How to configure a Dropbox-esque system on a Synology NAS.
Nowadays, it’s all about convenience. Whether it be driving instead of walking or talking over the phone as opposed to talking face-to-face, we all want to get things done quickly and easily. This need for getting things done quickly and easily has been brought about, at least partially, by the introduction of computers. To put it into perspective, how many of you still write-up dossiers rather than type them? I would be willing to wager that most of you no longer write them and instead type them.
When such a need is introduced, it should be of no real surprise that tools and systems are quickly introduced to sate that need. Indeed, systems such as Dropbox are prime examples of ways in which one can conveniently carry out their daily tasks. Also, for those of you who don’t know, Dropbox is a cloud storage system which enables one to sync files stored in a remote location with their PC, and vice versa. This is not just convenient because it allows synchronisation to be instigated on demand, but also because of the fact that systems like Dropbox enable you to do so with very little effort.
Of course, these systems are not particularly useful for extreme storage needs unless the user is willing to pay a fee, which is usually recurring. Needless to say, for some individuals and businesses, this is not really ideal. Because of this, we decided to put our Synology NAS clone to the test and see if we could use it as our own personal cloud storage system. If you followed our last tutorial, feel free to stick around to see if you can turn your NAS clone into a cloud storage system as well, however, if you didn’t read our last tutorial, I recommend that you do before carrying on with this one.
In our last tutorial, we turned this HP micro-server into a fully functional Synology NAS clone!
First of all, you will need to make sure that your NAS has booted successfully and that you are logged into its interface. To do this, open your internet browser and type in the IP that is associated with the NAS itself, followed by the port (e.g. 111.222.3.44:5000). When presented with the login screen, I recommend that you login with the admin account.
While logged in, navigate to the interface’s menu by clicking on the black button positioned in the top-left corner. When the menu appears, run the application called ‘Package Centre’.
From this application, you can download a wide array of applications, however, only one of these will be of interest to us for this tutorial. See the search bar? Click on it and type the following into it: “cloud station” (without the quotation marks). After you have done that, hit the enter key on your keyboard to run the search.
Navigate to the application page for the one titled ‘Cloud Station’ and choose the ‘Install’ option. Depending on your internet connection’s download speed, this could take a few seconds, or a few minutes. After the download and installation process has completed, run the application (using the same process that you used to run the Package Centre application). Straight away, you should notice that the application is not yet enabled for synchronisation purposes. Tick the box and click on the button labelled with ‘Apply’ to fix this.
The next step of this tutorial will require that you have access to a Windows PC. This is, after all, what you will be using to synchronise your NAS’ files with. Once you have a PC ready to use, open up an internet browser of your choice and paste the following URL into its address bar:
http://ukdl.synology.com/download/ds/CloudStation/Synology-CloudStation-Setup-2402.exe
After you have completed this step, go back to your NAS interface. From there, open the Cloud Station application again. This time, click on the ‘Privileges’ tab and tick the box next to each account that you would like to give access the the NAS’ cloud storage functionality.
After you are happy that you have allocated cloud storage access to everyone that deserves it, go back to your Windows PC for a second time. This time, you will need to run the set-up file that you downloaded previously (Synology-CloudStation-Setup-2402.exe) and install the application.
Upon installing the application, run it and enter your account details. This may not necessarily be the admin account unless, of course, you have not yet configured any additional accounts. In conjunction to your account details, you will also need to provide the IP address associated with your NAS (but not place the port number on the end of it). On the succeeding stage of the set-up process, you will be required to choose where any files you wish to synchronise to the NAS are to be saved. Choose a convenient and memorable place, and then click on the button labelled with ‘Next’.
Congratulations! You have now configured a working cloud storage system on your NAS. However, if you want to share your synchronised files with other NAS users, the tutorial does not end here. In order to configure a shared folder, you will need to return to the NAS interface and run the Cloud Station application again. This time, you will need to select the ‘Sharing’ tab and tick the boxes next to the names of any folders that you would like to share with all of the cloud storage system’s users.
Once you have done that, click on the button labelled with ‘Apply’ and you are finished with this tutorial!
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