Black Friday is here again and for many of you, this is the final decider on whether you are going to finally buy your very own Synology NAS or upgrade that old DS411+ or DS216+ that is starting to show its age. Synology has been focusing considerably more on rackmount NAS solutions in 2024 and the few desktop (Diskstation) NAS solutions that have arrived on the market have been either fantastically enterprise or currently regional exclusives at this time. This means that the majority of their desktop NAS solutions have been on the market now for more than a year each (some in the 18+ series have been around for quite a while longer!) and therefore there is considerable scope for the current range to have a number of great discounts available in the Black Friday 2024 sale. We predict that the likes of the DS423+ and DS923+ all-rounder NAS’ will likely be the star of the show in terms of deals, but more so on the already value focused devices such as the BeeStation series or the DS423 and DS223.  With so many different Synology devices in the Diskstation and Rackstation series that are in/entering their 3rd year of circulation, this would be a good chance for Synology to run out the ‘soon to be’ legacy devices and hit the reset button on some new solutions for the new year! Below I have detailed the best Synology NAS for backups, plex, business, surveillance and value – with links to check if they are on offer at Amzazon. Alongside this, I will also be updating this page regularly during Black Friday adding links to deals as they go live throughout the week of Black Friday.

BLACK FRIDAY WEEK DEALS (so far) – (WILL REDIRECT TO YOUR AMAZON REGION AUTOMATICALLY)

Synology DS923+ NAS – $90 OFF, Now $509.99

Synology DS223j NAS Drive – Just $161.99 (15% OFF, was $189.99)

Synology DS723+ NAS – 20% OFF, Now $359.99

Synology 4TB Beestation NAS 11% OFF – £221.37 (was £249.89)

Synology DS1821+ Diskstation NAS – $100 OFF, Now $899.99

Synology DS124 1-Bay NAS, 28% OFF – £132.97 (was £183.44)

Synology DS1621+ NAS, 10% OFF – £854.36 (was £949.99)

Synology WRX560 WiFi 6 Mesh Router and SRM, 15% OFF – £196.50 (was £229.99)

EARLY SYNOLOGY BLACK FRIDAY DEALS SPOTTED IN THE WILD

The following promotions have appeared right from the start of November. Synology APPEARS to be considerably more overt in their promotions this year (compared with previous years at least). Links below will redirect to the store in your own region, so although in some cases (see DS423 deal below for example) the offer is a U.S based promotion in dollars, IF the offer is also a global deal, it will be visible in your region. Remember to factor taxes and shipping!!!

EARLY Black Friday 2024 Deal #1 – Synology DS423 NAS £332 (15% off) HERE

Early Black Friday Deal – Synology DS224+ NAS £299 (4% Off) HERE

Early Black Friday Deal – Synology DS223J NAS £179.48 (6% Off) HERE

Early Black Friday Deal #1 – Synology DS124 NAS £134.97 (26% Off) HERE

Recommended Synology NAS 2024 Best All Round = Synology DS923+ NAS $550+ – Buy Here on Amazon – Buy HERE on B&H Best Budget Choice = Synology BeeStation 4TB $199 – Buy Here on Amazon – Buy HERE on B&H Best Budget Fully Featured NAS = Synology DS223j $179 – Buy Here on Amazon – Buy HERE on B&H Best Synology Plex NAS = Synology DS423+ NAS $450-500+ – Buy Here on Amazon – Buy HERE on B&H Best Photo/Video Editing (Small) = Synology DS1522+ $699 – Buy Here on Amazon – Buy HERE on B&H Photo/Video (Medium) =  Synology DS1821+ $1099 – Buy Here on Amazon – Buy HERE on B&H

————–  Useful Links  —————

US Amazon – Amazon USA Black Friday Official Page – Amazon UK Black Friday Official Page

Amazon Warehouse (20% Off Everything on Black Friday)

USA – UK – Germany

Still unsure of what you need – use the Free Advice Section here on NASCompares.

TOP Synology NAS Deals to Watch Out For on Black Friday 2024

Below are the three Synology entries that are almost certain to be on sale this Black Friday at your normal online shop (not just Amazon).

• ​Synology DS923+ NAS Drive – Released at the tail end of 2022, the Synology DS923+ is pretty much the tipping point NAS for users looking at the Synology NAS platform that want scalability, upgradability and performance BUT do not want to go nuts on the price, physical size and impact in their home or office. The follow-up to the remarkably popular DS920+, the DS923+ is a NAS that focuses more on performance inside and out, as well as supporting the FULL rang of DSM 7.2 services!. Find it HERE.
• Synology DS220+ NAS – Originally released in summer 2020, the Synology DS220+ was one of the stand-out popular NAS choices of that series, as it presented affordable access to the Synology DSM Platform, Plex 4K performance and in a compact/low-impact design, whilst still doing so without the compromise that is generally associated with more affordable solutions. However, in the years that have passed, Synology have refreshed this model with the newer DS224+  and this will almost certainly result in stock of the DS220+ being reduced in price, with Black Friday 2024 being a great time to do so! Find it HERE.

Synology DS923+ NAS Drive NORMALLY $550-600	Synology DS224+ NAS NORMALLY $299-329	Synology DS423 NORMALLY $369-389

Black Friday 2024 – Synology NAS Drives for PLEX

One of the big appeals of a Synology NAS drive is to use it as a Plex Media Server. Plex (if you didn’t know) is just as slick, fast and beautiful in design as Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Now, but instead of streaming/renting your content, you play the movies, tv shows and music that you own! Having your own Plex Media Server Synology NAS is fantastically appealing and a much more financially appealing choice than paying monthly for content you do not get to own. Below are the best 3 Synology NAS deals this Black Friday for a Plex Media Server in 2024.

Synology DS423+ 4-Bay NAS There are two ways we need to look at the Synology DS423+ NAS. In one way, the Synology DS423+ DOES support all of the features and services that users demanded in a fully-featured home/prosumer solution. It features an Intel Quad Core processor with embedded graphics, DDR4 memory, multiple gigabit ports, wide HDD/SSD compatibility and m.2 NVMe SSD support. These are all things popular and most certainly what users would want/expect in a fully featured home/prosumer solution (aka SOHO). Then, when you roll in DSM 7 and it’s enormous range of software and services, the DS423+ is an excellent NAS solution that counters a broad range of criticisms that were leveled at the DS923+ at launch. However, there is, of course, the unavoidable way that most long-term Synology users and those looking to upgrade an existing 2016/2018 Diskstation are going to look at the DS423+ – a Synology DS920+ with less memory and no expandability! For those that skipped the DSx20+ generation, the DS423+ is going to feel decidedly underwhelming at best and hugely disappointing at worst! Synology has made no bones that they prioritize their software and services, with hardware being an important but nevertheless secondary concern. The main criticism is that CPU being the same processor used in the 3 years previous generation. Intel has moved production away from the J4125 themselves several times (with most other NAS brands using the N5105 or J6412 right now) and although Synology has been known to move CPU architecture down through the generations previously, this is a particularly egregious example. Overall, this si still the best affordable option right now for users looking at an all-encompassing Plex Media Server NAS solution from Synology in a compact form.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS423+ 4 Bay Desktop NAS Storage Server Amazon USA 30.82 OFF (WAS 550) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS1821+ 8-Bay NAS I have always been a long-term fan of the Synology brand as a whole, applauding their recent moves towards Ryzen processors and range-wide adoption of dedicated M2 NVMe cache bays. However, the Synology DS1821+, much like the DS1621+, is a giant leap in many ways and the smallest of stumbles in others. The switch from Atom to Ryzen embedded processor needs to be recognised for both the big jump it is from a brand that typically errs on the side of caution in hardware. Likewise, the inclusion of ECC memory, massive potential-filled PCIe expandability at PCIe 3 x8 and support of popular services like Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) are certainly a plus. But many buyers will be put off by the continued adoption of 1Gbe as standard and the limitation of those NVMe bays to caching ONLY and not raw storage pools. With a price tag without storage media at around £1,000 (give or take), this is a big ask to pay for something that has lucrative software potential but arguably lesser hardware potential. In short, I do really like the Synology DS1821+ NAS, I just don’t know how long I could be in love with it long-term, as the rest of my network hardware environment embraces faster connectivity.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS1821+8bay NAS V1500B Quad-Core 2.2 GHz,Black Amazon UK 43.78 OFF (WAS 1091) [LINK] Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS1621xs+ 6-Bay NAS Whatever way you look at it, you cannot what question the sheer level of hardware value present in the DS1621xs+, especially compared with other similarly priced Synology NAS. In the DS1621xs+, you find one of the best performing internal and external NAS systems in the entire Synology portfolio, as well as providing you with an enterprise rackmount grade solution in a desktop form. I know it seems like a big statement, but this could genuinely be one of the best examples of what Synology provide to business users and certainly reorganises the portfolio for small and medium business users for the better in 2024. Is it perfect, of course not, few things ever can be. But if your budget can extend to it, the Synology DS1621xs+ easily represents the very best of everything that Synology has to offer, while still maintaining a fantastic high standard to third-party software users worldwide.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? These Offers are Checked Daily

Black Friday 2024 – Lowest Priced Synology NAS Drives

If you are new to Synology NAS and don’t want to spend much this Black Friday, then that’s ok. Synology has a great selection of fantastically low price NAS available to buy this Black Friday in 1 hard drive, 2 hard drive and 4 hard drive sizes. Below is the best 3 Budget NAS that Synology features this Black Friday 2024:

Synology DS120J 1-Bay NAS With the release of the new DS120j NAS, when it comes to buying your first network-attached storage device there are several reasons why the Synology range appeals to many. With a diverse range of hardware and storage options across a wide series of uses, as well as an impressive range of first-party applications, Synology has fast become one of the biggest names in the NAS. However, so many users have one tiny problem with most Synology devices, namely the price tag. In terms of overall price, you will find that a Synology NAS typically is around 15 to 20% more expensive than most other brands with the same hardware (we will leave software out of the equation for a bit). Added to this is the fact that most buyers looking to buy their first unit are nervous in spending large sums of money on a largely unexplored area of technology. Luckily Synology has already addressed this problem before with the inclusion of a budget range of devices that serves as a fantastic introduction point to network-attached storage and the Synology Diskstation Manager (DSM) system software.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS223J 2-Bay NAS The Synology DS223j NAS is not the most powerful NAS drive, or the most fully-featured NAS drive – but the point is that it is not trying to be! Synology has held an exceptionally good reputation in the world of network-attached storage for a decade and if a new NAS buyer wanted to cautiously invest in a new piece of equipment in this area, then despite their modest budget, they will want to get the best they can for their money, from a brand with an established pedigree – THAT is what the Synology DS223j NAS is trying to achieve and for the most part, it completely succeeds! Aside from the memory being a touch light on the ground and the white chassis not being to everyone’s taste, in almost every other regard the DS223j is a great little NAS drive that any first time NAS users, or those making the jump from subscription cloud services like Google Drive and DropBox, are going to enjoy. Just keep an eye on the number of active users and tasks at any given time and you will be on to a winner here. Bonus, this system arrives with twice the amount of memory than previous releases in the 2 Bay J family (more than a decade long!).

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS223J NAS Amazon UK £179.48 (6% Off) [LINK] Synology DS223j NAS Drive (BF) Amazon USA $161.99 (15% OFF, was $189.99) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS223J Network Storage Drive (White) Amazon UK 33.94 OFF (WAS 211) [LINK] Synology DS223j 2-Bay Diskstation NAS (Realtek RTD1619B 4-Core 1.7 GHz 1GB DDR4 Amazon UK 299.74 OFF (WAS 779) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS420J 4-Bay NAS Although this device will only cost you around £465 ex.VAT with 4x 2TB hard drives (Seagate Ironwolf NAS Drives) included, it can still perform the bulk of the standard tasks that are available in modern NAS and if you are looking for a universally supported DLNA or backup device, this is the one for you. Though definitely not aimed at the NAS experienced or 2nd-time buyers, or those looking for a solid foundation to build a business around where the customer data is critical. If you are looking for a network-attached storage device to act as a network backup or just want a simple NAS to do basic tasks such as media and protecting the data on your other devices, I recommend the Synology DS420j NAS

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? These Offers are Checked Daily

Black Friday 2024 – Synology NAS Drives for Photo and Video Editing

Storing your photography or Video Editing archive for post-production on a Synology NAS is something taht has grown in popularity in the last few years. Now in 2024, not only can a Synology NAS be used to store your photos/video, but with upgraded connections to 10Gbe, Thunderbolt 3 to 10Gbe Adapters and link aggregation becoming more affordable, buying a Synology NAS this Black Friday 2024 for your post-production and live editing is easier than ever before Below are three great options for editors looking for a Synology NAS Deal from Amazon today.

Synology DS1522+ 5-Bay NAS The Synology DS1522+ is a good NAS drive and most business-focused users are going to appreciate what this newer configuration of hardware is able to provide. There was never any doubt in the extent to which this new NAS would support DSM7, and given its architecture, there is virtually nothing in the popular NAS software that this system cannot do. Likewise, having the option of 10GbE on a Diskstation of this scale will be hugely attractive to some, though the proprietary means with which you need to upgrade is arguably less desirable. The R1600 CPU is a good choice of processor for file handling and simultaneous tasks, as is the 8GB of memory that this system arrives with, plus the potential to ramp it up to 32GB. After that though, the desirability of this system to home users and multimedia users is a little less compelling and with such a large audience of users who look at NAS for their media streaming, the DS1522+ not featuring a more graphically enabled chip will leave them somewhat underwhelmed. Bottom line, the DS1522+ is a solid and full DSM7 supporting system here and you cannot fault the design, internal/external performance and ease of use of this Synology NAS. However, there will always be users wondering why this NAS never arrived with an Intel chip.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DiskStation DS1522+ 5-Bay NAS Enclosure - 5 x 3.5 or 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD, Amazon USA 20.6 OFF (WAS 358) [LINK] Synology DS1522+ 5-Bay Desktop NAS Solution 5x3,5/2,5" SATA HDD/SSD, 2X M.2 2280 Amazon USA 40.78 OFF (WAS 759) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS1621+ 6-Bay NAS The Synology ‘Plus’ series of devices has long held a reputation for providing mid-range hardware to mid-range business customers. Because of this, the DS1621+ needs to balance a fine line between providing fast and reliable hardware, whilst still maintaining a price point that won’t intimidate the average small-medium business user. In this regard, I think the Synology DS1621+ NAS gets it right, finding an impressive halfway point between these two factors. However, it is important for buyers to understand what they are buying and where the price point for the Synology DS1621+ is being aimed. Although it seemingly lacks some of the multimedia and prosumer features of ‘cheaper’ NAS devices in the Synology portfolio, it doubles down on more business and enterprise-level features in efforts to support that core audience. It’s about getting the right tool for the job and in that area, Synology almost completely succeed. The lack of above gigabit connectivity afforded to a NAS unit at this price point, compared with their competitors, may put some users off, but on the whole, you are getting good performance and excellent value on this combined hardware and software solution with some excellent scalability.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS1621+ NAS (BF) Amazon USA 10% OFF – £854.36 (was £949.99) [LINK] Synology Diskstation DS1621+ DiskStation DS1621+, NAS, W125846548 (DiskStation D Amazon USA 243.8 OFF (WAS 1197) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS1621+ serveur de stockage NAS Bureau Ethernet/LAN Noir V1 Amazon UK 17.64 OFF (WAS 1042) [LINK] Synology DS1621+ 24TB 6 Bay Desktop NAS Solution installed with 6 x 4TB HAT3300 Amazon UK 63.02 OFF (WAS 1662) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Black Friday 2024 – Synology NAS Drives for 4K Video Streaming

4K TVs and High Definition media production have now reached a point that buying the right Synology NAS for storing, watching and adapting 4K Ulta High definition media in 2024 can be alot of work. True 4K media arrives in HUGE file sizes and you will need a more powerful Synology NAS drive to handle this kind of media all the way from the hard drives inside, to pumping it out to your 4K Display. Luckily a few of the more powerful Synology NAS solutions are on offer this Black Friday and if you are lucky enough to get a deal on one of these three, you will have a great NAS to enjoy 4K in your home or business environment.

Synology DS923+ 4-Bay NAS Synology has clearly made something of a gamble in the release of the Synology DS923+ NAS. There is no avoiding that making the switch from the Intel Celeron that has historically been the build choice of this product family and opting for the AMD Emb.Ryzen has ruffled some feathers! On the face of it, the R1600 here has a heck of alot of going for it over the previous generation! Higher clock speed, greater PCIe Gen 3 Support throughout, that 4-32GB of DDR4 memory in such a compact system and just generally giving you a lot more horsepower to play with, as well as better bandwidth potential inside and out! But at what cost? The 1GbE standard connectivity in the base model leaves alot to be desired, the proprietary 10Gb upgrade (though incredibly handy) limits the upgradability a tad and the lack of an integrated graphics processor is likely going to result in many long-term Synology advocates to skip this generation. Synology Diskstation Manager (DSM 7.1 at the time of writing) still continues to impress and although the brand still continues to heavily push their 1st party priorities, they have left a little more wriggle room in DSM 7.1 than DSM 7 before it in terms of media compatibility. In terms of design, I cannot fault Synology on this as the DS923+ chassis still arrives as one of the best-looking and still exceptionally well-structured devices at this physical scale and storage level. As always, a Synology NAS is more about the software than the hardware (and the DS923+ delivers in spades on the software side!) and with DSM 7.2 around the corner improving things. Just always keep in mind that the Synology DS923+ NAS is a system that arrives with the slight emphasis on having to do many things ‘their way’. If you are less technically versed, then you will definitely appreciate this level of user-friendly design and assistance, but more technically minded admins’ main strain a pinch! In short, the DS923+ IS a good NAS drive, but its focus has certainly ebbed more towards the business user this generation than the home.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS923+ 4-Bay Diskstation NAS (AMD Ryzen 4 Threads R1600 Dual-Core 4G Amazon USA 6.9 OFF (WAS 632) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS923+ 4-Bay NAS Enclosure Server | AMD Ryzen R1600 Dual-Co Amazon USA 150.99 OFF (WAS 850) [LINK] Synology 4-Bay DiskStation DS923+ (Diskless) Amazon UK 34.99 OFF (WAS 575) [LINK] Synology DS923+ 4 Bay NAS enclosure Amazon UK 34.99 OFF (WAS 575) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS423+ 4-Bay NAS There are two ways we need to look at the Synology DS423+ NAS. In one way, the Synology DS423+ DOES support all of the features and services that users demanded in a fully-featured home/prosumer solution. It features an Intel Quad Core processor with embedded graphics, DDR4 memory, multiple gigabit ports, wide HDD/SSD compatibility and m.2 NVMe SSD support. These are all things popular and most certainly what users would want/expect in a fully featured home/prosumer solution (aka SOHO). Then, when you roll in DSM 7 and it’s enormous range of software and services, the DS423+ is an excellent NAS solution that counters a broad range of criticisms that were leveled at the DS923+ at launch. However, there is, of course, the unavoidable way that most long-term Synology users and those looking to upgrade an existing 2016/2018 Diskstation are going to look at the DS423+ – a Synology DS920+ with less memory and no expandability! For those that skipped the DSx20+ generation, the DS423+ is going to feel decidedly underwhelming at best and hugely disappointing at worst! Synology has made no bones that they prioritize their software and services, with hardware being an important but nevertheless secondary concern. The main criticism is that CPU being the same processor used in the 3 years previous generation. Intel has moved production away from the J4125 themselves several times (with most other NAS brands using the N5105 or J6412 right now) and although Synology has been known to move CPU architecture down through the generations previously, this is a particularly egregious example. Overall, this si still the best affordable option right now for users looking at an all-encompassing Plex Media Server NAS solution from Synology in a compact form.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS423+ 4 Bay Desktop NAS Storage Server Amazon USA 30.82 OFF (WAS 550) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Black Friday 2024 – Synology NAS Drives for Business

Businesses in 2024 are producing so, SO MUCH DATA! Customer information, Web site images, legal documents, online marketing, internal communication, surveillance and security – it all adds up! With the majority of this data being highly confidential, copywrite or both, it is imperative that a business has a secure place to keep this data. Synology NAS drives have been used in business for a number of years and Diskstation Manager (DSM) arrives with every NAS, packed with applications and licenses for those enterprise applications (Synology Active Backup, Surveillance, Virtual Machine Manager, Drive, Office, Chat, Calendar, mail and more). Below are the best Synology NAS drive deals this Black Friday for those who want to invest in a business class server to protect their data and ensure high productivity in 2024.

