Shortcuts For Using Nas Server On A Mac

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I started using a Mac recently in a workplace where most people use Windows. We share with each other links to work files that exist on some server here. So I may get a URL via email that looks lik.

Shortcuts For Using Nas Server On A Mac Pro
Synology Nas Server

Mapping a network drive is the process of linking your Mac to a network attached storage device. Unlike installed hardware, OS X does not automatically detect network devices; we need to install them and set them up before we can use them. It’s a slightly inconvenient extra step that many people who are new to OS X won’t be familiar with, so here is how to map a network drive on Mac.

Also see our article How to Password Protect a Zip File in MacOS

Whether you’re a business or home user, network storage is an excellent resource. For businesses, network storage comes in the form of server storage, SANs (Storage Area Network), NAS (Network Attached Storage), and cloud services. Home users can utilize the same technologies, but would have less use or budget for SANs and are more likely to use NAS or cloud storage.

What is a network drive?

If you’re a computer newbie, we should cover the basics first. So what is a network drive? What is a SAN and NAS and what can they do for you?

A network drive is any type of storage connected to a router. These are usually made up of computers that act as servers to provide storage, a NAS or SAN. A NAS device can be as simple as an external hard drive connected to your home router or as complicated as a dedicated NAS device with its own hardware and multiple drives. Either way, the device attaches to your router via Ethernet and makes its drives available to authorized users. It is a great way to have central storage that everyone can use.

A SAN is essentially a more complicated NAS that can have multiple drives available from within the network. These typically aren’t used in a home setting, considering that sort of storage is typically unnecessary and it isn’t cheap.

NAS are useful for home users so they can share movies, music, files, or games across multiple computers within the same house, apartment block, dorm, or other sort of set up. Cheap to buy and simple to set up, they are very popular indeed.

Cloud storage is the one most people have heard of it. Your data is stored remotely on servers that are access through the internet, and it’s maintained by cloud storage service providers. Much like you can have different internet service providers, you can have different cloud storage service providers.

So that’s what you need to know about network drives. Now let us get on with attaching one to your Mac.

Map a network drive on Mac

Once OS X finds a network drive, you will be able to connect to it and access the resources you have permission to access. We can configure OS X to automatically mount the drive in the future to save having to do this every time you want to access something. Mounting is the technical term for opening the drive to use it.

Open Finder and select Go.
Select Connect to Server and enter the address of the network drive. The format will likely be something like ‘smb://NASdrivename/diskorfoldername’ or ‘smb://192.168.1.15/ diskorfoldername’.
Select the ‘+’ icon to add it to your favorites list.
Enter the username and password to access the resource when prompted. Select ‘Remember this password in my keychain’ to avoid having to enter the login every time.
Select the new icon to access the contents of the network drive.

As you enter the login details of the network drive you should see a new drive icon appear on your desktop. This will be the share. Now you can double click or right click to access the contents of that drive as you would any other.

If you don’t have the network address to hand, you can do one of two things. Select the little clock icon to reconnect to a previously used network drive or Browse. Browse will perform a quick search of your network to locate the network drive if the drive has been set up for network discovery, which is automatic on most network devices. Once the drive is located, select it and click the ‘+’ icon as above, and then follow the rest of the steps as usual.

Automatically connect to a network drive on Mac

I mentioned earlier that you can configure OS X to automatically mount a network drive every time you start your Mac. This makes it easy to access shared resources with the least amount of effort. Here’s how you can do it:

Shortcuts For Using Nas Server On A Mac Pro

Perform the above steps to map the network drive.
Open System Preferences (the silver and black icon with the gear in the middle, somewhere around the center of the dock) and select Users & Groups.
Select Login Items and uncheck the lock icon in the bottom left.
Drag the network drive icon into the Users & Groups window to link.
Check Hide next to the drive to stop it opening a window.

From now on, every time you log in or reboot your Mac, the network drive will appear and be available for use the same as your installed drives. Now you should be able to access shared resources on any network you are connected to at the time.

So that’s how to map a network drive on Mac. Simple when you know how to do it, isn’t it?

About Qfinder Pro

Qfinder Pro is a utility that allows you to quickly search and manage your NAS under the same network. The following operating systems support Qfinder Pro: Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and Google Chrome OS.

