Synology Disk Station Manager 2.1 Beta

Synology Inc. announces the availability of its Disk Station Manager 2.1 beta which further utilizes AJAX technology, adds new mail server capability with 1-click installation Mail Station add-on, enhances the Synology Surveillance Station, storage management, user management, and privilege management, and adds 4 new languages. Once deployed, the new Disk Station Manager 2.1 will further enhance the capabilities of installed Synology NAS servers without any additional cost to users.

The newly added Mail Station feature brings long awaited mail server capability to Synology NAS servers. Installation is a snap, with 1 click installation and easy setup, the Mail Station is a viable alternative to offer significant cost savings to SMB and corporate users.

"Mail server has always been on the top feature request list," said Philip Wong, president of Synology, Inc. "The new Mail Station feature gives our business customers exactly what they’ve been asking for. An elegant web mail, SMTP, POP3 and IMAP accesses are instantly available after a simple, free software update."

The Surveillance Station 2 now supports 59 new IP camera models, bringing the total supported models to 128. Audio streaming and auto-discovery feature that simplifies IP camera setup prove the Synology Surveillance Station 2 to be a great alternative to conventional NVR solutions.

The File Station has benefited users who are not familiar with complicated FTP operation with a straight-forward web interface. The File Station 2 further simplifies file access by introducing drag-n-drop, right-click actions, sub-folder privilege settings, and multiple file upload and download. "It’s a challenge to adopt the techniques to enable multiple-file operations on the web browser," said Allen Kao, RD manager of Synology.

Enhancement wise, RAID 5+Spare and JBOD are newly supported. The new login interface only lists authorized applications, together with a Quick Search Box after login to allow faster access to a setup page with ‘search while you type’ capability. The ‘User Home’ feature automatically creates a home folder and personal website address for each user; thus greatly minimizes admin’s effort to assign shared folder for each user. Audio Station now supports multiple non-admin users to login to stream and enjoy music on the server. Local Backup and Network Backup are integrated into a wizard, with MySQL database backup added.

To summarize the key enhancements of the DSM 2.1 beta, here are some details to consider:

1. You’ve Got Mail!: The stand-alone Mail Station add-on provides one-step installation for your Synology Disk Station to become a mail server that supports Outlook-style web mail, SMTP, POP3 and IMAP. (DS107+, DS207+, DS209+, CS407, DS408, RS407, RS408, RS408-RP, DS508 only)
2. New DSM 2.1 Interface: The new Synology Disk Station Manager 2.1 introduces to you Windows-style login desktop. Only authorized applications are displayed after login. The newly added Quick Search Box allows ‘search while you type’ for faster access to a setup page.
3. Enhanced Storage Management: RAID 5+Spare and JBOD volume type are supported. RAID 5+Spare volume further secures data safety and availability (CS407, CS407e, DS408, DS508, RS407, RS408, RS408-RP only); JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) provides an alternative for users to concatenate multiple hard drives as a single volume without wasting any storage capacity.
4. AJAX-based File Station 2: File Station 2 has a brand new interface that utilizes AJAX technology and brings you the familiar Windows experience with drag-n-drop and right-click actions. File Station 2 further introduces multiple file upload, multiple files download, and remote unzip features.
5. AJAX-based Surveillance Station 2: The Surveillance Station 2 newly supports 59 IP cameras of renowned brands, including AXIS, ACTi, Vivotek, and SparkLAN. Audio streaming is supported in live view, recording, and playback (MPEG4 only). The auto-discovery feature helps you search the IP cameras within LAN to simplify IP camera setup.
6. Sub-folder Privileges Setting: With the elegant Linux-style privileges, authorized users are free to modify privileges of folders, sub-folders, and files on File Station 2. It’s no longer limited to the shared folder level.
7. Enhanced User Management: ‘User Home’ feature automatically creates a home folder and personal website address for each user; this greatly minimizes admin’s effort to assign shared folder for each user. The application privilege setting allows the admin to flexibly determine applications (FTP services, File Station, Audio Station, Download Station and Surveillance Station) each user can access. In addition, the admin is now able to set up shared folders privileges for each user.
8. Enhanced Audio Station: The Audio Station now allows non-admin users to listen to music in both web streaming mode and USB mode.
9. Enhanced Photo Station 3: The search function helps visitors find the photo/album more easily. Furthermore, other than the photo files, now you can choose to back up photo database via Local or Network Backup, including photo’s extended information, titles, descriptions, and comments from visitors.
10. Enhanced Backup: The new backup wizard integrates Network Backup or Local Backup to simplify backup process. MySQL database backup is also supported now.
11. Enhanced eMule Download: The eMule download engine is upgraded to support files larger than 4GB.
12. Case-Sensitive File System: Case-sensitive file system is automatically supported after firmware upgrade to provide better Linux and Mac compatibility.
13. Network UPS: Users who own multiple Synology Disk Stations on the LAN can now use a single UPS to provide service at the same time with the network UPS feature.
14. Dual-Printer Support: Synology Disk Stations now support up to 2 USB printers at the same time.
15. Linux Version Assistant: A Linux version Synology Assistant is now available to help you easily search Synology Disk Stations within the LAN environment.
16. 4 New Languages Supported: Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (European), Turkish, and Hungarian management interfaces are now supported. It also takes effect on Synology Assistant, Synology Data Replicator 3, and Synology Download Redirector.

Synology Disk Station Manager 2.1 Beta firmware upgrade applies for the following models:
DS209+, RS408/RS408-RP, DS508, DS408, DS108j, RS407, CS407, CS407e, DS207+, DS207, DS107+, DS107, DS107e.

The officially released version of Disk Station Manager 2.1 is expected to be released in March 2009 and will be offered free of charge to existing Synology NAS server owners.