14 DAY TRIAL // Though NAS devices aren't exactly a new invention, their makers do their best to always come out on top, and Synology claims to have achieved a high degree of success with its USB Station 2 which comes with the File Browser feature.
The USB Station 2 was conceived as a good means of sharing files and multimedia contents among machines running Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.
Simply put, it is a NAS server with a power consumption of 5 W, a pair of USB ports and a network connector on the back.
Also, its capability for plug and play file sharing is made possible thanks to the File Browser feature, while the Audio Station 2 application can perform Internet, music and iPod playback with optional speakers.
The streaming mode also allows sharing of music to multiple users over the Intranet or Internet, and the DS Audio smartphone application streams whole terabytes of music to iPhones.
Basically, this product is a NAS server that can act as a media streamer for multiple devices at once.
“USB Station 2 is the most affordable Synology’s NAS server ever. Almost everyone can afford it and experience the rich features of file sharing and multimedia enjoyment delivered by its legendary Synology DiskStation Manager 3.0 (DSM 3.0) operating system,” said Chad Cheng, product manager of Synology Inc.
“USB Station 2 lives up to our principle of being environmental friendly. It consumes only 4W in operation and enables the connected external hard drives hibernate,” Cheng went on to saying.
“Together with its fan-less design, USB Station 2 not only reduces users’ carbon footprints but also brings them noiseless environments,” Cheng concluded.
For those interested in the actual specifications, the device measures 46 (H) x 122 (W) x 111 (D) mm and weights just 147 grams.
The NAS boasts an 800 MHz processor, 128 MB of memory and the DiskStation Manager 3.0 (DSM 3.0) software.
It is supposedly already shipping but has not been priced but full information on everything else may be found here.