TinkerTry'd Synology DiskStation DS1522+ NAS featuring AMD Ryzen, 10GbE, 5 8TB HDDs and 2 NVMe SSDs!

Earlier this summer, Synology reached out to me to discuss the possibly of turning in some long term evaluation NAS equipment in return for some hands-on time with the very new Synology 1522+ featuring AMD Ryzen and ECC memory capability. Naturally, I said yes, especially since they were offering…

Aug 16 2022

Synology DSM 7.0 Announced, Release Candidate now available featuring a faster UI and improved ease-of-use ease-of-use

TinkerTry Home Lab Testing of Synology DS1618+ and DS1621xs+. DSM 6.2.x at left, DSM 7.x at right. Click/tap twice to zoom in. DSM 7 has made getting started even easier. Introduction This article is a natural follow-on to my previous, closely-related article about some hands-on time I had with…

Jun 23 2021

Synology DiskStation DS1621xs+ NAS announced featuring VMware agentless backup, Xeon D, 10G and optional M.2 NVMe caching SSDs

Introduction This article is an update to my previous, closely-related article about some hands-on time I had with this 2018 product: Synology DiskStation DS1618+ NAS First Look featuring 10GbE! Mar 11 2019 which generated many reader comments where it became evident that others felt much as I…

Sep 10 2020

NAKIVO Backup & Replication v10 released with VMware vSphere 7.0 support, Linux workstation backup, and backup to Wasabi

Turn Your QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, WD, or Netgear NAS into a VM Backup Appliance, claiming to improve backup performance by up to 2X and offload your IT infrastructure Last year, I wrote about NAKIVO v8.5.2 with detailed walk-thru install and configure videos, see that detailed article here, and it…

Jul 29 2020

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 4.0 demo of a fast Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1909 backup

On January 21 2020, Microsoft began allowing anybody who clicks on "Check for updates" to get their Windows 10 Version 1909. That means a lot of folks have it by now, and with the New Veeam Availability Suite v10 set to launch tomorrow, and it's likely that the Veeam Agent for Microsoft…

Feb 17 2020

Hear about the amazing Veeam Vanguard program. Maybe my dozen years of Veeam stories will inspire you to apply by Jan 21 2020!

Put your nomination(s) in by January 21 2020, all the instructions are in Nikola Pejková's post here. You can nominate yourself (or be nominated by another person), so don’t be shy and apply by sending your profile summary or CV to As of Jan 21 2020, nominations are now closed. Existing Vanguards re…

Jan 15 2020

Travel Tech for my 10 days of travel with my parents to Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Italy before and after 2019 Veeam Vanguard Summit in Prague

See also last year's Travel Tech for my 10 days of driving around Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic for Veeam Vanguard Summit in Prague Veeam Vanguard 2015 to 2019 Back in July, a very exciting email arrived from Rick Vanover at Veeam: From: Rick Vanover Date: July 16, 2019 at 6:06:47 AM CDT…

Oct 9 2019

NAKIVO Backup & Replication v9.0 adds agent based physical Windows Server backups to existing VMware 6.7 and Hyper-V 2019 backup capabilities

Turn Your QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, WD, or Netgear NAS into a VM Backup Appliance, claiming to improve backup performance by up to 2X and offload your IT infrastructure I recently wrote about NAKIVO v8.5.2 with detailed walk-thru install and configure videos, see that detailed article here: NAKIVO…

Jul 24 2019

Microsoft Windows 10 May 2019 Update / Windows Server 2019 May 2019 Update, version 1903 downloads now available

Table of Contents Here's all the links for you, jumping you right down to the section you're most interested in below: Microsoft Windows Update Microsoft Windows Download Microsoft Windows Evaluation Center Microsoft Visual Studio Downloads Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) …

May 27 2019

NAKIVO Backup & Replication v8.5.2 arrives with VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 2 support

Turn Your QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, WD, or Netgear NAS into a VM Backup Appliance, claiming to improve backup performance by up to 2X and offload your IT infrastructure It's no secret that I appreciate the simplicity of installing the NAKIVO Backup & Replication appliance in my home's personal…

May 27 2019

Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 3.0.2 supports Microsoft Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903)

May 28 2019 update, official 1903 support doesn't arrive until 3.0.2 next month (June), details from Anton Gostev below. Jul 22 2019 update, Official 1903 support arrived with 3.0.2 on July 16 2019, see release notes, download, and more details below, featuring a manual 3.0.1 to 3.0.2 simple…

May 27 2019

New Veeam Backup & Replication Community Edition for home labs is free!

