Synology DS218 — Setup & Family Photo Sharing Guide

Part 1 — Understanding the Three Types of Reset

There are three reset modes on a Synology NAS. It’s important to know which one you’re doing before touching the button:

This guide uses Mode 2 (Hard Reset via the physical button), which reinstalls DSM cleanly without necessarily touching your stored data. If you also want the drives fully wiped and are starting fresh, Mode 2 followed by the erase option during DSM reinstall handles that.

Part 2 — Before You Touch Anything

2.1 What you’ll need

• A paperclip or SIM card ejector tool (to press the recessed reset button)
• A network (Ethernet) cable — do not rely on Wi-Fi for this process
• A Windows 11 PC connected to the same router as the NAS
• An active internet connection on that PC
• Optionally: Synology Assistant installed on your PC — useful if find.synology.com does not detect the NAS automatically

2.2 Check your drives are seated properly

1. Power off the DS218 completely using the power button
2. Remove both hard drives from their bays (press the release latch and slide them out)
3. Re-seat them firmly — push each drive in until you hear or feel a click
4. Reconnect the Ethernet cable directly to your router (avoid a hub or switch if possible)
5. Power back on and wait for the status light to stop blinking rapidly (about 2–3 minutes) before proceeding

Part 3 — Performing the Full Hardware Reset (Mode 2)

This clears DSM and all configuration while leaving your drive data partitions intact. You will reinstall DSM from scratch in Part 4.

1. Make sure the DS218 is powered on and has finished booting (status light steady, not blinking rapidly)
2. Locate the RESET button on the rear of the unit — it is a small pinhole near the USB and Ethernet ports
3. Use your paperclip to press and hold the RESET button for approximately 4 seconds, until you hear one beep, then release immediately
4. Within 10 seconds of that first beep, press and hold the RESET button again for another 4 seconds until you hear three beeps, then release
5. Wait approximately 2 minutes — the STATUS LED will flash orange when the reset is complete

Timing tip: The two-press sequence is the trickiest part. If the unit beeps differently or restarts unexpectedly, power it off, wait 30 seconds, and try again from step 1. One press = soft reset (Mode 1). Two presses = OS reset (Mode 2).

After the reset, the unit will show as “Configuration Lost” in Synology Assistant, or will await reinstallation when you visit find.synology.com.

Part 4 — Reinstalling DSM (the Operating System)

4.1 Find your NAS on the network

1. On your Windows 11 PC (connected to the same network as the NAS), open a browser
2. Go to http://find.synology.com
3. The Web Assistant will scan your local network and find your DS218
4. When it appears, click Connect

If find.synology.com doesn’t find it:

• Download and open the Synology Assistant desktop app from synology.com/en-uk/support/download/DS218
• Temporarily disable Windows Defender Firewall and any VPN on your PC
• Check your router’s device list for the NAS’s IP address and type it directly into your browser (e.g. 192.168.1.x:5000)
• Try a different Ethernet cable between NAS and router

4.2 Install DSM

1. Accept the End User Licence Agreement
2. Click Set Up on your DiskStation
3. Click Install Now — the installer will automatically download the latest DSM 7
   • Alternatively, manually download the DSM .pat file from synology.com/en-uk/support/download/DS218 and upload it if the NAS has no internet access
4. You will see a warning: “All data on the drives will be deleted” — tick the confirmation box and continue
5. Click Install and wait — this typically takes 10–15 minutes
6. The NAS will reboot automatically. Do not close the browser tab during this process

Part 5 — Initial Setup Wizard

Once DSM has installed and the NAS has rebooted, the setup wizard will launch automatically in your browser.

5.1 Create your admin account

• Server Name: Give your NAS a friendly name (e.g. HomeNAS or FamilyNAS)
• Admin Username: Choose something other than the default admin (e.g. your first name) — this is more secure
• Password: Use a strong password and store it safely. The Windows 11 built-in password manager or a free app like Bitwarden works well

Important: Write down or save your admin username and password before continuing. If you lose it, recovering access requires another reset.

5.2 Update settings

• Choose “Automatically install important updates only” — the safest option for stability
• Leave S.M.A.R.T. and bad sector warnings enabled — these warn you of drive problems before they become failures

5.3 QuickConnect — required for remote access

QuickConnect is Synology’s free service that lets you and your family access the NAS from anywhere, without needing to configure your router. This is essential for family photo sharing.

