A fist time installation and initial setup of a Synology NAS is actually a quite easy process.
After unboxing your Synology NAS, ensure that it comes with one AC power cord + adapter and, at least, one RJ-45 LAN cable.
The basic Synology NAS configuration implies installation of hard drives, Synology’s operating system and creation of RAID/volume where you will actually store all the packages and files.
This post provides a simple and easy to follow step-by-step beginner’s guide for setting up the Sinology NAS using the Sinology DiskStation DS1522+ as an example.
Cool Tip: Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) installation guide! Read more →
Install HDD/SSD
The first step, before connecting to your Synology NAS, is to install hard drives (SSD/HDD).
⚠️ Warning: All the data in your hard drives will be erased!
Once the hard drives are installed, connect the AC adapter to the power port of the Synology NAS.
Then connect the Synology NAS to your switch, router or hub using the LAN cable.
ℹ️ Make sure that the Synology NAS is on the same network with your laptop/PC.
Press the power button on your Synology NAS to power it on.
Connect and Install DSM
The next step is to install DSM (DiskStation Manager) – the operating system running on every Synology NAS.
Enter http://find.synology.com/ on your browser to find your NAS via Web Assistant.
If the Synology NAS is on the same network as you laptop/PC, it will be found:
Click on Connect, agree to the terms of EULA and Privacy Statement and click on Install to install DSM:
Select “Automatically download the latest version from Synology website”:
Confirm that you understand that all data on the hard drives will be deleted.
Once the installation process is started – don’t switch the power off until the end of the installation!
The DSM instillation and setup might take up to 10 minutes:
The Synology NAS will restart automatically right after the DSM installation:
Click on Start and set the Synology NAS server name and admin credentials:
Select an update update frequency you prefer.
It’s recommended to automatically install the latest DSM version to make sure your Synology NAS is always up-to-date:
Skip the Synology account creation (this can be done later):
Disagree (or agree) with the device data collection by Synology and click on Submit:
🥳Congratulations! The DSM installation is now completed!
Create Volume and Build RAID
Skip all the popups unless the Create Storage Pool and Volume wizard is appeared and click on Create Now:
Click on Start:
Select a RAID type:
Select drives:
Choose whether you want to perform or to skip a drive check and click on Next:
Allocate the Max size:
Select a file system type:
Configure encryption:
Confirm the settings and click on Apply:
Once the RAID is configured and the volume is created you can start storing all the packages and files there:
The next step is to open Package Center, where you can find and install a variety of packages, such as backup, collaboration, multimedia and so on.