Backup Synology NAS

Did you opt for a NAS to ensure that your files are safe? Technically speaking with a NAS your files are scattered over the different drives in your NAS, so whenever one drive files you can replace it and rebuild the data. However, in the event that your entire NAS dies, multiple drives die, or there are corrupt sectors during a rebuild, you might lose part of your data. That’s why it is essential to back up your data in multiple places in different ways, i.e. Google for the 3-2-1 backup rule. This article will explain how you can set up a job from your Synology NAS to back up your data to another NAS or drive using rsync.

Prerequisites

It is assumed that you have your Synology NAS fully set up with a storage pool, for this article we used a Synology Rackstation RS812+.

You are also assumed to have another NAS or server setup with a rsync server.

Installation

To back up, we need the Hyper Backup app on your Synology NAS. Therefore, log in on DSM on your NAS and locate the Package Center. Search for Hyper Backup and install it.
If you cannot find the package you can visit the Synology website and download it manually: synology.com

Setup

Open the freshly installed Hyper Backup app and find the plus sign. Now click on Data backup task.

From the list select rsync copy (single version). This will keep a mirror of your NAS on the other NAS with direct file access. Optionally, you can opt for rsync, but this will not give you direct access to the files on the backup NAS and will use versioning instead of a 1-to-1 mirror. Click on Next.

Now fill in the Backup Destination Settings as follows, and click Next once done;

• Server type: Since the backup NAS is not a Synology server we opt for rsync-compatible server
• Server name or IP address: Fill in the IP of the server
• Transfer encryption: Off
• Port: 873
• Username: Fill in the username
• Password: Fill in the password
• Backup module: Select the share where you want to back up to

Select the share(s)/folder(s) you want to backup and click Next.

Select the application(s) you want to back up and click Next.

Now fill in the backup settings;

• Task: Represents the name of the backup task
• Directory: Represents the name of the folder on the backup NAS
• We left most settings to default but disabled metadata and thumbnails backup to reduce the backup size
• Optionally, enable a backup schedule

Once satisfied click Apply. Optionally, you can choose to run the backup now, if you don’t want that click No.

That’s it, you have now set up a backup mechanism to another NAS!

Sources

• Hyper Backup (synology.com)