Synology RackStation RS812RP+ review

Synology’s DiskStation Manager operating system makes it easy to use the RackStatation as your web, FTP and mail server. It doesn’t have the scalability or added security of an externally hosted service, but if your requirements are relatively modest or if you want a development server on which to build websites before they go live, it’s a valuable option. The web server has full PHP & MySQL support and the phpMyAdmin database front end is available as a package, making the NAS a great option as a local database server.

The NAS has backup tools, including support for multiple versions, which are particularly useful if your staff predominantly works on its local PCs rather than saving directly to the server. It’s also worth investing in an online backup service which can back up from network file shares. If physical security is a concern, the RS812RP+ has an IP camera control centre for up to 20 cameras – you’ll have to buy a separate add-on licence for each (£44 each or £128 for four inc VAT).

Step-by-step wizard interfaces are provided for almost everying, including setting up your backups

In addition to its massive range of bolt-on packages, the RS812RP+ excels when it comes to the core function of a NAS – serving files. It’s brilliantly easy to set up SMB shared folders and configure a range of permissions, user accounts and groups to allow your users to have access only to the folders they need. You can set up iSCSI targets, which client PCs on your network will be able to mount as though they were local drives, for example by using Windows’ iSCSI Initiator tool. There’s also a VPN server package, which means that if your staff work remotely, you can create up to 20 VPN accounts using either PPTP or OpenVPN to give your remote workers access to files and services on your local network.

With fast transfer speeds to RAID arrays, plenty of power, a vast number of features, the ability to scale as your business grows and one of the best NAS operating systems around, the Synology RackStation RS812RP+ is a comprehensive business NAS. The downside of this is the price – at around £1,400 inc vat (£1,172 ex VAT) without disks, this four-bay enclosure may be beyond the means of the smallest firms. However, if you have the money to spend and want a device that can fulfil multiple server functions with a minimum of fuss, this is a brilliant Business Buy.