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Where do I start?


benn600

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I just discovered Synology 1 week ago. I bought a box but would like to try my own hardware because it is much more powerful. Can I install DSM 5.1 or do I need to go with 5.0 based on the issues I am reading about on this forum? What page can I follow step-by-step, if there is one?

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Benn600,

Nobody has managed to get the storage working with DSM5.1 (making it an NA, as opposed to a NAS), so for the moment you should work with DSM5.0. I would say you should start by trying either nanoboot or gnoboot, booting from a usb stick - there are some differences between the two in terms of hardware support, so your first task is to see if all your hardware is working. You can either boot xpenology from bare metal, or install vmware on to the box, then xpenology. If you aren't used to working with vmware, and haven't got any desire to learn it, then just boot xpenology from removable media. Once you have decided which boot loader, and if you want bare metal or vmware, try out all the functionality before comitting large amounts of data.

 

If you have the patience, start with DSM4.3, and step through the update/upgrade procedures to get used to working with them. Xpenology updates/upgrades are slightly different from synology, so it is worth getting used to how they work IMHO.

 

I have a real (old) ds411j, and use that to backup (via rsync) my xpenology box. The xpenology box I boot from a nanoboot cd.

 

There are various tutorials around, both here and on xpenology.nl.

 

Andrew

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Thank you very much for the overview! I would like to determine if the server I already have is a better choice (at $1200 I spent on it a while ago) versus the $600 Synology I just ordered with a fraction of the bays, and probably a fraction of the speed -- but supposedly the Synology has hardware accelerated video encoding, etc., which also matters to me. I don't know if I am prepared to make this a hobby project, like I have been in the past. What attracted me to Synology is now simple it is and how everything just works. It's surprising to me that Synology doesn't sell a package that installs itself, for $99 or something like that. I'm betting they make a lot more margin on the hardware, which does admittedly look amazing. I like the notion of a drastically reduced footprint, albeit probably also a drastically reduced maximum capability, etc.

 

Ben

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To your main concern, DSM is mainly for NAS devices from Synology so it mostly support Intel-based boards and CPUs like Atom but I've seen a lot of people successfully had DSM on AMD-based, too; however, it would be more questionable when coming to third-party hardware like RAID, network, video, audio cards... but the good news is if everything doesn't work as you expected (or hoped for), you can always turn around and make it into what you first intended to build it for such as HTPC, Media server, File Server... so if your hardware are not very strong, try bare metal guide first or go straight to ESXI if you have very strong CPU and a lot of RAM :wink: as I suggested in the provided link

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3608#p21719

BTW, it only takes around 15min to finish the whole installation and with the link above, it would save you hours wander around for guides :wink:

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