Synology DS923+ installation guide [in 7 STEPS]

Last updated on 17 Nov 2022 📧 Subscribe
Contents hide
1 Insert hard drives, SSD or any upgrades [STEP 1]
2 Add any purchased upgrades [STEP 2]
2.1 Install additional RAM
2.2 Install NVMe
2.3 Install 10GbE card
3 Connect cables and power ON [STEP 3]
4 Open Admin Panel [STEP 4]
4.1 Access your NAS via WEB browser / URL
4.2 Access your NAS via Synology Assistant app on your computer
4.3 Access your NAS via Mobile app
5 Configure NAS [STEP 5]
6 Install Apps [STEP 6]
7 Access it from mobiles, computers, TV [STEP 7]

Synology DS923+ installation guide [in 7 STEPS]

There are so many guides out there, but none of them actually show how to set this thing up from start to finish. If you are not an IT person this can be extremely confusing. So let’s start.

 

Insert hard drives, SSD or any upgrades [STEP 1]

 

Remove all trays.

Installing hard drive do not require screws thanks to the clip-in function.

If you choose to install SSD or 2.5inch drives instead, please use the screws provided in the box.

If you have no RAM upgrade purchased, you can slide those drives back into a NAS and lock them using the key provided in the box. Otherwise, install RAM first before you slide those drive trays back inside.

Add any purchased upgrades [STEP 2]

Install additional RAM

If you purchased additional RAM, you can install it now while the drives are removed.

 

If you are upgrading to 32GB memory, you will need to remove existing memory stick.

Otherwise, you can use the empty slot to add additional memory.

 

 

 

Install NVMe

You will find NVME SSD cache slots at the bottom of your NAS. Flip it over and remove SSD slot covers.

Slot it in and secure it in place with an elastic leg until it clicks into place.

 

       Install 10GbE card

If you purchase 10GbE upgrade card you can install it at the back of your NAS. Unscrew the 10GbE slot cover.

Slide in the card and screw it in.

 

Connect cables and power ON [STEP 3]

Connect power cable to the NAS and socket in your wall.

Connect any of the LAN ports at the back of your NAS to your switch or router. The only port you should not connect to- is WAN port (which will usually be used up anyway).

If you want to be able to power on your NAS remotely over the internet, consider any of Synology routers. They all have WAKE ON LAN/WAN function.

If your NAS is too far away from the router (if you want to keep it in the living room) and there is no LAN ports in the wall, you can use Powerline adapters.

 

 

 

You can now power ON your NAS.

Open Admin Panel  [STEP 4]

Access your NAS via WEB browser / URL

Open your Chrome, Safari, Edge or any other web browser and type find.synology.com. Make sure NAS is connected to the same network as your computer or phone.

 

 

 

Access your NAS via Synology Assistant app on your computer

You can download a computer app that will find all Synology products in your network. This is probably the most reliable way to find and connect to your NAS for the first time.

Here is an app for Windows and MAC .  You can find all apps here.

Select the NAS you want to connect to and double-click or click connect button.

 

 

 

Access your NAS via Mobile app

You can download DS Finder mobile app on your iPhone or Android device.

Make sure you are connected to the same network/ WiFi (not 3G, 5G etc). App will find the NAS and will ask you to start the installation process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Configure NAS [STEP 5]

You will now be greeted with a welcome message and will be invited to start the configuration process.

You may be asked to manually download operating system files, otherwise, this will download automatically.

You will then be asked to create a first user.

If you will want to be able to access your NAS over the internet, you can create QuickConnect account at the next step

You can also do this later on.

At this point, NAS is ready to use. You just need to create a RAID. Which basically means choosing a protection mode.

If this popup is not on your screen, go to the Storage manager app on your screen

If this is your first NAS, choose SHR1 for single-drive redundancy or SHR2 for two-drive redundancy. This means, how many drives can fail without losing any of your data. Normally people choose SHR1 which allows you to access all your data even if one drive gets broken.

Select all drives

Click MAX at the volume creation which means you want to use all available storage space.

Choose BTRFS file system. This will allow you to have additional functionality such as snapshots etc.

You have now successfully set up your NAS. You can create your first shared folder now.

 

 

If you install NVMe cache you will need to enable it here in the Storage Manager app. Remember that single NVMe will allow you to have Read cache. Two of the SSD sticks will enable read+write cache.

 

You can now open Control Panel from your desktop. Click on shared folder and click Create.

You can give this folder a name (something like Home videos, Plex, documents, Music). These folders will have unique access rules for each user. You will be able to keep your private file separate from other users.

Not only users but also third-party apps like Plex can have rules on accessibility.

