Mounting storageDRIVE as a drive (SMB)

The most direct way to your storageDRIVE: mount it via SMB as a drive. Afterwards the storage shows up in Finder or Explorer like a local disk — open, save, move files, straight from any program. No add-on, no extra software, included in every plan.

What you need

• Your server address and your share name — both are in the welcome mail after ordering.
• Your DSM username and password (the same credentials as for the web interface).

If you have enabled 2FA — good call — SMB still uses your regular password. 2FA applies to the web login, not to protocol access.

Technically we speak SMB 3 — macOS, Windows and every current Linux handle that out of the box, nothing to reconfigure.

macOS: Finder

1. Open Finder → menu Go → Connect to Server (or simply ⌘K).
2. Enter the address: smb://<server-address> — the address from your welcome mail.
3. Click Connect, sign in as a Registered User with your DSM credentials.
4. Select the share — done. The storage now sits as a volume in Finder.

Auto-mount at login: System Settings → General → Login Items → add the mounted volume via the plus button. macOS re-establishes the connection automatically at login. So that macOS remembers the password, tick “Remember this password in my keychain” on the first connect.

Windows: Explorer

1. Open Explorer → This PC → Map network drive in the ribbon at the top.
2. Pick a drive letter (take a free one, X: has style).
3. Folder: \\<server-address>\<share-name> — both from the welcome mail.
4. Tick Reconnect at sign-in, and Connect using different credentials as well.
5. Finish, then enter your DSM username and password and save them.

The storage now shows up in Explorer as drive X: — and automatically again after every reboot.

Linux: mount

One-off by hand (package cifs-utils required):

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/storagedrive
sudo mount -t cifs //<server-address>/<share-name> /mnt/storagedrive \
  -o username=YOUR_DSM_USER,uid=$(id -u),gid=$(id -g)

mount asks for the password interactively. For a permanent mount via /etc/fstab, the credentials belong in a protected credentials file instead of the fstab itself:

sudo sh -c 'printf "username=YOUR_DSM_USER\npassword=YOUR_PASSWORD\n" > /root/.storagedrive-cred'
sudo chmod 600 /root/.storagedrive-cred

Then in /etc/fstab:

//<server-address>/<share-name>  /mnt/storagedrive  cifs  credentials=/root/.storagedrive-cred,uid=1000,gid=1000,_netdev,nofail  0  0

_netdev makes the mount wait for the network, nofail makes your machine boot cleanly even without a connection — the classic pitfall with network mounts in the fstab.

Backing up Time Machine to the drive (Mac)

Because storageDRIVE is a real SMB share, macOS accepts it as a Time Machine destination:

1. Connect the drive as described above.
2. System Settings → General → Time Machine → Add Backup Disk → select the storageDRIVE volume.
3. Optionally enable “Encrypt backups” — then nobody with access to the share can read your backup either.

Straight talk on bandwidth: the first full backup pushes your entire Mac through your upload line. At 40 Mbit/s upload that’s around 400 GB per day — a full 1 TB MacBook therefore takes two to three days, slower DSL correspondingly longer. Keep the Mac on power and on Wi-Fi for it; Time Machine simply resumes after interruptions. After that it only backs up changes, which you won’t notice in daily use.

Pick the plan size to match: Time Machine keeps versions, so the backup needs noticeably more space over time than the raw data — as a rule of thumb, plan 1.5 to 2 times the used Mac storage.

SMB or Drive client — which for what?

Both have their place, and in 95% of cases the answer is: both in parallel.

• SMB drive: working directly on the storage. Nothing sits twice on your disk — ideal when the notebook is smaller than your data. Flip side: no internet, no access.
• Synology Drive Client: synchronizes a local folder. Everything is available offline, changes reconcile as soon as you’re back online — but the folder takes up local space.

A field tip from our ticket queue: for very large single files (video-editing projects, VM images) over a shaky line, better finish locally first and then copy to the drive. SMB aborts mid-write when the connection drops — that’s the nature of the protocol, not a quirk of ours.

Frequently asked questions

Finder/Explorer can’t find the server — now what? Basics first: typo in the address, VPN or company firewall in between? Strict corporate networks occasionally block outbound SMB — in that case use WebDAV, which runs over HTTPS and gets through practically everywhere.

Can I connect several machines at the same time? Yes. Mac, Windows PC and Linux box can be connected in parallel with the same account. Just don’t edit the same file in two programs at once — the last save wins.

Does the SMB drive count extra against the quota? No. Whether via SMB, Drive client or browser — it’s the same storage, the same quota.

What’s next

• WebDAV access — the HTTPS alternative for the network drive
• SFTP access — for scripts and CLI
• Synology Drive desktop client — sync instead of direct access