Synology DS3622xs+ 12-Bay NAS Unsurprisingly, the Synology DS3622xs+ is by FAR the most powerful and capable desktop NAS solution that the brand has ever produced – and that is not even a close-run thing. But we are still talking about a £2,500 box here (unpopulated) and you are going to expect that there is some serious horsepower here – So are you getting the most for your money here? Almost completely, yes. There are a few lingering things that some buyers will still not be in love with, such as the lack of M.2 caching bays, the lack of SAS support or the reduced support of 3rd party drive and network upgrade compatibility, but they do not undercut that this is a genuinely groundbreaking solution from Synology that provides the ultimate base to enjoy and make the most of the Synology DSM 7 platform in 2022 onwards. Once you breakdown everything included in this package, from DSMs software and services, to the tremendous bandwidth available here internally and externally, this compact tank-like NAS server is an absolute beast and a must for those that are keen on fully integrating a private cloud network and subscription-free SaaS-level setup across their company.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology Disk Station DS3622XS+ - NAS Server - 12 Bays - SATA 6Gb/s - RAID RAID Amazon USA 2421.35 OFF (WAS 7031) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS3622XS+ 12 Bay Desktop NAS Solution, Installed with 12 x Amazon UK 212.46 OFF (WAS 7266) [LINK] Synology DiskStation DS3622XS+ 12 Bay Desktop NAS Solution, Installed with 12 x Amazon UK 63.63 OFF (WAS 11161) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology DS1821+ 8-Bay NAS DS1821+ is an 8-bay desktop NAS providing superior performance with great expandability, allowing for seamless expansion and upgradability to satisfy your growing business needs. DS1819+ comes with four Gigabit Ethernet ports and one PCIe expansion slot, providing great configuration flexibility, thereby satisfying your intensive workload demands. Synology Office is a collaboration package combining the convenience and usability of public clouds with the data privacy and security guaranteed by private clouds. It allows you to work seamlessly together on documents and spreadsheets in a protected environment

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology DS1821+8bay NAS V1500B Quad-Core 2.2 GHz,Black Amazon UK 43.78 OFF (WAS 1091) [LINK] Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology RS1619xs 4-Bay NAS RS1619xs+ is a high-performance and scalable 1U rackmount NAS designed with upgradable memory and M.2 SSD cache configuration to meet the needs of modern businesses that require a flexible, reliable, and efficient storage solution. Synology’s 5-year limited warranty provides hardware replacement and technical support via email and telephone services, maximizing your enterprises’ return on investment.  Synology iSCSI storage supports most virtualization solutions including VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix Xen Server, and OpenStack Cinder, to enhance work efficiency. Create and manage virtual machines running multiple operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and DSM using Virtual Machine Manager.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? Synology RackStation RS1619xs+ - NAS server - 4 bays - rack-mountable - SATA 6Gb Amazon UK 203.83 OFF (WAS 2259) [LINK] These Offers are Checked Daily

Synology RS2423RP+ 10GbE 12-Bay NAS It is reasonable to say that when it comes to having a huge storage array, competent hardware and business class software, that the Synology RS2421RP+ does deliver on a number of its promises. Indeed, despite the huge similarity in internal hardware between the RS2421RP+ and other RELATIVELY recent rackmount releases in 2024, the RS2423RP+ manages to still stand out with its unparalleled level of storage against the majority of solutions in the Synology portfolio. The price tag, edging closer to a number of Xeon powered solutions, may seem a touch high for some and given the difference between this 16-bay and the £1200+ 12-bay being relatively small – that price tag does seem a tad overly ambitious. That said, much like other rackstation NAS solutions of late, the jump from Intel Atom C3538 to embedded Ryzen V1780B was long overdue and although may seem fairly predictable and pedestrian now in, still remains a firm favourite. If the software and services of Synology Diskstation Manager appeal to you, you need storage in the hundreds of terabytes and you need a solution that is both scalable and centralised, you would be hard pushed to find a better solution from Synology right now without spending £5,000-10,000 without drives. Then, of course, there is the fact that the latest 2024 generation of rackmount NAS in the Plus series seem to arrive with 10GbE as standard (from this system upwards!) – whilst still also providing the PCIe Gen 3×8 slot for further upgrades.

DEAL WATCH – Is It On Offer Right Now? These Offers are Checked Daily

Hot Tips when you Buy a NAS this Black Friday 2024

In order for you to get the very best NAS deals this Black Friday, here are some hot tips that I have personally used for the last few years to get the very best deals.

Amazon Warehouse Deals are 20% lower

For those that aren’t aware, Amazon has a whole section of their website that is dedicated to pre-owned and opened items. This includes both NAS, hard drives, SSD and more for your storage. During Amazon Black Friday 2024, the discount on these broken-seal items will be increased by an additional 20% and for those looking for an insane bargain, this will be irresistible.

Another tip when buying NAS or Hard Drives from Amazon Warehouse is that although (as they are broken seal/used/returned items) they have a shorter warranty from Amazon, you will almost certainly be able to claim the FULL warranty coverage from Synology, QNAP, WD or Seagate. They just want your serial number and a receipt of purchase – this will not state the amazon reduced warranty.

Amazon Warehouse for different countries can be found below:

Amazon Warehouse USA

Amazon Warehouse UK

Amazon Warehouse Germany

Latest Deals Update and Notifications

If you want to make sure you see the LATEST Black Friday deals for NAS (as new ones are added every hour) then I would recommend checking the official Amazon Prime page regularly. It will also include the very latest Lightning Deals too

US Amazon – Amazon Deals Page

UK Amazon – Amazon Deals Page

Amazon Prime for FREE

The prices listed on Amazon for NAS during the Black Friday event are only available to Prime members. If you are not a member, don’t worry, as you can use the 30-Day free trial to sign up for a Prime, or just pay for 1 month of Prime as a student and get it at 50% off. Then after you finish your purchase, you can cancel your subscription. The other bonus of this is that you will qualify for fast, next day delivery for free. I would recommend however that you do not cancel your subscription until you have received your order and tested your item.

As then you will still be able to take advantage of the fast and free return policy extended to Prime members. This is especially useful when buying NAS Hard Drives and you are worried about broken drives!

Improved Delivery on your NAS Black Friday Deal

It is a well-known fact that Amazon Prime membership includes free next day delivery and Amazon has even upped the stakes by stating that they will be providing the fastest-ever Black Friday delivery of just 14 minutes between the cart and the courier, last year we saw and heard numerous examples of delivery issues with Black Friday deals, adding 2-3 days on supposed next-day shipping.

If any of your Amazon Prime delivery dates are not the 24 hours turn around that they promise, then definitely complain to Amazon after you receive your goods (not before) as they will almost certainly have a deluge of customer enquiries after Black Friday 2024 and  in an effort to conclude the matter, you might get an additional discount, a gift vouchers or more. Currently, the trending ‘gesture of goodwill’ gift is a free month of Prime membership.

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In today’s digital world, network-attached storage (NAS) devices like Synology have become essential for home and business users alike. These devices store everything from personal photos and files to essential business data, making them a prime target for cyber threats. Recently, several zero-day vulnerabilities in Synology NAS products were discovered, posing significant risks for users if not addressed promptly. This article breaks down these vulnerabilities and provides actionable steps to help you secure your Synology NAS and keep your data safe.

Understanding the Recent Synology NAS Vulnerabilities

A zero-day vulnerability refers to a security flaw that is exploited before the vendor has a chance to release a fix. Hackers can take advantage of these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access, install ransomware, or steal data. Synology’s recent vulnerabilities affect a variety of popular applications and services, including Synology Photos, Replication Service, Drive Server, and the DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system. Here’s a closer look at the risks in each of these areas:

1. Synology Photos Vulnerability

Synology Photos is widely used to store and share photos. The recent vulnerability exposed a zero-day attack vector, meaning that hackers could access your Synology Photos files if the device was accessible online through open ports. Hackers could potentially inject malicious code, encrypt files, or steal sensitive images.

Solution: To protect your data, update Synology Photos to the latest version, and avoid exposing it to the internet via open ports. Instead, use a VPN for secure remote access.

2. Replication Service Risks

The Replication Service feature in Synology NAS allows users to create backup snapshots on remote devices, adding an extra layer of data redundancy. However, vulnerabilities in this service can create entry points for attackers if ports are left open or the NAS is directly accessible over the internet. If exploited, an attacker could intercept data during replication, potentially leading to data theft or tampering.

Solution: Ensure you’re using the latest DSM update, which includes a patch for replication service vulnerabilities. For enhanced security, use a VPN or other secure method instead of open ports for replication tasks.

3. Synology Drive Server Vulnerabilities

Synology Drive serves as an alternative to services like Dropbox, providing synchronization and backup for files across multiple devices. A recent flaw in Drive Server may allow hackers to hijack active sessions or inject SQL code, especially when the NAS device is exposed to the internet. While this vulnerability is marked as less severe, it still poses risks in shared networks where unauthorized access could compromise session integrity.

Solution: Keep Synology Drive updated, and avoid leaving it directly accessible on the web. Protect your network with secure configurations and antivirus software to minimize exposure.

4. DSM Operating System (DiskStation Manager) Weaknesses

The DSM operating system is at the core of every Synology NAS. Vulnerabilities in DSM (especially versions 7.1 and earlier) leave NAS devices open to zero-day exploits. If hackers discover an open port on your device, they can launch attacks to encrypt, steal, or manipulate your data.

Solution: Synology has released patches for DSM 7.2 to address these issues. Update to DSM 7.2 if possible, and apply the latest patches as soon as they’re available. To protect DSM, avoid open ports and always use VPNs or firewalls.

Steps to Secure Your Synology NAS

With these vulnerabilities in mind, here are the best practices for securing your Synology NAS and protecting it from future threats:

1. Use a VPN for Remote Access

• Instead of exposing your NAS to the internet with open ports, use a VPN service like Tailscale to create a secure private network. This method will keep your NAS hidden from external scans and prevent unauthorized access.

2. Enable Firewalls and Restrict IP Access

• Configure your NAS firewall to only allow access from specific IP addresses. You can also set up regional restrictions to only allow connections from your country, adding an extra layer of protection.

3. Change Default Ports and Update Regularly

• Changing the default ports for services can deter hackers who rely on scanning common ports. Also, keep your DSM, Synology apps, and all NAS software up-to-date, as patches are released to fix vulnerabilities.

4. Secure Synology QuickConnect

• QuickConnect allows remote access to your NAS without a VPN but can be a vulnerability. Use a complex, unique username to make unauthorized access harder. Avoid using any dictionary words in your QuickConnect ID.

5. Monitor for Suspicious Activity

• Enable activity logs on your Synology NAS to monitor who’s accessing it and from where. Regularly review these logs for any suspicious IP addresses or login attempts.

What’s Next? Staying Vigilant Against Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerabilities are a constant risk, especially with internet-connected devices. While vendors like Synology work hard to release patches quickly, there’s always a window of opportunity for hackers. To stay ahead of these threats, make cybersecurity a regular part of your routine by keeping all software updated, using VPNs, and configuring network settings securely.

Final Thoughts

Your Synology NAS is a powerful tool, but like any connected device, it requires proper security measures to stay safe. By following these best practices, you can protect your NAS from unauthorized access and minimize the risks posed by zero-day vulnerabilities. If you’re unsure about any of the steps, Synology’s support and resources are available to help guide you through setting up a secure configuration.

Stay proactive and secure—because with data security, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

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UPDATE – The UniFi UNAS Pro NAS is now available and can be found HERE

The UniFi UNAS Pro is Ubiquiti’s first major leap into the NAS (Network Attached Storage) market, building on the success of their networking hardware and ecosystem. This rackmount NAS aims to provide a cost-effective, streamlined option, especially for those who are already invested in the UniFi product ecosystem. But is this device the right choice for your storage needs? In this detailed review, we’ll explore the pros and cons of the UniFi UNAS Pro to help you decide.

Pros of the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS

1. Competitive Pricing

One of the most remarkable selling points of the UniFi UNAS Pro is its price. Retailing at $499, the UNAS Pro offers a 7-bay rackmount NAS, which is significantly more affordable than many competing NAS devices with similar hardware capabilities. For this price, you get a quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 processor, 8GB of DDR4 memory, and a built-in 10GbE networking port alongside a 1GbE port, without the need for additional licenses. In comparison, similar rackmount NAS devices from brands like Synology and QNAP are typically priced closer to $800 or even $1,000. For example, a comparable system like the QNAP TS-832PX often costs around $900 but comes with similar performance in terms of storage and connectivity options. The value proposition is undeniable, especially when you factor in that UniFi’s NAS software comes with no extra costs for features like snapshot management or backups. For small businesses or home users looking for high-capacity storage at a low price, the UniFi UNAS Pro is a solid choice.

2. Ease of Use

Ubiquiti has a long-standing reputation for designing user-friendly products, and the UNAS Pro is no exception. The NAS system comes with an intuitive user interface that’s reminiscent of UniFi’s networking equipment management software, making it easy for existing UniFi users to get up and running quickly. The interface, whether accessed via the web or through UniFi’s mobile app, offers a clean, straightforward experience.

The mobile app, which supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, allows you to monitor and manage the NAS on the go. This functionality is particularly useful for small businesses where IT support might not always be readily available. Additionally, the built-in LCD panel on the front of the device allows for on-the-spot diagnostics and control without needing to access the web interface, offering a more hands-on approach to managing your NAS.

3. Offline Setup Capability

One standout feature of the UniFi UNAS Pro is its ability to be set up and managed offline. Many NAS systems require users to create an online account to access core features or manage the device, but with the UNAS Pro, you can set up local credentials and manage the device without ever needing to connect to the cloud. This means you can retain complete control over your data and avoid sharing anything with external services, which is an attractive option for users who prioritize privacy. Though you will miss out on certain remote access features without a UniFi cloud account, this offline setup capability is ideal for environments where internet access may be unreliable or for users who prefer to keep their storage network air-gapped from the wider web.

Keep in mind however that setting the device up without a UI.com / UniFi account will limit some of the remote access and additional security verification features of the UNAS Pro.

4. Modular Updates

UniFi has implemented a modular update system that makes software maintenance more flexible and customizable. Rather than requiring full system reboots or blanket updates that affect every part of the NAS at once, the UNAS Pro allows users to schedule and manage individual updates for the NAS OS and each of its applications. You can select between stable updates or more cutting-edge early access updates for those who prefer to stay on the forefront of new features. This update system ensures that you can keep critical parts of your system updated while minimizing disruptions to services. For example, you might set security updates to apply immediately while delaying other updates until a convenient time. For a NAS that’s designed to run continuously, this granular control is a valuable feature.

5. Solid Core Features

For its first foray into the NAS market, UniFi has done an excellent job at providing all the core features users expect from a modern NAS. The UNAS Pro excels in basic NAS functionality, such as file storage, folder creation, and permission management. Its a very straight forward system to understand and use, as well as a very responsive GUI (especially for the internal hardware it has being so modest). Whether backing up to another NAS or a cloud service, browsing files/folders on the fly, managing active shares quickly – the process is straightforward and reliable.

RAID support is available out of the box, allowing users to configure their drives for performance, redundancy, or a balance of both. While the hardware might not be top-tier, UniFi has ensured that its software nails down the fundamentals, providing reliable performance for small businesses and home users.

6. 10GbE Connectivity

At this price point, the inclusion of a 10GbE networking port is a significant advantage. Many NAS devices in this price range only include 1GbE or, at best, 2.5GbE networking. The 10GbE port on the UniFi UNAS Pro enables much faster data transfer rates, particularly for users dealing with large file transfers such as video production teams, graphic designers, or those needing to back up multiple systems simultaneously. For small businesses that need faster network throughput without breaking the bank, the UNAS Pro is an excellent option.

7. Seamless UniFi Ecosystem Integration

The UniFi UNAS Pro integrates seamlessly with the broader UniFi product ecosystem. If you’re already using UniFi routers, switches, or access points, the UNAS Pro can be managed alongside these devices through the same UniFi controller interface.

This makes it easy to monitor and manage all your network infrastructure from a single dashboard. For businesses already invested in UniFi, this integration adds significant value and simplifies network management.

8. Very Easy Snapshot and Backup Management

The UNAS Pro’s snapshot management is another highlight. It allows for easy setup and quick recovery of snapshots, making it a powerful tool for backing up and restoring data.

Whether you’re scheduling automatic snapshots or manually backing up your most important files, the system is responsive and reliable. Data can also be backed up to a cloud service like Google Drive, adding flexibility to your data management strategy.

Cons of the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS

1. Modest Hardware Specifications

Despite its many strengths, the UniFi UNAS Pro’s hardware can feel somewhat underwhelming, especially for more demanding users. The device is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 processor, which is capable but not nearly as powerful as the Intel or AMD x86 processors found in higher-end NAS devices.

Specification	Details
Brand	UniFi (from Ubiquiti)
Model	UniFi UNAS Professional Rackmount NAS
Dimensions	442.4 x 325 x 43.7 mm (17.4 x 12.8 x 1.7 inches)
Weight	Without Rackmount Brackets: 5.11 kg (11.27 lb)
	With Rackmount Brackets: 5.20 kg (11.46 lb)
Enclosure Characteristics	SGCC Steel
Processor	Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A57 at 1.7 GHz
System Memory	8GB DDR4
On-Board Flash Storage	SPI NOR 32 MB, USB Flash 8 GB
Power Supply	200W Lipet Internal
Max. Power Consumption	160W
Max. Power Budget for Drives	135W
Power Method	(1) Universal AC Input
	(1) RPS DC Input
Power Supply	100-240VAC, 50/60 Hz, 2A
Networking Interfaces	(1) 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 Ethernet
	(1) 1/10 Gbps SFP+ Ethernet
Management Interface	Ethernet In-Band Management
ESD/EMP Protection	Air: ±12kV, Contact: ±8kV
Operating Temperature	-5 to 40° C (23 to 104° F)
Operating Humidity	5 – 95% Non-condensing
LED Indicators	System: (1) Power, Blue/White

While the ARM processor is energy-efficient and suitable for basic tasks like file storage, it lacks the muscle required for more demanding workloads like virtualization, media transcoding, or running complex applications.

For users who need to perform CPU-intensive tasks or run multiple concurrent operations, the ARM architecture could be a limiting factor. Although it’s understandable that UniFi opted for ARM to keep costs down, this choice might alienate users looking for a high-performance solution.

2. Limited Expandability

One of the most significant downsides of the UniFi UNAS Pro is its lack of expandability. While the 7-bay design offers substantial storage out of the box, there are no options for expanding the system beyond that. The device lacks PCIe slots for adding features like SSD caching, additional networking interfaces, or other hardware upgrades. Additionally, the 8GB of DDR4 RAM is non-upgradable, which means users are stuck with the default memory capacity—limiting the NAS’s potential to handle more intensive applications or larger numbers of users.

This lack of scalability could be a dealbreaker for businesses or IT professionals who expect their storage needs to grow over time and want a system that can grow with them.

3. Single Storage Pool

Unlike more advanced NAS systems that allow users to create multiple storage pools, the UniFi UNAS Pro is limited to a single storage pool. This limitation could be problematic for users who want to segregate different types of data or use different storage media, such as SSDs for high-speed access and HDDs for bulk storage. While the system does allow for RAID configurations, the lack of flexibility in storage pool management could be a downside for more advanced users who need granular control over their storage environments.

4. No Redundant Power Supply

For businesses that require constant uptime, the lack of a redundant power supply on the UniFi UNAS Pro is a significant shortcoming. While the device does support an external uninterruptible power supply (UPS), it lacks the built-in redundancy that is common in many higher-end NAS systems. Redundant power supplies are critical in ensuring that hardware failures don’t lead to extended downtime. Without this feature, the UNAS Pro may not be suitable for mission-critical environments where uptime is a priority.

5. Lack of UniFi Protect Support

A surprising omission in the UniFi UNAS Pro is its lack of support for UniFi Protect, UniFi’s popular video surveillance platform. UniFi Protect is available on other UniFi hardware such as the Dream Machine and UNVR systems, but it cannot be installed on the UNAS Pro. This is a missed opportunity, especially for users who might want to centralize their storage and surveillance needs on a single device. While future software updates may address this, the current lack of Protect support limits the device’s versatility, particularly for small businesses or homeowners looking to consolidate network and surveillance management.

6. Absence of Popular NAS Apps and Virtualization

Compared to more established NAS solutions like QNAP or Synology, the UniFi UNAS Pro falls short when it comes to app availability. There’s no support for popular applications like Plex or Docker, which limits its utility for users who want to run media servers, manage smart home devices, or deploy containerized applications. This absence is particularly noticeable when compared to NAS solutions from other brands that have built extensive app ecosystems over many years. Additionally, the lack of virtualization support makes the UNAS Pro less appealing for businesses that need to run virtual machines or isolated environments for development and testing. While this might not matter to users looking for simple storage solutions, it’s a glaring omission for power users.

