Approaching The Scene 236: Using A 10Gbe Synology NAS For Photo/Video Storage

(LINKS BELOW): Upgrading my storage to a Synology NAS system with 10Gbe ethernet has been incredible. Now I have 10s of terabytes of data flowing between my computers at up to a Gigabyte per second! Not only can I edit big photos, but I can video edit off this huge drive. In this in depth video I’ll share why I think this investment is worth it and how to set it up from taking it out of the box to moving your data onto the new system.
LINKED TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00 Intro to ATS 236
00:50 Why I’ve decided to use Synology’s NAS & what it is
06:58 How fast are these Synology NAS systems over 10Gbe?
08:35 NAS drive redundancy effect on storage space
09:18 Assembling your new NAS with drives and networking
13:10 Installing M.2 Cache drives
14:30 Installing the 10Gbe ethernet adapter
15:50 Installing the hard drives
17:59 Connect the NAS & computer via a 10Gbe ethernet switch
22:05 Initially connecting the NAS and installing its software
27:00 Using Synology’s DSM software to create a RAID storage pool
30:00 Setting up the M.2 cache drives
31:50 Navigating the Synology DSM software via your web browser
32:36 Setting up 10Gbe network and switching over to it
38:15 Setting up a shared folder to use with your computer
40:13 Accessing your shared NAS folder on your PC
43:50 Accessing your shared NAS folder on your Mac
45:33 Why Synology vs another 10Gbe NAS competitor?
46:54 10Gbe NAS systems are perfect for photographers & videographers
Synology 1522+ NAS (5-drives): amzn.to/3ZoTCoR (Out @ B&H)
Synology 1522+ 10Gbe Adapter: bhpho.to/3CDHJBN
Synology 1821+ NAS (8-drives): bhpho.to/3X18bO1
Synology 1821+ 10Gbe Adapter: bhpho.to/3GUv93r
Synology 400 GB cache M.2 SSDs: bhpho.to/3GSeUnJ
Ironwolf NAS hard drives: amzn.to/3vRDuin
Netgear dual 10Gbe + eight 1Gbe switch: amzn.to/3CDI6MH
Trendnet five 10Gbe switch: amzn.to/3IDmvro
OWC 10Gbe to Thunderbolt adapter: amzn.to/3IDmyDA
OWC 10Gbe Pro Thunderbolt dock: amzn.to/3k8Uf61
Cat 6 ethernet Cable: amzn.to/3Xn2Y2Q
My Custom Built Tripods & Accessories: bit.ly/HHPTripds
Kase Filters: www.hudsonhenry.com/kase
Sign up for a 2023 Workshop: www.hudsonhenry.com/workshops
Updated links to all the gear I use and recommend: bit.ly/HudsonsLinks
Using my links helps support this video series. Thank you!
I invite all of you to join Rick, Woody, David, Darren and me for our next free live Office Hours session on February 14th. It’s an open hour of Q&A. Submit your questions when you sign up!
Office Hour signup site: bit.ly/2UgDaX4
Thanks to everyone for the great questions you are sending in. Keep them coming either in the comments below or by emailing me directly. I hope to see you in the next Office Hours session.
Stay safe and healthy.

[@roryliu4855]

This is the best setup video about Synology for beginners including how to manage the 10gbps switch. You made how it works and how to connect to the switch clear and easy to understand. Big thanks to you!

[@TheophilusEmmanuel]

Hello, Hudson. Thanks for this EXCELLENT presentation! I honestly can't thank you enough. I've got some 48TB or so scattered on as many (or even more) drives in my 20+ years of work as a photographer. I have FINALLY accepted that buying individual HDDs is simply NOT sustainable, so I started investigating NAS vs DAS; DROBO vs QNAP vs SYNOLOGY etc. Without a doubt, this has been the most comprehensive and easily digestable(?) presentation on how to setup the DS1522+ with 10Gbe. Thank you for the diligence and care you put into this. Blessings on you and yours, man! Love from Lagos, Nigeria!

[@patrickmolloy6994]

This is brilliant. I've been there myself and the way you show this Hudson shows exactly how to set the disc station up really well. Good job.

[@patrickmolloy6994]

Hudson! You're a hero ! After getting all the hardware, I forgot the most crucial bit -setting the address! phew - so glad you covered this so well !

[@petegazzolo1356]

Great video Hudson! One additional security set up item that I would recommend is to create an alternative to the delivered Admin account and deactivating that default admin account. This would prevent any possibility of an unwanted someone from getting to the device internally or externally using that default account. I set an alternate admin user for my Synology NAS that is solely for performing admin functions, then set my "daily user" ID up with permissions to the files I and apps I use most regularly.

[@tomwestbrook]

The advantage of doing the static route in the router is you can set a host name for the NAS so you don’t have to remember the IP for access in your local network. Also you manage the local network settings in one place (the router) rather than in multiple places.

[@Mcfoxter]

Thanks for taking the time for a thorough 101 on setting up a NAS. Really appreciated :)

[@trishshaffer5537]

Great meeting you! Very very glad that your work brought you to Paradise! Keep in touch. Our guestroom is always ready! Smiles, Trish🧡💛💙

[@patrickmolloy6994]

I love Synology . I have one in my detached garage that's the back-up to my office disc station. I love that I can access it from anywhere in the world where I can get the internet and I'm not paying anyone but me for my private iCloud! Great to see this video Hudson!

[@alistairbuchan]

Just set up my own home NAS pretty much like this. Incredibly useful video! Thanks!

[@CJGlynnPhotography]

Hudson, great overview of a potentially complex topic. I just pulled SFTP (shielded foiled twisted pair) CAT6a all over the house during our remodel. Looking forward to having 10GbE connections to a NAS.

[@robertjfaix3039]

Thanks! Great video and very helpful. I'm moving from a Drobo 5N to a Synology 1621+ loaded with 6 - 20TB Seagate Exos X20 drives. So far, so good!

[@birkhalsa]

Thank you! I was so pissed at the network card not getting detected but you saved the day!

