Synology NAS questions
Discussion
I'd like to buy a Synology NAS to back up my MacBook to protect my Photos & documents etc, but not sure which one to get. Is there a simple way of knowing the differences between all their different models?
My MacBook has a 250gb hard drive, plus I have a 500gb external hard drive full of data that I'd like to back up. I was thinking of getting a twin bay NAS plus 2 x 2TB hard drives, and have them RAID 1 so both drives mirror each other. Does a twin bay & 2 x 2TB drives sound about right?
Would I have to manually instruct my MacBook to copy data to the NAS, or does it happen automatically? Can I use Time Machine with a Synology NAS?
If I then delete files on my MacBook I assume they remain on the NAS, unlike iCloud which seems to just sync between devices?
Thanks.
My MacBook has a 250gb hard drive, plus I have a 500gb external hard drive full of data that I'd like to back up. I was thinking of getting a twin bay NAS plus 2 x 2TB hard drives, and have them RAID 1 so both drives mirror each other. Does a twin bay & 2 x 2TB drives sound about right?
Would I have to manually instruct my MacBook to copy data to the NAS, or does it happen automatically? Can I use Time Machine with a Synology NAS?
If I then delete files on my MacBook I assume they remain on the NAS, unlike iCloud which seems to just sync between devices?
Thanks.
Synology have a product comparator, but if you simply need a device to hold disks and allow access to them over the network, the 220J is fine . The first number is no of drives, 2nd and 3rd are model year, J suffix is basic range
2 bay with a mirror is a good fit - I started using them for a similar use case with a 211J and a pair of 400GB drives about a decade ago and it was fine.
Synology supported creating shares for Time Machine. They have a tutorial here https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/How...
2 bay with a mirror is a good fit - I started using them for a similar use case with a 211J and a pair of 400GB drives about a decade ago and it was fine.
Synology supported creating shares for Time Machine. They have a tutorial here https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/How...
I have an older model of the same thing (216J) and use it for the same purpose. I've put Time Machine backups from 2 macs to the NAS. I've also set up separate individual folder backups to the NAS so I can access them remotely. You should set storage quotas for each backup otherwise your time machine backups will just swallow up all your available space.
You can also get your phones in your family to automatically back up to the NAS.
For each remote device such as each computer you want to back up you will need to install some sort of client software then you can configure it to backup the way you want. It takes a little while to set up but it's relatively straight forwards. The Synology online documentation is pretty good and up to date so you'll find out how to set things up from there.
I'd suggest going to 2 * 3Tb. My one has reached 80% capacity and is starting to moan at me.
You can also get your phones in your family to automatically back up to the NAS.
For each remote device such as each computer you want to back up you will need to install some sort of client software then you can configure it to backup the way you want. It takes a little while to set up but it's relatively straight forwards. The Synology online documentation is pretty good and up to date so you'll find out how to set things up from there.
I'd suggest going to 2 * 3Tb. My one has reached 80% capacity and is starting to moan at me.
Thanks for the explanation of their model numbers, I'll consider their 220J model.
Iremember having a 1TB Apple Time Capsule with my previous 500gb MacBook and it did fill quick, which at the time I didn't understand seeing as my MacBook was only 500gb.
So is it easy to set storage quotas?
Iremember having a 1TB Apple Time Capsule with my previous 500gb MacBook and it did fill quick, which at the time I didn't understand seeing as my MacBook was only 500gb.
So is it easy to set storage quotas?
xeny said:
... The first number is no of drives...
My 920+ has 4 bays.I started with a J series (420J) but very soon realised how limited it was as a media server. The + models have many advantages and you can get x20+ models at big discounts now the 23s are out, and theres not much difference.
"Nascompares" on Youtube is worth checking out.
Definitely RAID1 / mirror.
Nice to have 4 slots for future expansion, but 2 is fine for domestic use.
2 TB may feel small quite fast, see what the most cost-effective drive sizes are.
Also consider online for backups, if you have not-awful broadband it can work for most purposes, and saves you the energy costs. I have used Synology for work but use Dropbox at home, it's just "easier". With USB drives for further backup.
Nice to have 4 slots for future expansion, but 2 is fine for domestic use.
2 TB may feel small quite fast, see what the most cost-effective drive sizes are.
Also consider online for backups, if you have not-awful broadband it can work for most purposes, and saves you the energy costs. I have used Synology for work but use Dropbox at home, it's just "easier". With USB drives for further backup.
