I'm looking to purchase a Synology NAS soon and I'm trying to get a better understanding of how to set up all of the wirings. To cut costs, I'm trying to see if I can skip getting an ethernet switch since I don't have too many devices that need to be wired. That being said is my desktop computer able to access the NAS while the desktop and the NAS are both connected to the router but not to each other?
So for example:
I know it's very common to have a setup like:
But the issue I'm having is the need of having a switch when I introduce a second computer into the equation like:
I believe this could be improved to something like:
I have my laptop(for work) and desktop on the same desk in my office that share the same monitors and I'd like to have both computers access the NAS at the same time and NOT have to run two separate ethernet cables in parallel across the room directly to the NAS's ethernet ports. So if possible I'm also wondering if I can daisy chain the access of a NAS off of another computer using SMB like:
Any advice would be appreciated!
Yes! Just as computers on the same local network can talk to each other, your computer will be able to talk to your NAS (which is really just another type of computer). NAS stands for Network Area Storage. The preferred usage of a home NAS is to plug it into your router and communicate with it via the network interface. I'm sure that whichever NAS you select, it will have a fairly straightforward and well-documented setup process detailed in-box.
A switch isn't normally necessary in a basic home network. You can read about the difference between routers and switches in this article. Your correct diagram should have the router at the center with everything connected to it and no other connections. It's the router's job to route all communication between devices on your home network as well as to allow them all to share a single IP address, i.e. the one assigned to you by your ISP, which they can use to communicate with devices outside your home network, e.g. on the internet.
There are lots of beginner's guides to home networking available for your perusal. I don't have any opinions about any particular one, but here is the top google result for "beginner's guide to home networking."
