Best Synology NAS UPS Devices

Today we are going to look at why you need a Synology NAS UPS devices. 

1. What is a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)?

A UPS is an uninterruptable power supply and in its simplest form, it ensures that during power outages or power blips (temporary interruptions of power), your NAS won’t improperly shut down. Overall, any UPS device that your Synology NAS is receiving power through will work. However, there are certain Synology UPS devices that will automatically communicate with your NAS through USB. Devices with USB will allow your NAS to enter a “safe mode”, which is incredibly important as improper shutdowns on NAS devices can cause corruption and data-loss.

Without going too far into detail, most NAS devices are using RAID, which means that a small portion of your files are stored on all hard drives connected. If you lose power and you’re unlucky, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that your volume will crash. At this point, your best option would be to restore from a backup (you MUST maintain backups), but this is something that can be avoided by using a proper UPS. This tutorial will take a look at UPS devices, then how to connect a Synology to a UPS.

2. Best Synology NAS UPS Devices

There are three devices that I normally recommend, and your option should be dependent on what will be connected to the UPS device. Remember, anything connected to this device will maintain power until the UPS battery dies. Therefore, if you’re interested in plugging your modem/router into your UPS, you’ll need a larger device than if you simply intended on using this device for your NAS. I will also be recommending APC devices only, as they’re the only items that I use and have validated work with Synology devices.

All devices below come with a USB cable to ensure your NAS can communicate with the UPS and properly shut down.

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APC UPS 1500VA – Best Synology UPS

APC 1500VA: This is a device that has five battery backup outlets. This means that you can plug five different devices into this UPS and “power” them during a power outage. There is a newer version of this device if you’re interested in buying that, but this is perfect for most people.

This should be used if you intend on running multiple devices on this UPS. For summary (as this is the one I use), I have my NAS and a home server plugged into this device. When I lose power, I receive about 30-40 minutes of “power” before the UPS dies. This is more than enough time to ensure that my NAS and server are properly shut down.

Click here to buy the APC 1500VA UPS

APC UPS 600VA – Synology NAS UPS

APC 600VA: This is a great option if you want to run a few lower-power devices (Raspberry Pi, modem router). It’s just important to ensure that the UPS device isn’t overloaded, as it must maintain power for long enough to ensure all devices safely shut down.

Click here to buy the APC 600VA UPS

APC UPS 425VA – Synology NAS UPS

APC 425VA: If you plan on running nothing other than a Synology NAS on the battery backup portion of your UPS, this is a great option. You can run one or two lower-powered devices as well, but as mentioned above, ensure you will maintain power for long enough to shut all connected devices down safely.

Click here to buy the APC 425VA UPS

The APC 425VA no longer comes with a data cable, meaning the NAS cannot monitor the UPS and automatically shut down. I suggest purchasing the APC 600VA above if that is important to you!

3. How to Connect a Synology NAS to a UPS

When you get your Synology NAS UPS device, you need to connect it to your NAS. Power down your Synology NAS and plug it into your UPS device (on an outlet that says battery + surge). Plug the USB cable into your UPS, then plug the other end into a USB outlet on your Synology NAS. At this point, there’s one final configuration change that must be made.

1. Open the Control Panel in Synology DSM, select Hardware & Power, then select UPS.
2. Enable UPS support and determine if you’d like the UPS to enter standby mode when the battery is low, or after a specified period of time.

3. In the General tab, ensure that Restart automatically when power supply issue is fixed is enabled. This will turn the NAS back on when power is restored. 

At this point, your Synology and UPS is configured. During a power outage, your NAS will go into safe mode and ensure that no corruption/data-loss occurs.

One final note that I wanted to point out is the network UPS server option listed in the screenshot above. This allows the Synology NAS to operate as a NUT server and shut down other devices. This is out of scope for this tutorial (as this functionality requires the clients to be configured more than the NAS), but it is possible to shut down other devices if you’re interested. There’s a great reddit article that explains the process thoroughly, and I demoed the functionality in the YouTube video above.

4. Conclusion – Synology NAS UPS APC Devices

I’m hopeful that this tutorial on Synology NAS UPS devices was helpful. A UPS is something that every NAS owner should have, as it’s a necessary insurance policy for a device that costs hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Thanks so much for checking out the tutorial. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments of the YouTube video above!