Big Stevie said:
Thanks for the explanation of their model numbers, I'll consider their 220J model.
Iremember having a 1TB Apple Time Capsule with my previous 500gb MacBook and it did fill quick, which at the time I didn't understand seeing as my MacBook was only 500gb.
So is it easy to set storage quotas?
You define quotas for users. A user in this case does not necessarily mean a person but can be an external device so you set up your MacBook as a user to allow it to do time machine backups to the NAS and you set the quota for the user.Iremember having a 1TB Apple Time Capsule with my previous 500gb MacBook and it did fill quick, which at the time I didn't understand seeing as my MacBook was only 500gb.
So is it easy to set storage quotas?
Nimby said:
BTW, purists argue that a NAS is not in itself a backup solution.
It can be a useful tool in backup but the problem is what happens if the building burns down, a close by lightning strike fries the PC and NAS (happened to a client a couple of years back) or there is a theft and the PC and NAS are takenCritical data should always be backed up to the cloud as well as on-site solutions
Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Wednesday 11th January 10:48
Dave Hedgehog said:
Critical data should always be backed up to the cloud as well as on-site solutions
To pick a nit, can we say off-site rather than cloud?Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Wednesday 11th January 10:48
I've got a couple of buildings where daily data incrementals exceed what will fit over the internet connection in 24 hours. A tape goes off site instead.
Very simple to use the the included Synology software to sync the data on the NAS to a cloud provider for full belt and braces. I pay about £8 pm to keep 2TB in an S3 bucket.
Timemachine works fine between my MacBook and the Synology. I use the ‘Synology Active Backup’ for the Windows machines in the house. And yes OP, deleted files are recoverable from a point in time - unlike iCloud which behaves like a cloud based hard drive. I knew nothing about Synology before i got mine, help guides etc are all easy to use. Had to use their support services with an issue, no complaints there either.
I’ve a four bay unit using just three bays at the moment.
Timemachine works fine between my MacBook and the Synology. I use the ‘Synology Active Backup’ for the Windows machines in the house. And yes OP, deleted files are recoverable from a point in time - unlike iCloud which behaves like a cloud based hard drive. I knew nothing about Synology before i got mine, help guides etc are all easy to use. Had to use their support services with an issue, no complaints there either.
I’ve a four bay unit using just three bays at the moment.
So am I right in thinking that when a back up occurs, if I later delete a file on my macbook then that deleted file remains on my NAS even after future back ups? So anything I've ever had on my MacBook can be accessed again, hence why the hard drives soon fill up?
So although my MacBook only has 250gb, because I'm frequently deleting files to remain within the MacBooks hard drive capacity, those deleted files are still stored on the Synology, to be accessed again?
So although my MacBook only has 250gb, because I'm frequently deleting files to remain within the MacBooks hard drive capacity, those deleted files are still stored on the Synology, to be accessed again?
Edited by Big Stevie on Wednesday 11th January 13:47
[quote=Big Stevie]So am I right in thinking that when a back up occurs, if I later delete a file on my macbook then that deleted file remains on my NAS even after future back ups? So anything I've ever had on my MacBook can be accessed again, hence why the hard drives soon fill up?
So although my MacBook only has 250gb, because I'm frequently deleting files to remain within the MacBooks hard drive capacity, those deleted files are still stored on the Synology, to be accessed again?/quote]
So once you've deleted the capacity of the NAS drives worth of storage, older stuff will fall off the end of being restorable.
If you want more space for stuff you'll be routinely be coming back to, a file share on the NAS is probably a better choice than always restoring from backup.
So although my MacBook only has 250gb, because I'm frequently deleting files to remain within the MacBooks hard drive capacity, those deleted files are still stored on the Synology, to be accessed again?/quote]
So once you've deleted the capacity of the NAS drives worth of storage, older stuff will fall off the end of being restorable.
If you want more space for stuff you'll be routinely be coming back to, a file share on the NAS is probably a better choice than always restoring from backup.
Before making a purchase, consider how much more robust your solution could be for very little additional expense.
Rather than a DS220J (~£170) and two 2TB disks, for about the same price you could get two DS120J (~90) each with one 2TB disk. Put one of them in your partner's/parent's/children's house. And then configure your one to backup to the other one live or nightly.
