A Closer Look
As you can see from the pictures below, there is a power connection, a LAN connector and 2 USB ports – and that’s it for the back.
The front just has 3 lights – power, LAN, and USB.
And to show just how small it really is, this is my iPhone next to it!
Configuring the USB Station 2
Configuring the USB Station 2 is simple – in fact it’s just like configuring any other Synology device so if you have done one before you should have no problem this time.
Here is a short video of the process to complete the initial configuration.
Once you have performed the initial configuration you are free to configure the device to meet your needs.
The USB Station 2 uses the Synology DiskStation Manager 3 software.
In case you have not heard of it before, here is how Synology describe it:
Sleek and full-featured. Synology DiskStation Manager 3.0 takes your NAS experience to the next level. Running on Synology NAS servers, DSM 3.0 offers more robust task-handling capability, greater storage reliability, and higher productivity. The intuitive and feature-rich applications help you simplify the otherwise time-consuming tasks
You can learn more about DSM 3.0 here, including what you can do with it.
There is also a beta available for DSM 3.1 which you can use if you wish.
Multifunction Printers Update
At the start of January, Synology released an update for the USB Station 2 that enabled it to support multifunction printers.
Here is what they said:
Synology® Inc. has announced the latest operating system update for Synology USB Station 2 NAS server, supporting the sharing of print, fax and scan on a multifunction printer to other computers over the same network. Shared printing is already in wide use whereas scanning and faxing are not due to the lack of standardized protocol. Additional expenses for a costly multifunction printer server is usually required to share these two features over a network. This operating system update enables complete sharing on a multifunction printer, increases efficiency for a home or office workgroup, and minimizes operational expenses for peripheral device.
“The new update makes Synology the very first to have support in scan and fax sharing on a NAS server. This particular feature utilizes a technology known as ‘USB over TCP/IP,’ in which it allows a USB device on a host machine to be shared to other clients over a network. On our USB Station 2, the sharing of multifunction printer on different platforms has been easier than ever,” said Chad Jiang, the product manager of Synology Inc.
Small offices and households are now offered an alternative solution to costly multifunction printer server or a printer with built-in sharing capability; aside from the new sharing features, there are still many more, such as plug-and-play file sharing, multimedia content streaming, PC-less downloading, and low power consumption – all in a single NAS server.
Please visit the following link for the latest USB Station 2 operating system download:
http://www.synology.com/support/download.php?lang=enu&b=Others&m=USB%20Station%202For the complete list of compatibility for multifunction printers, please visit:
http://www.synology.com/support/faq_show.php?lang=enu&q_id=436
Final Thoughts
As I said earlier, this device is tiny which means it doesn’t get in the way.
And it comes packed with features – there is bound to be something on there you will find yourself using and not realising how you managed before. Add to that the update from a few weeks ago to support multifunction printers you have yourself a device that does quite a lot!
Price wise this is very cheap – you can find it now for under £75, which considering all the capabilities of the software alone make it a bargain!
However, my advice would be to pay the extra and go for Synology DS411slim. Ok, the slim is double the price, but you can add more drives and do much more with it. But if you don’t need the extra drives or you don’t want to spend the extra money then go with the USB Station 2.
You can find out more from the Synology website.
