How to Backup NAS? Top 3 Safe & Easy Solutions

This tutorial guides you on how to back up NAS with three methods. You can directly copy NAS data to an external hard drive, back up NAS with backup software, and back up NAS to a cloud drive.

NAS Backup Overview

NAS is short for Network Attached Storage. It can save files and data from different devices in the same internet environment. QNAP and Synology offer the best services for NAS users. Although NAS provides a very secure data storage service, we also need to back up data on it to avoid unexpected data loss. 

Think about what your NAS holds for you. It's likely the primary vault for your lifetime of memories—years of family photos, home videos, and cherished personal documents. It's also your productive workspace, where you store critical business files, creative projects, and collaborative documents. For many, it's even a personal entertainment center, hosting extensive libraries of movies, music, and TV shows. In short, your NAS is the silent guardian of your most valuable digital assets. So, we strongly recommend that you keep a backup of it.

Why do you need to back up NAS:

• NAS may be attacked by the virus.
• Physical damage may cause data loss.
• The storage space of NAS is limited.

Knowing the necessity and importance of backing up the NAS, you may wonder how to do it. Don't worry, we'll explore three practical ways to back up NAS with a step-by-step guide. Before diving in, refer to the comparison table below and choose the method that suits you.

Dimension	1. Manual Copy-Paste to External HDD/USB	2. Using Backup Software (to HDD/Cloud/another NAS) 👍👍👍	3. Using Cloud Sync Services
Core Concept	Manually selecting and dragging files/folders from the NAS to an external drive.	Using dedicated software (e.g., EaseUS Todo Backup) to automate and manage the backup process.	Using a cloud service's sync client to mirror a specific NAS folder to the cloud.
Scheduling	None. Entirely manual.	Fully Automated. Set a schedule and the backup runs automatically.	Automated. Syncs in near real-time or on a schedule.
Speed	Slow. Dependent on user speed and file selection.	Fast. Uses incremental/differential backups to copy only changed data.	Slow. Limited by the internet upload speed.
Effort & Ease of Use	High Effort. Time-consuming and repetitive.	Low Effort.  Initial setup is all that's needed.	Low Effort. Easy initial setup for specific folders, but managing what to sync can be complex.
Cost	Low (one-time). Only the cost of the external hard drive.	Variable. Software may have a free version and a paid premium version.	Recurring Subscription. Ongoing cost based on cloud storage capacity needed. Can become expensive for large data.
Disaster Recovery	Poor. Recovery is manual, slow. If the copy is corrupt, data is lost.	Excellent. Allows for bare-metal recovery, universal restore, and easy recovery of individual files.	Good for Files. Good for recovering previous versions of files or deleted files.
Security	You are responsible.	High. Often includes strong encryption (AES 256-bit) for the backup files.	Provider-dependent. Relies on the cloud provider's security.
Ideal Scenario	A user with a very small amount of critical data who doesn't mind the manual process.	Everyone (Home users to Professionals).  Essential for implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule.	A user who needs continuous access to a specific set of files from multiple devices.

From the chart, you can see that using backup software to back up NAS is a relatively safe and fast solution. EaseUS Todo Backup is one of the most popular tools for Windows users. You can download it with confidence and keep the security of your NAS data.

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Method 1. Copy NAS to External Hard Drive or USB Drive

NAS usually has one or more USB ports to attach USB flash drives. You can connect a USB drive to such a port and back up the data from the NAS to this USB drive. This operation is manual by using the web interface the NAS vendor provides to manage the NAS device.

This part will show you how to back up NAS to an external hard drive. Now, let's learn the details.

Step 1. Connect your NAS device with an external hard drive or USB drive.

Step 2. Open your NAS build-in page.

Step 3. Select the data and files you want to back up manually.

Step 4. Wait for the transferring process to be accomplished and disconnect your external hard drive or USB drive.

