The Synology Diskstation DS1513+ is network attached storage (NAS) appliance that can be used for, among other things, Time Machine backups, media storage, and more. With 5 drive bays and 4 ethernet ports, it can scale up to 20TB and move it around at Gigabit speeds. There're also 4x USB, 2x USB 3, 2x eSATA, and support for Synology Hybrid RAID, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10, and a bunch of other stuff like VM, LDAP, iTunes Server, and more. So, what's it like?

It's really meant for small business use or, for people like me, home office use. My quick take is that the Synology Diskstation DS1513+ is way more appliance than I'll need in terms of functionality, but exactly what I'm looking for in terms of rock-solid reliability and redundancy. Setup was easy enough and anyone familiar with web-based enterprise-y control panels — the kind you find with routers, web management consoles, etc. — will feel right I home. (Though I'd prefer a native OS X Synology app to avoid flashbacks to my days in IT...)

I'll be putting this Synology Diskstation DS1513+ review unit through its paces in the podcast studio for the next little while. Right now it's hanging off my Mac Pro (no, not the new one!) and backing up all of our video and audio recordings. I'll try other things, like Time Machine, iTunes Server, etc. over the next few weeks, and will follow up with some specifics on how it performs, and how it compares to other systems like Drobo and QNAP

If you have any questions on it, or specific things you'd like to see tested and tried out, let me know!

How to use Apple's Accessibility Assistant shortcut
A more accessible world

How to use Apple's Accessibility Assistant shortcut

Apple released new versions of their Accessibility Assistant shortcut for Mac and Apple Watch, joining the iPhone & iPad version. We cover how the shortcut works, plus provide links to the Accessibility shortcuts available in the Gallery.