Earlier this month we tested the DS712+ which became the first member of the new x12 series. With a current retail value of $500 US it is also the most expensive 2-bay NAS Synology offers. This small to medium business device can be expanded to support seven drives using the DX510 expansion unit, making it very flexible.

Still, as impressive as the DS712+ was in terms of performance, build quality and design, we were disappointed by the lack of USB 3.0 support for this high-end device.

Then just a few weeks later we stumbled upon the QNAP TS-219P II and although it was not quite in the same league as the DS712+ when it came to performance, at $360 US it was considerably cheaper. When comparing the TS-219P II to Synology’s dual bay devices we found that QNAP had Synology beat as far as value goes. We then went on to say that Synology would have to release a new x12 series product to compete with the TS-219P II, and that is exactly what they have done.

However, rather than just release one new 2-bay device, Synology has come up with three new products and they are the DS212j, DS212 and DS212+. The DS212j is designed for home users as well as small office users, and with a retail value of just $220 US it won’t send you broke. Further up the food chain we have the DS212, which is a home to business workgroup class product that retails for $310 US, and finally the DS212+ which costs $410 US.

When compared to the DS712+ the new DS212+ is roughly $100 cheaper and that saving means features such as Link Aggregation and the option to expand storage are off the table. Yet despite losing a few features, the DS212+ picks up USB 3.0 support as well as an SD card reader, and for most home users these are going to be far more useful than Link Aggregation.

The DS212j also receives USB 3.0 support, though the SD card reader has been dropped from the list of features. The hardware specifications of the DS212j are also weaker, as the CPU has been downgraded from 2.0GHz to just 1.2GHz and the memory capacity has been halved. Still, for just $220 US we are very keen to see what the DS212j has to offer, and with that in mind let’s move on to check out these new products in greater detail...

The design really is very simple as the outer housing is an almost featureless shell. Whereas the DS712+ and many other Synology products feature removable hot-swappable bays, the DS212j is a fall back to the old ways.

In order to install the hard drives the entire case cover must first be removed, which means the hard drives you install into the DS212j are really meant to stay in there. This is probably not so much of an issue for home or small office users, and it is a cheaper design which helps Synology keep costs down.

From the front the DS212j has a dark gray strip down the right hand side which features the power button and a number of imbedded LED lights which indicate system status, network activity and of course hard drive activity.

Around the back is a custom 92mm fan grill, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and a 12v DC input. It’s a very simple setup really and the DS212j does not support the USB quick copy feature that we often find on the more expensive models.

The DS212j measures 165 x 100 x 225.5mm and weighs 940 grams without any hard drives installed. In terms of power consumption when active the unit sucks down just 17.6 watts, while it can consume as little as 5.5 watts when in hibernation mode.

As we mentioned earlier the DS212j is driven by a 1.2GHz processor, the Marvell Kirkwood 88F6281 (88F6-B1A2) SoC (System on Chip). This controller chip includes a 256KB L2 cache and typically operates between 1.0 and 1.2GHz. The Marvell chip doesn't feature any kind of passive cooling even when operating at 1.2GHz, as is the case in the DS212j.

The Kirkwood 88F6281 also supports a pair of Gigabit Ethernet connections, USB 2.0, two SATA 3Gb/s ports and a PCI Express x1 port. The DS212j utilizes the Gigabit Ethernet support using a single connection, while the SATA ports are used to support two hard drives.

The motherboard has no SATA data or power connectors as found on early models. Rather there is a PCI Express x1 port which connects to another PCB featuring the hot-swappable connectors that rise up into the hard drive bay area. There are also two 3-pin fan headers located on the PCB which are used by default to power the single 92mm fan.

Unlike past Synology NAS devices that we've looked at, the DS212j doesn't feature a SO-DIMM for its memory. Instead, memory is soldered directly to the PCB. There is a single DDR2 memory chip providing a 256MB capacity, the Hynix H5PS1G63EFR S6C module works at 800MHz using CAS6-6-6 timings.

There is just one more obvious ingredient that must be added: the hard drives. The DS212j compatibility list is quite broad, supporting a wide range of Hitachi, Maxtor, Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital hard drives.