[@robtaylor473]

Thanks for this - really useful video - look forward to the follow up with your use of Lightroom and I am assuming Synology photos

[@craigulatorOne]

Great breakdown and demonstration Hudson!

[@cbtcafe]

Really appreciate the detailed and practical walk through. Feel like I can handle this now.

[@allenbuyck7957]

Been using a synology 4 bay NAS for a couple of years and love it. When I am traveling, I send my images (phone and camera) from my iphone and laptop, creating another backup. I am still exploring other features, but sop far I love having my own personal cloud for backing up in the field.

[@garfieldirwin]

Well done Hudson. I installed a 96TB Synology NAS last year which I edit directly from -- best thing I ever did. Wish I'd invested in NAS years ago instead of messing with external SSD drives.

[@rolsonn]

Thanks Hudson! Great info based on experience.

[@erbartlett]

This is the best video I've seen on NAS for photography / videography. So so helpful, thank you. I'm a video editor that collaborates with another video editor, but never really work simultaneously on the same projects. My current system (direct attached RAID enclosures on a mac mini) ran out of space, and I'm trying to figure out of learning the networking and the synology system is worth moving to for my use case... or if its just easier to stick to what I know with MacOS and thunderbolt raid enclosures.

[@robertzmed4658]

Your video was awesome. Thank you, This gave me a really great insight into the setup.

[@skmkimber1472]

Fantastic video. Thank you, Hudson.

[@GCW123]

Excellent walk through. Thank you.

[@jorsetti]

Great instructional video Hudson! Funny how this video came in perfect timing! I’m interested in building media server and will use your link to purchase same unit. 🙏🏻

[@DavidSchamis]

Thanks for this very helpful. The 10Gb network port on the Studio ended up saving me money and overhead. To make a long story short, I had been using a PC with 1Gb ethernet (I had tried for years to get a 10Gb card to work in 2 different PCs and I never could - the Mac Studio worked right out of the box). I had a significant amount of hard drives attached to the PC (both internal and external) running RAID, which would then sync to the NAS. This worked but was a pain to manage and expensive. When I got the Mac Studio I was able to cut out the middleman by having the Studio access the NAS at 10Gb speed, and allow me to use Lightroom (CC, not Classic) to browse the folders on the NAS. I have taken out one layer cost and complication and it works great.

[@20centurymodern]

Finally, a video focused towards photographers and videographers. You speak with such clarity and easy to understand. Question - You said you are using SHR, wouldn't it be faster to use RAID 5, I've been trying to work this out myself as from what I've read this is the small downside of SHR that its slower read and write speeds, not sure how much by though. Looking forward to your additional videos to this series

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

I think you can go either way. SHR allows more flexibility for swapping and adding drives. I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible for those not familiar. Thanks so much for the kind words! Cheers from Havana!

[@AlexKroke]

RAID 5 IS FASTER, the read speed from the video comes from the cache drives and not from HDD. SHR is much more flexible to grow, just like Drobos. Video editing for me works very well, photos ending with large Capture one session is a problem, and the NAS has issues with lots of small files to read. If you plan to buy Synology NAS it is better to get 8bay over 4-5bay, the more drives you use, the more HDD read speed increases a bit.

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

Perfect Video for me as I just started to put in place a plan to replace my DROBO 5D3. All my current RAID drives are DAS on Thunderbolt and was reluctant to buy a 10 GE . Didn’t realize there is a Thunderbolt to 10GE from OWC (have one of their Thunderbolt 3 RAID systems) so I’m studying your video and thinking of finally buying into Synology and 10 GE (plan on adding Mac Studio or new Mac Mini M2 Pro with 10 GE. Thank you for your presentation here. A+++

[@richardhahn]

Thanks very much for this video. It was extremely helpful.

[@stevediener2234]

Hi there! Great tutorial, thanks. It really help me setup my NAS devices. Just one thing: Changing the MTU setting from the default 1500 made it impossible for my two NAS devices to talk properly over the internet. I had it set to the highest value, the devices would find each other via my ddns service, but it always gave me an error when trying to finalize the connection. Then I switched the MTU setting back to default and everything worked fine. I think alot of routers only work with a MTU of 1500. Took me a while to figure that one out. Cheers!

[@henrikh484]

You'll need to reserve the IP address and map it to the NAS's MAC address in your Router to avoid that other devices "grabs" the IP address when the router is rebooted, the router may give it away to any device requesting an IP address.

[@DavidDowns61]

Sounds right….how do you do that?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Mapping it as static in the Synology's OS has held firm for at least a dozen router boots to date. No issues. I'd do that if there were a problem, but both of the Disk Stations I've worked with hold their static route just fine on my network.

[@marshallgoldberg8376]

Hudson, there is another approach, which is to run a 1 Gb/s or 2.5 Gb/s Synology, and use it for backup and remote access, while performing edits out of local storage. Of course 10 Gb/s is better, but all of the upgrades are costly, and not needed by everyone.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It's so dead simple with far less room for error and the tech is blooming. For those on a budget with the tech skills, sure... Juggle away. If you can possibly afford it, go 10gbe for sure.

[@henryjonesphotography4934]

Nice info. Come set mine up once I figure out what I want lol

[@skyace888]

Thanks for the video. As an IT pro, I’ve been using Synology NAS appliances for over 10 years and currently have two. I use them for photo and file backups plus IP camera surveillance primarily (with a little media serving too). You mentioned garage placement but I personally wouldn’t recommend that for a NAS. The temperature extremes and possible humidity aren’t ideal in most cities (except maybe if you live i like San Diego).

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

What do you do to show the EXIF info on the NAS. I know Bridge and Lightroom show them, but Finder doesn't. Any ways to change that?

[@danielcox2947]

Great video on how to set this all up but it makes me realize how lucky we were with Drobo. I came across this video looking for guidance for moving to Synology. I'm surprised at how easy you suggest this is in the beginning and then the immense amount of work to put it all together compared to when I set up my Drobo units years ago. We were so spoiled with Drobo. NOt looking forward to this project. Thanks for the heads up.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It's really not that bad and far, far higher quality and more flexible and fast that Drobo was.

