Synology DS418
A solid NAS with lots of features, but rivals offer better value
SCORE PRICE £313 (£376 inc VAT) from pcpro.link/284ds4
The four-bay version of the DS218, the DS418, sees Synology bring high-end features to an affordable four-bay NAS. This involves a few compromises here and there, with fairly basic connectivity, a simple design and a Realtek quadcore processor instead of the more powerful Intel Celeron sported by costlier rivals – but if you’re more interested in server features than media playback, the DS418 makes a compelling proposition.
Synology is still a leader when it comes to physical design, and the DS418 has the elegant, tough plastic chassis and simple slide-out caddies you’d expect from the brand, with a neat, tool-less clip system that makes it easy to fill all four bays with drives in minutes. Simple LED indicators
cover power, network and drive status, while connectivity is limited to single USB 3 ports front and back, plus two Gigabit Ethernet ports, supporting link aggregation with load-balancing and failover options.
The hardware might seem stripped-back, but it’s in the software that Synology pulls ahead. Synology’s browser-based NAS discover and configuration process works like a dream, and it’s surprisingly intuitive to set up a RAID, volumes and shared folders. That said, a one-click setup option for less experienced users might be a nice idea.
Once you have the NAS running, you’re in line for an impressive range of apps from the built-in store, covering everything from Synology’s own DLNA media server apps to VPN servers, WordPress and Joomla setups, CRM software and more. And as the DS418 has the same Drive, Note Station, Chat and Office apps as its smaller two-bay sibling, it has more to offer home office and small business users than file backup and storage. It’s a pain-free media server too, dishing up HD and 4K video to our laptop, Android phone and Samsung Smart TV without any problems. Use Synology’s slick Video Station app and it’s like running your own streaming video service from within your home.
Performance is the Synology DS418’s only serious drawback – it will still max out a Gigabit Ethernet connection while copying over large files, but other NAS units are faster when handling smaller files en masse. Plus, some of the more advanced features, such as Drive and Office, aren’t as instantly responsive as they are on the more powerful DS918+. This leaves the DS418 squeezed between that model and the cheaper Thecus N4810, and out of contention for awards.