Method 2. Backup NAS with Disk Backup Software

It is simple to back up your NAS to a local PC with disk backup software. EaseUS Todo Backup Home is an excellent tool to help you secure data from your NAS. It allows you to keep a backup of your NAS data on external drive, NAS, or cloud, anywhere you want. Besides, it comes with various advanced backup features, including scheduling backup, incremental/differentail backup, encrypted backup, etc.

What EaseUS Todo Backup can do:

• Disk backup and recovery. You can back up data from a local disk, external hard drive, and network drive.
• Files backup and recovery. You can back up your NAS with full backup, differential backup, and incremental backup.
• Multiple backup options. It allows you to back up data to a local drive, cloud, NAS, and Security zone.
• It can help you backup network drive to external hard drive and clone a hard drive.

We can back up NAS with EaseUS Todo Backup in the following steps.

Step 1. Start with selecting the backup contents.

Step 2. There are four backup categories, File, Disk, OS, and Mail, click Disk.

Step 3. It is available to back up a whole disk or a certain partition. Choose the one you need and click OK.

Step 4.  Select the destination where you want to save the backup.

Step 5. For disk/partition backup, you can choose to save the backup to local drive or to NAS.

Step 6. After the backup process is completed, your task will be displayed at the left. Right-click any one of the task, you can further manage your backup such as recover it, create incremental backup, etc.

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Method 3. Backup NAS to Cloud Drive (Google Drive)

Backing up NAS to a Cloud drive is also a helpful way. Your disks or external hard drives may break down. Using a cloud drive can avoid physical damage.

Let us start backing up Synology NAS to cloud drive, and we can take Google Drive as an example.

Step 1. Download and install Cloud Sync.

Step 2. Open the interface of Cloud Sync and click "+". Then choose "Google Drive", click "Next", and log in to your account to connect your Synology NAS.

Step 3. Complete backup settings. Choose "Upload local changes only", and click "Next".

Step 4. Complete advanced settings. You can filter out unwanted files and encrypt your files here. Click "OK" to continue.

Step 5. Click "Apply" to finish creating a backup task. You can check sync tasks on the "Task List" interface.

You can back up a NAS in different ways. Now, let us learn more details about how to back up a NAS through a video. 5 highlights you may not want to miss:

• 06:13 Ideal NAS backup solutions
• 06:37 Main ways of building a NAS
• 11:09 Mobile devices
• 11:37 Using your own NAS
• 13:32 Backup with PC

Conclusion

NAS device is helpful for both home users and enterprise users. It can help home users back up photos and movies, share documents, and store important files for enterprise users.

If you want to keep the precious data safe, do not forget to backup NAS. We recommend EaseUS Todo Backup to you. It not only supports backing up NAS data to an external hard drive and the cloud drive. It can both save your time and keep your data safe.

How to Backup NAS FAQs

You can read more tips about backing up NAS in this part.

Can you backup a NAS to an external hard drive?

Yes, you can directly back up your NAS to an external hard drive or use disk backup software – EaseUS Todo Backup.

1. 1. Click "Select backup contents" to create a backup.
2. 2. Choose "File".
3. 3. You can choose local and network files.
4. 4. Select the destination where you want to store the backup.
5. 5. Click "Backup Now" to begin.

Can I connect NAS directly to PC？

Yes, you can connect NAS directly to the PC. You just need to ensure your NAS and your PC are in the same network environment, and your PC will recognize your NAS directly.

Can I transfer files between Synology NAS and a computer using a USB cable?

Synology NAS devices do not support transferring files to computers by using a USB cable, but you can back up Synology NAS data to an external hard drive.

1. 1.Connect your external hard drive or USB drive to Synology NAS
2. 2. Open your Synology NAS build-in page.
3. 3. Select the files and data you want to back up manually.
4. 4. Wait for the transferring accomplished

How to clone my NAS?

You can clone your NAS by using clone software - EaseUS Todo Backup:

1. 1. Choose tools and select clone.
2. 2. Select your NAS device.
3. 3. Select the destination of your image files
4. 4. Click "Next" to start.