I am going to try and insert the link to this page at the end of all of my previous blog posts about the NAS unit I selected because after having used it I think this post will most accurately reflect my final thoughts.

The final words on my Synology NAS review 

I have been using the Synology DS-411+ for several months now. It has been wonderful – fast, easy and reliable in it’s functions as a file server and a storage device. However after having installed several of the add-on packages I must admit it was not completely what I had hoped for up front. The MailStation package has been way too difficult for anyone but the most seasoned veteran to install. I want to be very clear that Synology has provided outstanding support for me – even going so far as to remotely take over my PC and NAS unit to help solve all the technical issues. In other words they worked real-time inside of my NAS unit - Synology’s support has been outstanding.

Other examples. The iTunes package did not turn out to be what I thought it was. I abandoned the iTunes server as it had less function than just setting up iTunes on a PC and syncing with my iPod. I thought it could wirelessly sync with my families SmartPhones/iPods but that was not the case – at least according the feedback I got from their user forums. The user forums have not been of much use to me therefore I am still not 100% certain this is true.

All of that said – I would definitely purchase this DS-411 unit again. I am very happy with the support and the reliability and speed of this unit. It is not Synology’s fault that the SmartPhone technology is too immature to power off our PCs yet.

Apple’s insistence on using the Safari web browser creates bugs that are just way way too difficult to fix. Some standard web packages are not supported by Apple for competitive reasons only and though I understand this, I think their approach will ultimately force me off the iPad I bought onto another tablet to view flash and other things non-Apple that won’t play on the iPad. These things are the standards to which everyone codes on the web therefore as a surfing device it is becoming unusable.

Why Apple doesn’t put Firefox, an open source and non-competitive browser but the gold standard in web browsers in their OS’s is just plain bulled headed stupidity. This is the negative effect from what I call the Steve Jobs overhang. His personality has too big an impact within the company. His views are not as “visionary” as everyone believes them to be. I can’t use my NAS MailStation package from my iPad because Safari can’t handle the code that Firefox does effortlessly. These means I have to handle all of my mail twice once upstairs in viewing mode on the iPad and then downstairs on my PC to store, delete and sort my email inside of the NAS unit where the email will be stored long term. I delete all webmails as I don’t believe that web based email is secure yet.

What I think I am going to do is discard the iPad – maybe see if I can use it up on my 2^nd floor. I am not sure the wireless router will work all the way from my basement but will test for that. As an intermediary step I will likely purchase a Netbook to read my mail using Firefox so that I only touch it once, surf the web and do my daily net searches with. I am crestfallen that I have to buy another kind of PC to get away form them ultimately but until SmartPhone standards mature and are put in place it is the only way forward without creating more complexity and work for me which is why I want to power down these PCs in the first place.