 

 

And this is it. It is all configured and ready to use. You can access your files via web browser using QuickConenct you created or you can map your NAS to your computer to appear similar to USB drive. If you forgot to enable quickConnect, here is how.

 

Install Apps [STEP 6]

On your DSM desktop you will find Package Center. This is an easy way to install apps on your NAS with a single click. You can also install apps manually that are third-party and not listed in this app store. This includes Plex Media server.

 

 

The most popular NAS apps 

 

Most Popular Mobile apps 

 

Access it from mobiles, computers, TV [STEP 7]

You can use Synology Assistant to Map the network drive or you can do it manually from ‘My Computer’. More info here.

You can use IP address from your NAS to connect from your mobile devices and TV locally. To access your NAS remotely, enable quick-connect, here is how.

You can then type in your Synology ID followed by user name and password you created during the NAS setup.

 

 

Upgrade you can have with your DS923+ NAS:

DDR4 ECC SODIMM: D4ES02-4G / D4ES02-8G / D4ES01-16G 

Synology Network Upgrade Module: E10G22-T1-Mini 

M.2 2280 NVMe SSD: SNV3400 series

2.5″ SATA SSD: SAT5200 series

3.5″ SATA HDD: HAT5300 series

Expansion Unit: DX517

Extended Warranty: EW201, Extended Warranty Plus

 

If you need help setting up your NAS, consider Kingbiker IT support

 

 

You will find more detailed steps on how to go through all these steps here

Synology NAS Setup Guide 2022 – Part 1, Setup, Users, Updates, Remote Access and Security Settings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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106 thoughts on “Synology DS923+ installation guide [in 7 STEPS]”

  3. I had problem about my synology nas
    And Steve Baker
    Technical Support Engineer write me about my problem that

    We are sorry to hear that your DS218 has to be reset. This is likely caused by an issue in the DSM operating-system.

