Synology 2 bay NAS DiskStation DS220+ (Diskless) - $399 (historical low)

I'm surprised that even now in 2020 network devices especially NAS are so expensive generally. I supposed it must be a low volume industry since most people will use USB drives or the Cloud for backup and a lot of people won't bother backing up at all.

Sorry, not adding anything to the deal discussion. Just musing.

Edit: I appreciate all of the quoted replies, its nice to learn from other members and absorb varied opinions.

I just want to clarify, that I don't dispute the value of a NAS. I am curious why in 2020 basic hardware + software costs so much. And I am hypothesizing that this is a niche/low volume product category where there is limited competition and therefore manufacturers can charge a premium and/or can't benefit from economies of scale. And I don't use the word "basic" to reduce the utility of the software/hardware combo, basic just in the overall complexity relative to the pc hardware/software market.

I agree that digital information has fully cemented itself as an asset that people want to protect. If my house was on fire the two inanimate objects I would save are my hard drives and my cell phone. I posit that cloud is the real disrupter in this category and that local NAS will have an even harder time to become a mainstream appliance. Privacy is a separate concern/argument and clearly not one the masses are currently concerned about. Everyone (including me) more often than not chooses convenience over privacy. The cost of cloud is more long term, but much much lower in the short term and we are currently a society extremely interested in the subscription model.

Personally I have about 2TB of home videos/photos/documents that I backup on 2x8TB USB 3 drives + a third copy on "high"(compressed) quality on google photos which gives unlimited storage for free.

Stay safe and healthy

fatestkid wrote: ↑ I'm surprised that even now in 2020 network devices especially NAS are so expensive generally. I supposed it must be a low volume industry since most people will use USB drives or the Cloud for backup and a lot of people won't bother backing up at all.

Sorry, not adding anything to the deal discussion. Just musing.

The hardware itself doesn't fully justify the cost, but I would say DSM (the OS Synology uses) does. You could build a NAS that would be as capable for less, but DSM makes it so much easier to manage, and adding features is as easy as installing the package you want natively in DSM or through Docker.

fatestkid wrote: ↑ I'm surprised that even now in 2020 network devices especially NAS are so expensive generally. I supposed it must be a low volume industry since most people will use USB drives or the Cloud for backup and a lot of people won't bother backing up at all.

Sorry, not adding anything to the deal discussion. Just musing.

Not true. At least from my point of view. I don't want my data and any backups to be owned by some online cloud storage. I don't trust confidentiality, I don't trust reliability. On the other hand, USB drives are the easiest to die without any pre-notice. At least, NAS drives gives you a heads-up that your drives are dying so you can change them.

And for my two cents I would always recommend a four-bay storage even if you think you only need two. Makes it much easier if a drive dies and much easier to expand with larger hard drives if you want to in the future. You got a lot more choices with your raid configuration as well.

Not the low, I grabbed mine from Newegg on Ebay with free shipping for 385 - $5 ebay coupon 3 weeks back.

Those who want it I would suggest using the $10 off $20 coupon for ebay if you have an RBC credit card. There is an RFD thread on this. That would at least make it 389$ via Newegg ebay.

fatestkid wrote: ↑ I'm surprised that even now in 2020 network devices especially NAS are so expensive generally. I supposed it must be a low volume industry since most people will use USB drives or the Cloud for backup and a lot of people won't bother backing up at all.

Sorry, not adding anything to the deal discussion. Just musing.

You can do a LOT of things with a NAS.

I run a media server(Plex and Emby) with OTA DVR, Home security camera NVR, network ad blocker (Pihole), torrent client behind a VPN, Personal cloud based storage, file server, computer backups for 3 PC's 3 cell phones, photo backups, a VPN to get into my network when I'm away from home etc...

Synology NAS are a bit pricey, but run quiet, use very little power and very easy to use. You can build your own NAS as well. I personally run a Synology NAS and a Unraid Server.

fatestkid wrote: ↑ I'm surprised that even now in 2020 network devices especially NAS are so expensive generally. I supposed it must be a low volume industry since most people will use USB drives or the Cloud for backup and a lot of people won't bother backing up at all.

Sorry, not adding anything to the deal discussion. Just musing.

Totaly agree, people should have a look at DIY NAS by mean of OpenMediaVault, FreeNAS or Ubuntu, etc. I'm running OpenMediaVault on my old laptop IBM 1.5GB RAM and 60 GB HDD, Intel T2400 1.85 GHz dual core, so far so good my DIY NAS is rock solid since more than 2 years, no issue at all.
- 13 TB by means of 4 HDD by USB 2.0, SnapRAID
- RAM usage is barely 10%
- CPU usage is 10%, peak at 40-50%

Of course my mains applications is NAS, Kodi, Camera stockage (Reolink, EzViz, Wyze), backup even databases (sqlite, mdb). The only limit is USB 2.0, but you can grab a RPi4 and mount a cheap NAS.

Is there any reason to choose this over the DS220j for basic usage (shared files, backups, etc.)?

umopapisdnwei wrote: ↑ Is there any reason to choose this over the DS220j for basic usage (shared files, backups, etc.)?

