Conclusion, Pricing, and Final Thoughts
Conclusion:
Pros:
- ioSafe: Insane levels of data protection (fire! flooding! lightning! ponies!)
- DiskStation: Excellent NAS multitasker that does not skimp on features or speed.
Cons:
- The ioSafe and the DiskStation are both pricey items, but both are quality products for the money.
Side-by-side pic of the SoloPRO and DiskStation 212+. They look even better when they are both fired up along side each other.
Pricing and Availability:
ioSafe SoloPRO:
- 1TB – $350 (as tested)
- 2TB – $500
- 3TB – $600
- 4TB – $850
Synology DiskStation 212+ (street prices):
- (diskless) – $340
- 2x1TB – $660
Final Thoughts:
While we don’t have the capacity to properly ‘crash test’ the ioSafe SoloPRO, we consider that a good thing. When causing a HDD to corrupt data requires a flame thrower and a visit from the local Fire Department (and even then it will likely be just fine), they are clearly doing something right in terms of data protection. While the cost may be prohitive to some, it all comes down to the value you place on your locally stored data. For those looking to data recovery services after a catastrophie, the cost of the unit is insignificant when compared to the cost of that big data recovery – something also covered in the purchase price of the ioSafe. When it comes to the only remaining copy of your data, the more insurance you have, the better.
The Synology DiskStation 212+ is a very nice little NAS device. With ample connectivity options, a punchy CPU, and excellent measured network throughput, it certainly appears to be more capable than its small form factor would have lead you to believe. It may not be fireproof like the ioSafe, but it will give you speedy and reliable network access to your SoloPRO, increasing the odds that your data has all made it to the ioSafe before the elements reach it. Remember, you’re dealing with Murphy’s Law here – you need all of the help you can get.
Awards:
The ioSafe SoloPRO gets my Editors Choice for its ability to quite literally take a licking and keep on ticking.
The Synology DiskStation gets our Gold Award for its very speedy performance, flexibility, and the fact that I’m still finding new features weeks after I fired the thing up:
Woh, that is hardcore.
Woh, that is hardcore.
Indeed!
Indeed!
I got DS212+ last week, and
I got DS212+ last week, and its a big improvement over my old DS112J. Software support on Synology products is great. Also thanks for the review.
Funny, as I was watching live
Funny, as I was watching live the PCPer podcast recording on TWiT last week and Allyn alluded to an upcoming review of the Synology 212+, I quite literally was in mid-unboxing of the same unit. It hand me chuckling all night, but it also had me wondering if his considerable storage systems experience with a deep library of benchmarks would parallel to some degree my impressions from solely paper-born research and shallow, hands-on time with any NAS device.
After a week’s worth of testing, playing, configuring, and exploring, the 212+ has so far met or exceeded my expectations and looks like a great choice to serve my usage scenario. With two enterprise drives and a voltage regulated UPS, I have high hopes it’ll have the legs for a good, long, and uneventful marathon.
Now, having read Allyn’s posted review, I’m glad my computer-fu intuition was in keeping with The Sensei’s observations.
I, too, keep finding new stuff to do with Synology’s firmware. It’s highly polished, and nicely documented in clear English within the UI’s Help screens — their website extends it further. One peeve, however. For a product with so many features, here’s a case where including a paper manual would have made learning, referencing, and tweaking so much easier and faster than relying on a screen. Weighing in at 168 pages in full 8.5″ x 11″ glory, that’s a lot of screen-time for a PDF manual; or, a horribly expensive Color print job. I settled for black & white.
So hereto now, the missing paper manual for the NAS is for me, the only ‘gotcha’ in an otherwise excellent first week.
Thanks for the review Allyn. Great stuff.
ps – was kinda hoping you were gonna put the ioSafe through the PCPer paces, you know, give it a benchmark pounding — by which I mean, dropping the drive on the bench and measuring the mark.