While the UniFi UNAS Pro covers the basics well, it lacks many of the advanced features that have become standard in more mature NAS systems. There’s no support for containerization, virtual environments, or advanced SaaS integrations like Google Workspace or Office 365. These high-end features are often essential for businesses with complex workflows or larger teams. The absence of these capabilities makes the UNAS Pro less competitive for users who need more than basic file storage and backups.

7. Limited OS Client Tools and File Syncing

Although the UNAS Pro offers a web interface and easy-to-use file sharing features, it lacks the more sophisticated client tools available on competing NAS platforms. For instance, Synology Drive and QNAP QSync offer robust client tools that allow users to sync files across multiple devices or manage their NAS more comprehensively from their desktop, without any need to engage with the system dashboard or the NAS GUI itself – with all file synchronization happening in the background whilst they only interact with their native OS file manager. By contrast, the UniFi UNAS Pro’s file syncing tools are fairly limited and although mapping via SMB and similar is possible, there is little to no live sync tools at launch, which could be frustrating for users looking for more advanced file management capabilities. I really think this is something that UniFi will remedy in time, but at least right now, this is absent to the same degree as their new NAS competitors.

Should You Buy the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS?

The UniFi UNAS Pro is a compelling entry into the NAS market, offering excellent value for money, ease of use, and seamless integration with the UniFi ecosystem. For users looking for a simple, reliable NAS solution that can handle basic storage tasks and backups, the UNAS Pro is a great option, particularly at its competitive price point of $499. However, the device’s limitations in hardware scalability, application support, and advanced features mean that it may not be the best choice for power users or businesses with more complex needs – at least at launch. If you’re already invested in UniFi’s ecosystem and only need a NAS for fundamental storage and backups, the UNAS Pro is a solid choice. But for users seeking greater flexibility, more advanced features, or the ability to scale their storage, other NAS systems from QNAP or Synology may be a better fit.

I feel like a bit of a broken record in this review, and I keep repeating the same two words in conjunction with the UniFi UNAS Pro—fundamentals and consistency! It’s pretty clear that UniFi has prioritized the need for this system to perfectly complement their existing UniFi ecosystem and make it a true part of their hardware portfolio. In doing so, it has resulted in them focusing considerably on the fundamental storage requirements of a NAS system and making sure that these are as good as they possibly can be out of the gate. To this end, I would say that UniFi has unquestionably succeeded. The cracks in the surface begin once you start comparing this system with other offerings in the market right now—which is inevitably what users are going to do and have been doing since the first indications of a UniFi NAS system were being rumored. It may seem tremendously unfair to compare the newly released UniFi NAS with solutions from vendors that have had more than 20 years of experience in this field, but for a business that wants to fully detach themselves from the cloud and wants true user-friendly but highly featured control of their network operations, comparison is inevitable! The UniFi UNAS Pro is an excellent choice for users seeking a budget-friendly, easy-to-use NAS solution with solid core features and strong integration into the UniFi ecosystem. However, for those needing more advanced capabilities or future-proof scalability, it may be worth exploring other options in the NAS market.

BUILD QUALITY - 10/10

HARDWARE - 7/10

PERFORMANCE - 7/10

PRICE - 9/10

VALUE - 8/10

8.2

PROS

Nails down the fundamentals of NAS Storage very well
Easy to use GUI and well suited in the UniFi Ecosystem/UX
Complete Offline Use is supported
Use of a UI account is NOT compulsory
Excellently deployed Snapshot Features
10GbE out-the-box
Open HDD Compatibility, but also 1st party options too
Backup and Restoration Options Nailed down perfectly
Very power efficient and CPU/, Memory utilization rarely high
Compact, Quite and well designed chassis
The LCD controls are completely \'different level\' compared to other brands in the market
Promised competitive pricing
FAST deployment (3-5mins tops)
Reactive Storage expandability and easy-to-understand storage failover options
Mobile app deployment is intuitive/fast
Feels stable, secure and reliable at all times
Performance is respectable (considering SATA Bay count and CPU) but also sustained performance is very good
Single screen dashboard is clear and intuitive
Ditto for the native file explorer

CONS

7 Bays is a bit unusual, plus feels like the existing UNVR with different firmware
Additional App installation (eg. \'Protect\') not currently supported. So no container support for 3rd party apps
Network Controls are limited
Works at it\'s best in an existing UniFi managed network, feels a little limited in \'standalone\'
Multiple storage pools not supported (nor is RAID 0)
Lack of Scheduled On/Off
Lack of redundant PSU
Only 1 10Gb port and 1x 1GbE, no USBs for expanded storage or an expansion

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For those that have been a pinch concerned fo late that Synology was starting to move out of the Intel-powered home NAS market, there has seemingly been something of a flicker of good news appearing inadvertently on the official Synology Download pages. Eagle-eyed Reddit User Gummibando managed to spot that a new DSM system firmware image appeared very briefly, before it’s removal shortly after it was shared online. Namely ‘BSM_BST170-8T_65371.pat ‘ – which reveals that Synology have a new Beestation model (denoted by the BSM_BST model ID) that, upon even further digging into the official pages, revealed that alongside this new model IS, that a newly specced out Beestation model in 8TB is coming at some point in the future. So, let’s discuss these findings, what else we have learned about the BST170, and what else we can surmise from the surrounding clues! Let’s go.

What Do We Know about the Synology BST170-8T NAS?

So, as mentioned, the first big clue was the appearance of the ‘BSM_BST170-8T_65371.pat’ firmware. Synology has very model specific firmware patches for it’s system OS downloads, and these are generally named by model.pat distinctions – and cannot be used on a different/other-named device, even if they are similar in architecture (eg DS224+ and DS423+ are very similar, but both have very distinct firmware downloads). HOWEVER, this is not actually the earliest example of this new BeeStation BST170-8T assets being spotted on the official Synology pages.

Something that early Synology BeeStation users already know about is that BSM (BeeStation Manager, the OS of the BeeStation system) is actually built on the same BTRFS bones and structure of DSM. One of the clearest examples of that is if you open up a Synology BST firmware with an editor, you spot that it includes BSM_modified versions of popular Synology Applications. Luckily, all of these individual beestation-specific versions of applications are on the download resource pages too (likely as a means for troubleshooting, repair or reinitialization if needed). Digging into the ‘Hyper Backup’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Synology Photos’ directories all reveal that there are additional versions of the applications for BSM Systems.

You heard me right, ‘versions’ – plural. Wheres previously there was only a BSM RTD1619b or ARMv8 version of each (the BST150-4T original Beestation uses a Realtek RTD1619b Quad Core Processor), now there is an additional x86 version available alongside it. Additionally, there is a few specific versions that list the RTD1619b version next to a version labels ‘GeminiLake’.

This is very important, as Gemini Lake is an Intel Product family of processors, and one that Synolgoy is very, VERY familiar with! This is because Synology has featured this processor on several prominent solutions in their portfolio over the years (including the DS920+, DS7420+, DS224+ and DS423+, to name but a few). Given Synology deep, deep investigation into this processor and how to get the very most out of it that they can – you can see why they would be opting for this processor again,

Additionally, although we have no clear indication on whether Synology will be improving the hardware architecture of the original Beestation 4T beyond the CPU choice mentioned, it is worth touching on that Synology has NEVER put a modern x86 architecture CPU in a 1 Bay solution. I cannot see why they would opt to put in a CPU that is considerably more powerful, capable and feature rich in a new 8TB Beestation solution, unless they plan for this system to be able to do more than the lower access requirements that the BST150-4T/Beestation currently can handle. I will cover this more in the ‘to be confirmed’ section in a moment, but I do think we have acknowledge that this system is almost certainly more than just ‘more of the same, but with 8TB’.

And which Intel Gemini Lake CPU will it be? Well, realistically, it will be the J4125, a quad core, PCIe Gen2, 2.0Ghz CPU that can be burst upto 2.7Ghz when needed. It also features Integrated GFX and has an impressively low TDP (which is ideal for a 24×7 server system). However, if it IS the J4125, it is inevitable that criticism will be made that this CPU is an Q1 2020 released processor, and given that we are almost at the end of 2024, that is quite far from Intl’s original production cycle. There is the other Gemini Lake processor in the Synology family, the J4025 – a dual core version with similar specs as the J4125 – but Synology haven’t used this CPU since spring 2020 and I am not even sure if this can even be obtained at production any more!

Of course, the intended audience for the Synology BeeStation device(s) is not the hardcore enthusiast, it is not the kind of person (puts hand up) that checks this deep into the CPU! This is designed for those that want an easy to deploy, easy to use and ‘setup and forget’ backup solution – which is PRECISELY what the BeeStation series is about! So, it could be argued that the CPU they choose to use is irrelevant, as long as IT WORKS!

Additionally, Synology spent way, way too much time on the BSM / Beestation manage software to lock it in on just the BST150-4T. It was inevitable that they were going to expand this series, and the hope is that this new BST170-8T is going to address/resolve 3 of the biggest criticisms of the previous Beestation system. Namely, System Performance, Redundancy and Additional Applications.

What Can We CONFIDENTLY ASSUME About the Synology BST170-8T NAS? (TBC!)

Important – From this point onwards, everything I am covering is based on informed guesses and 95% confirmations based on how the band tends to operate! So, treat with a suitable pinch of salt! I am pretty confident on it all (with some of it confirming statements made to me earlier this year, but as I cannot directly attribute them – I want to slap this disclaimer here!

First things’ first – that 8TB storage. We KNOW that this is going to be an 8TB storage device, and that Synology are definitely going to bundle this device with their own storage media drives (likely HAT3300/HAT3310 PLUS series media, but too early to be 100% sure). However, 3 questions still remain:

• Will this be a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS Device (AKA RAID Ready)?
• Does 8TB mean 1x 8TB, 2x 4TB (RAID0) or 2x 8TB (RAID1)?
• HDD or SSD?

Tackling that first point, this will almost certainly be a dual disk redundancy device. It was one of the most common criticisms of the original BST150-4T by its absense, as not only did it mean that you had no ‘drive failure safety net’, but also a single mechanical HDD is TERRIBLE to run a busy operating system from! Leading to system hanging in busy periods. Even with an Intel x86 CPU under the bonnet, the IO on a single mechanical HDD for a sitting operating system is poor – so dual disk architecture would resolve this! Additionally, it’s pretty clear that the BST170-8T is going to have Synolgoy HDD media inside, will be locked to those drive and almost certainly not going to support 3rd party drive use without invalidating the hardware/software support and warranty that Synology provide. This is BSM and not DSM – which supports a lot more 3rd party application use, storage media compatibility and flexibility. That said, the price has been very reasonable for the Synology HAT3300 in 2024 – the 2, 4, 6 and now 8TB are all competitively priced vs both the Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red NAS HDDs:

The point around storage is harder to nail down. On the face of it, I DO think Synology will be providing 8TB storage one way or the other, but it comes down to whether Synology would be happy to class a system as 8TB, if the reality is that most users with a storage system that has 2x4TB HDDs would immediately choose a mirror/RAID 1. Again, even if you only look at this from a novice or supreme entry-level users – 2 Bay systems in a mirror style redundancy is very, very common! So, although my gut tells me it will be 2x4TB, it wouldn’t surprise me if Synology want to make a bigger impact and opt for 2x 8TB. They DO have a HAT3300-8TB drive in their media portfolio – so never say never! Oh and regarding SSDs – surely not! Aside from the cost of including an 8TB SSD (even in SATA 2.5″, or 2x 4TB), that would be an odd mix with that rather pedestrian CPU. Perhaps as a flash-based model that has a smaller profile, but Synology have been very hands-off in the smaller consumer/enthusiast desktop flash NAS space in 2024, so it’s pretty slim chances – I WANT TO BE PROVEN WRONG, PLEASE!

What About the  Synology DS224+ and DS423+ NAS?

Its a good question (he said, arrogantly, after typing the previous sentence himself!). If Synolgoy WAS to roll out an Intel Powered 2 Bay in the Beestation series (when the original BeeStation was seemingly a replacement for the J, PLAY and SE series), where does that leave the DS224+?  Until we know the CONFIRMED specifications of the BST170-8T, we cannot make assumptions. However I would say that if my informed guesses are correct about this being an Intel J4125 powered 2 Bay NAS solution – that is VERY similar to the last 2-3 DS2xx+ Diskstation models! So much so that it wouldn’t;t surprise me if this was ultimately being done to phase out the DS2xx+ series down, and then serve as the natural stepping point behind the DS7xx+ series. 0% Confirmation on this! But I can see the logic that might back that up – time will tell.

When will the Synology BST170-8T BeeStation NAS Be Released and the Price?

Given we have so, so little information to go in, it’s waaaaaaaay too early to make any kind of judgment on this. The original BST150-4T is still priced incredibly well at a $199 without your tax. So, in efforts to remain competitive, I can totally see them effectively doubling the 4TB model price for this 8TB model (i.e $399+). Depending on whether this is a 2x 4TB, or the CPU and ultimately how much BSM can do on it, I can see this being very appealing! But this is all conjecture! Regarding release, given the number of applications and services in the Download section that are ‘BSM’ ready that are being worked on, that would indicate that release is not looking too far away. Certainly before the end of 2024, but again, will have to wait and see!

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For those that have been a pinch concerned fo late that Synology was starting to move out of the Intel-powered home NAS market, there has seemingly been something of a flicker of good news appearing inadvertently on the official Synology Download pages. Eagle-eyed Reddit User Gummibando managed to spot that a new DSM system firmware image appeared very briefly, before it’s removal shortly after it was shared online. Namely ‘BSM_BST170-8T_65371.pat ‘ – which reveals that Synology have a new Beestation model (denoted by the BSM_BST model ID) that, upon even further digging into the official pages, revealed that alongside this new model IS, that a newly specced out Beestation model in 8TB is coming at some point in the future. So, let’s discuss these findings, what else we have learned about the BST170, and what else we can surmise from the surrounding clues! Let’s go.

What Do We Know about the Synology BST170-8T NAS?

So, as mentioned, the first big clue was the appearance of the ‘BSM_BST170-8T_65371.pat’ firmware. Synology has very model specific firmware patches for it’s system OS downloads, and these are generally named by model.pat distinctions – and cannot be used on a different/other-named device, even if they are similar in architecture (eg DS224+ and DS423+ are very similar, but both have very distinct firmware downloads). HOWEVER, this is not actually the earliest example of this new BeeStation BST170-8T assets being spotted on the official Synology pages.

Something that early Synology BeeStation users already know about is that BSM (BeeStation Manager, the OS of the BeeStation system) is actually built on the same BTRFS bones and structure of DSM. One of the clearest examples of that is if you open up a Synology BST firmware with an editor, you spot that it includes BSM_modified versions of popular Synology Applications. Luckily, all of these individual beestation-specific versions of applications are on the download resource pages too (likely as a means for troubleshooting, repair or reinitialization if needed). Digging into the ‘Hyper Backup’, ‘Drive’ and ‘Synology Photos’ directories all reveal that there are additional versions of the applications for BSM Systems.

You heard me right, ‘versions’ – plural. Wheres previously there was only a BSM RTD1619b or ARMv8 version of each (the BST150-4T original Beestation uses a Realtek RTD1619b Quad Core Processor), now there is an additional x86 version available alongside it. Additionally, there is a few specific versions that list the RTD1619b version next to a version labels ‘GeminiLake’.

This is very important, as Gemini Lake is an Intel Product family of processors, and one that Synolgoy is very, VERY familiar with! This is because Synology has featured this processor on several prominent solutions in their portfolio over the years (including the DS920+, DS7420+, DS224+ and DS423+, to name but a few). Given Synology deep, deep investigation into this processor and how to get the very most out of it that they can – you can see why they would be opting for this processor again,

Additionally, although we have no clear indication on whether Synology will be improving the hardware architecture of the original Beestation 4T beyond the CPU choice mentioned, it is worth touching on that Synology has NEVER put a modern x86 architecture CPU in a 1 Bay solution. I cannot see why they would opt to put in a CPU that is considerably more powerful, capable and feature rich in a new 8TB Beestation solution, unless they plan for this system to be able to do more than the lower access requirements that the BST150-4T/Beestation currently can handle. I will cover this more in the ‘to be confirmed’ section in a moment, but I do think we have acknowledge that this system is almost certainly more than just ‘more of the same, but with 8TB’.

And which Intel Gemini Lake CPU will it be? Well, realistically, it will be the J4125, a quad core, PCIe Gen2, 2.0Ghz CPU that can be burst upto 2.7Ghz when needed. It also features Integrated GFX and has an impressively low TDP (which is ideal for a 24×7 server system). However, if it IS the J4125, it is inevitable that criticism will be made that this CPU is an Q1 2020 released processor, and given that we are almost at the end of 2024, that is quite far from Intl’s original production cycle. There is the other Gemini Lake processor in the Synology family, the J4025 – a dual core version with similar specs as the J4125 – but Synology haven’t used this CPU since spring 2020 and I am not even sure if this can even be obtained at production any more!

Of course, the intended audience for the Synology BeeStation device(s) is not the hardcore enthusiast, it is not the kind of person (puts hand up) that checks this deep into the CPU! This is designed for those that want an easy to deploy, easy to use and ‘setup and forget’ backup solution – which is PRECISELY what the BeeStation series is about! So, it could be argued that the CPU they choose to use is irrelevant, as long as IT WORKS!

Additionally, Synology spent way, way too much time on the BSM / Beestation manage software to lock it in on just the BST150-4T. It was inevitable that they were going to expand this series, and the hope is that this new BST170-8T is going to address/resolve 3 of the biggest criticisms of the previous Beestation system. Namely, System Performance, Redundancy and Additional Applications.

What Can We CONFIDENTLY ASSUME About the Synology BST170-8T NAS? (TBC!)

Important – From this point onwards, everything I am covering is based on informed guesses and 95% confirmations based on how the band tends to operate! So, treat with a suitable pinch of salt! I am pretty confident on it all (with some of it confirming statements made to me earlier this year, but as I cannot directly attribute them – I want to slap this disclaimer here!

First things’ first – that 8TB storage. We KNOW that this is going to be an 8TB storage device, and that Synology are definitely going to bundle this device with their own storage media drives (likely HAT3300/HAT3310 PLUS series media, but too early to be 100% sure). However, 3 questions still remain:

• Will this be a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS Device (AKA RAID Ready)?
• Does 8TB mean 1x 8TB, 2x 4TB (RAID0) or 2x 8TB (RAID1)?
• HDD or SSD?

Tackling that first point, this will almost certainly be a dual disk redundancy device. It was one of the most common criticisms of the original BST150-4T by its absense, as not only did it mean that you had no ‘drive failure safety net’, but also a single mechanical HDD is TERRIBLE to run a busy operating system from! Leading to system hanging in busy periods. Even with an Intel x86 CPU under the bonnet, the IO on a single mechanical HDD for a sitting operating system is poor – so dual disk architecture would resolve this! Additionally, it’s pretty clear that the BST170-8T is going to have Synolgoy HDD media inside, will be locked to those drive and almost certainly not going to support 3rd party drive use without invalidating the hardware/software support and warranty that Synology provide. This is BSM and not DSM – which supports a lot more 3rd party application use, storage media compatibility and flexibility. That said, the price has been very reasonable for the Synology HAT3300 in 2024 – the 2, 4, 6 and now 8TB are all competitively priced vs both the Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red NAS HDDs:

The point around storage is harder to nail down. On the face of it, I DO think Synology will be providing 8TB storage one way or the other, but it comes down to whether Synology would be happy to class a system as 8TB, if the reality is that most users with a storage system that has 2x4TB HDDs would immediately choose a mirror/RAID 1. Again, even if you only look at this from a novice or supreme entry-level users – 2 Bay systems in a mirror style redundancy is very, very common! So, although my gut tells me it will be 2x4TB, it wouldn’t surprise me if Synology want to make a bigger impact and opt for 2x 8TB. They DO have a HAT3300-8TB drive in their media portfolio – so never say never! Oh and regarding SSDs – surely not! Aside from the cost of including an 8TB SSD (even in SATA 2.5″, or 2x 4TB), that would be an odd mix with that rather pedestrian CPU. Perhaps as a flash-based model that has a smaller profile, but Synology have been very hands-off in the smaller consumer/enthusiast desktop flash NAS space in 2024, so it’s pretty slim chances – I WANT TO BE PROVEN WRONG, PLEASE!

What About the  Synology DS224+ and DS423+ NAS?

Its a good question (he said, arrogantly, after typing the previous sentence himself!). If Synolgoy WAS to roll out an Intel Powered 2 Bay in the Beestation series (when the original BeeStation was seemingly a replacement for the J, PLAY and SE series), where does that leave the DS224+?  Until we know the CONFIRMED specifications of the BST170-8T, we cannot make assumptions. However I would say that if my informed guesses are correct about this being an Intel J4125 powered 2 Bay NAS solution – that is VERY similar to the last 2-3 DS2xx+ Diskstation models! So much so that it wouldn’t;t surprise me if this was ultimately being done to phase out the DS2xx+ series down, and then serve as the natural stepping point behind the DS7xx+ series. 0% Confirmation on this! But I can see the logic that might back that up – time will tell.

