Synology Releases Final Version of Disk Station Manager 2.0

Synology Inc. closed its September Beta program and officially released the Disk Station Manager 2.0 September firmware upgrade.

Resuming earlier success and absorbing user feedbacks, the Disk Station Manager 2.0 September upgrade highlights a wide range of newly added business features, including RAID 6 volume type, built-in NFS, Link Aggregation, Package Management, Virtual Host, as well as an extensive scope of function enhancements covering Download Station 2, File Station, Audio Station, Photo Station, Surveillance Station, and many more.

"With over 4,000 participants attracted to our earlier Beta testing program, feeding us with numerous valuable comments and suggestions," says Edward Lin, marketing director of Synology. "Synology is now ready to end the Beta trial period and proud to present our users the most updated Disk Station Manager 2.0 firmware version." Disk Station Manager 2.0 September upgrade took all users’ advice into consideration, digested with detail evaluation, and has come up with a refreshed version.

Browsing through the new business features, RAID 6 volume type is now supported for advanced data protection elevating security level. In the meantime, apart from supporting S.M.A.R.T. function of the hard drives, the Disk Station Manager 2.0 also runs S.M.A.R.T. test which helps to monitor, detect, and report hard disk status on an automatic basis alerting possible hard drive failures and avoiding probable data loss.

Large amount of manual costs are saved by the September firmware upgrade. The built-in NFS can now be easily enabled on the management UI along with privileges setup, sparing all previous manual procedures. And creating large amount of new users will no longer be a time-consuming process by applying the Batch User function. Moreover, the newly introduced Package Management includes the Logitech SqueezeCenter as the first available package to offer Slim Devices users a convenient way to stream music from Synology NAS servers to their gadgets skipping complicated setup process.

The Virtual Host settings give users the ability to host up to 30 websites on one single server – an economical solution for small businesses and corporations. Moreover, the dual-port Link Aggregation offers users load sharing and failover supports to ensure a working environment free from interruption.

Enhancement wise, Local Backup can now perform multiple backup tasks with friendly Wizard guiding users along the way. Software Development Director of Synology Derren Lu comments, "the enhanced FTP server presents the advanced privileges of ‘write-only’ and limits the maximum connection from each IP. Furthermore, by supporting UTF-8, users will no longer face disordered coding issue and the language barrier is torn down." And a whole new Download Station 2 offers new channels like eMule and NZB while allowing partial file download from BitTorrent.

"With a huge step forward," continues Derren, "the Surveillance Station now fully supports MPEG-4 and megapixel IP cameras, includes the new alarm recording mode for external input triggering, and comes together with real-time basis mode to be watched on full screen. Amazingly, the list of IP camera models supported by our September Beta is almost 70."

Tired from work and want to lay back but cannot find USB speakers to play your stored music? Audio Station with its new web streaming capability makes it possible by streaming music to the client PC while watching photos is now enjoyed in a 3 dimensional way and the dazzling PicLens support is also available from the Photo Station 3.

More details on Disk Station Manager 2.0 September firmware upgrade:

1. Extra Data Protection: RAID 6 volume type cuts off the risk of volume failure and doubles the protection (4 or more bay models).
2. Built-in NFS: No more trivial but inevitable manual process of setting up NFS is required. With built-in NFS option, users can set up privileges on the UI by a few checks only.
3. Link Aggregation: Provides share-loading and failover support for dual-LAN-port models.
4. Virtual Host: One single server to host multiple websites for a more efficient and economical purpose.
5. Batch Users: Helps to create user accounts on a batch basis.
6. HDD S.M.A.R.T.: Allows users to monitor, detect, and report the hard disks status to alert possible HDD failures.
7. Package Management & Logitech SqueezeCenter Support: The Package Management along coming with Logitech SqueezeCenter offers Slim Devices users an easy way of streaming music to their gadgets.
8. Enhanced Surveillance Station: A new option of alarm-recording mode is added, the performance on motion-detection recording mode is improved along with MPEG-4 support. Snapshot taking is also available. In addition, almost 70 IP camera models are now found on the support list.
9. Enhanced Local Backup: Enables multiple scheduled Local Backup tasks with the assistance of Local Backup wizard.
10. Enhanced FTP Server: Presents the advanced privilege of ‘write-only’, limits maximum connections from each individual IP, and supports UTF-8 language mode.
11. New Download Station 2: Supports two new download channels – eMule and NZB, and allows partial file download form BitTorrent.
12. Enhanced File Station: Users can now login on a separate page and customize the webpage banner in their own fashion.
13. Enhanced Audio Station: No USB speakers are required for playing music stored on the server anymore. The new streaming mode streams music to the client PC and delivers by built-in speakers.
14. Enhanced iTunes Server: Presents enhanced long playlist handling; WAV and AIF files are now supported for file streaming (metadata may not be indexed).
15. Enhanced Photo Station 3: Supports theme customization, FLV video files, Cooliris (formerly known as ‘PicLens’) 3-dimensional browsing, and delivers embellished photo slideshow.
16. Enhanced Hibernation: Improved hibernation mechanism is introduced particularly for Western Digital hard drives not sleeping while in hibernation.

Synology Disk Station Manager 2.0 September firmware upgrade applies for the following models: DS508, RS408/RS408-RP, RS407, CS407, DS207+, DS107+, CS407e, DS207, DS107,DS107e, DS108j, DS-106j, and would be the last firmware update for DS-101j, DS-106, DS-106e, CS-406, CS-406e, RS-406.

Availability
The Synology Disk Station Manager 2.0 September firmware upgrade is shipped with all new Synology NAS products from now on. It is also available for free download for most models that have already been shipped to Synology users.