Learn more about Synology Licenses

Synology has a range of licenses for adding software functionality and additional hardware management that can be installed on their NAS servers. The types of licenses are divided into 7 categories:

    Licenses for the extension of the video surveillance system
    Licenses for extending universal virtualization software
    Licenses for extended virtualization of the Synology Disk Station operating system
    Licenses for client activation and advanced server for e-mail services
    Licenses for Synology Presto File Server proprietary high-performance data streaming
    Licenses for enabling data management on devices formatted with the exFAT file system
    Licenses for extending warranty plans

Licenses for Video Surveillance

By entering the license keys in the Surveillance Station user interface, it will be possible to configure and manage multiple surveillance devices in Synology products. The 4 or 8 device license packs will allow you to use 4 or 8 devices respectively under a single license key which allows for full activation.

In most cases, each IP camera, I / O module and access controller requires only one license, and each transaction device requires two licenses. For some cameras, however, different billing methods are provided. See the section below for more information.

To know the maximum number of surveillance devices supported on each Synology product, refer to the specifications of each model.

Note:

    Surveillance Station running on Virtual DSM does not include any default device licenses.
    Default license keys cannot be migrated.
    NVR is a surveillance product and the default license of NVR216 / NVR1218 is for four devices.
    Purchased licenses can be migrated.

Special billing methods

Synology Surveillance Station has several billing methods for particular cameras, such as panoramic cameras, multi-lens and video servers for analog cameras. For details on supported cameras, refer to the list of supported cameras.

Camera type Billing method Example License required
Standard For AXIS P1347 camera 1
Overview For AXIS M3007 camera 1
Multi lens Fixed lens For ArecontVision AV8185DN 1 camera
Lenses with independent IP For AXIS Q3709-PVE 3 channel
Removable lens For AXIS F44 5 channel
Video server For Vivotek VS8801 channel 8

In the previous table you can see a detailed example of our billing method for four different types of cameras. Some panoramic cameras (for example Axis M3007) that support native image correction may offer more than one transmission at a time (for example, viewing divided into four, double panoramic and viewing the original). Each standard and panoramic camera requires only one license.

There are two types of cameras with multiple lenses: with fixed and removable lenses. Fixed lens cameras that offer more than one transmission at a time require only one license. For IP cameras with removable or fixed lens, Synology will charge per channel. Consider, for example, an Axis F44. The Axis F44 (with a maximum of four lenses) offers up to five channels for video streaming. The four channels correspond to the four objectives, while the fifth channel is the combined view of all four cameras. To view all five channels in Surveillance Station, Synology will charge five licenses. Let's consider another example, the Axis Q3709-PVE (with a maximum of three objectives). The Axis Q3709-PVE offers three video streaming channels. To view all three channels in Surveillance Station, Synology will charge three licenses.

Video servers such as Vivotek VS8801 can be connected to up to eight analog cameras. In this case, Synology will charge a fee for eight licenses. This rule also applies to video servers supported by Surveillance Station.

License activation and limitations

In Surveillance Station, go to Main Menu> License> click Add. The installation wizard will guide you through the process of adding device licenses to Surveillance Station.

Note:

    The license can only be applied to one Synology product at a time.
    To add or delete device licenses, online verification is required.
    If there is more than one Synology product in the CMS configuration, the included device license can be shared in the CMS cluster.