Synology

About the vendor and its products

Synology is probably a surprising company to include on a site dedicated to smart home technology, but it is partly due to the fact that NAS servers (Network-Attached Storage) are one common approach to hosting server software for different platforms like Z-Wave, Zigbee, Homebridge, etc. and partly since we own a Synology NAS. There are of course other suppliers of NAS, e.g., QNAP, Drobo, WD, etc., but I have only included Synology, mostly as an example.

When it comes to choosing a NAS, there are extremely many alternatives to choose among, also in Synology’s product selection.

Our experiences

For years, we havd an older model that is no longer for sale, DS713+, which served us well. After eight years of use, though, the processor and memory became limiting and we upgraded to a newer version, a DS720+. The transfer was mostly a matter of transferring the hard drives and updating a few settings. This is where our Homebridge server is installed so it is necessarily always on to allow devices integrated into Apple Home through Homebridge plugins to be available.

A little word of warning, though; if you have been used to connecting new smart devices to your system by using the manufacturer’s dedicated app, the Home app, or similarly streamlined methods, running your own server has a somewhat higher user threshold. It entails some “fiddling” with parameters and command line work, and connecting new devices is typically done by editing configuration files, not through automatic detection or scanning of a QR code.