Set Up a Hybrid Share Folder

Hybrid Share allows you to centrally store all your files and folders in a Hybrid Share folder, which is your designated storage space on C2 Storage.

Set Up a Hybrid Share Folder

You need to set up and initialize your Hybrid Share folder before you can use it. The initial setup requires you to mount the Hybrid Share folder on a Synology NAS or convert an existing shared folder to a Hybrid Share folder.

Before you start:

Specify a network time server to synchronize time and date with your Synology NAS at Control Panel > Regional Options > Time > Time Setting. This allows each Synology NAS to upload local changes to the same Hybrid Share folder based on a common system time.
Only accounts belonging to the administrators group have the permission to mount a Hybrid Share folder on a Synology NAS.

To mount a Hybrid Share folder:

You can mount your Hybrid Share folder on a Synology NAS to initialize the storage space on C2 Storage. If the Hybrid Share folder is already initialized, you can mount it on other Synology NAS devices to share the centrally stored data in the folder.

Go to Control Panel > Shared Folder.
Click Create > Mount Hybrid Share Folder.
Click Start.
Sign in with your Synology Account credentials and authorize your Synology NAS to access the Hybrid Share folder on C2 Storage.
Encrypt the Hybrid Share folder or proceed to decrypt it:
- If this is the Hybrid Share folder's initial setup, enter and confirm a new encryption key.
- If the Hybrid Share folder is already set up, enter or import the encryption key for decryption.
Encryption:
- The encryption key cannot include equals signs (=), commas (,), or colons (:).
- The encryption key cannot be modified once created.
- The encryption key cannot be recovered if lost. Please store the key in a safe location and not in the Hybrid Share folder being mounted.
- To ensure information security, the encrypted data are inaccessible without a key. Because the implemented algorithm is symmetric, the same key:
  - Is used for encryption and decryption.
  - Is used to mount the same Hybrid Share folder on multiple Synology NAS devices.
- Hybrid Share ensures data security with client-side encryption and uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit encryption to prevent unauthorized access attempts. All your data are encrypted locally before they are uploaded to C2 Storage.
Set up the Hybrid Share folder's local information:
- Enter a local folder name.
- Enter a description. This field is optional and limited to up to 64 displayable Unicode characters.
- Select a Btrfs volume to mount the Hybrid Share folder.
If needed, enable one or more of the following options:
- Hide this folder in "My Network Places": Enabling this option keeps the Hybrid Share folder from appearing under "Network" in Windows File Explorer.
- Hide sub-folders and files from users without permissions: Enabling this option prevents users without read privileges from accessing the sub-folders or files within the Hybrid Share folder via the SMB protocol.
- Enable Recycle Bin: Enabling this option allows deleted files to be stored in the #recycle sub-folder for future retrieval needs. Files in this sub-folder are synced to the Hybrid Share folder. You can limit the access of the recycle bin to only users belonging to the administrators group.
Specify a reserved local cache size.
Local cache:
- The reserved local cache size:
  - Must be at least 500 GB.
  - Cannot exceed the quota of the Hybrid Share folder on C2 Storage or the available capacity of the volume.
- Local cache usage may exceed the reserved size and occupy the volume's available capacity when the mounted Hybrid Share folder has a large amount of data to upload to C2 Storage. Once the upload is complete, the used capacity will gradually be released.
Confirm settings:
- If this is the Hybrid Share folder's initial setup:
  1. Click Next.
  2. Configure user permissions and then click Done.
- If the Hybrid Share folder is already set up, click Done.

To convert a shared folder into a Hybrid Share folder:

You can convert an existing shared folder on your Synology NAS to a Hybrid Share folder to initialize the storage space on C2 Storage. Once the conversion is complete, all the files and folders in the shared folder will be automatically uploaded to the Hybrid Share folder on C2 Storage.

Go to Control Panel > Shared Folder.
Select the shared folder that you want to convert.
Click Action > Convert to Hybrid Share Folder.
Click Start.
Sign in with your Synology Account credentials and authorize your Synology NAS to access the Hybrid Share folder on C2 Storage.
Enter and confirm a new encryption key for the Hybrid Share folder.
Specify a reserved local cache size for the Hybrid Share folder.
Click Convert to confirm settings and initiate the conversion.

Note:

The shared folder you want to convert cannot be larger than the quota of the Hybrid Share folder on C2 Storage.
Before the conversion, the system will quickly scan all the files in the shared folder and render the shared folder temporarily inaccessible. These files will become accessible again once the scan is complete.
Shared folders with data checksum for advanced data integrity enabled cannot be converted because Hybrid Share does not support this feature.
Shared folders with shared folder quota enabled can be converted. However, the shared folder quota feature will be disabled once the conversion process starts.

Store and Access Data in a Hybrid Share Folder

You can use the following methods to store and access data in your Hybrid Share folder:

Access with the supported file protocols, including SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and FTP.
Access with File Station.
Access with Synology Drive, its mobile application, or desktop client. Make sure to enable the Hybrid Share folder as a Team Folder in Synology Drive Admin Console beforehand.

Any changes made to the contents of the mounted Hybrid Share folder—including adding new files and folders, editing file contents, modifying file attributes, and deleting files or folders—will be automatically uploaded to the Hybrid Share folder on C2 Storage, and from there, synced to all Synology NAS devices mounted with the same Hybrid Share folder.

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