synology

How To: Synology DS1821+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) & DSM 7.0

Mike ConnellyConnected Home, Technology

A significant upgrade, the Synology DS1821+ replaces the DS1819+’s Atom C3538 with an AMD Ryzen V1500B quad-core processor and adds two built-in M.2 NVMe slots. We cover the hardware differences, SSD caching trade-offs, and notable DSM 7.0 features relevant to the upgrade decision. The performance gap between these two units is larger than the model numbers suggest. Continue reading How To: Synology DS1821+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) & DSM 7.0

How To: Home Network 4.0 with Ubiquiti Unifi Dream Machine Pro, Switch Pro, Flex Mini, Smart Power Plug & UPS Review & Calibration

Mike ConnellyConnected Home

We are now on our fourth-generation home network build-out, including Ubiquiti’s UniFi Dream Machine Pro, a 48-port PoE switch, managed Flex Mini switches, and Protect camera system. Ubiquiti’s UDM Pro consolidates a network firewall, IDS/IPS, controller, and security camera NVR into a single rack-mounted appliance. Also covered are two smaller additions: the Flex Mini and Smart Power Plug, which handle edge cases like last-drop switching and WAN recovery. Continue reading How To: Home Network 4.0 with Ubiquiti Unifi Dream Machine Pro, Switch Pro, Flex Mini, Smart Power Plug & UPS Review & Calibration

How To: Synology DS1819+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) Review & Migration

Mike ConnellyConnected Home

The DS1819+ replaces the DS1817+’s Intel Atom C2538 with the newer C3538, and its PCIe 3.0 slot supports NVMe SSD caching rather than being limited to SATA speeds. Beyond those hardware differences, the disk migration process and key software features in Synology’s DSM are also addressed, including Synology and third-party applications, the file system, file sharing, synchronization & backup, and security. Continue reading How To: Synology DS1819+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) Review & Migration

How To: Deploying a Ubiquiti UniFi Home Network including Multiple WiFi Access Points (Part 2)

Mike ConnellyConnected Home

Ubiquiti’s UniFi platform offers granular control over wireless settings that consumer routers never expose. This article walks through a tested configuration for a gigabit home network, covering channel planning, VLAN segmentation, IoT isolation, and per-AP radio tuning. We also cover getting Sonos and Belkin Wemo devices to coexist reliably with the rest of the network.
Continue reading How To: Deploying a Ubiquiti UniFi Home Network including Multiple WiFi Access Points (Part 2)

Synology DS1817+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) Review & Configuration

Mike ConnellyConnected Home

The Synology DS1817+ is an eight-bay NAS running a quad-core Intel Atom processor with SHR2 RAID, capable of surviving the simultaneous loss of two drives without data loss. This review covers hardware configuration, file system selection, file sharing protocols, and security hardening for a demanding home prosumer environment. Btrfs goes beyond what EXT4 offers by adding automatic file self-healing and snapshot replication, but migrating between the two on Synology requires a full volume rebuild. Continue reading Synology DS1817+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) Review & Configuration