Review on 💾 Diskless Synology DS218+ 2-bay NAS DiskStation by Amrozi Papi

Update attempt number 2 I originally submitted an update to this review about a week ago and it hasn't seen the light of day. Amazon didn't explain why it wasn't posted, but I'm posting it again in hopes it gets through. I've been a Synology fan for a few years. I encountered DSM issues and wrong choice of hardware because I could get it to work and it worked fine for my purpose. This is my fourth device (two are retired and another is still online) and when I first got it I loved everything. The first review is below and you can read it if you want, but in this update I'm going to cover the biggest issue so far and why this will be my last Synology NAS. When I bought this device, I did it with the intention of using it as a video/music/NVR server. As a video server, it works great with Plex and also as a music server. The NVR was easy to set up and this is where I encountered my first problem. In particular, you can immediately connect two IP cameras to this device, if you want to add more, you need to purchase licenses for it. These licenses can be purchased individually, in packs of four, or eight, and are not cheap ($57 for 1, $200 for 4, or $370 for 8). Now I know some people are probably wondering what I'm complaining about in terms of licenses, so I'll explain. These licenses only allow you to connect additional cameras to YOUR NAS. They do not come with any external cloud or monitoring service. It's just a price for the convenience of using YOUR cameras, on YOUR NAS, on YOUR network, and all from YOUR pocket. In my opinion, this is nothing more than Synology's money extortion and I don't see why I should pay for it. I could go on, but I'll stop here and move on to another cash heist instead. The eSata connection lures and switches! Synology touts the expandability of this NAS and goes on to say that you can do it via the USB or eSata port, the USB port is an absolute yes, you can add whatever you want to the USB port and get started right away. On the other hand, the eSata port is a whole different beast. They say you can expand your NAS via eSata, but they don't tell you that you can only do this if you buy a Synology expansion bay. Any other eSata device you connect will not only NOT be recognized, it will also not register as connected. For the record, I've read the fine print and even checked the Synology website to see if I mention anything about it, and to date I haven't been able to find anything that says the eSata port is for use with others is Synology Products Only. Products. I had to call tech support to get this information, which of course only came after I bought an eSata external drive specifically for use with my Synology NAS. I can honestly say I'm saddened that Synology is entering a world of Apple ownership (i.e. not the world) and lack of disclosure. At this point I feel like the only thing Synology is doing is finding more ways to get their money out of my pocket and for that reason I will be moving when my Synology NAS reaches the end of its life a more customer-centric NAS brand. Shame on you Synology, SHAME! Just to be clear, for anyone considering a Synology NAS, my problem isn't with the functionality of the NAS, but with the lack of transparency in their product description and advertising. In my opinion, they go out of their way to commit you to their product line by limiting what you can do with the gear once you've spent money on it, and by not disclosing those limits and/or adding additional costs up front . Too bad Synology! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FIRST OVERVIEW _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This is an update for my original Synology NAS, which didn't stream videos very well and was very slow. I love it but I can say without a doubt that the memory upgrade with the addition of an SSD for cache made it perfect. Transferring files from my old DS 414j was smooth, if a bit slow. However, I can say that there was no data loss and it was up and running the next day. Yes. I said the next day. I was also surprised to find that the updates I made were necessary for it to work as well and smoothly as a video server. You would think that it would work just as well with the premium price of $550 without any upgrades as it does with them. I'm just glad Synology provided an upgrade option to use in the 414j considering it cost me almost $400 when I bought it. If you're looking for a reliable NAS out of the box, you might consider this one of your options, but be aware that if you're going to be streaming heavy, especially with something like Plex Upgrades, you'll need to do this. Overall I give this NAS a solid 4 stars, it could have been 5 if the upgrades weren't so necessary.