Syncing files from NAS to Android

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Syncing files from NAS to Android

12
0
NAS
DS118
Operating system
  1. Windows
Mobile operating system
  1. Android
Hi all,

I've got a DS118 and want to sync files from my NAS to my Android (10) phone. One way, no reciprocal sync back from the Android.

So for instance, if I put some new music into a folder in the NAS it pops over and appears in my phone too.

I do NOT want to sync all the files in a folder though, just some. Good example, syncing just 4 or 5 specific things from my video folder not the whole thing, so including/excluding is important.

I'm using the Android app SMBSync2 at the moment which is fine if I'm at home but want to do this on the move. And without paying for a sync service like Goodsync. And I don't want to move stuff into an intermediary like Dropbox or a cloud service first due to privacy and also I sync more than the free GB allowance on those services.

I've searched here and elsewhere and nothing. There's got to be a simple answer to what looks on the surface like a common and simple problem.

Thanks for any help or advice,

Ps am a little tech minded but the minute you say stuff about more complex networking stuff I'm lost.
 
Have you not looked into Synology Drive to see if this fits your requirements?

Install that on your NAS, then you can download the app on the Android phones. In the phone app you have the option to select files of your choice to be 'offline available'. That should make cached content of the file available on the phone, but I do think you need to open the file from Drive .

Example from my phone:

1606562596837.png


You can then at all times access the file here:
1606562627467.jpeg


1606562660061.jpeg


I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure if this actually prevents downloading the file all over again. I don't use Drive on my phone so I cannot say for sure how it behaves.

I know for example that Windows Offline caching just re-downloads the entire file again when you open the 'offline available'-file on a fileshare, if it's online...
 
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Have you not looked into Synology Drive to see if this fits your requirements?

Install that on your NAS, then you can download the app on the Android phones. In the phone app you have the option to select files of your choice to be 'offline available'. That should make cached content of the file available on the phone, but I do think you need to open the file from Drive .

Example from my phone:

View attachment 2509

You can then at all times access the file here:
View attachment 2510

View attachment 2511

I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure if this actually prevents downloading the file all over again. I don't use Drive on my phone so I cannot say for sure how it behaves.

I know for example that Windows Offline caching just re-downloads the entire file again when you open the 'offline available'-file on a fileshare, if it's online...

Thanks Shadow - the only issue I can see with Drive for me is that it is purely files only - can't do folders.

I've got some "whole folders" I'd like to sync, and then in others just certain files/filetypes. As Drive can't choose to make a whole folder offline on the sync to Android it means that any new files going into that folder wouldn't auto sync, I'd have to go select them to sync down. Other than that, Drive would be the perfect solution.
 
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I've got some "whole folders" I'd like to sync, and then in others just certain files/filetypes. As Drive can't choose to make a whole folder offline on the sync to Android it means that any new files going into that folder wouldn't auto sync, I'd have to go select them to sync down. Other than that, Drive would be the perfect solution.

There has alot of critics on the Internet been givin that Synology Drive lacks exactly this on Android, while on Windows & Mac desktops this is all possible. You are certainly not the only one...

I still use this old DS Cloud app to be able to (2-way) sync entire folders between Android phones and NAS (for example to safely store camera photo's, screenshots, whatsapp data). But this app should have been deprecated long ago (and implement it's features in the Android Drive app )and hasn't been maintained for a while (bugs havent been fixed for over 2 years). And it doesn't have the ability to filter file types like what you are asking for.

I don't know if Synology working hard on DSM7 (which has already been delayed multiple times) is the reason why Drive is beeing negleted in the Android world currently), but at the moment I would rather think using a 3rd party app as an option. But at the moment I can't recommend any as I'm in search myself..
 
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There has alot of critics on the Internet been givin that Synology Drive lacks exactly this on Android, while on Windows & Mac desktops this is all possible. You are certainly not the only one...

I still use this old DS Cloud app to be able to (2-way) sync entire folders between Android phones and NAS (for example to safely store camera photo's, screenshots, whatsapp data). But this app should have been deprecated long ago (and implement it's features in the Android Drive app )and hasn't been maintained for a while (bugs havent been fixed for over 2 years). And it doesn't have the ability to filter file types like what you are asking for.

I don't know if Synology working hard on DSM7 (which has already been delayed multiple times) is the reason why Drive is beeing negleted in the Android world currently), but at the moment I would rather think using a 3rd party app as an option. But at the moment I can't recommend any as I'm in search myself..

Thanks. It's heartening to know that I'm alone in the search for this kind of solution. In the meantime I guess I'll have to stick using SMBSync2 in my home wifi environment - it works and syncs on a schedule. While we're all stuck at home it's ok. Maybe by the time we can travel around more again Synology will have caught up and added folders to Drive, then we're both happy.
 
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I've started testing out this app: FolderSync .

It has the option to setup folder 'pairs', and within each pair you can specify the options that you wish/require. Including file filtering. It has a sync scheduler (which does an entire check), but it also has an 'Instant sync' option that can be set per pair. The instant sync option is experimental and will try to detect any changes on the local device (like a new file) and sync it immediately. So far I've seen it works.

It also has the option to sync using the WebDav protocol. I'm using that at the moment to sync folder on my Android to my NAS (2way). This way, this app can also sync when I'm outside my home WiFi on a secure HTTPS connection.

1606742454860.png


There is a free and paid version. I'll be testing the free version for a while.
 
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That's cool - how are you getting to your NAS from the outside world (i.e fixed IP or how to make WebDAV connect to it?) Sounds like the answer that's needed.
 
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I'm assuming you are familiar with WebDAV. It's an extension that sits on top of the HTTP protocol. Microsoft supports it in Windows, so within Windows it looks like as it you're browsing a network share with your explorer.

You can install the WebDAV package on your NAS from the package store. My settings:
1606897332733.png


My clients (family members who I manage devices for) and myself connect to my NAS using a public domain I've registered for myself, and I've got a valid wildcard certificate for that domain.

All clients can connect to the NAS Webdav service with the URL: https://webdav.exampledomain.net .
Note that I'm not specifying the port Webdav port here, so it's stays on the default 443.

With Reverse Proxy it's possible to expose WebDav on port 443:
1606897710040.png

In my (example) case port 443 is already opened and forwarded to my NAS. So this saves me from opening and forwarding another port on my router (always minimize the amount of open ports). As long as the clients use the correct URL, they can access the NAS via WebDAV.

Inside my home network I have a internal DNS server so with split-horizon DNS my public domain resolves to internal IP addresses. In both cases when inside or outside the LAN they have to hit the Reverse Proxy, otherwise I'd have to use port 5006 (secured).

There is one thing I have to also mention. Synology's DSM runs on NGINX. So if you use Synology's Reverse Proxy, the traffic has to flow trough NGINX where Synology DSM is also running on. I recently discovered that NGINX has a file upload limit of 1 MB. As you can probaly notice from the last screenshot above, I'm not really using Synology's Reverse proxy. I do not indeed, I've installed a seperate NGINX instance in a Docker container and using that as Reverse proxy, because that has way more options then the Synology GUI is offering. So increasing the file size limit was a peace of cake.. So this is something you have to keep in mind if you want to use WebDAV while beeing aware that you may be handling files that aren't small.
But ofcourse you should also easily get around this by just connecting to port 5006 directly.
 
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