Accessing Synology Work from Home is frequently asked question we get. We only suggest this guide for small businesses where a limited amount of employees are utilizing access to data remotely. There are several additional factors to consider when working with bigger clientele that have a target on their back from hackers. This post should be sufficient solution for the I’m on a budget folks. And as always, make sure you have an on-going backup.
Additional Resources for firewall setup of Synology, etc:
Typical Small Business Question 1
We will be having our satellite office in NY working from home most days starting next week. They don’t know how to access the Synology from home. Can someone make sure they are set up for it or send us instructions or something?
Typical Small Business Setup – Context
We usually provide a traditional IT setup for a small (under 10 users) meaning a workgroup like environment with no Domain Controller but with we it is requirement the client joins their devices to Azure AD or some centralize authentication if we have an ongoing monthly maintenance contract. Regardless if the client has a basic workgroup or Azure AD integration, we manually map drives to Synology shares for each workstation.
What does the current setup of shares mean to people trying telecommute?
It means everything… Audit the current shares, say like the shares are in fact like our map drive post example…
- Home
- Human Resources
- Projects
- Quotes
- OfficeResources
Two Solutions for proceeding with accessing Synology work from home:
- Legacy Solution
- Keep the old hardware and software going
- Maintain old Synology hardware ( non + series processor) and their CloudStation Server and CloudStation clients. We need a new share for the telecommuters to work off of.
- Keep the old hardware and software going
- Newer Solution (less problems long term)
- Upgrade the hardware and software
- Utilize or upgrade to a + series Synology NAS unit, carefully remove Cloudstation Server and client from the environment, and replace with Synology Drive Server and Drive client.
- Upgrade the hardware and software
Why Synology Drive instead of Synology Cloudstation?
Synology Drive streams files and caches the files that are selected for use. This create a very small foot print on the desktop syncing the file. Cloudstation by contracts, syncs the entire file.
Important Questions to ask client given the above context of the situation
- What folder need to be copied over to the sandbox share that the staff will need while working remote?
- What users will be accessing the new share?
- Once folders copied, do you want to mark the original file/folders so different versions of the same thing aren’t being worked on?
- What a good computer to work on for testing deployment and creating instructions?
- What’s a good cut over time to copy this data
Standard response to client for Question 1
In order to begin accessing Synology work from home setup, I created a new share on your Synology called “sandbox” as an alternative to the share called “projects”. The new “Sandbox” share will be accessible via a program similar to DropBox where they easily access data on their desktop. This file sharing application is an alternative to using the Synology web interface called DiskStation manager or DSM. I have found that most people including myself do not like using the web interface. Anyway, the small program that will need to be installed on their computer is called Synology Drive. Lots of technical speak, huh?
I suggest focusing on these questions: What folder need to be copied over to the sandbox share that the staff will need while working remote? What users will be accessing the new share? Once folders copied, do you want to mark the original file/folders so different versions of the same thing aren’t being worked on? Please let me know when a good cut over time to copy this data. I expect everyone to save and close these documents before the cut over. I will create instruction for all users that will need access to “sandbox” as soon as these questions are answered.
Configure Synology DiskStation Manager for access to “sandbox” share
Note: Use Inteliversioning. It’s algorithm Synology developed. It’s better than earliest version.
- Enable “sandbox” for syncing.
- Make a “remote users” user group
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- Document user names & implement
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Setup access to the share called “sandbox”
Setup access to Cloud Station application on the server
New User setup
Simply add user to the section called “join groups”.
Do not assign:
- Share folder permission
- Assign application permissions
Please do not add to assign shared folders permissions. That is redundant or therefore should be avoided. Same goes with assign applications permissions
Add users to the “Remote Users” group
- Add users to “remote users” group
- Avery , Joe Bob, etc
- Avery – Avery Ronald – p4ssword
- Joe – Joe Bob – p4sswordcomplex
- Avery , Joe Bob, etc
Setup Synology Drive Client for PC
Note: Use Cloudstation Drive if you maintain the package on your server called Cloud Station Server or use Synology Drive if you are running the package Drive Server. The alternative is to attempt to upgrade the server package to Drive Server if you are currently running Cloud Station Server. DriveServer has enhanced features but still has some syncing issues for moving data around in large share data environments.
Downloads and Additional Resources:
See note above to choose best client for you
At the “Welcome!” screen, please enter “DDNS Name” (do not add http where it says domain name or quickconnect name)for linking your desktop to the San Diego Synology… Then “proceed anyway” because RKPR lacks an SSL certificate.
- Please edit the path to the share you are trying to sync to
- Select the correct share you are trying to sync
- Please take note of the path you are attempting to sync the Synology data to on your local computer.
Please make plenty of shortcuts so the synced data is accessible from anywhere on your desktop
Desktop Shortcuts illustrated
Final Steps Email and Data Copy to Share
1) Example disclaimer message to the client when auditing data before copy:
Note: This is a disclaimer message we created for client that far exceeded the data we recommend syncing to a desktop computer.
Our team needs calculate how much data is in each folder and tally it up. Hopefully, team has like at least 75 gig free space on their computer hard drives because we are syncing all that data you have listed to your desktop. Also, there’s another way to access the data for all the folders for the team. Please go to the following DiskStation Manager link I just enabled for all the remote users and use those same credentials provided from earlier today:
https://synologyname.synology.me
Disclaimer: This DiskManager is a horribly inefficient way to work with when dealing with a lot of file updates throughout the day though. That’s why I proposed syncing files through CloudStation Drive. I would just focus on copying the essential folders.
2) Additional Email to client:
Hi team,
I assume it’s ok now to have our specialist copy the required data to the new share folder and mark the original folder with a “z” at the beginning of each name, correct? He will begin in 30 minutes or so.
3) Message to Specialist performing the copy:
Please copy (not move) each folder she specified into “sandbox” and mark or rename the beginning of each original folder with a z marking.
Accessing Synology Work from Home Summary
This should be sufficient information for getting your team off the ground and working remotely. Good luck!
Additional Resources:
Our problem is that the shared drive is 350GB, so we really need a DropBox like solution, where the user can see the file names as links, but only download and sync on a file by file basis, rather than download 350GB to every remote user.
Is this possible?
Synology Drive streams files that you need, not all shared data