The Synology DS920+ is a mid-tiered NAS, which means its price tag is quite stiff. At $570, I am sure many of you will wonder whether it is worth spending so much on a branded NAS as opposed to building a system for use as a NAS with more powerful hardware for less. Well, the reason behind the high price is the excellent DiskStation Manager operating system, as well as other software Synology developed for this product. If you are an advanced user and don't have time to build a new system, which involves trying out various packages that promise the same functionality, you can try this alternative. But if you don't have the necessary skills, the obvious choice is to buy a NAS from such a well-established brand as Synology to have it working as you require in a matter of minutes.

The DS920+ performs quite well in single-client scenarios, but I am not satisfied with its multi-client performance, where I expected higher transfer speeds. It is a shame Synology didn't upgrade the Ethernet ports to at least 2.5 Gbit. The big breakthrough would be to provide 10 Gbit ports, of course, but that may have increased the price considerably. Another downside is that Synology still won't provide an HDMI port with its NAS severs even though the added cost would be minimal. An HDMI port would significantly enhance this server's multimedia capabilities and allow for local administration in case of networking issues. Speaking of multimedia capabilities, this NAS can—your network's capabilities permitting, of course—stream high bitrate 4K content easily. However, there is a problem with transcoding 4K media to lower formats through Plex. CPU utilization goes through the roof, which means the NAS is literally left with no resources for other tasks. If 4K transcoding is a requirement, look at another NAS server.

The optional bundle for extending the provided warranty to five years is definitely welcome, especially as a NAS operates around the clock. The cost of extending the warranty comes to around $100. While you most likely won't run into any issues within those five years as the DS920+ uses quality parts, it makes sense for businesses, or if you simply want some peace of mind. The ability to expand the storage capacity with a DX517 expansion unit means you won't easily run out of storage space, either. However, while it is nice to have, $470 don't make the DX517 a bargain, either.

To conclude, while you cannot go wrong with a Synology product, upgrades over the older DS918+ are not major—see the comparison chart on the first page. Competition in the NAS market has also been picking up as of late.