Which synology NAS

[Enquiries]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between the Synology DS120j and 220+. My use case will be for photos, movies, documents (currently all saved to separate external hard drives and/or dropbox). It's for personal use only. I would like to be able to access the data from my Mac, iPad, iPhone but not have to store it on those devices (the reason being to centralise all data and not have it scattered across devices, drives and dropbox), so would need an additional back up, either in the form of a second NAS or external hard drives. I do not want to use services such as dropbox for backups (I currently do, but want to stop using them).

A friend of mine is using the 118 and recommended that one, so that would be another option.

The cheaper the better, but I'm ready to spend a little more if it is actually the better solution for my case.

Thank you very much in advance!! And let me know if you require additional info.

Best,
Gioia

[ed]

The Synology DS120j and DS220+ are both good choices for a personal NAS setup, and which one is better for you will depend on your specific needs and budget.

The DS120j is a budget-friendly option with a single bay for a hard drive. It has a 1.3 GHz processor and 512 MB of RAM, which is sufficient for basic tasks such as file storage and backups. It also has a USB 3.0 port for connecting external drives, so you can use it as a hub for your external hard drives as well.

The DS220+ is a more powerful option with a dual-core 2.0 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. It has two drive bays, so you can set it up in a RAID configuration for added data protection. It also has a variety of features such as transcoding for streaming media, a built-in VPN server, and support for third-party apps. It is more expensive than the DS120j, but it offers more flexibility and performance.

If you just need a basic NAS for storing and backing up your files, the DS120j may be sufficient. If you want a more powerful and feature-rich device, the DS220+ may be a better choice. Ultimately, the decision will depend on your specific needs and budget.