Network attached storage (NAS) has become increasingly common in both home and offices, while its main function is to keep your data safe from accidental damages and hacks, they have evolved into a capable computer servers that can manage the enterprise IT environment, this is the case with Synology’s DiskStation Manager (DSM) 6.0, the most beautiful NAS OS that we have seen back in COMPUTEX this year that features a graphical user interface and many sophisticated features that can only be found on a server hardware.
Synology’s new DSM 6.0 operation system runs on an all new 64-bit architecture which is able to breakthrough the conventional 4GB RAM limit to allow more tasks to be executed and enables virtualisation within the NAS hardware, Synology mentions that a virtualised DSM will be able to run in the physical OS itself, thus allowing multiple user environments to run its own set of applications and configurations without affecting the host. In addition, users will be able to create Petabyte-level shared folders on multiple volumes, serving the ideal solution to manage and archive cold data.
In addition to these powerful features, DSM 6.0 also features new cloud applications for user collaboration. MailPlus, the company’s e-mail service gets an interface overhaul that looks similar to most modern online e-mail services, it has cross-platform support and a comprehensive set of management features to ensure control of data privacy. SpreadSheet and Note Station are also two new apps that enables collaborative document editing in a secured enterprise environment, there is also a built-in snapshot feature that allows user to revert changes to documents should there be accidents.
Synology has also shown off the Apple Watch app of its DS note and DS audio mobile apps, users will be able to dictate notes on the Apple Watch and play music from the NAS. Since NAS has been widely used for storing and streaming videos, Synology has also redesigned its Video Station app on DSM, featuring an on-screen button layout and most importantly, supporting offline video transcoding that simply allows you to convert them into playable format for other devices.
If you are already using Synology’s NAS products, the company will be releasing DSM 6.0 as a 6-month beta in early-mid October and targets to improve the functionality during this period while accepting feedback from users, this is an exciting time for professionals and small-medium enterprises to consider Synology’s NAS products if building a secure and collaborative IT environment is what you’re looking for.
