User manual

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5.1.1 Join the NAS to Active Directory (Windows Server 2003/2008)
Active Directory is a Microsoft directory used in Windows environments to centrally store, share, and
manage the information and resources on the network. It is a hierarchical data centre which centrally
holds the information of the users, user groups, and the computers for secure access management.
The NAS supports Active Directory (AD). By joining the NAS to the Active Directory, all the user
accounts of the AD server will be imported to the NAS automatically. The AD users can use the same
set of user name and password to login the NAS
If you are using Active Directory with Windows Server 2008 R2, you must update the NAS firmware to
V3.2.0 or above to join the NAS to the AD.
Follow the steps below to join the QNAP NAS to the Windows Active Directory.
1. Login the NAS as an administrator. Go to “System Administration” > “General Settings” > “Date
and Time”. Set the date and time of the NAS, which must be consistent with the time of the AD
server. The maximum time difference allowed is 5 minutes.
2. Go to “System Administration” > “Network” > “TCP/IP”. Set the IP of the primary DNS server as
the IP of the Active Directory server that contains the DNS service. It must be the IP of the DNS
server that is used for your Active Directory. If you use an external DNS server, you will not be
able to join the domain.