First of all the DS212+ brings back the quick copy feature, though we were disappointed to find that the front mounted USB port used to support this feature is not 3.0 compatible. Another feature that is unique to the DS212+ is the SD card reader, which is a feature photographers will no doubt find useful for quickly loading images to their NAS.

These extra features have made the DS212+ a little bigger and heavier when compared to the DS212j. The DS212+ is 8% wider and 3% longer than the DS212j, measuring 165 x 108 x 233.2mm. Meanwhile it is also 33% heavier, tipping the scales at 1.25kg without any hard drives installed.

From the front the DS212+ is entirely black. The strip down the right hand side features the power button, copy button, USB 2.0 port, SD card reader and a number of imbedded LED lights which indicate system status, network activity and of course hard drive activity.

Unlike the DS212j the front panel of the DS212+ is removable, as it is attached by four rubber grommets that pop out when gently pulled. Behind the panel are two removable hot-swappable SATA cages which support 2.5” and 3.5” drives. There is a small push release latch at the top of each cage which allows them to slide out of the DS212+. This is a very nice design that is both aesthetically pleasing and highly practical.

Around the back the design is remarkably similar to that of the DS212j, with a few exceptions. While the same custom 92mm fan grill, Ethernet port and a 12v DC input are present, Synology has added an eSATA port and USB 3.0 support. The addition of eSATA and USB 3.0 means that the DS212+ will be able to copy data from external hard drives much faster than the DS212j which is limited to USB 2.0.

Inside the DS212+ we find that it is powered by the Marvell 88F6282 SoC (System-on-Chip). This controller chip includes a 256KB L2 cache and typically operates between 1.6 and 2.0GHz, Synology have clocked it at 2.0GHz for this particular model. The Marvell chip doesn't feature any kind of active cooling even when operating at 2.0GHz.

This is the same processor used by the older DS211 and DS211+, though they only clocked in at 1.6GHz. The DS212+ also shares the same 512MB DDR3 memory buffer as the DS211+, so we wonder how much impact the 25% increase in clock frequency has on performance. The memory is directly attached to the PCB, in total there are two chips which are of the Hynix variety (H5TQ2G83BFA).

Also featured on the PCB is the Marvell 88SX7042-BDU1 controller, which provides the DS212+ with two SATA 3Gb/s ports. This is a PCI Express to SATA controller which is often utilized by consumer RAID cards such as the HighPoint RocketRaid 2314MS.

There are two more important chips found on the PCB which are the Genesys Logic GL836 and NEC PD720200. The Genesys Logic GL836 is a USB 2.0 Dual SD/MMC/MS card reader controller which obviously supports the SD card reader on the front of the DS212+. The NEC PD720200 is a USB 3.0 host controller which provides the pair of USB 3.0 ports at the rear of the DS212+.

Finally it is also worth mentioning that Synology has gone with a 100% solid capacitor design, making this a more durable product. The DS212+ also comes with a 2 year warranty and will support the latest 3TB hard drives.

The DS212+ offers a slightly easier design for installing the hard drives. With the front panel removed, which only takes seconds as it pops off without the need for any tools, the user can pull out the removable hard drive cages. Again each drive is secured into the cage using four screw.

With the hard drives installed the user merely needs to run the DiskStation Assistant, which configures the hard drives and installs the operating system, and that's pretty much it. You can then gain access to the DiskStation Manager 3.2 by connecting to the DS212j or DS212+ using a web browser.

For the purpose of this review, we installed a pair of Western Digital Blue 500GB hard drives. To really get your money's worth, we'd recommend opting for 2TB or even 3TB drives, giving a total capacity of 4TB or 6TB.

The Disk Station Assistant software is provided on a CD, though the latest version as of writing (3.2-1920) can also be downloaded from Synology's website. This latest version gives the user the option to create the Synology Hybrid RAID volume at the first-time DSM installation on your new DiskStation.

The Disk Station Assistant software detects the NAS device and lets you install the latest firmware. In this case it's the Disk Station Manager 3.2-1950 for the DS212+ and DSM 3.2-1944 for the DS212j.

