How to setup Synology NAS for Hikvision IP camera

In this article will walk you through the steps for setting up Synology NAS (Network Attached Storage) for your Hikvision camera.

The procedure is the same for Hikvision NVR or DVR. We will do the settings using both protocols SMB/CIFS and NFS.

CIFS is the “Common Internet File System” used by Windows operating systems for file sharing. NFS is the “Network File System” for Unix and Linux operating systems.

For this example, we are using Synology DS112J and Hikvision camera DS-2CD2112-I5. The process is similar across all Hikvision cameras, as long as the firmware supports NAS.

Synology NAS on Hikvision Camera Systems

Step 1. Log in to the web page of the Synology NAS. In our case the IP address is http://10.102.103.206:5000 and the user name/password is admin/12345.
Step 2. Click Control Panel, and in the pop-up message box, click File Services.

Under Win/Mac/NFS tab, enable the NFS by tick the box in front of Enable NFS and click Apply to save the settings.
Step 3. Create a Shared Folder. Then click Shared Folder and create a shared folder.

In this case, we named it “TestNas” and after that click OK.
Step 4. Then go to NFS Permissions tab and click Create button. In the pop-up message box, enter the IP address.

In this case, my IP address is 10.102.103.x, so we entered 10.102.103.0/24 (Note: /24 means that the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0).

And then all the IP cameras in this segment can be mounted on this directory. Please also select No mapping for Squash option. Click OK to save the settings.
Step 5. And under NFS permission tab, you will see the mount path (file path) is /volume1/TestNas.
Step 6. Add NAS to an IP camera. Go to the web client of the Hikvision camera and select NFS as the mounting type and input the server address and file path, then click save.

Note: NFS mounting type does not require a username and password.
Step 7. Go back to Storage Management, tick the checkbox of the HDD No. and click Format.

After it is formatted, the NAS can be used for recording.

Things to keep in mind

A shared folder can be only attached to one IP camera. There might be a conflict that causes HDD error and video loss if a shared folder is attached to more than one IP camera.

When using NFS mount type, a shared folder will use up all the space in a volume, so it is suggested to create only one shared folder in a volume for only one IP camera to use.

NFS mount type does not require a user name/password when it is attached to an IP camera, so there is no need to create a user on the Synology NAS as well.

When assigning the NFS permission for NFS mount type, please select No mapping for Squash option.

When using NFS mount type, the file path format filled in an IP camera is /volume id/name of the shared folder. For example, if the volume id is 1 and the name of the shared folder is TestNas, the file path is /volume3/TestNas.

Adding Synology NAS to Hikvision camera via CIFS

Step 1. Log in to the web page of the Synology NAS. In our case the IP address of Synology NAS is http://10.102.103.206:5000 and the user name/password is admin/12345.
Step 2. Create a Shared Folder. Click Control Panel, and in the pop-up message box, click Shared Folder. Input the name of the new folder and click OK.

In this case, we named it “TestCIFS” under General tab and clicked OK. The file path is /TestCIFS in this case then.
Step 3. Create a User. Click Control Panel, and in the pop-up message box, click User and click Add button.

Then you will see the message box below, enter the username and password under Info tab.

In this case, ipc_test is the username and 12345 is the password for the newly added user. Click OK to save the settings.
Step 4. Then go to the User groups tab and select users by ticking the box on the right side. Click OK to go to the next step.
Step 5. Go to Permissions and assign the Read/Write permission of TestCIFS folder to the newly added user – ipc_test and click OK.
Step 6. In the following interface, you can configure the upper limit of the storage space. Quota control is only valid when using CIFS protocol and quota size cannot be zero or empty (for NFS protocol, it is invalid).

In this case, we tick the checkbox of Enable Quota, and enter the number 200, then the user ipc_test is able to use 200G space on the volume 1.

If you want the ipc_test to use all the storage space of the volume 1, you can leave the Enable Quota unchecked which is known as No Quota Mode. After configuration, click OK to finish.
Step 7. Add NAS to an IP camera. In the web client of the Hikvision camera, select SMB/CIFS as the mounting type input the file path, user info, and server address, and then click save.
Step 8. Go back to IP Camera Storage Management, tick the checkbox of the HDD No. and click Format. After it is formatted, the HDD can be used for recording.