Posts

Identify Unnecessary Homebrew Package Installations

Posted on June 26, 2021

As a Mac user, Homebrew is a must-have to install development packages and keep them up-to-date. And with Homebrew Cask, it can install and update GUI applications, too. However, after a few years of usage and frequent updates, the number of packages installed has increased a lot. Some are due... [Read More]
Secure Home Network: Disable EdgeOS SSH and GUI Access from WAN Interface

Posted on June 7, 2021

Today, I accidently accessed the standard HTTP and HTTPS endpoint at my home’s DNS name after setting up DDNS, and the EdgeOS GUI shows up. In addition, I can SSH to my DNS name and access EdgeOS from terminal. I have set up firewall rules to block any access from... [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- EdgeOS
Secure Home Network: Access Your Home Assistant from Internet

Posted on June 6, 2021

Home Assistant is great for home automation. I set it up on my Synology NAS in a Docker container and have been gradually adding more integrations and automations to it. Home Assistant’s iOS app is another powerful way to add input to my home automation. It can provide my location... [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- EdgeOS
- NAS
- IoT
Secure Home Network: Create Your Own Syslog Server on Synology NAS

Posted on May 27, 2021

Syslog stands for System Logging Protocol and is a standard protocol used to send system log or event messages to a specific server, called a syslog server. It is primarily used to collect various device logs from several different machines in a central location for monitoring and review. It was... [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- NAS
Fix the Map Module in Lightroom 6

Posted on May 10, 2021

In my previous post, I went over my photo management and editing workflow using the perpetual Lightroom 6. But since December 1, 2018, the Map functionality in Lightroom 6 stopped working. It’s largely Google’s fault than Adobe’s fault, as Google decided to make breaking changes to Google Map’s pricing model... [Read More]
Tags:
- Photography
Import New Lens and Camera Profile into Lightroom 6

Posted on May 10, 2021

In my previous post, I went over my photo management and editing workflow using the perpetual Lightroom 6. However, it is not longer updated with newer lens and cameras. While Sony FE lenses can bake lens corrections into the RAW file, as do the Tamron FE trinity, it would be... [Read More]
Tags:
- Photography
My Photo Management and Editing Workflow

Posted on May 9, 2021

I’m a casual photographer. I know how to use a (proper) camera and other gears. I go out and take random photos in my leisure time and on trips. I’m not a heavy user; I don’t take photos daily or edit them very frequently. Once or twice a month, I... [Read More]
Tags:
Make Your Home Security System Smart with EnvisaLink

Posted on April 2, 2021

You probably have a security system in your home, mostly from Honeywell or ADT (they’re pretty much the same thing). The system has dumb-looking keypads or less likely, a touch screen system. But you still need to learn how to use them (they’re not entirely easy to use) and be... [Read More]
Tags:
Secure Home Network: Add Security Cameras

Posted on March 19, 2021

Home security is important to everyone. Security camera, once expensive, has now become very accessible, both in terms of unit price and ease of deployment. IP cameras that runs on IP network (in other words, require no special cabling) can be an effective addition to your home. [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- NAS
- HomeSecurity
- IoT
Automate Docker Container Updates on Synology NAS

Posted on January 30, 2021

Using Docker on Synology NAS is quite straightforward and can be accomplished via a nice web UI. Deploying a new container comes down to a few simple steps: download the image and launch with required parameters. I have quite a few containers running, including Pi-Hole and cloudflared Home Assistant HomeBridge... [Read More]
Tags:
- NAS
Secure Home Network: Configure Link Aggregation for Synology NAS and UniFi Switch

Posted on January 18, 2021

My Synology NAS (DS920+) has two Gigabit ethernet ports, and I have enough ports on my switch (UniFi Switch 8), I have configured link aggregation to fully utilize the bandwidth of the NAS device and get automatic failover in case either port fails. [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- NAS
Secure Home Network: Make Your IoT Devices Compatible with Apple HomeKit with Homebridge

Posted on January 17, 2021

Update May 10, 2021: Home Assistant has since greatly improved its usability for non-hardcore users with more UI-based configurations and it has native HomeKit support. I have migrated from Homebridge to Home Assistant. [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- IoT
Secure Home Network: How to Connect Synology NAS to Multiple VLANs

Posted on January 16, 2021

In a previous post, I discussed my setup of a Synology NAS. I have multiple VLANs at home, and I find a need to connect my Synology NAS to some of them. My NAS device has two network interfaces and can be connected to different VLANs on each interface. However,... [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- NAS
Secure Home Network: Configure IPv6 for Your Home Network

Posted on January 16, 2021

IPv6 has been around for a while, but surprisingly, not every ISP supports it. If your ISP supports it, you can enable it on your router. Given not all devices or everyone in the internet supports IPv6 yet (or never will), we will run dual-stack network that supports both IPv4... [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- EdgeOS
Secure Home Network: Build Your Own Private Cloud with NAS

Posted on January 1, 2021

As everyone’s digital footprint increases with more and more photos on phones, more and more digital (or “paperless”) documents from life and work, and as Covid-19 changes our lives to be more online, we now have a large amount of digital data lying around on our desktops, laptops, tablets, phones,... [Read More]
Tags:
- HomeNetwork
- NAS

Identify Unnecessary Homebrew Package Installations

Secure Home Network: Disable EdgeOS SSH and GUI Access from WAN Interface

Secure Home Network: Access Your Home Assistant from Internet

Secure Home Network: Create Your Own Syslog Server on Synology NAS

Fix the Map Module in Lightroom 6

Import New Lens and Camera Profile into Lightroom 6

My Photo Management and Editing Workflow

Make Your Home Security System Smart with EnvisaLink

Secure Home Network: Add Security Cameras

Automate Docker Container Updates on Synology NAS

Secure Home Network: Configure Link Aggregation for Synology NAS and UniFi Switch

Secure Home Network: Make Your IoT Devices Compatible with Apple HomeKit with Homebridge

Secure Home Network: How to Connect Synology NAS to Multiple VLANs

Secure Home Network: Configure IPv6 for Your Home Network

Secure Home Network: Build Your Own Private Cloud with NAS