As the push for cloud based storage and services becomes greater we have been taking a look at the value of these from not only a monetary view, but also from a privacy and security view. To this end we have been tinkering around with a few Network Attached Storage Devices (NAS). One of our first is the Synology DiskStation DS1512+. We have already Value -
Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item. The DS1512+ as reviewed will set you back about $1400.00. That is $840 for the DS1512+ and $500 for the five Seagate 1TB drives. This sounds like a lot and well it is a lot of money to fork over for a storage device. However, when you look at what you are getting here; large amount of storage, no need for additional licenses, email, backup, virus protection on files, VPN access, private cloud services it is something of a deal. For a home user $1400 is a little much, but for an enthusiast or small business it is not and the features, performance and everything Synology bundles into the DS1512+ make it a good investment. For those that feel the $1400 is too much many of these features are also available in their smaller NAS products so you are not locked out there.
Conclusion -
Testing the Synology DS1512+ took quite a while as we wanted to make sure we covered as much of the NAS as possible. As you can see from this article there is quite a bit to cover. Synology has packed a ton of features and flexibility into the DS1512+ in the form of their DiskStation software. We have worked with more than our share of NAS products and have to say that the DS1512+ is one of the best. You not only get excellent performance, but you have options for services that many other products cannot match (not that they do not try). We only wish that we could cover every option that you have with the DS1512+, but we simply did not have the time to get to them all. We do plan on taking a deeper look at the DiskStation Manager and some of the optional components in later articles. For now we can say that this five bay NAS from Synology is a very nice option for small businesses or even home users that have a need to store a lot of data (photographers, videographers etc.). With the added extra software and the ability to add additional trays for more storage space you simply cannot go wrong.
With its combination of price, performance, flexibility and ease of use we are awarding the Synology DS1512+ our Gold Key Award.
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