Searching and Connecting to a NAS Using Qfinder Pro

Open Qfinder Pro.
Qfinder Pro automatically searches and displays all QNAP NAS on the same network.
Tip: If you cannot find the NAS, make sure that it is on the same network as your computer.
Identify the NAS you want to connect to from the list.
Important: Check the NAS MAC address to ensure the NAS on the list is yours.
Double-click the NAS.
Qfinder Pro connects to the NAS.

Modifying the NAS Settings Using Qfinder Pro

Synology Nas Server

Open Qfinder Pro.
Qfinder Pro automatically searches and displays all QNAP NAS on the same network.
Tip: If you cannot find the NAS, make sure that it is on the same network as your computer.
Select the NAS you want to modify from the list.
Important: Check the NAS MAC address to ensure the NAS on the list is yours.
Click Settings > General Settings.
The Login window appears.
Enter your username and password.
Click OK.
The configuration window appears.
Modify the settings.
Click OK.

Updating the NAS Firmware Using Qfinder Pro

Open Qfinder Pro.
Qfinder Pro automatically searches and displays all QNAP NAS on the same network.
Tip: If you cannot find the NAS, make sure that it is on the same network as your computer.
Select the NAS you want to modify from the list.
Important: Check the NAS MAC address to ensure the NAS on the list is yours.
Click Tools > Update Firmware.
The Login window appears.
Enter your username and password.
Click OK.
The Update Firmware window appears.

Select an update option.

Option	User Action
Automatically download the latest update	Select Automatically update to the latest firmware version. The latest firmware details appear. Optional: Read the release notes.
Manually upload the firmware image	Select Use a firmware image file. Click Browse.The file browser window appears. Locate and select the firmware image.

Click Start.
Qfinder Pro updates the NAS firmware.

Mounting NAS Folders in Windows File Explorer Using Qfinder Pro

To save time from logging in, you can use Storage Plug & Connect to mount NAS folders on Windows File Explorer. Only Qfinder Pro for Windows currently supports this feature.

Open Qfinder Pro.
Qfinder Pro automatically searches and lists all QNAP NAS on the same network.
Tip: If you cannot find the NAS, make sure that it is on the same network as your computer.
Select the NAS with the folders you want to mount from the list.
Important: Check the NAS MAC address to ensure the NAS on the list is yours.
Click Connect > Storage Plug & Connect.
The Login window appears.
Enter your username and password.
Click OK.
The Storage Plug & Connect window appears.
Qfinder Pro displays all available folders.
Double-click the folder you want to mount.
The Map a network drive window appears.
Specify a folder and drive name.
Tip: Select Automatically assign drive names to automatically assign drive names to mapped folders. You can go to Qfinder Pro > Preferences > General to deselect this option.
Click OK.
The mounted folder appears in Windows File Explorer.

Mounting an iSCSI Drive in Windows File Explorer Using Qfinder Pro

To save time from logging in, you can use Storage Plug & Connect to mount an iSCSI drive on Windows File Explorer. Only Qfinder Pro for Windows currently supports this feature.

Open Qfinder Pro.
Qfinder Pro automatically searches and lists all QNAP NAS on the same network.
Tip: If you cannot find the NAS, make sure that it is on the same network as your computer.
Select the NAS with the folders you want to mount from the list.
Important: Check the NAS MAC address to ensure the NAS on the list is yours.
Click Connect > Storage Plug & Connect.
The Login window appears.
Enter your username and password.
Click OK.
The Storage Plug & Connect window appears.
Double-click Create a Virtual Disk (iSCSI).
The Create Virtual Disk window appears.
Specify the virtual disk information.
Click OK.
The newly created iSCSI is displayed.
The mounted virtual disk appears in Windows File Explorer.

Availability and Requirements

Qfinder Pro for Windows and for Mac are available in QNAP Utilities.

The following operating systems support Qfinder Pro.

Platform	Versions
Windows	Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 8 Windows 7 Windows Vista (SP3) Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2
MAC	macOS Mojave (10.14) macOS High Sierra (10.13) macOS Sierra (10.12) OS X El Capitan (10.11) Note: For OS X Yosemite (10.10) or earlier OS versions, use Qfinder Pro for Mac 2.6.x or an earlier version.
Linux	Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Ubuntu 18.04 LTS