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| Synology Disk Station DS207+ |
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Disk Station DS207+
Let’s take a close look at the specs for the device to get a better understanding
of what type of device this is and what one can expect from it as far as performance.
Synology has several models to choose from, so if the DS207+ doesn’t come
with all the features you need, then check out their website to see what other
devices they have that will suit your needs. As we mentioned earlier the plus sign in the name of DS207+
means Synology has upgraded several features over the previous DS207 Synology
released. These upgrades include more RAM, faster CPU, external eSATA support
and a lower power consumption.
Click here for the
DS207+ Specifications
Below are a few photos of the DS207+ and the installation of the
two Western Digital SATA drives. The manual that comes with the DS207+ was 107
pages thick, but only contains instructions on how to install the two drives.
The thickness of the manual was due to the same ten page instructions in eleven
different languages. The documentation on how to use the device came in the
software shipped with the appliance. The software is webpage based and on every
page there is a "help" button which provided easy to read explanations
of all options. The DS207+ does not come with the SATA drives so the consumer
has the option of purchasing whatever size drives they want. This is actually
a great concept since the cost of hard drives drops every time a larger capacity
drive is released to the market so the DS207+ stays desirable to the consumer.
The initial cost of the DS207+ seems a little high for the average consumer
since two SATA drives are needed in order to use the device. Though in the end,
the consumer will not have to purchase a server OS which alone will be the equivalent
cost of a about five average size SATA drives. The entire setup from out of the box to kicking off
the consistency check was about 10 minutes. The consistency check time will
vary due to size of the SATA drives if you choose to mirror the drives.
Click on Thumbnails for a larger view
Here the DS207+ is open showing the base board and fan. This is
a testament to how simple the design is.
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After a simple two SATA drive mounting with eight screws, two SATA
cables and two power cables (included). The hardware part was done.
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Here is the back of the DS207+ with its simple design showing the
small fan, RJ45 GIG NIC, two USB 2.0 and power.
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TWL plugged the DS207+ into a "Kill A WATT EZ" and entered
the cost of 11cents a Killawatt hour, the cost to run the DS207+ per
day was $.06/Day. This was a real eye opener when it comes to energy
costs.
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Performance
Performance of the DS207+ was as expected with a gigabit network
interface and the speed of a SATA II drive. Synology states on their site that
so far they haven’t experienced any incompatibility between hard drives
purchased for testing and their products. For a list of drives they have tested,
click here.
With multiple copies of files running simultaneously (16 command windows copying
5 ~ 10 meg files) virtually no slow down was noticed. The rest of the performance
of the device was focused on the configuration of the DS207+. With the "help"
button provided on every page to explain what each option meant and possible
setup the average user should not get lost configuring the device the way they
would like. The well thought out help button is a testament to great engineering
on Synology's part, cutting down on the support calls they could potentially
get from users who can't figure out how to do something.
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