[@amyperlmutter9112]

This video is perfect timing for me. I’m at a place where I need to upgrade by basic storage and redo my backup system. Could you show how you would go about transferring all your existing data (photos etc.) to the NAS and how LR and PS see the system (maybe edit a photo). Will you attach your memory card reader to your computer still? Minds running. Can’t wait to learn more. THANKS!!!

[@GaryScharlach]

Thank you for doing this video. As you know, I needed to replace our Drobo (still works but for how lolng?) Rick showed me a little of your backup last week. And I have been waiting for more information. Just now I but the order in after seeing your video. Now I am waiting to learn how you backup the NAS to single system for cloud backup. I have been using iDrive and I am looking to compare it to Backbalze. It seems to be at the same price point. As soon as I get the Synology, I am sure to have LOTS of questions. Thank again.

[@deepotter6774]

I've just received the 1522+ system as you've got set up here, now I really want to see those two follow up videos to explain how to backup these drives (I suspect with Backblaze?), as well as how to use this as a personal cloud storage as you mention, but more importantly, I'd really like to see how we set up and use this system to house our RAW files and video to edit it from it directly in Adobe LR and Premiere, etc.

[@tomwestbrook]

Great video! Thanks! I’m waiting on mine to do the (expensive) 10Gbe upgrade until I give the 1Gb speed a try. I don’t do videos so I’m hoping that lower speed will be fine. I do think I’ll add the cache though based on this video.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It's 10 times slower sadly... The switch is the key to keep it in the realm of the reasonable.

[@robingattiphotography]

My brain is overloaded watching this. So much info and it's great! Do we need 2 of the 400 GB cache M.2 SSDs or just one? I see there is also one 800 GB available too. I have the M1 Mac Mini so I'm not exactly sure if I need all these things or what exactly is right. I'm trying to figure it all out. Thanks!

[@tombouie]

Well-Done

[@patrickmolloy6994]

I just got the bits to upgrade my DS923+ and in addition, mine came with the basic 4Gb RAM. I’ve just got 2x16Gb RAM to plug in. Note that off Amazon this is $60-100 which is way cheaper than Synology @ ~$400 but BUT beware! Warranty could be blown! 4Gb is enough to run the basic system, but not enough to run all the bits for a super system!

[@jaspermcfly2765]

Thanks!

[@jaimeduncan6167]

Some notes: He talked about it, but did not stress it, have a copy outside. If the fire hits or you get robbed no insurance will return your files. Modern nvme external drives are much faster, more than. 2GB/s which is gigabytes per second (from the. 99$ Sabrent without drives to the $6000+ 32TB OWC Thunderblade) . Even so, the NAS is fast enough for most applications and can do much more. If you can have an offline copy, that will protect you from ransomware.

[@JohnTWolff]

Great video! A clear walk though an poorly documented subject. I love my 1821+ downstairs and have been considering upping my throughput to 10G. Of course, you tipped the scales and GAS kicks in again, dammit. Couple of questions, however... 1. You chose the managed Netgear switch over the unmanaged version for your simple LAN. Reason? 2. Do the NVME caches have to be installed in pairs?

[@JohanLolos]

Great instructive video, as like everyone else I’m looking to replace my Drobo. One question no one have asked though, is how do you connect your laptop or Mac to the internet? Wifi only I guess? Is there a way to be connected to the internet by Ethernet and still have that 10gbe wired data connection to the NAS? Will the OWC adapter also provide internet access, or is it only for data transfer? If no internet through the OWC adapter, what if I plug a second adapter, even an old 1gbps Ethernet one? This part of the video was unclear to me. Thank you in advance

[@glennn.3464]

Just wondering Hudson if it makes sense to also set the Mac’s ethernet network connection to a custom size of 9000 MTU under Advanced to match how you set the NAS rather than the default 1500. Not sure if the transfer speeds will increase or not, but worth a try.

[@dahlpix]

Thanks! good timing. I have Synology NAS in my shopping cart. Are you going to put your lightroom catalog on this? Can you also cover these steps. I have a PC with an internal RAID (mirror) and intend to move the lightroom catalog. My initial thought is to move the entire volume and "map" the NAS drive using the same drive letter I have on the internal mirror (after changing it to another letter). Thanks again for the great content.

[@focusandcreatenow]

how has it been? I just got one and super happy with it. How are you doing your folders?

[@ronnybaby1092]

Thanks for making this video bro. Super useful

[@stevenwaldstein2249]

So question, why not buy Direct Attached RAID over Thunderbolt 3 @ 40 Gb/s and then share it over the 10GbE port on the Mac Studio to your network switch. I think the Promise Pegasis32 RAID could be used for that?

[@user-gs4ie1tk7k]

Great video and timely for me. I have been looking for an NAS solution to replace my Drobo's, which are no longer sold, or supported by Drobo as of January 2023. Their major problem has been their inability to keep up with compatibility with Apple OS-X, making it impossible to upgrade the operating system timely. Your video is excellent, however, I have a couple of questions if I may; When you installed the cache in the Synology NAS, it appears you installed 2 each Synology 400 GB cache. Is that correct? Also, on your Digital Darkroom you cited OWC Envoy Express M.2 Enclosure and 2TB M.2 Storage & 500GB M.2 Scratch along with Lexar, Samsung and G-Tech SSD's and HD. Are these the portable drives you use routinely, or you cited them for some other reason?

