Set up Storage on the Synology DS920+

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If you came straight to this post, we have already covered getting started with the Synology DS920+ NAS device. Additionally, we have also installed the DSM operating system on the NAS. Now it’s time to set up the storage pool, a collection of two or more drives to store data.

You must make sure that you are signing in as the administrator of the NAS device. This is important if you have multiple accounts set up on the NAS. However, if you have just one account set up, that’s typically already an administrator account. Also, do note that in our case, this is a new Synology DS920+ NAS device, and no storage pool has been set up until now.

Once you log into the Synology DS920+, you’ll access the Main Menu button on the top-left of your screen, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Main Menu on the Synology DS920+

In the ensuing screen, you click the Storage Manager option, highlighted in red within Figure 2, below.

Figure 2: Storage Manager

Doing so brings up the Storage Manager window that you can see in Figure 3, below. Do note that it clearly specifies that no storage pool exists, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 3.

Figure 3: Storage Manager window

You will also notice that two unused drives are available to be used in the storage pool, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 3, above. Also, two empty slots are available to add more drives, as shown highlighted in green within Figure 3. Of course, in your case, you may have a different number of unused drives or empty slots.

To see more details about the drives connected to your Synology NAS, you can click the HDD/SSD tab highlighted in red within Figure 4, below. Do note that we have two HDDs available, which reiterates what we saw in Figure 3, but this tab shows more details such as the make, model number, and capacity of these drives, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 4. If you have some SSDs attached, they will also be visible, as shown highlighted in green within Figure 4.

Figure 4: HDDs and SSDs

To create a storage pool, you need to create a volume, which also ends up creating your storage pool. You visit the Volume tab, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 5, below. You’ll notice that no volumes exist, so the next logical step is to click the Create button, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 5.

Figure 5: Volume tab in the Storage Manager

Doing so opens the Volume Creation Wizard window shown in Figure 6, below. We selected the Quick option because we want to use the proprietary Synology Hybrid Raid (SHR ) option. You then click the Next button.

Figure 6: Volume Creation Wizard

In the subsequent Configure storage pool property window (see Figure 7), you can provide an optional storage pool description. Then, click the Next button.

Figure 7: Configure storage pool property

You next see the Choose drives window. We selected both the HDDs shown here (see Figure 8), and clicked the Next button.

Figure 8: Choose drives

The Synology DS920+ NAS device now warns you that existing data on the newly added drives will be erased (see Figure 9). That’s academic for us since these are new drives, but it’s great that you receive a warning. We next clicked the OK button.

Figure 9: Data erase warning

You are now asked to select a file system from two options: Btrfs or ext4, as shown in Figure 10, below. Unless you have a compelling reason to choose ext4, it’s best to go along with the default option, Btrfs as we did. Yes, you need to press the Next button again.

Figure 10: Select a file system

If you are tired of navigating through all these screens, then you’ll be happy to see the Confirm settings window, as shown in Figure 11, below. Carefully, make a note of all the choices you made. At this point in time, you can press the Back button to go to any of the previous screens and make changes, or even press the Cancel button if you do not want to create a volume or a storage pool. Since we want to go ahead, we clicked the Apply button.

Figure 11: Confirm settings

Next, the Synology DS920+ NAS will start creating your new volume, as shown in Figure 12, below.

Figure 12: Creating volume

Once the volume is created, the NAS starts verifying your drives and runs a Parity Consistency Check. These messages are highlighted in red within Figure 13, below. Do note that this process can take a long time.

Figure 13: Verification and Parity Consistency Check

You can also see the same messages in the Storage Pool tab, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 14, below. Additionally, you can also see that your drives have been added to the storage pool and have been initialized, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 14.

Figure 14: Storage pool

After a few hours, the verification and Parity Consistency Check processes will be completed, as shown in Figure 15, below.

Figure 15: All processes are done

Now, your volume and storage pool is ready. You can create shared folders and do other activities. In the next post, we will look at creating these shared resources.