Yes, it's another deal on the DS218J, because Mwave apparently had to one-up Computer Alliance's recent price-drop on this NAS.
I believe this is the lowest price ever for Australian stock.
Full credit to killbill01 for spotting this, as it didn't even show up on StaticICE.
Delivery cost to all metro areas is $10.95 via the eParcel Shipping Option.
Offer ends 30/06.
Not according to OB bro #1 and OB bro #2.
More info here on the different models.
There was a case to update the prior post, but i'm not too fussy…
I really don't believe anything that "your bro" says.
$500 to build a cheap file server??! lol.
Obviously I meant for home use; not an enterprise-level file server.
NASs are great at what they do and yeah a lot of us with spare, older PCs lying around could conceivably get off our asses and spend a weekend spinning up FreeNAS on them, configuring them and getting the RAID array running properly to turn them into jerry-rigged NAS boxes, but a Synology NAS + HDDs can be up and running in about 30 minutes, it's beautifully simple and very accessible, especially for the less tech-savvy.
@Gnostikos: the older i get the less i can be bothered with fiddling with old pcs, i'm quite happy with a cheap nas (that are usually smaller than an old pc)
Given the ex-lease Dell boxes being flogged everywhere i tend to agree.
But they will be low power, and designed for always-on (you'd hope), and they do have all that other stuff that OB bro #1 referenced…
@[Deactivated]: Bro #1 would weigh in here and say, you could get even cheaper sh*tboxes from GraysOnline that are refurbs/ex-demo or something for less than $500 dollars (minus a warranty probably) and they would be relatively modern and capable of running FreeNAS well enough but you're just making things needlessly complicated.
Grab disks > stick in NAS > spend 30 minutes in a browser clicking through painfully-obvious setup steps > Done > Copy your sh*t onto the NAS and get on with life.
@Gnostikos: Sure OP i can see that, and i do get a kick out of your reference to OB bro #1.
I guess my needs are pretty limited - just want to back up key files on main desktop, and struggle to justify $200 for that esp as i do happen to have an old Dell USFF sitting here calmly winking at me. But yes, could The Phantom be bothered…tough question.
@SaddenAscentAspirin: No shoehorn needed, just gaffer tape them to the side panels. Works every time.
Any good?
For a NAS new-comer? Probably the best choice out there.
This is the 10th generation of Synology's entry-level, two-bay NAS. It hasn't changed a hell of a lot over the last few generations (minus better CPUs) and that's for good reason: they don't need fixing.
There's a ton of add-on packages for the DiskStation Manager OS to turn a Synology NAS into everything from a fully-automated media server, personal cloud server, automated torrent box, a CCTV surveillance DVR, a basic web server; you name it.
I have the predecessor 216j as my first NAS. It's still going strong and I've found it to be very useful. Sure it isn't the fastest thing in the world but it's well priced and does the job well. As Amar89 mentioned, there's more to a NAS than just a giant hard drive on the network - it can serve up media, backup your cloud storage, act as a DVR (used to use this before I moved to Arlo), etc.
We need another DS918+ deal. My DS213air really needs to be replaced.
why mine is still going, if my phones werent so crappy i'd barely need a computer - the only thing i regret with the air is i should have got the 4 bay nas instead (but i needed a router too at the time)
Plex is not supported for the air anymore :(. I tried installing a legacy version of Plex to no avail.
Synology's Video Station works ok as long as it's not playing a high demanding definition movie. It also lacks basic features when viewing a movie.
The 1 core CPU doesn't always support the needs for my household unfortunately.
Once the upgrade is done, I plan to use the air primarily as a backup server for the DS918+.
hmmm, yeah i just use vlc to watch things but i'm the only one that accesses it.
videostation is pretty shameful
now you are tempting me :D
Would the ts-228a qnap for few dollars more not be a better option?
Can this do fullhd plex transcoding
According to this thread it isn't suitable for full transcoding
https://forums.plex.tv/t/synology-ds218j/366162
Thanks - that was quite useful.
Slide sidetrack but whats peoples thoughts on the QNAP TS-431P if i need a 4 bay NAS?
What are good value drives to use with this machine ?
Dare I say it… but finally the NAS "premium" is wearing thin. People have realized that it's just an empty box with a couple of chips in it.