• Create a free Synology account if you do not already have one
• Enable QuickConnect during setup and choose a QuickConnect ID (e.g. smith-family-nas)
• Your NAS will then be reachable at https://quickconnect.to/smith-family-nas from anywhere in the world
• Write down your QuickConnect ID — you will give it to family members so they can connect remotely

What QuickConnect does: It routes connections through Synology’s relay servers so you never need to open ports on your router or know your home IP address. Everything is encrypted in transit. It is free and highly recommended for home use.

Part 6 — Setting Up Storage

This is one of the most important steps. Choose carefully — changing RAID type later requires another full wipe.

6.1 Open Storage Manager

Go to Main Menu → Storage Manager

6.2 Create a Storage Pool

Your drives are 2 TB and 3 TB — mismatched sizes. This makes your choice of RAID type more significant than it would be with two identical drives. See the table below for what each option gives you with this specific combination.

1. Click Storage Pool → Create
2. Choose your RAID type from the table below:

Important note on SHR’s unprotected 1 TB: The extra 1 TB volume that SHR creates from the larger drive has no redundancy — if the 3 TB drive fails, anything stored only there is lost. Store your most important files (family photos, documents) in the main 2 TB protected space. The unprotected 1 TB is best used for things you could re-download or that are already backed up elsewhere, such as ripped DVDs or music files.

3. Select both drives and click Next
4. A disk check will run — let it complete

6.3 Create a Volume

1. After the pool is created, click Volume → Create
2. Select Btrfs as the file system — this supports automatic snapshots and data self-healing, and is much better than ext4 for home NAS use
3. Choose how much space to allocate (use the maximum unless you have a specific reason not to)
4. Click Apply and wait for initialisation

Background disk parity checking will run after the first setup. The NAS is fully usable during this but performance may be slightly reduced for a day or two.

Part 7 — Creating Shared Folders

Shared folders are where your files live on the NAS. You need at least a Photos folder for family photo sharing, and optionally others for documents and backups.

7.1 How to create a shared folder

1. Go to Control Panel → Shared Folder → Create
2. Give it a name (see recommended names below)
3. Choose the volume you created in Part 6
4. Enable the Recycle Bin — this prevents accidental permanent deletion. Deleted files go here first and can be recovered
5. Leave encryption off unless physical theft is a specific concern (it adds complexity)
6. Click Next and then Apply

7.2 Recommended folders to create

About the photo folder: When you install the Synology Photos package (Part 10), it will look for this folder automatically. Photos placed here are in the “Shared Space” that all authorised family members can see. Each user also has a private “Personal Space” in their home folder where their own phone backups land. Both spaces are explained fully in Part 11.

Part 8 — Creating User Accounts for Family Members

Each person who will access the NAS needs their own account. Do not share the admin account — give each family member a standard (non-admin) account. This keeps things secure and keeps each person’s photo backup private.

8.1 Create a user account

1. Go to Control Panel → User & Group → User → Create
2. Fill in:
   • Name: Use their first name or a simple identifier (e.g. sarah, dad)
   • Password: Choose a simple but not obvious password — they will need to type this on their phone. Something like three words joined together works well (e.g. apple-tree-door)
   • Email: Optional, but useful for password reset notifications
3. On the Permissions page, tick Read/Write access for the photo folder so they can view and add photos to the shared library
4. Leave them as a standard user — do not add them to the Administrators group
5. Click Apply
6. Repeat for each family member

8.2 Create a Family user group (recommended)

A group makes it easy to manage permissions for all family members at once — especially useful if you add people later.

1. Go to Control Panel → User & Group → Group → Create
2. Name it Family
3. Add all the family member accounts you created to this group
4. On the Shared Folder Permissions page, grant the Family group Read/Write access to photo and Read/Write to Documents if you created it
5. Click Apply

Summary of account types:

• Your admin account — full control of the NAS. Keep the password secure and do not share it.
• Each family member’s account — can see the shared photo library, add their own photos, and access shared folders you grant them. Cannot change NAS settings.

8.3 Enable User Home Service

This creates a private /home folder for each user where their phone backups will land (Personal Space in Synology Photos). Without this enabled, personal phone backups will not work.

1. Go to Control Panel → User & Group → Advanced
2. Scroll down to User Home
3. Tick Enable user home service
4. Select your volume and click Apply

Part 9 — Connecting to Windows 11

9.1 Set a static IP (recommended)

Your router assigns the NAS an IP address automatically. Without a static IP, this address can change after a router restart, which breaks mapped drives. Setting a fixed address prevents this.

