A Synology can act as a local file server that is used to share a folder from a cloud account. You can use accounts with from Backblaze, Google Drive, Amazon, Alibaba, Dropbox, Azure, and others. This means you can use a Synology to provide LAN access to cloud solutions. Before you do, make sure you understand that if changes are made in the cloud and on a client computer at the same time, that you will end up not knowing which is right and so file-locking issues will come up. It’s best to use this strategy for home environments or come up with another mechanism for locking files. If you…
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Add Antivirus To Your Synology
It’s not likely that your Synology is going to get infected with a virus of some kind. It’s also not likely that, if you’re switching to Synology from a macOS Server, that most of your clients will get infected or be using infected files. But you probably have that one Windows accounting machine in the back of the office. So you should scan your Synology routinely. To do so, Synology provides a clamav bundle, much like what I usually told people to use on macOS file servers. To install antivirus on your Synology, open Package Center and search for antivirus. Click on Antivirus Essential and then click on Install. Once…
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Backup Mobile Devices To Synology With Acronis True Image
You can backup a Synology in a number of ways. Even if you have a local backup, you should have a backup offsite. Here, we’ll walk through backing up a Synology using Acronis True Image. Before doing so, it’s worth noting that the only things backed up this way are the ones that are by default accessible through an app, and that you’ll have to give access to each of those entitlements in order for the backup to run. These include Contacts, Photos, Videos, Calendars, and Reminders. To get started, first go to the Package Center on a Synology. Then, search for Acronis.At the listing for Acronis True Image, click…
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Migrate From macOS To A Synology Based VPN
Synology is able to do everything a macOS Server could do, and more. So if you need to move your VPN service, it’s worth looking at a number of different solutions. The most important question to ask is whether you actually need a VPN any more. If you have git, mail/groupware, or file services that require remote access then you might want to consider moving these into a hosted environment somewhere. But if you need access to the LAN and you’re a small business without other servers, a Synology can be a great place to host your VPN services. Before you setup anything new, first snapshot your old settings. Let’s…
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Install the RADIUS Server on a Synology
Don’t let the name fool you, RADIUS, or Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service is more widely used today than ever before. This protocol enables remote access to servers and networks and is frequently a fundamental building block of VPNs, wireless networks and other high-security services that have nothing to do with dialup bulletin boards from the 80s. I’ve run RADIUS services on Mac servers for years. But as that code starts to become stale and no longer supported, let’s look at running a basic RADIUS service on a network appliance, such as a Synology. To get started, open Package Manager, click All in the sidebar and then search for RADIUS. Click Install for…
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Install Web Services on a Synology
Web services was always easy to install on macOS Server and it’s no different on a Synology. To do so, open Package Manager from the home screen.Click All in the sidebar and enter web into the search box.Click Web Station.Click Install. This installs a few dependencies. Click Open once the install is finished.Click General Settings. Note that the default web server is Nginx. You can install Apache and then Apache will be available in the HTTP back-end server list. If you’ll be using a different service (Apache) then do the switch before you proceed. Otherwise (or after you switch to Apache), click on Virtual Host.Click on Create.Click into the hostname field…
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Update Packages on Synology
Services that run on a Synology are constantly being updated. Software updates for the binaries and other artifacts can quickly and easily be updated. To do so, open the Synology web interface and then open Package Center. From Package Center, click Update for each or Update All to upgrade all services at once, as seen below.You will then be prompted to verify that you want to run the update. Any services that are being updated will restart and so end users might find those services unresponsive or have to log back in after the service comes back online.
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Basic Synology NAS Setup
Over the years, I’ve setup dozens of Synology Network Appliances for customers and friends. But I never thought of doing much writing in the NAS space, be it for ReadyNAS, Thecus, Buffalo, etc. The interfaces seemed to change too fast and my focus was always on the management and connectivity of Apple devices. Slowly, over the years, small business servers have gone from being something you could make a decent living to something that should probably be hosted in the cloud. Unless you have a design requirement that just can’t work in the cloud. And for that, there are a ton of options. Today we’ll cover the basic setup of…