strictly for data storage that you can access with the variety of devices on your home or small-business network, or you can utilize their ability to run additional software applications that expand their usefulness and robustness.

DiskStation DS220+

Perhaps you are a home user who needs to offload thousands of photos from your computer but still want to access them without the fear of data corruption easily. Perhaps your data storage needs have increased, you would like to offer the family some way of backing up their connected devices or stream movies from a central place in your home. The DiskStation DS220+ does that and more.

Features and Specifications

The Synology DS220+ is the update to the previous Synology DS218 (both the DS218 and DS218Play). The DS220+ has an Intel Celeron based CPU with both higher clock speed and higher burst speed, as well as and improved encryptions engine. Even though the DS220+ only comes with 2GB DDR4 memory, unlike the previous models, it is upgraded to a total of 6GB (room for a 4GB DDR4 stick).

• Intel Celeron J4025 dual-core CPU at 2.0 GHz (burst to 2.9GHz)
• Hardware Encryption (AES-NI)
• 2 GB DDR4 (expandable to 6 GB)
• 2 Drive bays capable of up to 108 TB
• 2x Gigabit Ethernet (Link Aggregation and Failover Support)
• 2x USB 3.0 Ports

You can read the full specification list here

What’s in the Box?

The great thing about these NAS devices from Synology is that they do not need to put many extras in the box. When you open up the box, the following items are available:

• 1x Synology DiskStation DS220+
• 1x AC Power Adapter and AC Cord
• 2x RJ-45 Ethernet Cables
• 1x Quick Installation Guide

Now, depending on placement for your DiskStation, the included Ethernet cables are pretty short on length, so if this is your first time using a Synology NAS, you may need longer cables. But your mileage will vary, of course.

The DS220+ is also tool-less in design, meaning you do not need to use a screwdriver or search for dropped screws. The hard drive trays come pre-installed in the enclosure itself, and all you need to do is slide the trays out, pop the drives in, and then slide the trays back in.

Special Thanks to Seagate!

We cannot forget to thank Seagate for supplying the two 8 TB IronWolf NAS drives as well. If you want quality and reliability, we recommend checking out the IronWolf series of mechanical hard drives for your next NAS. IronWolf is designed for high workload rates of a high-data network within a multi-bay NAS environment. Their capacities range from 1 TB up to 12 TB for a single drive. The IronWolf Pro and EXOs have a maximum capacity of 18 TB per drive. Imagine all the data you could store with a Synology DiskStation with IronWolf and IronWolf Pro hard drives!