Use Synology NAS with SMB, Drive, and Photos

When Synology NAS is actually worth it

Synology is not just a box full of disks for movies or backups. Its real strength is that one NAS can play several roles at once:

A file server over SMB/Samba for devices on your local network
A personal cloud through Synology Drive
A family photo library through Synology Photos
A controlled public file-sharing point through links or reverse proxy
An app hub for phones, tablets, and laptops

If you already run a homelab or just have many devices at home, Synology is often the simplest way to centralize files, photos, and permissions.

Synology NAS usage flow: SMB for LAN devices, Drive and Photos for apps, public sharing over HTTPS

SMB or Samba: the easiest way to expose storage on your LAN

SMB is the closest thing to a traditional network drive. Once enabled, Windows, macOS, and Linux machines on the same network can mount NAS folders like standard shared drives.

Common practical use cases:

A shared folder for desktops, laptops, and mini PCs in the lab
A media folder used by Plex, Jellyfin, or editing machines
A place for ISOs, VM images, backups, or archived projects

In DSM:

Control Panel → File Services → SMB → Enable SMB Service

Then create shared folders:

Control Panel → Shared Folder → Create

Example permission layout:

lab-share: read/write for admins and lab machines
public-drop: only a limited set of users can upload
backup: only backup accounts or Hyper Backup can access it

On Windows:

\\synology-nas\lab-share

On Linux:

sudo mount -t cifs //synology-nas/lab-share /mnt/lab \
  -o username=thach,uid=1000,gid=1000

SMB is powerful because it is simple, fast, and familiar. For a local network, it is almost always the first sharing layer worth enabling.

Synology Drive: a small personal cloud

If SMB is best for LAN access, Synology Drive is better when you need:

File sync across multiple machines
Access from outside your home
Shareable links
File version history

Drive does not replace SMB entirely. The practical pattern is:

Keep active working files in Drive
Keep large media, backups, and ISO files in SMB shared folders

To enable it:

Package Center → Synology Drive Server → Install

Then install the apps:

Synology Drive on Windows/macOS
DS file or Synology Drive mobile on phones

The most valuable part is selective sync and versioning. If someone overwrites a document or deletes the wrong file, Drive is much more forgiving than plain SMB.

Synology Photos: phone backup, timeline, and shared albums

Synology Photos is one of the easiest features to appreciate in a family setup.

Used properly, it gives you:

Automatic photo upload from iPhone or Android
Timeline, albums, people, and places for finding older photos
Shared albums for family members without sending raw files around
Less dependence on Google Photos or iCloud

To use it:

Package Center → Synology Photos → Install

On mobile, install the Synology Photos app and enable camera auto backup.

It helps to separate two use cases:

Personal Space: each user's private photo library
Shared Space: family or team photos

If multiple people use the NAS, separate accounts with shared albums are much cleaner and safer than one shared admin login.

Public access should not mean exposing SMB directly to the Internet. That is both risky and hard to manage.

In practice, think in three levels:

Use SMB or Drive internally, with no Internet exposure.

Good for:

Lab files
Backups
Internal family data

Use Synology Drive or File Station to create share links:

Synology Drive / File Station → Share → Create public link

Prefer enabling:

Expiration date
Password protection
View-only or download-only mode

This is the practical way to send large files to relatives, clients, or teammates without turning the NAS into a public network drive.

Level 3: Full remote access through a domain or reverse proxy

If you want Drive or Photos to behave like a personal cloud over the Internet, put them behind:

HTTPS
DSM Reverse Proxy or Nginx in front
DDNS or your own domain
2FA for user accounts

For example:

drive.example.com → Synology Drive
photos.example.com → Synology Photos

Do not expose SMB directly to the Internet. If you need network-level remote access, use a VPN first.

Mobile apps: what makes Synology feel better than raw network storage

One underrated advantage is that Synology's apps make the NAS easier to use for non-technical people.

Commonly useful apps:

Synology Photos: photo backup and browsing
Synology Drive: file sync and share links
DS file: quick file browsing like a mobile file manager
DS finder: NAS status, restart, and resource checks

If your goal is "everyone in the house can use it without help", app quality matters almost as much as disk capacity.

A folder layout that usually works well

A simple structure that scales:

homes/username: personal data and personal app storage
family-photos: shared Photos space
lab-share: docker compose files, ISOs, scripts, config backups
media: movies, music, Plex or Jellyfin libraries
incoming: temporary uploads from other people
backup: target for PC backups or Hyper Backup

And these rules:

Do not use the admin account day to day
Give each user group its own shared folder
Only use public links for folders that are meant to be shared externally

Easy mistakes to make

1. Using the admin account for everything

That is the fastest way to lose permission control. Create separate users for people, and service accounts for backup jobs or apps where needed.

2. Exposing too many ports directly

Just because the NAS has a web UI does not mean every service should be public. Fewer exposed ports is better. Prefer reverse proxy and 2FA.

3. Mixing public data with private data

Public folders should be separate from internal folders. Do not keep family photos and public share links in the same shared folder.

4. Treating Synology as the final backup

NAS is convenient, but it is not a complete backup strategy by itself. If the NAS fails, gets wiped by mistake, or gets hit by ransomware over SMB, you can still lose data. Keep another backup outside the NAS.

Conclusion

Synology is most valuable when you use it as a multi-layer data hub:

SMB for your local network
Drive for sync and remote access
Photos for photo backup and albums
Public links or reverse proxy for external sharing

If you only use Synology as a plain network disk, you are leaving most of its value unused. Enabling just SMB, Drive, and Photos already changes the experience significantly for both a home setup and a homelab.