Multifunction's server
The DS508’s functions are essentially identical to those of the CS407. Therefore, you can consult our test of the latter for a more detailed presentation. Otherwise, here is a brief summary of the main features:
- multi-user support with authorizations for each repertoire (no access, access in reading, or total access), drive space quotas, and interfacing with Microsoft’s Active Directory;
- local access via SMB/CIFS (Windows), AFP (Mac) and NFS protocol. The activation of the last, however, is not too user-friendly because you have to connect in command line via Telnet/SSH. At any rate, the support of this function directly in the interface is planned for the end of the year;
- secured long distance access in
HTTPS (we can access storage via an Internet interface) and
FTP with optional
SSL/TLS encrypting;
-
Rsync compatibility for saving the content of the NAS on other network storage with the possibility of encrypting data along the way;
- the downloading of files via
HTTP,
FTP or
Bittorrent. This very practical function enables carrying out downloading when your PC is off and thereby the DS508 will consume much less energy than an entire machine. For Bittorent, however, we cannot unfortunately set file sharing (seeding) options;
- the
Audio Station, which enables transforming the DS508 into a Hifi stereo system. You plug in a pair of speakers on the USB port and control the playing of music files stored in the NAS via an Internet interface. Another possibility is the
Synology Remote (sold separately for roughly 40 €) enables navigating through playlists and setting the volume. On the other hand, it does not allow us to chose the playlist (although without an LCD screen this would be difficult), while the radio receiver occupies the second USB port. This means only the eSATA port is open;
- the
Photo Station function allows displaying your photo albums in the form of a website with the automatic creation of HTML pages and a vignette for each image. It is then possible to comment on photos, add Exif tags, rotate images, create user accounts with access to different albums, etc. And all you have to do is simply transfer your images into a specific NAS folder and then it takes care of all the rest! This system also works for videos, although poorly (mediocre quality and high conversion times) ;
- a
PHP/MySQL server enables housing dynamic websites (blogs, forums, etc.). However we would have liked to see the capability of creating several Apache Virtualhosts from the interface, even if this is theoretically possible after a Telnet/SSH connection and then a manual change of the httpd.conf file;
- a
printer server gives you the possibility of transforming a USB printer into a network printer. Note that the system does not support multi-functions (impossible to scan) while certain driver options disappear (notably, controlling ink levels) ;
- finally, a
multimedia server enables sending sound, video and photos to compatible peripherals such as the Playstation 3, home network DVD players, Hifi systems, etc. If they are not DLNA certified, the system nevertheless also relies on UPNP AV protocol and functions particularly well. It’s notably the only in its category capable of sending to players all of the sub-title formats commonly associated to video (SRT, Sub, Sub/IDX, etc.). Note that Synology also offers an ITunes server, but it only processes sound files.
We should also point out that in order to connect to the DS508 commands line interface, it’s necessary to
download the dedicated patch on the manufacturer’s website. It is applied to the system in the same way as a firmware update and enables activating Telnet and/or SSH services.
