
Learn how to protect your data by building a private, encrypted home cloud with a Synology NAS, control your encryption keys, and securely back up offsite.
Identify prerequisites for this course, including intermediate computer skills and understanding of networks, plus backup options such as offsite second NAS or encrypted third-party storage.
This lesson outlines what we will build in this course.
Optional: Synology's QuickConnect will be used wherever possible. What exactly is QuickConnect? This lesson explains what it is and why it is used. The lesson may be considered a bit technical for some and is not mandatory to understand to complete the course.
Minimize exposure by avoiding open ports, enforce VPN-based access, and apply multi-factor authentication, HTTPS-only transmission, and encryption at rest and in transit for your private cloud.
In this lesson, we will physically add 2 Seagate IronWolf disk drives to a Synology DS220+ NAS, so that you can see that assembling your NAS is generally quite easy.
Different Synology NAS models may come pre-loaded with different DSM versions in their onboard flash storage. If your Synology NAS has come preloaded with DSM 6, then you should follow this lesson on how to install DSM 6 on the new hard drives that we have installed in a previous lesson.
Most newer models will come with DSM 7 pre-loaded, so if this is the case, please ignore this lesson and watch the next lesson on installing DSM 7 when shipped with DSM 7.
Different Synology NAS models may come pre-loaded with different DSM versions in their onboard flash storage. If your Synology NAS has come preloaded with DSM 7, then you should follow this lesson on how to install DSM 7 on the new hard drives that we have installed in a previous lesson.
Explore a quick tour of the DSM interface, opening the top-left menu to access applications like control panel, file station, package center, resource manager, storage manager, and log center.
Configure raid groups and storage pools with Synology hybrid raid to mirror data, separate personal from backups, and enable encrypted, bidirectional synchronization and offsite backups.
Create a storage pool and volumes in a Synology NAS, selecting hybrid RAID options like mirror, RAID 5 with parity, Gibbard, or RAID zero, and allocate a backup volume.
Explore the storage manager to monitor your local NAS, review disk health and volumes, run SMART tests, and schedule data scrubbing and notifications.
Learn to use and customize widgets, including the storage widget, to monitor NAS performance and storage, reorder and dock the widget panel, and manage visibility with pins and icons.
Explore file services in the control panel, including smb for network file browsing and drive mapping, and note afp, nfs, and ftp options, plus logs, discovery, and linux-style arcing replication.
Discover how to manage apps with the package center, install and update packages, including beta options, and keep your DSM up to date through the control panel.
Configure the NAS built-in firewall to expose only necessary services, creating rules for local network access and Australian connections on port 5001, with a default deny.
Configure hardware and power settings in the control panel to optimize performance and protection, including memory compression, wake on lan, led brightness schedules, hdd hibernation, and ups options.
Explore external access options for your nas, balancing security and ease of use, configure quick connect IDs, dynamic DNS, and certificates, and compare quick connect relay with port forwarding.
Configure the DSM notification system to monitor your private cloud with email, SMS, and push alerts, using customizable rules and test emails for reliable notifications.
Install the DS Finder app to enable push notifications for your private cloud, pair your mobile device with DSMB, and verify the setup with a test message and notification history.
Enforce two-factor authentication to require a rolling code from a mobile device after password entry, via the DSM wizard and Synology secure sign in app.
Demonstrates creating per-user personal folders and shared folders on the NAS, enabling encryption, data integrity, and group-based access, with device-wide synchronization and offline access.
Create recycle bin emptying schedules to automate deletion across shared and general folders, using the control panel to set weekly Sunday midnight and apply retention rules and exclusions.
Install and configure the Synology Drive client on windows 10, create two sync tasks for personal and shared folders, enable two-factor authentication, and adjust sync settings for two-way replication.
Learn to install the Synology Drive Client on macOS 11, enable two-factor authentication, and configure two-way sync for personal and shared NAS folders.
Install the Synology Drive Client on Android by downloading apk and signing in with two-factor authentication. Configure two-way sync for personal and shared folders with wifi-only transfers and background operation.
See how five Synology Drive clients across Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu, and Android synchronize folders and files with the NAS in real time across shared and personal folders.
Learn how Synology Drive preserves multiple file versions in shared and personal folders, and retrieve older copies with browse previous versions and orange download icons on Windows 11.
Create per-user backup folders on the NAS, configure encryption and data integrity checks, and enable versioning to securely back up data and prepare for offsite replication.
Configure backups on Windows 11 with the synology drive client by selecting non-synced folders (contacts, documents, music, pictures, videos) and choosing continuous, manual, or scheduled backups to the nas.
Configure Mac backup with the Synology Drive client, selecting specific folders to back up, choosing a backup destination, and enabling continuous backups for automatic data protection.
Back up non-synchronized folders on Ubuntu 20.04 using the Synology Drive client to the NAS, enabling continuous backups for a secure private cloud.
Demonstrate sharing files from the mobile app, set public links with privacy options and expiration, copy the link, and test it in a browser using quick connect to a NAS.
Map a drive on Mac by connecting to nas over smb or afp, browse shares with Finder, create an alias for access, and configure login items for automatic mounting.
Learn how to remove your dependence on Cloud providers such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, and store your data yourself securely using Synology DSM7 technology.
This course will take you through how to configure your own secure private cloud using Synology NASes - from a basic introduction to why we should care where our data is stored, to what to look for when purchasing your Synology NAS(es), to how to build and connect to your own private cloud, to how to backup your data offsite automatically each night.
The course covers the basics of the Synology NAS, though the course is not aimed at explaining everything about Synology, rather, the Synology NAS hardware is being used to achieve the outcome of own secure private cloud, accessible while outside of your network through your laptop, tablet or phone, in a secure way.
It will cover how to share files with others - both members of your family, or friends that do not have a connection into your private network. The course will also cover how you can create a location on your NAS where people from outside of your network can upload files to, without having direct access into your network.
Security is at the forefront of everything that is discussed in this course. The order of preference to access the NAS from outside of your private network is through a VPN, then using Synology's QuickConnect technology, to lastly port forwarding and dynamic DNS. The pros and cons of these access methods are discussed so that you can make an informed decision on the level of security that will be appropriate and acceptable to you.
Support for this course is through Udemy's messaging system, and the aim is always to respond to any queries within 24hrs.