Two-bay home office NAS device runs Linux

By Eric Brown
2009-12-18

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Synology America Corp. is shipping a two-bay network-attached storage (NAS) device, offering up to 4TB of sharable storage for home and entry-level business users. The Linux-based DS210j is equipped with an 800MHz processor, a gigabit Ethernet port, two USB ports, and version 2.2 of Synology's DNLA-compliant Disk Station Manager software.

The DS210j is quite similar to the four-bay (for up to 8TB) DS410j (pictured at right), announced in November. However, it offers only half the storage space, does not support RAID storage, and has a different tower-format design. Like the DS410j, the DS210j is equipped with a 1.2GHz Marvell 88F6281 "Kirkwood" system-on-chip, and offers 128MB of 16-bit DDR RAM. All of Synology's NAS devices run on embedded Linux.

The DS210j supports up to two 3.5-inch SATA II drives of 2TB apiece, but does not appear to offer support for 2.5-inch SATA or SSD (solid-state drive) storage drives, as does the DS410j. Like its slightly older sibling, the DS210j does provide two USB 2.0 ports and a gigabit Ethernet port.

Synology DS210J

The DS410j ships with the same version 2.2 of Synology’s Disk Station Manager software, which supports Linux, Mac, and Windows desktops, and enables automated backup features, remote file sharing, and multimedia streaming, says the company. The software includes a DNLA-compliant media server, the Photo Station 3 photo management application, and a built-in PHP + MySQL Web Station, which enables remote web-based sharing of photos and other content.

Synology DS210J (rear)

Disk Station Manager 2.2 also includes Surveillance Station 3, which lets users set up a surveillance station for up to five connected IP cameras. In addition, the software is now said to support Apple’s Time Machine, as well as two iPhone Applications: DS audio and DS photo.

Specifications and features listed for the Synology DS210j include:

Processor -- 800MHz
Memory -- 128MB 16-bit DDR RAM
Storage -- up to 4TB via 2 x 3.5-inch SATA II bays
Networking -- 1 x gigabit Ethernet port
USB -- 2 x USB 2.0 ports
Networking protocols -- CIFS, AFP (3.1), FTP, NFS, Telnet/SSH
Major applications (Disk Station Manager 2.2):
- DLNA/UPnP Media Server
- Backup (network, local, desktop, Time Machine)
- Security (firewall, auto-block, FTP over SSL/TLS, encryption)
- Surveillance Station 3
- Photo Station 3
- File Station 2
- Audio Station
- Web Station
- PHP/MySQL
- Download Station 2
- iTunes Server
- iPhone applications (DS photo; DS audio)
Power supply -- 100V to 240V AC input; 50Hz to 60Hz, single-phase
Operating temperature -- 40 to 95 deg. F (5 to 35 deg. C)
Operating system -- Embedded Linux (supports Linux, Mac, Windows desktops)

Stated Doug Self, product specialist at Synology America, "The DiskStation DS210j allows even entry-level businesses an affordable solution for reliable centralized data protection, file sharing across a network, email, web and print server hosting and even a surveillance system without having a full-time IT staff person on board to manage it or a big IT budget."

Availability

The DS410j is available now in both diskless and pre-installed (500GB and 1TB) configurations in Canada, and in pre-installed versions in the U.S. Pricing was not listed. More information may be found here.

More information on Synology's Linux distribution may be found here.

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