Access Shared Folders with Mac OS. Open Finder on your Mac computer. Find the menu bar along the top of the screen. Click Go and select Connect to Server. Enter the IP address for your Synology NAS, preceded by 'smb://' For example, 'smb://192.168.59.121'. Click Connect to continue. Taipei, Taiwan—July 20, 2011—Synology ® today announced the beta availability of DiskStation Manager (DSM) 3.2. The new NAS server OS has taken exciting steps in elevating: Management efficiency with centralized directory service, system-logs, CIFS share folders, and ISO images to mount as virtual drives; Business' mobility with web-based DSM mobile and Google Cloud Print ™ support. Synology DiskStation DS418play Mini Desktop NAS Server, Intel Celeron J3355 Dual-Core, 6GB DDR3L Synology RAM, 4TB SSD, Synology DSM Software $1,179.00 $ 1,179. 00 Get it as soon as Mon, Aug 3.
Pretty much all current Synology DiskStations and RackStations can function as a media server, including to an Apple TV, but I personally found it very difficult to find an actual 'how-to' guide and wasted a lot of time trying to figure it out.
10 Steps total
Step 1: Create a 'MediaUsers' group/users
This is an optional step, but it can help simplify permissions later. It may actually be good to create two groups: MediaAdmins and MediaConsumers to better set who is allowed to write to (or copy off of) the actual shares and who is able to just play the content.
You may also want to consider making a 'MediaUser' user account that is maybe a lower security account that is just used for playing content. Turn off their permissions for ftp and diskstation and any other features and just give it Media permissions. This way it can be a dedicated player.
So, consider how you want your security to work.
Step 2: Install Media Server Packages
Go to the 'Package Center' and install the following packages:
* Audio Station
* Photo Station
* Video Station
* iTunes Server
Step 3: Set Up Your Folders
By default, the media services will create three new shares in the root of your primary volume:
/music
/video
/photos
This may not happen until you run and configure each server, but eventually they'll show up. The photo one might not, actually. But you get the idea.
You can create your own 'media' folder in the root and put everything in there, which I did, but the services will end up re-creating the music and video folders at the very least, so you'll still be stuck with those sitting around in your root directory. I've tried getting rid of them, they won't stay gone. So, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
All that to say, under /video, you should create subfolders for your Movies, TV Shows, and HomeVideos. And by 'HomeVideos,' I mean anything that's not likely to pull an IMDB listing for title and cast and such. The NAS automatically attempts to find IMDB entries for the videos in Movies and it does get them wrong sometimes. To prevent attempts at lookups, put them in 'HomeMovies' and it'll just use the file names.
Step 4: Set up Media Library Indexed Folders
This is under Control Panel, just make sure the /video, /music, and /photo folders are listed with their appropriate types for indexing. All the other apps will pull their content from this.
If you have any additional folders you want indexed, by all means add them in.
Step 5: Configure iTunes Server
Now, this isn't a required step for the Apple TV bit, so if that's all you're interested in, you can skip this.
(Apple TV can't actually browse the NAS, it has to have content sent to it via AirPlay (more on this later), so this is just for your other iTunes clients on computers)
You can configure this (and the other apps) by running the app from the start-esk menu in the upper left corner.
There's pretty much no configuration really needed for this, just the option of setting a password for the iTunes library.
Step 6: Set up Audio Station
Run the Audio Station app and then click 'Settings' in the menu bar.
Turn on the privileges for all relevant users. You may actually have to log on individually for each user and set this, or you may be able to set this in the Control Panel --> Privileges section. Check both.
Also, click on the button next to the settings that say 'My Computer' or similar and change it to show 'Apple TV.' This is just changing the destination of the content to be streamed. Again, it's AirPlay, not home sharing.
Step 7: Set up Video Station
Run the Video Station App and then click 'settings' in the menu bar.
Make sure the location of 'Movies' is pointed to the correct folder. If not, clear it out and re-set it to /video/movies.
