Product Comparison: Synology DS216j vs Synology DS218j

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Best Pick

Synology DS216j 2-Bay Desktop Network Attached Storage

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Synology DS218j 2 Bay Desktop NAS Enclosure

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General Specifications

Brand

Synology

Model

DS216j

DS218J

Origin

Taiwan

China

About the Product

SynologyDiskStation DS216j is a 2-bay NAS server which perfectly fits home and personal users to build your own personal cloud. Simple yet powerful, Synology DS216j offers you a new experience of effortless data sharing, multimedia streaming, and cloud synchronization under its neat and sleek appearance.

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

4 TB

Number Of Slots

2 -bay

Storage Drive Type

3.5”, 2.5”

Hard Drive Capacity
Number Of Slots

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Synology DS216j 2-Bay Desktop Network Attached Storage

The default config is to have redundancy at the expense of losing capacity. 2 of my friends have also bought these on my recommendations.
Forum advice is squarely in favour of WD 'Red' hard drives; better safe than sorry I say. I found the 'sweet' price vs capacity point to be 3TB.
Once you get going and think bigger than just a network storage device the options are limitless and the online community is always building and supporting new features.
Love this, I paired with two wd red drives, and obsoleted several hard drives into a single storage solution.
Probably the best storage system you can buy for home and small office use.

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

6.5 in.

Width

3.9 in.

Depth

8.9 in.

8.86 in.

Weight

4.4 lbs.

1.9 lbs.

Features

CPU

Marvell Armada 385 Dual Core 1.0 GHz

Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 1.3 GHz

RAM

0.512 GB

RAID Support

non-RAID, Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6

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

Extras

Dual-core CPU with hardware encryption engine, Over 112.75 MB/s reading, 97.6 MB/s writing, Easy to use web operating system on any browsers, Everywhere access with iOS/Android/Windows ready mobile apps

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

Included Software

Synology Assistant, Cloud Station Backup

What customers say about "Features"

Synology DS216j 2-Bay Desktop Network Attached Storage

Fitted second disk, let it get on with rebuilding the RAID (on default settings) which took a long time but it all happens in the background and doesn't interfere with normal use.
I've gone for a raid config that gives me 16TB of storage but obviously no redundancy.
I have 2 3Tb drives running RAID (mirrored), and had I known the full capabilities of this, I'd have wanted 4 drives in there.
Now all my eggs are in one basket, I have it setup as a raid, so some peace of mind in that they are backed up each day, User friendly a kid could set it up.
A perfect starter NAS, enough CPU power for the average user.

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"

Synology DS216j 2-Bay Desktop Network Attached Storage

Functionally excellent with a well thought out user interface over operating hardware/software with default behaviour matching the vast majority of use cases. Simply outstanding.
Great value for money and the admin interface is easy to use. Inserting the drives is also easy.
The DSM software has a brilliant, easy to use interface and migrating settings from my old unit was a simple and painless process.
This works perfectly, the synology interface is superb and customizable, a number of really useful tools and apps. Perfect!
The interface can be a bit confusing but plenty of google help out there. I have not really played with it since standing it up on my network, but no issues so far.

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

Manual

Link