DS211 vs DS211J

[nik_c]

Hi,

I have a couple fo quesrtions relating to the Synology DS211 and Synology DS211J.

They do seem to di=ffer in very, very few features only as I can see from the spec sheet:
File sharing:
differneces between the numbers of users, user groups and concurrent connections

Surveillance Station Support
Max supported cameras: 5 on the DS211J vs 8 on the DS211
Max IP cam (licenses required): 5 vs 8
Total FPS: 50 vs 80

Are these all the differences?

And:

RE the Surveillance Station: What is the thing about the licences? Where do I purchase these and how much do they cost. Does it mean I cannot connect more than 5 cameras ever to a DS211J; and that these will have to share the 50 Frames per second (reducing the recordable frame count to 10 per camera)?

Does this also hold true if the camera is capable of much more? Can I use different software to record the cameras, or am I bound to use Survaillance Station? I have heard that there are other ackages out there (some free, some to purchase).

Thanks for someone taking the time to explain - Very much appreciated!

Kind regards,
Nik C

[Bob_UK]

Apart from the list you mention the hardware is different between the two.

The DS211J:
CPU Frequency: 1.2GHz
Memory: DDR2 128MB

DS 211:
CPU Frequency: 1.6GHz
Memory: 256MB

Basically the 211 has twice as much RAM and an extra .4 Ghz CPU power.

[nik_c]

Ah, yes I missed these two differences!
Thanks!

That leaves the licences issue - will have alook at the site again, there must be some info about that somewhere!

Nik C

[AndersCZ]

I think then major difference is at the speed of file transfer. 211 is much better than 211j.

[atx]

Basically the 211 has twice as much RAM and an extra .4 Ghz CPU power.

The memory in DS211 is DDR3 (vs DDR2 in DS2111J). So regarding the hardware, apart from faster CPU also the memory is faster.

RE the Surveillance Station: What is the thing about the licences? Where do I purchase these and how much do they cost.

I guess a Synology distributor in your country should be able to get them for you. Unfortunatelly the licenses are IMHO really overpriced, e.g. Amazon sells them for ~60$ per 1 camera

Can I use different software to record the cameras, or am I bound to use Survaillance Station?

There are also a few IP cameras that can save directly to a network share, so the Synology would then be used as a file server only. Even with higher camera cost, one saves 60$ per license so at the end it could be cheaper. There would be also no limit for number of cameras (other than network bandwidth and write performance, of course). In this solution the Surveillance Station wouldn't be used - which might be a disadvantage.