Solved File structure

[pamindic]

Hi all. I've been using a NAS now for about a decade. This is the first I have joined a forum. I run Ubuntu on my desktop and laptop, and bumble along with my NAS storage and networking. Mostly thinkgs work, but occasionally problems defeat me, and I'm hoping I can find some assistance here for the things that beat me.

I've just installed for the first time Synology Drive. My partner and I live in different places and share files and I've been having trouble getting a remote connection to my NAS on her Apple Mac via afp or smb. I was hoping Drive would make this a lot easier.

The first thing I encounter is the file structure. I find this a bit alarming. I'm used to File Station's familiar structure. So, where do Drive's files reside? When I create a file say within Drive, where is it stored, how is it backed up? Is it accessible in the normal fashion via File Station or via SSH?

 

[Rusty]

Hi all. I've been using a NAS now for about a decade. This is the first I have joined a forum. I run Ubuntu on my desktop and laptop, and bumble along with my NAS storage and networking. Mostly thinkgs work, but occasionally problems defeat me, and I'm hoping I can find some assistance here for the things that beat me.

I've just installed for the first time Synology Drive. My partner and I live in different places and share files and I've been having trouble getting a remote connection to my NAS on her Apple Mac via afp or smb. I was hoping Drive would make this a lot easier.

The first thing I encounter is the file structure. I find this a bit alarming. I'm used to File Station's familiar structure. So, where do Drive's files reside? When I create a file say within Drive, where is it stored, how is it backed up? Is it accessible in the normal fashion via File Station or via SSH?

Welcome to the forum 1st!

Regarding your question. File Station and Drive are different apps and as such, they offer specific operations that other app does not. So all content that's shared via Drive is inside your home/username folder (via File Station). If you want to share specific shared folders that are already on the NAS you can use Teams folder (Drive admin site) and allow them to be visible via Drive.

So bottom line is that whatever you upload or is shared with you will be, regarding file structure, is inside your home folder.

 

[pamindic]

Many thanks Rusty. I see that, now that I've fully explored with SSH. I haven't been using homes folders, but what I really want, as you suggest, is a team folder and I've just set up a new share to achieve that. So far, so good!

 

[fredbert]

The Mac agent for Drive will sync the selected personal and team folders from the NAS to the Mac, meaning: there will be a local copy on the Mac that is in sync with the copy on the NAS (and anywhere else that those folders are sync'ed). That's great if the Mac has enough disk space for the local files but if you are wanting to browse files on the NAS (like e.g. SMB and AFP) without making local copies then Drive isn't what you want. The latest beta 2.0 of Drive is addressing this but so far only has done so for Windows PC.

Remote file sharing can also be achieved using HTTPS (which can mount in Mac Finder) or SFTP (which can't without a 3rd party app, such as Transmit or Cloud Mounter [MacHeist seem to have a permanent sale of this for $20]). To avoid Internet access to SSH, I have reassigned the TCP ports for SSH and SFTP so that they are not the same and then only permit SFTP access.

I wouldn't run AFP or SMB across the Internet unless through a VPN tunnel. Likewise with SSH.