Synology DiskStation DS211j NAS Review

Usage

Creating and setting up user accounts is easy to do. You can add multiple users and set storage limits, provide access to shared folders of your choosing and also choose what, if any, of the unit’s additional features are made available. An itemized list of these details can also be emailed to the user as well. Creating a volume is one way to virtually partition a portion of the storage, which is useful when you want to set aside a storage amount for a specific user account.

Figure 4: The Control Panel shows everything the DS211j has to offer in a simple layout full of icons

The Control Panel is where you will find the list of extra features, though you can also pull them down using the drop-down menu at the top left of the interface.

Figure 5: The File Browser within the web-based interface allows for full access and configuration of files and folders, except for the three default media ones shown here

By default, the DS211j has individual folders for music, video and photos. You can add more folders for any of your specific needs, but media files must be stored within the preset media folders if you want to be able to stream them to devices around your home network. Despite the odd restriction on a relatively flexible NAS unit, you can still create your own folders within the default media ones to better organize your collection of content. Folders for documents and other non-media files can be stored on newly-created folders, as mentioned above.