Xpenology – The Definitive Guide

What is Xpenology?

Xpenology is a boot-loader for Synology’s operating system which is called DSM (Disk Station Manager) and is what they use on their NAS devices. DSM is running on a custom Linux version developed by Synology. Its optimized for running on a NAS server with all of the features you often need in a NAS device.

Xpenology creates the possibility to run the Synology

DSM on any x86 device like any pc or self-built NAS. So you can benefit from the powerful multimedia- and cloud-features of DSM without buying the hardware NAS from Synology. A lot of people prefer this because they can pick out there own (more powerful) processor and RAM to handle things like trans-coding video.

This will also save money and make you more flexible in the long term.

It’s also possible to natively install and run apps on DSM using their package manager. Think of the package manager like its own app store where you can download (and manage the update process) of each application. This includes some useful tools and packages like git, other version-control systems, cms like WordPress, LDAP-servers, your own mail server, the popular “Docker” and even a surveillance application where you can control and manage IP cameras in your home or business.

I think this is an important thing because Synology offers really great support. They’re smart using Linux and would fix strange bugs remote over ssh. You should decide if its worth from you to buy a stock-NAS to benefit from them.

Especially for end-users which less or none experience in IT/Linux, it would be a better deal for them to buy a Synology NAS, switch it on and have fun without caring about the backend technology.

DSM on any x86 device like any pc or self-built NAS. So you can benefit from the powerful multimedia- and cloud-features of DSM without buying the hardware NAS from Synology. A lot of people prefer this because they can pick out there own (more powerful) processor and RAM to handle things like trans-coding video.

So in this blog we would like to learn, install, troubleshoot problems based on Xpenology based NAS system.