I’m setting up my new TS-216G, and this is my first NAS. I’m going to use it as a Time Machine backup for all of the laptops in our house. Our Macs are all running Sonoma 14.1.2. I’ve found some videos and websites about setting up the NAS, but I haven’t found one that’s particularly helpful and explains what the steps are doing.
I’m in the middle of creating a volume. The video I’m watching says to enable a snapshot schedule and retention. The video I’m watching about setting up the QNAP just says to do it (but this is more of a general setup video and not relative to Time Machine). Since we’re only using the NAS as a Time Machine backup, what is the purpose of enabling snapshots?
you dont have to use the snapshot feature. However QNAP states:
Taking a snapshot is like taking a photo - within seconds the complete status of your NAS system and data is recorded. If an unexpected situation arises on your system, you can revert to the state recorded by a snapshot. With greater space-efficiency and flexibility compared to traditional backup methods, snapshots are the best way to protect your files and data.
More info on what it can do is here:
remember however, your NAS is only as good as your backups. so what backup solution do you have for the NAS?
In a way, our NAS is our backup backup. I run nightly backups onto an external flash drive. And I have my most important files also copies to OneDrive.
The QNAP is going to be used for Time Machine as the backup and back into history.
Thanks for the confirmation that the backup isn’t required to set up for Time Machine.