    We understand that you are worried about losing your data. Please rest assured, your data should not be affected by the reset as the OS and data are stored in separate partitions on the drives. When re-installing the OS, the system should normally not touch the data-partitions of your drives.
    I beleived and i did what he said now all my data erased omg i shocked after sir Steve Baker dissepeared i am alone there is nothing in my hands
    Synology is regret bad nas choose qnap there isnt good support for problemss !!!
    There is no good service and support becarefullll!!!
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  4. Hey – Thanks for your videos that are super clear – A question though 37:15 : What’s the advantage of creating a hot spare compared to have 4 disks under a Raid 5 ?
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  5. Just getting ready to replace a Drobo FS with a Synology DS1522+. I had lots of questions regarding initial set up and configuration, and your video covered exactly what I needed to get rolling. Thank you very much for the effort you put into creating this tutorial and walkthrough.
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  7. 10g film in m.2 2sec.10g film nas 4min… 100G film m.2 20sec.100g film nas 40min…….see all???? 20sec or 40min in 100…stop pls this stupid technologie
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  9. Correction: RAID 2 does not offer 2 disk failure protection. RAID 2 only offers 1 disk failure. It’s purpose is Hamming code protection for data integrity at the block level. Not very common. Special use case when you need bit rot protection.
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  11. Thanks for taking the time to record this. While I’m familiar with RAID, etc., (setting up a Synology 1522+, to replace my old Drobo 5N), you answered my biggest question really quick: “Do I need the drive screws?”. I am thinking, since I’m in an RV, that I might should use them anyway, because vibration….but we’ll see. I have the NAS, but the drives are coming slower. 🙁 And I’ll be using RAID6 with 5x8TB Seagate Ironwolf. RAID6, because, again, in an RV!
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  12. I have just bought a Synology NAS system and this is going to be very useful in getting me familiarized with how it woks. There is so much to learn here and it was well presented. I look forward to more of these videos. Thanks!
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  17. Hi! Amazing tutorial, followed all the steps. However, at the Map Network Drive step, Enter network credentials, after I enter them, it gives me User or password incorrect…which they aren’t.. can anyone help?
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  19. Very good video!! A have a question..just got the same NAS as yours, and 2x brand new 6 tb ( for NAS) from MDD Max Digital Data,
    That says format before using… I’m going to use it on Mac ( Catalina) I watched your video and did not see you mentioning anything about formatting… so should I format it before using Disk Utility or just do the process you did with your… Thank you so much!!!
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  22. Given 4 drives present, I would use SHR2 or raid 6 over SHR or raid 5 and leaving the 4th drive idle as a hot spare… Using the hot spare and 1 drive redundancy leaves you open to data loss if failure occurs before the spare comes live. It can take a long time to rebuild an array. Having a second drive failure protection in place with SHR2 is a huge comfort and reduces the pucker factor while waiting for an array to rebuild. When your drives are a few years old, you will lose one and be hoping that the remaining old drives don’t crap out during the rebuild!
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  23. Great Video, I followed it twice and after I created my shared folders and go to Synology Assistant to map my drives it come up with ERROR cannot obtain a list of shared folders? Please help!!!
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  24. Thank you very much for your useful video. I have a problem and I hope you could give me instructions and advice.
    I have Synology Drive on my computer, which uses a 480GB SSD. There is a SynologyDrive in the Local disk D. The data I store in the SynologyDrive is synced to my DS220J Synology NAS. Unfortunately, the total capacity of Local disk D is just 175GB, which is quite limited compared to the amount of data I need to store in my NAS. I do “free up space” some folders in the SynologyDrive on my computer but I still don’t have enough memory for my data.
    What should I do to upload 1TB of my data to my NAS without facing the limited amount of memory (175GB) of the SynologyDrive on my local disk D?
    Thank you very much for your help.
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  27. I’m so confused with all this networking stuff right now and NAS lol. ( do video editing and render farms)
    So Ive been told that a mechanical drive is too slow and would bottleneck on a 10gbs network. I mentioned isnt that what the RAM, CPU and SSD caching is for? To bring the speed up over 200-300 mb transfer? Supposedly a usb2.0 on SSD would be be fast enough, but based on my editing experience I would disagree as it always lagged and files are unscrubbable with a 4k 60fps footage. If a 10gbs is required for NAS video editing workflow, then doesnt that mean the data we’re transfering should be equally or close to being that high as well? Is there more to it than the actual transfer speed that I am not understanding? How much data are we transfering or required to transfer when editing sometthing like a 4k60fps? Do you have a deep explanation for these?
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  28. Great video thank you!! One thing that would’ve been helpful would’ve been some steps on setting a static IP, this video seemed to cover it well, but I’d be curious if you agree with his order of operations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZJchA2YAHI
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  29. “This is truly a great set-up video”. I have just set up my DS920+ step by step and it is spot on. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Even today 27Dec 2021 this info is up to date. Thank you
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  31. Is this possible to make the HDD of the NAS active only when you need them ? (Like when you use a Black HDD from WD) To extend the lifetime of the HDD of the NAS ? A sort of sleep state.
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  33. Great tutorial vidéo. More like a full professional training session. I’ve had worst payed training sessions irl lol. You guys should get paid by Synology as their expert traîners! ????
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  36. Hi, thanks for your recent help via email. I’m up and running now and enjoyed the help in this video. However, when I was looking for the other parts, the playlist says ’11 unavailable videos are hidden’ as far as I can see. Is that what you intended?
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  41. Thanks for all of the information an analysis. It is great. I just pulled the trigger on a DS920+ (largely based on your in-depth evaluations and knowledge). I missed the Black Friday sales because I was too slow doing my reasearch, but I still think it will be a great value. Thank you!
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  43. Thank you for the walk through, I was looking to upgrade from a WD Cloud I bought in 2015 and landed on the Synology DS1520+ thanks to your very informative videos. I was wondering when the next video for the DSM 7 will drop? Excited to learn more about this platform, keep up the great work.
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  44. I am thanking of getting this DiskStation DS1520+ for plex and am tryin to figure out how many streams it can do and what is best raid for expandability of the raid ans nsa in the future. Here is a vid idea do a vid on haw to expand a nas and the raid
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  46. Thank you for all of the information you’ve provided on your channel regarding all things NAS. It’s been invaluable in pointing me towards the correct NAS to use. P.S. I love the seagull sounds in the background, they are very pleasant to hear in your videos.
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  48. In your playlist Synology NAS DSM 7 Setup Guide you have 12 videos but just this one is not hidden. The other ones are marked as private and cannot be seen.
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  51. Awesome, easy to follow guide with everything I needed to know. Noise from your NAS was no problem, but you might want to have a word with the seagulls near you—more than whirrs and clicks coming from them!
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  54. I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU for all your information and help with everything NAS. I’m currently setting up my first, and any queries I had, after a quick search I found the answers on your website. Fantastic! ????
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  61. Unfortunately this is supposed to be for beginners how to setup a Synology DSM 7 now but your missing important features if you don’t have checksum enabled on the share you can’t enabled it afterwards (it disables auto repair) also for beginners SHR should be used due to its flexibility (you can’t change between SHR and raid5) disks at 8tb or higher recommended to use SHR2 and a 5 or higher Bay nas (so you still have 3 disks worth of space)

    Recycle bin enabled

    Snapshot Replication should be (amazes me you have to actually install it) and set it up 30 days retention (or more if needed) and set monthly smart extended scan and monthly data scrub schedules set

