Gadgetory

for backing up most of my critical data I use the Synology to station ds1 five one five which I unboxed the channel midway through last year supporting five drives out of the box and an Annapurna labs quad-core processor the ds1 five one five offers plenty of storage options and enough horsepower to handle my needs essentially I use the ds1 five one five is a basic network attached storage device this is all I require for backup purposes despite the fact that it meets my demands perfectly it also seems like the deer's from five one five many talents are actually being wasted through the use of the do station manager software it's possible phenology storage devices do so much more than just store data today with helping UDS seven one six plus we're going to explore a good number of these features before I fire up the latest DSM software let's just quickly go over the device itself compared to the DES one five one five the smaller tube a model is a bit cheaper four hundred and fifty dollars I will admit this still seems like a lot that said inside you'll find an Intel Celeron and 3150 quad-core clock to 1.6 gigahertz with a burst speed of two gigahertz this powerful system on chip is supported by two gigabytes of ddr3 memory which does seem a bit limited especially given how cheap a ddr3l 4 gigabyte module is these days some cool features include the ability to support dx-5 1/3 expansion unit which takes the drive capacity to 7 so it is worth mentioning that the expansion it costs more than the DF 7 1/6 plus itself of $500 so yeah maybe not it's well worth pointing out that along with the aging ext4 filesystem the DF 7 1 6 plus also features support for the more modern and reliable btrfs otherwise known as butter FS or better FS unit itself is quite smart looking and comes in an all-black design from the front there are two hot swappable drive bays with custom locks and then down the right side we have a number of activity lights that show the unit status and network activities there's also a copy button with a green LED which is used to quickly access storage connected to the front USB 3 ports finally you'll find a small square power button which features a nice blue iled I should point out that the brightness of the LED lights and the D are seven one six plus can be adjusted in the DSM software so if you find them too illuminating you can turn them down a notch around the back the D S 7 1 6 plus is cooled using a single 92 millimeter fan which I found very quiet during operation certainly much quieter than my Western Digital red Pro 4 terabyte hard drives also on the back side of the unit we find dual gigabit ethernet ports two USB 3 ports an eSATA port for the optional DX five one three expansion unit a factory reset button a four pin DC power plug and the Kensington lock now with the basics out of the way let's take an in-depth look at the DSM 6 software from a home users perspective and see why the DL 7 1 6 plus is much more than just an ass also please note I won't be focusing on performance for this video starting with the basics we have the file station program which is essentially a Windows Explorer type feature of DSM's browser-based user interface file station allows users to organize and share any and all of the data stored on the NASS conveniently it's possible to move and upload files simply by dragging and dropping of course you can still access shared folders using windows explorer by browsing the Synology nas on the network this works for Mac users as well if you're steaming that way the file station is a great way to set permissions to determine which folders and files users can access another cool feature which can be used by simply right-clicking a file or folder and selecting share file links allows you to generate a link and QR code which can be sent to friends or other users they can then follow the link to download the slack to file a folder whether or not they possess a DSM account next we have the photo station app which serves as a centralized photo organizer for your home network this is a particularly useful feature for keen photographers but also be enjoyed by a range of shooters as well for storing and showing off family photos for example the photo station is a powerful app that allows users to create albums that can be viewed remotely and even create blogs to record and share exciting photos providing you have enough bandwidth photo station can eliminate the need for third party services such as Flickr it's even possible to upload in download photos from other devices to the photo station using sinologist nifty little D S photo app which features support for both Android and iOS complementing the photo station is the knowledge ease audio station which as the name suggests is designed to organize your music collection allowing you to create your own playlists and assign ratings support for internet radio as well as airplay and Bluetooth devices also exists there's also a DSO audio app which allows users to stream music stored on the Nats to smart devices using Android or iOS additionally you can download music from the nasty devices for offline playback video station has seen a massive overhaul on the latest DSM version now looks prettier than ever this powerful app allows users to store and organize all their movies TV shows home videos TV recordings in one place and not just that the kind of course stream into a multitude of