Check back for a How To with regards to Hardware Acceleration.The package selection Synology offers is pretty extensive. Additionally, you can also use Hardware Acceleration for VMware Homelabs on certain models. It is a large investment, but the ease of use, options and software make the investment worthwhile. I would highly recommend a Synology for anyone who takes setting up a HomeLab seriously.
From there you can install plugins, create shared folders using CIFS or NFS, etc. Once DSM is installed successfully, you will be able to hit the IP of the Synology in a web browser and login successfully. Finally, once the DSM software has been installed you will have an option to Setup QuickConnect. Next, create a server name, username, password, etc. The progress bar will continue as the DSM software is installed. Note: Any Data (if not new drives) will be lost! I used the default RAID configuration of Synology SHR. Since the Hard Drives were previously installed before boot up, the Synology Web Assistant will see these drives and import them.
Alternatively, you can download the latest version manually and select manual install. Next, select Install DiskStation Manager (DSM).
Note: The DiskStation status should be that of Not Installed. The Web portal will then launch and search for a DiskStation within the local network. Go to a web browser and go use either or diskstation:5000. First: Pop in your drives and power on the device. I personally haven’t had any data loss, but be sure to research your drives before purchasing. Note: There are some issues with these drives it appears when researching online. I started out with just two drives, but plan to go to 4 drives later. I decided to go with the 4 bay for future expansion.
This, along with being able to scan to PDF and store on the NAS made the decision a no brainer! Additionally, having a local NAS at home would allow for flexibility to have mapped network drives on the workstations throughout the house.
The use case would be to have shared storage for my VMware environment. Next, SSH into you ESXi host and run the following command.Įsxcli software vib install -v /tmp/synology-nfs-vaai-plugin-.vib -no-sig-check You can now see that Hardware Acceleration is supported.Įarlier this year, I debated on the idea of getting a Synology DiskStation for Home Lab use. The Plugin is selected for demonstration purposes. Ensure you see the Extracted VIB within the /tmp/ directory. First Head over to the /tmp/ directory using WinSCP (Windows). Look for the “Supported” word, which means it is now enabled and working with hardware acceleration as intended. Step 5: Head to the Synology Datastore/Configure then look for the word Hardware Acceleration. Step 4: Ensure the command ran successfully. Step 3: Enable SSH on the ESXi Host and run the following command:Įsxcli software vib install -v /tmp/synology-nfs-vaai-plugin-.vib -no-sig-check You will need to use the credentials that are for the root account on your ESXi host. Extract the VIB and upload the VIB to the /tmp/ directory of your ESXi Host. If you are using Windows and need WINCP, you can download it here.
Step 2: Use a program SCP or in my instance, WINSCP to connect to you host. Installing this VIB allows for increased performance and better throughput via hardware acceleration with offload to the Synology CPU/RAM/CACHE. In order to take advantage of this, your Synology will need to be added to your VMware environment as a target and be available as an Datastore to use. One of the things many people like to do with a Synology Disktation within a VMware Homelab environment (or production) is install the Synology VAAI VIB for hardware acceleration. In an earlier post, I posted how users can quickly deploy a Synology Diskstation.