Does Synology DS218+ work with macOS Time Machine?

You could pick up an Airport Time Capsule and call it a day for backing up your Mac hardware, but if you already own a Synology NAS or are thinking about buying one, it's possible to use Time Machine to back up your Mac. But what's the difference? The best part about using a Synology NAS is you're able to use it for other uses, including file storage, creating a media server, and much more.

All you need to do is set up a shared folder on the Synology NAS (you can even encrypt this shared folder), set up a user for folder access on your connected Macs, configure the DSM OS to enable Bonjour connection support, connect to the server on your Mac, and set up Time Machine to save everything on the NAS.

Once that's done, you can use the Synology NAS as a backup destination, much as you would the Airport Time Capsule or other Apple product that provides similar functionality. Luckily, it's not that difficult and Synology has a solid step-by-step guide on how to get all this done.

As a bonus, using a Synology NAS ensures you have full support for Windows 10 backups too, not to mention access from a variety of devices, regardless of the OS. Why you'd want to go with NAS, which is essentially a super-smart hard drive, is the additional features supported by the OS. Simply connecting a drive to your Mac doesn't offer anything but backup functionality, while a NAS opens the door to so much more.

The same goes for the Airport Time Capsule, which is rather limited in what you can do with it, especially compared to NAS. The price is about the same between the two, but a NAS comes rocking far more features and is better suited for a cross-platform household or office.