Device

This tab allows you to connect new devices to Synology NAS, create backup tasks for connected devices, restore backed up data, and manage connected devices. Please note that, to back up a personal computer (PC), you must install Synology Active Backup for Business Agent on the target computer.

Create Backup Tasks

Before creating a backup task for your device, you need to connect your device to Synology NAS with Synology Active Backup for Business Agent. This section will guide you through the process of creating a backup task for a PC.

To add a device to the device list:

Install Synology Active Backup for Business Agent on the target device you wish to protect by either of the following ways:

Note:

To create a backup task:

Once the agent is installed on the PC that is connected to Synology NAS, a backup task will be created according to the matched template. You can also create more than one backup task for each device.

  1. Do either of the following to start the backup creation wizard:
  2. Select Target Device:

    This step only appears if no device is selected before you click Create. A list of PCs already connected to the server will be displayed in this step.

  3. Configure Task Settings:
  4. Backup Destination:

    Select a shared folder in Btrfs file system as the backup destination. During the package installation, the Btrfs shared folder "ActiveBackupforBusiness" will be created automatically.

  5. Backup Destination Settings: When creating the first task in a backup destination, you can configure compression and encryption settings of the backup destination in this step.

    Note:

    • If you have also configured traffic throttling on the Settings page, the actual data transmission rate will depend on distributed bandwidth.
    • If your device is Modern Standby-capable, Active Backup for Business cannot wake the device from sleep to perform backups due to the operating system's limitations.
    • The compression and encryption settings of a backup destination are not changeable after the first backup task is created. If you wish to use different settings for future tasks, please create a task in a new destination.
    • Backup verification is not supported when compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled.
    • Instant Restore to Microsoft Hyper-V or Synology Virtual Machine Manager is not supported when compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled.
  6. Schedule Backup Task:
  7. Select Retention Policy:

    In this step, you can choose either one of the following retention policy to apply to the created task:

  8. Backup now:

    The wizard allows an immediate backup regardless of the schedule.

Note:

Restore Personal Computers

PC backup supports the following ways to restore the backed up data.

To restore individual files and folders:

Personal computer backup supports granular (file- and folder-level) restore through Active Backup for Business Portal. Administrators are able to delegate the restore permission to each end user through DSM Control Panel. For more information, please refer to the help article: Active Backup for Business Portal.

To restore the entire device:

Entire device restore is available with a recovery media. To restore the entire device or the backed-up volume, please create a recovery media in advance. You can refer this creation guide to learn how to use Synology Active Backup for Business Recovery Media Creator to create a media automatically or create a customized media. You can download Synology Active Backup for Business Recovery Media Creator in Download Center. For more information on restoring the entire device, please refer to this article.

Note:

Manage Devices

To delete a device:

  1. In Device, select the device you wish to delete and click Delete.
  2. Please note that the backup data of the selected device will also be deleted after you delete the device. After you click Confirm Deletion, the device will be removed from the list.

To update the agent on the device:

Agent can be updated by installing a newer installer directly on the device. To remotely update the agent, administrators can install the newer agent on multiple devices with the existing Microsoft Windows Active Directory Domain Services or go to DSM > Active Backup for Business. You can follow the below instructions to update the agent from Active Backup for Business:

  1. Go to Active Backup for Business > PC.
  2. Select the target device that needs an update and click More > Update Agent.
  1. Download the Active Backup for Business Agent installer from Download Center, and upload it to any folder of your Synology NAS with File Station. Please keep a note of the location of the installer.
  2. Log in to DSM with root permission on your computer. Please refer to this article for detailed instructions.
  3. Execute the below command to install the agent to your target devices.
    cp /[volume_where_you_uploaded_the_installer_to]/[name_of_the_folder_where_you_uploaded_installer_to]/[installer_name]/[volume_where_you_install_Active_Backup_for_Business]/\@tmp/

    For example, the location of the installer is /volume1/Files/Synology Active Backup for Business Agent-2.0.4-0621-x64.msi and Active Backup for Business is installed on volume1. The command would be:

    cp /[volume1]/[Files]/[Synology Active Backup for Business Agent-2.0.4-0621-x64.msi]/[volume1]/\@tmp/
  4. After setting up, the agent will be successfully updated.

To have a personal computer backed up as a physical server:

You may change the device type and have a personal computer protected as a physical server. After the device type is changed, the system will move this device from the PC page to the Physical Server page. Please refer to this article for the differences between personal computer backup tasks and physical server backup tasks.

  1. Select a device and click More.
  2. Click Change device type.