[@jackh_irl]

Really helpful video, thanks Hudson. I work in 3D so need these faster 10GbE speeds for editing heavy renders. Is your main machine plugged into the Switch with a CAT6 cable? Looking online people say you need that 10 GbE port on your machine, but I'm unsure where that's plugged into, the switch or your router? I assume the connection from your machine to your NAS needs to be CAT6 cables and 10 GbE ports all the way? Thanks

[@marisavots3166]

I've been wanting to set up a NAS for a while now after I heard my Drobo4 would not be supported in future macOS's. HH's video kickstarted the move and I now have a DS923+ with 10GbE connected to my Mac Studio. I'm looking forward to HH's NAS backup video. I've been using Carbon Copy Cloner and Backblaze for all my backup needs and am curious how best to integrate the NAS. I'm currently backing up the NAS via CCC to an external backup drive. The external backup is then uploaded to Backblaze via the normal home use account, not B2 which is the standard Backblaze account for NAS backups. Seems to be working but I'm uploading the backup, not the original NAS which could be a problem. Let's see what HH recommends as there are a number of solutions.

[@izakniemann5734]

Glad I discovered your channel. I am in search for an external SSD hard drive for video editing on my 2019 16 inch MacBook Pro, using DaVinci Resolve. After more than a week of research, I'm still unsure what to buy. My best guess is that I need at least 8 - 10TB. Or is more better? I'm looking at the Glyph Blackbox PRO RAID Desktop Drive at a massive $566.45 but Glyph is based in the USA and they build good stuff. Please guide me in the right direction. I would really appreciate that Hudson.

[@retirewithjames6745]

Great video Hudson! One question, how do you pair it with Adobe Lightroom Classic to automatically backup your images once you load them to your computer using Lightroom Classic? Again, your explanation was so easy to follow. I love watching your videos.

[@jimsvideos7201]

Use the "make a second copy to..." in the import dialogue, as one option.

[@bug05]

Hudson, this is awesome. Thank you for this. Question, Do you connect your Nikon to the system directly or take out the CF card and plug it in? I have a similar setup and wondering if you use FTP or anything like that.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It varies. If i have a CF-express reader handy I usually pull the card. My readers are faster than the camera USB-C transfer. I connect to my laptop or desktop and import via Lightroom Classic with the NAS as my destination drive.

[@luisfaustino]

Excellent video Hudson, this is very informative and useful. One question, could you connect the NAS 10Gbe port to your Mac Studio or laptop directly without using a switch? Ta, Luis

[@jackh_irl]

You can, this would be a direct local connection. SpaceRex has a video on how to do this

[@MarkLenzScoreFW]

Can you use box with space for two or three hard drives and get all or most of the advantages of your five drive box? I do not need that much but want better than my multiple separate hard drives I use for backup. Thanks

[@TheFlyingDutchMan8K]

thank you for the information: but i still have a small problem ... i don't know anything about netwerk ;) i have a Synology Nas DS1821+ with two 10gb network cards and two 10gb internet cables , i connect my cable directly to my pc . . card to card but i still have max 200 mb/sec upload data transfer . . . do i need a Switch to get 10gb data transfer ?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Yep. One 10GB connection only from NAS to 10GB switch. One 10GB connection only from computer to 10GB switch. Switch connected to router (usually via 1GB connection). The NAS is not designed to connect to the computer directly. It's designed to connect to the router. By making it's 10GB connection to the switch the connection to the router too it only uses the fast lane. By doing the same with the computer, the switch will route the fast 10GB traffic via that same fast lane. One 10GB ethernet line only out of both the NAS and the computer. That is the key. Only the switch connects to the router.

[@TheFlyingDutchMan8K]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thank you for the fast reply !! what kind brand Switch do you recommeded for one connection ? i don't need a fancy one just one that works good ;)

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

@@TheFlyingDutchMan8K all of that is linked in the digital darkroom section under NAS right here: www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks

[@erbartlett]

Do you have nvmes in the 5 bay? The speeds youre listing for it are faster than what Im seeing in other places. I'm trying to tell if you can edit video off of them.

[@josecampos2051]

Great Review! And work on the NAS Remotely? Thanks

[@nirjhor]

Hi Hudson, Not sure if you are aware, your Netgear GS110 switch link goes the the managed switch ((suffix EMX) rather than the UNmanaged switch (suffix MX) that most of us will want on a simple home network. I'm guessing no harm done (and both are the same price), but I wanted to check with you if you really recommend the MANAGED switch for some reason. Thanks! (BTW, not the appropriate video, but just letting you know that my Z9 and Z8 menu banks are set largely via your tutorials - with some tweaks that work for me).

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Nope, unmanaged is fine. :-)

[@dentontay]

Great video, but it makes me want to get a Qnap. I have an old and slow Synology 4 bay and looking to upgrade soon.

[@lonosmond]

This has been so helpful. Thanks. Do you know whether the NAS-specific components you recommend for the Synology 1522 will work in the Synology 1520+

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Most of them yes, but I'm not sure about the 10GBe adapter. Be sure to research that a bit.

[@matt.explore]

Great video, thanks. Do you have to use the switch or can you just run the 10GbE cable from the NAS to the Thunderbolt 3 Adapter? And then run another cable from the 1GbE port on the NAS to the router? Thanks.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Sadly it has all kinds of problems without the switch. I got it working, but it kept trying to route data through the router and back ignoring the 10Gbe connection. I kept having to switch cables, disconnect and reboot to get it working, then I'd turn around and it was 1Gbe again instead of 10Gbe. It's just not designed to work that way. The deal is that it is its own computer and it wants to connect to the router and control data flow via that same connection. If you put two connections in (one to the router and one to a computer) it will keep defaulting to sending data via the router. Using the big port to connect to a big ported switch that routes traffic all directions is how it is intended to be used in 10Gbe mode. I had a long discussion with a tech advisor there who is sympathetic. He said he's talked to the engineering team about it and that after hours of explanations he understands why that doesn't work well for the Synology operating system and hardware. He said to just trust him, there's a good, but complicated reason.

[@BorjaCampillo]

Amazing @hudsonhenryphotographer , do you know if it is possible to set it up with the Fuji gfx100II to cloud back while twking picture?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

ONly if you set up a mobile device with your Fuji App and the Synollogy Drive app, but remote upload rates would be very slow. I back up my field work on my laptop with SSD drives. It's jsut the best way to go.

[@johnr8095]

The Mac mini pro has a 10gb option. For those who can’t afford a Mac Studio.

