Synology DS224+ 2 Bay NAS Desktop: Efficient Storage Solution

The Synology DS224+ is exactly what I needed for reliable, centralized storage at home. Setup was super easy with the DSM interface—intuitive, polished, and packed with features. I use it for backing up devices, storing media, and running Plex, and it handles everything smoothly. The dual drive bays are perfect for RAID 1, giving me peace of mind with data redundancy. It's quiet, compact, and energy-efficient—ideal for running 24/7 without drawing attention or racking up the power bill. For anyone looking to start with NAS or upgrade from an older model, the DS224+ is a fantastic choice. Great performance, excellent software, and dependable Synology quality. Highly recommended!

The Synology DS224+ is an outstanding NAS! Setup was quick and easy, and DSM software is incredibly intuitive. Performance is fast, with great file transfer speeds and smooth remote access. Perfect for backups, media streaming, and personal cloud storage. Expandable RAM is a plus. Reliable, quiet, and efficient—this NAS is a must-have for home or small office use!

This is my 4th nas and first Synology and is by far the easiest to set up with very intuitive software, which for someone like me who only wants secure storage for photographs and family history documents. Also the Plex media server is a doddle to set up compared with “ugreen”. The build quality is great and feels built to last. Yes it is not high end in the spec department but it gets the job done simply and effectively

A great device overall, looks good and easy to set up. Initially I used Ironwolf Pro disks in the device and the noise was horrific, so I quickly replaced with WD Red and the device runs pretty silent. Backup of my selected drives has been generally efficient, however a number of files couldn't be copied across due to the file name length and it wasn't particularly easy to see (from the reports) which needed to be shortened as the pages ran to many. If you have short filenames, and not many sub-folders, you'll probably be fine. Remote access to files from an iphone works well and overall it was a huge step up from the WD Cloud which I had used (mostly unsatisfactorily) prior.

Usage and Initial Impressions: After two months of using the Synology DS224+, I can confidently say this NAS has exceeded my expectations in almost every aspect. Serving as the central storage hub for my household and family, the DS224+ replaced several outdated servers, effortlessly taking over their roles while adding new functionalities. The primary uses for this NAS include storing media collections (movies, TV shows, and music), backing up photos from our phones, and managing documents through Synology Office. It has significantly reduced our dependence on cloud services like Google Drive and phone manufacturers' cloud storage, providing a secure and private alternative. Upon unboxing, the NAS impressed with its minimal yet functional packaging. The device itself feels solid, well-built, and surprisingly intuitive. Concerns about cooling and vibrations were quickly dispelled as the NAS ran smoothly without any issues in these areas. Setup and Installation: Setting up the DS224+ was mostly straightforward, with one minor hiccup related to a RAM upgrade. I initially tried installing a 16GB RAM module (despite Synology's official limit being 4GB extra), which caused the NAS not to boot. After removing the module, the setup process proceeded without issue, and I later reinstalled the RAM successfully, bringing the total to 18GB. DSM (DiskStation Manager) 7.2.1-69057 Update 5 was installed without a hitch, and the documentation provided by Synology, along with online resources, made navigating the settings and customization options manageable. Performance: The performance of the DS224+ has been outstanding. Even with multiple users connected from various locations across the UK, the NAS handles tasks with ease. CPU usage remains low, even under load, and file transfer speeds are excellent, averaging around 80-100MBps over a single LAN port. The collaborative features, such as document editing and calendar syncing, work in real-time with minimal latency, providing a seamless experience. Features: The DS224+ is packed with features, many of which are customisable to suit individual needs. From Docker support to third-party app installations, the NAS offers flexibility and power. However, I would caution against installing every available package, as some third-party apps in the official package centre are outdated and may have security vulnerabilities. Despite this, the overall functionality and expandability through Docker and other means are impressive. User Interface and Software: The user interface is a hybrid of a desktop and mobile environment, providing a unique but familiar experience. While Synology excels in offering a range of features and customisation options, there are a few shortcomings. For example, the lack of a consistent dark mode across applications and the continued use of American English in the UI despite selecting British English are minor annoyances. Additionally, the outdated third-party apps in the package manager pose a security risk, which Synology should address. Storage Capacity and Expandability: With two 12TB hard drives (Sold Separately) configured in SHR-1, the DS224+ provides ample storage with fault tolerance, ensuring data safety. While the two bays are sufficient for my needs, others may find the capacity limiting. Synology's storage calculator is a helpful tool for planning your configuration, and I recommend using drives of the same size for optimal results. A word of caution however: Do not buy hard drives from Synology. They're overpriced. Noise and Cooling: The NAS offers customisable fan speed settings, allowing you to prioritise cooling or noise levels. Even at maximum speed, the fan noise is minimal and not disruptive. During a recent heatwave, the balanced setting maintained optimal temperatures without issue. Value for Money: Initially, I was hesitant about the price, given my previous experience with a subpar NAS. However, the DS224+ has proven to be worth every penny, and more! Its performance, reliability, and extensive features make it one of the best purchases I've made in recent years. Issues: While the DS224+ excels in many areas, it does have some software-related drawbacks. The outdated third-party apps in the official package manager and the inconsistent dark mode implementation are areas that could use improvement. Additionally, Synology's claim that the maximum RAM capacity is 4GB is misleading (but in a good way, I guess), as I successfully installed 16GB. Potential buyers should research compatible RAM options before upgrading and always check Amazon reviews if getting it from Amazon; look for mentions of "Synology" and "Synology NAS". Final Thoughts: Despite its minor shortcomings, the Synology DS224+ is a powerful and versatile NAS that delivers exceptional performance and value. It’s ideal for those looking to centralise their storage, reduce dependency on cloud services, and ensure data security. I highly recommend it, giving it a solid 5/5.

