Synology - Mike Tabor

Synology 10GbE Upgrade for the Home Lab

May 4, 2021July 6, 2021 Synology

One big feature I was looking forward to taking advantage of when I replaced my old Synology DS1815+ with a new Synology DS1621+, was the PCIe expansion slot and support for 10GbE cards. I could now setup a 10GbE network between the NAS, the home lab Dell R720, and my main PC.

My goal was to create a small 10GbE network without spending a ton of money.

In order to achieve this goal I purchased the following items:

Backup Synology NAS to Amazon Glacier

March 31, 2021March 31, 2021 Synology

4 Comments

Recently I replaced my Synology DS1815+ with a new Synology DS1621+ NAS.

After migrating all the data from the old to new NAS and re-setting up Backblaze on the new Synology, I wanted to have a second backup of everything… just in case.

If you already have an AWS account and want to know how to backup your Synology NAS to Amazon Glacier then keep reading.

How to Replace a Failed Hard Drive in a Synology NAS

March 20, 2020 Synology

7 Comments

Earlier this week I received a notification from my Synology NAS that a hard drive was failing. Right now in the middle of this COVID-19 pandemic, one thing I don’t need is my NAS down and the kids and wife unable to watch any shows or movies.

Luckily for me Synology has made drive replacement a breeze. Here is how to easily and very quickly replace a failed hard drive in your Synology NAS.

Upgrade Synology DS1819+ RAM to 32GB

August 28, 2019October 26, 2020 Synology

30 Comments

Recently got my hands on a Synology DS1819+ which offers a number of great features, one of which is the ability to support 32GB memory! Giving me more than plenty of resources for all kinds of Docker containers, virtual machines, and Synology applications.

In this quick guide I’ll detail how to upgrade your Synology DS1819+ to 32GB of RAM.

Items needed:

Philips screwdriver
Kingston KSM24SED8 RAM Modules
Crucial 32GB kit (some users have reported issues with this brand)

Install a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate on a Synology NAS

February 28, 2018September 10, 2018 Synology

23 Comments

A while ago I wrote an guide on how to install a SSL from Namecheap onto your Synology. Soon after Let’s Encrypt support was added to Synology, I started getting requests for a guide.

The benefits of Let’s Encrypt certificates are that they are automated, short lifetimes (90 days) and that they are completely FREE!

Below is a quick guide on how to install Let’s Encrypt SSL on a Synology NAS!

How to install Backblaze on Synology NAS

August 24, 2017October 3, 2017 Synology

38 Comments

In case you’ve missed it, Crashplan announced yesterday that they are no longer offering a family backup plan but instead focusing on business plans. Immediately people started asking me on twitter for alternatives.

Well one option would be to upgrade to the more expensive Crashplan business plan or another option would be to check out Backblaze!

In this post I’ll be showing you just how easy it is to use Backblaze on your Synology Diskstation NAS – all with native Synology apps. No need to worry about upgrades breaking your backups or 3rd party solutions!

How to create a virtual machine on a Synology NAS

June 25, 2017 Synology

25 Comments

A common request I’ve seen among Synology NAS owners, is the ability to run virtual machines directly from their NAS. Recently Synology released a beta version of their new Virtual Machine Manager package that allows users to do exactly that.

Below I’ll detail how to install, configure, and create a Windows 10 virtual machine on my Synology DS1815+.

Before getting started, your Synology NAS not only needs to be compatible but also needs to meet a couple requirements:

Have at least one Btrfs volume
4GB or more memory (now might be a great time to check out my Upgrade Synology DS1815+ to 16GB RAM post)
Running DSM 6.1.1 or better.

You’ll also want to have a couple ISO images downloaded and ready; Windows 10, Synology Guest Tools, and Windows Virtio Drivers.

With that, lets get started!

Synology DSM 6.0.2-8451 Update 2

October 11, 2016March 6, 2017 Synology

2 Comments

Synology has just released DSM 6.0.2-8451 Update 2 which offers almost a dozen fixes as well as patches multiple vulnerabilities found throughout OpenSSL and curl. If you haven’t already, it would be highly recommended to go ahead and do so now. Below is a list of fixes in DSM 6.0.2-8451 Update 2.

Running Ubiquiti UniFi controller in Docker on Synology NAS

September 13, 2016December 31, 2018 Synology

43 Comments

Recently I posted how to run the Ubiquiti UniFi Controller in the cloud using services like Linode, Vultr, or DigitalOcean. However, a few people has asked if I could post instructions on how to run the UniFi controller in Docker, similar how I have CrashPlan running in Docker.

For the steps below I’ll be using my Synology DS1815+ NAS which is compatible to run Docker. If you’re unsure if your model support docker or not you can check here.

How to run Crashplan in Docker on Synology NAS

May 2, 2016May 2, 2016 Synology

147 Comments

I am a huge fan of CrashPlan and have been using it for years on my Synology NAS using this install guide I wrote up some time ago.

Admittedly the process in the old guide wasn’t always roses. Crashplan would push out an update and that update would, at times, break the Synology Crashplan client from PC Load Letter and backups would stop running for a couple days – maybe a week. Patters being the awesome guy he is, usually updated his Synology Crashplan package quickly and all was good again.

Then last year in DSM 5.2, Synology added support for Docker which opened up the possibility to run all sorts of software in a virtual container running on your Synology NAS. One such software being Crashplan and below I’m going to show how I now have Crashplan running in Docker on my Synology DS1815+ NAS!