1. Go to Control Panel → Network → Network Interface
2. Select your LAN interface and click Edit
3. Choose “Use manual configuration”
4. Enter an IP address outside your router’s DHCP range (e.g. 192.168.1.100). Check your router settings to confirm its DHCP range if unsure — typically it assigns from 192.168.1.100 upwards, so try 192.168.1.50 or 192.168.1.200 to be safe
5. Set Subnet Mask to 255.255.255.0
6. Set Gateway to your router’s IP (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1)
7. Set DNS to 1.1.1.1
8. Click OK

9.2 Enable SMB file sharing

1. In DSM, go to Control Panel → File Services → SMB
2. Make sure Enable SMB service is ticked
3. Set the minimum SMB protocol to SMB2 (Windows 11 no longer supports SMB1 by default)
4. Click Apply

9.3 Map the NAS as a Network Drive in Windows 11

This makes the NAS appear as a drive in File Explorer, just like a local hard drive:

1. Open File Explorer
2. Right-click This PC in the left panel → Map network drive
3. Choose a drive letter (e.g. Z:)
4. In the folder field, type \\[NAS-IP]\[SharedFolderName]
   Example: \\192.168.1.100\photo
5. Tick “Reconnect at sign-in” so it remaps automatically after reboots
6. Tick “Connect using different credentials”
7. Click Finish and log in with your DSM admin username and password when prompted

You can map multiple drives — one per shared folder. Repeat the above for each folder you want to access from Windows (e.g. Z: for photo, Y: for Documents).

9.4 Access DSM from Your Browser

You can access the NAS management interface at any time from a browser:

• At home (local): http://192.168.1.100:5000 (or :5001 for HTTPS)
• From anywhere (remote): https://quickconnect.to/yourname

Part 10 — iPhone iOS Integration (Your Phone)

Your DS218 works well with iPhone using a set of free official Synology apps. Here is a breakdown of the key apps and how to set each one up on your own phone. Family members’ phones are covered in Part 12.

10.1 Overview of Synology iPhone Apps

All apps are free from the App Store, published by Synology Inc.

10.2 Synology Photos — Install the Package on the NAS First

Before setting up any phone, install the Synology Photos package on the NAS:

1. In DSM, open Package Center
2. Search for Synology Photos and click Install
3. Once installed, open it — it will automatically find (or create) the /photo shared folder for the family shared space

10.3 Synology Photos — Set Up on Your iPhone

1. Download Synology Photos from the App Store
2. Open the app and tap Sign In
3. Choose QuickConnect and enter your QuickConnect ID (or use your NAS’s local IP address when on home Wi-Fi)
4. Enter your admin username and password
5. Once logged in, tap the three-line menu (≡) at the top right
6. Tap Photo Backup → Set Up Photo Backup
7. Choose your backup destination:
   • Personal Space — backs up to your private home folder. Only you can see these photos.
   • Shared Space — backs up directly into the family shared photo folder. Everyone can see these.
   • For most people: choose Personal Space for automatic phone backups, and manually add photos to Shared Space when you want to share them with family.
8. Configure these options:
   • Upload on Wi-Fi only — strongly recommended to avoid mobile data charges
   • Enable Sleep Time Backup — backs up while your phone charges overnight. The most reliable method on iOS.
9. Tap Done — your initial backup will begin

Photo permissions: Grant the app full photo access — go to iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos → Synology Photos and set it to “All Photos”. Without this, backups will be incomplete.

10.4 DS File — Full File Access from Your iPhone

DS File lets you browse all your NAS shared folders, upload files from your phone, and download files to read on the go.

1. Download DS File from the App Store
2. Open the app and tap + to add a connection
3. Enter your QuickConnect ID (or local IP), port 5000, and your admin username and password
4. Tap Done — all your shared folders will appear

10.5 DS Finder — NAS Monitoring on Your iPhone

DS Finder lets you check on your NAS remotely — see whether it is online, view drive health, and wake it up remotely.

1. Download DS Finder from the App Store
2. Sign in with your QuickConnect ID and admin credentials
3. Enable push notifications when prompted — this sends alerts for drive failures, temperature warnings, or if the NAS goes offline
4. To enable Wake-on-LAN: go to DSM Control Panel → Hardware & Power → General → Enable Wake on LAN, then use the Wake button in DS Finder when needed

10.6 Accessing via the iOS Files App (Home Network Only)

You can connect directly from the built-in Files app using SMB, without any extra apps. This only works on your home Wi-Fi, not remotely.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone
2. Tap … (three dots top right) → Connect to Server
3. Enter: smb://192.168.1.100 (use your actual NAS IP)
4. Tap Connect → choose Registered User
5. Enter your DSM username and password → tap Next
6. Your NAS shared folders will appear in the Files app

Part 11 — Setting Up Family Photo Sharing

Synology Photos has two separate spaces. Understanding the difference is key to getting family sharing right.

