Using Time Machine to Back Up Macs to a QNAP NAS via SMB 3

General Information

This tutorial teaches you how to automatically back up content from a Mac to a QNAP NAS using the SMB 3 protocol.

System Requirements and Compatibility

• A Mac running macOS 10.12 Sierra (or later).
• A QNAP NAS running QTS 4.3.0 (or later).

Backing up multiple Macs with different NAS user accounts

1. (Optional) Create a Time Machine backup user.
   Tip: A dedicated Time Machine user account can be created to provide additional security, and the ability to set storage quotas for each Mac.
   1. Open Control Panel.
   2. Go to Privilege > Users.
   3. Click Create.
   4. Select Create a User.
      
   5. Enter a username and password for the Time Machine backup user.
   6. (Optional) A storage quota for this account can be set to prevent excessive space usage when backing up.
      1. Go to Privilege > Quota.
      2. Check Enable quota for all users.
         Tip: It is recommended to use a quota of at least twice your Mac’s total storage space.
         
         
         
   7. Click Create.
      
2. Create a Time Machine backup shared folder.
   1. Open Control Panel.
   2. Go to Privilege > Shared Folders.
   3. Click Create.
   4. Select Shared Folder.
      The Create A Shared Folder window opens.
      
   5. Enter a Folder Name.
   6. Click Edit.
      
   7. Give the Time Machine backup user RW access privileges.
      
   8. Click Create.
   9. Find the new folder in the list of Shared Folders and click .
      
   10. Check Set this folder as the Time Machine backup folder (macOS).
       
   11. Click OK.
3. Configure QTS to use SMB 3
   1. Open Control Panel.
   2. Go to Network & File Services > Win/Mac/NFS > Microsoft Networking.
   3. Click Advanced Options.
      
   4. Under Highest SMB version select SMB 3.
      
   5. Click Apply.
4. Configure Time Machine to use the NAS for backups
   1. Connect the NAS to your Mac.
      1. Open Finder on your Mac.
      2. Open the Go menu.
      3. Click Connect to Server.
      4. Enter smb://<NAS name.local or IP address>.
      5. Enter the username and password of the backup user account.
      6. This can be your NAS account or the dedicated Time Machine user account.
      7. Select the NAS shared backup folder.
   2. Open Time Machine.
   3. Click Select Disk.
   4. Select the NAS shared backup folder.
   5. Click Use Disk.
      
   6. Enter the username and password of the backup user account.
      Tip: This can be your NAS account or a dedicated Time Machine user account.
      
   7. Click Connect.
   8. You can now use Time Machine to back up this Mac to your NAS.
      

Backing up one Mac with the shared Time Machine account in HBS 3

1. Open HBS 3.
   1. Go to Services > Time Machine.
   2. Check Use shared Time Machine account.
   3. Enter a password for the Time Machine account.
   4. (Optional) Set a storage quota.
      1. Select Maximum
      2. Enter the total capacity in GB.
         1. Important: If the backup data size is greater than the quota, the Time Machine backup will fail
   5. Click Apply.
      
2. Configure QTS to use SMB 3
   1. Open Control Panel.
   2. Go to Network & File Services > Win/Mac/NFS > Microsoft Networking.
   3. Click Advanced Options.
      
   4. Under Highest SMB version select SMB 3
      
   5. Click Apply.
3. Configure Time Machine to use the NAS for backups
   1. If your Mac and NAS are not on the same subnet.
      1. Open Finder on your Mac.
      2. Open the Go menu.
      3. Click Connect to Server.
      4. Enter smb://<NAS name.local or IP address>/TMBackup.
      5. Enter the username TimeMachine and the password you created earlier.
   2. Open Time Machine.
   3. Click Select Disk…
   4. Select the NAS shared folder TMBackup.
   5. Click Use Disk.
      Tip: If you hover over the disk you will see that it is an SMB link.
      
   6. Enter the username TimeMachine and the password you created earlier.
      
   7. Click Connect.
      Time Machine can now be used to back up your Mac to your NAS.
      
      Tip: Backups can be located under the shared folder TMbackup.