High capacity
Synology took everything that made the DS918+ so good and added an additional bay, more RAM out the box, and even more features to make it an excellent NAS for anyone who requires ample amounts of storage.
For
- Great performance
- DSM OS
- Reliability
- More RAM pre-installed
- Five drive bays
Against
- No PCIe
- No 10GbE ports
- Can't upgrade RAM
Home server
The new DS918+ is an excellent successor to the older DS916+ with better internals and new chassis design. It's better in almost every way, is the go-to NAS for creating a new hub for all your multimedia.
For
- Great performance
- DSM OS
- Reliability
- Upgradable RAM
Against
- Four drive bays
- No PCIe
- No 10GbE ports
The DS1019+ and DS918+ are similar NAS servers from Synology, with only a few minor spec changes to differentiate the two and warrant the increase in price for the DS1019+. Should you be after a solid four-bay NAS for your home or small office, the DS918+ is a great server, while the DS1019+ lets you install a further hard drive for additional storage.
Synology DS1019+ vs. DS918+ specs
The DS1019+ is essentially the DS918+ but stretched slightly to accommodate a fifth drive bay. All the internals are the same, aside from 8GB of RAM being pre-installed. You get the same Intel Celeron processor, an identical number of M.2 slots for speedier cache, and the same external port configuration.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | DS1019+ | DS918+ |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Celeron J3455 1.5GHz (2.3GHz burst) | Intel Celeron J3455 1.5GHz (2.3GHz burst) |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3L (8GB max) | 4GB DDR3L (8GB max) |
| Bays | 5 | 4 |
| Capacity | 70TB | 56TB |
| M.2 slots | 2 | 2 |
| Ports | 2x GbE 2x USB 3.0 1x eSATA | 2x GbE 2x USB 3.0 1x eSATA |
| Dimensions | 166 x 230 x 223 mm | 166 x 199 x 223 mm |
| Weight | 2.54kg | 2.28kg |
| PSU | 120W | 100W |
| Consumption | 38.59W | 28.8W |
Other notable differences are dimensions, weight and power consumption — the DS1019+ uses around 10W more power with the additional drive and RAM. This extra drive bay does allow for 14TB more space to be available, bringing the total up to 70TB and 140TB when using Synology's expansion unit.
Everything else is the same
Taking the extra capacity and RAM aside, everything else with the DS1019+ is exactly the same as the DS918+. The same excellent DSM OS is installed with access to a whole host of third-party software, including Plex. The two NAS even share the same NAS design with the former being slightly larger to include the additional bay.
Because the two NAS servers are very similar in design, specs and everything else, it makes the considerable jump in price a little more difficult to justify. If you truly require five hard drives to be installed on your NAS, paying out an extra $100 for the luxury may seem like a bad deal.
It's possible to go with the DS918+ and use Synology's five-bay expansion unit to bring the total number of bays up to nine, but the expansion unit alone will set you back $500.
DS1019+ is for you if you need extra capacity
The main separation between the DS1019+ and DS918+ is the addition of the extra drive bay and more pre-installed RAM. Really, out-the-box it's the better NAS, but you're paying a fair amount more for this privilege.
When you require more storage
The DS1019+ from Synology is an excellent NAS server that allows you to install up to five drives for a massive amount of storage space. You can run various supported apps and even run a Plex Media Server, but it's only worth purchasing instead of the DS918+ if you need the extra drive bay.
Go with the DS918+ to save a little
If you know you won't require five drive bays and 8GB RAM, you can save a little and grab the DS918+, which comes with four drive bays (more than enough for most home installations) and everything you need to set up your own home server.
Good value home media server
Synology's DS918+ is a superb NAS with a capable Intel processor, four drive bays and support for many third-party services. While it may be a little on the pricey side, especially when you include the purchase of hard drives, this is one of the best options for a home media server.