    If you’re thinking about using a hot spare with SHR or Raid 5 don’t, you should pick shr-2 first or RAID6 before you even consider using hotspare (as your constantly protected protected from 1 or 2 disk failure, with SHR1 once you lose a disk you lose redundancy the hot spare doesn’t protect you until it has finished rebuilding, or you might actually automate your pool death when)
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  67. Hi, I really appreciated the pace. I’m hoping you can post a video to expand on drive mappings. It would be helpful to address the issues one can come across when the NAS is in a VLAN with specific ACLs, Although I’m in the same domain, I can’t map a drive and I suspect it has to do with network security and the fact that I’m in a separate VLAN. I also “loaned” out two of my drive bays on the NAS to a hospital and they are not even in the same domain, but I want them to map a drive through Windows Explorer as well. Thank you!
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  70. Thank you for this video. Love your content!
    I have a question – How do you backup files from external hard drives onto the NAS automatically on a schedule? I work on a mac and do audio production work. I want to back up my files on my DS218+. Is there a seem-less way to get my files backed up at the end of the day onto the NAS without me actually dragging and dropping files on to a local shared folder?
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  71. Great tutorials…your skills of teaching us are amazing. Thank you. Synology Assistant desktop Windows is not finding the DS720+. I managed to map the network drive but the Assistant is not working or showing anything under Management => Search. I am connected on the same network.
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  81. Great video, love your YouTube channel, just purchased this unit for media content / Synology Photos and running a Plex Server also iTunes server. It would be great to get a video on some security settings for this 920+ for a novice users.
    Best settings to use for this single home network environment. ????????
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  82. Just bought a 5 bay nas and 2 drives, I will add to it as time goes on. Do my drives need to be in the “1 and 2” slot, or can I place them anywhere? My thinking is that placing them further away from each other will mean less heat
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  84. Read and write is not improved in RAID 1. It’s too bad you keep saying this in so many of your video’s. Explenation: a 1GB file needs to be written to a RAID 1 setup. The 1GB of data will be written to both drives at the same time, turning it from a 1GB data transfer to a 2GB transfer on that final stretch of the pipeline. The data is there 2 times now. The read and write performance is therefore theoretically limited to the slowest disk speed of the two.
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  86. This is great, thanks! I’ve had a DS412+ for many years, but have never delved into DSM too deeply. This is a great refresher as I begin to set up my new DS1520+. I may have questions ????
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  88. You can also remap your essential folders such as my documents and my music by clicking on the icon and select properties. Use the tab for location and in the data string, move your on system files to the NAS Drive. Just remember to recreate the disk structure/path naming formalities, if you care about such things. For instance I use \[Synology drive name]pathfolderMy Documents.
    Because I have several computers that I use, I find it easier for me to have my folders on my Nas, than to have individual folders on each pc
    For me, this works. It means that I can access all my files even on my laptop, in another country.
    Downside is that if I lost my laptop, they can access my stuff too but that is another issue
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  90. Awesome video 🙂 Can you do a dedicated video about the hot spare and the automatic rebuilt that dsm 7.0 add ? The faster rebuilt compare to dsm 6.2
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  92. Thanks a lot for this video! Just installed my first NAS, a very helpfull video for beginners such as myself! Well explained, keep it up and I’m waiting for your next one! 🙂
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  93. Thank you for your comments! If I want to do a Clean install of DSM 7, how would I do this? My DS1520+ had the Synology version 6 already installed on it.
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  94. Hoping to get a simple answer, without someone asking “why do you want to do this”, I have my reasons. Would a 10GB NAS with single volume drives (not raided) be faster the 1GB NAS with single volume drive (not raided). Current NAS is Western Digital 4 Bay PR4100 with WD Red Drives Set up Jbod (4 Volumes). Thinking about getting Synology or QNAP 10GB not sure which one yet with Iron Wolf Pro drives, but do not want to RAID, want single Volumes like I currently have. I know this is not normal, but does anyone know if the 10GB NAS will be significantly faster in this situation? Many thanks in advance.
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  98. I did it differently and added two drives for 12TB of storage, as separate individual volumes. Backup is to external USB 5TB drives using DiskBoss Ultimate, which mirrors the NAS drives to the USB ones and error checks them. The USB drives to cover the 12TB worked out half the price too.
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  101. Thank you for the Video, I am a beginner. When I installed Synology on a DS1520+ It installed version is 6.2-25376 Is Great because I didn’t want DSM 7 just yet! The reason is I want to run PLEX. Thank you for this Video
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  103. Nice video. Question i have the ds218+ dsm 7 is not showing in my updates/downloads as yet, should i wait until it is offered to me before i update? 2nd Q, will my current backup be compatible or do i need to do a fresh install of all data
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