Synology’s DS207+ NAS (Network Attached Disk Storage) Disk Station is aimed at the SMB (Small and Medium Business) environment as is evidenced by the extensive range of capabilities built into the device. As well as being an Amazon “best seller” the DS207+ received the “Editors Choice” award late in 2008 from the French magazine PC EXPERT which included comments like “remarkably user-friendly”.
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The twin internal HDD interfaces are SATA II with capacity depending on what HDD are installed (not supplied) and the storage configuration selected. The SATA II interfaces combined with a 500MHz processor and 128MB of memory give the impressive speed performance as found in testing by PC EXPERT. There are 3 USB2.0 ports for adding extra external HDD for greater capacity or attaching other USB compatible devices. The unit is capable of data transfer rates up to 1000Mbps (1000 Ethernet).
Some of the basic features available, which would be expected for a SMB, are USB printer sharing, FTP and HTTP encryption and compatibility with Windows ADS authentication for avoiding the time the wasting setting up user accounts specifically for the DS207+. For offices using a mix of Windows and Mac operating systems the DS207+ is a good option for file sharing as Windows users can access DS207+ via Samba and FTP, and Mac users via Samba, FTP, and AFP.
Synology DS207+ Storage Setup Options
The DS207+ has three different HDD modes, Basic, RAID 0, RAID 1, to allow for a choice between data integrity, storage capacity and speed of access performance.
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Basic mode creates two separately accessible hard drives.
RAID 0 combines both drives in a ‘striped’ configuration, which provides the highest performance.
RAID 1 sets up the HDD as mirrors of each other, for maximum data protection. In this mode, if one drives fails the other mirror copy unaffected HDD continues as a single drive until the failed drive is replaced.
Synology DS207+ Data Backup Options
As well as making data available over a network, one of the primary reasons for purchasing a NAS unit is to provide backup storage of important business data. Synology have provided excellent range of data backup options giving considerable flexibility including;
- Network Backup from another Synology product that also supports the Network Backup function or rsync-compatible server,
- Local Backup of data from the DS207+ to an attached external hard drive,
- Desktop Backup from a workgroup PC using Synology’s Data Replicator 3 software.
- USB Copy for automatic backing up of an attached USB flash drive with the touch of a button.
Business Related Features
Synology’s DS207+ Web based File Station management user interface (UI) allows files to be accessed and stored from anywhere on the Internet. The UI is AJAX-based to provide Windows desktop task simplifying capabilities such as drop-n-drag. It can even be customized for your business.
Multiple Website Publishing is possible using Synology Web Stations built-in Apache Web server (PHP+MySQL pre-installed) and Virtual Host capability. The Synology NAS server can also be mapped to a registered DDNS (Dynamic DNS) hostname.
As well as providing data security through backup storage, the DS207+ can also assist with physical security through its Surveillance Station which allows recording, viewing and management of from IP cameras which have been attached (not included). One can choose Continuous, Motion-detection, or Alarm recording modes to best fit the required use.
Many businesses need to download large files and the DS207+ provides a Web based remote Download Manager that can simplify and schedule these transfers using BitTorrent,FTP,HTTP,eMule or NZB. Once again the UI is AJAX based for ease of use.
Other Features
Other features are not as tightly business related but would certainly be appreciated by users.
Synology Photo Station 3 makes it simple to share photos, videos and blog content over the Internet.
Synology Audio Station supports music, Internet Radio Stations and iPod playback with connected USB speakers.
Using built in iTunes Server support enables users on the network to play music files directly from the Synology NAS server without having to download them in advance. Password protection can be applied.
The Synology DS207+’s Multimedia Service enables photos, music and videos be streamed to any UPnP-enabled Digital Media Adapter (DMA) such as a Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox360.
Resources Synology DS207+ NAS Disk Station
Synology DS207+ NAS Datasheet (pdf)
Compare All Synology Products in Detail
User Reviews and Price Comparisons
Have a look at the following online retailers for competitive prices, hands-on user reviews and product ratings.
Synology NAS Disk Station DS207 Economic 2-Bay Network Storage
