The NAS Synology DiskStation DS118 is aimed at small businesses, professionals, or home users who need a reliable and easy-to-use data storage solution. With the help of the DS118, users can store, organize, and share files across different devices on their network, while also providing secure backup capabilities for their data.
Flexible, powerful, and compact storage server. The Synology DS118 comes with a new 64-bit quad-core processor, which provides excellent data transfer speeds and 10-bit 4K H.265 video encoding on the fly.
Flexible, powerful, and compact storage server
The Synology DS118 features a new 64-bit quad-core processor to deliver outstanding data transfer speeds and supports rich applications such as media streaming, file synchronization and sharing, and data protection solutions.
Ultimate file management and sharing
File Station is an online, fast, and secure management tool designed to allow easy drag-and-drop operations without requiring complex setup on Mac or PC. Advanced search and filtering tools enable easy file organization and sharing. For full compatibility, the DS118 supports the following protocols: AFP, FTP, iSCSI, NFS, SMB, and WebDAV.
Easy access to files with QuickConnect
Access files on your Synology NAS via the Internet without the need to configure port forwarding rules, DDNS, or other complicated network settings. QuickConnect allows you to connect through a secure, customizable address, giving you instant access to media and work files on any Internet-connected device at no additional cost.
Stream content to your TV
Turn your Synology NAS into a home media hub and stream your digital content to computers, mobile devices, Samsung TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, and DLNA devices.
Seamless access and synchronization of your files
The Synology Drive provides an integrated universal portal to access your data anytime and anywhere and to sync all your files across all platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Learn more
Sync files on demand: Save your computer's storage space and network bandwidth.
Go back in time: Easily recover previous versions of your shared files.
Back up your data: Protect your files with scheduled or real-time backups.
File Sharing and Synchronization
With comprehensive support for network file sharing protocols - such as CIFS, AFP, NFS, FTP, and more - DiskStation allows the entire office to consolidate files and collaborate on projects. Or sync files across multiple devices or even different locations, so remote teams can work together.
Your personal media server
DiskStation allows you to stream 4K videos to high-definition TVs, digital media players, mobile phones, and computers, making it easy to watch your entire media library without needing to install a third-party player.
NVR with up to 15 cameras
Transform any Synology NAS into a comprehensive surveillance solution for smart monitoring, management tools, and future scalability and integration. Deploy, manage, and monitor video feeds through an intuitive desktop-like interface, while having peace of mind knowing that all surveillance footage will be stored and managed on your own device.
Ports and Connections
1 Status indicator 2 LAN indicator 3 Drive status indicator 4 Power button and indicator 5 System fan 6 Reset button 7 Kensington security slot 8 USB 3.0 port 9 RJ-45 1GbE port 10 Power port
Cloud Server, File Server, Media Server, Surveillance Station, VPN Server
Connectivity
Ethernet
1 Port
Connections
USB 3.0
Important information
Specifications are collected from official manufacturer websites. Please verify the specifications before proceeding with your final purchase. If you notice any problem you can
report it here.
