Zakary Belamy

Many services that we used to pay for, such as FTP server and cloud storage, are all available on DiskStation. In addition, there is a wide selection of applications that can be installed for free on DiskStation. It's definitely good value for money. Zakary Belamy

The Company

Zakary Belamy is a French photographer living in Paris and well-known amongst performers and magicians around the world since 1999. His works embraces different styles, techniques, and technologies. As a professional photographer, he is eager to explore different areas of photography. Since 2013, while continuing to master portrait photography on celebrities and models, he's also exploring photo shooting for CEO and politicians. His photos have been published in more than 60 publications. Over 20 personal exhibitions have taken place since 2006.

The Challenge

"You can fix a broken camera or a burnt-out flash with money, but you can't re-take a picture." 

To any photographer, a good picture is priceless. Zakary is no exception. He used to keep a duplicated copy of his work on two separate hard disks. While this should provide a good backup in theory, when put into real practice, one of the most common problems is that the data on two hard disks is not fully synced. "This method is very last-century," said Zakary, "this creates mess, corrupted files, and confusion. The worst part is, you won't realize this until the hard disk fails on you. So you are left with the choices of spending the fortune on data rescue or saying goodbye to the work that you didn't backup."

Having sufficient storage and keeping everything simple and efficient are also challenges that Zakary faced. A round of photo session can accumulate volumes at the range of 600MB to 50GB. Post-production may generate files up to 1.3GB per image. Over the 10 years of professional photo shooting, he has collected over 3TB of photos and other documents. "I was buying a new hard disk every year to keep up with the storage consumption. As my files increase, the migrating process becomes very time-consuming. I need a simple storage solution with sufficient data protection." explained Zakary.

The Solution

A round of search on the Internet and comments from existing users prompted him to buy in a DS407e in 2007. Satisfied with the experience, he went on and bought a DS1512+ in 2013.

Flexible storage that comes with data protection

"One of the best things that I love DiskStation is Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR)," Zakary commented. "It's definitely more flexible than traditional RAID, making the entire storage planning much easier." By configuring RAID array on DiskStation, the system offers the essential data protection to avoid data loss due to hard disk failure. There's no more need to manually mirror data from one hard disk to another to create a backup copy. To Zakary, this means he is able to enjoy the same level of data protection with less effort. He can even set up scheduled server backup to back up data onto an additional hard disk, providing an extra layer of protection effortlessly.

To Zakary, there's always demand for bigger storage. Having a DiskStation relieves him from constantly migrating data to bigger hard disks. With his DiskStation under SHR configuration, he is able to set up RAID array flexibly with hard disks of different sizes without worrying the excessive storage goes waste. "Storage expansion is very easy, too," Zakary added, "when I'm travelling abroad, I can even ask my friend who has never heard of NAS to change hard disk in DS1512+ and it can be done in very little time. It's that simple."

Worldwide accessibility offers unprecedented convenience

When photographers travel around the world, one of the challenges is to bring the right equipment to get the best shot while not overloading oneself with too much gear. To Zakary, DiskStation also helped him to reduce the overall luggage weight. "I used to save the photos I shoot on my laptop and make an extra copy on an external 2.5'' hard disk when I'm travelling abroad," said Zakary, "but now, all photos taken on the day can be transferred to DiskStation when I'm sleeping. It's safe and easy. And it makes my business trip much more convenient."

The worldwide file accessibility also brings efficient communication with clients. Files can be delivered to clients over FTP or download links generated by DiskStation. "When clients request my works, they want to receive it immediately. DiskStation has made file sharing very easy and immediate. Whenever a request comes in, I can send off files – which can be quite large sometimes – to clients in a few minutes using any PC that's available, or via my iPhone or iPad. The best part is, it is faster and less expensive than many other cloud storage services I've used," Zakary commented.

Versatile features create add-on value and benefit

When Zakary purchased DiskStation, his initial idea was to use it as a large storage center with remote accessibility. However, he quickly discovered that DiskStation provides many other features which include FTP and online album. "Many services that we used to pay for, such as FTP server and cloud storage, are all available on DiskStation. In addition, there is a wide selection of applications that can be installed for free on DiskStation. It's definitely good value for money," Zakary explained. Moreover, when accessing DiskStation within local area network, the speed is much faster than transfer files over the Internet. The convenience is much appreciated by Zakary, whose high-res photos often require a long period of time to be uploaded.

Continuous system upgrade and after sales service

In addition to simplicity and convenience, Zakary finds satisfaction with the after sales service, which includes regular system upgrade and quick customer service. "I have to confess that I have rarely seen such great customer service like Synology. Very efficient," Zakary stated. "I'm glad to see some of the suggestions I made to Synology actually appeared on DSM. It shows that the company takes customer feedback very seriously." 

Right now, Zakary is planning to use Photo Station as the storage central to display his work. Photo Station provides the ideal online album, offering large space at no additional cost. Since Photo Station is hosted on a personal cloud rather than through 3rd-party service provider, there's no worry on the lifespan of the service. Having the online album and storage in one place also indicates a more unified and streamlined solution, which is very convenient for professional photographers.

To Zakary, a NAS server brings more than just large storage and data protection. It offers great simplicity and convenience to a photographer's work. "Photographer's work is more complicated than people imagine. We are always dealing with unexpected issues, like a burnt-out flash or technical fault on a lens and camera, computer trouble, bad weather, or models who got sick. Synology makes file storage and sharing a breeze, helping me stay focused on my profession."

Recommended Models

  • DS1512+
  • RS18016xs+

Recommended Features

  • Flexible storage with data protection
  • Worldwide accessibility offers unprecedented convenience
  • Versatile features create add-on value and benefit
  • Continuous system upgrade and after sales service
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