Synology Drive Client data taking most of my laptop SSD

[Eccles60]

I have a DS220J with 6TB drives (i.e. a mirrored pair) - it's set up with straightforward default installation/set-up options (I'm new to all this). I use Linux Mint on a couple of PCs and I've installed Synology Drive Client 3.0.1 on both. One is a desktop with a 2TB drive and all is well. The other is a laptop with a 256GB SSD. The latter is now perilously full; I didn't realise that files put into my structure under the "SynologyDrive" folder structure would also be duplicated across not only the NAS but the local storage too (and eventually - once synced - all other PCs with Drive Client). This is fine on my desktop but about to cause a problem on my laptop.

I'm hoping to leave things with the Drive Client on the desktop but what can I do on the laptop to avoid having a local copy? Is there a setting on the local copy of Drive Client to not duplicate stuff? Should I use Samba on the laptop and simply map to the NAS drives - I realise I won't then have an offline copy available but that's no great problem?

What does everyone else do? If I do have to uninstall the laptop copy of Drive Client, presumably I do that before deleting the local copy of the files since that would delete them across the whole network?

Help!

Many thanks, Mark B.

 

[Rusty]

Is there a setting on the local copy of Drive Client to not duplicate stuff?

only win client has a "streaming" feature atm. Linux and macOS don't, so, getting the full content of the Drive is what you will get.

Should I use Samba on the laptop and simply map to the NAS drives

In your case, Drive is a sync tool and you simply don't have the space for it. You can a) use an SMB or NFS share access, or b) stick with Drive but use it via a browser. This way you will still have access to the Drive data organization, version histories, and the fact you can download and upload data from the Linux machine, just not as convenient as you would over a desktop client.

If I do have to uninstall the laptop copy of Drive Client, presumably I do that before deleting the local copy of the files since that would delete them across the whole network?

correct

 

[Eccles60]

only win client has a "streaming" feature atm. Linux and macOS don't, so, getting the full content of the Drive is what you will get.


In your case, Drive is a sync tool and you simply don't have the space for it. You can a) use an SMB or NFS share access, or b) stick with Drive but use it via a browser. This way you will still have access to the Drive data organization, version histories, and the fact you can download and upload data from the Linux machine, just not as convenient as you would over a desktop client.


correct

Many thanks for your very helpful information - I'm very much obliged to you. Cheers!

-- post merged: 21. Aug 2021 --

only win client has a "streaming" feature atm. Linux and macOS don't, so, getting the full content of the Drive is what you will get.


In your case, Drive is a sync tool and you simply don't have the space for it. You can a) use an SMB or NFS share access, or b) stick with Drive but use it via a browser. This way you will still have access to the Drive data organization, version histories, and the fact you can download and upload data from the Linux machine, just not as convenient as you would over a desktop client.


correct

Rusty, I don't quite understand what you mean by the "Stick with Drive but use it via a browser". Using "Drive" on which machine exactly (I assume not the SSD Laptop but my main PC?) and how do I access it (wherever it is) via a browser? I apologise if I'm being a bit stupid here - Newbie, and all that. Many thanks.

 

[Rusty]

Many thanks for your very helpful information - I'm very much obliged to you. Cheers!

-- post merged: 21. Aug 2021 --

Rusty, I don't quite understand what you mean by the "Stick with Drive but use it via a browser". Using "Drive" on which machine exactly (I assume not the SSD Laptop but my main PC?) and how do I access it (wherever it is) via a browser? I apologise if I'm being a bit stupid here - Newbie, and all that. Many thanks.

The drive platform is web based and using the local clients is one way of interacting with Drive in general.

The other way is simply by using the Drive web app. You can access it by logging into your nas and opening the Drive app from the main menu. You will see then the web ui for the Drive platform.

Step up from that would be to configure the app to be accessible using a public domain name, quick connect or ddns domain name as well.

This is not mandatory but it all depends how you and from where you want access to the platform (inside LAN or outside).

 

[Eccles60]

The drive platform is web based and using the local clients is one way of interacting with Drive in general.

The other way is simply by using the Drive web app. You can access it by logging into your nas and opening the Drive app from the main menu. You will see then the web ui for the Drive platform.

Step up from that would be to configure the app to be accessible using a public domain name, quick connect or ddns domain name as well.

This is not mandatory but it all depends how you and from where you want access to the platform (inside LAN or outside).

Got it! I'll use that method from my laptop. Many thanks (again).