[@elliottodonovan5299]

Thanks so much for sharing this video, Hudson! Quick question. If I'm using a Mac Studio that has built in 10gbps Ethernet, do I still need to purchase the Switch or can I connect the 10gp expanded port from the synology directly to my mac studio and use a 1gb port directly to the router? Will I still get 10gb speed using this method?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It's really not designed to work that way sadly. I tried and had frustrating issues. Synology assured me that using a switch was the only way to ensure a stable fast connection without headaches. NAS, router and computer all really need to go through the switch.

[@jimstefely9252]

I as a 2bay Synology NAS (DS712+) with 2 6TB drives. and am looking to upgrade to the 1522+ with 5 10TB drives. How do I go about moving the data a the old NAS to the new setup?

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

Hudson does the switch have to be managed in order to assign the 10 GB data path or can an unmanaged switch work as well?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

No need to be managed. Neither switch I link in the description and demonstrate in this video is. I'm using the 5 port 10gbe switch and Rick is using the 2 10gbe port netgear one and both have been running rock solid and issue free round the clock since this video released. All that stuff and more is at www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks in the NAS section under the digital darkroom header.

[@DavidDowns61]

In the same boat with the DROBO 5D3. Question, how’s the best way to get everything from the DROBO to the Synology? Is there anyway to confidently reuse the drives from the DROBO? I have the entire DROBO backed up to IDrive. Would you feel confident simply restoring from the backup onto reformatted drives from the DROBO vs having to go spend another $1,000 or more on NEW drives?

[@Garrabrants]

I second that question, David. Moving all the data is the question before it becomes unaccessable.

[@tombawroski8975]

Can you assign it a drive letter, if needed. What I would be interested in is using for my working Lightroom catalog. I would import to my local drive, delete and keep photos and do initial edits but then move to the NAS drive but still be able to access via my catalog.

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

At 34:52 where the 10GB network is connected, I watched a friend set this up and he had to enter the Default Gateway and DNS in order to get the Package Center to load and the NTP server to work to set the time.

[@earniejohnson8040]

Hi Hudson! How would you connect both computers simultaneously using the 10gb connection on your studio and the adapted laptop? Is this possible?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Of course it is and do that daily. I show you how in this very video. You just need the 5 port 10gbe switch linked in the description. That switch connects direct to the Nas 10gbe port, your router via a slow connection, and the computers via the 10gbe connections (adapted or native). The switch routes traffic via the correct lanes while making all three machines feel connected directly to the router. That's essential.

[@craigshields8806]

I tried the Ip hack you demoed and it worked, but now my Quick Connect isn't working. Any suggestions?

[@nirjhor]

After assigning a static IP to the NAS (LAN 5 in your example) and moving the Ethernet cable on NAS side from its 1Gig port to its 10Gig port, will the NAS still be able to access the internet (e.g., to upgrade its OS) because it is connected to the switch, which, in turn, is connected to the router (over 1 Gig) or will the Synology now require a separate cable from one of its 1Gig ports to a 1Gig port on the switch in order to access the internet (or for the NAS to be accessible from outside the home)?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Only the 10gbe cable to the switch from the NAS (same with the computer). The switch will feed both internet through it's connection. Both the NAS and computer will feel directly networked to the internet, but the switch will route the fast 10gbe traffic directly between them.

[@pedalingnowhere]

This is a super helpful video. I purchased the OWC adapter, Netgear switch, and cables through your affiliate links, and got it all set up-but the connection is still getting sub 1Gbe speeds over the wireless network; it occasionally goes to 10gbe speeds; it almost seems like a power issue with the OWC TB3 port. It's like it turns off. I'm on an M1 MacBook. Another issue I m having is that the Synology is no longer connected to the internet and I need to install something from the package center. Any suggestions for either of these would be very helpful.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It's never going to be fast wireless. You need the NAS connected via good ethernet Cat6 to the switch's 10GBe connection, then the switch to the 10Gbe OWC adapter via good ethernet cable and that adapter connected via good TB cable to a TB port on the computer. The NAS needs to get it's internet from the switch being plugged in via standard 1Gbe to your router. Everything needs to be hardwired. One line from the NAS 10Gbe to the switch's 10Gbe. Switch's 10Gbe to the OWC adapter and switch connected to the router. Bam. It should all work just fine.

[@paulrubino1399]

Thanks for the video Hudson! Question - do you need the switch in order to use the 10g connection or can I just go straight from my MacBook to the Synology using the thunderbolt 10g adapter and the router going into the Synology?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

You need the switch. It's not designed to interface outside the network. Nas and computers to switch via 10gbe, switch to router at your internet speed.

[@JohnDeUlloa]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Which switch do you recommend? I have a 16" 2021 M1 MBP Max - Thanks

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It's in the video and links are in the full description as well as in the digital darkroom section of www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks :)

[@avallejo]

Good vídeo. Just for the sake of discussing, what’s the point in having 10gbe instead of a 2.5 one, if you won’t saturate even the 2.5 with the speeds you can get with spinning drives? I wonder, because a 2.5 one is a lot cheaper to setup…

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

I'm getting up to 900MB/s with spinning drives on the 1821 and 680MB/s with the 1522. :-) They aggregate and work quite efficiently, especially with the NVMe caching. Even with the 5 drive system, I'm getting more than double the max throughput of 2.5Gbe.

[@boristahmasian9604]

Excellent, detailed video. Thank you for sharing. I am looking forward to the video about how to back up this thing locally and to the cloud. Once added up all the components, I get $2,500 or so for the 36TB storage. I would say that is pretty cheap for a mega storage solution. Question (stupid one!), I do not have a PC, I am using a Mac Studio Max. Can the NAS set up be done with Mac only?

[@henrikh484]

Yes, almost any browser (safari in your case) will work and do the setup of a synology NAS.

[@boristahmasian9604]

@@henrikh484 Thank you.

[@Tv-qm1yz]

Can I connect two Pcs to this setup simultaneously at 10gb speed?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

You bet. You just need that 5 port 10gbe switch I link. Both computers and the nas to the switch and the switch to the router.

