📦 Synology NAS

The Synology NAS provides iSCSI storage that is integrated with the Proxmox Backup Server.
This storage is identified as pve-2_iscsi_storage and is shared across all Proxmox nodes, ensuring centralized, resilient backup storage.

🔄 Updating Synology

Synology devices are updated through the web GUI:

  1. Navigate to https://synology.refol.us.
  2. Open Control Panel → Update & Restore.
  3. The interface will indicate whether an update is available.

⚠️ Important: Before applying updates, log out of all active iSCSI sessions to prevent data corruption. For example, the iSCSI session used by the Proxmox Backup Server must be disconnected.

🔐 Secure File Transfer (SFTP) on Synology NAS

SFTP provides a secure, encrypted method for transferring files to and from the Synology NAS. This is especially useful for configuration backups, log collection, and secure automation workflows.

Synology implements SFTP through the SSH service, so enabling SFTP is simply a matter of enabling SSH and restricting access appropriately. To safely expose the Synology SFTP service externally, a bastion (jump) host is used to proxy the connection to Synology. For more details on how this is done, see:

👉 Secure SFTP Publishing via Bastion to Synology

⚙️ Enabling SFTP on Synology (Concise Setup Steps)

Follow these steps in the Synology web interface:

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Navigate to Terminal & SNMP
  3. Enable SSH Service
  4. Set the SSH port (default: 22)
  5. Click Apply
  6. Create or select a user who will access SFTP
  7. Ensure the user has read/write permissions to the shared folders they need
  8. (Optional but recommended) Restrict SSH/SFTP access to specific IPs using Firewall → Create Rule

Once SSH is enabled, SFTP is automatically available.

📂 Connecting to the SFTP Server

Use any SFTP client (FileZilla, WinSCP, Cyberduck, or CLI):

sftp username@sftp.refol.us

Or with a custom port:

sftp -P 22 username@sftp.refol.us

You will be placed in the user’s home directory and can navigate to shared folders based on permissions.

🗄️ iSCSI Storage on Synology NAS

iSCSI allows the Synology NAS to present block‑level storage to external systems such as hypervisors.
In this homelab, Proxmox uses an iSCSI LUN hosted on the Synology NAS to provide shared or dedicated VM storage.

iSCSI is ideal when you need:

How to Configure an iSCSI Target on Synology

  1. Open Synology DSM
  2. Go to Storage Manager → iSCSI Manager
  3. Click Create
  4. Choose Create iSCSI Target + LUN
  5. Assign a Target Name (e.g., proxmox-iscsi)
  6. Set IQN automatically or customize it
  7. Create a LUN:
    • Type: Advanced LUN (recommended for VM workloads)
    • Size: choose based on Proxmox needs
    • Thin provisioning: optional
  8. Confirm and finish the wizard
  9. On Proxmox, add the iSCSI target under:
    Datacenter → Storage → Add → iSCSI
  10. Select the Synology target and enable it for the desired nodes

Once added, Proxmox will see the LUN as a block device and can use it for VM disks, templates, or ISO storage depending on your configuration.