The good old and trusty Synology DiskStation DS920+ is at the center of my data management system for both my work and personal needs. I rely on it every day to make my photos and videos available across devices, stream movies via Plex, and keep my devices backed up. I use two computers, a Mac and a Windows PC, both of which must be backed up to the NAS, with two-way sync set up for the files and folders I access often.

Thankfully, I didn’t need to scout for any third-party solutions when I first set it all up. Synology bundles a whole suite of productivity apps that have made it super easy for me to back up my data, no matter what the operating system. I will walk you through the tools that help me use the Synology NAS as a backup server for all my data needs, along with the reasons why I decided to create this system.

1 Synology’s Active Backup for Business

It says business, and it means business

Its name implies that it’s designed for businesses that have multiple PCs to manage (which it is), but nobody is stopping you from using it for your single, personal PC. Among Synology’s array of built-in tools, Active Backup for Business is perhaps the one app I cannot do without. The reason is reliability.

I’ve found it to be far more reliable than Windows’ native and rather convoluted backup options (I’ll elaborate on this in the next section). The setup was quick — it took barely a few minutes to get started — and Active Backup has worked well since. All I needed to do was install the app from Synology’s Package Center. On its first startup, it downloaded an agent app for Windows, which handled the rest.

For me, it takes a full backup of my PC, essentially creating a complete system image, which lets you restore the PC exactly in the previous state. Fortunately, I’ve not needed to do that so far. However, you have the option to customize the backup modes to suit your needs, such as saving only a single drive or even certain folders.

If you were to look for a similarly capable and reliable tool to back up your computers, you’d be spending a lot of cash on monthly app subscriptions. Meanwhile, a robust tool like Active Backup comes bundled with your Synology NAS without having to pay anything extra, which is quite a bonus, especially when you have dozens of PCs to back up.

2 Time Machine backups for Mac

It. Just. Works.

I’ve been primarily a Mac user ever since I jumped ship a little over three years ago. But the kind of work I do as a technology reporter requires me to jump between Mac and Windows quite frequently — it has almost become a flex that my muscle memory is attuned to both command and control keys! The thing that I just couldn’t get to work was Windows’ legacy backup solution (which is still marked for Windows 7). No matter how much I troubleshot, Windows simply refused to pick my NAS as the backup destination. That’s when I had no trouble mapping it in File Explorer.

The new Windows Backup feature, on the other hand, is more of a syncing tool rather than one made for backing your files up, as its name would lead you to believe. On top of that, its backup destination cannot be anything other than OneDrive, which, as you can guess, would require a subscription fee depending on the space you need. I do use the feature, but only to sync my Windows preferences, settings, and other such basic housekeeping stuff, while Synology's Active Backup takes care of all the important stuff.

Now coming to my Mac, which has comparatively been far easier to take routine backups of. It’s got a backup solution called Time Machine built-in, and I could link it to my network storage in one go. However, it doesn’t come without its own problems, such as the backups themselves taking a lot of time. While that's still manageable for me, what really vexed me was the lack of control as to when the backups happen. It defaults to daily backups that are too frequent for my needs, and they even take up a lot of space on the NAS.

As a solution to that, I use an app called Time Machine Editor, which basically does what Apple’s own tool cannot: let me decide when the backups happen. Since I don’t have any critically important files stored on my Mac, I’ve set the app to automatically trigger a Time Machine backup every Friday evening after I’m done with my work for the week. The app works in the background and has been going on with utmost reliability over the years.

3 Synology Drive client

Google Drive, but on your local server

Okay, so now that my computers are safely backed up, I can focus on more fun things to play with — yeah, they also help me work more efficiently, sure.

So, while frequent device backups give me peace of mind that my data is safe, I also need a way to access my files in a more convenient way than logging into the NAS server every other minute. For the folders on my computers that I need to back up and keep in sync across multiple devices, my go-to app is Synology Drive.

The company touts it as a Google Drive alternative, which it quite frankly is. It has elaborate collaboration features just like you get on Google Workspace apps, including adding contributors and sharing links externally. Synology Drive is accessible from a web browser, but it also has a desktop client that lets you sync folders, once again just like Google Drive. I have set it up to keep the documents folder in sync with the NAS, and with two-way sync enabled, I can continue interacting with the folder on either of my computers and the NAS without missing a beat.

Synology Drive is even more convenient to use on mobile devices, thanks to its modern-looking apps available for both Android and iOS, helping me access my files on any device without having to first sync them manually.

4 Manual dumping

Sometimes you have get your hands dirty

All that automation does take the load off of me. However, there are instances where I want to take charge and handle file backups manually.

Like an average Joe, I use my Mac’s download folder as a dump yard for just about everything, with little to no organization. It has tons of files, some of which I use often, others not so much, and everything lies in the open with a few folders to put together the files that belong to a single project. I now even have a complex mind map of where my files are in that pile based on a mental snapshot of the timeline. It sounds chaotic but trust me, it just works.

As you’d guess, I cannot back up the entire folder just to maintain exact copies of all that chaos on the NAS and across my devices. Nope, not happening.

Say, when I’m working on a product review, all its files, product shots, camera samples, screenshots, etc. live in the downloads folder until the story is ready to go. Keeping all the files in the downloads folder is actually convenient for me because working on such expansive multimedia stories, I need to access and manage files from multiple sources. And keeping them in different locations will only add to my work unnecessarily. So, it makes sense to organize the files and archive the folders once I’m done actively working on the project.

For such needs, instead of Synology automatically syncing my entire downloads folder, I prefer to manually back up the project files to an appropriate folder on the NAS — all of which doesn’t take more than a few seconds to finish. I do this periodically for such folders and files that need archiving after they’ve served their purpose. Turns out, everything doesn't have to be automated just for the sake of it.

Use your NAS to back up all your devices

It is crucial to stick to a data backup routine just so you’re prepared for any unfortunate events like drive failures or theft. Saving a complete system image can come in handy in a pinch and restore your PC just the way it was during the last snapshot. Sure, the initial process may take some time, but once you’ve set it all up, your NAS and PC will take care of everything on your behalf. It is the kind of investment you won't regret making. While I rely on a Synology NAS for my data storage and management needs, all of the best NAS enclosures from other brands also come with similarly handy solutions to help you keep your data safe. Give them a try for yourself.