Rather than a DS220J (~£170) and two 2TB disks, for about the same price you could get two DS120J (~90) each with one 2TB disk. Put one of them in your partner's/parent's/children's house. And then configure your one to backup to the other one live or nightly.
4TB drives aren't much more than 2TB. I ended up going with a 4 bay (DS920+) and currently have 3 Western Digital Red drives in it. Synology's dynamic RAID lets you add additional disks and maintain 1 disk redundancy. I went for the more powerful model as I run Plex and intend to run Home Assistant on it as well using it as a NAS.
Not sure if it's the same with Mac's, but the Synology software is very good. On a PC you can use it to backup or mirror files to the NAS, and then I have a USB hard drive I can plug in to the NAS and copy the important stuff to, which I then keep at work for proper backup.
Not sure if it's the same with Mac's, but the Synology software is very good. On a PC you can use it to backup or mirror files to the NAS, and then I have a USB hard drive I can plug in to the NAS and copy the important stuff to, which I then keep at work for proper backup.
Big Stevie said:
So am I right in thinking that when a back up occurs, if I later delete a file on my macbook then that deleted file remains on my NAS even after future back ups? So anything I've ever had on my MacBook can be accessed again, hence why the hard drives soon fill up?
That's the difference between a backup and a mirror. Backup up means those files are kept on the NAS. Mirroring replicates what's on your local machine, so I use that to make files on my main PC available to other machines in the house. If I edit the file on the NAS from my laptop, the updated version gets copied back to my PC.Edited by RizzoTheRat on Wednesday 11th January 14:14
xeny said:
If you want more space for stuff you'll be routinely be coming back to, a file share on the NAS is probably a better choice than always restoring from backup.
That's worth thinking about, thanks. I will probably just carry on using my MacBook to access everything but content everything is backed up, but my thinking might change once I start using a NAS.If going from a 2 bay to a 4 bay NAS in the future, is it as simple as putting both existing drives (and the two new ones) into the new 4 bay NAS, or would the drives need formatting first?
Big Stevie said:
If going from a 2 bay to a 4 bay NAS in the future, is it as simple as putting both existing drives (and the two new ones) into the new 4 bay NAS, or would
the drives need formatting first?
Sometimes, It is a complicated topic. There is chapter and verse here https://www.synology.com/en-global/dsm/feature/mig...the drives need formatting first?
cost a larger chassis against fewer larger drives in a smaller chassis when purchasing would be my advice.
There is a process to follow from Synology called ‘HDD Migration’ that will allow you to physically move drives over to a new empty 4 bay unit if you start with a 2 bay.
Re drive size. Only advice here is plan to use more space than you think you will need. As an example every new iPhone model has higher resolution cameras and the rate at which storage is consumed will increase.
Re drive size. Only advice here is plan to use more space than you think you will need. As an example every new iPhone model has higher resolution cameras and the rate at which storage is consumed will increase.
Re drive size, this discussion prompted me to check the prices again and Amazon currently have the WD Red 4TB for £75, which is the usual price for a 2TB
Synology have a "RAID calculator" on thier site https://www.synology.com/en-global/support/RAID_ca... to work out how much space different options will give you.
4 x 4TB drives in SHR or RAID5 (single disk redundancy) gives me 12 TB storage, to get the same in a 2 bay drive I'd need to use a pair of 12TB drives, so over £500 of drives compared to £300 (at current price, usually about £400 though) of drives in a 4 bay, so while the 4 bay drive is more expensive, it's not a big difference once you've bought the drives. It also let me spread the cost a bit, I initially bought 2 drives, added a 3rd a year later, and will add a 4th at some point.
Synology have a "RAID calculator" on thier site https://www.synology.com/en-global/support/RAID_ca... to work out how much space different options will give you.
4 x 4TB drives in SHR or RAID5 (single disk redundancy) gives me 12 TB storage, to get the same in a 2 bay drive I'd need to use a pair of 12TB drives, so over £500 of drives compared to £300 (at current price, usually about £400 though) of drives in a 4 bay, so while the 4 bay drive is more expensive, it's not a big difference once you've bought the drives. It also let me spread the cost a bit, I initially bought 2 drives, added a 3rd a year later, and will add a 4th at some point.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Wednesday 11th January 14:55
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