Dear Home Lab Enthusiast with data to protect: Today's Veeam announcement was big. A way to run enterprise level software with all the features you need for a lab environment, with none of the guilt. That's right, up to 10 VMs, and physical systems too! Got your attention? Read on! I started using…

Mar 26 2019

Synology DiskStation DS1618+ NAS First Look featuring 10GbE!

Disclosure - This test unit was provided by Synology. It's an evaluation, with no promises or stipulations about what content I produce. No money, no Synology advertisements placed. "TinkerTry.com, LLC" may earn a modest commission from readers who use the shopping links below. Backstory…

Mar 11 2019

Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 download links for re-released version 1809 October 2018 Update

Table of Contents Here's all the links for you, jumping you right down to the section you're most interested in below: Microsoft Windows Update Microsoft Windows Download Microsoft Windows Evaluation Center Microsoft Visual Studio Downloads Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) …

Nov 20 2018

Travel Tech for my 10 days of driving around Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic for Veeam Vanguard Summit in Prague

This article was written during the few moments I was in various hotel rooms. Enjoying my time with my wife and with fellow bloggers from across the globe were the priority. You can jump right down to the tech and/or the photos. Backstory How VVols landed me in Germany Ever since I was 11, I wanted…

Oct 15 2018

NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.5 arrives with VMware vSphere 6.7 support

Turn Your QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, WD, or Netgear NAS into a VM Backup Appliance, claiming to improve backup performance by up to 2X and offload your IT infrastructure It's no secret that I appreciate the simplicity of installing the NAKIVO Backup & Replication appliance in my home's personal…

Aug 1 2018

Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 3a RTM is now available featuring VMware vSphere 6.7 support

If you've been watching my article: Status of VMware vSphere 6.7 support by VM backup companies Apr 19 2018 you already know what's been happening with the VM backup companies trying to get full vSphere 6.7 support out the door within about 60 to 90 days of its announcement and release: …

Jun 26 2018

USB Image Tool for Windows easily backs up and restores your complete VMware ESXi hypervisor on USB or SD flash drives, a simple/free clone for peace of mind before patching or upgrading

I created the video below that features a very detailed walk-through of an imaging process of the ESXi hypervisor installation that seems to work quite well for me. I tested this heavily when tinkering with various vSphere 6.5 and 6.7 versions in my home lab. While the use of such an tool isn't…

Jun 14 2018

VeeamON 2018 Recap

Image above adapted from Anthony Spiteri's excellent VeeamON 2018 Recap. See also my extensive, picture-filled @paulbraren #VeeamON timeline. I may not have been VMware's first choice to cover this Other Veeam Vanguards from VMware's Technical Marketing team were unable to attend due to…

May 21 2018

Status of VMware vSphere 6.7 support by VM backup companies

Above image adapted from What's New with vSphere 6 HOL. Table of Contents, in alphabetic order: Altaro VM Backup Commvault Micro Focus VM Explorer Virtual Machine Backup NAKIVO Backup & Replication Unitrends Backup Veeam Backup & Replication This short article is really just about one of…

Apr 19 2018

NAKIVO v7.4 beta is now open!

Turn Your QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, or WD NAS into a VM Backup Appliance - Improve backup performance by up to 2X and offload your IT infrastructure It's no secret that I quite enjoy the simplicity of installing the NAKIVO Backup & Replication appliance in a home lab. Getting your most precious…

Mar 21 2018

NAKIVO Backup & Replication v7.3 released with faster backup speeds for deduplication appliances

click to view "What's New in v7.3" Full NAKIVO v7 install/configure demo video below is available, using my home lab's vSphere 6.5 environment! I haven't had a chance to test v7.3 yet, as it just came out today, and I haven't gotten my hands on the NFR version yet. The trial version is…

Nov 28 2017

Veeam Availability Suite 9.5 Update 2 has full vSphere 6.5 Update 1 support, free NFR also available for Veeam Agent for Windows, Linux, and Backup for MS Office 365

Turns out the question of what backup solution to use to protect a home lab's VMs in a home lab comes up a lot here at TinkerTry, especially when a major new release of vSphere arrives on the scene. It's become such an important thing to consider for IT Pros working off the NFR code…

Aug 23 2017

VeeamON 2017 - Availability Suite v10 announced featuring backup of NASs and built-in Management for new Veeam Agent for Windows v2, unifying VM & PC backups

If you've read TinkerTry for a while, you'll know I've enjoyed relying on Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE, right through version 1.5, to protect multiple physical PCs in my family. Several times a year, I'll do a full restore of important PCs to a VM, to be absolutely sure my backups are good.…

May 31 2017