• Synology C2

Early in 2016 I published a post on how I setup my Synology NAS to backup to CrashPlan from Code42. It certainly wasn't an out of the box process and involved a lot of behind the scenes hacking on both the Synology and my laptop in order to get it going. It did, however, work well.

For a time.

I started to notice a pattern in that, with every iteration of the DSM platform or Java update, the CrashPlan service would just stop. I'd get it going again, but each time, it was not as simple as clicking the Start button next to the Service window. No, it was always far more detailed than that and I started to grow weary. I even went weeks at times without backing up my NAS, and this was not a situation I could tolerate any more.

So you want to backup a Synology to Backblaze B2? Well, so does my friend and Fosstodon co-founder, Mike Stone who asked for more detail around how I backup to Backblaze B2 storage. Fosstodon has a limit of 500 characters and that wasn’t going to cut it, so I decided to write a post instead. So let’s get started, first we need to install the Synology CloudSync Package, this will allow integration with Backblaze B2. During the installation, it will ask where you would like the packaged to be installed, I just picked ‘volume 1’ as that is where my other packages have also been installed. Secure your data in the cloud and seamlessly share files and workflows using Synology with B2 Cloud Storage. Well one option would be to upgrade to the more expensive Crashplan business plan or another option would be to check out Backblaze! In this post I’ll be showing you just how easy it is to use Backblaze on your Synology Diskstation NAS – all with native Synology apps. No need to worry about upgrades breaking your backups or 3rd party solutions!

At the time, when researching backup solutions, I felt disappointed that Backblaze weren't offering any kind of solution for this. I had been using Backblaze for several years on my Mac devices and always found it to be a solid, reliable and unobtrusive piece of software. I've only needed to restore a few items in that time, yet each time the process was quick and easy. This is what I ideally wanted on my NAS.

Well, now I do.

Backblaze now offer a B2 Cloud Storage which links directly to my Synology NAS. Rather than paying a fixed monthly fee, B2 works in a very similar mould to it's cloud storage competitors in that you will pay per GB (currently $0.005 per GB), so working out your appromiate monthly bill is simple.

The best part about this solution is, without question, the ease of setup and subsequent lack of worry. You can 'set it and forget it', just like on your laptop or desktop machine. Backblaze provide an intuitive guide which lays out the steps in a logical, well explained manner.

I'd say more, but once the guide was followed, I haven't had to carry out any more maintenance. It's important to note that this is a Cloud Storage solution for your NAS as opposed to a fully fledged Backup solution. I use this solely for duplicating all of my NAS content to cloud storage. I can then download on any device with an internet connection.

So quick, so simple, so hassle-free.

Synology C2

That's enough of a selling point for me.