Synology

Though it did fall behind Synology's DS411+II in our performance testing, the breadth of its capabilities makes up for those mostly minor performance differences.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

For all of the DS411+II's hardware deficiencies, Synology nailed the software side of the equation.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

Synology has been in the NAS business for a while, and it has an impressive number of products to show for it.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

Promise and Synology both deliver quality products, with Promise winning the hardware battle and Synology the software.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

Synology supports a "RAID 5+Spare" drive configuration in the DS411+II, meaning you can have one drive configured as a spare in case of drive failure.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

QNAP's web UI isn't as cutting-edge as what Synology offers, but that doesn't make it any less usable.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

Add to that the price difference between the Synology DS411+II and the Promise SmartStor NS4700, and you can see why the former is the clear winner of the pair.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

Synology offers both DLNA and iTunes media server options and even goes a step farther by functioning as a Squeezebox Server for Logitech's Squeezebox line of media streamers.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

All of the NAS appliances reviewed offer some sort of iOS application, and both QNAP and Synology also support Android devices.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011

In our performance testing, Synology's DS411+II consistently led the pack, though the QNAP TS-459 Pro II wasn't ever far behind.

Gizmodo Tim Ferrill - MaximumPC 2011