I bought this DS224+ to replace my ageing DS213j which was starting to get unreliable after about 12 years of active service. I've not really used the Synology for anything other than data storage. The migration process from the old system couldn't have been easier, it brought in all my passwords and volumes as a 'drop-in' replacement and within minutes I was up and running. The only snag was the 2FA email never gets sent for me to confirm which isn't a problem as a TOTP is more secure anyway. After 12 years of service from my old Synology to a new much more powerful system I must say that credit should be given where it's due, and I think that time is now. I'm impressed and I think you will be too. Now I'm looking forward to installing Plex on this system and being able to use GPU for hardware transcoding. Also aggregating the two 1Gb network connections for faster file transfers PS. It took literally seconds to upgrade the RAM to 10GB with a single 8GB Crucial DDR4 by pulling out drive 2 you can see the SODIMM slot.

ORIGINAL REVIEW --------------------- I'd been thinking about a NAS for a while. Primarily for data storage which, up untill now, I was just doing to an external hard disk drive. I kept putting it off thinking it was a lot of money to basically just do the same thing. What made me go for it was when I discovered it was much more than just a storage device - this thing will run a multitude of useful apps and services, including PLEX Server which I had installed on my laptop to stream my FLAC music collection. Running PLEX on a NAS is a much, MUCH better idea than running it on a PC. For a start, a NAS is designed to be left running 24/7 and it will do so extremely reliably. Unlike Windows, it won't decide to reboot whenever it feels like it. Despite the hardware disparity - my laptop has an Intel i7 processor, 16Gb RAM and a 4Tb nVME drive, vs the NAS's Intel Celeron processor, 6Gb RAM (I bought the 4Gb upgrade on top) and two 4Tb Seagate Ironwolf hard disk drives (one mirroring the other for redundancy) - the performance of PLEX is night and day better on the NAS. Today I was streaming Hi-Res FLAC audio files to two separate devices whilst it was doing a full data scrub of the whole drive - the CPU never went above 5% on the resource monitor, the RAM not above 15%. It absolutely flies no matter what I thow at it, without breaking into a sweat, because it's not being bogged down by all the bloat that comes with a Windows installation on a PC. It's also virtually silent. My laptop is considerably louder when it's fan kicks in. And it has lots of very thoughtful features like being able to set the brightness of the LEDs or even put them on a schedule so they dim or turn off so as not to annoy people or be a distraction. It's just so well thought out and an absolute joy to use. If, like I was, you're still "thinking about it"... Just pull the trigger and get one, you will NOT regret it! :) 6 MONTH UPDATE ---------------------- I'm now using my NAS for a variety of things... Central data storage, backing up my laptop and phone, and backing up Google Drive. I'm running Plex for streaming music and movies, a web server, a mail server and two Minecraft Bedrock Servers, plus a multitude of docker containers. The Processor idles at around 10-15%, and the RAM hovers around 45-50%. Not a single hitch, everything just works. Best piece of tech I have ever bought and I could not be happier!