[@Tv-qm1yz]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto any recommendations? , I found this one TP-Link TL-SX105 , also any compatibility issues with dsm7 , i planning to have Samsung Evo ssd on a 4 or 5 bay Senology ? . Thanx for the help ! .

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

@@Tv-qm1yz everything I recommend is linked in this video's full description and at the digital darkroom section of www.hudsonhenry.com/atslinks

[@Tv-qm1yz]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto thanx !

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

Does anyone know how to set up a static IP address so that when wifi is turned on (needed to Apples weathers widget to get specific location) the NAS doesn't switch to a slower connection. Is it as simple as changing the IP address from 192.168.1.X to 192.168.2.x? Using a Netgear GMS110MX switch. I've read it needs a separate subnet(where this is not switch), but not clear on how to do that or if needed with a switch. Using the set up from this video.

[@timmark4190]

Are the LAN cable included support 10Gb

[@avr01]

Cool stuff. Are you able to share Lightroom catalogs over the NAS? I want to use both my PC and Macbook to access the same repository (not at the same time) and edit the same photos. Are you able to do this with your Dell and Mac Studio?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Absolutely, but i vastly prefer to do it with a Samsung 2TB T7 drive. It's small, fast and exteremely portable. I don't need any internet to pick up right where I left off on my Mac Pro. If I create Smart Previews of a folder or collection, I can even edit and export smaller jpegs of offline cataloged files. They are instantly synced up to the master library on the NAS when I get back. I use Goodsync back up the T7 on the NAS in the studio and on another backup SSD while on the road. It's in 3 physical places, plus the online Backblaze backup of my NAS. I never even use the Lightroom built in catalog backup. The drive backups have previews, smart previews, preferences, presets and everything on the drive.

[@avr01]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Yeah, I thought I'd read somewhere you specifically cannot share Catalogs from a NAS, which didn't make sense to me, so I'm glad to hear it's absolutely doable. Also, i'm wondering about how the Catalog stores photo paths on the NAS, and if there's any difference between how macOS and Windows 11 resolves those paths when accessing the same Catalog. I'll also have to try your external SSD methodology. Would also love if you made a video about your backup strategy here, sounds intriguing. I've tried using Catalogs stored on OneDrive, but I found performance to be very bad -- seemed like OneDrive was always struggling to sync while I was using Lightroom Classic at the same time and everything became glacially laggy. On a very powerful computer too. Wasn't sure if operating on a Catalog in Lightroom Classic is really "chatty" or not, triggering the cloud service to become busy, death by a thousand paper cuts...

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

@@avr01 I did a video about backing up my system including the NAS with Goodsync and Backblaze months ago. It's easy to find with a search of my channel. You will need to map the NAS folder with the photo files as a network drive for Windows to assign a drive letter to it. Put all the files in a master folder. When you switch OS access, just find that one missing master folder and all subfolders will populate at the same time. I really would recommend against putting the catalog on anything but a fast dedicated external SSD. It's the way to go for speed and flexibility. I can't imagine using an online access system for that. Even worse idea than local network storage. Think of all the access competition and potential bandwidth restrictions it's got to navigate in and out. You want speed and a totally separate pipeline from all other data. Only the catalog on that fast SSD drive connected via a fast port. Nothing else.

[@avr01]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks Hudson! I'll definitely check out your backup vids. Really appreciate all the great content, taking the time and effort to educate us. Take care, from the PNW!

[@vtanzi]

This is a fantastic video. So helpful. Just one question. Can I use my home router for the Synology or do I have to buy a 10GB router? I currently have it plugged into my home router

[@CJGlynnPhotography]

If you wish to connect to the Sinology NAS on 10GbE, you will need a 10GbE port on your computer (or dock as Hudson explained), a router with 10GbE ports, CAT6 (or better) cabling and the optional 10GbE module for the Sinology NAS. If you do not wish to have 10GbE connection to your NAS, your existing non-10GbE router will suffice.

[@chiefgecko]

For 99% of home network setups, like the one in this video, you want to use the default MTU=1500 for 1Gbe and 10Gbe ports. The speed differential between all network 1Gbe/10Gbe device connections using MTU=1500 versus MTU=9000 for a small *properly configured* network is within a few percent.

[@josecampos2051]

Thanks for the Review, my sinology died in the end of that tremendous conditioned configuration. I can't reinstall, reset button twice and bla bla... this is not so good that i thought. Is on the shelve and looks pretty good actually... anybody available to help?

[@ZoranvonderHeide]

The TB3 10GbE adapter from Sonnet Solo10G (10GBASE-T, Aquantia / Marvell AQC107S chipset) has an thermal issue which cause a speed decrease (iperf check). I suspect that the OWC 10G Base-T adapter has the same heat problems and also cannot maintain the 10 GbE speed. Therefore i recommend to use the TB3 SFP+ adapter Solo10G SFP+ (Marvell AQC100S chipset). A budget 10GbE SFP+ switch recommendation is the MikroTik CRS305-1G-4S+IN.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Nope. I actuly just transferred 22TB through that owc adapter yesterday moving data between the two NAS units. Not even hot to the touch. No issues. The owc is fabulous with no fan over rj45. I've heard bad things about the sonnet too. Good luck finding a negative review of the owc... I sure haven't seen one. No SFP needed at all. :)

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

That has certainly not been my experience with the OWC RJ45 10Gbe adapter. I've edited hours of videos and moved thousands of high res photo files through it. Never more than warm to the touch. I think for the photo and video editor using this system SFP is overkill. RJ45 is fine. I've heard bad things about the Sonnet too. It's cheaper but I avoided it for that very reason. Haven't seen anyone complain of it with the OWC and my experience over the past several months has been stellar.

[@ZoranvonderHeide]

​@@HudsonHenryPhoto I have now ordered the OWC adapter and will test it. It is the same Aquantia AQC107S chipset as the Sonnet 10G Solo.

