Synology NAS vs. Apple iCloud

Nowadays, many users are using NAS to store their data remotely and share data easily. Synology is one of the famous NAS manufacturers that offers a series of Synology NAS appliances. Synology NAS is designed to help users store data from various tools in the most convenient way possible. One of the tools they created is Synology Drive, which allows users to sync files from a computer to a Synology NAS. Read below to find out if you need to take a Synology iCloud backup.

As for Apple iCloud storage, it is online secure cloud backup storage that allows you to sync files and save them to the cloud. It is also used by some users as a medium for iPhone data transfer. Like Synology NAS, Apple iCloud also offers apps to automatically sync your data from all devices to its cloud. In addition, iCloud also provides many other services. For example, if you want to share certain files with your family, you can enable "Family Sharing" to easily share the data they need.

Actually, both Synology NAS and Apple iCloud provide effective solutions to protect your files and store them remotely. It is not hard to see that Apple iCloud has more advantages in terms of price. The pricing plan can be flexible for different types of users. However, although the initial investment of NAS is relatively large, you can enjoy huge storage space at one time.

Can I backup Synology with iCloud?

“Hi, I am using iCloud to store my files far away from my local hardware. Recently, I bought a Synology NAS and I'd like to backup my iCloud drive to my NAS. Is there a way to backup my documents in iCloud to my NAS easily? Thanks for your help!”

As mentioned in the case, to take full advantage of different backup solutions, some users may use Synology NAS and public cloud storage like iCloud simultaneously. And for data protection or easier access, they may need to backup files from Synology NAS to iCloud or from iCloud to NAS sometimes.

Actually, to help users access their way easily, Synology Drive is also integrated with other cloud services, such as Google Drive, Amazon Drive, OneDrive, Microsoft Azure, Box, etc. However, although Synology supports so many mainstream cloud storage, iCloud is not listed as a service. So, some people may don’t know how to backup Synology NAS to iCloud. If you need to achieve NAS and iCloud backup, you can try two workarounds in the following contents.

How to backup Synology NAS to iCloud?

There are three ways that you can follow to make iCloud backup Synology NAS, please check them carefully the choose the one that suits you best to follow.

Way 1. Backup Synology NAS to iCloud through iCloud website

If you need to move files between NAS and cloud storage, the most direct way is to download and re-upload files. If you need to backup Synology NAS to iCloud, you can download files from NAS first and re-upload them to iCloud manually. Here are the steps:

1. Download the files that you need from Synology NAS to your local computer.

2. Open a browser, enter icloud.com and sign in, and upload the files from the local computer to iCloud, your Synology iCloud photo sync task will be started.

Way 2. Backup Synology NAS to iCloud via iCloud sync folder

Besides the manual way above, you can also take advantage of the auto-sync folder of iCloud Drive to sync files between Synology NAS and iCloud. Please follow the steps below:

☛On Mac

1. Map the Synology NAS to a network drive on your computer. Then, you can access your files in NAS just like accessing files on the local hard drive.

2. Click Finder, navigate to iCloud Drive on your Mac. You only need to copy and paste or drag and drop into this folder, and the data will be backed up to iCloud.

3. Open the folders of Synology NAS and iCloud Drive, drag and drop files between cloud storage, they will be synced to iCloud or NAS automatically.

☛On Windows PC

1. Map the Synology NAS to a network drive on your computer. Then, you can access your files in NAS just like accessing files on the local hard drive.

2. Go to the iCloud website and download iCloud for Windows. If you are using Windows 10 OS, you can also go to the Microsoft Store to download it.

3. Install iCloud Drive on your Windows PC. After setting up, you can find a folder named iCloud Drive in File Explorer, where you can view the files backed up in iCloud.

4. Open the folders of Synology NAS and iCloud Drive, drag and drop files between cloud storage, they will be synced to iCloud or NAS automatically.

Way 3. Backup Synology NAS to iCloud with a free tool

Actually, both the two ways above are not easy to operation, you need to download the corresponding apps or download files manually. Therefore, you can rely on a free third-party tool like AOMEI Backupper Standard to backup NAS to iCloud. It also supports backing up Synology NAS to OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and so on.

1. Download and install the iCloud desktop app on your computer to let AOMEI Backupper Standard detect it.

2. Download AOMEI Backupper Standard, install, and run it. Go Backup, and then click File Backup.

3. Click the Add Folder or Add File button and then click Share/NAS in the pop-up window to add the network-attached storage device.

4. Click Add share or NAS device and input the IP address, username, and password of your Synology NAS.

5. After selecting the source party, you need to choose the destination. Negative to the location where your iCloud folder is and choose this folder as the destination.

Bonus tip: Backup your files with a free cloud backup service

It's clear from reading that whether you're using Synology NAS or iCloud to store and back up a large number of files, it's expensive to expand your storage space. Switching to a more cost-effective and secure cloud backup service is actually the best way to protect your data. We highly recommend that users try CBackup, an online backup service that is popular with users.

CBackup provides 5GB of free storage per account, and if you need to back up more data, you can upgrade space to 1TB or even 5TB at a very good price. Virtually unlimited space is available by combining cloud storage of multiple drives with CBackup.

Here is the steps to combine multiple cloud storage space to generate a huge cloud space, and then backup files to that space:

1. Download the CBackup app firstly. Set up an account for CBackup, and log in to the CBackup desktop app.

3. Now click the Storage icon, then select the cloud drives you want to combine and click Authorize Now.

3. And then hit the Storage icon, click + Add Combined Cloud. Select the cloud drives you added and combine them with the following steps.

4. Go to Backup > Backup PC to Combined Cloud.

5. And choose the files from your PC in Source section, and tick Combined Cloud as the backup destination, and hit Start Backup button to backup your files to the large cloud for free. 

Conclusion

Follow the three ways above, you can backup Synology NAS to iCloud with ease. Each of the way is feasible, you can choose the way that suits you best and follow the detailed steps to achieve your goal.