DSM

This tab allows you to connect to Synology devices, create backup tasks for connected devices, restore backed-up data, and manage connected devices. You must install Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM) on the Synology NAS which you want to protect. The following terms will be used in this article:

• Source server: The Synology NAS you want to back up. Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM) needs to be installed on this server.
• Destination server: The Synology NAS where you want to store your backup data. Active Backup for Business needs to be installed on this server.

Create Backup Tasks

Before creating a backup task for the source server, you need to connect the source and the destination server via Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM). This section will guide you through the process of creating a backup task for a source server.

To add a source server to the device list:

On the source server, install Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM) from Package Center. Follow the instructions in the help article of Active Backup for Business Agent (DSM) to add the source server.

To create a backup task:

Once the source server is connected to the destination server via the agent, a backup task will be automatically created based on the matching template. You can create more than one backup task for each source server.

1. Do either of the following to start the backup creation wizard:
   • Go to Active Backup for Business > Synology NAS > DSM, select a source server, and click Create Task.
   • Go to Active Backup for Business > Synology NAS > Task List and click Create. Select a source server.
2. Configure Task Settings:
   • Task name: Specify the name of the task. We suggest you have a naming pattern for a faster filter/search for the task.
   • Data transfer settings:
     • Enable Data Transfer Compression: Compress data during transmission to reduce transferred data size.
     • Enable Data Transfer Encryption: Encrypt data during transmission to enhance data security.
     • Enable bandwidth consumption limit: Limit the data transfer rate between the source and destination server.
3. Backup Destination:
   Select a shared folder as the backup destination. During the package installation, the shared folder "ActiveBackupforBusiness" will be created automatically.
4. Backup Destination Settings:
   When creating the first task in a backup destination, you can configure the compression and encryption settings of the backup destination. The compression and encryption settings of a backup destination are not changeable after the first backup task is created. To use different settings for future tasks, create a task in a new destination.
   • Enable compression at backup destination: Compress data to save more storage at the backup destination.
   • Enable encryption at backup destination: Encrypt data to enhance data security at the backup destination.
5. Schedule Backup Task:
   • Manual backup: This option means one-time-only backup. To run the backup task, you can do either of the following:
     • Choose to back up immediately in the last step.
     • Go to Active Backup for Business > Synology NAS > Task List, select the backup task and click Back up.
   • Scheduled backup: Define the desired backup schedule to daily or only on specific days. The task can run once a day or once an hour according to the settings. The backup task will be started when it is at the defined point of time.
     For example, when the schedule is set as Run on: Wednesday and Saturday, Repeat type: Hourly, and Start at: 03:00, the task will start from 03:00 on Wednesday and Saturday each week and repeat running every hour until the end of these two days.
   • Only run backup tasks within the allowed backup windows: Click Configure Backup Window to specify the time when the backup task is allowed or forbidden to be run. This option allows you to maintain the operational efficiency of the source server. On the time slot, you can only see the restore points of scheduled backups, but not those of manual backups.
6. Select Retention Policy:
   Setting a retention policy helps you manage your storage space more efficiently by keeping the versions you want. There are three options of retention policies to choose from:
   • Number of latest versions to keep: Specify the number of the latest versions to retain.
   • Keep all versions for: Retain all versions backed up within certain days.
   • Advanced retention policy: Versions can be kept for longer periods but your storage space can be saved at the same time. Click Set Rules to edit the retention rules.
     • You can set multiple rules and customize the retention policy according to your needs.
       • Specify the days in which all versions backed up will be saved.
       • Advanced retention policy also allows you to keep the latest versions of a different time frame for certain periods. You can choose how long the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly versions will be retained in the system. For example, Keep the latest version of the week for 7 weeks means that the system will retain the last version during a week for seven weeks after it is backed up.
       • You will also need to set the Number of the latest versions to keep. If there are fewer versions than the specified number, the retention policy will not take effect. This is a required field.
     • Advanced retention policy employs the Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) retention mechanism.
     • A version can meet more than one retention rule at a time. For example, a version can be retained by the weekly retention rule and daily retention rule at the same time.

   Example:
   It's October now and you have a backup schedule that backs up once every day. If you are planning for a retention policy that covers the past nine months and want to keep

   • Daily versions for the first 3 months (September, August, and July)
   • Weekly versions for the 4th to 6th months (June, May, and April)
   • Monthly versions for the 7th to 9th months (March, February, and January)
   • 10 latest versions
   • you may refer to the following settings:
     
     
     A version can meet more than one retention rule. Therefore, the first weekly version can also be the seventh daily version, and the first monthly version can also be the fourth weekly version.
     Setting the Number of latest versions to keep prevents the retention policy from deleting all versions when the system stops backing up your device, and the 10 latest versions will be the daily versions backed up in the past 10 days.

7. Configure Restore Privilege:
   Specify the users who can restore the backup data.
8. Backup now:
   The wizard allows an immediate backup regardless of the schedule.

Manage Devices

To delete a source server:

When deleting a source server, its backup data will also be deleted.

1. In the DSM tab, select the source server you wish to delete and click Delete.
2. After you click Confirm Deletion, the source server will be removed from the list.

To update the agent on the source server:

The agent can be updated by installing a newer installer directly on the source server. You can also follow the instructions below to update the agent from Active Backup for Business:

1. Go to Active Backup for Business > Synology NAS > DSM.
2. Click Update Agent. You can update the Selected Device or All Devices.