[@ep_photography]

So I just got a Synology 2 bay system and have it all set up. But, you were making it sound like you are able to keep your lightroom catalog on the Synology and edit from any computer you want via the NAS. Is that correct? If so I hope you will make a video about how to make that happen!

[@peterorr999]

No, in practice you need to have two local files - the Lr catalog and Lr previews files - either on your internal drive or an attached external drive for it to run. This will load up and run your catalog and previews. However, you can keep all your original image files located on your NAS in one fixed location, and Lr is happy as long as it can see where they are located, which includes over a WAN. So your can go on a photo shoot with just these two catalog files on your laptop, then log into your NAS and edit/export your entire portfolio remotely anywhere with internet access. I think that’s what Henry meant.

[@amigatommy7]

Wish there was a nas that used Nvme sticks for primary storage.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

OWC has such a solution, but it's not going to provide huge volume. It's more of a high end video editing project server. Of course it's not Nas either, it's a direct connect RAID product. 10Gbe maxes out at 1GB/s and that's as fast as NAS currently runs. NVMe speeds would be wasted.

[@jennifermedia6288]

great, How have you got your mac studio connected then? Do you have another 10Gbs switch or did you just detach the ethernet to the PC laptop and put it in the mac studio? Also I was told never to allow permissions to original admin account.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

No. I link the 5 port 10gbe switch I use in this video's description. I run a line to my desktop pc with an owc 10gbe adapter, another direct to the NAS another direct to the Studio and one to a owc pro 10gbe TB dock for my laptop or any other machine needing it. The final one is burned running to my router. Everything flows 10gbe simultaneously. Sure if you're security concerned use a seperate user account. I've had zero issues.

[@jennifermedia6288]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto ok the TRENDnet 5-Port 10G Switch. nice, Yes I used drobo before and now switched over to Synology and very happy specially on 10gbs. Im just sorting my shared folders and how to file all my work now.

[@mpfoto55]

I purchased the NAS equipment you are using in this video. All was going well until the Synology 1522+ could not be found. I tried connecting with the Assistant, but I cannot seem to get the account name or password correct. My anti-virus software is off. Right now, I have wasted half of a Saturday and am out a minimum of $2,000. Where can I go for technical assistance to get this equipment set up and working?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

You're connecting via a 10gbe switch correct? The Nas to the switch, the computer to the switch and the switch to the router. Usually the issue is that people try to connect the Nas directly to the computer. Thats not how it's designed. Synology is a great company with good customer service if you need it.

[@MuhammadHammadAshraf]

Hi Hudson, need a little guidance here. Followed through same steps as you mentioned from 32:50 to 36:40 but its not opening the DSM login page through that port. I have a 10G managed switch and it shows that a 10G connection has been established when I plug the ethernet cable - but when I put the IP address in my browser, it just won't load the page. Stuck miserably on this and not able to get any answers off of Reddit or Facebook groups, any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

So wait. You connected via 1Gb on port 1, set up DSM, then set the 10gbe port 5 as the same exact address as port 1's adress that you've been connected with via the slower port, save settings, shut the NAS down, disconnect the 1gb line from port 1, connect the 10gbe line to the 10gbe switch and the computer via 10gbe as well as the switch to the router via whatever speed your internet is. Then restart everything and you should absolutely be able to log in via that same address you just transferred to port 5 after you start back up. Email me if you keep having issues. Responses get lost in KZbin comments.

[@MuhammadHammadAshraf]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks, I'll try this. Just wrote a long response explaining my situation but YT comments never registered it. Will be sure to email you if I still don't figure it out. Have a good one!

[@MuhammadHammadAshraf]

​@@HudsonHenryPhotoHere's an update after I tried your method. Looks like the NAS just needed to a restart with the 10G port connected at the back and it shows up as connected and everything... sunshine and rainbows, hallelujah, BUT... It works fine for a few hours and then suddenly there's no connection to the 10G port. Same issue: The Switch shows its connected, but not on DSM. I tried another thing: I didn't set up a gateway and it works perfectly without any connection problems, but now its only on the LOCAL network, and doesn't have any internet access so I can't access my files or the NAS via Quick Connect/Tailscale when I'm away from the office. Also want to add that I'm using the Intel X540-T2 10GbE nic instead of Synology's own. I guess the problem might be right there - I had read on forums that 3rd party NICs like the X540 or X550 would work fine but clearly they don't...smh. I'll see if I can get my hands on Synology's E10G18-T1.

[@anchormanronburgandy]

I scrolled the comments and didn't see this so sorry for redundancy if so. Previous to watching the video I assumed I could go synology 1522+ with 10gbe adaptor to an OWC 10gbe thunderbolt adaptor straight to my Macbook M1 without needing a 10gbe switch. Is the switch necessary in this case?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It is not designed to work that way sadly. It needs it's own router connection and it will constantly default to that route even though it's 10 times as slow. I tried it and got sick of having to disconnect my mac from the router and NAS, connect to the NAS again, and then reconnect the router. It's well worth getting a switch and running the NAS, router, and mac through it as is designed.

[@anchormanronburgandy]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto thanks for the reply. Got it, I'm glad I watched this haha... I feel like it's very easy to get lost when migrating to a NAS system if you're not super savy with the technical stuff.

[@lorenroot7667]

Curious how you would compare this to something more "plug and play" like the OWC Gemini

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

More complex of course, but light years ahead. I tried an OWC raid Thunderbay and returned it. I love their docks, but not the big storage. An expandable 10gbe NAS system is impossible to beat.

[@lorenroot7667]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto I really appreciate the response!

[@GeoffreyHorwitz-uh5ee]

Quick question, do you know if my Synology 8 bay 128tb NAS will work with macOS Sonoma?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

You bet. The Mac will simply see it on the network. You never directly connect the NAS. It's through a switch.

[@michaelbellis2279]

@@HudsonHenryPhotowhy never directly connect a NAS?

[@TheGSummit]

After following your steps am not able to enable quick connect to access my nas remotely. Please help?!

