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How do Mac users back up a synology nas
- Thread starter dimme
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Edit - misunderstood, see reply further down thread.
Tutorial from Synology:
How do I back up files from my Mac to Synology NAS using Time Machine?
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I would presume that you are referring to a local backup of a Synology (ie. a USB drive attached to the NAS with a scheduled backup of Synology).
If so, it will depend on what kind of backup you are looking for and how you intend to “read” this drive on your Mac.
Can you clarify your intended use a little better?
I use Synology Hyper Backup on the Synology NAS to back it up to a BackBlaze bucket. Works very well.
EDIT - I missread your question so my response does not apply. The Hyper Backup would not be readable natively on the Mac if you used that to backup the NAS to the Mac.
If the NAS was to die and I needed the info that was on it. I see you can back up to a USB device but what file format is that USB device, IS it a MAC friendly format?
Depending on the type of data you are storing on the Mac, Goodsync might be an option to keep file synched between your Mac and the NAS. I've played around with it (not in this specific scenario), but it seemed to work pretty well and they have a free trial so you can test it out. There is a Goodsync client for the Synology as well.
Synology also has a utility built in called USB Copy that may work for you.
kb.synology.com
Synology also has a utility built in called USB Copy that may work for you.
USB Copy - Synology Knowledge Center
Synology Knowledge Center offers comprehensive support, providing answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting steps, software tutorials, and all the technical documentation you may need.
I don't, personally, since I keep nothing on the NAS which can't be recreated or re-obtained.
There's a variety of ways to back up the NAS, what's best for you would depend on your needs and usage. USB copy is one of them and supports several formats, including HFS+ on some models. See https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/How_to_back_up_your_Synology_NAS and https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/help/USBCopy/usbcopy_general?version=7
There's ways to do cloud backups for the NAS - see How to Back Up Your Synology NAS to the Cloud
Modern Synology supports wide variety of file systems for external drives. Use HFS Plus if you’re Mac only household, or exFAT for maximum compatibility.
I keep a remote/cloud backup of my NAS so haven’t used this though.
I have 2 Synology NAS. The main NAS is 8 Disks set up with SHR2 (2 Hot Stairs). But there's always the possibility of major failure, and i have a 2 Disk NAS for backup of the primary. Outside of that anything that I couldn't risk loss (photos going back 20+ years) resides on other devices and the cloud.
There are countless tools to sync and move dats....first figure your requirements.
There are countless tools to sync and move dats....first figure your requirements.
Like joker00 I also use the 2 NAS system. 720+ as a the main unit at home backed up to a 220 located offsite incase of fire, flood or other catastrophe at home. Combined with iCloud it satisfies my 3-2-1 requirement. https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/
Right, that's correct. Even if it was possible, it would be weird, as you'd have to find an external drive that is larger in size than your Synology's total storage.
If you want to keep your NAS files safe, Synology comes bundled with a ton of good software to back up your NAS to a cloud storage provider.
If you want to keep your NAS files safe, Synology comes bundled with a ton of good software to back up your NAS to a cloud storage provider.
Correct. As already mentioned, you wouldn't want to use Time Machine to backup your NAS.
However, if you're wanting to use Time Machine for the file versioning feature it offers, that can usually be done on the NAS itself. I know Synonolgy DSM offers file versioning.
Like others. I back up the NAS to a second NAS. I periodically (a couple times a year) backup the irreplaceable stuff to a hard drive in a fireproof.
I use the NAS mostly for convenient archival of a lot of digital junk. These days, precious photos have multiple cloud backups. Important work stuff is backed up to two different cloud services as well. I Plex'ed my media and donated the physical copies to charity. I'd be pissed if I lost it, but it's replaceable with cash, so I sleep ok.
I have found that the more NAS I have, the more junk I keep, so I stopped adding storage at 18TB. There are 18TB external HDDs these days, so I'll pick up a couple of those and start doing rotating offline backups.
Sometimes this all feels like a part-time job without pay...🤪
I use the NAS mostly for convenient archival of a lot of digital junk. These days, precious photos have multiple cloud backups. Important work stuff is backed up to two different cloud services as well. I Plex'ed my media and donated the physical copies to charity. I'd be pissed if I lost it, but it's replaceable with cash, so I sleep ok.
I have found that the more NAS I have, the more junk I keep, so I stopped adding storage at 18TB. There are 18TB external HDDs these days, so I'll pick up a couple of those and start doing rotating offline backups.
Sometimes this all feels like a part-time job without pay...🤪