Cloud Station
Cloud Station is a file sharing service that allows you to synchronize files between a centralized DiskStation and multiple client computers, mobile and DiskStation devices. To seamlessly sync your data among these devices, a DiskStation has to be chosen as the host server, and the rest of the paired computers, mobiles and DiskStation will act as the client devices. Before syncing files with client devices, Cloud Station package is required to be installed on the host server, while a client package has to be installed on each client device you want to sync with.
Note:
- A client application (Cloud Station for client computers, available at Synology's Download Center) is required to be installed on client computers before syncing files between DiskStation and your local computers.
- Cloud Station Client (available at Package Center) is required to be installed on each DiskStation device you want to pair with in order to sync files between this host DiskStation and other client DiskStation devices. This package can be installed on one or multiple client DiskStation devices according to your needs.
- Synology's DS cloud app is required in order to sync files between the DiskStation and your mobile devices. DS cloud can be downloaded for free.
Enable Cloud Station
Once Cloud Station is enabled, and if you have enabled the QuickConnect service, you can see your QuickConnect ID on the overview page. Client computers, DiskStation and mobile devices can use this information for creating connections.
Note:
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QuickConnect is a relay service that can help you set up Cloud Station syncing easily without configuring port forwarding rules for your DiskStation. For detailed instructions, go to Control Panel > QuickConnect, and then click the Help button at the top-right corner.
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For better syncing performance, it is recommended that you enable port forwarding on TCP port 6690 for your router and DiskStation. For more information, go to Control Panel > Router Configuration, and then click the Help button at the top-right corner.
Manage User Privileges
Click Privileges to specify which users can access Cloud Station service. Permitted users have the following privileges:
- Sync files with your DiskStation
- Launch Cloud Station from DSM Main Menu
To permit DSM user's access to the Cloud Station service:
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Use the search field at the top-right corner of Cloud Station to find your users.
- Tick the checkboxes for the users you want to permit, and then click Save.
- If your DiskStation is joined to a directory service as a Windows domain or LDAP client, you can enable or disable domain/LDAP users' access privileges to Cloud Station services via Batch Management.
Note:
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Only users belonging to the administrators group can manage user privileges.
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If the status of a user is Disabled, you are not allowed to enable the user's access to Cloud Station. To enable the user, go to Control Panel > User.
Manage Cloud Station Sharing
Click Sharing to enable/disable Cloud Station sharing feature for shared folders. If a shared folder is enabled, users who have read/write privileges can sync files within it.
To enable sharing feature:
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Use the search field at the top-right corner of Cloud Station to find shared folders.
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Tick the checkboxes after shared folders you want to enable, and then click Save.
Note:
- Cloud Station sharing is available to DSM local shared folders only.
- Only users belonging to the administrators group can manage the sharing feature.
- Only users who have read/write privileges to a shared folder can sync files within it to and from the server. If the users only have read-only privileges for the selected shared folder, they can only sync files from the host server to their client devices, and the changes made on the client side will not be synced back. To configure read/write privileges of a shared folder, go to Control Panel > Shared Folder.
- Please do not encrypt the shared folder that you are about to sync or mount remote folders and virtual drives on it.
- When enabling shared folder syncing on Cloud Station, ACL or Unix privilege settings will not be applied. In other words, as long as the login credential used on Cloud Station client has Read/Write permissions to the shared folder, all the files within will be synced.
- Files larger than 10 GB will not be synced.
Manage Client Connections
Click Client List to see the list of client computers that have been set up to sync files with your DiskStation using the Cloud Station service. You can see the client's computer name, the DSM username used for service authorization, IP address, syncing status, and the start time of file syncing between DiskStation and the client.
To manage client connections, do any of the following:
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Click Refresh to update the list.
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Select a client on the list, and then click Unlink to stop the client's connection.
Note:
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Unlinked clients will need to reconfigure its connection to the Cloud Station service before they can sync to your DiskStation again.
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DSM users without administrative privileges can only manage its own connections.
Manage Cloud Station Files with File Station
The Cloud Station files are saved in your home/CloudStation folder or shared folders that have Cloud Station Sharing (Only DSM users with administrative privileges can only manage Cloud Station Files of shared folders). You can browse and download Cloud Station files (or their previous versions) with File Station.
To manage Cloud Station files:
- Go to File Station, and then browse to home/CloudStation or shared folders.
- Right-click the file and then choose Browse previous versions. Here you can see and download the previous versions of the file.
Manage Files in Version History
Click Version History to view and manage previous versions of the modified or deleted files in your Cloud Station sync and shared folders.
To manage Cloud Station files:
- Under the Version History tab, select the file you want to apply the operation to.
- Click Action and choose any of the following from the drop-down menu:
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Browse previous versions: View and download previous versions of this chosen file.
- Download: Download this deleted file. Note that only files that have already been deleted can be downloaded.
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Restore: Recover this deleted file to the last modified version.
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Delete permanently: Delete this file from the version history.
Note that the file will be permanently removed and cannot be recovered.
To remove all the deleted files:
To delete all files and previous versions, select Delete all from the Action drop-down menu. Please note you will not be able to recover the files that are deleted permanently. Please proceed with caution.
Settings
Cloud Station saves historical versions of each modified file. Every time you modify a file, a backup version is created, just in case you make mistakes or wish to revert to an older version. On the Settings panel, you can specify the maximum number of versions to save for each file. If you wish to keep more versions of each file, please set this number higher. However, if you wish to reduce storage consumption, this number should be set lower.
To specify the database location:
- Select a volume in the Database Location dropdown menu.
- Click the Apply button to save settings.
For Advanced Users
To understand how Cloud Station works and ensure your files and folders sync correctly, try to read the following.
Storage space utilization:
Cloud Station keeps historical versions of every change in your Cloud Station folder. So even if you saved a bad change, or if the file has been damaged or deleted, you can restore the file to an older version with only a few clicks. However it requires at least one full copy of any given file as the base version for file history, so the selected shares will double the disk space needed. Only the differential data will be kept among different historical file versions.
The following metadata will be synced:
- UNIX execution permissions.
- Last modified time.
- Mac's extended attributes.
- Windows ACL.
The following metadata will not be synced:
- UNIX read and write permissions.
Default action for conflicted copy:
If two people change the same file at the same time, Cloud Station keeps both changed files, and one of them will be renamed and appended with computer name, conflict date/time and conflict reason to the file name.
Note:
- Only users belonging to the administrators group can view and modify the above settings.
- Maximum version number settings are applied the next time a file is modified.
Limitations on EDS14:
- Cloud Station only supports external hard drives or USB drives formatted in EXT4 with capacity larger than 4GB.
- Shared folder syncing is not supported.
- Database location settings are not changeable.