I bought a Synology 414slim NAS to replace a Mac Mini Server that, for two years, I have been unable to set up so it works reliably. Even the three Mac 'Genius's' on the AppleCare line have given up responding to me.

 

On to the Sinology...

 

It's all set up and running and I can access it from inside the house and from outside; so that's good.

 

My biggest question is where do I sync all my data to on the NAS? I'm confused as to what the best practice would be for four users to be able to share media (video, photos, music) across devices but not personal files.

 

I have DS CloudStation installed on Mac's and Android Tablets and iPhones and can get this working on all of them, but it seems to dump everything into one 'home' folder and not into the 'music' or 'video' folders. What do people do to be able to access all files, including Safari weblink and shortcuts, on a different computer?

 

The second part is that I was using the Mac Server as a central point for administering all accounts and devices (when it worked) - Open Directory, I think. I see that there is a LDAP server option on the Synology, but played with it and failed to get it set up and running. Is this a Windows only thing or did I just not set it up right?

 

I'm sure I'll have loads of questions over the next week or so as I play with it, but am just confused over what best practice is and how it is meant to actually work.

 

Thanks.

I'm trying to do a few more things and failing, so open to any advice please...

 

How do I sync the relevant folder(s) on a Mac so that I can move from computer to tablet to phone, etc. and still see the same favourites and history?

 

I can't work out how to set up the Synology NAS so that each user has their own private folders within the 'CloudStation' for these things. It seems to be only possible to link one folder to the cloud folder within the 'Home' folder on the NAS.

 

I can't work out how to create the right private folders for each individual.

I have just been setting up the DS214J using DSM Help when I ran into problems - not fully configured yet but all my media is in the music/photo/video folders and these are available as a Library to most of my software. Have you got Media Server enabled, if so you should be able to go into DSM Control Panel and set the file locations in Media Library.

 

Seems quite good because if something it needs is not turned on it tells you - well so far anyway

 

Just noticed your second post - DSM Control Panel/User lets you create additional users and then they get their own storage - lots of things you can enable/limit for them so they don't gobble up all your space

I also use a Synology NAS (DS213) My main machine is a Mac Mini, I also have a PC, Macbook, tablet and iPhone. I didn't bother with any of the Synology Apps but just created some shared folders within the Control Panel of DSM. I have a main storage area and an area that the Time Machine from the Mac Mini uses for its backups.

 

To control who has access to what you can create user accounts within the DSM and choose which shares each user can access. You can also add a quota per user - this is how I used the Time Machine feature - Create a TimeMachine user and set the quota to 1000GB this way it will not completely fill the NAS. Unfortunately you cannot put a quota on a share. 

 

The DiskStation should show up in the Macs finder (under the shared tab) , you can then login using the accounts from DSM and it will show you whichever shares you have access to.

You will have to use the 'Map Network Drive' on a PC. I think if you put in the IP address then it should give you a list of all the shares.

 

I store video clips on the Synology as well - Im sure I read somewhere that the video/photo app can be very intensive on the CPU of the Synology when importing as it creates thumbnails for everything first. I didnt go down this route, rather just organised everything into folders myself. You can still stream video to an iPad and I usually play it through the VLC app.

 

Ive set up a few other Synology boxes the same way as above (if it makes any sense!) and at work I've also set one up using iSCSI which simply makes the synology appear as a big external HD to a Windows Server which then organises all the files. 

 

 

Sorry I can't be much help with the CloudStation etc as I've never used them.