Storing and sharing all important files in the DiskStation is ideal for your everyday work in the office. If you’re a mobile worker who travels around the world and takes business trips very often by train or airplane, keeping your local files synchronized between the computer and DiskStation should be made your top priority, especially for the situation you’re in places where Internet connection is limited or expensive to acquire.
According to the IDC’s forecast, by 2013, the world’s mobile worker population will grow to nearly 1.2 billion people – more than a third of the world’s workforce. The numbers would represent the office-based mobile workers, non-office-based mobile workers, and home-based mobile workers, in regions including U.S, Europe Asia/Pacific, Japan, and the rest of the world. Well, you might be the next one who enjoys the convenience of telecommuting and joins the mobile workforce.
Working on DiskStation files anytime
Generally speaking, when you are away from the office, you would either put the working files on a USB stick or directly download them to your laptop. There is a question though. When there is a large amount of files being worked on, keeping track of different edited versions can cause a headache. Imagine if there is a synchronization mechanism between your DiskStation, local computer and laptop. DiskStation supports offline files on Windows platforms, which can be done by simply enabling offline files service on your DiskStation, and then back to your computer and select the files or folders you want to take away by making them always available offline with a right click.
Now that your files are synchronized, you will be able to work on any documents during trips even in places without the Internet connection, such as in the boarding room or the aircraft. When you’re back in the office again and gaining access to the DiskStation, your laptop will automatically sync the files with the DiskStation, allowing you to always have the latest updates. As a result, there is no need to select which files to download or upload and in turn, and you save a lot of time because the sync process only takes place on modified files only. In terms of consistency, when someone else modified the files while you were away, there will be a sync conflict and you can decide which version to keep.
The built-in offline file-viewing feature is available on Professional or more advanced edition of Windows. For those who use Home editions of Windows or use Mac for that matter, you can still utilize this feature provided by 3rd-party apps by like SyncToy by Microsoft on PC and GoodSync on Mac.
What if you’re out of the office but you still want to sync files with your DiskStation? Well, just establish a VPN connection to your office network. Then click sync, and it’s done. If you don’t have a VPN server yet, you should try our VPN Center package, which is one of the most economic VPN solutions that bundled PPTP or OpenVPN connections. With VPN enabled, you can sync your files between the laptop and DiskStation anywhere and anytime virtually, as long as Internet connection is available.
Browsing documents on iPad, iPhone & Android phones
From time to time you’d love to travel with a lighter device other than a laptop, like an iPad. The impressive battery life makes it perfect for you to carry it around on business trips and the large screen is ideal for you to do your presentation rehearsal during the flight. After enabling WebDAV, you can use DS file on iPad to download the files from your DiskStation. The DS file is capable of many things in situations without Internet access. You can keep copies of your files on the DiskStation, so it’s always handy for you in different situations. You can also open local files stored on your iPad, with DS file itself or other 3rd-party apps. And of course, we did not forget your beloved Android phones – We have just released the Android and iPad version of DS file!
Be more productive and spend less time on waiting for connection or finding the correct version of files. Start getting your files synced with your computers now !
- Darren
And what about Linux users?
As sync-tool for all plattforms you can use http://www.dirsyncpro.org/
Is dirsyncpro also your recommended sync tool for Mac ? Is Synology working on a folder sync tool for Mac ?
Why not implement a feature like dropbox instead?
On mac, I like – http://www.propagandaprod.com/
@Dear All,
Thanks for all of your feedback. There are many tools of syncing files between computers and network drives via various protocols, most of which I think are good, like DirSyncPro. I like the idea having a Synology’s sync tool like Dropbox, so we would dicuss about it.
If you implement dropbox feature I would buy another Synology
Darren if Synology could implement a folder sync for Linux it would be great. I too would consider another Synology unit if this came about.
@Peter & @John,
Thank you for suggestions. I like the feature of Dropbox (even though I use Windows Live Mesh more often) and I will forward your messages to our development team.
Stay in sync is a big idea.
My wish is an Android pp who sync atomatically files between the NAS and the smartphone!
It would be great if you could have folder sync software on the diskstation that could be used with USB or esata HDD. Is there any 3rd party software that will work?
There is already a Dropbox-alternative that is supposed to be running on the DiskStation: Sparkleshare http://sparkleshare.org/
It is open-source, uses git and currently has clients available for both Linux and Mac, more clients are being worked on. Maybe this could be useful for some of you?
@Shaun,
I think you could Backup to External Drive every hour.
@beatmaster2k,
Thanks your information. Sounds cool and I would try it!
I came here searching for a dropbox-like solution for my clients to access and sync files with my DiskStation DS411j. The holy grail has not yet been found
I’d pay money to buy Dropbox-equivalent for Synology. The app could be a download for the DSM … and I could point users to my server to download and configure.
I want folder-level sharing to specific users without having to create scores of shared folders and allow people to take their files offline with them, with no technical knowledge whatsoever
@Mark,
I think you made a good point. To make our products easier to use is our mission.
