Firmware Update: Synology Disk Station Manager 6.1 Beta

Synology has released the first beta release of version 6.1 of Disk Station Manager. Synology DSM is the management software that runs on several of the company’s NAS products. The Disk, Cube and Rack Stations offer more than just extra storage space. In this way, backups of all clients on the network can also be made and files can be downloaded via http, ftp, bittorrent, usenet and emule, so that, for example, energy-hungry PCs can switch off at night while the download just comes in. Furthermore, audio and video files can be streamed over the network via the built-in iTunes server, a dynamic website can be hosted using PHP and MySQL and the device can act as a print server.

To be able to install version 6.1, at least version 6.0 must be present. Furthermore, it is only suitable for the NAS models whose type number ends with 11 or higher. For the other conditions and the different downloads, look at this page† Version 6.1 includes the ability to encrypt shared folders, the NAS itself can detect and fix errors when using the Btrfs file system, and some components are converted to separate modules, including USB Copy, File Station and File indexing. The full release notes can be found below.

What’s New in DSM 6.1 Beta

File Self-Healing

• DSM is now capable of detecting and repairing silent data corruption if your Synology NAS meets the following criteria:
  • Running Btrfs file system
  • Built on RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, or non-1 disk SHR
  • Without any SSD read-write cache mounted (This limitation will be removed in the coming release.)

Shared Folder Encryption

• In addition to encrypting a shared folder as you create it, you can now encrypt an existing shared folder anytime you want.
• With Key Manager, you can now use a USB storage device as a physical key to mount encrypted shared folders automatically without having to memorize all the encryption keys.
• Removed the “Mount automatically on startup” function from the edit page of shared folders.

Resource Monitor

• IT administrators will receive notifications regarding performance issues of the CPU, memory, disks, or LUNs (available on XS+ and XS models).
• I/O throughput of each process can now be monitored in Task Manager (available on models with Intel 64-bit processors).
• Added the service-based view, allowing you to monitor resource usage of each service and application (available on models with Intel 64-bit processors).

File Services

• Windows File Services and Mac File Services have been renamed SMB and AFP, respectively.
• SMB service is now running Samba 4.4.
• Supports Time Machine via SMB3 in Mac OS 10.12 and above.
• Supports Bonjour service, allowing you to back up data to multiple shared folders via Time Machine.
• Supports sparse files over the SMB protocol to enhance usage efficiency of file system space and network bandwidth.
• You can now restore to a previous version from Windows Explorer when mounting your home folder via the SMB protocol.
• After enabling Btrfs fast clone in SMB advanced settings, files can be copied at a faster speed when the source and destination are within the same Btrfs volume.

Storage Manager

• RAID type can now be changed from SHR-1 to SHR-2, providing greater flexibility of storage expansion and better data protection. Note: Depending on your disk configuration, two additional disks may be required when changing your RAID type from SHR-1 to SHR-2. For more information, please refer to DSM Help.
• Provides more types of disk health status to help you grasp the health info of your disks.
• You can now migrate a single volume to a disk group and then create multiple volumes while using SHR (more flexiable for models built on the 32-bit architecture with a single volume size limit of 16TB) .

Flexible Update Options

• You can apply important fixes without unnecessary system reboots.
• In case a reboot is required to complete an update, the system will notify you via Email and in DSM, allowing you the flexibility to reboot at a time of your choice.

Service Modularization

• Some of DSM’s built-in features have been modularized into packages to ensure better system maintenance and update flexibility.
• Modularization in DSM 6.1 Beta includes USB Copy, File Station, and File indexing.

Package Center

• Automatically updates incompatible packages after the installation of DSM 6.1 Beta to boost your upgrading experience.

Compatibility and Installation

• DSM 6.1 Beta can only be installed on Synology products running DSM 6.0. Before starting, please log in to DSM and go to Control Panel > Update & Restore to install the latest DSM.
• Time Backup and HiDrive Backup will not be supported in DSM 6.1 and above.
• We can not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of third party packages, which are not developed by Synology.
• The desktop search widget “Search Now” does not support accessibility.
• Manual re-indexing is required for all files after upgrading to DSM 6.1 Beta. The file indexing service in Control Panel has been moved to the preference settings in Synology Universal Search.
• File Station requires manual installation on EDS14 launched for the first time.
• Due to infrastructure update, packages will need re-initialization after upgrading to DSM 6.1 Beta. The process will occupy a higher CPU usage and can take up to an hour depending on the number of packages installed.

What’s New in Packages

SMI-S Provider

• Introduces SMI-S Provider, optimized for Microsoft’s System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM)
  • SMI-S allows an IT administrator to manage multiple Synology NAS servers as storage destinations via SCVMM’s centralized user interface.

RADIUS Server

• The new cache mechanism supports offline authentication when Active Directory is unavailable.
• In addition to selecting only one authentication source, you can now select local system accounts plus one additional source against which RADIUS Server authenticates users:
  • Local system accounts + AD domain accounts
  • Local system accounts + LDAP service accounts
• Supports TLS 1.2 protocols to enhance the security on web browsers.

PHP 7.0

• Introduces PHP 7.0, the latest PHP version, which has a much better performance than previous ones.

Directory Server

• Supports Nested Group to provide better management methods.

File Station

• Supports tile view for browsing files.
• Supports browsing history as a drop-down list at a quick glance.
• File path is now editable and supports autocomplete to help you locate folders effortlessly. Minor bug fixes.

Apache HTTP Server 2.2

• Apache server has become an independent package to allow more flexible choices.