11.1 Shared Space vs Personal Space explained

Recommended setup for family sharing: Each person backs up their phone automatically to their Personal Space (private). When they want to share a photo or album with the family, they move or copy it to Shared Space. The family can then view, download, or add their own photos to Shared Space.

11.2 Make sure family accounts have access to Shared Space

If you set up the Family group in Part 8 and granted it Read/Write access to the photo folder, all family members can already see and add to Shared Space. To double-check:

1. Go to Control Panel → Shared Folder
2. Select the photo folder and click Edit → Permissions
3. Confirm that your Family group (or each individual family member) has Read/Write access
4. Click Save

11.3 Creating a shared album (for specific occasions)

As well as the general Shared Space, you can create named Albums (e.g. “Christmas 2024” or “Tom’s Birthday”) that any family member with Shared Space access can add photos to.

1. Open Synology Photos in DSM (or in the app)
2. Click Albums → Create Album in the left-hand menu
3. Name the album
4. Choose Shared Album so all family members can see and contribute to it
5. Add photos to the album by selecting them and clicking Add to Album

11.4 Sharing photos with people who don’t have a NAS account

If you want to share photos with a relative who won’t have a full account (e.g. an elderly relative who just wants to view a few photos in a browser), you can share a public link:

1. In Synology Photos, select the photos or album you want to share
2. Click Share → Share Link
3. Set an expiry date if you want the link to stop working after a certain time
4. Optionally add a password to the link
5. Copy the link and send it by email, WhatsApp, or text message
6. The recipient can open the link in any browser — no app or account needed

Uploading photos to Shared Space from Windows: Because you mapped the photo folder as a network drive in Part 9, you can also drag and drop photos into it directly in File Explorer. They will immediately appear in Synology Photos’ Shared Space for all family members.

Part 12 — How Relatives Connect Remotely

This section covers exactly what you need to tell each family member and what they need to do on their iPhone. Keep it simple — they only need one app: Synology Photos.

12.1 What each family member needs from you

Before asking a relative to set up their phone, give them three things:

1. Your QuickConnect ID (e.g. smith-family-nas)
2. Their username (the account you created for them in Part 8)
3. Their initial password (you set this when you created their account — they can change it once logged in)

You can copy the Quick Setup Card below, fill in your details, and send it to each relative by email or message.

12.2 Setting up their iPhone step by step

If you are setting up a relative’s phone yourself (e.g. at a family visit), follow these steps:

1. Download Synology Photos from the App Store on their phone
2. Open the app → tap Sign In → tap QuickConnect ID
3. Enter your QuickConnect ID, their username, and their password
4. Tap Sign In
5. When prompted for photo access, choose Allow Access to All Photos
6. Tap the three-line menu (≡) → Photo Backup → Set Up Photo Backup
7. Set backup destination to Personal Space
8. Enable Upload on Wi-Fi only and Sleep Time Backup
9. Tap Done

Note on iOS background limits: Apple restricts background processes, so automatic backups work most reliably when the phone is plugged in and on Wi-Fi overnight. Sleep Time Backup handles this well once configured.

12.3 Viewing shared photos — what relatives will see

Once signed in, relatives will see two sections in the Synology Photos app:

• Personal — only their own photos. Private to them.
• Shared — the family shared space. All family members can see and add photos here.

They can tap any photo to view it full-screen, long-press to download it to their Camera Roll, or tap Upload to add their own photos to the shared space.

12.4 Browser access (no app needed)

Relatives can also view and add photos from any browser — on a laptop, PC, or tablet — without installing any app:

1. Open a browser and go to https://quickconnect.to/[your-quickconnect-id]
2. Sign in with their username and password
3. Click Synology Photos to open the photo library

This is often the easiest route for relatives who are not comfortable installing apps or are using a computer rather than a phone.

Part 13 — Security Hardening

Synology NAS devices are frequently targeted by automated attacks over the internet. These steps take minutes and dramatically reduce your risk. With family members now connecting remotely, this section is especially important.

