Synology DiskStation DS216play
A LOW-COST NAS THAT GIVES UP LITTLE IN TERMS OF CAPABILITIES.
NOT EVERYONE WANTS to splash out $500+ for a two-bay NAS. Synology’s DiskStation DS216play shaves nearly $300 off the price of the DS716+II over the page, and yet has a similar set of capabilities and features, at least out of the box. The difference in price comes from the lower memory, the significantly slower ARM processor, and details like the loss of the second Ethernet port, as well as some of the USB ports. Because it uses an ARM processor, it also lacks some things like virtualisation and Docker support, and it may be harder to find third-party apps for it.
Yet for those losses, it still has a huge suite of capabilities. In addition to the support for file and media services, you can install an excellent surveillance manager for capturing IP camera streams; you can install a Google Docs-like web-based office suite; there are tools for BitTorrent and automated downloads; telephony tools; Plex and other media servers; content managers; backup and sync, including cloud backup; web-based streaming of content; live transcoding of video (up to 4K, using the in-built hardware transcoder) and much more.
It also proved fast in our tests. Synology uses a unique ‘hybrid RAID’ that blazed in our tests, rivalling the x86-based NAS on an ARM processor. At least when it comes to file performance, you’re not giving up much with the DS216play. That, combined with its elegant design and the power of the DSM OS, makes this NAS a top pick.