It may cut back on size, but the DS409 Slim doesn’t cut back on features. Granted, its diminutive size limits the interfacing to a single Gigabit LAN port, a pair of USB sockets and an eSATA connector. Yet all the standard functions of Synology’s excellent firmware are there – and that means you get a lot of options.
Disk Station Manager doesn't skimp on features
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Multiple RAID formats are supported, including JBOD, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 5+Spare and RAID6. You can incorporate additional external drives into the array using one of Synology’s purpose-built enclosures and you can convert between different RAID levels with ease.
Synology’s firmware is very impressive, not least because of its excellent web-based user interface. The massive array of choices runs to way more than a screenful on most monitors, but the company has taken a lot of care over the interface design. By taking a modular approach the whole process feels simple and almost enjoyable.
For example, the main management interface offers Wizard and Expert modes. By starting off in Wizard mode, you arrive at a rather pretty, icon-based page which takes you straight to the options you’ll most likely want to set up first; creating users and setting up shared folders.
It also gives you quick access to backup and FTP server configuration, as well as helping you set up a fully fledged Web server, including PHP/MySQL and Photo Station, which allows you to create a photo and video-based blog which can be optionally shared over the Internet.
Power Consumption (Watts)
Shorter bars are better
In addition to all the usual network file sharing capabilities – for up to 64 simultaneous users from a maximum of 1,024 accounts – you also get support for Windows Active Directory Services, network re-cycle bins and email system notifications.
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