Creating a volume on Synology Disk Station products is often an extremely lengthy process, and it's been one of the few gripes we've had with their products. The DSM 3.2 has resolved this issue by affording you the ability to skip checking for bad sectors when formatting. Doing so will have the volume created in just minutes rather than hours.

In order to create a volume you will need to choose which hard drives you want to use and the volume type. The options are Synology Hybrid RAID, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 5+Spare, RAID 6 and RAID 10. The DS712+ was configured to use RAID0 for testing, which gave us a 1TB storage capacity.

Once the volume is created, you're free to configure the DS212j or DS212+ as you see fit. The next logical step would be to setup user accounts and privileges. Shared folders can then be assigned, and features such as the Download Station 2 can be initiated. Users are also free to connect a UPS or a printer to the NAS.

One of our long time favorite applications in the DSM suite is called Download Station 2, which allows you to turn the DS212j or DS212+ into a 24/7 download center for BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule, NZB news server, RapidShare and MegaUpload. Even shutting down your computer won't affect transfers, as files are downloaded directly to the NAS.

The eMule download service is integrated into the Download Station 2 web interface and you can simply connect to any eMule server on the list and start searching right away. You can also set the upload/download rates and the maximum connections in the eMule settings. For batch downloads, you can assign multiple tasks by entering more than one ed2k links at once, or simply upload a text file containing multiple links.

Synology has now integrated HTML5 into the Download Station making it possible to add download items in a drag-n-drop fashion. For example if you have a BitTorrent file on your computer you can simply add it to the Download Station by dragging and dropping it to start the task right away. This is a cool update to this software as it makes using it more fluent.

Download Station 2 also provides a torrent search function that makes it simple to locate and download torrents. Additionally the RSS Feed feature makes it easy for heavy torrent users to keep track of the latest releases.

Another cool application that has recently been updated is Photo Station, which is now in its fifth revision. This software features advanced photo wall and image flow browsing options as well as a theme designer for album customization. Additionally users can also synchronize albums automatically onto Facebook.

The flexibility of photo theme customization, visitors' privilege settings to view or upload photos, virtual albums of recently uploaded images, RSS feeds, and a 3D photo browsing of Cooliris, make this a very powerful photo sharing center. Also, the newly-added Google Maps integration allows you to geotag your photos and trace your path.

The new Storage Manager offers iSCSI support and has been certified by VMware, Citrix and Hyper-V, allowing it to tackle the major virtualization servers. Another great Storage Manager feature is called Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR), which optimizes volume size when combining hard disks of varying capacities into an array.

When set as the "Standard" volume type in the Storage Manager, SHR provides 1 to 2 hard disks fault-tolerance of data protection. It can be expanded to an optimal volume space when larger or additional hard disks are inserted into the array.

As you might expect, the DS212+ and DS212j are masters at backing up data and have many such options. The local backup allows data to be copied from the NAS to an external hard drive using one of the USB 2.0 ports. This enables quick and easy backups of any data located on the device.

You can also perform a network backup, which allows you to back up files and data from one Disk Station to another (or other rsync-compatible servers) over a network. With the Encrypted Network Backup option, users can encrypt data when a backup task is being processed, so sensitive data will not be exposed to uninvited guests.

Besides the mandatory backup functions, the extra software features can certainly come in handy even if you don't plan to use all of them -- and you probably won't. We particularly liked Photo Station 5, Download Station 2 and Web Station.

Hardware - Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 (2.60GHz) - x2 2GB DDR2-1066 G.Skill (CAS 7-7-7-18) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - ASUS Radeon HD 4550 (256MB) - ASUS P5Q Pro (Intel P45) - OCZ GameXStream (700 watt) Software - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 (64-bit) - ATI Catalyst 10.3

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB (Serial ATAII) - Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB (Serial ATAII) - Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Black 500GB (Serial ATAII)

- Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII) - Western Digital Blue 500GB (Serial ATAII)

The power consumption numbers of the Synology DS212+ and DS212j were in line with that of other 2-bay NAS devices, using around 20 watts under load. The DS212+ used exactly 20 watts matching the older DS211, while the DS212j consumed slightly less at 18 watts. When compared to the QNAP TS-219P II the Synology DS212+ and DS212j were slightly more power hungry.