devices including the humble PC smartphones tablets or TVs it can also retrieve video metadata from the internet automatically saving you the time to add movie posters and descriptions yourself very cool indeed users can stream videos to Apple TV chromecast DLNA devices Samsung Smart TV Xbox Playstation and more using video station DS video or media server even if your device or media player can't play certain file formats there's a good chance the video station can transcode it on the fly to a watchable formatters you stream it offline transcoding is now supported as well this is a very cool feature previously it wasn't possible to use the transcoding feature offline as this was a real time feature only however Synology is now added offline transcoding a feature that allows you to pre transcode a video and then download it to mobile devices via the DA's video mobile app pretty amazing an app that I do use on my dears 1/5 1/5 quite regularly is download station this handy app allows users to download files from the internet through BitTorrent FTP HTTP nzb thunder flash get QQ dl and emule as well as search for torrents directly via the Synology search engine this means users can now turn off their PC to save power and let the much more fuel-efficient Nass handle the downloads and uploads 24/7 there's even a preview feature which allows users to take a quick sneak peek at the files are downloading before it completes allowing them to stop downloading any files that look a bit yes of course like all the other Synology at the download station smart device friendly thanks to the DES download app this mobile app allows users to remotely start or manage tasks search for a torrent and even start downloading before you get home just remember don't drive and torrent at the same time if you need to take a note or notes never fear note station is here this isn't a particularly useful app for home users but I can see how small businesses would find it useful one might assume that note-taking is a pretty simple task even Synology couldn't create what could be described as a powerful note-taking out nevertheless that possible they've done just that with note station this app allows users to create manage and share content rich notes using an intuitive interface and surprisingly rich editing tools sinology says centralizing all your Diaries class notes clippings travel itineraries and so on makes it easier to find what you need thanks to a simple search feature even something that's in an attachment they also point out that keeping notes on a private cloud gives you maximum data security so no more funny stickman post-it notes then I guess anyway enough about notes let's look at something even more nerdy yet spreadsheets just fun a spreadsheet station sound Synology disappointingly went with just spreadsheets as the app name I know aside from the obvious spreadsheets allows users to work on data sets together much like Google Docs the users can enjoy the benefit of collaboration without worrying about putting their data in public clouds speaking of cloud services such as Google Drive Synology allows users to create their very own cloud service with none other than yep you guessed it cloud stations this app allows users to create their own Dropbox and retain total control as soon as you save a change it automatically updates the copies and your other devices computers smartphones tablets etc this allows you to close a document on the office computer and immediately pick up where you left off on your laptop during a business trip or commute home the Synology DiskStation da 7 1 6 plus is an awesome network-attached storage device with its vast functionality should really be considered a server rather than ass so knowledge is DSM software is able to take care of pretty much anything make it an incredibly powerful device I could go on and on about how great dear 7 1 6 pluses as a file server slash home server but rather than drag out which is probably already a long video by this point let's just get to it the only possible issues I can think of is the limited memory capacity along with the lack of display options competing models from QNAP who's been carrying HDMI outputs for some time now making them direct replacements for the popular home theater PC thankfully it is possible to upgrade the memory and many users have reported successfully upgrading the DF 7 1 6 plus to an 8 gigabyte capacity it would be nice if Synology again look to that competitor QNAP and offer various memory options the keynote ts2 5 1 + for example can be purchased with either 2 gigabyte or a gigabytes of memory it also comes with a remote control and HDMI output for 340 dollars or $450 for the 8 gigabyte model meanwhile DDS 7 1 6 + starts of 450 dollars and although it only comes with 2 gigabytes of memory its superior processor and arguably better software still make it a very competitive option at this price additionally it can also be expanded using the DX 5 1-3 to support another 5 hard drives which could be a handy feature down the track overall I've really enjoyed using the DiskStation D 7 1 6 plus and have no trouble recommending it at all be sure to let me know what you think about the DL 7 1 6 + would you miss features such as HDMI out and easily upgradable memory let us know an F for Hardware on box comm or in the comment section below don't forget to hit like hit subscribe and I'll see you guys next time