1. Disable the default admin account — Go to Control Panel → User & Group, find admin, and disable it. You have already created a named admin account, so the default one is unnecessary and a common target for attacks.
2. Enable 2-Factor Authentication for your admin account — Go to Control Panel → Security → Account → 2-Factor Authentication and enable it for admin accounts. All Synology apps support 2FA. Do not force 2FA on family member accounts unless they are technically comfortable — it can lock them out if they change phones.
3. Enable Auto Block — Go to Control Panel → Security → Protection → Auto Block and set it to block IPs after (for example) 5 failed logins in 5 minutes. This stops brute-force password attacks.
4. Enable Firewall — Go to Control Panel → Security → Firewall and enable it. Allow only the ports you actually use: 5000/5001 for DSM, 443 for HTTPS (QuickConnect uses this).
5. Update DSM immediately — Go to Control Panel → Update & Restore and install any pending updates right after setup. Many attacks target known vulnerabilities in older DSM versions.
6. Use strong, unique passwords for all accounts — Even for family member accounts. Simple passwords are fine as long as Auto Block is on, but avoid anything obvious like password123 or the person’s name.

QuickConnect is safer than port forwarding: Because you are using QuickConnect rather than opening ports on your router, your NAS is not directly reachable from the public internet. This is the safest way to allow remote access and is already set up from Part 5.

Part 14 — Troubleshooting Common Issues

Can’t find NAS at find.synology.com

• Ensure both the NAS and your Windows 11 PC are on the same network
• Disable Windows Defender Firewall and any VPN temporarily on your PC
• Try the Synology Assistant app as an alternative
• Check your router’s DHCP client list for the NAS IP address and access it directly in a browser

Status light flashing blue continuously

The NAS is booting or running a task. Wait 3–5 minutes before trying anything.

Status light flashing orange after reset

Normal — it means the reset completed and DSM needs reinstalling. Proceed to Part 4.

DSM install gets stuck mid-way

This can happen due to a poor network connection. Refresh the page and try again, or manually download the .pat file from Synology’s website and upload it directly during the install step.

Drives not recognised

Power off, remove and re-seat the drives. Check that your drives are on Synology’s compatibility list for the DS218.

Windows 11 can’t connect to mapped drive

• Ensure SMB is enabled in DSM (Control Panel → File Services → SMB)
• Make sure the minimum SMB protocol is set to SMB2 — Windows 11 disables SMB1 by default
• Try accessing via IP directly in File Explorer by typing \\192.168.1.100 in the address bar

Synology Photos not backing up on iPhone

• Go to iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos → Synology Photos and ensure it is set to “All Photos”
• Enable Sleep Time Backup and plug the phone in overnight for large initial backups
• Ensure the NAS is reachable — check QuickConnect is working by visiting https://quickconnect.to/yourname in a browser

Relative can’t sign in to Synology Photos

• Confirm you created their account in DSM (Control Panel → User & Group → User)
• Confirm they are entering the QuickConnect ID correctly — not a URL, just the ID portion (e.g. smith-family-nas, not quickconnect.to/smith-family-nas)
• Check the account is not disabled: Control Panel → User & Group → find their name → ensure “Disable this account” is unticked
• Try logging in yourself via their credentials at https://quickconnect.to/yourname in a browser to verify the password is correct

Relative can sign in but cannot see Shared Space photos

• Check they have Read/Write permission on the photo shared folder: Control Panel → Shared Folder → photo → Edit → Permissions
• Ensure User Home Service is enabled (Control Panel → User & Group → Advanced → Enable user home service) — required for Personal Space to work
• In Synology Photos, confirm they are tapping Shared (not Personal) in the bottom navigation of the app

DS File can’t log in on iPhone

• Use port 5000 not the WebDAV port — recent versions of DS File no longer support WebDAV login
• Double-check your QuickConnect ID and DSM credentials are correct

Summary Checklist

• Drives re-seated and Ethernet connected to router
• Hard reset performed (two presses, three beeps) — or skipped if new NAS
• NAS found via find.synology.com or Synology Assistant
• DSM 7 installed and NAS rebooted
• Admin account created (custom username, not the default admin)
• QuickConnect ID registered and noted down
• Storage pool created (SHR recommended) and volume created (Btrfs recommended)
• photo shared folder created (exactly this name)
• User Home Service enabled (Control Panel → User & Group → Advanced)
• User accounts created for each family member
• Family user group created; Read/Write access to photo folder granted
• Static IP address assigned to NAS
• SMB enabled (min SMB2) and network drive mapped in Windows 11
• Synology Photos package installed on NAS via Package Center
• Synology Photos app installed on your iPhone with photo backup configured
• DS File installed on iPhone (for admin file access)
• DS Finder installed on iPhone (for health monitoring)
• Quick Setup Card sent to each family member
• At least one family member’s phone tested and confirmed working
• Default admin account disabled
• Auto Block enabled (5 failed logins in 5 minutes)
• 2-Factor Authentication enabled for admin account
• Firewall enabled
• DSM updated to latest version