The Synology DS212+ was just 2MB/s slower than the DS712+ in our 6GB single file copy test, while it was 4MB/s faster than the QNAP TS-219P II, this also worked out to be a 4% performance advantage in favor of the DS212+. The DS212j on the other hand was 12% slower than the DS212+, making it 7MB/s or 8% slower than the TS-219P.

The performance margin between the Synology DS212+ and DS212j closed up in our game test, as the DS212+ was just 3% faster. Interestingly the DS212+ was a fraction faster than the more expensive DS712+, though with less than 1MB/s separating the two you could call the performance identical, the same can be said when comparing the QNAP TS-219P II. The DS212j outperformed the old DS411+ and was only slightly slower than the DS712+ and TS-219P II.

The program test again saw the Synology DS212+ and DS212j deliver similar performance as the DS212+ was just 1MB/s faster, though this did equate to a 6% performance advantage. The DS212+ again matched the performance of the DS712+ and QNAP TS-219P II.

The Synology DS212+ provided a throughput of 64.7MB/s in our single 6GB upload test, making it 45% faster than the DS212j, which translated to a 20MB/s difference. However the DS212+ was 3% slower than the QNAP TS-219P II, dropping just 2MB/s. When compared to the more expensive DS712+ the DS212+ was 34% slower, as it lagged behind by 33MB/s.

The DS212j managed 44.7MB/s, making it slightly faster than the QNAP TS-412, while it was slower than the older DS211.

The game upload performance showed similar performance trends and this time the Synology DS212+ was 37% faster than the DS212j. With a throughput of 51.2MB/s the DS212+ was slightly faster than the QNAP TS-219P II, while it trailed the DS712+ by a 27% performance margin. The DS212j on the other hand was slightly slower than the Thecus N3200XXX and DS211, while it was noticeably faster than the TS-412.

The program upload performance saw the margin between the Synology DS212+ and DS212j narrow to just 23% in favor of the DS212+. The DS212+ matched the older DS411+, while it managed to outperform the QNAP TS-219P II. The DS212j on the other hand was slightly slower than the Thecus N3200XXX, while it was faster than our Core 2 Duo test system as well as the older DS211.

When copying the 6GB file on-disk the Synology DS212+ provided a bandwidth of 40.7MB/s, making it slightly slower than the QNAP TS-219P II and DS712+. The DS212j on the other hand was much slower with just 27.3MB/s, allowing it to match the TS-412.

The game copy performance of the Synology DS212+ was reasonably strong as it matched the DS411+ and QNAP TS-219P II, while it was also just 3MB/s slower than the more expensive DS712+. The DS212j on the other hand was limited to 21.3MB/s, making it slightly slower than the Thecus N3200XXX and DS211, while it was faster than the QNAP TS-412.

Although just under 2MB/s separated the Synology DS212+ and DS212j in the program copy test, this was enough to see the DS212+ deliver 16% more performance. Meanwhile the DS212+ was just a fraction slower than the QNAP TS-412P, while it outperformed the TS-659P II.

When testing with CrystalDiskMark we found that the Synology DS212+ and DS212j provided similar sequential read performance, while the write performance of the DS212+ was far superior. Furthermore, while the DS212+ was slightly slower than the QNAP TS-219P II when measuring read performance, it was much faster when writing.

The random 512K test showed similar performance trends, though this time the DS212+ was clearly faster than the DS212j when measuring both read and write performance. The DS212+ was also faster than the QNAP TS-219P II.

The random 4K-QD32 performance of the Synology DS212+ and DS212j was very similar and we found both devices comparable to the QNAP TS-219P II.

The Synology DS212+ was slightly slower than the DS2411+ and DS712+ when measuring read performance using the Atto Disk Benchmark. Although the QNAP TS-219P II was faster when working with 1K, 2K and even 8K data, the DS212+ provided a significant performance advantage when working with later 32K and 128K data.

This was also true for the DS212j which was slower than the TS-219P II when working with 1K, 2K and 8K data, yet managed to overtake it when working with 32K and 128K data.

