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This is the first DiskStation we have received from Synology which ships in a full colour black box.
Inside, the bundle is comprehensive. A power adapter, lan cable, fitting screws for both 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch drives (spares are also generously included in case a few get lost). Literature, a quick start flyer and software disc with guides and device specific .pat DSM 3.0 code are also supplied.
The DS211+ is an attractively designed product with a reflective glass panel on the front, covering the drive bays. Unlike the more expensive models in the Synology range, the chassis is not metal, but plastic.
The plastic panel is removed with a gentle tug and underneath are two drive bays which slide out with a press of the respective button above. To the right are several LED indicators for power, lan and hard drive activity. There is also an SD slot underneath with a USB 2.0 port and a quick copy and power button at the bottom.
On the rear there are two USB 2.0 ports, a LAN connector, eSATA connector and a reset button and power connector at the very bottom. The fan is a high quality 92mm YS Tech FD129225LS-N, which is a very low noise model requiring only 0.10A.
The two drive holders are plastic, to keep down the cost. They do feel reasonably strong however.
Inside the motherboard is behind a solid cover with a daughtercard extending outwards, bolted to a metal bar inside for strength. We could not open the chassis as it was sealed. We do know however that there is a 1.6ghz CPU inside with 512MB of ram running at 1066mhz. This is twice the amount of memory that is installed in the mainstream DS211 model.
Today we are using two brand new 2TB HD204UI drives from Samsung – otherwise known as the ECOGREEN F4. This will give us the maximum amount of storage that the DS211+ can handle – 4TB. These are Eco-friendly drives, offering low noise (Noiseguard) and low power consumption with a 32MB buffer onboard.
Synology supply screws for both 3.5inch and 2.5 inch drives and it only take a few minutes to connect both drives.
Both drives slide back in and ‘click' into the daughtercard inside. The shiny plastic cover can then be replaced. This is a more elegant approach than the DS211, which requires disassembly of the outer chassis.
