Synology DiskStation DS111 review

The Synology DiskStation DS111 is a single-disk NAS enclosure. It looks almost identical to the company’s previous one-disk models, but differs in one immediately noticeable respect. It’s quite expensive: pre-assembled single-disk NAS devices are available at this price.

It’s just as well that fitting a disk is straightforward. Simply slide open the plastic case and slot a SATA hard disk into place. Screw it in to ensure it doesn’t rattle, then slide the case closed. The case can be screwed shut too if you wish.

It’s easy to see where your money has gone as soon as you start configuring the DS111. The web admin interface looks like a Mac/Linux desktop, with links to all of the controls represented as app-like icons in a MacOS-style control panel. You can drag your most frequently used controls to the desktop as if they were program shortcuts on a Windows desktop. If that sounds too messy, there’s a Search box so you can search for the controls your need by keyword. It’s all very slick and works well.

Its beauty isn’t just skin deep. Creating user accounts was especially easy. A single tabbed window allows you to create an account, set a storage usage quota, give access to certain shared folders and even decide which of the DS111’s extra features it can use. You can even email the user their account details.

Just as impressive is the file copying performance. Its chart-topping speeds put many more expensive NAS devices to shame. The only one of our tests where it fell behind the competition a little was when reading small files, but it was still reasonably quick at just under 14MB/s.

Just as impressive are the many extra features. If you don’t want to leave the DS111 on constantly, you can set it to power itself on and off according to a schedule. It’s very flexible too – you can have multiple presets which can kick in daily, weekly, monthly or just on particular days. We had no trouble sharing a USB disk and a USB printer across our network. The DS111 even has an eSATA port for sharing any eSATA disks you may have. A wealth of more advanced features, such as web server, are also available.

The DS111 can be used as a media server, although media files have to be stored in the default Music, Videos and Pictures folders – surprisingly restrictive for an otherwise flexible NAS. Although we had no trouble getting them to work, we did notice some occasional stuttering when playing high definition video using an UPnP network media player. We suspect this might be a UPnP glitch, since the problem disappeared when played the same clip through Windows.

We’ve been hugely impressed with previous Synology NAS enclosures, and it’s no different with the DS111. However, there’s no escaping the DS111’s high price: the DS211j costs roughly the same and, although slightly slower, gives you the benefit of RAID and up to 6TB capacity. If performance is your top priority, we still think the DS111 is worth buying, but if you want a two-disk NAS, the Synology DiskStation DS211j is better value.