Using a NAS for TimeMachine?

[MR_Boogy]

Hi all, I've been meaning to get a home NAS for ages, and gather many of the normal brands allow using NAS for TimeMachine backups - which I don't currently have set up at all and have never used but it seems a great idea to use it if it's available.

One warning I've seen is that TM will basically use all the available storage, automatically removing oldest backups when it's full. Assuming this is true(?) then I don't want my whole multi-disk NAS being eaten up, so what is the best approach? Should I create a dedicated volume on the NAS with a fixed size, perhaps?
My Mac (iMac 5k) has 250GB internal, 1TB external drives so when I come to spec up my NAS how much space should I set aside for TM?

Hope this is the best forum section? Thanks for any help - any other advice/tips I haven't asked about is very welcome since I'm new to NAS and TimeMachine!

 

[elvisimprsntr]

What ever NAS TM solution you select, you can specify disk limits.

If you want a retail solution, suggest a system from Synology and don't expose NAS directly to the internet. Avoid manufacturers with a poor historical vulnerability track record (QNAP, WD, Netgear, etc.)

Depending on your level of expertise, you can roll your own enterprise class NAS with TrueNAS.
Open source and runs on almost any x86 hardware. If you have an old x86 machine, you can take it for a spin.

TrueNAS - Welcome to the Open Storage Era

TrueNAS is the World's #1 Open Source Storage. Based on OpenZFS, it is trusted by millions and deployed worldwide.

www.truenas.com

P.S. RAID is not a backup, RAID is resiliency. Implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy.

 

[MR_Boogy]

@elvisimprsntr when you say I can specify disk limits, do you mean at the NAS level, or as a feature of Time Machine?
Is it recommended to have a dedicated TM volume, or just a dedicated folder - the former might make things a bit neater (1 volume for TM, one for media, etc) but as I understand it you lock your volume size in at creation so it's more inflexible.

I'm definitely thinking a prosumer level NAS - almost certainly Synology - I'm a techy guy but I like to spend my time using my tech, not building it

 

[elvisimprsntr]

The TM limits are at the NAS level.

NOTE: Apple deprecated AFP in favor of SMB.

How do I back up files from my Mac to NAS using Time Machine? - Synology Knowledge Center

Synology Knowledge Center offers comprehensive support, providing answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting steps, software tutorials, and all the technical documentation you may need.

kb.synology.com

 

[Ifti]

Been using a QNAP for years with no issue whatsoever - both at home and in the office. Granted, I do not use QNAPCloud at all - just internal access only, but neither system has ever given me any issue at all - hence no need to rule out a solid competitor like QNAP.

I used to own a Synology too - many years ago mind, but these have also been subject to vulnerabilities, with a 90 day fix turnaround!! (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...oducts-impacted-by-openssl-rce-vulnerability/).

Both offer fantastic systems. Do you own research into the software both run and find what you prefer according to your own taste.
Irrespective of chosen platform, both will allow you the ability to use Time Machine and set a disc size limit quite easily.

Personally I still use an external TB3 based drive for Time Machine purely because I want a restore to be as simple and quick as possible, without having any issues seeking a network drive etc, which has always been my fear with using a NAS for TM Backups!

 

[MR_Boogy]

Thanks @Ifti . Yeah I've been leaning to Synology from research that seems to say QNap is slightly the better hardware, but Synology the slicker experience out of the box with more custom apps? I'm quite keen on their SHR too.

As far as time machine, I'm just a bit nervous using a drive plugged directly in to the system. I suppose I probably could plug a standard external drive into the NAS. Then if I need to retrieve it I can still plug it directly in to my Mac. Guess I don't really need to RAID my time machine?

 

[satcomer]

 

[bradl]

Here's another couple of options you can use for TM backups to a NAS:

• Quotas. You should be able to set up quotas on a given filesystem on the NAS and have that effectively be the limit of how much data can be stored on that filesystem until the underlying OS tells TM that that is all that can be stored. TM will then agree with that, and start to remove the oldest backups to free up space for the new backup being written. That is a way to handle it at the software portion of the NAS level. If you want to handle it at a more hardware-based level,
• Partitions. You don't have to allocate the entire full disk to be used on the NAS. You can partition that disk into particular volumes that have a given hard limit for the partition. For example, I can create a 500GB partition on a 12TB drive and allocate that for any programs the NAS needs, then create a 4.5TB partition for TM backups, then use the rest for shares, music, Plex, what have you. Mount the 4.5TB partition on your Mac, kick off TM to back up, and it will only use the space in that 4.5TB partition. CAVEAT: If you already have the full disk space allocated, this may require repartitioning and reformatting of that drive, which could result in the data already on that drive to be lost. So be sure to back up your NAS prior to making any disk changes on it.

So there are options at the NAS you can use, along with the other ideas above.. and since this gives you multiple ways to handle this, just pick the one that is most feasible for you and run with it.

BL.