I am new to the NAS world and do not yet have a grasp of best practices for storage, backup, and sync. I would appreciate your advice. Please forgive the lengthy post. I don't know enough so to make it short.
GOALS: Safety of my data, and access to it from any device.
BACKGROUND:
1. I use both a MacBook Pro and a Dell laptop daily, but usually for different things. However, I often need to access documents/files created on one while I am away from home with the other laptop. I used to use OneDrive so I always had access to everything on either laptop or my iPad or Android phone. But both OneDrive and my laptops filled up, and I lost data when I deleted some things from OneDrive and it deleted it from both laptops as well (because I didn't realize what I was doing). I then bought my first NAS, a DS920+ and DX517 expansion unit so I could control my data and move away from OneDrive. After a disaster when I accidentally touched the power button on the DX517 and damaged the single large volume, I have rebuilt the NAS with a separate volume on each box, and am ready to get things set up again.
2. I use a separate external HDD as a Time Machine for continuous backup of my MacBook when it is home, and use external hard drives connected to my PC for regular backups using Acronis. I also subscribe to both Backblaze and iDrive for backups of both computers and my phone.
COMPLICATION: The primary thing I do on the MacBook that I do not do on the Windows laptop is video editing. I almost always do this at home, not while traveling. I filled up the MacBook SSD with huge Final Cut Pro libraries. I want to move the libraries I am not currently working with to the NAS where I can get to them for a single job on the MacBook if needed, but no longer store them on the MacBook.
QUESTION: Now that I need to start over with the NAS setup, what is the best way to sync/backup my two laptops so I have access to everything from either laptop (and occasionally from my iPad and phone)? Before my disaster I was using Synology Drive Client to do Backup tasks (not Sync tasks) to the NAS, and Hyper Backup on each laptop to do an additional backup the NAS, plus to backup to buckets on Backblaze. I was still transitioning from OneDrive so still using it to access my files. Once I get everything off OneDrive and stop my two laptops syncing with OneDrive how should I set up my NAS to meet my needs? With my limited understanding here are some thoughts:
1. I could have Drive Client on both laptops sync each laptop with a subfolder of my home folder (such as "Mac" and "PC") on the NAS. Then I can map my home folder as a drive on each laptop and access both subfolders to gain access to whatever folders and files I need. I can then continue to use Hyper Backup to backup the NAS to Backblaze. If I do Sync Tasks only then my NAS is not a true backup of my laptops, so it seems I should also use Hyper Backup to do real backups to the NAS (as well as to Backblaze). Or should I use Backup Tasks with Drive Client as I used to do?
2. I can restructure the Documents folders on both laptops to be the same and have Drive Client on each laptop sync to a single folder in my home folder, thus keeping both laptops synced with the NAS and with each other. Is this possible? It will be more work to restructure the Documents folder on each laptop, and also seems unnecessary to have everything the same on both devices. It would also mean I need to keep my Final Cut Pro libraries out of my Documents folder on the MacBook, but copy the finished videos into the Documents folder so the PC can reach them. In addition, if I delete a file from any of the three devices it would go away on all three. So this doesn't really seem like a good solution. (In addition, my PC has a 1TB SSD and my MacBook a 2TB SSD. I would either waste half the storage on the Mac or need to upgrade the Dell to a 2TB SSD.)
3. Is there a better option? The more I have written the more I feel Drive Client Backup Tasks are better than Sync Tasks, unless Drive Client also does a backup.
Thank you for putting up with this long post.
GOALS: Safety of my data, and access to it from any device.
BACKGROUND:
1. I use both a MacBook Pro and a Dell laptop daily, but usually for different things. However, I often need to access documents/files created on one while I am away from home with the other laptop. I used to use OneDrive so I always had access to everything on either laptop or my iPad or Android phone. But both OneDrive and my laptops filled up, and I lost data when I deleted some things from OneDrive and it deleted it from both laptops as well (because I didn't realize what I was doing). I then bought my first NAS, a DS920+ and DX517 expansion unit so I could control my data and move away from OneDrive. After a disaster when I accidentally touched the power button on the DX517 and damaged the single large volume, I have rebuilt the NAS with a separate volume on each box, and am ready to get things set up again.
2. I use a separate external HDD as a Time Machine for continuous backup of my MacBook when it is home, and use external hard drives connected to my PC for regular backups using Acronis. I also subscribe to both Backblaze and iDrive for backups of both computers and my phone.
COMPLICATION: The primary thing I do on the MacBook that I do not do on the Windows laptop is video editing. I almost always do this at home, not while traveling. I filled up the MacBook SSD with huge Final Cut Pro libraries. I want to move the libraries I am not currently working with to the NAS where I can get to them for a single job on the MacBook if needed, but no longer store them on the MacBook.
QUESTION: Now that I need to start over with the NAS setup, what is the best way to sync/backup my two laptops so I have access to everything from either laptop (and occasionally from my iPad and phone)? Before my disaster I was using Synology Drive Client to do Backup tasks (not Sync tasks) to the NAS, and Hyper Backup on each laptop to do an additional backup the NAS, plus to backup to buckets on Backblaze. I was still transitioning from OneDrive so still using it to access my files. Once I get everything off OneDrive and stop my two laptops syncing with OneDrive how should I set up my NAS to meet my needs? With my limited understanding here are some thoughts:
1. I could have Drive Client on both laptops sync each laptop with a subfolder of my home folder (such as "Mac" and "PC") on the NAS. Then I can map my home folder as a drive on each laptop and access both subfolders to gain access to whatever folders and files I need. I can then continue to use Hyper Backup to backup the NAS to Backblaze. If I do Sync Tasks only then my NAS is not a true backup of my laptops, so it seems I should also use Hyper Backup to do real backups to the NAS (as well as to Backblaze). Or should I use Backup Tasks with Drive Client as I used to do?
2. I can restructure the Documents folders on both laptops to be the same and have Drive Client on each laptop sync to a single folder in my home folder, thus keeping both laptops synced with the NAS and with each other. Is this possible? It will be more work to restructure the Documents folder on each laptop, and also seems unnecessary to have everything the same on both devices. It would also mean I need to keep my Final Cut Pro libraries out of my Documents folder on the MacBook, but copy the finished videos into the Documents folder so the PC can reach them. In addition, if I delete a file from any of the three devices it would go away on all three. So this doesn't really seem like a good solution. (In addition, my PC has a 1TB SSD and my MacBook a 2TB SSD. I would either waste half the storage on the Mac or need to upgrade the Dell to a 2TB SSD.)
3. Is there a better option? The more I have written the more I feel Drive Client Backup Tasks are better than Sync Tasks, unless Drive Client also does a backup.
Thank you for putting up with this long post.
