SmallNetBuilder

Set Up

Since the DS-106e is a bring your own disk (BYOD) box, setting up the device includes opening up the case and plugging in your own SATA drive. I found the instructions provided by Synology straightforward and easy to follow. Once the drive was plugged in and the case put back together, all that was left to do was to hook up an Ethernet cable and plug the box in.

As the box booted up, I could hear the fan, but the noise level was minimal. Synology's documentation states that the fan is thermostatically controlled and will only run when the internal temperature of the device is above 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Synology provides setup software for both Windows and Apple systems, so once the unit was booted up on the LAN, I started down the configuration path with my iBook. Figure 2 shows the discovery screen from the setup software where the DS-106e was found along with a couple of other Synology boxes I have running on my LAN.

Figure 2: Setup Assistant

As is the case with almost all of these NAS devices, the real configuration is done through a Web browser. The setup software's only job was to locate the device and spawn off your Web browser for setup. The first time you log into the device, a setup wizard runs and allows basic configuration such as admin password, network address, time, etc. Figure 3 shows the time setup window from the setup wizard.

Figure 3: Wizard time setup

Figure 4 shows the main setup screen for the DS-106e once I had completed the initial setup and logged in.

Figure 4: The summary screen

Along with a little disk-usage graph, you can see summary information and numerous configuration options. Figure 5, from the status menu, shows details of the current state of the device.

Figure 5: Detailed device information

In this screen you can see the firmware version, network info, timeserver, time zone, etc. You can also see that I also have an eternal USB drive plugged in. The DS-106e has the capability to use an external SATA drive, but since I don't have one, I wasn't able to test it out.