The write performance results are quite similar really, as the Synology DS2411+ and DS712+ still dominate while the DS212+ is not that far behind. The QNAP TS-219P II provides a challenge when working with smaller files, but again falls behind when working with the 32K and 128K sample data. The DS212j was unable to catch the TS-219P II this time and was found to be much slower than the DS212+.

The Synology DS212+ and DS212j provided similar performance in the HD video playback test, making them both considerably faster than the QNAP TS-219P which was unexpectedly slow in this test.

The Synology DS212+ performed well in the HD playback and record test, providing a throughput of 85MB/s, which was much faster than the 66MB/s provided by the DS212j. The DS212+ was slightly faster than the DS211, while it was much slower than the DS712+. Meanwhile the DS212j managed to match the QNAP TS-219P II as well as the Thecus N3200XXX.

Again we find the performance of the QNAP TS-219P II unexpected, as it significantly outperformed all other devices tested when measuring content creation performance. As a result the Synology DS212+ was much slower, delivering just 10.6MB/s, making it slightly slower than the DS712+. The DS212j was slightly slower than the DS211, while it was a fraction faster than the Thecus N3200XXX.

The Synology DS212+ performed exceptionally well in the office productivity test with a throughput of 48MB/s, matching the DS712+, DS1511+ and DS2411+. Meanwhile the DS212j was able to match the performance of the QNAP TS-219P II, despite being 21% slower than the DS212+.

The last INASPT test we are going to look at is the photo album test and here the Synology DS212+ was 1MB/s faster than the QNAP TS-219P II. Meanwhile the DS212j was less than 1MB/s slower than the TS-219P II, as both the DS212+ and DS212j provided impressive performance.

For the DS212j it is a reasonable upgrade over the DS211j and although it costs $30 US more, you get a new design which looks smarter and provides better cooling. Additionally the DS212j receives twice as much memory, though the processor remains the same. However one disadvantage of the DS212j is the removal of the quick copy feature, which saw the front mounted USB port disappear. Still, the updated design and extra memory should warrant the 17% hike in price.

The DS212+ on the other hand shares the exact same design as its predecessor the DS211+. The DS212+ does receive a 25% higher clocked processor, though the memory capacity remained the same at 512MB. The key advantage of the DS212+ is the addition of USB 3.0 support. Honestly we feel this is an essential feature for all new NAS devices to support and we were disappointed to find it missing on the DS212j, as well as the recently reviewed QNAP TS-119P II and TS-219P II.

When compared to the QNAP TS-219P II which costs roughly $360 US, the DS212+ is quite a bit more expensive at $420 US. So at 17% more what does that extra $60 US buy you? In terms of features not a great deal really, though the DS212+ does have the advantage of USB 3.0 support, which in our opinion is a rather big one. As for the software, we do prefer the Synology DSM 3.2 over the QNAP Storage Manager 3.5, but we can happily live with either.

As a result we have to rely on performance to separate the two. Still, even when looking at the performance both devices provided similar results and this was true for our upload, download and copy tests. In fact the performance was so close that it was impossible to pick a real winner here.

Depending on how much importance you place on the USB 3.0 support of the DS212+, it could be a tough sell at $420 US. It is worth mentioning that we are yet to see the DS212+ hit many of the major online retailers, so the price could come down.

Keeping all that in mind, the DS212+ does look to be the ultimate dual bay NAS device thanks to its impressive design, excellent feature set, and the highly refined DSM 3.2 software.

However those not seeking the ultimate 2-bay NAS might find the DS212j an interesting proposition. At just $220 US it is certainly one of the cheaper solutions available, and at $70 US less than the older DS211 it was not a great deal slower. That said, the price of the DS212j really needs to be positioned closer to the DS211j if Synology really want to make some noise.

Our key criticisms of the DS212j is the lack of USB 3.0 support and the removal of the quick copy feature, and for the DS212+ we were disappointed that there was no easily accessible front mounted USB 3.0 ports complementing the quick copy function. Still, overall the DS212+ and DS212j are worthy additions to the new Synology x12 series and we look forward to seeing new models in the coming months.