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

For remote access use Synology Drive. It's similar to Dropbox, but free and using your NAS instead. I've got another whole video on that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oobdlmSVYr2Ji6M

[@MichaelNarlock]

I have a synology, two actually, and what I'm wondering about is how Hudson and others "use" them routinely. I'm a windows guy so do you relocate your "Pictures" folder to the NAS? Do you just use it as a download area when you attach your camera or cards? Just curious on the details as to how everyone uses the NAS everyday.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

If you set it up hardwired through a 10gbe switch you can store and edit off that insanely fast connection the way I do. It's my primary data storage. I use cheap slow drives to back it up and back those up to backblaze (see later video).

[@MichaelNarlock]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Yep, that’s how I have it set up. The throughput speed of the DS1621xs+ is insane. So I’m guessing then you just have a bunch of folders in your NAS in a shared folder. That’s currently how I use it, I just wasn’t sure if there was a better organizational approach like moving the entire /Pictures folder from windows to the NAS.

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Oh I never use the stock windows or mac picture folders in the main drive. Never. I create a Master Photo Library folder inside a shared data folder (there's also a Video folder in there). Photos are organized in trip/shoot folders inside year folders. I'm working on a lightroom based organizing video course right now. :)

[@MichaelNarlock]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto That's great to hear. Looking forward to the video course, as always. Thanks Hudson!

[@mattpioletti6450]

I'm in the market for a Nas network storage device I'm new to all of this I'm just trying to figure it all out if you're connected to a 10 GB wired connection why aren't you getting 10 GB per second why are you only getting one

[@declanaplin1336]

Great video! I have a DS1522+ connected to my router with a 30ft CAT6 ethernet cable, my computer is connected to my NAS through the 10GBps card to my computers own dedicated 10Gbps card and my computer is also connected to my router with a CAT5 ethernet cable (which plugs into my motherboard).The issue that I'm running into is after following along and changing my LAN 5 settings I am unable to achieve anything above a 100Mbps read or write. If you could help me out in any way it would greatly help my headache. Thanks -Declan

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

Yep that makes perfect sense. You cannot direct connect. The NAS will always default to it's own gateway that sees the router. It has to be Network attached by design. You MUST have a 10Gbe switch as I describe in this very video. The NAS exclusively connects via 10Gbe to the swtich. The Computer (in my case a Studio Ultra) connects via 10Gbe to the switch. The switch connects at your internet provider's max speed to the router. The NAS feels directly router connected. The computer feels directly router connected. The switch routes the fast data flow from the NAS directly to the computer via the 10Gbe pathway. Remember this NAS is another computer on your network. It is in no way engineered to be directly connected to a computer. Network attached only.

[@declanaplin1336]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto ok so I got a switch now. it has two 10gbps ports and four 2.5gbps port, I have my switch connected to the router via a cat6 cable (just what I had laying around) the NAS is connected via the 10gbps expansion to one of the switches 10gbps ports and my windows desktop connected via the motherboard to the router as well as a cat6 cable plugged into the switches second 10gbps port going to my desktops 10gb expansion, still getting 130mb transfers going to the nas. any thoughts?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

No only connect the pc to the switch via 10gbe. Switch connects to all three. Don't give the Nas or the pc a slow lane. Just the 10gbe. The switch handles all the traffic. You're just complicating things connecting to the network through two separate ports on the same machine. My setup is a 5 port 10gbe switch. 1 port to my Mac studio's 10 GBe port, 1 port to the Nas 10gbe adapter, 1 port to the router (could be 1gbe port for gigabit fibre and be fine), 1 port to my i9 desktop PC I use for rendering and backup via a OWC thunderbolt to 10gbe adapter, the final port to my table with a OWC thunderbolt pro dock with 10gbe ready to connect to my laptop. The switch routes the internet to all 4 computers (the Nas is a computer too) and 10gbe traffic between all four computers seamlessly. :) no computer has wifi or any ethernet connection aside from 1gbe to the switch. Period

[@declanaplin1336]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Ok so I’ve disconnected my motherboard from the and have my desktop hooked up to the 10gb port on the switch via my desktops 10gb pcie expansion, but now I have no internet connection going to my computer.. maybe i have a faulty pcie connection?? I’ve heard there are issues with pcie expansion and msi motherboards..

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

Is anyone else using the OWC Thunderbolt Pro dock? Does your CFE card get super hot when you use it? I can't even hold the card for 3 seconds after ejecting it? Also when I use the CFE card reader it will cut off my 10GB port some of the time. Did anyone install the dock ejector from OWC and have it conflict with other programs. I had a conflict with Get Backup Pro, as the OWC driver would interfere with the scheduler component?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

I've had none of the issues you describe using both my Mac Studio and Windows 11 Laptop with various cards and software setups... You should contact OWC. They are VERY responsive to customers.

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks I did do an RMA and they returned it saying there were no issues. They also returned it 5 days later than agreed and I had to have multiple follow ups to even get that. The unit now works better, but still runs hot. Only one 10gb port disconnect over a week. The CFE reader still makes the cards really hot so I lifted the unit up to allow for more cooling and the four rubber feet fell off. Also if they wish to call it Pro it should at least have two downstream thunderbolt ports not one since they sell lots of Thunderbolt drives. Oh well. I tried. Thank you though for sharing all this information on the NAS.

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

One other thing I noticed when you were using the Synology interface. It showed 5 LANs. You programmed LAN 5 as the 10GB one. So the Synology software seems to be pairing the 10 ports? Why is that? Why aren't their 9 LANs - 10 minus the one port connected to the router. Is there a setting one needs to know or did it just do this?

[@HudsonHenryPhoto]

It comes with 4 1 Gbe ports. When you add the 10gbe network adapter card, Lan5 pops up automatically. Lan5 is the only 10gbe port. You leave the other 4 completely open and unconnected. It's only route is 10gbe to the switch.

[@barkingbeanscoffee]

@@HudsonHenryPhoto Thanks I thought it was looking at the switch but it's looking at the NAS. Makes sense.