As someone with a sizable collection of physical media but also living with a debilitating physical disability, I have begrudgingly begun to embrace the digital age of streaming content simply for its ease of access. Saying that, however, when it comes to ownership, streaming platforms can be convenient, but seldom will your favourite content remain available to watch indefinitely. Enter the Synology DiskStation DS224+, a user-friendly NAS released in late 2023 — this two-bay NAS packs a punch while taking up a relatively small footprint in your workspace or home media cabinet.
As a NAS released during the latter half of 2023, the Synology DiskStation DS224+ became the perfect candidate for review, as I also looked at a similar competitor’s offering released roughly during the same timeframe, giving me a good point of reference for what Synology’s offering could potentially offer to remedy some of my gripes with the former.
The long and short of it is that the Synology DiskStation DS224+ is an excellent two-bay NAS solution ideally suited for running media server applications such as Plex and Jellyfin with features that make it both robust and reliable for both entry-level users and more intermediate folk looking for a powerful server for home or office use. To get started, setting up the Synology DiskStation DS224+ is a breeze — simply removing the protective dust cover that shields the front of the unit reveals the two available HDD bays, which have retention clips on the top, which release by gently pressing them in and against the unit.
“Setting up the Synology DiskStation DS224+ is a breeze, with a straightforward process that gets you up and running quickly.”
From here, it’s only a matter of removing the retention clips from the two individual trays and clipping them into the 3.5” drives before sliding them back into the DiskStation DS224+ unit. Additionally, it should be noted that this is also the ideal opportunity for installing any extra RAM you desire, as the Synology DS224+ includes one slot for expansion, making it possible for a potential of around at least 6GBs, adding to the soldered-on 2GB stock memory available on the DiskStation DS224+.
In terms of IO, the Synology DiskStation DS224+ offers a copy button alongside the power toggle, a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 port on the front and another on the rear, dual 1-gigabit LAN ports, a Kensington-style lock, and, of course, a barrel jack connector for power.
The reliance on dual gigabit ports is an interesting choice, ensuring a stronger connection to your network. Although I would have preferred a single multi-gig connector, ultimately, for a device that relies on mechanical HDDs, a 1gigabit connection should more than suffice for most home and small business scenarios.
Technical specs for the Synology DiskStation DS224+ include the aforementioned 2GBs of DDR4 RAM alongside an Intel Celeron J4125 processor. Despite being a chipset released in late 2019, this processor is more than capable of some powerful tasks, thanks to the inclusion of integrated graphics. This makes it ideal for tasks such as transcoding streams, but more on that later.
Getting back to the install process, after inserting your HDDs of choice and the optional RAM module, simply plug in the Synology DiskStation DS224+ and run Synology’s free Synology Assistant software. The device should then be picked up on your local network.
From here, the application will run through the installation process, which, like any new NAS setup, involves formatting the installed HDDs and creating a new storage pool. In Synology’s case, it’s best to use their SHR formatting scheme, which is a flexible RAID file system that allows for redundancy if, for example, you’re only utilizing one of the two available bays, installing a secondary HDD will automatically add it to the pool as a redundant backup.
“Synology deploys a clean and intuitive user interface with its DSM operating system, making it easy to navigate and manage your NAS.
For my use case scenario, however, I went with a JBOD format, which treats both HDDs (in my case, the Synology HAT3310 series) as one large storage pool, meaning I have access to the storage of both HDDs. I can only recommend going this route if you have another means of backup as if one HDD happens to fail, your data goes there, and files are stored across both drives as one unit.
Thankfully, the spare USB 3.2 port on the Synology DiskStation DS224+ made it easy to plug in my spare 17TB USB drive, which I use for backups. Since then, it has been relegated to backing up mission-critical files and a temporary storage solution for moving indexed downloads between the drive and storage pool via software like nzb360 and the “RR” family of apps.
After formatting, which should take around 10-20 minutes, depending on your drives, the Synology DS224+ is essentially set up. It can be easily mounted via SMB or mapped directly through the Synology Assistant app without even having to go to the NAS’s GUI page or use Windows’ network mapping feature.
Speaking of the user interface, Synology deploys the use of its DSM or Disk System Manager operating system. This system features a clean-looking front end reminiscent of Linux or Android-based systems, with large and well-defined icons that make it easy to navigate and quickly find what you’re looking for. More importantly, however, is the app library available on the DiskStation DS224+, which gives users access to a wide selection of popular apps that all just work, thanks to its reliance on a popular chipset.
Additionally, from an everyday use basis, I am delighted with the Synology DiskStation DS224+’s overall stability and performance under load. Under load, I only ever noticed the DS224 spike in CPU usage during the migration of large volumes of data, while streaming content via PLEX and Jellyfin, including simultaneously 1080p streams, were effortless for the DS224+.
On that note, PLEX’s performance, in general, was fantastic, particularly regarding subtitled content, which still requires a good client, particularly if you’re looking for support towards PGS-styled subtitles, which burn-in subtitles to the file itself, making it only viable for devices such as the Nvidia Shield Pro and Apple TV. In general, however, content that struggled on other NAS devices, even on clients such as the PlayStation 5, which don’t have the best implementation of PLEX, I could comfortably stream 1080p content with subtitles with little to no buffering, even remotely.
“While the Synology DiskStation DS224+ lacks SSD caching and relies on an older chipset, it still sits among the top entry-level two-bay NAS solutions.”
4k content, at least locally, worked well, with very little buffering, when used on my Nvidia Shield Pro. However, simultaneous streams internationally did result in the other person’s stream being transcoded to a lower bitrate—your mileage may vary depending on distance and the overall quality of the source file being streamed.
Finally, one area in which the Synology DiskStation DS224+ impressed me the most was how quickly the NAS came back online after an unexpected power cycle. This occasionally happens in the Summer in my household due to too many appliances on and the air conditioner running.
Previously, during my time with the TerraMaster F2-212, a power cycle would mean 20-30 minutes of troubleshooting to get the device to show back up on my network, while PLEX and other media servers would continually remain offline until eventually finally reconnecting after an hour or two of troubleshooting. In contrast to that, the Synology DiskStation DS224+ came back online within a minute or two, with PLEX and my other servers not skipping a beat in both local and remote access.
Ultimately, the Synology DiskStation DS224+ is an excellent NAS to consider in 2024, sitting atop the upper echelons of entry-level two-bay solutions. On the other hand, the lack of any form of SSD caching and the reliance on an older chipset makes it harder to recommend for those wanting to upgrade from an existing setup or are in the market for something more robust.
- Celeron J4125 4-Core 2.0GHz CPU, Up To 2.7GHz Turbo; 6GB DDR4 non-ECC SODIMM Memory; 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 2.5″ SSDs for Ultra-Fast, High-Speed Storage
- Consolidate and Safeguard: Integrated security features ensure centralized access and protect all your data, offering a secure and streamlined storage solution.
