Backup iPhone to Synology NAS: Complete Guide
How to Back Up Your iPhone to a Synology NAS
Backing up an iPhone to a Synology NAS gives you complete control over your data, so you don’t have to rely on limited cloud storage. It also protects your data from accidental loss. A NAS-based backup, on the other hand, keeps your photos, videos, and files stored locally and under your control, but still lets you automate and access them from afar.
This guide tells you the best ways to back up an iPhone to a Synology NAS, how each method works, and which one is best for different situations.
Why You Should Back Up Your iPhone to a Synology NAS
iPhones hold important personal and business information, such as pictures, messages, documents, and app data. iCloud is easy to use, but it has storage limits and costs that come up again and again. A Synology NAS has scalable storage, good performance in your home, and keeps your data for a long time without charging you every month.
A NAS-based backup also fits in well with other backup plans, so you can protect your iPhone data along with your PCs, Macs, and cloud services all in one place.
Method 1: Setting up automatic backups with Synology Drive
Synology Drive is the easiest and most common way to back up iPhone data to a NAS. Users can set up automatic photo and video backups after installing the Synology Drive Server package on the NAS and the Synology Drive mobile app on their iPhone.
Once set up, the phone will automatically upload photos and videos in the background whenever it is connected to Wi-Fi. This keeps new content safe without any action on the user’s part. The NAS keeps files in well-organized folders, which makes it easy to browse, sync, or back them up again.
This method is best for people who only want to back up their media and documents, not the whole system.
Method 2: Use iTunes or Finder to back up to NAS storage
Apple still uses local backups through a Mac or PC with Finder or iTunes to back up everything on an iPhone, including app data and system settings. You can use a Synology NAS as a backup destination by mapping a NAS shared folder to a network drive on your computer.
After the NAS share is mounted, you can change the backup location so that iTunes or Finder saves iPhone backups directly on the NAS. This method makes a full backup of your device, like iCloud, but it is stored on your own device.
This method needs more setup, but it’s the best way to back up iPhones.
Method 3: Use Synology Photos to back up photos and files
Synology Photos is another good choice, especially for people who want to protect their photos and videos. The Synology Photos app for mobile devices automatically uploads photos and videos to the NAS, sorts them by date, and makes them easy to access on all of your devices.
This method is especially helpful for families or teams who want to store all of their photos in one place and have everyone be able to access them and see their version history.
Things to think about when it comes to networks and storage
For backups to work, the iPhone needs to be on the same local network as the NAS for the first sync. Uploading a lot of photos can take a while, so it’s important to have stable Wi-Fi.
On the NAS side, having enough storage space and the right RAID setup help keep data safe. Allowing snapshots on the backup folders makes them safer from being accidentally deleted or attacked by ransomware.
Best Practices for Security
When you back up your iPhone to a NAS, you shouldn’t forget about security. Use strong passwords for your users, turn on two-factor authentication on DSM, and only give mobile apps the permissions they need.
If you can back up files remotely, like uploading photos while you’re away from home, use encrypted connections and don’t let NAS services be directly accessible from the internet without proper protection.
Without redundancy, backup is not complete
A NAS backup keeps your data safe in case your phone is lost or broken, but it doesn’t keep your NAS hardware safe on its own. If you want to fully protect your iPhone backups on the NAS, they should be part of a larger backup plan, like NAS-to-NAS replication or backups that are stored off-site.
This layered method makes sure that iPhone data can still be recovered even after big problems.
Picking the Right Way
Synology Drive and Synology Photos are the best tools for backing up files and photos automatically and on a regular basis. For full device recovery, it’s better to use iTunes or Finder to back up to NAS storage. For the best protection, many users use both methods.
About the Epis Technology
Epis Technology helps people and businesses make reliable backup plans by providing enterprise IT infrastructure, data protection, and Synology consulting services. The business focuses on Synology deployment, building secure storage systems, protecting mobile data, and creating hybrid backup solutions. Epis Technology helps keep personal and business data safe, accessible, and strong over time by adding iPhone backups to a larger NAS and cloud protection plan.