Review on 💾 Diskless Synology DS218+ 2-bay NAS DiskStation by Stetson Olsen

Researched a lot, finally bit the bullet and definitely made the right decision. It took a while to filter out all the competing brands and models, but the DS918+ is arguably the most powerful set-top box in this price range. I wanted to combine all the photos and videos from different vacations and events over the years, but decided that any NAS could do the job effectively. The part that really made the DS918+ stand out was its ability to transcode videos on the fly with very little CPU usage. Transcoder saves the day. It transcodes massive 1080p-60fps GoPro video to my iPhone while I'm on a different network in real-time, using only 5-6% of the CPU. And the fact that it comes with 4GB of storage and SSD cache slots means you'll never be disappointed with its performance. Buy 4 x 4TB drives (used 12TB) as 2 x 12TB drives (used 12TB). Add to that the fact that 2GB of storage isn't enough to run Plex and system services, you're really only saving a small amount if you buy the DS718 and then you don't have any upgrade paths. I bought two 6TB drives with the DS918+ and if I ever want to double my capacity I can buy another 6TB drive. That's great. Synology software is fantastic and as easy to install as installing the app from iTunes. You know it's been tested and configured to work with your hardware, so you don't have to bother trying to figure out why PHP isn't starting for some reason. No hair pulling, it was super easy and it's packed with features, notifications out of the box and even works with a cheap Cyberpower UPS. I cannot recommend the DS918+ enough.