The Synology DiskStation DS220+ is one of the more popular NAS enclosures from the Taiwanese company. The DiskStation DS920+ from Synology is a more powerful version of the DS220+ with an additional two drive bays. This DS220+ vs. DS920+ guide will run you through all the other differences between these two excellent NAS enclosures.
Best home NAS
Synology DiskStation DS220+
- Intel Celeron J4025 processor
- The same excellent DSM OS
- More affordable
- No 2.5 or 10 Gb LAN ports
- No M.2 SSD slots for cache
- Two drive bays
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 Plex NAS
Synology DiskStation DS920+
- The same excellent DSM OS
- Four drive bays
- More powerful
- M.2 slots for SSD cache
- Expansion support
- No 2.5 or 10 Gb LAN ports
DS920+ is a four-bay NAS that simply outmatches the DS220+ in every way, but it’s considerably more expensive. If you need a NAS with more than enough power to handle some 4K transcoding through Plex, this is it.
I’m a big fan of Synology’s catalog of NAS enclosures, ranking some of them in my best NAS collection. Whether you’re looking for a good Intel-powered starter NAS for the home or a more capable enclosure for Plex and other heavy tasks, the DS220+ and DS920+ are both fantastic servers.
Synology DiskStation DS220+ is a perfect two-bay NAS
The Synology DiskStation DS220+ is my favorite NAS from Synology. It has everything most people need from a server at home, including an Intel processor with two cores, 2GB of DDR4 RAM out of the box (which can be upgraded to 6GB), as well as two drive bays for up to 36TB of storage.
The DS220+ is very much a more affordable version of the DiskStation DS920+, equipped with the same operating system, Synology DiskStation Manager. This is what allows you to install services like Plex Media Server to transform the server into a centralized hub with plenty of functionality.
It’s not very likely you’ll run into issues in terms of performance. This thing will handle 4K transcoding for media not supported on the receiving device, it’ll gladly store footage from surveillance cameras too, all whilst people are moving files to and from the NAS.
If you’re looking to save a little money and don’t require four bays, I’d recommend the DS220+ or even the DS720+ for your home.
Synology DiskStation DS920+ is better for Plex
The Synology DiskStation DS920+ really comes into play when you’re frequently accessing files on the NAS or want a very capable Plex Media Server. It has some notable upgrades over the DS220+, including a better processor, more RAM, two additional drive bays, support for expansion units, and M.2 NVMe slots.
| Synology DiskStation DS220+ | Synology DiskStation DS920+ | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Celeron J4025 (2 cores, 2.9GHz) | Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores, 2.7GHz) |
| RAM | 2GB DDR4 (max 6GB) | 4GB DDR4 (max 8GB) |
| Drive bays | 2x (SSD/HDD) | 4x (SSD/HDD) 2x M.2 NVMe |
| 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 | ~32.17W |
| Dimensions | 165 x 108 x 232.2 mm | 166 x 199 x 223 mm |
| Weight | 1.30 kg | 2.24 kg |
| Price | $300 | $550 |
These M.2 slots can be used for installing two NVMe SSDs, which can be used for caching on the NAS. This increases overall system performance by allowing the OS to use the drives for quicker file access than the mechanical HDDs.
This NAS is better suited for media since you can store up to 72TB of data across the four drive bays. Make sure you use the best NAS drives and you’ll be good to go.
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 DS920+
The DiskStation DS920+ is one of Synology’s most powerful NAS enclosures for consumers, making it ideal for running Plex Media Server.
