Synology Drive Collaboration & PC Backup

Install Synology Drive Server on the NAS

Synology Drive Server is a free package in Package Center on the NAS, and it installs three parts you should know by name: Synology Drive Admin Console — where the admin enables folders, sets versioning and watches connected clients; Synology Drive — the web portal where staff open files in a browser; and Synology Drive ShareSync — the tool that keeps two Synology NAS units in sync with each other.

Install it on the NAS first, before touching any PC. Everything else in this guide hangs off these three parts.

Turn Shared Folders into Team Folders

Drive does not invent new storage — it upgrades the shared folders you already have. Create one shared folder per department or project — in this setup: Projects, Accounts and Design Files — then open Synology Drive Admin Console > Team Folder, select the folder and click Enable.

At this same moment, set version control: enable it, keep up to 32 versions of each file, and choose Intelliversioning rotation, so the version budget is spread across days and weeks instead of being eaten by one busy afternoon. Turning versioning on later means the history you needed yesterday was never recorded — that is why it is switched on from day one.

Give Access Through Users and Groups

Every staff member gets their own DSM account, and accounts go into groups — Accounts Team, Design Team, and so on. Team Folder permissions are then given to groups, not to individuals.

This feels slow on day one and saves you on every day after: when someone changes department or leaves, you change one group membership instead of hunting through twenty folders. And with a shared office login you can never answer the simplest question — who changed this file?

Install Synology Drive Client on Every PC

On each computer, install Synology Drive Client (from Synology's Download Center) and sign in with the NAS address and that person's own account. The client is what does both jobs of this guide — syncing shared work and backing up the PC — so install it once, correctly, per person.

In the office, the local NAS address is fastest, and the client syncs over your local network at full LAN speed — no internet needed while everyone is in the office.

Create a Sync Task for Team Collaboration

Inside the client, create a Sync Task and connect it to the Team Folders. A sync task is two-way: what the team edits, everyone sees — and remember, deleting here deletes everywhere, which is exactly why versioning was switched on in Step 2.

One honest limit for collaboration: for normal files like Word, Excel or design files, Drive does not lock the file or merge edits — if two people save the same file at once, one version wins and the other can become a conflicted copy. So on shared documents, one person edits at a time. Only documents created in Synology Office support true simultaneous editing.

Create a Separate Backup Task for Every PC

Now create the second, different task in the same client: a Backup Task. Point it at the PC's own folders — Desktop, Documents and other local folders that matter. A backup task is one-way: files go up to the NAS and stay there even if they are deleted on the PC.

One task type cannot do the other's job. If a PC's only protection is a sync task, a deletion — or a ransomware attack — syncs faithfully to the NAS too. The backup task, plus the versions kept on the NAS, is what actually protects each PC.

Share Links with Rules

Drive lets any user create a sharing link for a file — handy for sending a large file to a client, risky when it becomes the default way of working. Set the house policy in the Admin Console: internal sharing freely, public links password-protected with an expiry date, and link sharing disabled entirely on sensitive folders like accounts and HR. Work shared as links escapes your folder structure and your permissions, so links are for sending out, not for working in.