Having Dropbox as part of the DSM would be sweet. Using Dropbox, instead of having users log into the DS, the admin simply puts files into specific shared DB folders and have these files automatically sync to the respective user’s DB folders on their computers and mobile devices. Given that DB already encrypts the network traffic, there is no need to worry about setting up VPN within the DSM! If Synology can pull this off, I will buy a dozen Syn boxes to replace our current solution for our road warriors which is a pain in the ass to setup and maintain.
@Jason,
I think making Synology DiskStation a sync server is a good idea. Your feedback is well recorded…
Yes! Please allow sparkleshare or dropbox like solution to be installed on our Syno !!
Hi Skred,
Well noted.
Integration with Drop box and/or LiveDrive would make this a killer app for the small business world
Hi Steve,
Thank you. I’ve heard your voice and forwarded it to our software developers.
+1 from me. This functionality would really make the diskstation an awesome device rather than a very good one.
I’m planning on buying a NAS and I have so far some preferences for the Disk Station DS211. But a Dropbox/Wuala/SpiderOak/etc-like sync service installed on it would definitely close the question !
Noted!
Hi Darren, I would also recommend something like wuala cloud services(http://www.wuala.com). Fast and more secure than dropbox I think.
I see. Thank you!
Same here.
I have been searching for a great “personal cloud” solution for months but did not find any solution as good as “dropbox” or “sugarsync”. It is a distributed approach which provides much better responsive and native way to manage all of our important files. While we do have concern as they are on the public cloud.
It is a great idea that Synology can implement a dropbox like sync tool back to our diskstation as a complete “personal/private cloud” solution. Yes it will have greatly impact for the “cloud services” market.
P.S. I have 3 diskstations for personal use since DS-101g+.
Implementing an auto background internet-based sync, dropbox like functionality (at beginning with client ie. for win and mac) would mean that Synology would simply sell ten fold units in the market ( I will simply flood my company of such devices if a internet sync will be available ).
It would be killer feature and I see a big future for this kind of “personal cloud” things.
Complement this synching only file changes and always running background client programs that sync whenever a connection is available, you will simply make a disruptive move in this market.
Honestly
the biggest challenge is to Sync all important data you need every day on several Devices on different Platforms.
How to Sync
- Contacts (with Photos, and sorted in Groups, Addressed with tags, Equipped with notes),
- Dates (also repeating in several Calendars)
- E-Mails (received and sent, with Filters and Rules!)
- Notes, Text, Photo, Speech, Video
- Tasks and To-do’s
With Windows 7, Mac osX, Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail, iPhone, Android and so on…
just seems to be impossible
I want an Open Exchange Server on the Diskstation. Want to keep control of my Data and not giving them to Microsoft, Google or Apple.
I would love to be able to use sugarsync on my NAS. This would take care of my external backup and making my files available on all my devices (laptops/pc’s/ipad/android).
If there was a good (Dropbox-like) folder sync feature, I would buy the device today.
Hi EH,
Thank you. Your voice are heard.
Yes to have Dropbox-like synchronization would be another great function of Synology.
Windows Off-line synchronization isn’t a good solution. Makes a lot of troubles especially when you move among different networks…
Jan,
Yes, we don’t stop here – Windows offline files is kind of limited to LAN, and we are looking for some way to sync your data anywhere without establishing VPN.
Hi Darren,
I have been going through a lot of your replies since a long time and really find you very supportive and helpful. This is the reason I am writing to you in the hope to find some clear answers as I am struggling with an issue since I purchased synology 411+II around six months back.
My primary reason to purchase the NAS was to keep my data in sync all the time. However, since the time I have purchased it I have not been able to find the solution to sync my data when I am at a remote location. No matter whatever third-party sync tools I use when I sync it from a remote location it does not retain the time and date stamps. The time stamps are very important for me.
Further, as it does not retain the time stamps it gets into cycle of syncing the same data again and again as it finds the same data new everytime.
After struggling to find the solution to this problem for so many months I thought to ask you if there is an existing solution for this issue and where am I going wrong.
As otherwise the whole purpose of mine to purchase the NAS is getting lost as most of the time I am at a remote location trying to access and sync my important data.
Your help in this regards would go a long way to resolve my issue and would be highly appreciated.
Request you to do reply to me.
Regards,
Vipul
Hey that will be innovation ..like in NAS family.Please inform us Synology users if you have a time plan to integrate Sugarsync to DSM ?
Hello,
+1!
It would be great to have a this kind of feature, and all the SMEs I know would buy such a system to sync their data: DropBox is to expensive for SME to sync hundreds of Go with several users (technical data, bibliography and images are heavy in the case of my company…).
SparkleShare or an other equivalent system would be great!
How could you keep us updated about that?
Thank you!
Etienne
Hi Sermin,
You can always get update by reading the blog, and of course our official web site as well.
