Many have to upgrade to a new Synology NAS to get more storage, better performance, and access to the latest features. But, it is not easy to migrate Synology to new NAS, as there are chances of losing your files, user accounts, and many more. But there are several methods that can help you transition. In this blog, I will explain these ways with proper steps.

Table of Contents
  1. Why Need to Migrate Synology to New Account?
  2. Preparations Before Migrating Old NAS to New One
  3. Migrate Synology NAS to New NAS by Migration Assistant
  4. Step 1: Prepare Destination NAS
  5. Step 2: Run Migration Assistant & Migrate to New Synology
  6. Transfer Synology NAS by Moving Hard Drives
  7. How to Move Synology Mail to a New NAS Mail Server?
  8. Conclusion

Migration of Synology NAS is not as simple as moving your data, shared folders, user accounts, permissions, system configurations, installed packages and applications, etc., but a question arises: why do you want to move to the new Synology NAS? There can be a number of reasons behind this.

Why Need to Migrate Synology to New Account?

  • Over time, the organization ran out of existing storage space to save a huge amount of data. So, by upgrading to a new NAS, you can get large drives and expanded storage configurations.
  • New Synology version offers faster processors, increased memory capacity, better network performance, and improved file access speeds. To improve business productivity.
  • The latest version supports new DSM versions and advanced features that are not available in older hardware.
  • Using the older NAS, you can experience hardware limitations. In that, migration to a new NAS helps to maintain reliability and security.

These are the common reasons to migrate to the latest Synology NAS. But, while going through the process, make sure you follow these steps first.

Preparations Before Migrating Old NAS to New One

  • Not every method is supported by every Synology NAS model. So, first check your Synology’s compatibility. So that your devices support the chosen migration method.
  • The DSM version you are installing on the destination should be the same as the new version of the source NAS. mismatch version can lead to an error.
  • Make sure your destination NAS has enough space to transfer existing data, future growth, snapshots, backup, and application data.
  • Create a backup of your data before you start the migration process.
  • Ensure that you have a stable internet connection. As it does not disturb the process midway.

Migrate Synology NAS to New NAS by Migration Assistant

Synology has an official tool called Migration Assistant to transfer your account to another. With this, you can easily move shared folders, files, user accounts, groups, folder permissions, installed packages, application data, and many other data. To use this, you must follow these points before going straight to the process.

  • Check your Synology compatibility list to make sure your source and destination NAS models support Migration Assistant.
  • Check that both NAS devices are running with the correct DSM versions.
  • Install the Migration Assistant. Here is how.
  • First, sign in to the destination NAS.
  • Then, open the Package Center.
  • Find Migration Assistant and click Install.
  • Using the same network to connect both of your NAS devices.

After that, you can easily perform the migration process. The process is lengthy, so I divided it into multiple steps.

Step 1: Prepare Destination NAS

  1. On your Synology NAS, complete the initial DSM setup.
  2. Create a storage and volume if needed.
  3. Then, install Migration Assistant using Package Center. After installing, launch the Migration Assistant application.

Step 2: Run Migration Assistant & Migrate to New Synology

  1. Sign in to your destination NAS.
  2. Run Migration Assistant.
  3. Click Start or Create Migration Task.
  4. Provide the IP address or hostname of the old Synology NAS
  5. Enter the source credentials. Hit Next.
  6. The tool automatically checks the compatibility. Now, select your migration type.
  7. Review your migration settings. Then, start migration.

This is a native option that you can use to transfer data, settings, and applications with minimal downtime. It also has its own limitations, such as Migration Assistant does not support all Synology NAS models, some packages may require reconfiguration after processing, and it takes a lot of time to transfer large amounts of data.

Transfer Synology NAS by Moving Hard Drives

Instead, if you transfer your data over a network, you can physically move the drive from your old NAS to the new one. Your data, storage pool, and RAID configuration are already on your disks. Then, it is easy to move to the new NAS with less work. However, the HDD migration can only be used between certain Synology NAS models. So, always verify the compatibility before proceeding.

  1. First of all, shut down your old Synology NAS. by logging in to the old device.
  2. Click on the Account icon and then Shutdown.
  3. Wait for the NAS to power off, but never remove the drive while the NAS is still running.
  4. Once the power is off, remove your drives carefully and label them according to bay numbers, like Drive from Bay 1 to be labeled as “1”, Drive from Bay 2 to be labeled as “2”, etc.
  5. After that, power off your new Synology NAS and remove the drives that are currently installed, if any.
  6. Now, installed the drives of the old device in the new NAS according to the bay sequence.
  7. Connect your new NAS to your network and power on.
  8. The new NAS detects your migrated drives and your existing storage configuration.
  9. After that, access the Synology web assistant by going through a web browser and going to the Synology site.
  10. Then, locate the new NAS. Choose your Migration and request DSM installation or upgrade.
  11. After rebooting and logging in to your administrator account. Open Storage Manager and verify storage pools, RAID groups, and volumes are mounted. Then, verify your shared folders, user accounts, file access, Network settings, and Applications.

Other than transferring your Synology NAS device, some users use Synology Mail Plus Server or any other mail program hosted on their NAS, and if you want to move your emails from the old NAS to the new one.

How to Move Synology Mail to a New NAS Mail Server?

The good thing is that the Synology mail server uses an IMAP server. In that case, you can use SysTools IMAP Migration Tool, a great software that can help you to move your emails easily. Users can connect their Synology mail to the software and then transfer the data in just a few minutes.

Conclusion

Sometimes businesses have to upgrade their Synology NAS. To help you with this, I have explained simple methods to migrate from the old Synology NAS to the new device. Also, if you are using the Synology Mail Plus server and want to move it. I also provided a solution that you can easily use.