Product Comparison: QNAP TS-228A vs Synology DS218j

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QNAP TS-228A 2-Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

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Synology DS218j 2 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

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General Specifications

Brand

QNAP

Synology

Model

TS-228A

DS218J

Origin

China

About the Product

Equipped with a Realtek RTD1295 quad-core processor, the TS-228A provides home users with powerful features including snapshot-based backup, file synchronization, and private cloud services. The TS-228A is also a one-stop home entertainment portal for streaming photos, music, and videos to multiple devices throughout your home and beyond.

Synology DiskStation DS218j is a 2-bay NAS server which perfectly fits home and personal users to build your own personal cloud. Simple yet powerful, Synology DS218j offers effortless data sharing, multimedia streaming, and cloud synchronization.

Key Specs

Hard Drive Capacity

24 TB

4 TB

Number Of Slots

2 -bay

Storage Drive Type

3.5”, 2.5”, SATA 6Gb/s, SATA 3Gb/s

3.5”, 2.5”

Hard Drive Capacity
Number Of Slots

What customers say about "Key Specs"

QNAP TS-228A 2-Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

I use a larger-capacity one of these at work and it works great so I decided to buy one of these for home and it fits the exact need a backing of files that you never want to lose
Keep in mind that this is an “entry level” NAS, so it’s not going to have a ton of processing overhead or RAM.
Holds 2 drives. Connects easily to wifi. Seems reliable.
Worked for 5 weeks, then completely dead. I used new Seagate drives and had this plugged in to an APC UPS.
I bought 2-2 TB hard drives one for the location and the other for mirroring for security purposes like if the 1st hard drive fails.

Synology DS218j 2 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

I've tried a couple of network attached home storage products before this, but the DS218J absolutely blows them away.
Bought this essentially to provide a centralised storage point in the house, and I knew it could run a Plex server to stream media directly to my TV.
If you are looking for just network attached storage that is simple to use there may be simpler to understand and use products out there. I work in IT so this Synology NAS is great for me.
Main perk is loads of easy to use apps that integrate well with other systems eg. iOS (iphone) apps to access video, music, photo storage, automatic photo backup(!), easy to use apps on Apple TV as well (and even a music app for Apple Watch!), highly recommended!
I wanted a wireless 2 bay home cloud for storage and backup, simples. This will not do it!

Size & Weight

Color

White

Height

7.4 in.

6.5 in.

Width

3.5 in.

3.9 in.

Depth

4.9 in.

8.86 in.

Weight

3.4 lbs.

1.9 lbs.

Features

CPU

Realtek RTD1295

Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 1.3 GHz

RAM

1 GB

0.512 GB

RAID Support

RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD, Single

Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1

Extras

LED Indicators, GDPR Compliant, Hybrid Backup Sync, 3 multimedia "stations"

Dual-core CPU with hardware encryption engine, Fully tested NAS solution, Seagate IronWolf Drives

Included Software

Qsync, myQNAPcloud, Helpdesk, Hybrid Backup Sync, Qcontactz, Notes Station 3, Download Station, iSCSI

Synology Assistant, Cloud Station Backup

What customers say about "Features"

QNAP TS-228A 2-Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

Qnap Customer service is great through facebook.
I set this to RAID 10 with enterprise SATA drives in it and I am getting transfer speeds of 85MB per second. This is seriously a game changer for my clients that fall somewhere between being too small for a server but to robust for cloud storage.
We use the backup sync feature to backup into OneDrive, we use the VPN to work remotely, we iPad and android apps to cast files to a display.
As a NAS I expect to be able to choose RAID levels and filesystems. QNAP does not allow anything other than EXT4, citing performance.
The platform is completely locked down and although it advertises linux installation as a feature it is only on top of the base install, not in place of.

Synology DS218j 2 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

I think I'll probably upgrade in the future as the low un-upgradable 512MB Ram may cause bottlenecking when I have it accessable by all in my home.
An then there's the reassurance of full RAID options for security of your info.
If you leave it all to defaults, then this will set up a RAID system where the drives mirror each other for data security. I however chose to use 'JBOD' mode where I could get the full 8Tb capacity I fitted.
The pi 3 is a cheaper and faster alternative, though it will need setting up to start you off, cpu is faster and 2s the ram.
The only one downside so far is the limited amount of RAM (512Mb) which can't be expanded; although, it was brought as a NAS drive and has far exceeds being just that.

Interfaces

LAN Speed

1000 Mbps

Number of LAN

Number of USB

eSATA

HDMI

What customers say about "Interfaces"

QNAP TS-228A 2-Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

I'm satisfied with that. It replaces 2 USB enclosures that I had connected to the computer in my office area.
Having said that, the installation of a couple of hard disks and the connection to a home network was uneventful.
Got everything set-up and working over a WiFi ac connected laptop.
Support is slow and not terribly helpful. Connectivity is spotty.
Second GigaEthernet Port faulty in less than a year, can only connect at 100Mbps.

Synology DS218j 2 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

The management interface is essentially a full desktop UI - allowing you to quickly install/manage add on packages (like PLEX for example) from inside an intuitive OS.
Does far more than my old hard drive. For example, can set up a VPN connection from inside the network settings in control panel.
You can also connect up to two more USB3 drives to this unit, and I currently have another standalone 8Tb drive hooked up.
It can connect to and synchronise with common cloud storage services (including the "big three" of Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive). It can also mimic such services privately.
Connected to Router, switched on and was up and running within minutes.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

2 year(s)

Certifications

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link