Hey Darren,
file syncing through a web interface and dropbox-like services are very nice and I´m interested in the dropbox-like service very much, too.
but I would love to connect to the synology-vpn (either pptp or open vpn) and be in the same network-range as my ds1511+ is.
for example. my diskstation uses my lan-range, defined by the DHCP – router 192.168.2.0 (DHCP-range edited by the router for locally attached devices is 192.168.2.20-149)
diskstation has a fixed ip 192.168.2.9 so it is not managed by the DHCP but included into the same network range. on my lan everything works fine.
pptp-vpn cannot be installed as 192.168.2.0, because the range is already used by other device in the network ( in this case the lan port to my lan = 192.168.2.9)
so i choose another ip range and this is where my problem starts.
i am now able to run a vpn and connect to it, but i cant see my lan-sources, because of the different ip ranges
i really dont understand, why a vpn server needs a complete ip-range starting from x.x.x.0-255.
i would be very pleased if i could choose a range from lets say for example:
x.x.x.20-149 for my lan DHCP,
x.x.x150-199 for the pptp vpn and
x.x.x.200-255 for my open-vpn.
i could give a fixed ip in between x.x.x.0-19 for my fix devices like router, accespoint, diskstation, printer and airports for airplay .
this would give me the opportunity to directly connect my needed services, like the afp:// service for my network-drives or the other services like audio station and so on with just opening the vpn-port on my router.
the i-os apps are working great and very easy. vpn connected and off you go.
why do i have to create a fixed routed connection on my osx using the terminal-app, with the ifconfig command and sudo route add- net x.x.x.x/16 y.y.y.y command every time i have a new vpn connetion established.
another solution could be a connection of the diskstation itself to the vpn as a vpn client – so you have a virtual ip for the diskstation inside the vpn-range.
this would exclude the acces to the other lan-devices like printer, scanner and router-but would be a step forward for the file services in connection with vpn.
thanks for your answer and suggestions.
best regards
fabian
If I have “Use Default Gateway on Remote Network” unchecked, to speed up my internet access so it doesnt get routed through the VPN server, I cannot access network resources. I had to use the route command. Here is the command syntax:
route -p add 172.0.0.0 mask 255.0.0.0 172.29.16.0 if 34
172.0.0.0 is the network your server or other resources are on
172.29.16.0 is the network you chose for the PPTP server in the NAS.
34 is the network interface ID which you can find by typing “route print”
It worked for me! I have a problem with Offline Files syncing over the VPN but I can access all the resouces after adding that static route. It even works after you reboot because of the -p switch which makes it permanent. Its my first day using it so I hope what I did was correct for the long term as well.
+1 for dropbox like sync tool for Windows/Mac. Dropbox, Wuala, Box, etc. work great for smaller storage amounts, but when you add 250 GB+ it get’s way too expensive (let alone 2TB+). To have this type of functionality built in to Synology would by huge. I’d much rather spend more on a few DS1511+ units (with expansion) bays for our corporate needs than spending hundreds per month with Box.net plus local larger storage for multimedia files. I’d even be open to paying for a subscription based fee for this.
Hi Brandon,
We understand Dropbox-like feature is important, and we hope to offer it to you as soon as we could. =)
Hi Darren
Dropbox feature would be a killer app for me too as we and most of our clients are using DB and we are replacing Win200x fileservers with Synology units more and more – currently having 10+ DS1511+ with extension units installed (all with 3TB drives) and we would like to sync some folders with DB accounts.
Thank you for releasing this soon
Another point: We replaced ALL Thecus (crap) units with Synology units and are more than satisfied now!
Hi John,
Thank you. Dropbox is the most wanted feature for a lot of people, and we’ve heard your voice.
A dropbox like feature would be really needed! Maybe a collaboration with the syncany.org project would lower developement time?!!
Adding my voice and hoping to hear when a Dropbox-like feature becomes available. I just purchased a 211j. If you need beta customers, let me know. Thanks, m
Martin,
Dropbox is really cool and I hope we will offer a solution like these before long. =)
Looking forward to this feature. Any ETA on this? Such a feature would probably convince half my non-tech-savvy friends to buy a synology nas!
Hi, I read your blog, the instructions make it seem so easy to set up offline files however… I set up my DS and go to my PC and the option is not there when I write click on a folder. What are I doing wrong? I’m running Windows 7 Professional and have a DS212. I’ve enabled the windows file service (I have left the WINS Server field blank however, is that Ok?).
Any help appreciated.
Regards,
Conrad
Hi Conrad,
Just go into Win7 sync center. On the left side of the windows you should see “manage offline files” click on that and check if “offline Files” is enabled…
Hope it helps!
Cheers
When dropbox like service will be ready from Synology staff, so to share a single file or single folder by email to external friends ?
Now DSM 4 latest version if one wants to share a file with right click from FIle Station, return only an internal link like http://192.168.1.128:5000/fbsharing/7rb5JNR9 and of course it does not works from outside.
Thanks
Hi, we don’t have the ability to share a whole folder now; we’re considering it and will discuss it with the developers.