The DS220+ uses an x86 CPU so there's more you can do with it, but if you just want one for storage the DS220j will be fine.

umopapisdnwei wrote: ↑ Is there any reason to choose this over the DS220j for basic usage (shared files, backups, etc.)?

Yes, the 220+ supports BTRFS.

fatestkid wrote: ↑ I'm surprised that even now in 2020 network devices especially NAS are so expensive generally. I supposed it must be a low volume industry since most people will use USB drives or the Cloud for backup and a lot of people won't bother backing up at all.

Sorry, not adding anything to the deal discussion. Just musing.

Indeed I am baffled too. Having previously used Server 2003 setups, now it easier and cheaper to use external drives with a backup software.

FrostyButters wrote: ↑ You can do a LOT of things with a NAS.

I run a media server(Plex and Emby) with OTA DVR, Home security camera NVR, network ad blocker (Pihole), torrent client behind a VPN, Personal cloud based storage, file server, computer backups for 3 PC's 3 cell phones, photo backups, a VPN to get into my network when I'm away from home etc...

Synology NAS are a bit pricey, but run quiet, use very little power and very easy to use. You can build your own NAS as well. I personally run a Synology NAS and a Unraid Server.

Which model do you have and which NVR are you using?

Right now I have a basic My Book Live NAS and an intel deletion NUC running docker. Going to upgrade in the future and want to plan my purchases wisely. Would set up home assistant, UniFi, Plex with 4K and looking at various NVRs. I could get an i7 computer or nuc to run windows for blue iris, then a vm for the rest, and get a less powerful NAS, or I’m not sure if I can get an NAS that can run all that just as well as the separate desktop.

Marauder2 wrote: ↑ Which model do you have and which NVR are you using?

Right now I have a basic My Book Live NAS and an intel deletion NUC running docker. Going to upgrade in the future and want to plan my purchases wisely. Would set up home assistant, UniFi, Plex with 4K and looking at various NVRs. I could get an i7 computer or nuc to run windows for blue iris, then a vm for the rest, and get a less powerful NAS, or I’m not sure if I can get an NAS that can run all that just as well as the separate desktop.

It's an older Synology. DS216+II. I'm running 4 POE cameras on Synology's Surveillance Station.

Just to note Surveillance Station is only licensed for 2 camera's. If you want to add additional cameras, you need to purchase additional licenses. Alternatively, I've heard good things about Shinobipro on Unraid.

I wish Blue Iris would be released for docker.

iamdman wrote: ↑ Not the low, I grabbed mine from Newegg on Ebay with free shipping for 385 - $5 ebay coupon 3 weeks back.

Those who want it I would suggest using the $10 off $20 coupon for ebay if you have an RBC credit card. There is an RFD thread on this. That would at least make it 389$ via Newegg ebay.

+1

it's been lower than this

I've been waiting for a good deal for 4 bay NAS for a while but unfortunately it never dropped low enough to a point for me to bite.

This is not really related to NAS, but a recommendation if you're a photographer: My main purpose for storage is photography raw files, and I ended up signing up for amazon prime with amazon photos.. unlimited raw photo storage and I've uploaded 3 TB since a month of signing up.. $79 dollars a year along with other amazon prime perks.. I thought this was well worth it for me. The catch is, you do need a high unlimited upload speed else it will take forever to upload, I was lucky to have fiber in my building with coextro 500mb upload. I would prob still buy a bigger hard drive to keep the photos locally, but I use amazon as redundant storage.

Thanks OP. Bit the bullet and finally got one. Now I just need some hard drive deals.

nicknam4e wrote: ↑ Totaly agree, people should have a look at DIY NAS by mean of OpenMediaVault, FreeNAS or Ubuntu, etc. I'm running OpenMediaVault on my old laptop IBM 1.5GB RAM and 60 GB HDD, Intel T2400 1.85 GHz dual core, so far so good my DIY NAS is rock solid since more than 2 years, no issue at all.
- 13 TB by means of 4 HDD by USB 2.0, SnapRAID
- RAM usage is barely 10%
- CPU usage is 10%, peak at 40-50%

Of course my mains applications is NAS, Kodi, Camera stockage (Reolink, EzViz, Wyze), backup even databases (sqlite, mdb). The only limit is USB 2.0, but you can grab a RPi4 and mount a cheap NAS.

I understand that, but when a hard drive has issues and got stuck, USB 2.0 would basically lock up the CPU. It's also up to you to discover the issue. Recovery would be a manual process, you can't just unplug it and plug in a replacement. Also, each of the drives will require their own power adapter and is messy, especially if you want to use with a UPS.

Just bought the DS218 for $300, still within return window, worth spending $100 extra for this?

It's the same price on eBay with free shipping

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Synology-2-bay- ... 4329344678

I don't mind spending extra money if it's worth it ... my need is mostly for regular backup of files & pictures

this deal, 220+ - $399
220j - $239
218 - $339

I am trying to avoid going for the most expensive because it's the best deal, but does its performance / hardware / etc makes it really worth it though?