Synology DS214se review

An entry level NAS dedicated to home use. 

In recent years, the IT user has felt the need to expand their documents on personal computers to other devices. The cloud has certainly helped in all of this by providing services such as DropBox e One Drive, but also the market hardware did not stand by and managed to create new ways of sharing and storing files by entering i .. Synology, market leader, with the new Synology DS214se has managed to clear this technology in all respects, giving the possibility even to common users to use these systems, providing an excellent device with a good balance between quality and price.

Main features

The new Synology DS214se looks like a . small in size and very elegant, the entire structure can be easily placed near your router (as you can see from the photo) and is absolutely not bulky. The . can accommodate up to two hard drives, 3,5 and 2,5-inch (SATA III and SATA II), plus all 2,5-inch SSDs, included with the disk holder, for a maximum total of 8TB. Mount a processor MARVELL Armada 370 da 800MHz (to a single core) e RAM 256MB DDR3: if for some these technical premises may appear much inferior, remember that the model DS214se is aimed at that group of users who have no particular technical needs, despite the fact that, according to the data reported by the manufacturer, the . be able to read a 102MB / s and write to 58MB / s in case of configuration Windows us Hard Disk in RAID 1. The picture is completed two 2.0 USB ports and a door GIGABYTE Ethernet, used for connection with a special cable (supplied). A very interesting feature is the server implementation DLNA, which allow the user (if he has devices suitable for this type of technology at home) to stream not only to another computer, but also to televisions and game consoles such as Xbox 360 e PlayStation 3, effectively eliminating hard drives, USB sticks and the waste of memory directly on the device.

The device under test

We used the NAS Synology DS214se with the new operating system DSM 5.1, certainly the most complete in circulation. In addition to a practicality of use regarding the transfer of our files on the device, the entire operating system offers users a series of applications ready to install absolutely not just: it ranges from various programs for playing video, audio and photo display to the possibility of directly importing CMS such as WordPress, Joomla and applied for shop online courses, using our device such as web station ed host virtual. The picture is completed by a series of security applications (such asAntivirus and the ability to control security cameras) and the much-loved cloud. Resource management is also an important aspect of the DS214se: despite the fact that the technical characteristics are not exceptional, we have never encountered any slowdowns and the use of the CPU and RAM it is certainly managed at best, with peaks of maximum effort only in file upload and never in download. The cooling fans are controllable directly from the operating system and very quiet, but the device does not suffer from overheating at all and travels at very low temperatures, as you can see from the photo.

The new Cloud Station, or: how to reduce times

In addition to everything listed above, the real strength of the Nas Synology DS214se is definitely Cloud Station, application already inserted as a base in the operating system DSM 5.1. The Cloud Station allows us, with a single device, to manage multiple devices connected and associated with the Synology NAS: others computer, televisions us tech LNA and finally also devices Apple, thanks to the dedicated application.

But it's not all plain sailing

Clearly, the range of public and above all the price to which Synology is aimed does not allow this NAS to take off. If on the one hand the upload and download speeds are still acceptable, unfortunately we have to make two negative notes, especially as regards the use of hardware resources. There CPU to single core from 800MHz, joined to 256MB di RAM DDR3, it shows all its limitations when it comes to streaming audio or video. 
The resource utilization of our device is clearly high, which negatively affects the performance of our DS214se. 
However, we realize that it is a NAS dedicated to home use and therefore in reality these drops could also be ignored, but unfortunately the device suffers and we with it. 

Final comment

Il NAS Synology DS214se remains the best device on the market at the moment for the mainstream user segment. Its low cost, of approx 149 € and its new operating system DSM 5.1 offer the user the possibility to have a backup copy of all their files and all the basic functions they need to enjoy their content anywhere. An attractive design and small size complete the judgment, allowing you to seamlessly integrate the NAS without wasting additional space.