Synology DiskStation DS716+II 2-Bay SMB NAS Review

Usage: Package Center

The Package Center is the place you’ll want to visit once you’ve created your basic configuration. We have configured our network and storage drives, we have our users and our basic shares, and the system is ready for our tasks. Now it is time to add more functionality to our system.

There is a list of recommended apps that you should take a look at first. These are the core Synology apps, and there is a good chance that you’ll want one or more of them installed.

The download station can take care of all your download needs, so you don’t need to use your main system’s resources or even have it running. The Audio, Video, and Photo Station apps are self-explanatory, but good apps. The video station is also one of the apps that support the hardware-accelerated 4K video transcoding.

Multimedia

There aren’t just multimedia apps from Synology themselves; you’ll also find apps such as Logitech Media Server and Plex Media Server. In combination with the rest, you got a complete setup that can stream media to pretty much any device in your household.

Business

As mentioned earlier, there is a good chance that the Synology DS716+II will run in a business setup. It has the power to do so, and there are all the apps available that you want for a setup such as that. Mail server, Cloud connection and backup services, and much more.

Security

The basic security isn’t bad at all, but there are ways to improve on it. You get a trial of McAfee antivirus, and you also got Synology’s Antivirus Essential app. The Surveillance Station, on the other hand, can keep an eye on your premises through connected IP cams.

Backup

A vital part of a NAS setup is to use it for backups. In most cases, you’ll probably want to use it as a backup target, but you can back the NAS up to other remote targets too.

The newly improved USB Copy function also allows you to offload USB storage with ease. It’s rules and scheduling will make it an easy job on any day.

Utilities

There are so many apps available for Synology NAS devices, and while it already looks like a lot, those aren’t all of them. The Package Center knows what device you come from and it will only show the compatible apps for that device. For example, there would be little use of installing apps intended for direct monitor usage when this particular NAS comes without a display out port.

Whether you want to run various server apps, from VPN over proxies to DNS and Directory Servers, Synology got you covered.

Installing a new app is as simple as clicking the install button. If the app requires dependencies, then you’ll be told that they are installed along with it. The system handles all the details while you lean back and wait for the result.