It took me a little while before I could set this up, but it's been getting some pretty heavy usage over the past 6 months or so, so time to review! The Good - It's incredibly easy to get running out the box, and has really great software support. If you aren't a technical person, this is a fabulous option. If you are a technical person, it's also quite easy to work with. Easy to set up containerized applications (I forget if it's docker or something else, but regardless you can use docker-config.yml files etc pretty easily). You can ssh into it and enable this through the GUI. The complimentary AnyConnect service is easy to set up and access the GUI, but honestly, it's painfully slow using it,Other DDNS solutions I've found to be much faster. The Bad - It fits two drives, so using a reputable brand, you could get maybe two 24TB drives, which I believe is supported, but seeing as those drives cost more than this device, and this is a entry level product, you'll most probably shell out for a 4TB or 8TB ironwolf. So with 4TB, you'll probably be able to get a hundred or so 4k movies plus a couple hundred HD ones, and maybe a dozen of your favourite TV series. By the time you reach this point, you're probably pretty comfortable using your NAS, and might be considering expansion. But now you also want to protect your collection, so you need to buy another 4TB drive just to mirror in case of failure, and now you have zero room for expansion. You could buy a much larger drive (8+TB), but again, you want to mirror the first, so you need two of them, and the original drives now are just going to have to sit in a corner gathering dust. This is because there are zero options for expansion with more drive slots, as can be seen buried in their FAQ section under the synology expansion unit compatability section. I bought this thinking it would be a good starting point and if I enjoyed working with it, I could expand it in the future. I've tried a few workaround solutions but nothing has worked out for me so far. So my options comes down to replacing the unit with something else, now that I have more knowledge, and this device will unfortunately not be able to see any further usage, which is very sad. There is also an issue with uploading folders that contain files over a certain size, I believe it's around 8-10GB. I'm not quite sure what the cause of this is. If you need to batch upload a lot of large files it's quite a pain. Summary - Overall, looking back, I've had a lot of fun with this system. I wish I had researched the models a little bit more before getting this one, and got a system which supported drive bay expansion. You have to do a lot of learning for yourself and ultimately that's what I would see this product as, a learning tool - But you only realize it's an expensive lesson to learn once you get to the end of that journey. The operating software and web interface hold the rating up, which is top notch, and I assume is the same between different products.

Great 2 bay NAS. Easy to setup.

Très satisfait de ce NAS Synology. L’installation est simple, l’interface DSM est intuitive et les performances sont excellentes pour le partage de fichiers, les sauvegardes et l’accès à distance. Le fonctionnement est silencieux et très stable. Idéal pour sécuriser ses données à la maison ou en entreprise. Produit de qualité que je recommande sans hésiter. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hij staat nu naast de DS213, die doet nu de backups van deze nieuwe DS224+. Voor een knappe prijs kunnen kopen! Hij staat nu 120€ duurder!!

Die Synology DS224+ ist für mich eines der besten Geräte, die ich in den letzten Jahren gekauft habe. Ich nutze sie intensiv zur Speicherung und Verwaltung großer Datenmengen und sie läuft zuverlässig und stabil. Besonders beeindruckt mich der große Funktionsumfang. Neben klassischem Netzwerkspeicher bietet die DiskStation viele zusätzliche Möglichkeiten. Docker-Container, automatische Backups, Medienverwaltung und zahlreiche weitere Anwendungen lassen sich problemlos nutzen. Dadurch ist das Gerät weit mehr als nur eine einfache Datengrab-Lösung. Die Einrichtung war unkompliziert und das Betriebssystem DSM ist übersichtlich und leistungsfähig. Auch nach längerer Nutzung entdecke ich immer wieder neue Funktionen, die den Alltag erleichtern. Wer eine flexible und zuverlässige NAS sucht, die sowohl für Einsteiger als auch für fortgeschrittene Nutzer viel zu bieten hat, ist mit der DS224+ hervorragend bedient.

Muy funcional. Se le puede sacar mucho partido. Tener en cuenta que si se le ponen discos mecanicos, se escucharán, los ventiladores en el modo más silencioso se escuchan poco. Se le puede configurar para acceder desde fuera de la red de casa. Tiene aplicaciones para el movil para hacerte tu propia nube tipo Google Fotos, compartir archivos Si quieres algo más puedes montarte un servidor web, con aplicaciones... Potencia suficiente pero es recomendable aumentarle la RAM.