Overview

Reverse proxy lets you publish internal apps on friendly subdomains without exposing ports directly.

You route traffic through a single HTTPS entry and forward to services internally.

Why use a reverse proxy

Benefits for small offices and families.

• Single point for TLS certificates and renewals
• Consistent URLs like photos.example.com and drive.example.com
• Layered access control with authentication and headers

Prerequisites

Make sure your base setup is ready.

• A domain you control
• Public DNS management access
• Router that can forward 80 and 443 to the NAS or an upstream reverse proxy

Domain and DNS

Create subdomains for each published service.

• Add A or CNAME records for each app subdomain
• Use dynamic DNS if your ISP changes your IP
• Keep TTLs modest during testing

Certificates

Use valid certificates for HTTPS to avoid warnings.

• Use DSM to request Let's Encrypt certificates per subdomain
• Renew automatically and set alert emails
• Use a wildcard certificate when convenient

Create reverse proxy rules

Map external hostnames to internal apps.

• In Control Panel open Login Portal then Reverse Proxy
• Create a rule with source host and port 443 and target internal host and port
• Preserve host headers and enable HSTS where appropriate

Access control and authentication

Add sign in gates to sensitive services.

• Use DSM authentication or SSO where available
• Restrict by IP for admin paths
• Limit public links and set expiries

Security headers and rate limits

Set sane defaults for safer publishing.

• Enable HSTS and redirect all HTTP to HTTPS
• Add basic rate limits for login paths if supported
• Keep packages and DSM updated

Testing and validation

Verify behaviour before inviting users.

• Open each URL from outside the network
• Check certificate validity and the padlock
• Try expired or wrong credentials to confirm safe failure

Troubleshooting checklist

If a site will not load or loops, check these items.

• DNS records and propagation
• Router port forward to the NAS
• Reverse proxy rule host and port mapping
• Certificate assignment per virtual host

FAQs

Short answers for planning and operation.

• Is QuickConnect enough? Reverse proxy gives more control over URLs and headers
• Do I need a static IP? Dynamic DNS works for many homes
• Can I use a separate reverse proxy? Yes with a small VM or router based proxy