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The Synology DS21xj series has ruled the budget sector for several years now. The DS211j and DS212j were class leading products and both proved the NAS product to beat under £200.
Our testing has highlighted that the DS213j has pushed performance parameters further than the DS212j and the DS211j before it. We documented raw read performance close to 100MB/s and write performance close to 70 MB/s. Synology have doubled the onboard memory this year and it will undoubtedly help in demanding situations.
Thanks to the inclusion of a large 92 mm fan the noise levels are never intrusive … in fact our sound metering system was unable to pick up any fan noise (above ambient) at a distance of a single meter.
Power consumption is in keeping with previous models, consuming only 5 watts when idle and rising to around 18 watts under load. Even if this was left on 24/7 it wouldn't significantly impact an electricity bill over the course of a year.
Like the previous model, the DS213j has no performance concerns. The combination of nippy 1.2ghz processor and optimised multi threaded operating system ensure that the NAS is always responsive, accepting changes almost immediately.
You can pick up the Synology DS213j online for around the £180 inc vat mark. Amazon UK are selling it for £175.58 inc vat – just remember to budget for either one or two hard drives.
We have used many budget oriented NAS systems in recent years but none are more capable than the Synology DS21xj series.
Pros:
- very power efficient.
- well built.
- can accept two 4TB hard drives.
- great operating system.
- attractively designed.
- almost silent.
Cons:
- A tool less hard drive install would be a nice addition for this model.
Kitguru says: An excellent NAS system to suit a very wide audience. It doesn't cost the earth either.
