Building Your Own DIY Surveillance System With Synology DiskStation

Overall, the Synology DiskStation DS416j was a breeze to set-up as a video stream collection end-point for a surveillance system. This NAS practically walks users through the installation process, which takes roughly ten minutes to complete. Connecting the cameras to the DiskStation was also easy, once we followed the separate set-up directions for the cameras themselves. Users are easily able to input the camera's information or search for the camera on their network. Once again, this process only took a few minutes. The DiskStation interface is easy to navigate with clear icons and intuitive menus as well.
Unfortunately,many of the "extras", such as increasing the video quality of a user's footage if the camera detects motion, are processes that the user will either need to experiment with on their own or reference the included guide book. Increased quality takes up more storage space, so every user's needs will vary. The Synology mobile app only offers basic functions and lacks many of the unique features the DiskStation incorporates in its desktop version software.
The Synology DiskStation DS416j works well as a surveillance system hub. For $289 or so, plus the cost of hard drives (we'd recommend this WD drive or the Seagate drives in our unit) and IP cameras, it's a relative bargain if you'd like to try and set up a system yourself. Managed home security systems are generally quite expensive and often come with irritating monthly payments. We can easily recommend the Synology DiskStation DS416j as the foundation of your own personal surveillance system. It just works and works well.