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Synology Level 1 – Foundations

This course introduces Synology NAS platforms and DSM administration in a practical, beginner-friendly way. It gives learners the foundation needed to provision a unit, understand how Synology storage is structured, configure core services safely, and manage day-to-day file access with confidence.


The focus is on real operational tasks: initial setup, networking basics, storage pools, arrays and volumes, users, groups, shared folders, permissions, privilege models, application awareness, and backup and restore concepts. It is designed as the starting point for staff who will administer Synology systems in business environments.

Synology

Course purpose

Give learners a practical foundation in Synology administration so they can deploy and manage a NAS safely, understand how storage and permissions are organised, and make sensible day-one decisions around file access, applications and data protection.

Duration

  • 1 day for most learners
  • Can be expanded with extra labs for teams new to NAS administration

Target audience

  • new Synology administrators
  • helpdesk and support staff
  • office and branch IT administrators
  • infrastructure staff responsible for shared storage and backups
  • technical teams moving from ad-hoc file shares to managed NAS platforms

Prerequisites

Ideally learners will have:

  • basic IT literacy
  • some awareness of IP addressing and network devices
  • basic familiarity with users, folders and access control concepts
  • general understanding that storage needs protecting with backup, not just redundancy

The course is still designed to remain accessible to administrators new to Synology.

Learning outcomes

  • explain what a Synology NAS is and where it fits in an infrastructure estate
  • provision and complete initial setup of a Synology system using DSM
  • understand the role of interfaces, IP settings, DNS and gateway configuration in a NAS environment
  • distinguish between disks, RAID, arrays, storage pools and volumes
  • create and manage users, groups and shared folders safely
  • apply permissions and privileges with a clearer understanding of inheritance and access impact
  • understand the purpose of common Synology applications and package-based services
  • explain the difference between redundancy, snapshots, backup and restore
  • perform day-one administrative tasks with safer operational habits

Detailed module structure

Unit 1: Introduction to Synology and DSM

Topics:

  • what a Synology NAS is
  • common business use cases:
    • file sharing
    • department storage
    • backup target
    • application hosting
    • surveillance and collaboration services
  • DiskStation Manager as the management platform
  • appliance thinking vs general-purpose server thinking
  • where Synology fits alongside servers, cloud and user endpoints

Unit 2: Provisioning and first-time setup

Topics:

  • physical installation and drive population basics
  • finding the unit on the network
  • installing DSM and initial wizard steps
  • administrator account creation
  • naming the system appropriately
  • time, update and security baseline settings
Foundation message: good first-time setup decisions reduce later confusion around storage, access and recovery.

Unit 3: Networking basics for Synology administrators

Topics:

  • interfaces and link state
  • DHCP vs static addressing
  • IP address, subnet, gateway and DNS in context
  • hostname and name resolution awareness
  • basic network services the NAS depends on
  • bonding and VLAN awareness at a high level where relevant

Unit 4: Disks, RAID, arrays and storage pools

Topics:

  • physical disks and health awareness
  • what redundancy is and what it is not
  • RAID concepts at a practical level
  • Synology Hybrid RAID awareness
  • storage pool creation
  • how disk failure changes operational thinking
Critical distinction: RAID and redundancy help availability, but they do not replace backup.

Unit 5: Volumes and filesystem layout

Topics:

  • difference between storage pool and volume
  • why capacity planning matters
  • expansion awareness
  • filesystem and feature awareness at a high level
  • how shared folders sit on top of volumes
  • what happens when space runs low

Unit 6: Users, groups and identity basics

Topics:

  • local users and groups
  • why groups simplify administration
  • basic account lifecycle management
  • password policy awareness
  • directory integration awareness at a high level
  • admin vs normal user separation

Unit 7: Shared folders and permissions

Topics:

  • creating shared folders
  • naming and organisational good practice
  • user vs group permissions
  • read, write and deny logic
  • permission inheritance awareness
  • how bad permission design creates support issues

Unit 8: Privileges and service access

Topics:

  • difference between file permissions and application privileges
  • granting access to services and packages
  • least-privilege thinking
  • separating admin capability from normal usage
  • common mistakes with overly broad access
Key idea: someone can have access to a shared folder but still lack the privilege to use a related application or service.

Unit 9: Synology applications and package awareness

Topics:

  • what Package Center is
  • common applications at a high level:
    • file access tools
    • backup tools
    • sync and collaboration apps
    • media and surveillance awareness
  • resource and storage impact of extra packages
  • update and maintenance awareness
  • when to keep a NAS focused on core storage duties

Unit 10: Backup, restore and protection concepts

Topics:

  • why backup matters even with redundant disks
  • local backup vs remote backup thinking
  • restore objectives and recovery confidence
  • snapshot awareness vs backup awareness
  • basic restore scenarios:
    • single file restore
    • shared folder restore
    • configuration restore awareness
  • testing recovery rather than assuming it works

Unit 11: Monitoring and day-to-day administration

Topics:

  • capacity monitoring
  • alerting and health checks
  • update habits and maintenance windows
  • reviewing logs and basic status indicators
  • good housekeeping around stale accounts and unused shares

Unit 12: Good practice and safe operational habits

Topics:

  • documenting storage and share design
  • using groups instead of one-off user permission sprawl
  • avoiding permanent use of powerful admin accounts
  • understanding the difference between configuration convenience and security
  • checking backup status regularly
  • planning before installing extra applications

Labs

  • complete the first-time setup of a Synology NAS
  • review interface, IP and DNS settings
  • create a storage pool and volume in a guided scenario
  • create users, groups and shared folders
  • apply permissions for a department share and test access results
  • review privilege settings for a package or service
  • walk through a backup job and a simple restore scenario

Assessment

Foundation practical

  • identify the correct order for provisioning a new NAS
  • explain the relationship between pool, volume and shared folder
  • configure user and group access for a basic business scenario
  • describe an appropriate backup and restore approach

Knowledge check

Explain how a Synology NAS should be provisioned, how storage is structured from disks to shared folders, and how users, permissions, privileges and backup design work together to produce a manageable and recoverable system.

Better Synology foundations - Safer storage administration - Clearer backup thinking

Designed for administrators who need confident DSM setup, access control and day-one NAS operations

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