I bought this product for very simple use. I chose the model with one disk. The machine is AMAZING! Very fast, with many services. It seemed very easy to use and set up. It has a plethora of applications for setting up servers, mail, web, ftp, wordpress, apache, php, plex server for streaming, etc. Its management is very nice. Of course, you can create accounts and give access wherever you want. What I liked the most, since I already have a subscription, is the cloud backup, which I have on gdrive. It has the option for bidirectional backup, meaning that whatever you put on the NAS can be uploaded to gdrive, and whatever you put on gdrive won't be downloaded to the NAS, or whatever you put on the NAS can stay there but whatever you put on gdrive can be downloaded to the NAS. It has 2 USB ports where you can also connect a USB stick or disk. I tried an external one, but because it had bitlocker, it couldn't read its content, but it recognized it. Now I'm decrypting it to see if I can put it on and make it network-accessible through the NAS. I was going for the model with 2 trays, not for RAID, just to put 2 disks, but it seems unnecessary since they can be read through USB. I constantly read about its speed, I couldn't imagine anything more... responsive. I don't know what everyone means by speed, but the memory I see from the logs is at very low levels with the various services I have. I don't know how it will perform with other servers, but for file sharing, it's perfect. I believe that the simple model with 512 will immediately feel the impact as soon as you load a service, so I consider it the best affordable option
Very good nas drive with endless possibilities. No comparison to the others that are on the market with built-in disk. However, it requires searching during installation and use in order to customize it to your needs. Not for beginners, excellent choice if you have basic networking knowledge
With a WD Red 6TB disk and full at 75% with music from DSD, Flac, Mkv, ts, and various movies, everything works without a problem and with PLEX it goes to all devices (smart TV, PS4, mobile, tablet). On the PC, it will be good so that there is no delay in large movie files, run the Plex Desktop for Windows, as well as the Plex media server and not Plex through the DS118.
In relation to the DS214se, it is day and night in terms of its performance in its environment and transfer speed on the local network. (I bought it used with a defect, half of the SATA slot was not working, the part that supplies power. I provided external power to the disk, which caused some damage to the casing, but it works normally.)
Much better than what it is supposed to "replace" (218). For a bay, its price is definitely steep, although Synology's software with all its features, combined with its flawless operation, definitely compensates for it. It would be good to combine it with a >=4TB Ironwolf, in order to activate the extra unified disk health monitoring feature. Take some time to configure it correctly (certificates, firewall, etc.), in order to take advantage of its features.
Attention!! It does NOT support hardware h265 transcoding with PLEX, only with its own ds video.
Now I'm running it with 720p h265 and the CPU is constantly working at 90% and the video loses frames at the beginning, then it stabilizes...
Unfortunately, PLEX only supports Intel processors for hw h265, so we have to go with the DS 218+ which costs 150 euros more :(
Of course, if you have a new 4K TV, transcoding doesn't matter because the TV can play h265 movies natively, so you have Plex Media Server with 5/5 stars!
Update 2: Plex beta for the ARMv8 platform that it uses has been released!! :D
https://forums.plex.tv/t/armv8-platform-alpha-testing-synology-and-qnap/275940
UPDATE!! I am increasing the rating. I contacted Synology support and they advised me to change the DNS server to Google or Cloudflare's server.
Now everything is working fine!!! Except for Plex.. that will take a little longer :D
I bought it exclusively for video streaming and I regret my money.. let's go through it:
1) Plex is not supported due to the new ARMv8 CPU it uses, but it is said to be supported in the future.
2) Its own media player (VideoStation) is a joke.. it doesn't download movie metadata, I can't connect and control it through the DS video app on my phone, it doesn't support Greek subtitles!!
3) QuickConnect, to access my files outside of home, doesn't work, it gives the infamous error "Network error occurred. Please check your DNS and network settings."
Nothing works out of the box for video streaming at least.. You have to be a network expert to be able to configure it to play. What a shame.. in the video reviews I watched before buying it, everything worked on its own.
Whatever I say about Synology's software will probably be an understatement. It is a complete operating system, simple for the average user, with many capabilities (additional packages, etc.). What I really liked is the easy way to access the machine from anywhere, with its own dynamic DNS. You simply give it a name and you have direct access to myname.synology.me:5000. This way, you can manage your files, start a torrent, listen to your stored mp3 files, etc. from anywhere. Another great thing is that the smart TV recognized the disk immediately and plays movies smoothly from there. This particular one has only one disk, so I don't know how it handles RAID, etc., nor have I dealt with setting up backups yet. It does have several options for that, though. Either on a USB disk on the Synology, another network disk, or in the cloud (e.g. Google Drive). The speed of the machine is more than sufficient for relatively simple functions that I have tested so far. The file transfer speed from the local network is very high. I transferred large files to its disk with a steady speed of 110 MB/s, while with an older NAS, it didn't exceed 35 MB/s.