Introduction

We would like to thank Synology for supplying the review sample.

In a previous review we tested the Synology DiskStation DS412+ which in the end left us quite satisfied with its features and the performance it achieved. Nevertheless, these tough economic times don't allow most users out there to invest such an amount of money for a NAS server, so in this review we are going to take a detailed look at a budget-friendly NAS from Synology, the DS212j. Unlike the DS412+ which is intended for small and medium business environments the DS212j is mostly for home or small office usage due to its entry level hardware and the fact that it takes only up to two, not hot-swap, disks; however it runs the same operating system as all other Synology NAS servers, the DSM 4, meaning that its functionality and features are not affected. On the contrary its small footprint along with the low power consumption make it more suitable for home environments where huge storage or higher RAID levels are not essential.

In a snap the DS212j, thanks to its low power consumption, can play the role of a 24/7 download server, is a DLNA certified media server, offers effortless backup, can be accessed from anywhere, needs only 17.6W (according to Synology) while operating and finally runs the famous Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system which offers a windowed interface to the user. Apparently the small DS212j hides more than meets the eye and we are very curious to find out more about its performance in real life scenarios, something that our test sessions will clearly show.