When will the Synology BST170-8T BeeStation NAS Be Released and the Price?

Given we have so, so little information to go in, it’s waaaaaaaay too early to make any kind of judgment on this. The original BST150-4T is still priced incredibly well at a $199 without your tax. So, in efforts to remain competitive, I can totally see them effectively doubling the 4TB model price for this 8TB model (i.e $399+). Depending on whether this is a 2x 4TB, or the CPU and ultimately how much BSM can do on it, I can see this being very appealing! But this is all conjecture! Regarding release, given the number of applications and services in the Download section that are ‘BSM’ ready that are being worked on, that would indicate that release is not looking too far away. Certainly before the end of 2024, but again, will have to wait and see!

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UPDATE – The UniFi UNAS Pro NAS is now available and can be found HERE

In the world of Network Attached Storage (NAS), Synology has been a dominant player for over two decades, recognized for its extensive range of products, robust features, and seamless user experience. UniFi, by contrast, is a newcomer in the NAS market, having built a reputation for excellence in networking solutions under the umbrella of Ubiquiti. With the recent release of the UniFi UNAS Pro, the company is entering a highly competitive space dominated by established NAS providers like Synology. This article takes an in-depth look at both Synology’s NAS solutions and UniFi’s first NAS system. It compares the two across key aspects such as price, hardware, software, expandability, and company history, offering insights for both casual users and IT professionals considering which NAS system is right for them.

UniFi UNAS Pro vs Synology NAS – Price

When it comes to pricing, Synology and UniFi are positioned at different ends of the spectrum, catering to a wide variety of users with different needs and budgets.

UniFi‘s UNAS Pro, priced at $499, offers a 7-bay rackmount NAS with 10GbE networking capabilities, making it a highly competitive option, particularly for users already embedded in the UniFi ecosystem. This pricing is aggressive for a rackmount system, as most NAS systems with similar features are priced higher. The UNAS Pro is designed to offer an affordable entry point into the world of NAS for small businesses, IT enthusiasts, or existing UniFi users looking to expand their infrastructure with file storage.

By comparison, Synology offers a wide range of NAS devices, starting with affordable 2-bay home systems and scaling up to high-end rackmount systems designed for large enterprises. For example, the Synology DS923+, which retails around $499, provides a 4-bay desktop solution with expandable 10GbE support and an x86 processor, giving it a slight edge in performance over the UNAS Pro for the same price. However, Synology’s rackmount offerings, such as the RS422+, start at $599 for a 4-bay system, and prices quickly rise for larger models with more features and higher-end hardware.

The price difference between these two brands becomes more apparent as you explore Synology’s higher-end options. Their enterprise-grade NAS systems with features like redundant power supplies, dual controllers, and PCIe expansion slots can cost well over $1,000, whereas UniFi’s UNAS Pro remains a single, relatively fixed offering at the lower end of the price range.

In terms of long-term value, UniFi clearly offers a more affordable entry into the NAS market, particularly for users who already use UniFi’s networking products. However, Synology provides a much broader pricing structure, with options that allow users to scale up based on their growing needs—whether for home, SMB, or enterprise use.

Synology vs UniFi NAS – Hardware / Range / Value for Money

The hardware offered by both Synology and UniFi reflects their differing approaches to the NAS market. UniFi’s UNAS Pro is positioned as an affordable 7-bay rackmount solution, with a focus on simplicity and integration into the broader UniFi ecosystem. The UNAS Pro features a quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 processor, 8GB DDR4 memory, and a 10GbE port with an additional 1GbE port. Its hardware is designed to deliver adequate performance for tasks like file storage, backups, and basic networking, but it lacks advanced features like NVMe SSD support or expandable RAM. This makes it a good fit for users who want reliable storage without the need for heavy processing power or extensive scalability.

Synology, on the other hand, offers an extensive range of hardware, from small 2-bay models for personal use to enterprise-grade solutions. Synology’s systems often feature Intel or AMD processors, expandable RAM, and support for NVMe SSD caching. For example, the Synology DS923+ comes with an AMD Ryzen R1600 processor, expandable RAM, and optional 10GbE support, making it more powerful and flexible than the UNAS Pro for users needing higher performance. Additionally, Synology’s rackmount models like the RS422+ offer robust hardware for business environments, with support for redundant power supplies and PCIe slots for expansion.

Where Synology truly shines is in the variety of hardware it offers, allowing users to select devices that suit their exact needs, whether it’s a small 2-bay NAS for personal backups or a large-scale rackmount NAS for a data-heavy business. Synology’s hardware flexibility ensures that users can start small and scale up over time, adding more storage, faster networking, or additional computing power as needed. The comparison below highlights the differences in hardware between UniFi and 1 Synology NAS at a similar price point (DS923+), and another that is similar in hardware (RS422+:

Verdict on Hardware: While the UNAS Pro provides excellent value for its price, especially with its 7-bay capacity, Synology offers a broader and more flexible range of hardware options. Synology’s systems are better suited for users who need scalability, processing power, and more advanced features like NVMe SSD caching and expandable RAM.

UniFi NAS vs Synolgoy NAS – Software Presentation

The software interface of a NAS system is crucial to its usability, and here, the differences between Synology and UniFi are stark. Synology’s DiskStation Manager (DSM) is known for its user-friendly, graphical interface that feels similar to using a desktop operating system. DSM provides users with a desktop-like environment, complete with drag-and-drop functionality, customizable wallpapers, and a taskbar for quick access to applications. This layout makes it easy for both novice and experienced users to navigate the system, install applications, manage files, and perform backups. The interface is intuitive, with large icons and a clean, modern design that encourages exploration and productivity.

In contrast, UniFi’s UNAS OS is designed with a more text-based, data-centric approach. Borrowing from UniFi’s successful networking interfaces, the UNAS OS focuses heavily on analytics and system monitoring, making it ideal for users already familiar with UniFi’s ecosystem. The interface provides detailed insights into system performance, file transfer speeds, and network activity, which are displayed in simple, granular dashboards. While it may not have the graphical polish of Synology’s DSM, the UNAS OS excels in presenting network data and providing tools for IT administrators who prioritize system efficiency over aesthetics.

UniFi’s single-pane design keeps all relevant information within reach, but it lacks the app-based approach that Synology users are accustomed to. Synology’s DSM, on the other hand, organizes features into discrete applications, making it easy to jump between tasks like file management, backup scheduling, and multimedia streaming. Below is a table that summarizes the key differences in software presentation between UniFi and Synology at a glance (bigger chart soon, don’t worry!):

Feature	UNAS OS	DSM 7.2
User Interface Style	Text-based, network analytics	Desktop-like, graphical interface
Customization	Minimal	Quite customizable (wallpaper, layout, shortcuts)
Mobile App Support	Limited	Extensive
Third-Party App Store	No	Yes (Synology Package Center)
Storage Interface	Simplified, easy to use	Comparatively Advanced, easy-to-use

Verdict on Software Presentation: Synology’s DSM clearly offers a more engaging and customizable user experience, while UniFi’s UNAS OS focuses on providing a streamlined, efficient interface for users already familiar with the UniFi ecosystem. Users looking for an intuitive, desktop-like experience will prefer DSM, while those focused on networking performance and integration may find the UNAS OS more suitable.

Synology vs UniFi – Software Security

Security is paramount for NAS systems, as they often store sensitive data and operate in environments where external access is necessary. Both UniFi and Synology offer security features, but they take different approaches based on their respective ecosystems.

Synology DSM offers a full suite of security features, including two-factor authentication (2FA), firewall configuration, and behavioral analysis to monitor suspicious activities. DSM allows users to integrate third-party security tools, such as Google Authenticator or OTP services, providing flexibility for businesses that already use external authentication systems. Additionally, DSM includes SSL certificates and IP blocking, ensuring that only trusted users can access the system. Synology also has an inbuilt security scanner that checks the system periodically (ad hoc if you want too) for potential weaknesses in the system configuration,which can be set to a home or business class standard (custom too).

UniFi’s UNAS Pro integrates security measures more closely tied to the broader UniFi ecosystem. 2FA is also available but typically relies on UniFi’s own authentication services, such as the UniFi Identity App. This may be limiting for users who prefer third-party authentication tools. The UNAS OS benefits from UniFi’s enterprise-grade network security tools, such as IP monitoring and network relay services, which are crucial for maintaining the integrity of the entire network infrastructure. However, its NAS-specific security tools, such as DOS protection and auto-lock, are less extensive than Synology’s.

UniFi’s focus on network-level security makes it ideal for businesses that already use UniFi networking hardware, as the UNAS Pro can integrate seamlessly with UniFi switches and security gateways.

However, Synology’s in-system security tools are more comprehensive, making DSM a better choice for users who prioritize NAS-specific security features. It’s also worth remembering that the majority of remote access security features of the UniFi UNAS Pro are locked into use with he UI.COM / UniFi account system. You cannot use 3rd party 2FA/OTP applications or use 3rd party remote access services like Tailscale or Teamviewer.

That said, BOTH systems provide a regular rotation of security and feature system updates over the years that they will be in operation, so the latest security fixes and improvements that are needed to combat vulnerabilities that appear i nthe wild can be automatically adjusted for. However, UniFi does provide a little something extra with simple modular update control. Synology DOES allow you to install updates on the whole OS and/or individual Apps (or be alerted about them but action when it best suits your needs for a restart), but the UniFi UNAS Pro presents this in a much easier to action single option, that allows for full update control to be more granular for either the OS or the application service(s). It’s no more/less than the synology DSM option, but it is presented a great deal more cleanly.

UniFi NAS OS vs Synology DSM – Software Features

When comparing the software features of Synology and UniFi, it’s clear that Synology has had years to develop a rich, feature-packed operating system, while UniFi‘s UNAS OS is still in its infancy. Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager) is known for its vast ecosystem of first-party and third-party apps, which provide a wide array of functionalities beyond basic file storage.

By contrast, UniFi UNAS OS focuses on core NAS functions, offering fewer features but maintaining tight integration with UniFi’s networking solutions.

Synology DSM is renowned for its wide range of software features that cater to home users, small businesses, and enterprise environments. DSM is designed to be a complete solution, offering robust support for file management, multimedia streaming, backup solutions, virtualization, and containerized applications. There is even support of a 3rd Party App center that can be added in less than a minute to add even further applications and services to your Synology NAS system:

One of the standout features of DSM is its application center, known as the Synology Package Center. Here, users can find hundreds of first-party and third-party apps that can be easily installed to extend the functionality of their NAS. These apps cover a broad spectrum of use cases, including:

• Plex Media Server / Video Station (for now!) / Audio Station / Synology Photos for media streaming to smart TVs and mobile devices.
• Synology Active Backup for High-end license-free backup management across hundreds/thousands of devices
• Hyper Backup to manage domestic backup Operations
• The Office Collaboration Suite for an email manager, user chat facilities, office package and more
• Synology Container Manager / Docker for running containerized applications, which is essential for developers or businesses needing to test software in isolated environments.
• Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), allows users to run multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and DSM Virtual Appliances, on a single NAS.

For businesses, Synology offers Active Backup for Business, a powerful backup solution that supports PCs, physical servers, virtual machines, and even cloud services like Office 365 and Google Workspace. This makes Synology DSM an attractive option for organizations looking for a comprehensive, multi-platform backup solution. DSM also excels in multimedia management. Apps like Synology Photos and Audio Station allow users to organize and access their photos, music, and videos from anywhere. Video Station, though recently phased out in favor of third-party options like Plex, has historically provided an easy-to-use platform for media streaming and management.

For surveillance needs, Synology offers Surveillance Station, which allows users to turn their NAS into a full-fledged NVR (Network Video Recorder), supporting IP cameras from a wide variety of manufacturers. This feature makes Synology NAS systems a compelling choice for businesses or homeowners who need both data storage and security monitoring.

While UniFi UNAS OS lacks the extensive feature set of DSM, it provides essential NAS features for file storage, snapshot management, and backup scheduling. It’s clear that UniFi’s focus is on simplicity and integration with their broader UniFi ecosystem. Drive is the primary app available on UNAS OS, offering basic file storage and sharing capabilities with snapshot and backup support.

Currently, UNAS OS does not support advanced features like Docker, virtual machines, or third-party media server apps such as Plex. This limits its appeal to more advanced users who need the ability to run multiple services or applications from their NAS. However, UniFi’s focus on network-level integration could be seen as a strength for businesses that already use UniFi networking hardware and want a NAS that fits seamlessly into their existing infrastructure.

There’s also potential for future growth. UniFi has a robust history of adding new features to their products post-launch, and it is possible that UNAS OS could see support for containerized applications like Docker or surveillance software such as UniFi Protect in the future. However, currently UniFi has not allowed Protect to be deployable on the UNAS Pro system – however you can use the UNAS Pro as a targetted storage system for your existing UNVR or UDM system. Most of the features of the UniFi UNAS Pro are not presented as ‘applications’ or ‘optional services’, but rather they are backed into the UX of the NAS OS already. Snapshots, Shared Drives, Security management, SMB file/folder management, Encrypted Drives, etc – all of it is in the OS already. That said, it still feels comparatively feature dry vs the Synology NAS pplatform.

I know I seem to be hammering the UniFi’s UNAS OS hard here, but currently it lacks many of the popular/current advanced capabilities that may appeal to users, favouring their simple and integrated experience over a large feature set. For perspective, here is a full list of what is there and what isn’t:

Software / Service	DSM 7.1/7.2/7.2.2	UNAS Pro
Operating System	DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.x	UniFi OS (UNAS-specific OS layer)
User Interface	Highly polished, desktop-like interface, intuitive	Simplified interface, single-pane dashboard, focused on network metrics
Mobile Apps	DS Finder, DS File, DS Cloud, DS Photo, DS Video, and more	UniFi Mobile App (Drive management, Snapshots, Backups)
Virtualization	Virtual Machine Manager (Supports Windows, Linux, and DSM Virtual Appliance)	No virtualization support
Container Support	Docker via Container Manager	No Docker or container support
Surveillance	Surveillance Station (2 free camera licenses, additional paid licenses)	No support for UniFi Protect (at launch)
Multimedia Streaming	Plex, Synology Photos, Video Station, Audio Station	No multimedia apps (no Plex or streaming apps support)
RAID Support	Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, Basic, JBOD	RAID 1, 5 and 10 (with RAID 6 coming soon after launch)
Snapshot Support	Yes (Btrfs for supported models), Advanced Snapshot Replication	Yes (Snapshots with scheduling and backup options)
Cloud Backup	Synology C2, Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive	Google Drive (Limited cloud backup options)
Local Backup Solutions	Hyper Backup, Snapshot Replication	Local NAS backups supported (NAS to NAS)
File Synchronization	Synology Drive (Supports syncing with Windows, macOS, and Linux)	SMB, basic file synchronization with mobile app
Backup for PCs	Active Backup for Business (PCs, Servers, VMs, SaaS, NAS, and Cloud)	Basic backup for Windows, no advanced backup suite
Backup for macOS	Time Machine Support	Time Machine support (via SMB)
External Backup	USB and eSATA Backup	No external backup support
Cloud Integration	Synology Cloud Sync (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)	Google Drive cloud sync only
Security Features	2FA, firewall, SSL certificates, VPN, Active Insight monitoring	2FA, SSL certificates, integration with UniFi Identity for SSO
Encryption	Full-volume encryption, Folder encryption	Full-volume and folder encryption
Multimedia Apps	Synology Photos, Video Station, Audio Station, Plex	No multimedia apps available
Third-Party App Store	Synology Package Center	No third-party app store
Mobile Backup	Synology Drive (For mobile devices)	Basic mobile backup via UniFi Drive
Cloud Sync	C2 Cloud Sync, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive	Google Drive only
Collaboration Tools	Synology Office (Similar to Google Docs, Excel)	No collaboration tools
Virtualization Backup	Active Backup for Business (VMware, Hyper-V)	No virtualization backup
AI-Powered Apps	Synology Photos (AI-based photo organization)	No AI-powered apps
High Availability (HA)	Synology High Availability (for redundancy)	No high availability features
NAS as VPN Server	Yes (VPN Plus Server, supports PPTP, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec)	Yes (VPN integration with UniFi Gateway and Identity Enterprise)
App Virtualization	Docker, DSM Virtual Appliances	No virtualization or Docker support
Remote Access	QuickConnect (secure remote access without complex configuration)	UniFi cloud access (requires UI.com account)
Cloud Applications	Synology Cloud Station	No cloud applications beyond Google Drive sync
Video Editing	No built-in tools, use third-party apps like Plex	No video editing or AI tools
Remote Replication	Snapshot Replication (Supports replication between NAS devices)	NAS-to-NAS backup and remote replication supported
Multi-Version Backups	Hyper Backup (Supports multi-versioned backups)	Yes (multi-versioned backups via Snapshots)
Email Server	Synology MailPlus	No email server functionality
Web Server	Web Station (Supports hosting multiple websites)	No web server support
Music Streaming	Audio Station, Plex	No music streaming or audio apps
Drive Health Monitoring	Disk Health Monitoring (SMART, regular drive checks)	SMART drive monitoring
Antivirus	Synology Antivirus Essential, third-party apps	No antivirus tools available
PCIe Expansion	Yes (for some models, supports 10GbE cards, M.2 SSD cache cards)	No PCIe expansion options
Thunderbolt Support	No Thunderbolt support	No Thunderbolt support
SSD Caching	Yes (supports NVMe and SATA SSD caching on select models)	No SSD caching
ZFS File System	No (Uses EXT4 or Btrfs on supported models)	No ZFS support, BTRFS
Ransomware Protection	Yes (dedicated security updates, Snapshot Replication)	Yes (Snapshots, network security via UniFi Gateway integration)
Browser-based access	Yes (Full access via web browser, similar to desktop)	Yes (Single-pane UI via web browser)
NAS-to-NAS sync	Yes (via Synology Drive and Snapshot Replication)	Yes (Basic NAS-to-NAS sync)
Plex Media Server	Yes (App available in Synology Package Center)	No Plex or multimedia server support
Built-in AI Tools	Synology Photos (AI-powered photo management)	No AI-powered tools

Synology NAS H/W vs UniFi UNAS Pro – Hardware and Storage Expandability

Hardware and storage expandability is a critical factor for users looking to invest in a NAS system, especially for businesses or power users who expect their storage needs to grow over time. In this area, Synology excels, providing a broad range of options that allow users to easily expand their storage capacity and enhance system performance. On the other hand, UniFi’s UNAS Pro offers more limited expandability, focusing instead on offering a compact, all-in-one solution without much room for future upgrades.

Synology NAS systems are designed with scalability in mind. Many of their models, especially in the DS and RS series, allow for storage expansion via external expansion units. For example, the Synology DX517 expansion unit can add up to 5 additional drive bays to models like the DS920+, increasing the total number of drives and overall storage capacity. Similarly, Synology’s rackmount NAS solutions like the RS1221+ can connect to RX418 expansion units, enabling businesses to significantly increase their storage capacity as their data needs grow.

Additionally, Synology’s rackmount models often come with PCIe slots, allowing users to add features such as 10GbE networking, SSD caching, or even NVMe drives for high-speed storage pools. This level of hardware flexibility means that Synology systems can grow alongside a business’s needs, offering features that improve performance and expand storage without requiring a completely new system. For users seeking to maximize performance, Synology also offers support for SSD caching, which can greatly improve read and write speeds by using NVMe SSDs or SATA SSDs to cache frequently accessed data. Models like the DS1621xs+ support dual NVMe M.2 slots for SSD caching, giving users the ability to enhance performance even further without sacrificing drive bays for traditional hard drives.

Beyond the hardware expandability, Synology’s storage management features are equally powerful. Synology’s Hybrid RAID (SHR) technology allows users to mix and match drive sizes, making it easy to upgrade individual drives over time without losing data. SHR automatically optimizes storage space and provides RAID-like redundancy, ensuring data is protected even if drives fail.

In contrast, the UniFi UNAS Pro is designed as a more compact, self-contained unit. The 7-bay capacity offers a solid amount of storage from the outset, especially for SMBs and home users. However, the expandability options are much more limited when compared to Synology. For instance, the UNAS Pro does not support external expansion units, meaning that users are confined to the 7-bay configuration from the start.

