Using Time Machine to Backup Data on a NAS?

[Cattywampus_]

Hi

I will be getting a NAS box soon and will be using it to store all my music/movie/documents etc... just everything.

I have 2 x 3TB external hard drives that I use for backing up. One of them is used for Time Machine, while another I use for Carbon Copy Clone disk images (yes, double redundant backups )

I would like to continue using my current backup scheme when I get my NAS system, but something has just crossed my mind that may hinder this.

Would I be able to tell Time Machine to backup selected data on the disks in the NAS to one of the external USB hard drives?

As I understand it, the drives in the NAS will be seen as network volumes by OS X and this is where I am unsure whether Time Machine will not work.

Thanks

 

[satcomer]

Which NAS box are you getting? The answer varies in different brands of NAS devices.

 

[Cattywampus_]

Hi

It's a Synology DS214play.

Cheers

 

[chrfr]

As I understand it, the drives in the NAS will be seen as network volumes by OS X and this is where I am unsure whether Time Machine will not work.

Thanks

You're correct in thinking that Time Machine will not work on network volumes. The Synology device offers several backup options itself, so you'll want to investigate those.

 

[leman]

It's a Synology DS214play.

It should support Time Machine out of the box.

 

[randomgeeza]

It should support Time Machine out of the box.

I bought one of these thinking that it would be fine with TM. Researched beforehand, blah, blah, blah. With everyone saying that it worked fine. Lo & behold... it didn't. It worked and was recognised, but that was as far as it went. The backups all completed without issue. However, on using the TM interface and this was on Mavericks, TM would freeze with no way of taking the process further.

My advice to the OP would be, if you value your data, as I'm sure you do, DO NOT TRUST third party (not supported by Apple) NAS TM solutions. Your data is priceless and should you lose it, the amount of money that you are saving by not buying in the Apple ecosystem, will seem trivial in comparison to what you could/will lose.

I speak from experience here, and still have my NAS with a TC/AE as well... The NAS acts as an entertainment server for my home and when away. The TC/AE is exactly that, a backup solution that is supported and works.

Good luck.

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi

It's a Synology DS214play.

Cheers

Here is the deal with these third party devices for Time Machine. They are officially not supported by Apple, so you have to rely on the vendor to keep the NAS updated so it is compatible with the latest version of Time Machine and also the latest version of Apple's AFP network protocol that Time Machine requires.

I see in the specs Synology does advertise they support Time Machine on that device, so we can assume they have support AFP to make this work. I did see a Synology forum post here with some users saying TM works for them under Yosemite.

The danger with this is an OS software update can break compatibility then you have to wait for the NAS vendor to update their software/firmware, and in the interim you have no backup mechanism.

 

[chrfr]

The OP is trying to use his existing USB drives on his Mac to back up the Synology, not use the NAS as his Time Machine server.

 

[leman]

The backups all completed without issue. However, on using the TM interface and this was on Mavericks, TM would freeze with no way of taking the process further.

My advice to the OP would be, if you value your data, as I'm sure you do, DO NOT TRUST third party (not supported by Apple) NAS TM solutions.

The TM failures happen with Apple TM solutions as well. And besides — as long as it can backup your data, you will get it back, even if you end up using the file browser instead of the TM interface.

Here is the deal with these third party devices for Time Machine. They are officially not supported by Apple, so you have to rely on the vendor to keep the NAS updated so it is compatible with the latest version of Time Machine and also the latest version of Apple's AFP network protocol that Time Machine requires.

This is true in theory, but the practice differs. Changes to TM are not at all that frequent. After all, Apple needs to make sure that TM backups are compatible across different Time Capsule and OS X versions. All you need to support Time Machine on modern Macs is Apple Filing Protocol 3.3, which was released with Snow Leopard. For instance, my Yosemite machine can backup without any problems to a Snow Leopard Server, with its basic AFP implementation from 2009.

Netatalk (the open source framework used to implement AFP 3.3) is stable, robust and provides high-performance. For all intends and purposes, its just as good as Apple's own.

 

[Weaselboy]

The OP is trying to use his existing USB drives on his Mac to back up the Synology, not use the NAS as his Time Machine server.

Ahhh.... yes. I totally missed that.

I'll show myself out.

OP>> Not gonna work with Time Machine.

----------

This is true in theory, but the practice differs.

I disagree. Almost every time we have an OS upgrade there are posts on here from NAS users about how Time Machine is broken and an update from the NAS vendor fixed it. With almost every OS update you see a wave of these posts on the forums.

 

[jdphoto]

The OP is trying to use his existing USB drives on his Mac to back up the Synology, not use the NAS as his Time Machine server.

I'm pretty sure that Time Machine is not capable of backup up network drives.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4662565?start=0&tstart=0

 

[leman]

I disagree. Almost every time we have an OS upgrade there are posts on here from NAS users about how Time Machine is broken and an update from the NAS vendor fixed it. With almost every OS update you see a wave of these posts on the forums.

I am now aware of these posts, so I can't comment on it. Still, it does not change the fact that the AFP protocol itself does not change. Maybe Apple has been playing tricks with discoverability of TM, but certainly not with the TM mechanism as such. The cheap LaCie NAS with TM support that I use for tertiary backups works great with a range of machines from Snow Leopard to Yosemite.

 

[Cattywampus_]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I won't be using Time Machine anymore then .

Synology has a similar backup solution for their NAS drives, incremental backups etc. It even looks like it has an interface like Time Machine. Might not be as easy to just switch into it and use but I can count the number of times I have ever had to actually retrieve a file using Time Machine on one hand.

I'm sure I'll find something that works for me. Thanks guys.