Synology NAS & Mac & iSCSI initiator

[Enquiries]

Hi there. I am following your guide for video editing on a NAS - An Idiot's guide. I am looking at how to connect to a Mac using an iSCSi initiator. your guide predominantly refers to connecting to a PC with some reference to Mac. I have downloaded the Kernsafe initiator and am in the process of setting it up. It has now asked me to identifty and connect to a target drive. In doing so it has indicated i need to Initialise the NAS "drive". I had set up a 1 TB target lun.

I am concerned how this will impact the NAS (1019+ - set up with just one volume across the 5 drives. synology hybrid raid) - ie if i format the drive for apple, how will this work ? will it work or will it adversely impact the NAS ? what format should I use ? Am I setting it up correctly at all ?

thanks Mike

[ed]

It’s great that you’re diving into video editing on your Synology NAS with iSCSI, but I totally understand your concerns about potentially impacting your existing NAS setup. Let’s walk through this carefully.

Understanding iSCSI and LUNs:
iSCSI LUN: When you create an iSCSI LUN (Logical Unit Number) on your Synology NAS, it’s like carving out a specific portion of your NAS storage to be used as if it were a local disk on another machine—in your case, your Mac.
Impact on Existing NAS Setup: Creating and using an iSCSI LUN won’t interfere with your existing NAS setup (e.g., your Synology Hybrid RAID) as long as you’re careful about which storage you’re allocating to the LUN.
Setting Up the iSCSI LUN:
Target LUN Setup: You mentioned you’ve set up a 1TB LUN. This LUN is essentially a virtual disk that your Mac will see as a local drive. The rest of your NAS storage remains unaffected.
Initialization and Formatting: When the Kernsafe iSCSI initiator asks you to initialize the LUN on your Mac, it’s only asking to format this 1TB virtual disk—not your entire NAS. You should go ahead and format the LUN with the APFS or HFS+ file system, whichever you prefer for your Mac.
Will This Impact the NAS?
Formatting the LUN: Formatting the LUN on your Mac won’t impact the rest of your NAS. It’s like formatting an external hard drive connected to your Mac—it doesn’t affect other drives or volumes.
NAS Integrity: The rest of your data and volumes on the NAS will stay intact and unaffected by the formatting of the iSCSI LUN.
Are You Setting It Up Correctly?
Yes, you’re on the right track: You’re correctly setting up a dedicated portion of your NAS storage for use with your Mac via iSCSI. Once formatted, this LUN will appear on your Mac as a local drive, ideal for tasks like video editing.