Moreover, the UNAS Pro lacks PCIe slots or NVMe support, limiting its ability to be upgraded with features like 10GbE or SSD caching. This is particularly noticeable when comparing the UNAS Pro to Synology models that allow for these kinds of hardware upgrades. While 10GbE is included on the UNAS Pro, its lack of PCIe expandability means users cannot add additional features like dual 10GbE ports or SSD caching to further improve performance. Another limitation of the UNAS Pro is the inability to upgrade the RAM. While 8GB of DDR4 RAM is included, this cannot be expanded, which may be a limiting factor for users who want to run more intensive applications or serve multiple users simultaneously. In comparison, many of Synology’s NAS devices, such as the DS1821+, come with expandable memory, allowing users to increase RAM up to 32GB or more depending on the model.

Overall, UniFi’s UNAS Pro offers sufficient storage capacity for most small businesses and home users, but its lack of expandability makes it a less flexible solution for those who anticipate needing more storage or advanced features in the future.

Key Examples of Synology’s Expandable Hardware Features:

• DX517 Expansion Unit: Adds 5 additional bays to compatible DS series NAS devices.
• PCIe Slots: Found in models like the DS1621+, allowing for 10GbE upgrades, SSD caching, and more.
• NVMe Support: NVMe SSD caching is available in devices like the DS1621xs+, improving I/O performance.

HOWEVER, we also need to factor in that Synology has recently been reducing the number of 3rd party HDDs and SSDs that are listed as ‘compatible’ and ‘supported’ on their product advice pages. The majority of 2024/2025 systems now either list ONLY Synology HDD/SSD media (such as the HAT5300, SAT5210, SNV3410, etc) or list only a handful of storage media from established brands such as Seagate and WD (around 15-18 – out of potentially hundreds), despite them being proven to work successfully. UniFi has it’s own range of storage media drives for their UNAS Pro, UDM and UNVR systems, however they also widely support 3rd party drive utilities.

This would not be an issue in the case of Synology if their own branded storage media was the same price or superior – but the reality is that Synology storage media IS more expensive and in many cases a better, faster and/or larger drive from Seagate/WD is available at the same and/or lower price. This is less true on the entry NAS class of HDDs (eg Seagate Ironwolf vs Synology HAT3300, with only 2-4% difference), but once you look at higher capacity HDDs and more durable HDDs and SSDs, the price difference is kinda crazy:

Synology promotes their solutions are ‘all on one’ solutions and focus all their development towards a single NAS ecosystem, so focusing support, compatibility and operations towards their own media makes sense in a development sense. However, many first time Synology NAS buyers who are scaling up from smaller solutions or migrating away from SAAS/PAAS/Cloud storage in a big way might be unaware of the media storage policy they seem to be persuing. By no means a dealbreaker for many, but something to be aware of!

Synology vs UniFi ANS – Verdict and Conclusion

Choosing between Synology and UniFi NAS systems comes down to evaluating your specific needs, the level of software and hardware expandability you require, and whether you prioritize a more established ecosystem or tighter integration with your networking infrastructure. Both brands offer compelling NAS solutions, but they target different user bases and excel in distinct areas. For users who prioritize software features, scalability, and a broad range of applications, Synology is the clear winner. With over two decades of experience in the NAS market, Synology has fine-tuned its DSM (DiskStation Manager) software to offer an impressive array of first-party and third-party applications. Whether you’re a home user looking for a media server or a business seeking comprehensive backup solutions, Synology DSM provides an extensive feature set that meets almost any need. The rich support for virtualization, containerized apps, and backup tools makes it a top choice for advanced users and businesses with diverse requirements. Synology’s hardware lineup is also far more diverse, with options that cater to everyone from entry-level users to enterprises. Their hardware is expandable, supporting PCIe slots, NVMe caching, and external expansion units, which makes them suitable for users with growing storage needs or demanding performance requirements. Moreover, Synology’s Hybrid RAID (SHR) and flexible storage management tools are ideal for users who need to easily expand their storage without dealing with complex RAID setups. The downside of Synology, however, is its cost. While its hardware is packed with features, it comes at a higher price point, especially as you move up the product range. Additionally, some users have criticized Synology’s recent push to restrict third-party drive compatibility in newer models, which could be a drawback for users looking for more flexibility in their hardware choices.

UniFi’s UNAS Pro series is a newer player in the NAS field but leverages Ubiquiti’s expertise in networking to provide a product that is tightly integrated with the UniFi ecosystem. If you’re already invested in UniFi’s networking gear, adding a UniFi NAS to your setup can make network management and storage integration much simpler. UniFi’s controller-based system allows users to manage their entire network—including their NAS—from a single dashboard, which is a significant convenience for users in SMB environments. The UNAS OS, while still in its early stages, does an admirable job at nailing down the fundamentals of NAS functionality, such as file storage, snapshots, and backups. However, it currently lacks the depth and range of applications found in Synology DSM. This makes UniFi a better choice for users who are looking for simple storage solutions rather than advanced features like Docker, virtual machines, or third-party multimedia apps. When it comes to hardware expandability, UniFi lags behind Synology. The 7-bay UNAS Pro offers a decent starting point for storage, but the lack of PCIe slots, NVMe support, or external expansion units limits its long-term scalability. Furthermore, the inability to upgrade RAM or add additional 10GbE ports means that UniFi’s NAS might not grow as effectively with your needs over time. However, it does come with built-in 10GbE, which could be a compelling feature for users looking to take advantage of higher network speeds out of the box.

Which NAS Should You Choose?

• If you’re a business or power user who needs a highly customizable, feature-rich NAS with long-term expandability, Synology is likely the better choice. Its DSM software, extensive hardware options, and proven reliability make it a solid investment for users who want full control over their storage and the ability to run advanced applications.
• On the other hand, if you’re already embedded in the UniFi ecosystem and prioritize network integration over advanced NAS features, UniFi’s UNAS Pro may be more appealing. Its ease of use and seamless integration with other UniFi devices make it a great option for SMBs and users who prefer simplicity over extensive customization.

Ultimately, the decision between Synology and UniFi NAS depends on whether you value software flexibility and advanced applications (Synology) or seamless integration and simplicity (UniFi).

PROS	PROS
Rich ecosystem of first- and third-party apps DSM is a highly polished and feature-rich OS Supports expansion units, PCIe slots, NVMe caching Active Backup Suite, Hyper Backup, Time Machine support Docker and Virtual Machine Manager for VMs Supports Plex, Synology Photos, Audio Station A wide range of NAS devices for home users to enterprises Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) for easier storage upgrades	Drive integration with the entire UniFi ecosystem UNAS OS is simple and intuitive for basic storage needs Built-in 10GbE offers high-speed networking out of the box Supports simple cloud backups via Google Drive Tightly integrated into UniFi Controller for network management Basic media streaming supported via Drive Compact design with 7 bays and minimal footprint Good for small businesses and home offices
CONS	CONS
Higher initial cost, especially for advanced models Third-party drive compatibility becoming more limited Feature-rich software may be overwhelming for some users More features mean a higher learning curve Can take time to fully configure with advanced settings Higher expandability adds to cost Video Station removed, requires third-party apps like Plex 10GbE not standard on many models, many require an upgrade	Lacks advanced software features like Docker and VMs No hardware expandability (no PCIe or NVMe support) Limited to 7 bays, no expansion units available RAM is non-upgradable, limiting future performance Limited third-party app support Lacks SSD caching and other advanced storage features No multimedia management tools beyond basic file sharing Fewer remote access options compared to Synology’s QuickConnect, Tailscale and More
Check Amazon Below for the Latest Synology NAS	Visit the UniFi Store for your UNAS Pro Below

Synology stands out for users seeking a high-performance and highly expandable NAS system with a mature software ecosystem, while UniFi shines in integrated network solutions for those looking for simplicity and efficiency in small business and home office environments.

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UPDATE – The UniFi UNAS Pro NAS is now available and can be found HERE

In the world of Network Attached Storage (NAS), Synology has been a dominant player for over two decades, recognized for its extensive range of products, robust features, and seamless user experience. UniFi, by contrast, is a newcomer in the NAS market, having built a reputation for excellence in networking solutions under the umbrella of Ubiquiti. With the recent release of the UniFi UNAS Pro, the company is entering a highly competitive space dominated by established NAS providers like Synology. This article takes an in-depth look at both Synology’s NAS solutions and UniFi’s first NAS system. It compares the two across key aspects such as price, hardware, software, expandability, and company history, offering insights for both casual users and IT professionals considering which NAS system is right for them.

UniFi UNAS Pro vs Synology NAS – Price

When it comes to pricing, Synology and UniFi are positioned at different ends of the spectrum, catering to a wide variety of users with different needs and budgets.

UniFi‘s UNAS Pro, priced at $499, offers a 7-bay rackmount NAS with 10GbE networking capabilities, making it a highly competitive option, particularly for users already embedded in the UniFi ecosystem. This pricing is aggressive for a rackmount system, as most NAS systems with similar features are priced higher. The UNAS Pro is designed to offer an affordable entry point into the world of NAS for small businesses, IT enthusiasts, or existing UniFi users looking to expand their infrastructure with file storage.

By comparison, Synology offers a wide range of NAS devices, starting with affordable 2-bay home systems and scaling up to high-end rackmount systems designed for large enterprises. For example, the Synology DS923+, which retails around $499, provides a 4-bay desktop solution with expandable 10GbE support and an x86 processor, giving it a slight edge in performance over the UNAS Pro for the same price. However, Synology’s rackmount offerings, such as the RS422+, start at $599 for a 4-bay system, and prices quickly rise for larger models with more features and higher-end hardware.

The price difference between these two brands becomes more apparent as you explore Synology’s higher-end options. Their enterprise-grade NAS systems with features like redundant power supplies, dual controllers, and PCIe expansion slots can cost well over $1,000, whereas UniFi’s UNAS Pro remains a single, relatively fixed offering at the lower end of the price range.

In terms of long-term value, UniFi clearly offers a more affordable entry into the NAS market, particularly for users who already use UniFi’s networking products. However, Synology provides a much broader pricing structure, with options that allow users to scale up based on their growing needs—whether for home, SMB, or enterprise use.

Synology vs UniFi NAS – Hardware / Range / Value for Money

The hardware offered by both Synology and UniFi reflects their differing approaches to the NAS market. UniFi’s UNAS Pro is positioned as an affordable 7-bay rackmount solution, with a focus on simplicity and integration into the broader UniFi ecosystem. The UNAS Pro features a quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 processor, 8GB DDR4 memory, and a 10GbE port with an additional 1GbE port. Its hardware is designed to deliver adequate performance for tasks like file storage, backups, and basic networking, but it lacks advanced features like NVMe SSD support or expandable RAM. This makes it a good fit for users who want reliable storage without the need for heavy processing power or extensive scalability.

Synology, on the other hand, offers an extensive range of hardware, from small 2-bay models for personal use to enterprise-grade solutions. Synology’s systems often feature Intel or AMD processors, expandable RAM, and support for NVMe SSD caching. For example, the Synology DS923+ comes with an AMD Ryzen R1600 processor, expandable RAM, and optional 10GbE support, making it more powerful and flexible than the UNAS Pro for users needing higher performance. Additionally, Synology’s rackmount models like the RS422+ offer robust hardware for business environments, with support for redundant power supplies and PCIe slots for expansion.

Where Synology truly shines is in the variety of hardware it offers, allowing users to select devices that suit their exact needs, whether it’s a small 2-bay NAS for personal backups or a large-scale rackmount NAS for a data-heavy business. Synology’s hardware flexibility ensures that users can start small and scale up over time, adding more storage, faster networking, or additional computing power as needed. The comparison below highlights the differences in hardware between UniFi and 1 Synology NAS at a similar price point (DS923+), and another that is similar in hardware (RS422+:

Verdict on Hardware: While the UNAS Pro provides excellent value for its price, especially with its 7-bay capacity, Synology offers a broader and more flexible range of hardware options. Synology’s systems are better suited for users who need scalability, processing power, and more advanced features like NVMe SSD caching and expandable RAM.

UniFi NAS vs Synolgoy NAS – Software Presentation

The software interface of a NAS system is crucial to its usability, and here, the differences between Synology and UniFi are stark. Synology’s DiskStation Manager (DSM) is known for its user-friendly, graphical interface that feels similar to using a desktop operating system. DSM provides users with a desktop-like environment, complete with drag-and-drop functionality, customizable wallpapers, and a taskbar for quick access to applications. This layout makes it easy for both novice and experienced users to navigate the system, install applications, manage files, and perform backups. The interface is intuitive, with large icons and a clean, modern design that encourages exploration and productivity.

In contrast, UniFi’s UNAS OS is designed with a more text-based, data-centric approach. Borrowing from UniFi’s successful networking interfaces, the UNAS OS focuses heavily on analytics and system monitoring, making it ideal for users already familiar with UniFi’s ecosystem. The interface provides detailed insights into system performance, file transfer speeds, and network activity, which are displayed in simple, granular dashboards. While it may not have the graphical polish of Synology’s DSM, the UNAS OS excels in presenting network data and providing tools for IT administrators who prioritize system efficiency over aesthetics.

UniFi’s single-pane design keeps all relevant information within reach, but it lacks the app-based approach that Synology users are accustomed to. Synology’s DSM, on the other hand, organizes features into discrete applications, making it easy to jump between tasks like file management, backup scheduling, and multimedia streaming. Below is a table that summarizes the key differences in software presentation between UniFi and Synology at a glance (bigger chart soon, don’t worry!):

Feature	UNAS OS	DSM 7.2
User Interface Style	Text-based, network analytics	Desktop-like, graphical interface
Customization	Minimal	Quite customizable (wallpaper, layout, shortcuts)
Mobile App Support	Limited	Extensive
Third-Party App Store	No	Yes (Synology Package Center)
Storage Interface	Simplified, easy to use	Comparatively Advanced, easy-to-use

Verdict on Software Presentation: Synology’s DSM clearly offers a more engaging and customizable user experience, while UniFi’s UNAS OS focuses on providing a streamlined, efficient interface for users already familiar with the UniFi ecosystem. Users looking for an intuitive, desktop-like experience will prefer DSM, while those focused on networking performance and integration may find the UNAS OS more suitable.

Synology vs UniFi – Software Security

Security is paramount for NAS systems, as they often store sensitive data and operate in environments where external access is necessary. Both UniFi and Synology offer security features, but they take different approaches based on their respective ecosystems.

Synology DSM offers a full suite of security features, including two-factor authentication (2FA), firewall configuration, and behavioral analysis to monitor suspicious activities. DSM allows users to integrate third-party security tools, such as Google Authenticator or OTP services, providing flexibility for businesses that already use external authentication systems. Additionally, DSM includes SSL certificates and IP blocking, ensuring that only trusted users can access the system. Synology also has an inbuilt security scanner that checks the system periodically (ad hoc if you want too) for potential weaknesses in the system configuration,which can be set to a home or business class standard (custom too).

UniFi’s UNAS Pro integrates security measures more closely tied to the broader UniFi ecosystem. 2FA is also available but typically relies on UniFi’s own authentication services, such as the UniFi Identity App. This may be limiting for users who prefer third-party authentication tools. The UNAS OS benefits from UniFi’s enterprise-grade network security tools, such as IP monitoring and network relay services, which are crucial for maintaining the integrity of the entire network infrastructure. However, its NAS-specific security tools, such as DOS protection and auto-lock, are less extensive than Synology’s.

UniFi’s focus on network-level security makes it ideal for businesses that already use UniFi networking hardware, as the UNAS Pro can integrate seamlessly with UniFi switches and security gateways.

However, Synology’s in-system security tools are more comprehensive, making DSM a better choice for users who prioritize NAS-specific security features. It’s also worth remembering that the majority of remote access security features of the UniFi UNAS Pro are locked into use with he UI.COM / UniFi account system. You cannot use 3rd party 2FA/OTP applications or use 3rd party remote access services like Tailscale or Teamviewer.

That said, BOTH systems provide a regular rotation of security and feature system updates over the years that they will be in operation, so the latest security fixes and improvements that are needed to combat vulnerabilities that appear i nthe wild can be automatically adjusted for. However, UniFi does provide a little something extra with simple modular update control. Synology DOES allow you to install updates on the whole OS and/or individual Apps (or be alerted about them but action when it best suits your needs for a restart), but the UniFi UNAS Pro presents this in a much easier to action single option, that allows for full update control to be more granular for either the OS or the application service(s). It’s no more/less than the synology DSM option, but it is presented a great deal more cleanly.

UniFi NAS OS vs Synology DSM – Software Features

When comparing the software features of Synology and UniFi, it’s clear that Synology has had years to develop a rich, feature-packed operating system, while UniFi‘s UNAS OS is still in its infancy. Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager) is known for its vast ecosystem of first-party and third-party apps, which provide a wide array of functionalities beyond basic file storage.

By contrast, UniFi UNAS OS focuses on core NAS functions, offering fewer features but maintaining tight integration with UniFi’s networking solutions.

Synology DSM is renowned for its wide range of software features that cater to home users, small businesses, and enterprise environments. DSM is designed to be a complete solution, offering robust support for file management, multimedia streaming, backup solutions, virtualization, and containerized applications. There is even support of a 3rd Party App center that can be added in less than a minute to add even further applications and services to your Synology NAS system:

One of the standout features of DSM is its application center, known as the Synology Package Center. Here, users can find hundreds of first-party and third-party apps that can be easily installed to extend the functionality of their NAS. These apps cover a broad spectrum of use cases, including:

• Plex Media Server / Video Station (for now!) / Audio Station / Synology Photos for media streaming to smart TVs and mobile devices.
• Synology Active Backup for High-end license-free backup management across hundreds/thousands of devices
• Hyper Backup to manage domestic backup Operations
• The Office Collaboration Suite for an email manager, user chat facilities, office package and more
• Synology Container Manager / Docker for running containerized applications, which is essential for developers or businesses needing to test software in isolated environments.
• Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), allows users to run multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and DSM Virtual Appliances, on a single NAS.

For businesses, Synology offers Active Backup for Business, a powerful backup solution that supports PCs, physical servers, virtual machines, and even cloud services like Office 365 and Google Workspace. This makes Synology DSM an attractive option for organizations looking for a comprehensive, multi-platform backup solution. DSM also excels in multimedia management. Apps like Synology Photos and Audio Station allow users to organize and access their photos, music, and videos from anywhere. Video Station, though recently phased out in favor of third-party options like Plex, has historically provided an easy-to-use platform for media streaming and management.

For surveillance needs, Synology offers Surveillance Station, which allows users to turn their NAS into a full-fledged NVR (Network Video Recorder), supporting IP cameras from a wide variety of manufacturers. This feature makes Synology NAS systems a compelling choice for businesses or homeowners who need both data storage and security monitoring.

While UniFi UNAS OS lacks the extensive feature set of DSM, it provides essential NAS features for file storage, snapshot management, and backup scheduling. It’s clear that UniFi’s focus is on simplicity and integration with their broader UniFi ecosystem. Drive is the primary app available on UNAS OS, offering basic file storage and sharing capabilities with snapshot and backup support.

Currently, UNAS OS does not support advanced features like Docker, virtual machines, or third-party media server apps such as Plex. This limits its appeal to more advanced users who need the ability to run multiple services or applications from their NAS. However, UniFi’s focus on network-level integration could be seen as a strength for businesses that already use UniFi networking hardware and want a NAS that fits seamlessly into their existing infrastructure.

There’s also potential for future growth. UniFi has a robust history of adding new features to their products post-launch, and it is possible that UNAS OS could see support for containerized applications like Docker or surveillance software such as UniFi Protect in the future. However, currently UniFi has not allowed Protect to be deployable on the UNAS Pro system – however you can use the UNAS Pro as a targetted storage system for your existing UNVR or UDM system. Most of the features of the UniFi UNAS Pro are not presented as ‘applications’ or ‘optional services’, but rather they are backed into the UX of the NAS OS already. Snapshots, Shared Drives, Security management, SMB file/folder management, Encrypted Drives, etc – all of it is in the OS already. That said, it still feels comparatively feature dry vs the Synology NAS pplatform.

