Synology DiskStation DS1019+ Review

Synology added a new storage solution for small offices and IT enthusiasts - Synology DiskStation DS1019+, a 5-bay desktop NAS. The new addition is designed for 4K video streaming, file sharing, and small-office data backups.

The NAS is armed with a powerful quad-core processor 1.5GHz, burst up to 2.3GHz and has the scalability of up to 10 drives with one DX517.

Compact in size, huge in capacity

DS1019+ looks similar to other NAS devices from Synology, yet compact enough to fit easily on a desktop. It has a matte black, plastic finish on the outer shell. At the front, there are five, hot-swappable drive bays that fit either 3.5” or 2.5” drives.

On the right side, you can see LED indicators and below the lights, USB 3.0 port and the power button is placed. At the rear, there are two fans that take up the top two-thirds of the device. Below fans, on the left, two network ports, a reset button an eSATA port, and the power port. The right side has a Kensington Security Slot and another USB 3.0 port.

The black enclosure can hold 5 storage drives, 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives. It has a tool-less operation, just hot-swap the drives, and drives can be locked in place to prevent accidental or unauthorized removal.

Each slot supports up to 14 TB drive, meaning you can have up to 70 TB (Capacity may vary by RAID types) storage capacity.

Setting up

Previously we reviewed DS1618+ (6 Bay NAS), the kind of setup was earlier, its similar to the DS1019+. You need to connect the NAS to your network using LAN cable, then download the DSM software to proceed further.

In case you have old Synology NAS and upgrading with a new one, but want to use existing hard drives, then it can detect your previous drive and ask to set up the NAS as new or using the existing settings.

Once your setup is done, you would get an IP address to get web access to the NAS. You can create an admin account and user accounts to give access to your colleagues.

The DS1019+ uses the same DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system. The OS offers Windows-like experience and contains Control Panel, File Station, Package Center, System Health window, etc.

The Package Center has multiple apps to download and add to the desktop. It has more than 130 Synology-branded and third-party apps available. Also, you can find several cloud, email, and backup server apps.

The Control Panel is there to create shared folders, add or remove user’s rights, configure networks setting, and push message alerts, etc. The Main Menu button lets you access Storage Manager utility, this utility allows you to create and delete volumes, monitor drive health, create a storage pool, and set up hot spare drives.

Performance

Synology DiskStation DS1019+ is equipped with Quad-core 1.5GHz, burst up to 2.3GHz, processor and 8 GB DDR3L memory. The NAS is scalable up to 10 drives with one DX517. We installed the NAS box on our network with 8 TB drive.

It took around 10min to finalise the setup and get the window to log in. We also created a storage volume and configured the drives to use SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID) with the Btrfs file system. After finalising the configuration, given access to multiple users to test its ability. We used it in real-world scenario, stored various data on the shared drive, access restrictions to particular users and other settings. It was outstanding in deploying and allocation specific right to the users.

DiskStation DS1019+ was extremely quiet, but louder in terms of file transfer speed. We transferred a 5GB folder with assorted data, containing videos, photos, music files and document files between the NAS and a host PC. It delivered excellent transfer speed of 116.4 MBPS when PC to NAS and 124.4 MBPS when NAS to PC. However, speed can differ depending on your connectivity through the router and the connected drive in the BOX.