I do a lot of photography and video, and these files can take a long time a lot from storage. I used to only store snapshots and images on my laptop’s internal storage, and move them to the NAS only when needed. Now, I back up the footage to the NAS first and work from there, and my workflow is much better. Here’s how I automatically back up my SD card to a NAS, and how you can do it, too.
My NAS has a built-in auto-copy feature for one-click import
Dedicated hardware makes backing up my SD card simple.
I recently deployed a new NAS in my home lab – Zetlab D4. This AI-focused NAS has a lot of unique features (and a few quirks), but one of the nicest functions is the built-in SD and microSD card slots on the front.
My Zettlab D4 has a built-in app called Cocard that I set up for automation. I programmed it so that when I insert an SD card or microSD card, I can just click the copy button on the front of my NAS and it will search for new files and then copy those files to a specific folder on the NAS.
This type of setup makes it very easy to back up my SD cards. You don’t have to try to create new folders, drag and drop anything, or use any kind of user interface. It’s quick and painless, and then the copy is done, and the SD card is ejected so I can safely disconnect it.
Being able to easily copy my photos or videos to a NAS is really nice because it increases my productivity quite a bit. I have a NAS installed on my MacBook Pro over a 2.5Gb/s Ethernet network and I can access my photo library from the NAS, so this helps automate my workflow further.
However, if you don’t have a Zettlab D4 NAS like I do, since it’s fairly new, you can still easily set up your SD card to automatically back up to your NAS.
Other NAS systems provide similar functionality with more setup required
Although the process may be different, the result is the same.
The Zettlab D4 with a built-in SD card slot is a bit of an outlier in the NAS world, but other brands boast similar capabilities if you’re willing to put in the extra effort.
For example, Synology NAS servers may not have a built-in SD slot, but you can achieve the same functionality by plugging a USB to SD card reader into any of the USB ports. Once the SD adapter is connected, install it USB version From the Synology App Store. This application allows you to configure the storage server to automatically back up your SD cards as soon as you insert them – without having to press any button.
QNAP network attached storage servers have similar functionality to Synology, with built-in Hybrid Backup Sync (HBS 3) tool. Just make sure the USB to SD card reader is plugged into a USB port and configure the backup task to transfer files wherever you want.
Other NAS systems will likely have similar plug-ins, so if you’re sure check the capabilities of your storage server to see if functionality like this is either built-in or available for installation.
7/10
- Brand
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Synology
- CPU
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Intel Celeron J4125
The four-bay NAS unit works great for home and small office use, and comes with a three-year warranty from Synology.
You can set up almost any NAS to do the same thing
Just because it’s not built-in doesn’t make it difficult.
However, not all NAS devices have built-in capabilities to automatically back up SD cards, and yours may fall on that list. This is perfectly fine, as there is a completely different approach you can take, and it starts with your computer.
Those who use Macs can check it out hazelnuta piece of software from Noodlesoft. The way Hazel works is to monitor the folders you tell it. If your SD cards have a fixed naming scheme, this makes this method work very well.
Basically, you’re asking Hazel to view /volumes for a folder named whatever the name of your SD card (or cards) is. When Hazel sees this folder in /Volumes, you can set it up to automatically copy files to the mounted network drive.
This open source app is my favorite way to back up my Windows 11 PC
Don’t lose your essential data.
Those on Windows (or macOS, actually) can use them Free File Sync with realtimesync Plugin. This setup works similarly to Hazel but with a few extra steps. To get started, use FreeFileSync to create a batch task that backs up the root folder of your SD card to the mounted network drive. Next, open RealTimeSync and drag the root folder of your SD card to the list of monitored folders. Next, set the command to run on the batch file you create using FreeFileSync.
Now, when RealTimeSync sees that an SD card is installed, it will automatically back up the contents to your NAS without you having to click a single button.
Backing up an SD card to a NAS is very useful, and if you aren’t doing it, you should start. A RAID array on any NAS provides backup backups to help prevent file loss, and it’s also possible to back up the NAS to the cloud.
For me, storing my SD card files on a NAS allows me to work on video or photo projects from anywhere in my home, not just at my desk. It’s very cool to be able to be in my workshop with a long laser project running and grab the footage from a video from the NAS and start editing.
If you’re not automatically backing up your SD cards to a NAS, you should start, it’s not that difficult to set up.