I know I seem to be hammering the UniFi’s UNAS OS hard here, but currently it lacks many of the popular/current advanced capabilities that may appeal to users, favouring their simple and integrated experience over a large feature set. For perspective, here is a full list of what is there and what isn’t:

Software / Service	DSM 7.1/7.2/7.2.2	UNAS Pro
Operating System	DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.x	UniFi OS (UNAS-specific OS layer)
User Interface	Highly polished, desktop-like interface, intuitive	Simplified interface, single-pane dashboard, focused on network metrics
Mobile Apps	DS Finder, DS File, DS Cloud, DS Photo, DS Video, and more	UniFi Mobile App (Drive management, Snapshots, Backups)
Virtualization	Virtual Machine Manager (Supports Windows, Linux, and DSM Virtual Appliance)	No virtualization support
Container Support	Docker via Container Manager	No Docker or container support
Surveillance	Surveillance Station (2 free camera licenses, additional paid licenses)	No support for UniFi Protect (at launch)
Multimedia Streaming	Plex, Synology Photos, Video Station, Audio Station	No multimedia apps (no Plex or streaming apps support)
RAID Support	Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, Basic, JBOD	RAID 1, 5 and 10 (with RAID 6 coming soon after launch)
Snapshot Support	Yes (Btrfs for supported models), Advanced Snapshot Replication	Yes (Snapshots with scheduling and backup options)
Cloud Backup	Synology C2, Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive	Google Drive (Limited cloud backup options)
Local Backup Solutions	Hyper Backup, Snapshot Replication	Local NAS backups supported (NAS to NAS)
File Synchronization	Synology Drive (Supports syncing with Windows, macOS, and Linux)	SMB, basic file synchronization with mobile app
Backup for PCs	Active Backup for Business (PCs, Servers, VMs, SaaS, NAS, and Cloud)	Basic backup for Windows, no advanced backup suite
Backup for macOS	Time Machine Support	Time Machine support (via SMB)
External Backup	USB and eSATA Backup	No external backup support
Cloud Integration	Synology Cloud Sync (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)	Google Drive cloud sync only
Security Features	2FA, firewall, SSL certificates, VPN, Active Insight monitoring	2FA, SSL certificates, integration with UniFi Identity for SSO
Encryption	Full-volume encryption, Folder encryption	Full-volume and folder encryption
Multimedia Apps	Synology Photos, Video Station, Audio Station, Plex	No multimedia apps available
Third-Party App Store	Synology Package Center	No third-party app store
Mobile Backup	Synology Drive (For mobile devices)	Basic mobile backup via UniFi Drive
Cloud Sync	C2 Cloud Sync, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive	Google Drive only
Collaboration Tools	Synology Office (Similar to Google Docs, Excel)	No collaboration tools
Virtualization Backup	Active Backup for Business (VMware, Hyper-V)	No virtualization backup
AI-Powered Apps	Synology Photos (AI-based photo organization)	No AI-powered apps
High Availability (HA)	Synology High Availability (for redundancy)	No high availability features
NAS as VPN Server	Yes (VPN Plus Server, supports PPTP, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec)	Yes (VPN integration with UniFi Gateway and Identity Enterprise)
App Virtualization	Docker, DSM Virtual Appliances	No virtualization or Docker support
Remote Access	QuickConnect (secure remote access without complex configuration)	UniFi cloud access (requires UI.com account)
Cloud Applications	Synology Cloud Station	No cloud applications beyond Google Drive sync
Video Editing	No built-in tools, use third-party apps like Plex	No video editing or AI tools
Remote Replication	Snapshot Replication (Supports replication between NAS devices)	NAS-to-NAS backup and remote replication supported
Multi-Version Backups	Hyper Backup (Supports multi-versioned backups)	Yes (multi-versioned backups via Snapshots)
Email Server	Synology MailPlus	No email server functionality
Web Server	Web Station (Supports hosting multiple websites)	No web server support
Music Streaming	Audio Station, Plex	No music streaming or audio apps
Drive Health Monitoring	Disk Health Monitoring (SMART, regular drive checks)	SMART drive monitoring
Antivirus	Synology Antivirus Essential, third-party apps	No antivirus tools available
PCIe Expansion	Yes (for some models, supports 10GbE cards, M.2 SSD cache cards)	No PCIe expansion options
Thunderbolt Support	No Thunderbolt support	No Thunderbolt support
SSD Caching	Yes (supports NVMe and SATA SSD caching on select models)	No SSD caching
ZFS File System	No (Uses EXT4 or Btrfs on supported models)	No ZFS support, BTRFS
Ransomware Protection	Yes (dedicated security updates, Snapshot Replication)	Yes (Snapshots, network security via UniFi Gateway integration)
Browser-based access	Yes (Full access via web browser, similar to desktop)	Yes (Single-pane UI via web browser)
NAS-to-NAS sync	Yes (via Synology Drive and Snapshot Replication)	Yes (Basic NAS-to-NAS sync)
Plex Media Server	Yes (App available in Synology Package Center)	No Plex or multimedia server support
Built-in AI Tools	Synology Photos (AI-powered photo management)	No AI-powered tools

Synology NAS H/W vs UniFi UNAS Pro – Hardware and Storage Expandability

Hardware and storage expandability is a critical factor for users looking to invest in a NAS system, especially for businesses or power users who expect their storage needs to grow over time. In this area, Synology excels, providing a broad range of options that allow users to easily expand their storage capacity and enhance system performance. On the other hand, UniFi’s UNAS Pro offers more limited expandability, focusing instead on offering a compact, all-in-one solution without much room for future upgrades.

Synology NAS systems are designed with scalability in mind. Many of their models, especially in the DS and RS series, allow for storage expansion via external expansion units. For example, the Synology DX517 expansion unit can add up to 5 additional drive bays to models like the DS920+, increasing the total number of drives and overall storage capacity. Similarly, Synology’s rackmount NAS solutions like the RS1221+ can connect to RX418 expansion units, enabling businesses to significantly increase their storage capacity as their data needs grow.

Additionally, Synology’s rackmount models often come with PCIe slots, allowing users to add features such as 10GbE networking, SSD caching, or even NVMe drives for high-speed storage pools. This level of hardware flexibility means that Synology systems can grow alongside a business’s needs, offering features that improve performance and expand storage without requiring a completely new system. For users seeking to maximize performance, Synology also offers support for SSD caching, which can greatly improve read and write speeds by using NVMe SSDs or SATA SSDs to cache frequently accessed data. Models like the DS1621xs+ support dual NVMe M.2 slots for SSD caching, giving users the ability to enhance performance even further without sacrificing drive bays for traditional hard drives.

Beyond the hardware expandability, Synology’s storage management features are equally powerful. Synology’s Hybrid RAID (SHR) technology allows users to mix and match drive sizes, making it easy to upgrade individual drives over time without losing data. SHR automatically optimizes storage space and provides RAID-like redundancy, ensuring data is protected even if drives fail.

In contrast, the UniFi UNAS Pro is designed as a more compact, self-contained unit. The 7-bay capacity offers a solid amount of storage from the outset, especially for SMBs and home users. However, the expandability options are much more limited when compared to Synology. For instance, the UNAS Pro does not support external expansion units, meaning that users are confined to the 7-bay configuration from the start.

Moreover, the UNAS Pro lacks PCIe slots or NVMe support, limiting its ability to be upgraded with features like 10GbE or SSD caching. This is particularly noticeable when comparing the UNAS Pro to Synology models that allow for these kinds of hardware upgrades. While 10GbE is included on the UNAS Pro, its lack of PCIe expandability means users cannot add additional features like dual 10GbE ports or SSD caching to further improve performance. Another limitation of the UNAS Pro is the inability to upgrade the RAM. While 8GB of DDR4 RAM is included, this cannot be expanded, which may be a limiting factor for users who want to run more intensive applications or serve multiple users simultaneously. In comparison, many of Synology’s NAS devices, such as the DS1821+, come with expandable memory, allowing users to increase RAM up to 32GB or more depending on the model.

Overall, UniFi’s UNAS Pro offers sufficient storage capacity for most small businesses and home users, but its lack of expandability makes it a less flexible solution for those who anticipate needing more storage or advanced features in the future.

Key Examples of Synology’s Expandable Hardware Features:

• DX517 Expansion Unit: Adds 5 additional bays to compatible DS series NAS devices.
• PCIe Slots: Found in models like the DS1621+, allowing for 10GbE upgrades, SSD caching, and more.
• NVMe Support: NVMe SSD caching is available in devices like the DS1621xs+, improving I/O performance.

HOWEVER, we also need to factor in that Synology has recently been reducing the number of 3rd party HDDs and SSDs that are listed as ‘compatible’ and ‘supported’ on their product advice pages. The majority of 2024/2025 systems now either list ONLY Synology HDD/SSD media (such as the HAT5300, SAT5210, SNV3410, etc) or list only a handful of storage media from established brands such as Seagate and WD (around 15-18 – out of potentially hundreds), despite them being proven to work successfully. UniFi has it’s own range of storage media drives for their UNAS Pro, UDM and UNVR systems, however they also widely support 3rd party drive utilities.

This would not be an issue in the case of Synology if their own branded storage media was the same price or superior – but the reality is that Synology storage media IS more expensive and in many cases a better, faster and/or larger drive from Seagate/WD is available at the same and/or lower price. This is less true on the entry NAS class of HDDs (eg Seagate Ironwolf vs Synology HAT3300, with only 2-4% difference), but once you look at higher capacity HDDs and more durable HDDs and SSDs, the price difference is kinda crazy:

Synology promotes their solutions are ‘all on one’ solutions and focus all their development towards a single NAS ecosystem, so focusing support, compatibility and operations towards their own media makes sense in a development sense. However, many first time Synology NAS buyers who are scaling up from smaller solutions or migrating away from SAAS/PAAS/Cloud storage in a big way might be unaware of the media storage policy they seem to be persuing. By no means a dealbreaker for many, but something to be aware of!

Synology vs UniFi ANS – Verdict and Conclusion

Choosing between Synology and UniFi NAS systems comes down to evaluating your specific needs, the level of software and hardware expandability you require, and whether you prioritize a more established ecosystem or tighter integration with your networking infrastructure. Both brands offer compelling NAS solutions, but they target different user bases and excel in distinct areas. For users who prioritize software features, scalability, and a broad range of applications, Synology is the clear winner. With over two decades of experience in the NAS market, Synology has fine-tuned its DSM (DiskStation Manager) software to offer an impressive array of first-party and third-party applications. Whether you’re a home user looking for a media server or a business seeking comprehensive backup solutions, Synology DSM provides an extensive feature set that meets almost any need. The rich support for virtualization, containerized apps, and backup tools makes it a top choice for advanced users and businesses with diverse requirements. Synology’s hardware lineup is also far more diverse, with options that cater to everyone from entry-level users to enterprises. Their hardware is expandable, supporting PCIe slots, NVMe caching, and external expansion units, which makes them suitable for users with growing storage needs or demanding performance requirements. Moreover, Synology’s Hybrid RAID (SHR) and flexible storage management tools are ideal for users who need to easily expand their storage without dealing with complex RAID setups. The downside of Synology, however, is its cost. While its hardware is packed with features, it comes at a higher price point, especially as you move up the product range. Additionally, some users have criticized Synology’s recent push to restrict third-party drive compatibility in newer models, which could be a drawback for users looking for more flexibility in their hardware choices.

UniFi’s UNAS Pro series is a newer player in the NAS field but leverages Ubiquiti’s expertise in networking to provide a product that is tightly integrated with the UniFi ecosystem. If you’re already invested in UniFi’s networking gear, adding a UniFi NAS to your setup can make network management and storage integration much simpler. UniFi’s controller-based system allows users to manage their entire network—including their NAS—from a single dashboard, which is a significant convenience for users in SMB environments. The UNAS OS, while still in its early stages, does an admirable job at nailing down the fundamentals of NAS functionality, such as file storage, snapshots, and backups. However, it currently lacks the depth and range of applications found in Synology DSM. This makes UniFi a better choice for users who are looking for simple storage solutions rather than advanced features like Docker, virtual machines, or third-party multimedia apps. When it comes to hardware expandability, UniFi lags behind Synology. The 7-bay UNAS Pro offers a decent starting point for storage, but the lack of PCIe slots, NVMe support, or external expansion units limits its long-term scalability. Furthermore, the inability to upgrade RAM or add additional 10GbE ports means that UniFi’s NAS might not grow as effectively with your needs over time. However, it does come with built-in 10GbE, which could be a compelling feature for users looking to take advantage of higher network speeds out of the box.

Which NAS Should You Choose?

• If you’re a business or power user who needs a highly customizable, feature-rich NAS with long-term expandability, Synology is likely the better choice. Its DSM software, extensive hardware options, and proven reliability make it a solid investment for users who want full control over their storage and the ability to run advanced applications.
• On the other hand, if you’re already embedded in the UniFi ecosystem and prioritize network integration over advanced NAS features, UniFi’s UNAS Pro may be more appealing. Its ease of use and seamless integration with other UniFi devices make it a great option for SMBs and users who prefer simplicity over extensive customization.

Ultimately, the decision between Synology and UniFi NAS depends on whether you value software flexibility and advanced applications (Synology) or seamless integration and simplicity (UniFi).

PROS	PROS
Rich ecosystem of first- and third-party apps DSM is a highly polished and feature-rich OS Supports expansion units, PCIe slots, NVMe caching Active Backup Suite, Hyper Backup, Time Machine support Docker and Virtual Machine Manager for VMs Supports Plex, Synology Photos, Audio Station A wide range of NAS devices for home users to enterprises Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) for easier storage upgrades	Drive integration with the entire UniFi ecosystem UNAS OS is simple and intuitive for basic storage needs Built-in 10GbE offers high-speed networking out of the box Supports simple cloud backups via Google Drive Tightly integrated into UniFi Controller for network management Basic media streaming supported via Drive Compact design with 7 bays and minimal footprint Good for small businesses and home offices
CONS	CONS
Higher initial cost, especially for advanced models Third-party drive compatibility becoming more limited Feature-rich software may be overwhelming for some users More features mean a higher learning curve Can take time to fully configure with advanced settings Higher expandability adds to cost Video Station removed, requires third-party apps like Plex 10GbE not standard on many models, many require an upgrade	Lacks advanced software features like Docker and VMs No hardware expandability (no PCIe or NVMe support) Limited to 7 bays, no expansion units available RAM is non-upgradable, limiting future performance Limited third-party app support Lacks SSD caching and other advanced storage features No multimedia management tools beyond basic file sharing Fewer remote access options compared to Synology’s QuickConnect, Tailscale and More
Check Amazon Below for the Latest Synology NAS	Visit the UniFi Store for your UNAS Pro Below

Synology stands out for users seeking a high-performance and highly expandable NAS system with a mature software ecosystem, while UniFi shines in integrated network solutions for those looking for simplicity and efficiency in small business and home office environments.

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UPDATE – The UniFi UNAS Pro NAS is now available and can be found HERE

The UniFi UNAS Pro is Ubiquiti’s first major leap into the NAS (Network Attached Storage) market, building on the success of their networking hardware and ecosystem. This rackmount NAS aims to provide a cost-effective, streamlined option, especially for those who are already invested in the UniFi product ecosystem. But is this device the right choice for your storage needs? In this detailed review, we’ll explore the pros and cons of the UniFi UNAS Pro to help you decide.

Pros of the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS

1. Competitive Pricing

One of the most remarkable selling points of the UniFi UNAS Pro is its price. Retailing at $499, the UNAS Pro offers a 7-bay rackmount NAS, which is significantly more affordable than many competing NAS devices with similar hardware capabilities. For this price, you get a quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 processor, 8GB of DDR4 memory, and a built-in 10GbE networking port alongside a 1GbE port, without the need for additional licenses. In comparison, similar rackmount NAS devices from brands like Synology and QNAP are typically priced closer to $800 or even $1,000. For example, a comparable system like the QNAP TS-832PX often costs around $900 but comes with similar performance in terms of storage and connectivity options. The value proposition is undeniable, especially when you factor in that UniFi’s NAS software comes with no extra costs for features like snapshot management or backups. For small businesses or home users looking for high-capacity storage at a low price, the UniFi UNAS Pro is a solid choice.

2. Ease of Use

Ubiquiti has a long-standing reputation for designing user-friendly products, and the UNAS Pro is no exception. The NAS system comes with an intuitive user interface that’s reminiscent of UniFi’s networking equipment management software, making it easy for existing UniFi users to get up and running quickly. The interface, whether accessed via the web or through UniFi’s mobile app, offers a clean, straightforward experience.

The mobile app, which supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, allows you to monitor and manage the NAS on the go. This functionality is particularly useful for small businesses where IT support might not always be readily available. Additionally, the built-in LCD panel on the front of the device allows for on-the-spot diagnostics and control without needing to access the web interface, offering a more hands-on approach to managing your NAS.

3. Offline Setup Capability

One standout feature of the UniFi UNAS Pro is its ability to be set up and managed offline. Many NAS systems require users to create an online account to access core features or manage the device, but with the UNAS Pro, you can set up local credentials and manage the device without ever needing to connect to the cloud. This means you can retain complete control over your data and avoid sharing anything with external services, which is an attractive option for users who prioritize privacy. Though you will miss out on certain remote access features without a UniFi cloud account, this offline setup capability is ideal for environments where internet access may be unreliable or for users who prefer to keep their storage network air-gapped from the wider web.

Keep in mind however that setting the device up without a UI.com / UniFi account will limit some of the remote access and additional security verification features of the UNAS Pro.

4. Modular Updates

UniFi has implemented a modular update system that makes software maintenance more flexible and customizable. Rather than requiring full system reboots or blanket updates that affect every part of the NAS at once, the UNAS Pro allows users to schedule and manage individual updates for the NAS OS and each of its applications. You can select between stable updates or more cutting-edge early access updates for those who prefer to stay on the forefront of new features. This update system ensures that you can keep critical parts of your system updated while minimizing disruptions to services. For example, you might set security updates to apply immediately while delaying other updates until a convenient time. For a NAS that’s designed to run continuously, this granular control is a valuable feature.

5. Solid Core Features

For its first foray into the NAS market, UniFi has done an excellent job at providing all the core features users expect from a modern NAS. The UNAS Pro excels in basic NAS functionality, such as file storage, folder creation, and permission management. Its a very straight forward system to understand and use, as well as a very responsive GUI (especially for the internal hardware it has being so modest). Whether backing up to another NAS or a cloud service, browsing files/folders on the fly, managing active shares quickly – the process is straightforward and reliable.

RAID support is available out of the box, allowing users to configure their drives for performance, redundancy, or a balance of both. While the hardware might not be top-tier, UniFi has ensured that its software nails down the fundamentals, providing reliable performance for small businesses and home users.

6. 10GbE Connectivity

At this price point, the inclusion of a 10GbE networking port is a significant advantage. Many NAS devices in this price range only include 1GbE or, at best, 2.5GbE networking. The 10GbE port on the UniFi UNAS Pro enables much faster data transfer rates, particularly for users dealing with large file transfers such as video production teams, graphic designers, or those needing to back up multiple systems simultaneously. For small businesses that need faster network throughput without breaking the bank, the UNAS Pro is an excellent option.

7. Seamless UniFi Ecosystem Integration

The UniFi UNAS Pro integrates seamlessly with the broader UniFi product ecosystem. If you’re already using UniFi routers, switches, or access points, the UNAS Pro can be managed alongside these devices through the same UniFi controller interface.

This makes it easy to monitor and manage all your network infrastructure from a single dashboard. For businesses already invested in UniFi, this integration adds significant value and simplifies network management.

8. Very Easy Snapshot and Backup Management

The UNAS Pro’s snapshot management is another highlight. It allows for easy setup and quick recovery of snapshots, making it a powerful tool for backing up and restoring data.

Whether you’re scheduling automatic snapshots or manually backing up your most important files, the system is responsive and reliable. Data can also be backed up to a cloud service like Google Drive, adding flexibility to your data management strategy.

Cons of the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS

1. Modest Hardware Specifications

Despite its many strengths, the UniFi UNAS Pro’s hardware can feel somewhat underwhelming, especially for more demanding users. The device is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 processor, which is capable but not nearly as powerful as the Intel or AMD x86 processors found in higher-end NAS devices.

Specification	Details
Brand	UniFi (from Ubiquiti)
Model	UniFi UNAS Professional Rackmount NAS
Dimensions	442.4 x 325 x 43.7 mm (17.4 x 12.8 x 1.7 inches)
Weight	Without Rackmount Brackets: 5.11 kg (11.27 lb)
	With Rackmount Brackets: 5.20 kg (11.46 lb)
Enclosure Characteristics	SGCC Steel
Processor	Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A57 at 1.7 GHz
System Memory	8GB DDR4
On-Board Flash Storage	SPI NOR 32 MB, USB Flash 8 GB
Power Supply	200W Lipet Internal
Max. Power Consumption	160W
Max. Power Budget for Drives	135W
Power Method	(1) Universal AC Input
	(1) RPS DC Input
Power Supply	100-240VAC, 50/60 Hz, 2A
Networking Interfaces	(1) 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 Ethernet
	(1) 1/10 Gbps SFP+ Ethernet
Management Interface	Ethernet In-Band Management
ESD/EMP Protection	Air: ±12kV, Contact: ±8kV
Operating Temperature	-5 to 40° C (23 to 104° F)
Operating Humidity	5 – 95% Non-condensing
LED Indicators	System: (1) Power, Blue/White

While the ARM processor is energy-efficient and suitable for basic tasks like file storage, it lacks the muscle required for more demanding workloads like virtualization, media transcoding, or running complex applications.

