Networking – How to set up a Synology NAS so it can be accessed by URL/name instead of by IP address

Ok, based on what you've said here's my guess/suggestions...

Assumptions/guesses about configuration:

• Your "Diskstation" NAS is using DHCP to get it's IP.
• Your DHCP is being handed out by your router, and in those DHCP settings it's giving out itself as the DNS server for clients to use.
• Your router is aware of the host names of the devices that requested DHCP from it, and it adds those host names to its internal name (DNS) records.
• Anyone using the router as their DNS server will have those host names resolved.
• Your PC is using the Windows server as its DNS server.
• You have no record in your Windows DNS server for the "Diskstation" host.
• You Windows DNS server is not setup to forward unknown requests to the router.
• Therefor any machine that requests a name lookup for the "Diskstation" host from the Window DNS server isn't going to get an address returned.

Short Solution 1):

• Set your PC to use the router as its DNS.

While this will work, it's a bad idea, as this will greatly slow down your domain logins while it tries to find the Domain Controller (usually quickly found via a DNS lookup).

Short Solution 2):

• Setup the Windows DNS server to forward requests for unknown hosts to the router.

The router will get those requests that the Windows DNS doesn't have entries for, and answer with the right IP (if it's a host the router knows about, which the Diskstaiton should be).

Suggestion solution:

1. Setup DHCP on the Windows server.
2. Disable the DCHP server in the router.
3. Configure Windows DHCP to be allowed to update DNS records of the Windows DNS server.
4. Configure windows DHCP to hand out the Windows server as the primary/only DNS server for clients to use.
5. Setup the Windows DNS server to forward requests for unknown hosts to the router, or directly to your ISP's DNS (or a public one like Google's or OpenDNS or whatever).

By using the Windows DHCP integrated with Windows' DNS server means that you can/will have DNS entries automatically added/updated for any devices that successfully use the DHCP server (ie: your NAS).

As above, the Windows DNS will try to answer first, and if it doesn't have a record for that host it'll pass it up the DNS server chain.

You have 3 options.

1) Check your router's DHCP table for the address assigned.

2) Configure the device with a static IP

3) Set up a static DHCP assignment on your router

You're right as to the fact that it's possible the NAS will grab a new IP address with method 1. But most likely that's not going to happen if you have a small network.

I'd say that best method is to use 2 and remember the address. Just be sure to give it an address outside of the DHCP scope.