Do the same for TV Shows and Home Videos.
Create a Custom location of 'Music Videos' and point that to your music folder. That will pick up any music videos you may have in your iTunes collection and allow you to play them accordingly.
Under the Privileges tab, make sure everyone needed has the appropriate permissions.
Optionally, you can enable the AC3 passthrough on Apple TV on the 'advanced' tab
Step 8: Add in Media
This is pretty obvious, but just open the shares normally on your computer and drag and drop content in. The NAS will get to work indexing it pretty quickly.
You may want to go into the Video Station app and look at the movies as they drop in and make sure it successfully looks up the IMDB info. Otherwise, you can change the media info by running searches yourself and selecting the right movie.
Step 9: Playing Media Using Web App
This is the part that really tripped me up:
As I've mentioned before, the Apple TV cannot PULL media using Home Sharing because the NAS doesn't support it. So you must PUSH it from the NAS.
This means using the web app or using the iOS apps.
To use the web app, open up 'Video Station' and select the movie you want to watch and click the play icon in the upper right corner of the window, then select 'Apple TV.' It will open a player in a new window/tab, but it'll send the content to the Apple TV. You can also use this player to control the video feed and select audio/subtitle tracks.
Step 10: Playing Media Using the iOS App
The easiest and most convenient way I think there is to play the media is using the iOS apps. Just search for 'Synology' in the app store and download DS Video, DS Audio, etc.
Synology Office App
Select the movie you want to play and, again, use the icon in the upper right to select a player. Send it to the Apple TV and continue using the app as a remote.
In hindsight, this really isn't that hard to do once you truly accept in your heart that you can't browse the NAS with the Apple TV. It's all AirPlay based, that is to say, all push based. This does require an intermediary device, but with the iOS apps, it's not that bad.
Hopefully this guide helps someone out, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
7 Comments
- Pimientoandreascambitsis Mar 7, 2015 at 09:14pm
Thank you so much for this write up. I was missing step 6!
- Pimientokennussear May 19, 2015 at 11:04pm
This is the best thing ever. Thanks a million, works great!
- Pimientokarlduytschaever Aug 12, 2015 at 08:00am
This still requires to have either :
- computer running (to stream from browser (where DSM is opened) to aTV
- iOS device running during all movie (also to stream to aTV)Correct me if I'm wrong but there seems to be no way to simply start the movie and then switch off the 'remote'
- Anaheimlenkrygsman Aug 21, 2015 at 06:36pm
karlduytschaever, you're right. That seems to be the only way that this works. There needs to be some intermediary device; the NAS won't push it or be able to be browsed directly. Infuriating, but true. The remote is needed.
- Pimientomarkmiller10 Jan 12, 2016 at 03:47pm
karlduytschaever, you don't need a computer running if you have an iOS device, your DS is a computer without GPU.
Also you don't need an iOS device running after you initiated a stream, start a movie to an Apple TV from DS Video and terminate DS Video - movie will continue to stream from Disk Station since iOS device is merely a remote for Disk Station. Once you started streaming from DS Video app you simply control the movie using Apple TV remote or Remote App.
To have Apple TV-like experience try Plex on your new Apple TV, it may fill the gap for you and give you comparable or even superior movie library experience on Apple TV - Pimientostevecarrick Apr 13, 2016 at 12:27am
The new appletv (4) has synology apps that will pull video files off the NAS. Just browse the appstore and download them.
- Pimientodenwatsons May 11, 2018 at 10:45am
Thank you guys for all the instructions!
I'd add some streaming media server apps there. I use ArkMC for Mac to stream pics, videos, movies, and music on my Smart TV. It saves me lots of space on my Mac coz I use NAS for this too. Plus, no expensive adapters or cables needed. A nice media player and streamer to playback or beam files like photos, music, videos that you have stored on PC, MAC any UPnP/DLNA server wirelessly and transfer to any wireless media players, like TV. I have at home PC with Serviio installed, like a server and stream the media to my device from there wirelessly. Also just share the photos that I have on my phone on TV with friends.
