NAS setup suggestions

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

one artist

New Member
Jan 20, 2021
5
0
1
I have: Synology NAS DS218 with two 6TB Seagate drives, a M1 Mac mini 8GB Ram and 512GB drive, and a RT2600ac router with a Netgear GS108 unmanaged switch.
I would like to add: A multi Gig managed switch with this:

https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Ethernet-Adapter-Compatible-Thunderbolt/dp/B084L4JL9K or there is also a Thunderbolt to 5GB ethernet adapter.

The idea of the multi Gig switch is to take advantage of ethernet adapters. I would like some suggestions for a multi Gig managed switch. I plan to keep the Mac mini next to the router and switch. You can also operate the mini remotely using a Luna adapter and a new iPad Pro as a wireless monitor.

I haven't had much luck getting the Mac and the DS218 connected yet but I'm hoping the managed switch will help, plus a good Mac tutorial.
 
Last edited:

BoredSysadmin

Not affiliated with Maxell
Mar 2, 2019
1,050
437
83
Don't think that going multi-gig will help you here. a 2-Bay NAS with raid1 (I assume) will only barely be able to saturate 1gig on maybe reads.
Not sure if Synology will support a USB nic either.
I think you probably should just review few guides on how to use the nas from your mac:
 

one artist

New Member
Jan 20, 2021
5
0
1
Thank you for the advice and the tutorial link. I tried that Mac guide and other Mac/Synology guides and I get the same error message. "There was a problem with the connection. Contact your Administrator etc." Maybe getting a managed switch may help. I may even go the route of getting a full blown 10GB switch as the first stage of a complete upgrade.
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
2,059
1,479
113
Neither a managed switch nor 10GBe are going to do anything for you.
 

one artist

New Member
Jan 20, 2021
5
0
1
Neither a managed switch nor 10GBe are going to do anything for you.
What do you suggest? From my Mac mini I can do a "find my Synology" and it opens and I logon. The Mac and the DS218 are connected to the same router but I can't connect them from the Mac.
 

BoredSysadmin

Not affiliated with Maxell
Mar 2, 2019
1,050
437
83
Did you follow the guide's every step, including turning on the Mac file service on the NAS?

  1. Go to the NAS web interface.
  2. Open the control panel.
  3. Go to 'File Services> Win / Mac / NFS'.
  4. Check the "Enable Mac file service" checkbox.
 

one artist

New Member
Jan 20, 2021
5
0
1
Check the "Enable Mac file service" checkbox.
Thanks, I'm getting closer. The NAS was first setup on a PC and I'm slowly switching over to the Mac settings. I still can't connect from Finder/Go/Connect to server. At least I'm making slow progress and I do appreciate your help.
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
1,234
794
113
Denver, Colorado
Try mounting a shared folder using SMB and see if that helps.

with Finder selected as the active application (you can click on "Macintosh HD"

type [command-key]k


in the popup enter:

smb://<NAS IP address>/<name of a share>

where
<NAS IP address> is the IP address (or you can try name) of your NAS
<name of a share> is a share you have configured on your synology or one of the default shares like users

you'll likely be prompted for login credentials which you should have configured when the NAS was set up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: one artist