This article talks about how to mount a remote NAS folder to local computers. QNAP supports SMB/AFP/NFS/WebDAV protocols. We strongly recommend SMB.
TABLE OF CONTENT
As to mount a remote NAS to local computers, QNAP supports SMB/AFP/NFS/WebDAV protocols. All these settings are in ControlPanel -> Network&File Services.
1. SMB
SMB stands for Server Message Block provided by Microsoft to provide shared access to files on a network. SMB 1.0 is also called CIFS. SMB has now evolved to SMB 3.x since 2012.
QNAP side
SMB in QNAP is named as “Microsoft Networking”, hit on the “Microsoft Networking”, and check the box “Enable file service for Microsoft networking”, leave other options as default.
MAC side
Click “⌘+k” to activate “Connect to Server” or Desktop->Finder->Go->Connect to Server.
Type in “smb://host_ip” to connect to your NAS, if authentication requires, enter your NAS user name and password.
The mounted folder is located in Finder->Locations->host_ip. One advantage is all your shared folder in QNAP is mounted as whole.
2. AFP
AFP stands for Apple Filing Protocol which of course is developed and maintained by Apple. But unfortunately, Apple has deprecated AFP since OSX 10.9. Even there are some third-party implementations of AFP which enable AFP on Unix-like system and Windows Server, I totally not recommend such protocol.
QNAP side
AFP in QNAP is named as “Apple Networking”, hit on the “Apple Networking”, and check the box “Enable AFP” and leave other options as default.
MAC side
Click “⌘+k” to activate “Connect to Server” or Desktop->Finder->Go->Connect to Server.
Type in “afp://host_ip” to connect to your NAS, if authentication requires, enter your NAS user name and password.
The mounted folder is located in Finder->Locations->NAS_NAME(AFP).
3. NFS
NFS stands for Network File System is a distributed file system protocol originally developed by SUN. And has now evolve to version V4.2 in 2016.
QNAP side
Unlike SMB and AFP, NFS’s right control is much more complicate, You should grant right to each folder for each user.
NFS in QNAP is named as “NFS service”, hit on the “NFS service”, and check all the boxes.
MAC side
Click “⌘+k” to activate “Connect to Server” or Desktop->Finder->Go->Connect to Server.
Unlike SMB/AFP, your should add folder name in your connection url.
Type in “nfs://host_ip/folder_name” to connect to your NAS shared folder, if authentication requires, enter your NAS user name and password.
Notice: If you connect to “nfs://host_ip”, an error will pop up.
4. WebDAV
WebDAV stands for Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a protocol served over HTTP. You can access to your shared folders on your Browser.
QNAP side
WebDAV in QNAP is named as “WebDAV”, hit on the “WebDAV”, and check “Enable WebDAV”. If you want to change the HTTP port, you can easily modify them on the dialog.
MAC side
Unlike the previous protocols, the shared folders are mounted on Finder, just like they are local regular folders.
WebDAV shared folders are accessed over Browsers. Open any browser app. And type the http://host_ip:port_num/folder_name.
I’ve tried http://host_ip:port_num, but got a 403 Forbidden error
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