For users who need to perform CPU-intensive tasks or run multiple concurrent operations, the ARM architecture could be a limiting factor. Although it’s understandable that UniFi opted for ARM to keep costs down, this choice might alienate users looking for a high-performance solution.

2. Limited Expandability

One of the most significant downsides of the UniFi UNAS Pro is its lack of expandability. While the 7-bay design offers substantial storage out of the box, there are no options for expanding the system beyond that. The device lacks PCIe slots for adding features like SSD caching, additional networking interfaces, or other hardware upgrades. Additionally, the 8GB of DDR4 RAM is non-upgradable, which means users are stuck with the default memory capacity—limiting the NAS’s potential to handle more intensive applications or larger numbers of users.

This lack of scalability could be a dealbreaker for businesses or IT professionals who expect their storage needs to grow over time and want a system that can grow with them.

3. Single Storage Pool

Unlike more advanced NAS systems that allow users to create multiple storage pools, the UniFi UNAS Pro is limited to a single storage pool. This limitation could be problematic for users who want to segregate different types of data or use different storage media, such as SSDs for high-speed access and HDDs for bulk storage. While the system does allow for RAID configurations, the lack of flexibility in storage pool management could be a downside for more advanced users who need granular control over their storage environments.

4. No Redundant Power Supply

For businesses that require constant uptime, the lack of a redundant power supply on the UniFi UNAS Pro is a significant shortcoming. While the device does support an external uninterruptible power supply (UPS), it lacks the built-in redundancy that is common in many higher-end NAS systems. Redundant power supplies are critical in ensuring that hardware failures don’t lead to extended downtime. Without this feature, the UNAS Pro may not be suitable for mission-critical environments where uptime is a priority.

5. Lack of UniFi Protect Support

A surprising omission in the UniFi UNAS Pro is its lack of support for UniFi Protect, UniFi’s popular video surveillance platform. UniFi Protect is available on other UniFi hardware such as the Dream Machine and UNVR systems, but it cannot be installed on the UNAS Pro. This is a missed opportunity, especially for users who might want to centralize their storage and surveillance needs on a single device. While future software updates may address this, the current lack of Protect support limits the device’s versatility, particularly for small businesses or homeowners looking to consolidate network and surveillance management.

6. Absence of Popular NAS Apps and Virtualization

Compared to more established NAS solutions like QNAP or Synology, the UniFi UNAS Pro falls short when it comes to app availability. There’s no support for popular applications like Plex or Docker, which limits its utility for users who want to run media servers, manage smart home devices, or deploy containerized applications. This absence is particularly noticeable when compared to NAS solutions from other brands that have built extensive app ecosystems over many years. Additionally, the lack of virtualization support makes the UNAS Pro less appealing for businesses that need to run virtual machines or isolated environments for development and testing. While this might not matter to users looking for simple storage solutions, it’s a glaring omission for power users.

While the UniFi UNAS Pro covers the basics well, it lacks many of the advanced features that have become standard in more mature NAS systems. There’s no support for containerization, virtual environments, or advanced SaaS integrations like Google Workspace or Office 365. These high-end features are often essential for businesses with complex workflows or larger teams. The absence of these capabilities makes the UNAS Pro less competitive for users who need more than basic file storage and backups.

7. Limited OS Client Tools and File Syncing

Although the UNAS Pro offers a web interface and easy-to-use file sharing features, it lacks the more sophisticated client tools available on competing NAS platforms. For instance, Synology Drive and QNAP QSync offer robust client tools that allow users to sync files across multiple devices or manage their NAS more comprehensively from their desktop, without any need to engage with the system dashboard or the NAS GUI itself – with all file synchronization happening in the background whilst they only interact with their native OS file manager. By contrast, the UniFi UNAS Pro’s file syncing tools are fairly limited and although mapping via SMB and similar is possible, there is little to no live sync tools at launch, which could be frustrating for users looking for more advanced file management capabilities. I really think this is something that UniFi will remedy in time, but at least right now, this is absent to the same degree as their new NAS competitors.

Should You Buy the UniFi UNAS Pro NAS?

The UniFi UNAS Pro is a compelling entry into the NAS market, offering excellent value for money, ease of use, and seamless integration with the UniFi ecosystem. For users looking for a simple, reliable NAS solution that can handle basic storage tasks and backups, the UNAS Pro is a great option, particularly at its competitive price point of $499. However, the device’s limitations in hardware scalability, application support, and advanced features mean that it may not be the best choice for power users or businesses with more complex needs – at least at launch. If you’re already invested in UniFi’s ecosystem and only need a NAS for fundamental storage and backups, the UNAS Pro is a solid choice. But for users seeking greater flexibility, more advanced features, or the ability to scale their storage, other NAS systems from QNAP or Synology may be a better fit.

I feel like a bit of a broken record in this review, and I keep repeating the same two words in conjunction with the UniFi UNAS Pro—fundamentals and consistency! It’s pretty clear that UniFi has prioritized the need for this system to perfectly complement their existing UniFi ecosystem and make it a true part of their hardware portfolio. In doing so, it has resulted in them focusing considerably on the fundamental storage requirements of a NAS system and making sure that these are as good as they possibly can be out of the gate. To this end, I would say that UniFi has unquestionably succeeded. The cracks in the surface begin once you start comparing this system with other offerings in the market right now—which is inevitably what users are going to do and have been doing since the first indications of a UniFi NAS system were being rumored. It may seem tremendously unfair to compare the newly released UniFi NAS with solutions from vendors that have had more than 20 years of experience in this field, but for a business that wants to fully detach themselves from the cloud and wants true user-friendly but highly featured control of their network operations, comparison is inevitable! The UniFi UNAS Pro is an excellent choice for users seeking a budget-friendly, easy-to-use NAS solution with solid core features and strong integration into the UniFi ecosystem. However, for those needing more advanced capabilities or future-proof scalability, it may be worth exploring other options in the NAS market.

BUILD QUALITY - 10/10

HARDWARE - 7/10

PERFORMANCE - 7/10

PRICE - 9/10

VALUE - 8/10

8.2

PROS

Nails down the fundamentals of NAS Storage very well
Easy to use GUI and well suited in the UniFi Ecosystem/UX
Complete Offline Use is supported
Use of a UI account is NOT compulsory
Excellently deployed Snapshot Features
10GbE out-the-box
Open HDD Compatibility, but also 1st party options too
Backup and Restoration Options Nailed down perfectly
Very power efficient and CPU/, Memory utilization rarely high
Compact, Quite and well designed chassis
The LCD controls are completely \'different level\' compared to other brands in the market
Promised competitive pricing
FAST deployment (3-5mins tops)
Reactive Storage expandability and easy-to-understand storage failover options
Mobile app deployment is intuitive/fast
Feels stable, secure and reliable at all times
Performance is respectable (considering SATA Bay count and CPU) but also sustained performance is very good
Single screen dashboard is clear and intuitive
Ditto for the native file explorer

CONS

7 Bays is a bit unusual, plus feels like the existing UNVR with different firmware
Additional App installation (eg. \'Protect\') not currently supported. So no container support for 3rd party apps
Network Controls are limited
Works at it\'s best in an existing UniFi managed network, feels a little limited in \'standalone\'
Multiple storage pools not supported (nor is RAID 0)
Lack of Scheduled On/Off
Lack of redundant PSU
Only 1 10Gb port and 1x 1GbE, no USBs for expanded storage or an expansion

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If you are considering buying/building your own Plex Media server (or even want to test the capabilities of your existing Plex server), then you may have discovered that it is actually a lot harder to bench-test your multimedia system than it should be. Notwithstanding the fact that very, VERY few people are running the exact same server setup (even two people buying the same NAS drive might have different HDDs, SSDs, memory, caching, directories, network traffic and more), but then you need to factor in that the depth, frequency and volume of everyone’s media collection will differ wildly. One user might have a simple Nvidia Shield + external USB drive setup and mostly 1080P, another running a Synology DS920+ NAS and a tonne of 4K, meanwhile, user number 3 is a highly audio-focused user that wants to use pristine, flawless raw audio to their smart home speakers from their Plex library – These are just three setups and each is INCREDIBLY different in it’s hardware requirements! So, when you are in the market for a new server for your Plex system, or simply want to check your current setup does the job), it is recommended to run a benchmark by playing some ranged media that will stress test different areas of multimedia playback on your Plex server. I have been running Plex Media Server tests on NAS drives for a  number of years (a FULL PLEX TEST PLAYLIST can be found HERE on the NASCompares YouTube) and although I include fairly standard multimedia testing using familiar movies and TV shows, I have also used a tremendously thorough range of files known as the ‘JellyFish Files‘. This is an incredible range of files that cover everything from a 2MB sized 480p, low bitrate, H.264, all the way upto an insanely high end 1.4 GIGABYTE 400Mbps 4K UHD HEVC HDR file – ALL of which are the same 30 second media file. These files can be added to your Plex Media Server and playing them, whilst monitoring your system’s hardware and resource utilization will help you understand the limitations of your system and what the system can/cannot play natively, as well as what impact files that need on-the-fly conversion (known predominantly as ‘transcoding’ and we will cover that later). The original source website and author location of the JellyFish files has become vague over the years (with the original repository that I originally found them and credit, being a dead website now), however, I am often asked if I still have access to the Jellyfish archive and if I can share them. The answer to that first question is YES, but the 2nd question takes a little longer to answer. I tried to backlink/direct users to the repository for a long time, as well as locate the original author (feeling that it is not my work to feely distribute) but hit something of a wall and after my bazillion’th requests, I have decided to create a shared drive for ALL these files. Below are the links to the FULL range of JellyFish files for testing your Plex NAS, but before you proceed, there are a few things you need t keep in mind before you proceed:

Understanding the Jellyfish Files and the File Formats, Quality and Density on a Plex NAS Benchmark Test

Before you start testing your Plex Media Sever and its multimedia capabilities, it is worth taking a moment to understand the terminology and variations of media files. You could have two copies of ‘Marvel’s Avengers Endgame’, both in 4K, but due to variations in their bitrate, their compression technique and their file format/codec and one will play much, MUCH better than another on your system. Although there are many kinds of ways you can clarify your multimedia files, the FOUR most important variables/standards to check are Bitrate, Resolution, Codec and Video Compression Standard. Take a moment to learn about what these are and their impact using the glossary below:

• Bitrate – Bitrate is the number of bits per second. The symbol is bit/s. It generally determines the size and quality of video and audio files: the higher the bitrate, the better the quality, and the larger the file size because of File size = bitrate (kilobits per second) x duration. In most cases, 1 byte per second (1 B/s) corresponds to 8 bit/s. Video bitrate affects video quality in several ways. First, it is the key measure of any video file size. Secondly, high video bitrate results in high video quality and low bitrates result in poor video quality. However, using an extremely high bitrate is just a waste of bandwidth. In general, a higher bitrate will accommodate higher image quality in the video output, only when comparing the same video with the same resolution. Bitrates should be expected to go up whenever the resolution goes up, as more data is being processed. Therefore, high video bitrate may provide excellent quality, but it can also place a major strain on your hardware which can result in stutters.
• Resolution – Video resolution determines the amount of detail in your video or how realistic and clear the video appears. It’s measured by the number of pixels contained in the standard aspect ratio of 16:9, the most common aspect ratio for television and computer monitors. A higher number of pixels indicates a higher resolution and a lower number of pixels makes for a low-resolution video. For the common resolutions of 720 and 1080, the naming convention is based on the total number of pixels running in a vertical line down the display area. For 2K, 4K or 8K video, the resolution is named for the number of pixels running in a horizontal line across the frame. Previously, the resolution has been divided between standard definition (SD video) and high definition (HD video). Anything below 720 is considered standard definition. However, as screen resolutions on computer monitors and televisions continue to improve, it’s less likely for anything to be shot in SD.
• The difference between video resolution and frame rate – Digital videos are made up of thousands of still images played in sequence. While resolution refers to the amount of data in the frame, frame rate refers to how quickly those frames are cycled through, or how many stills are packed into each second. As with video resolution, choose your video’s frame rate based on the type of motion you’re trying to capture and the type of video formats you expect to release to your audience.
• Codec – Codecs are the oxygen of the streaming media market; no codecs, no streaming media. From shooting video to editing to encoding our streaming media files for delivery, codecs are involved every step of the way. Many video producers also touch the DVD-ROM and Blu-ray markets, as well as broadcast, and codecs play a role there as well. Codecs are compression technologies and have two components, an encoder to compress the files, and a decoder to decompress. There are codecs for data (PKZIP), still images (JPEG, GIF, PNG), audio (MP3, AAC) and video (Cinepak, MPEG-2, H.264, VP8). It’s important to distinguish codecs from container formats, though sometimes they share the same name. Briefly, container formats, or wrappers, are file formats that can contain specific types of data, including audio, video, closed captioning text, and associated metadata. Though there are some general-purpose container formats, like QuickTime, most container formats target one aspect of the production and distribution pipeline, like MXF for file-based capture on a camcorder, and FLV and WebM for streaming Flash and WebM content.
• HEVC, H.264 and H.265 – H.264 (AVC) and H.265 (HEVC) are both standards for video compression used in recording and distributing digital video. Why would you choose one over the other? The main difference between H.264 and H.265 is how each processes information and the resulting video file size and bandwidth consumption used with each standard. H.264 processes frames of video using macroblocks, while H.265 processes information using coding tree units (CTUs). CTUs process information more efficiently, which results in a smaller file size and less bandwidth used for your streaming video. H.264 (also called AVC, or Advanced Video Coding) is an industry-standard for video compression that allows for the recording, compression, and distribution of digital video content. H.265 is newer and more advanced than H.264 in several ways. H.265 (also called HEVC, or High-Efficiency Video Coding) allows for further reduced file size, and therefore reduced required bandwidth, of your live video streams.

There are several other terms that are more appropriate to Plex that it might be worth getting school’d up on, but these are optional and you can learn about them below in my video on Plex NAS servers for Dummies:

Where to Download the Files to Test Your Plex Media Server NAS

As mentioned, the Jellyfish files comprise a wide range of files that, although all the same 30 secs of jellyfish playing around in the sea, comprise around 56 files of varying degrees of quality and size. You can use the links below to head over to google drive for each specific file (each link opens in a new tab). Then you can use the download option at the top right corner to  download the file to your local machine:

For those looking to bulk-download, I am afraid that due to reasons of bandwidth hogging (when I shared these files with people in the past) and the sheer weight of these files, I have opted to keep these on a Google Drive shared drive. You should be able to add these files and bulk download them from inside your own Google Drive account, or you can message me directly for the full download link by contacting me directly using the contact section at the bottom of the page. Otherwise, here is the full range of Jellyfish files to download and test your Plex Media server NAS server or DIY/ByO system:

There you have it, those are the Jellyfish files for testing your Plex server. If you are still on the fence about the best plex media server NAS drive you should consider buying, you can use my article below that highlights the drives I would personally recommend and why:

(Click Below to view this article)

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It’s an odd question, but with Synology arguably making some rather higher business and enterprise decisions in recent years, there have been increasing queries about who would fill the void if they moved onwards and upwards. As Synology holds such a powerful position in the NAS market, their absence would certainly lead to quite the battle of strength from other players. The obvious answer would be QNAP, a brand that has a similar history to Synology (over two decades in the business, Taiwan-based, in-house OS, numerous 1st-party tools, home and business solutions, etc.), but in 2024, the reality is nowhere near as clear-cut. Younger established brands that have jockeyed for 3rd position, such as Asustor and Terramaster, have been challenged by several startups (ZimaCube, Latticeworks, to name just two) entering the fray, as well as established brands like UGREEN, which are expanding their business into the NAS sector. If Synology, for whatever reason, ceased to occupy this important user class of private turnkey server ownership, who would be best placed to occupy it?

How, Where and Why Has Synology Changed?

Synology’s rapid change in business stance to be more enterprise/hyperscale-focused comes at the same time as their frequency of more entry-level, small business, prosumer, and enthusiast solutions has dropped. The regularity of smaller 2-Bay and 4-Bay solutions has noticeably decreased, and the hardware they feature has changed to accommodate more business-type use. This by no means suggests that the brand is making moves to exit these user groups (indeed, support of DSM and the latest revision DSM 7.2.2 extends to all existing users up to many systems released in the late 2010s). However, there has been plenty of user outcry from existing users and potential customers on the architecture of both DSM and the recent releases that exacerbate users to move away from the brand and spend their allocated budgets elsewhere. Synology still comfortably sits ahead of its competitors in terms of software, features, and the UX of their platform, but many changes in policy and support mentioned below have started this trend:

• Changes in 3rd-party HDD compatibility on systems above the 8-Bay scale, prioritizing their own 1st-party labeled HDDs and SSDs, as well as reducing the presentation and compatibility listings on their site significantly.
• Changes in the choice of internal hardware featured in their systems to be more focused on business file processes and less on multimedia use.
• Comparatively smaller increases in base hardware between refreshes of individual series (e.g., J4125 and V1500B CPUs in 2024 launch devices, despite first appearing in 2019/2020).
• Considerable increased focus on software enhancements over hardware (not a bad thing, but an undeniable fact).
• Increased proprietary hardware support over 3rd-party (e.g., Synology-only Memory modules, custom 10GbE adapters like the E10G22-T1, Synology-only M.2 SSDs for Pool Use).
• An increasing number of cloud subscription services getting newer features, while local services remain secure and stable but static.
• New product focus shifting towards newer larger-scale solutions like the evolving GridStation series, Active Protect subscription system, and C2 innovations.
• The predicted elimination of the J entry-level series in favor of the pre-populated and software-streamlined BeeStation.

All of the above are small factors in themselves, but add them all up, and you see small but important stepping stones toward a gear shift in Synology’s target demographic. So, if Synology were to intentionally or inadvertently begin to move outside of these user groups of home, small business, and enthusiast, who stands to fill this space and grow?

QNAP vs Synology?

As mentioned earlier, QNAP stands to be the most likely contender to fill this space. With over 20 years of history, a larger range of hardware solutions than Synology, and software that does pretty much everything Synology’s does, they have been consistent competitors. However, inconsistencies in user experience, conflicting UIs, and a tendency to try to do “too much” have resulted in their losing ground to Synology in terms of software. Add to this the negative brand impact of security incidents in 2020-2022, which tarnished their reputation around security and safety, requiring serious improvement. To the brand’s credit, they have made considerable internal culture changes on this subject, adding bounty programs, tightening system defaults, increasing pen testing, introducing several system security scanning tools, disabling things like SSH and admin super user accounts as standard, and more.

Value Series	Best All Rounder	Prosumer NAS
TS-233 2-Bay NAS	TS-464 4-Bay NAS	TVS-h874 8-Bay NAS
$189 on Amazon (Check Here)	$549 on Amazon (Check Here)	$2499 on Amazon (Check Here)

In terms of hardware, they have mostly stuck to what works, refreshing existing product families at the same rate of 2.5-3 years for desktop small-medium scale, and 3-5 years for larger scale. They have also introduced significantly more recent CPUs from both Intel and AMD, as well as 2.5GbE as standard on their solutions at the same price point as 1GbE. If it weren’t for the damaging brand harm caused by the Deadbolt/QSnatch/Qlocker ransomware attacks, I think Synology would have been significantly challenged by QNAP in the last 2-3 years across all fronts. However, the setback to QNAP’s reputation reduced this growth potential significantly, and in the last two years, we have seen an increasing number of new names pop up in NAS that have also harmed QNAP’s appeal to users in terms of hardware value, the thing they could always be relied upon to beat Synology on. QNAP would still stand to become the ‘top dog’ in the event of a Synology exit (Synexit?) from the low-to-medium tiers of NAS storage, but many new players have entered the field, such as…

UGREEN vs QNAP?

Largely known for their power adapters and PC accessories, a year ago UGREEN had practically no real presence in the world of NAS. They had a smaller scale and more entry-level range of solutions that were limited to the East, but aside from that, they were complete outsiders. Fast forward to now, and following a successful and well-marketed Kickstarter campaign that raised millions of dollars, they are now a provider of genuinely impressive turnkey NAS solutions—the NASync series. The key word there is “turnkey”, as in they are providing both the hardware and the software. They could have just rolled out their hardware and made it OS-free (i.e., “Here’s a ready-built server, now go install UnRAID or TrueNAS”), but instead, they opted to produce and include an impressively responsive NAS OS in UGOS. Genuinely challenging the feature set of the likes of Asustor and Terramaster, as well as the design of Synology and the hardware level of QNAP, UGREEN has made a rapidly growing name for itself in the small-to-medium NAS sector.

