Sync Synology with Dropbox and Google Drive

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With DSM 5.0 Synology introduced a feature a lot of people have been asking for - the possibility to sync or use your Synology with Dropbox or Google Drive.

What a cool way to:

1) transfer files from whatever to your Synology! Dropbox or Google Drive is compatible with almost every platform out there, be it Mac, Windows, IPhone, iPad, Android or Windows phone. As soon as you upload for example a picture from your iPhone to Dropbox, it will automatically be synced to your Synology.

2) Share! If you have a shared folder in Dropbox, by adding a file to that folder on your Synology, you are sending it to people you have that particular folder shared with.

3) Cloud Backup! Google has taken a decision in March 2014 to slash prices of google drive. I currently use Amazon Glacier on my Synology to backup a lot of information - mostly Pictures and videos. As per my blog post on why I bought the Synology it had an automatic upload system to Glacier and my monthly cost for an online backup of a lot of information (TBs) is only around 5$.

However Amazin Glacier has disadvantages. It had no dedicated program to upload / download info. Files are stores without filenames, so the program you use needs to solve this. And finally it is sloooowwww. A request to take something out of Glacier takes approx 4 hours to start the download, and is extremely slow to send. Good for cheap backup of files you do not need in a rush or to modify often, but not for much more.

So, back to google drive. With the price slash, google is turning storage into a commodity. For a whopping 1TB of info, google charges only 9.99$ per month! If you need less, 100Gb for only 1.99USD And we all know the advantages of google drive - it's fast, secure, files are just there, it even keeps previous copies.

 

Any limitations?

I only saw:

1) you can only synchronize your complete Dropbox or Google Drive folder. You can't select a set of subfolders. It's either everything or nothing!

2) for the Mac you might be wasting Synology space with multiple backups. If you use Time Machine on your Mac with Synology with your backup disk and you have Dropbox installed it is backing up th 2-10Gbs of info via time capsule to the Synology and if you install this sync it repeats the info again. The solution? Tell Time Capsule to exclude the Dropbox folder from the backup.

 

How to install?

You need:

- A Synology installed with DSM 5 and internet access. If unsure on what version you have, It should show on the bottom left DSM 5.0 on the main window.

- Basic knowledge around the Synology interface

- A Google Drive or Dropbox account

 

With the above checked, let's start!

1) Log in to your Synology and head over to the package center.

2) In the upper right corner of the package center is a search box. Search for Cloud.

3) 3 options should appear - Cloud station, Cloud Station Client ( both for making your personal cloud) and Cloud Sync. Press Cloud Sync for more information ( as image below ) or directly press install.

4) After installing when you enter the base menu a new option appears called Cloud Sync. Open the application.

Synology DSM 5.0 main menu

5) When you enter the program for the first time, it will automatically open up the connection wizard. Select the service you want to configure. We will start with Dropbox. Select it and press next.

Synology Cloud Sync Wizard

6) a pop-up window will appear asking you to allow cloud sync to access your Dropbox. If you are not already logged onto Dropbox in your browser, you will need to login before the allow screen appears.

7) The pop-up will disappear, and the wizard will continue. The next step is to select where you want the Dropbox folder synced. Remember it will be the whole Dropbox, including every subfolders and file. On my Synology I created a separate shared folder just for this with it's own permissions.

Synology Cloud Sync

Scared of losing years of Photos? Here is the perfect backup solution

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Two things can easily happen to your computer: HDD failure or get stolen. Of course, you can always put in a new HDD or buy a new computer and install the OS and all the programs you use. It's time consuming but not the end of the world. But then the thought comes - when was the last time I backed up???

Oh no, THE foto and video collection. The one you have been archiving since your first digital camera or your friends' first digital camera. Probably older files are on some external drive, but you haven't updated it in the last 9 or 12 months, almost a year of memories lost.

This already happened to me once, and ever since I've been looking for a solution. Enter the Synology NAS server - it sounds and looks geeky, but WOW, it solved my backup problem in several ways and added tons of extra functionalities like torrent managing, media server, internet server for pictures / streaming video and home camera surveillance.
What is a NAS server? Basically a hard disk plugged into your home network - a shared drive that any device on your home WIFI can access. Synology took the concept one step further and included RAID and a processor that can do things with the information on the hard disk such as uploading them to online storage or creating an online webpage for your pictures that you can access anywhere in the world. I'll talk about this in an upcoming post, for now backup.
I wanted something that could:
- Take care of automatic backups from my Mac / PC
- protect itself from failure of it's own HDD
- upload pictures / videos to the cheapest online backup. Reason being that if someone steals my house and my computer and the synology, the backups on it are not very useful....
The device I found that ticked all these boxes and was "cheap" is the Synology DS212j. Nowadays they've launched an upgraded version - the DS214 which adds more internal RAM memory and an improved processor. Functionalities are the same. Besides the device, you need to buy separately the HDDs to put inside. To have RAID ( explained in a second ) you should have two same sizes HDDs, I got 2 x Western Digital's Red 3TB HDDs. The Red family are made to work on NAS servers, prioritizing longetivity and low heat generation over speed - which you don't need as much Ina. NAS server vs a computer. These disks are designed to be on 24/7, just like your synology.

Why the Synology?
- Take care of automatic backups from my Mac / PC:
For Mac it has time machine functionality, a software included in the Mac by Apple that backs up all your computer content automatically to a time machine device. It also can handle automatically complete restore of your information in case of issues with the Mac.
For windows it has software that can automate backups, although if haven't used it yet (only use macs for now...)
- protect itself from failure of it's own HDD
With 2 hard disks installed, it mirrors all information automatically in between them. Meaning that if one HDD fails, all info is stored on the other one. Synology handles this without any involvement from you - you only see one shared drive and once the info.
- upload pictures / videos to the cheapest online backup. Reason being that if someone steals my house and my computer and the synology, the backups on it are not very useful. Synology can upload to several online storage sites p, but for me the mist interesting is Amazon glacier. It's real cheap, I think I have approx 300Gbs put there and I pay approx 4USD per month. With Dropbox a 200Gb plan is 19.99USD and 500Gb a whopping 49.99USD. I save 400 to 500$ per year. The catch? It isn't like Dropbox that you always have access to your files. With glacier you request a file and it is only available 4 hours later.
To be honest, none of these files I need in a rush - they are always local on my Synology. Amazon glacier is online backup just in case the Synology is stolen.... And probably I can wait a little while to download them when my house has been burglarized - they are not priority #1. Amazon even has a service where you can send an external HDD and they record all files there.
Set-up posts coming up!