Synology DiskStation DS916+ 4-Bay SMB NAS Review

Setup – Users, Shares, Services, and Network

Up until now we only created our basic setup and got one administrator user, and that is something we need to change. The logical next step would be to create users, groups, and shared folders. All three of these settings are found in the Control Panel and then within the File Sharing group.

User Accounts

We have our default admin user created during the initialization, but that isn’t a user that you should use for everyday usage, simply for security reasons. You shouldn’t let people share accounts either and there is no need to. You can basically create as many user accounts as you want to and all of them will have their own options available.

Besides the manual creation method, there’s also the option to generate a batch of users at once through the use of a text file. A very convenient way to create a lot of users at once without having to go through the individual dialogs.

But the main way to create a user is through the normal creation option. The only mandatory fields are the username and password, and the password can be automatically and randomly generated.

If you already created some user groups, then you can assign the user to those right away and there are a few default groups available already.

Each user has their own access rights for the shared folders on the system. Deny access, give read only access, or read and write permissions where it’s needed.

Each user can also have their own user quota, the amount of space that they are allowed to use, unless you create an admin user. Administrators never have any quotas.

Similar as with folders, you can also specify which apps the users should have access to and which they shouldn’t.

Last but not least, you can limit transfer speeds for each service individually for every user. And that’s it, after this page, you’ll only get a confirmation of your settings before you apply them and create the new user.

There are also a few global users settings in the Control Panel, to be found under the User Advanced Settings. These include password settings, 2-step verification, and home directories for users.

User Groups

A lot of users are great, but it can also be a lot to manage. User groups make that a lot easier as you can set the same rules as we’ve just seen for users, but for a whole group of users.

Shared folder and Application access can be set for an entire group, allowing you easy maintenance and quick changes that affect everyone in a group.

Domain and LDAP

Should your setup already contain a Domain or LDAP setup for your credentials, then you can connect your new Synology NAS to that with ease too. Just enter the details and hit apply … and you’re done.

Shared Folders

The Shared Folders are the backbone of your NAS. These are the folders that you’ll see in the network environment and that you’re able to mount on your various systems. There are some created by the various apps installed and you can create as many more as you’d like, more or less.

Creating a new shared folder is quick and painless. The name is the only required thing to add, the rest can be left as it is. You still got a lot of options, such as network recycle bin, encryption, and the ability to hide shares from being visible when the server is browsed.

You can set both user and group permissions during the creation process, so there is no need to go back and edit it later.

The advanced permissions tab contains a few more settings that most will skip, but they’re great to have when needed. You can disable features such as directory browsing, modification of existing files, and even prevent file downloads.

And that is how you create a new shared folder, encrypted or not. The DS916+ supports it all and comes with hardware encryption engine. Naturally encrypting a drive takes a bit of performance, but not much on a system like this. How much? We’ll see that on the coming pages when we benchmark all the different drive modes.

Services

The services are all collected in a single page with four panes in Synology’s DSM, so there’s no need to browse a lot around to find them all. The basic file sharing settings such as Windows, Mac OS, and NFS are found on the first tab and each of them has their respective advanced function via popup.

DSM also comes with a very good FTP server built in. It supports SSL connections as well as FXP transfers, SFTP and speed limitations on the entire scale. This is a comprehensive solution for a built-in one and something that scores a lot of points in my book. FTP is probably my personal preferred method of file transfers from system to system.

TFTP is great for those who need it. It’s a basic feature, but it works and it’s proven.

Rsync is also found here and not in the Backup app, something that seems a bit off. On the other hand, it’s a vital file service in my opinion, which makes it positioned right. Rsync is a great and efficient way for automatic file synchronization and backups and it is one that is supported by virtually any system.

Network Configuration

The DS916+ comes with two LAN ports and as such offers link aggregation and trunking for an even better connection. While binding two LAN ports together won’t give you a faster single transfer, it will help a lot when multiple people or systems are accessing the NAS at the same time. It also gives you the security should one connection fail or allows you to connect the system to multiple subnets.

The first pane has the default network settings such as server name, gateway, DNS, and proxy settings. In 99% of all cases, this is set as it should be by default, but it can all be changed.

The Network interface pane is where we can create our bonds. I’ve plugged one cable from the switch here to show that the DSM operating system detects such failures as well as supported modes. During the actual benchmarks, I will reconnect it and make sure that everything is connected properly and fully supported.

Within the Manage drop-down button, we find the ability to define the service order. This goes both for the LAN and possible WLAN connections through optional USB dongles.

The Traffic Control and Static Route features explain themselves and the last pane is filled with connection options for DSM itself. You can change the default ports, force specific type connections, and disable discovery methods.

There are more network features in the Wireless area, but those are only accessible when a USB dongle has been connected to the system.

Connecting to a wireless network from here is no different than any other place. Scan for available networks or manually add one and hit the connect button.

Bluetooth works the same way, but my adapter doesn’t support Bluetooth.