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DW Spectrum - Add NAS Storage with the SAMBA Method

Updated

Expand Storage with NAS Devices (SAMBA Method)

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Affected Roles: Administrator, Power Users

Related DW Software: DW Spectrum Professional

Last Edit: March 30, 2026

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What Is A NAS Device?

NAS (Network-attached Storage) devices are networked appliances that contain one or more storage drives and are often arranged into logical, redundant storage containers or a RAID storage configuration. If needed, a NAS device can be added to a DW Spectrum Site to expand the Media Server’s storage capacity (the duration of which camera video can be archived). This can be done using the SAMBA (SMB) networking protocol method.

This article will outline how to add a DW Blackjack NAS to a DW Spectrum Server using the SAMBA networking method.

 

**NOTE: For security reasons, Windows 10 does not support SMB1 protocol. If an external storage device is still using SMB1, it will need a firmware upgrade to SMB2 or higher to connect to a DW Spectrum Site running on Windows 10.

As a workaround, you can try to enable SMB1 support on your Server. However, this is not recommended.

 

Supported/Affected Devices:

  • DW Blackjack NAS Series
  • DW Blackjack Server Series (Windows)

 

Adding a SAMBA-enabled NAS to a DW Spectrum Server

To add a NAS to a DW Spectrum Server using SMB:

  1. Make sure that the NAS you are attempting to connect has SAMBA installed and configured on the NAS device.

**IMPORTANT: By default, DW Spectrum Servers start to overwrite when the set Reserved Space limit is reached. When this happens, the Server sends standard SMB-delete requests to the NAS drive. If a Trash/Recycle bin is enabled, the NAS will send files to the bin instead. The server will not get necessary space sending new delete commands. Instead, it will eventually end up with a full drive and the inability to record any data until the bin has been emptied. File disposal buckets (Trash, Recycling Bins, etc.) must be disabled as a part of the configuration steps.

  1. From the Resource Panel, right-click on the target Server and select "Server Settings".

 

  1. Select the Storage Management tab, then click the Add External Storage button.

    The Add External Storage dialog box will display. Configure the following:

  • URL – enter the path/URL of the NAS
    • For example: “\\192.168.0.212\Recording1”
  • Login – enter the login ID of the NAS (if required)
    • Default for BJNAS: admin
  • Password – enter the login password of the NAS (if required)
    • Default for BJNAS: admin1234

 

  1. Once finished entering the NAS information, click the OK button to apply the settings.

**NOTE: If you are adding a DW Blackjack NAS model with two HDDs (DW-BJNAS12T, DW-BJNAS16T, DW-BJNAS20T), add the second external storage by using the URL “\\<BJNAS IP Address>\Recording2”.

  • Example: \\192.168.0.2121\Recording2

 

To Remove a SAMBA-enabled NAS Device from a DW Spectrum Server

To remove a NAS (w/SAMBA):

  1. In the Storage Management menu, right-click the URL to the NAS device in the list, then select Remove Storage.
  2. Press OK to apply the changes.

 

 

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