Synology has many NAS enclosure models, but which one is best for your home or office? The DiskStation DS220+ is a popular model and happens to be my favourite Synology NAS, but the DiskStation DS420+ is also a fantastic server. If you had to choose between the two, which should you go for? Read our DS220+ vs. DS420+ guide to find out!
Best home NAS
Synology DiskStation DS220+
- The same excellent DSM OS
- Intel Celeron J4025 processor
- Upgradable RAM
- Lower power draw
- Smaller footprint
- No 2.5 or 10 Gb LAN ports
- No M.2 SSD slots for cache
- Fewer drive bays
- Lower overall capacity support
Synology DiskStation DS220+ is a fantastic two-bay NAS with a powerful Intel processor and upgradable RAM. This is a great value NAS for the home with the ability to transcode 4K media through Plex.
Best 4-bay NAS
Synology DiskStation DS420+
- The same excellent DSM OS
- Intel Celeron J4025 processor
- Upgradable RAM
- Two additional drive bays
- Two M.2 slots
- No 2.5 or 10 Gb LAN ports
- More expensive
- Larger in size
- Higher power draw
If you need to store more than 36TB of data on a NAS, the DS220+ is not going to offer much in the form of storage. This is where the DS420+ comes into play with an additional two drive bays and M.2 SSD cache support.
Both the Synology DiskStation DS220+ and DS420+ are very capable NAS enclosures and don’t differ too much in terms of specifications. This is what makes the decision that much easier since you should go with the DS220+ unless you require SSD caching or the ability to store more than 36TB of data.
Synology DiskStation DS220+ is the best NAS for home
I continue to recommend the Synology DiskStation DS220+ is the best NAS for most homeowners or those in a small office. The two drive bays are ideal for anyone looking to store data that can be accessed from a variety of devices connected to the same network.
While some may find the maximum capacity of 36TB a little limiting for big files and media storage, the rest of the specifications are excellent. The Intel Celeron J4025 is a dual-core processor with a clock speed of up to 2.9GHz. The 2GB of DDR4 RAM is great too and can even be bumped up to 6GB.
| Synology DiskStation DS220+ | Synology DiskStation DS420+ | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Celeron J4025 (2 cores, 2.9GHz) | Intel Celeron J4025 (2 cores, 2.9GHz) |
| RAM | 2GB DDR4 (max 6GB) | 2GB DDR4 (max 6GB) |
| Drive bays | 2x (SSD/HDD) | 4x (SSD/HDD) 2x M.2 slots |
| Capacity | 36TB | 72TB |
| Expansion support | ❎ | ❎ |
| Cooling | 1x 92mm fan | 2x 92mm fan |
| Ports | 2x 1Gb LAN 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 | 2x 1Gb LAN 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 |
| PCIe slots | ❎ | ❎ |
| Power draw | ~14.69W | ~28.30W |
| Dimensions | 165 x 108 x 232.2 mm | 166 x 199 x 223 mm |
| Weight | 1.30 kg | 2.18 kg |
| Price | $300 | $500 |
The NAS runs Synology DiskStation Manager, which is found on all company enclosures, not just the best Synology NAS. The two 1Gb LAN ports are great for transferring data to and from the server with the ability to increase bandwidth by linking them together.
Whether you simply require a NAS enclosure for storing some backups or personal files, want to create and host a media server, or have a few security cameras to link up to a centralized hub, the DS220+ is a good choice.
Synology DiskStation DS420+ is the better-capacity NAS
Should you require a little more capability, the Synology DiskStation DS420+ is your friend. It essentially matches the DS220+ in specifications aside from two important features. Instead of two drive bays, the DS420+ has four, effectively doubling the amount of data you can store.
Then there are the two M.2 slots. These are great for installing two NVMe SSDs to act as a cache. This will provide a significant boost to the overall NAS performance when accessing frequent files. Whether these two important features are worth the additional cost depends on what you plan to do on the NAS.
If your main focus will be building a Plex Media Server library of content, I’d go with the DS420 that has an additional two bays to avoid requiring a replacement to be bought for the DS220+ when you eventually run out of space.
Synology DiskStation DS220+
The Synology DiskStation DS220+ is the company’s mid-range enclosure and is perfect if you’re just starting out with your first NAS.
Synology DiskStation DS420+
Synology took what was great about the DS220+ and cranked it all up to 11, including an additional drive bay.