What can Synology backup & cloud services help me with? Do they have the packages and function that I need? With all the new solutions from Synology, things can be complicated. Major releases like DMS6 is both a welcoming update and can also confuse. In this article, I will explain all the backup and cloud software the NAS diskstation provide us.
Synology Diskstations with DSM 6 has several ways to do backups. At first, it can be a bit confusing, but every Synology backup and sync solution have its purpose and its uses. I have listed all the backup and sync solutions below and how it works.
Hyper Backup – The main Synology backup solution
First is the new backup solution named Hyper Backup. This is the primary backup for the diskstation. You can backup important configuration files, application configuration files and other folders you chose with both compression and client-side encryption if you wish.
The backup destination can be on the same diskstation (the same or on a different volume) or another diskstation.
Backup to another diskstation is, of course, the best solutions and especially if stored at a remote location. This backup can be scheduled and you can also run in rotation with up to 254 versions. To schedule the backup with versions is the preferred solution.
Hyper Backup Vault is an application that let other diskstation’s backup to your diskstation with Hyper Backup.
Snapshot Replication
Snapshot Replication is a backup tool for your diskstation that take snapshots of your chosen folders and replicate it to a remote diskstation on a chosen schedule. You can also take a snapshot replication of the backup diskstation so you have multiple copies. I think this is more for companies to use.
Cloud Station Sharesync
Cloud Station Sharesync is an application that syncs your chosen shared folders with other diskstations. With this method, you have the same content in the shared folders on all the selected diskstation. This is a great application if you have friends with a diskstation and you want to sync the content with them. This can also work as a slave server in case of hard disk failure. If one diskstation have a failure, you can connect with the slave (spare).
Cloud Station Server
Cloud Station Server is an application that has an overview of the different cloud applications below and their settings. Here you can easily download the software needed to your PC, Mac or smartphone. You see the different clients in the client list and have logs. You can also enable up to 32 versions of the altered files and folders. Cloud Station Server is the mastermind in your cloud.
Cloud Station Backup
Cloud Station Backup is a backup solution for your computer. You can backup almost all of your hard drives and the data will be stored on the diskstation with up to 32 versions. You can transfer the files with SSL encryption but the files will be stored unencrypted in your home folder on the Diskstation.
Synology Mobile App
Cloud Station Drive
Cloud Station Drive is a sync application and works similar to Dropbox except the data will be stored on your Diskstation and not on a remote unknown server. It let you make your own private cloud and will sync data between multiple computers you choose and multiple Diskstations with up to 32 versions of your files like Cloud Station Backup. You also have access to your cloud with DS cloud from smartphones or tablets.
Cloud Sync
Cloud Sync let your diskstation connect and backup to cloud providers like Dropbox and Google Drive. You can connect to the cloud provider and set the behavior of your diskstaion.
If a file is deleted on your diskstation, do you want to delete the file in the cloud or do you want to download the missing file? I have chosen to download since I use it as a backup of important files like photos and documents. I work with Dropbox on my own computer and not on the diskstation so if some files are missing, something is wrong.
You can connect to many public clouds but I connect to the two above only. The one I’m missing and that’s ICloud. I have an Ipad so I miss ICloud support and hope Synology will add it in the future l
Backup to public providers
You also have the ability to backup to Glacier Backup and IDrive Backup to mention some of them. More are added on a regular basis. If you have some computer skills you can also backup to other services that are not directly supported by Synology. It can be some work to install and maintain solutions not supported and is something I don’t want to do.
You can also backup to an external USB drive you have connected to your Diskstation. I have not tested this solution myself since I see some complaints about slow transfer speed. You use Hyper Backup as an application. We have so many other remote and cloud-based solutions that work great. This is nice to have, but not something I want to do.
What is your experience with Synology Backup and sync applications?