Synology and Time Machine

I am not sure if I am allowed to link to the external pages. So simply search for e.g. "synology time machine backup" in the web and you will find several howtos regarding this.

Thanks Gert. I know how to do it - I just wonder if the Synology can be used for US backups and Time Machine?

You can use your Synology NAS for Time Machine backup - no problem at all. My DS 214 with 2x3tb hardrives has also a Time Machine backup. Access to your time machine data will be only available via mac computer. So if you have any music files at your time machine backup you won't see it at your music library via naim app and also can't be played - time machine files are encrypted.

Thank you.

You welcome!

I may be wrong here so happy for someone with more knowledge to correct me. In this instance I would limit the amount of space available to time machine for backup by allocating time machine its own "volume" and limiting the volume size so it doesn't just keep growing and growing - depends of course on how much you have on your Mac and how much/often the files change.

DWO

Here should be the answer: https://www.synology.com/en-uk...AS_with_Time_Machine

Richard Morris posted:

Once this is done can I also use the Synology for other back ups, like Time Machine?

I would STRONGLY advise against this.

My suggestion is to use your NAS for music only.

Lots of good links and info for you Richard.

If you spot a "how to" that advises setting up a sparse bundle on your Synology, that's the way I would and did go. It is macOS compatible, can be created with a maximum fixed size (like a volume or partition, but without re-partitioning your existing and working setup), and essentially creates a large file as far as the Synology is concerned, and a mountable drive as far as the Mac is concerned. This should create no issues co-existing with other files, such as your US backup  (which is probably an rsync job running on the US to maintain the backup in a dedicated folder on the native Synology file system, I guess?)

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the sparsebundle approach is also a bit future proof, as it has an internal file system which can be AFS and is independent of the Synology file system where you create it - a plus as there are rumours mounting remote TimeMachine volumes on non-AFS drives may not be supported in the (near) future. 

Regards alan

Yes, if the NAS is big enough.  I run four 3 TB disks in a DS413J and have room to do both, in separate folders.  

Nick

Thanks for all the advice. Essentially 'no problem' versus 'don't do it'.

Adam - could you explain your view?

Richard,

To expand a bit, if I had a single 5 TB drive attached by USB to a computer, I would be inclined to dedicate it to Time Machine service, or not.  A NAS is more capable than a locally-attached drive; if it is very large, you can consider splitting the functions.  Doing so, while not difficult, may not be a good idea for technophobes.  I cannot judge anybody on that score, but, asking the question in the first place suggests it might not be the best course for you to take -- kindly meant.  The Synology instructions clearly outline how to do both.  Getting the quotas (space allowed for backups) on the NAS right is the only real trick, especially if you want to back up multiple Macs, with large and/or multiple drives of their own.

Nick 

......for the best performance , I suggest this little app ( working with my mbp / synology ds115 )

TME

NAS servers are made for taking care of any data. 

What you shouldn't do is to build many small files in one folder; for example: folder named "Janis Joplin" and a lot of small files/folders inside of this one -  strongly not recommended by the Synology 

My suggestion of not mixing MUSIC and Mac BACKUP data comes from the following:

* Storage is cheap nowadays

* All hard-drives will fail

Somehow I prefer to assign the music streaming duties to my NAS, running two WD drives in a RAID mode. Of course RAID is not a backup so I also strongly recommend keeping two off-line copies of all music files.

Apple TimeMachine is also a back-up process. For that I use Apple Time Capsule - recently replaced from an old flat design to a new tower design, following a catastrophic disc failure.

So essenetially what I'm recommending is that: keep your music and computing needs separated for safety and security.
Back up your music as many times as you can - CDs can be ripped again. Purchased downloads will be lost if you don't run a back up. The same for TimeMachine backups - if you NAS fails due to heavy disk use, you will loose the backups.

Hi Adam, I agree with you that RAID mode isn't a backup for the data which has been stored at the NAS server (music, movies, time machine, etc.) but can be use as a backup for PC or MAC- am I right?. Raid mode is protecting the data if in case one of those hard drives would fail.

Of course it's always good to have an external hard drive as a backup and must be in really safe place (I know people who even mentioned a real Bank ) because if fire, water or other shit would come then maybe is nothing to recover anymore 

Well - RAID creates a mirror copy of a drive. So in a way data is doubled so to speak. It's designed for a continued operations of a server - if one drive fails, a server / NAS switches to the other one. A failed one is replaced and a server copies the content (OK - there is probably a lot more to it, but that's how my IT manager explained it to me and that's how I remembered it )

But a real backup is always off-site. I keep my backups (two copies of the NAS, updated each time I purchase high-res download, and quarterly for CD Rips) in a fire-proof, anti-magnetic safe.