Synology Diskstation Owner? How Do You Use It?


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This thread is for Synology Diskstation Owners.

 

If you do own a Synology Diskstation, please share how you use it.

Specifically, what package centers do you have installed and use most?

If possible, get into the specifics of how you use them.

 

The point of this thread is super simple.

I am just curious to hear how people are using their DiskStations as I am looking for ideas and inspiration to get the most out of mine.

 

For example

  • I personally use it for Backups via Crashplan on my Mac's.
  • I use the backup software Synology supplies itself for my Windows 8 Gaming PC.
  • I am also using
    • Media Server
    • iTunes Server
    • Video Station
    • Photo Station
  • As you can see, I stick to the basics, and they are good, but I am wondering if there is more I can do with mine, specifically I am interested in Download Station

 

TIA,

DL

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At the moment just for backup... for Time Machine and as a backup disk... but I want to use it as a media hub.

 

By the way why just for Synology?

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Media server & download station, basically. I have a few odds and ends backed up, but frankly, mine is an older model (DS110j - 1 drive) which a friend gave to me a few years ago. I will probably be upgrading sometime soon this year (4 or 5 bay, most likely).

 

Which models do people have?

 

 

 

  • As you can see, I stick to the basics, and they are good, but I am wondering if there is more I can do with mine, specifically I am interested in Download Station

 

 

Download station is useful if you use torrents (legal, of course :p) or download large files. You can even download Youtube vids (copy youtube video link, paste it into the keyword/URL search box) at their highest Res if that is something you'd want to do. I think you need the Perl package installed to do that.

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By the way why just for Synology?

Because this was to get an idea of the app packages people use offered by Synology directly.

 

 

Media server & download station, basically. I have a few odds and ends backed up, but frankly, mine is an older model (DS110j - 1 drive) which a friend gave to me a few years ago. I will probably be upgrading sometime soon this year (4 or 5 bay, most likely).

 

Which models do people have?

 

 

 

 

Download station is useful if you use torrents (legal, of course :p) or download large files. You can even download Youtube vids (copy youtube video link, paste it into the keyword/URL search box) at their highest Res if that is something you'd want to do. I think you need the Perl package installed to do that.

 I installed the Download Station app just never set it up, but now that makes sense as I was wondering why I had the Perl package installed. 

 

I recently just picked up the DS214+ thanks to the Amazon Deal Of The Day.

I also have the DS211j.

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By the way why just for Synology?

 

That seems to be a common misconception for a lot of people, as DL said in the post above. The Synology units are kind of a platform, most people think they are just basic NAS drives or external drives and don't realize they have Apps that can be installed from Synologys own "app store" and also 3rd party repositories.

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i love the packages that Synology offers, but i dont really have much use for them.

 

I use the Media Server, that's about it. I used to use the iTunes server, photo station and a couple others, but didnt find much use for them.

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I'd like to stick to the basics. Installed iTunes server, Media Server and that's about it.

 

I use mine for back-ups mostly and to playback media. NFS through my Mede8er, AFP for the Mac (TimeMachine mostly) and SMB for Windows. Sometimes I do use it as a sort of Dropbox. Can't be bothered to find my Phone's USB cable, so I just put the data on my Synology and connect to it by Total Commander for Android. :P

 

Never really "understood" all those extra apps, as most functionality is already build in. I'm more of a KISS kind of guy, rather than installing all kinds of apps. I rather connect through sFTP than some fancy looking cloud dropbox app... but that's just me I guess. :)

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Synology do a good job of offering good apps (both for the DSM and iOS/Android) and also keeping DSM up-to-date. Even much older models of NAS get regularly updated.

 

 

I looked into QNAP and Thecus when I was researching my new NAS purchase, but Synology seems to be the superior company.

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