Smallnetbuilder has reviewed the Synology DS214se two drive NAS. This is Synology's entrant in the small and inexpensive NAS category. Even though it runs only $160 or less, though, this NAS still features the full suite of the Diskstation Manager software. Synology does consider this a single purpose NAS, given its low CPU power and limited RAM, so it would probably be best not to try running too many applications on the NAS while trying to maintain high file throughput.

Speed was measured as good as long as the user is not logged into the desktop interface:

It turned out that we ran our tests with a browser logged into the Synology admin "desktop". Even with the System Health / Resource Monitor widget closed, there apparently is enough processor load to limit read throughput to the mid 80 MB/s range. So if you want top performance, stay out of the admin interface! That's what we did when we retested to post updated results that now reside in the NAS Charts.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/32259-synology-ds214se-reviewed?start=1

Overall, this is a good value budget NAS. Smallnetbuilder recommends you check out a couple of other NAS boxes if you are in the market for this category of NAS:

If your NAS needs are simple, the $160 Synology DS214se has all of the features you could want and enough performance for many SOHO users. But before you plunk down your money, be sure to check out the Zyxel NSA235 and Buffalo LS421DE and see if their more limited feature sets meet your needs.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/32259-synology-ds214se-reviewed?start=2

I'm not sure I would consider the Zyxel, though, because it does not have email or front panel notice when a hard drive is (or has) failed. This to me would be a no go for any NAS solution. I need to know when the Raid array is degraded without having to login to the user interface to find out.

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• Synology unleashes its most affordable 2-bay NASever, the DS214se for $160

Synology seems intent on grabbing the low-end part of the NAS market. It has introduced the low priced (MSRP around $160) DS214se two bay NAS. The NAS runs the full DSM software, but it obviously is lower in power and RAM running a single core 800 MHz processor with 256 GB of DDR3 RAM.

Synology claims that the new NAS will still achieve speeds when reading that will support multiple HD video streams:

Centering on the core features of NAS devices, Synology DS214se provides handy and effective network storage under budget. Not only does DS214se centralize and back up your digital contents, it makes cross-platform and cross-device sharing effortless. DS214se delivers an average over 58 MB/sec writing speed under RAID 1 configuration in a Windows® environment, and over 102 MB/sec reading.1 The built-in floating-point unit enhances the overall capability of the main CPU, and is particularly advantageous in speeding up thumbnail processing, making photo viewing a refreshingly new experience. Equipped with Synology’s full multimedia applications, DS214se is also an ideal solution for users looking for entertainment and download center, providing easy and energy-efficient download service as well as multimedia streaming capabilities. With Synology’s rich cloud applications, DS214se serves as your personal cloud whose content is available anywhere on demand.

http://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS214se&lang=us#p_submenu

 

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• Synology unleashes its most affordable 2-bay NAS ever, the DS214se for $160