Synology makes some fine Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, and the DS1019+ is yet another great example of this. The DS918+ may be a better option than the DS218+ if you want to store and do much more on the NAS, but the DS1019+ takes it even further, with an additional drive bay and more RAM in the box.
The DS1019+ can be kitted out with up to 70TB worth of storage across five drives. Not only can that store a whole lot of data, but it can also be used as a home media server with Plex.
Costs $620Bottom line: This is a solid five-bay NAS for the home or small office.
For
- Great performance
- Useful OS
- Reliability
- Third-party support
- Easy to use
Against
- Too similar to DS918+
- No PCIe
- No 10GbE ports
You'll love how easy Synology NAS is to use
If you've never used a Synology NAS before, it has one of the — if not the — best user experiences around. The DiskStation Manager (DSM) OS is incredible, acting much like a fully fledged OS you'd use on your PC. Setting up the NAS, connecting your devices to it, and managing all your files is an absolute breeze.
| Category | Spec |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Celeron J3455 (1.50GHz, 2.3GHz boost) |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3L (8GB max) |
| Transcoding | H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1 at 4K30 |
| Drive bays | Five (3.5/2.5), two NVMe SSD |
| Max storage | 70TB (14TB*5) |
| Cooling | Two 92mm fans |
| Ports | Two Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0, and one eSATA |
| Power Consumption | 38.59W |
| Weight | 5.6 lbs (2.54 kg) |
| Dimensions | 166 mm x 230 mm x 223 mm |
Since the DS1019+ is part of Synology's latest and greatest NAS lineup, you're looking at an Intel Celeron J3455 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, which boosts up to 2.3 GHz under load. There's also 8GB of DDR3L RAM installed and ready to go, allowing you to run multiple processes without issue.
With all this performance at hand, running a Plex Media Server will allow you to stream 4K content to connected hardware like your TV, as long as no transcoding is required on the fly. (The NAS could be able to handle this, but your results may vary. It's always better to aim high with specifications and pricing for 4K content streaming.)
Two 92mm fans keep the internals cooled, but setting the blowers to quiet mode allows you to place the NAS in a room without it sounding like you're in a jumbo-jet hanger. Power consumption is relatively light considering the number of bays at hand with a rated power draw of around 39W. A front-facing USB 3.0 port is joined by another on the rear, alongside two 1GbE ports and eSATA.
The design of this NAS matches the DS lineup we've come to know and love from Synology. There are five exposed bays on the front, each accompanied by a status indicator and locking mechanism to prevent accidental release since these drives are hot-swappable. It's not quite as clean-looking as the DS1618+ (LED activity lights for each drive are built into the bay itself instead of being on the side of the unit), but it looks perfectly fine for a NAS
An exceptional five-bay NAS with an amazing feature set.
Should the included five bays not provide enough capacity, Synology offers the DX517 expansion unit, which can be hooked up to the DS1019+. There are two M.2 NVMe slots located underneath the NAS for solid-state drives (SSD) to handle caching and improve performance further. Synology allows the use of its Hybrid RAID, but even RAID 6 would suffice for five bay redundancy.
There's a lot to love about the NAS, including the exceptional DSM OS, smartphone companion apps, available Synology apps and services, the ability to work around dynamic home IP addresses with QuickConnect, and support for third-party software like Plex. Overall, the DS1019+ is an exceptional NAS.
You may dislike just how similar it is to the DS918+
Like the DS918+, it would have been nice to see 10 GbE ports on the rear instead of the much slower 1 GbE ports we have — especially in the $600 price range, and that's just for the NAS. You can hit the $1,000 mark quickly with hard drives included. It feels a little too similar to the DS918+ in terms of available performance. You're essentially paying a little bit more for an additional drive bay and 4GB more preinstalled RAM from the factory.
The DS1019+ is also a little on the pricey side, which isn't an issue. But if you're new to the NAS game, it can prove a little disheartening to see just how expensive home servers can get. Still, you're getting five drive bays, an excellent OS experience, and the ability to create your own home media server, which more than makes up for the cost.
Should you buy the Synology DS1019+?
Whether or not you should buy this NAS is a difficult question to answer. It all depends on your needs, how much space you'll require and your available budget. The DS1019+ is considerably more expensive than the similar DS918+ and only comes with an additional drive bay and more RAM. Still, should you need 70TB of space, it's a great NAS to own.
The DS1019+ packs everything that makes a Synology NAS so easy and great to use. It's let down by the lack of 10 GbE and not really offering much more than the DS918+ compared to the price hike, but overall, it's yet another killer NAS for the catalog.
An almost perfect five-bay NAS for your home or small office
Synology took everything that made the DS918+ so good and added an additional bay, more RAM out the box, and even more features to make it an excellent NAS for anyone who requires ample amounts of storage.
