Synology Time Backup
Synology Time Backup is a quick and flexible way to back up and restore shared folders on DiskStation. You can back up the data locally onto another volume, onto an external hard disk, or remotely onto another Synology server. You can set up multiple "tasks" and create more than one "versions" for each task.
Time Backup features snapshot function. When creating a version, the system will take a "snapshot" and capture the condition of the data within the specified moment. The system will create a version entry within seconds. You can access the newly created version and edit the files you've just backed up with no time delay.
Backup tasks and version can be managed under the Tasks tab. The existing versions for all tasks can be found under the Timeline tab.
Tasks
You can create and manage all backup tasks under the Tasks tab. You can also view backup versions and create new ones in this section.
To create a task:
- Click Create.
- Click Next.
- Name your task. Click Next to continue.
- Select one of the following destination types: Local Backup backs up data to a local volume or external device connected to the same Synology server; Network Backup backs up data to another Synology server over the Internet.
- If you've chosen Network Backup, please select the destination server or enter server address and login credentials manually. External devices cannot be selected as destination for Network Backup tasks.
- Select the destination shared folder where you'd like to save the backup.
- Select the shared folders you'd like to back up. This shared folder cannot be on the same volume as the destination shared folder. Also, the shared folder cannot be encrypted. Click Next to continue.
- Check the Enable backup schedule checkbox if you'd like to set up a backup schedule. If you are continuing without setting up a backup schedule, backup versions will have to be created manually.
- Hourly with Smart Recycle: Backup will be performed hourly. The system will keep the hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for everything older than a month.
- Advanced backup schedule settings:
- Click on the Schedule Plan to customize your backup schedule.
- Click OK to continue or Reset to clear the settings.
- You can also select Enable Smart Recycle by ticking the checkbox.
- Click Next.
- Confirm the settings. Select Back up immediately after the wizard is finished to create a version. Click Apply to finish.
Note:
- Backup time varies depending on the amount of modified data. Therefore, the first time backup is initiated and backup tasks for large amount of data may take longer.
- For more information on Smart Recycle, please click here.
To view task info:
- Select the task you want to view.
- Click Get Info.
To edit a task:
- Select the task you want to edit.
- Click Edit.
- Manage the Task Name,Backup Folder, and Scheduled Backup. If it is a Remote Backup task, you may also reset the password.
- Click OK to save the changes.
To delete a task:
- Select the task you want to delete.
- Click Delete.
To create a version manually:
- Select the task you want to create a backup version.
- Click Back Up Now.
- Name your backup version, and whether the version should be locked to prevent it from being deleted from Smart Recycle.
- Click OK to start backup. If you want to cancel the process, click Cancel.
To manage versions:
- Select the task you want to manage the backup versions.
- Click Manage Versions. You can also double-click on the task.
- Edit, delete, or view info of the versions.
Limitations
- Both backup task and version name allow 1 to 32 Unicode characters. The name must not contain the following characters:
! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , / : ; <= > ? @ [ ] \ ^ ` { } | ~
- You cannot modify the backup destination once it is set.
Timeline
On the Timeline tab, the backup versions of a task are lined up in chronicle order. Each version is displayed as a window. For each version, you can restore, copy or download any file or folder.
To view the version of a task:
- Click Tasks button on the lower-right hand corner.
- Select the task you want to view.
- You can switch between versions by using either of the following methods:
- Click or drag the mouse on the adjacent version windows.
- Drag the timeline bar at the bottom of the screen.
To restore the content of a version:
- Select a version.
- Select the file or folder you want to restore. You can select more than one by pressing on the "ctrl" key.
- Right-click and select Restore. Otherwise, you can also click Action and select Restore.
To copy the content of a version:
- Select a version.
- Select the file or folder you want to copy. You can select more than one by pressing on the "ctrl" key.
- Right-click and select Copy. Otherwise, you can also click Action and select Copy.
To download the content of a version:
- Select a version.
- Select the file or folder you want to download. You can select more than one by pressing on the "ctrl" key.
- You can download by using either of the following methods:
- Double-click on a file. This only applies if you are downloading one file.
- Right-click and select Download.
- Click Action and select Download.
- Choose the download destination. Folders and multiple-file downloads will be compressed as ZIP files.
Settings
On the Settings tab, you can modify the below settings.
Options
The following options are available:
- Send an email notification upon task completion: The system can send an email notification when backup tasks are completed. This notification email will be sent to the email address specified in Control Panel > Notifications.
- Remove older versions: If enabled, this option automatically deletes backup versions older than the time period selected.
Cache Volume
A volume can be designated as a cache volume. Designating a cache volume improves the speed of performing backup tasks to remote servers. Once a volume is designated as a cache volume, shared folders on it cannot be selected as the source for Time Backup tasks.
Smart Recycle
Smart Recycle is an intelligent backup maintainer. It helps to keep the past backup versions without letting it overtaking too much of your volume space. The retaining mechanism is as follows:
- Hourly versions from now to past 24 hours. The system keeps the earliest version that's created in an hour.
- Daily versions from 1 day to 1 month. The system keeps the earliest version that's created in a day.
- Weekly version after 1 month. The system keeps the earliest version that's created in the week.
You can also lock a version to prevent it from being deleted by Smart Recycle. Read more here.
Time Backup Limitations
- Time Backup is only available for models x08 series and above, excluding DS108j, DS109j, and DS209j.
- You can only back up onto a different volume or an external hard disk. Therefore, your destination must be on a different volume from all the source shared folders, so there must be two volumes in order to perform local backup.
- The file system must be EXT3 or EXT4. All volumes created in DiskStation are using these two formats. Please make sure your external hard disk's file system before setting it as a backup destination.
- To enable remote backup, please use administrator account to log in to the destination server.
- Remote backup does not support download files directly from the timeline version window.
- Once a volume is designated as a cache volume, share folders on it cannot be the source for Time Backup tasks.
- Time Backup does not support encrypted shared folders being used as a backup source or destination.
- You can only create one network backup task.
- SSD Read-write cache cannot be used together withTime Backup. For example, when you create a read-write SSD cache, you will not be able to run Time Backup. Vice versa, if you are running Time Backup, you will not able to create a read-write SSD cache.