hi, in this video i will guide you to build a client computer system without hard disk
I will show you how to turn your Synology NAS into a server for a diskless system
Client computer running Windows 10 operating system
You can also apply the same method with Xpenology NAS
Client PC without a hard drive, booted over the local network and running Windows 10
So how to do that
Watch the full video to see how
My Synology NAS server has ip address 192.168.1.10
First you install the DHCP server application for Synology NAS
The DHCP server will provide the ip address to the client computer
Here I set the DNS addresses to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1
You set the ip address to match your local ip address range to ensure the client is on the same network as the Synology NAS
The gateway ip address is 192.168.1.1
This is my router IP address
We will enable pxe later in the video because it needs some boot files
After installing and configuring the DHCP server, create a new folder named pxeboot
This folder will store the files needed for network boot
You give permission to which account can access the pxeboot folder
So I have created the pxeboot folder
Next you enable NFS
After activating the NFS service, you activate the TFTP service and select the root folder that is the newly created folder, the pxeboot folder
After enabling the NFS service, you will grant permissions to the newly created folder, the pxeboot folder
Next you create a hard drive for the client
SAN Manager
You create a new iscsi target
Here you can customize iqn to suit your wishes
Or you can use default iqn generated by Synology
Next is the hard drive size for the client
Because the client runs Windows 10, I recommend that you set the size to at least 30GB
So I finished creating an iSCSI Target
Don't forget to enable allowing multiple sessions to connect to iSCSI Target
The iqn information will help you to connect remotely later in the video
As mentioned in the step before network boot you need some boot support files
You should create those files on Linux operating system
Here I use Ubuntu OS
Since my computer is running Windows 11 operating system, I will create a virtual machine running Ubuntu operating system
You can choose your favorite hypervisor like VirtualBox, HyperV
And here I use VMware Workstation player
It is recommended to create a virtual machine running Ubuntu Desktop operating system to make it easier to upload files after creation
After you have the iso file, create a new Ubuntu virtual machine
It is recommended to create a virtual machine running Ubuntu Desktop operating system to make it easier to upload files after creation
It is recommended to set up the network in bridge mode so that the virtual machine is on the same network as the Synology NAS
You can run Ubuntu live and don't need to install the operating system
But I will install a complete Ubuntu virtual machine to avoid errors when creating files
So I've got a virtual machine running Ubuntu
Try to check if the virtual machine can connect to the Synology NAS
You need to make sure the virtual machine can connect to the Synology NAS to be able to upload files after creation
So my virtual machine has successfully connected to the NAS server
Next, I created the startup files as mentioned
You open the command window and update with the command sudo apt update
Next command you add some packages to Ubuntu's repositories
And this command is the necessary packages for ipxe
Next navigate to the downloads folder
To download the necessary files for building the boot files you use the following command
This is the folder where the files are downloaded
Navigate to the ipxe/src directory
Next you use the text editor nano to open the configuration file
There are some protocols that are not enabled for ipxe so you need to update the configuration file
If you want to enable any protocol just replace undef with define
Here I enable HTTPS, FTP and NFS
Actually in this video you only use NFS
Next you create a new text file named boot.ipxe
You update the text file content as follows
Set the client's network to DHCP
The client will get the ip address from the DHCP server
After the client receives the ip address, you will let the client connect to the iscsi target hard drive
To connect to iscsi target hard drive, you need to update the ip address of Synology
Next is LUN id, here LUN id is 1
Finally your iqn
You update the above information in accordance with your Synology NAS
Completed boot.ipxe file
Don't forget to save before closing the file
Once you get the boot.ipxe file you create the boot files that match the client computer's motherboard
The first file is ipxe.pxe
This file is for motherboards using BIOS
Next is the file undionly.kpxe
This file is also for motherboards using BIOS
The next file is undionly.kkpxe
Another file for motherboards using BIOS
The 4th file is also the last file named ipxe.efi
This last file is for motherboards using UEFI
After creating 4 files, copy these files to the Downloads folder before uploading to Synology
These are the files you will get, which I will upload to the NAS server
You upload these files and save them in the pxeboot folder
The task of the Ubuntu virtual machine is done, you can turn it off or delete it if you want
Double check to make sure the files have been successfully uploaded to Synology
You browse the pxeboot folder and check the boot files
After obtaining the desired files, you set up a DHCP server
You enable PXE and select the appropriate boot file for the client computer
My client uses a motherboard that supports BIOS so I set the boot file to undionly.kpxe
Next is to download the Windows 10 operating system image file
Many thanks to ccboot for creating Windows 10 operating system images
You just need to download and clone to your iscsi target
To download you use torrent client software
This is one of the torrent clients you can use
After the installation is complete, add the link and start downloading Windows 10 image
The Windows 10 image file is about 6GB in size so please wait patiently for it to download
This is the compressed file you get, you use decompression software like Winrar or 7zip
The file after extracting has the extension vhd so you mount it on the Windows operating system
Your computer will appear a new hard drive, which is your Windows 10 image file
So how to clone Windows 10 image onto iSCSI Target
First you use iscsi initiator available on Windows operating system to connect to iscsi target on Synology NAS
You need to discover by NAS server ip address
And this is the iscsi target that I want to connect to, I will connect to it
Connected
There will also be a message on the NAS server letting you know that a connection has been established
You will see your computer appear a new hard drive
Next I will clone the Windows 10 image to the iscsi target I have connected
The software commonly used to clone between two hard drives is Macrium Reflect
A free software for personal needs
You install Macrium Reflect software like other software
Here is the list of hard drives
You choose the source hard drive and the destination hard drive before clone
Clone speed between two hard drives depends on your local network bandwidth
You wait patiently when clone between two hard drives
Complete
So the settings on the Synology NAS are complete
Time to check the results
You connect the client computer using a wired network to the same local network as the Synology NAS
Next you let the client boot over the network and wait for the results
Successful connection
Successful start
Thanks for watching, don't forget to like and subscribe
This way you have turned your Synology NAS into a hard diskless server