Value Series	Best All Rounder	Prosumer NAS
DXP2800 2-Bay NAS	DXP4800 PLUS 4-Bay NAS	DXP8800 PLUS 8-Bay NAS
$399 on Amazon (Check Here)	$699 on Amazon (Check Here)	$1499 on Amazon (Check Here)

They definitely lack the range of solutions that those other brands offer, with only 6 solutions currently available (the DXP2800, DXP4800/PLUS, DXP6680, DXP8800, and DXP480T), and no rackmount solutions yet, but it’s a solid start. Equally, their software, although fluid and responsive in nailing down the NAS fundamentals, lacks many of the more impressive AAA+ solutions that are offered by the bigger brands. Lastly, although they raised a considerable sum during the crowdfunding, they do not have the global support, offices, or availability of their long-running NAS competitors—with solutions only being available in two regions, the US and Germany. All of these factors add up to a brand that is poised to make even bigger splashes in the years to come but is perhaps not quite ready to replace the big dog, Synology, just yet!

ASUSTOR vs Synology?

Always the bridesmaid, but never the bride, Asustor is a brand that has been around in the world of NAS in one shape or form for quite a few years. They are one of the mainstream Taiwanese brands in NAS that has always ‘been there’, but it is only in the last 4-5 years that they have been making sizable moves to take on both Synology and QNAP. One of the main ways in which they pursued this is by developing numerous features in both hardware and software that are available from their competitors individually. So features such as M.2 NVMe-focused storage systems, BTRFS support, WORM locking, 2.5GbE/5GbE support, HDMI output via a dedicated GUI, and more are features available on Synology and QNAP to some extent, but only Asustor rolls them under one brand umbrella. So, how poised are they to fill a void if Synology moved out of this space?

Well, from a hardware standpoint, Asustor is in a very good position. Them being Taiwan-based will certainly soothe concerns that have grown around Chinese companies and data storage solutions. Equally, their hardware has evolved rapidly in their last two generations to feature some genuinely unique solutions that are either specific to the platform or priced at a level that makes them genuinely competitive against DIY and BYO solutions. Systems such as the Flashstor series, Lockerstor series, and even value offerings like the Drivestor are surprisingly well equipped. They are not quite on the same level of hardware as QNAP (who have a significantly more diverse hardware portfolio), but they are fleshing it out very well.

Value Series	Best All Rounder	Prosumer NAS
Nimbustor Gen 2 2-Bay NAS	Flashstor Gen 1 12-Bay NAS	Lockerstor Gen 3 8/10-Bay NAS
$369 on Amazon (Check Here)	$449-749 on Amazon (Check Here)	$1999 on Amazon (Check Here)

However, it is the software of Asustor (ADM) that is unfortunately where the brand is a little more timid. They have a NAS OS, numerous client tools for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android—and they nail down the bulk of the application fundamentals for storage management, multi-site backup handling, multimedia playback, containers, and more. But the platform lacks a few of the more AAA/desirable services, such as AI-powered photo recognition, a 1st-party VM tool, ZFS support, and ultimately is a little more reliant on 3rd-party applications to fill the gaps. They have recently countered this by officially detailing that they support users who buy Asustor hardware to go ahead and install 3rd-party NAS software like TrueNAS or UnRAID without it harming your warranty—so they know they are not leading the pack in terms of their own ADM NAS software but do make noticeable user concessions. With new hardware on the horizon in the Lockerstor Gen3 and Flashstor Gen2 (both of which see a significant bump in hardware profiles), we might see some impressive moves from Asustor in 2025. I just think they still have some ways to go before they can fill any potential void that Synology might leave.

TERRAMASTER vs Synology?

Terramaster has been jockeying for the NAS 3rd place spot with Asustor for well over a decade at this point, and much like their opponent, they have been good at integrating individual features from both QNAP and Synology into their own NAS hardware and TOS platform, but to a larger degree than Asustor. For example, their OS provides largely everything that Asustor ADM does (including TrueNAS/UnRAID support without voiding your warranty) but adds to this with an AI photo recognition platform, their own VM tool, and an impressive Isolation Mode that can sever the system at the click of a button from remote access, 3rd-party PHP, and any external requests (necessitating a restart to disable). However, as this brand is a Chinese brand, there will always be question marks raised by users about how this system compares with Taiwanese-based systems. This is a little unfair, given that Terramaster, Asustor, and QNAP were all successfully hit by the same ransomware attack (Deadbolt) a few years back, so there was plenty of ‘vulnerability’ to spread around!

In terms of hardware, Terramaster has been making some impressive and aggressive strides in this area—with the recent launch of their 3-part F4-424 Intel NAS series (Standard, Pro, and MAX), the release of two 8-bay M.2 NVMe 10GbE equipped systems (the F8 PLUS and F8 SSD PLUS), and new desktop and rackmounts hot on their heels. They have also scaled up the design to better improve cooling, efficiency, and just general visual appeal.

Value Series	Best All Rounder	Prosumer NAS
F2-424 2-Bay NAS	F4-424 Max 4-Bay NAS	T9-500 Pro 9-Bay NAS
$369 on Amazon (Check Here)	$819 on Amazon (Check Here)	$1499 on Amazon (Check Here)

However, much like Asustor, their software is just not able to challenge the standard that Synology has set. For buyers looking for smooth and easy utilization like Synology, Terramaster’s TOS has the danger of feeling a little clunky. Their latest release, TOS6, brings new features, software standards, and design to the mix, but it lacks the range of mobile applications, desktop client tools, and consistent UX/presentation that Synology seems to do so well. Terramaster is a fantastic value-for-money choice, and I would argue they have significantly scaled up the level of hardware and software utility they provide year on year. But they still have a way to go before they can hit the same notes as Synology DSM yet.

WD / Netgear vs Synology?

This is a pretty short one! The answer is no! Both WD and Netgear have regularly reduced their hardware ranges and the frequency of software updates these last few years, and although there are a decent range of business file server systems still being released, the general home/enthusiast/prosumer level of hardware is pretty poor and uninteresting compared to everyone else on this list so far. I cannot help but get the feeling that, aside from some basic backup NAS systems that are still listed at the majority of retailers, the bulk of their range has been in circulation for 5-6 years now without any refresh in sight. For basic target file/folder storage, these systems still provide some limited modern NAS utility, but overall, they are a fairly weak alternative to Synology’s offerings in 2024.

A UniFi NAS?

With increased mentions and leaks online towards a potential NAS in the works from UniFi, this could be a very credible alternative to Synology in terms of software UX and presentation. UniFi, and its incredibly user-friendly UX featured on their Switch, Router, NVR, and Dream Machine combination systems, is where UniFi shines. No doubt any UniFi NAS solution would need to similarly blend into their ecosystem to the same degree. That said, if they were to launch a system, all their experience in the fields of network management, router security, and surveillance systems might not necessarily translate into a similar pedigree in network-attached storage. It’s hard to discuss how or if UniFi could fill any market space that a potential Synology absence would create, as they do not have any systems out in the market to make an informed decision. This is for the “To Be Continued…” pile!

Drobo vs Synology?

No…just…no. See Video Below:

IceWhale / ZimaCube

This is a very interesting one. 2023 and 2024 saw several companies arrive in the turnkey NAS space via the crowdfunding route (we already discussed UGREEN as the biggest example), wanting to break into the market. However, IceWhale benefits from having already launched two previous successfully fulfilled campaigns and is just completing their third one with the ZimaCube NAS system. Arriving with the lightweight containerized platform Zima OS (a modified version of their existing Casa OS), this new series is pretty impressive for its scale and price point at launch. Add to that the significantly unique design, impressive use of 10GbE and Thunderbolt over IP, and a 6x HDD / 4x NVMe system in a compact case, and you can see why they have made a fairly significant splash for a brand that is comparatively unheard of compared to Synology, QNAP, etc.

However, as robust as their range of solutions is (ZimaBoard, ZimaBlade, and ZimaCube), the software is still very rudimentary compared to the bulk of other browser GUI and more “operating system”-stylized UX. There are virtually no client applications, except for their own system search and connection client tools. An eventual successor to Synology, if they moved upwards toward bigger and more business-oriented solutions, would need to hit the software functionality and user experience exceedingly early and exceedingly well.

Mini PC Brands – Lincplus, Aoostar, etc.

This is an odd one. There have been a large number of solutions appearing on sites such as AliExpress that arrive as “OS-Free” services, allowing a user to get a pre-built NAS hardware solution (i.e., no need to build one yourself, which takes longer and requires a degree of technical understanding). The end user can then choose to install popular and well-established solutions like TrueNAS, UnRAID, OpenMediaVault, and more.

Value Option	Best All Rounder	SSD Focused NAS
Aoostar WTR Pro 4-Bay NAS	Minsiforum MS-01 3/6-Bay NAS	Lincplus Lincstation N1 6-Bay NAS
$399-799 on Amazon (Check Here)	$399 on Amazon (Check Here)	$399 on Amazon (Check Here)

This serves as an impressively economical solution and has significantly grown in popularity in 2023/2024, but these 3rd-party software platforms lack a lot of the ease of use and quality of life client tools for modern devices that Synology features. Indeed, despite efforts like UnRAID 7 making its day-to-day use much easier, and TrueNAS working with HexOS for a more user-friendly output, these still pale in comparison to DSM and will also require a greater degree of technical user input in the long term to maintain stability, versus Synology’s rather more “it takes care of itself” design.

Synology vs EVERYONE ELSE – Conclusion and Verdict

If Synology were to leave the home/enthusiast/prosumer/small business tier very soon, I do think QNAP would stand to reoccupy this ground. However, give it 2-3 years, and I do think players like Terramaster, Asustor, and yes—even UGREEN—are poised to give QNAP some serious consumer competition. No doubt Synology is still keeping an eye on their competition (big and small) and would not willingly or easily give up this sector without a fight. However, there is no denying that the turnkey NAS industry is no longer the 2-3 horse race it was just five years ago!

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If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  

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Buying your first network-attached storage device can be really intimidating! If you have spent the better part of a decade storing your personal or business data on public cloud services or in a drawer full of USB drives, but have now taken the grown-up decision to go ahead and migrate over to your own private network-attached storage (NAS). You might have done this for reasons of cost, centralization or perhaps for security, whatever the reason for your data migration, there is simply no denying that the world of NAS can be a fraction complex and confusing early doors. Like any kind of modern computer appliance, you want to make sure you buy right the first time and when it comes to choosing between two of the latest generations of Synology NAS devices, these two incredibly similar four-bay devices might be two of the most different solutions I have ever compared. The Synology DS423+ is a home and small business-focused compact NAS designed to leverage an affordable price point between reasonable hardware and reasonable software and abilities. The slightly older Synology DS923+, on the other hand, has much of a high and even in some places entry enterprise-level focus about its architecture and is needless to say the more expensive of the two. Nevertheless, both of these Synology NAS devices can be picked up for around $450 to $600 (without drives), the contrast between their pricing, are actually very different beasts. Therefore, for users that don’t quite know their AMD embedded from their Celeron integrated processors, or who aren’t sure of the benefits that ECC can bring, today I want to compare the Synology DS423+ and Synology DS923+ and help you decide which one best deserves your data!

Just before we get into the meat and potatoes of this comparison, it is worth highlighting that regardless of whether you buy the Synology DS923+ or DS423+, you are guaranteed to get a system that can perform all of the following:

• Both units feature x86 processors, which allow a wide degree of app/services to run well and are a good price vs hardware balance
• Both the DS923+ and DS423+ are constructed of plastic desktop compact chassis, thereby reducing power consumption, noise and heat generated
• Both can Stream 1080p HD or 4K media, with superior performance natively and mid-range performance in Plex
• Both the Synology DS923+ and DS423+ NAS support AI-supported photo and ‘thing’ recognition supported to a very high degree from the free branded software included
• For Business users who currently enjoy the use of Google Workspace or Office 365, both of these NAS provide excellent means to backup your mass cloud accounts (as well as natively sync, dupe and configure rules on the fly)
• Both the DS423+ NAS and DS923+ NAS support snapshots, for more incremental and version protecting failsafe in efforts to protect you from Malware and Ransomware attacks, by allowing multi-versioning storage history to browse through and restore
• Both units are DLNA certified so can be accessed, browsed and played from by popular DLNA devices, such as Amazon Firestick, Alexa, Google Home Chromecast, Apple TV, Bose, Sonos, iPads, etc, as well as connectivity between these platforms with IFTTT
• Both are multi-bay, RAID enabled devices NAS devices that support JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6 and RAID 10 (as well as Synology Hybrid RAID too for their Plus series range), though it is worth highlighting the DS923+ is the only one that supports an expansion and therefore also can support RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10 and SHR-2 over an expansion (more on that later)
• Both devices run on their own proprietary operating system that can be accessed remotely or locally. These include regular updates to the firmware, security patches, applications and more. Ranging from multimedia, home and multi-tiered backup applications, to more business end tools such as Surveillance software, Virtual Machine deployment and business-class backup and synchronization tools.
• Both the DS423+ and DS923+ use and can be accessed equally by a multitude of mobile applications such as DS File, DS Video, DS Photo, DSCam and DS Music that are created by and constantly improved by Synology.
• Both NAS are completely compatible with Windows, Android and Mac systems, as well as acting as a bring between software platforms to share and distribute files for migration and file sync]
• Both units can be used as a mail and/or business servers, providing excellent 3rd party CRM and first-party CMS systems, as well as the fantastic Synology collaboration Suite of applications Chat, Drive, Mail, Calendar, Office and Active Backup Suite
• Both systems will support DSM 7.1 or DSM 7.2 out the box, as well as support software updates (security and feature) for many years moving forward
• Both systems support the Synology Surveillance Station applications, support numerous cameras and arrive with 2 camera licenses with your purchase

But you didn’t come to this comparison page to find out what they had in common, you wanted to know what makes them different and which one best suits your needs, so let’s crack on with this comparison.

Synology DS423+ vs DS923+ NAS – Price and Value

Now, for those of you that are keeping a very close eye on the budget, it will already be clear to you that the Synology DS423+ is the lower-priced NAS of the two, by quite a considerable margin! Arriving, depending on where you are in the world, for around $449 to $499, it will immediately look more appealing to those on a tight budget when compared against the $549 to $599 of the DS923+. And that is before you’ve gone ahead and purchased any storage media too, so that’s saving of $100 to $150 could go a long way to further bolstering your network-attached storage setup. So, if the most important thing to you right now is remaining within a tight budget, then it might be worth seeing to read the rest of this article as when comparing DS423+ and DS923+, we have to look considerably more at the subject of value, not price. Price. Both of these devices arrive with the same software, Synology DSM 7.2, as well as both systems being four drive NAS solutions that support nearly identical ranges of storage media too, but more on that later. In terms of physical size, the range of components, they are pretty darn similar at a casual glance. However, it is in terms of the individual hardware components and scalability where the Synology DS923+ shows its worth, which we will cover shortly in the hardware section. But at least in terms of numerical value, the Synology DS423+ carries the lead. However, the reality isn’t quite that simple:

This is because the Synology DS923+ was released approx than half a year earlier than the DS423+ (Nov 2022 vs April 2023) and because of its wider availability and longer presence in the market, it has been featured in numerous special offers throughout that time. We saw this near $500 NAS on a few considerably impressive special offers throughout Amazon Prime day and other smaller eShop-specific events. So, yes, the DS423+ is the lower-priced NAS of the two, but do make a point of checking your local online retailer to see if the DS923+ is on special offer right now!

Synology DS423+ vs DS923+ NAS – Hardware and Connections

The hardware architecture of the DS423+ and DS923+ clearly have two very different target audiences in mind. The DS423+ has more of a home and multimedia feel about it, while the DS923+ feels substantially more like a business solution. This is reflected in numerous areas such as the distinct differences in CPU, memory specifications, and potential for growth. Even if you were to take into account the affordability of the DS423+, it has to be said that in the majority of hardware available, the DS923+ is significantly more powerful and scalable in practically every way. Here is a brief summary of the key hardware highlights of either system, side-by-side:

Synology DS423+ vs DS923+ NAS Hardware Comparison
Synology NAS
Amazon Price:	$479 (Amazon 21/07/23)	$599 (Amazon 21/07/23)
Processor model	Intel Celeron J4125 (2019 Gen)	AMD Ryzen R1600 (2020 Gen)
processor architecture	64-bit	64-bit
processor clock	4-core 2.0 (base frequency) / 2.7 (burst frequency) GHz	2-core 2.6 (base frequency) / 3.1 (max overclock) GHz
Integrated Graphics	Yes (250-750Mhz)	No
Hardware encryption engine (AES-NI)	Yes	Yes
system memory	2 GB DDR4 non-ECC	4 GB DDR4 ECC
Pre-installed memory modules	Yes	4GB (4GB x 1) via SODIMM
Total number of memory slots	1	2
Maximum memory capacity	6 GB (2 GB + 4 GB)	32GB (16GB x 2)
The maximum number of disk slots for an expansion unit	N/A	7 (DX517 x 1)
M.2 drive bay	N/A	2 (NVMe, PCIe 3×1)
Compatible Disk Type	3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD	3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD M.2 2280 NVMe SSD
Disk hot-plug support*	Yes	Yes

So first and foremost, we need to discuss the main differences between the CPUs available here. The Intel Celeron found inside the DS423+ is a four-core, four-thread processor with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz that can be burst to 2.7 GHz when needed. However, despite the age of this CPU, which was released towards the end of 2019, it is the integrated graphics of this processor that gives it a slight edge for some users in terms of NAS deployment- especially those looking at multimedia use for their system. For users that are looking at the manipulation of graphical data, or more commonly are using the NAS as a multimedia server and wish to convert dense multimedia into something more manageable locally (for example, converting a dense 4K file into a much smaller and portable version to watch on the phone whilst commuting to work, on the fly), integrated graphics allow the NAS to perform this task with much lower overall resource consumption.

Thanks to it having a more specialized tool to get this job done. The embedded Ryzen R1600 processor on the other hand, lacks the integrated graphics and is a dual-core processor instead of a quad-core. However, it substantially makes up for this by being a much more powerful dual-core processor, with four threads that allow the system to assign system resources in a similar way to that of having multiple cores. Equally, the clock speed is noticeably higher here with the DS923+ CPU having a 2.6 GHz base power that can be burst when needed to 3.1 GHz. It is true that in cases of graphical manipulation or multimedia conversion, the AMD CPU here will be far less efficient and capable. However, in practically every other way, it is superior to that of the J4125 inside the DS423+. And if you are more concerned with traditional file transfer speeds internally and externally, the DS923+ will comfortably be the better-performing NAS.

The CPU choices in the DS423+ and DS923+ also result in very different memory architectures in each device, which will undoubtedly result in different scalability in the long term. The DS423+ arrives with 2GB of 2666Mhz memory, soldered to the main controller board, which can be further expanded via an available SODIMM memory slot to 6 GB total. This may be a little disheartening when you find out that the CPU here is actually capable of supporting 8 GB maximum memory. However, due to that initial 2GB memory being fixed internally, you cannot officially exceed 6 GB physically. This shortfall is considerably magnified when you bring into comparison the DS723’s memory structure. It arrives with 4GB of DDR4 3200Mhz memory which can be expanded to a whopping 32 GB total across two available SODIMM slots. Additionally, the system arrives with error-correcting code (ECC) memory, which ensures that data that passes through the memory during write operations will have its integrity checked by a separate module on the memory of the system. If any irregularities or inconsistencies are spotted, that data will be repaired. This goes a long way to reassure any doubts around the integrity of long-term archival data and susceptibility to things like bit rot. This is one of the main reasons why the DS923+ is considered much more of a business solution overall.

Much like the memory choices by Synology in these two NAS devices, the ports and connections of them both are similar, but one is definitely more scalable than the other. Both systems arrive with standard gigabit ethernet connectivity, with two available ports that each will provide up to a maximum 109 megabytes per second. Both systems also arrive with USB 3 connectivity, but it is only 5GB gen 1 USB. However, it is from here onward that the DS723 massively upscales things:

Model ID	Synology DS423+	Synology DS923+
Synology NAS
RJ-45 1GbE LAN port*	2 (Supports Link Aggregation / Failover)	2 (Supports Link Aggregation / Failover)
USB 3.2 Gen 1 port*	2	2
eSATA port	0	1
USB Copy	Yes (inc. Physical Button)	Yes
PCIe expansion	N/A	1 x Gen3 x2 LAN card slot
system fan	92 mm x 92 mm x 2 pcs	92 mm x 92 mm x 2 pcs
fan mode	full speed mode low temperature mode silent mode	full speed mode low temperature mode silent mode
Front panel LED indicators with adjustable brightness	Yes	Yes
Noise value*	19.8dB(A)	22.9 dB(A)
wake on lan	Yes	Yes
Power Supply / Transformer	90W	100W
AC input voltage	100V to 240V AC	100V to 240V AC
current frequency	50/60 Hz, single frequency	50/60 Hz, single frequency
Power consumption	28.3 W (access) 8.45 W (disk hibernation)	35.51 W (access) 11.52 W (disk hibernation)