Take it easy, using a third-party free backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard to do the work will bring convenience for you. How to Do NAS to NAS Backup? AOMEI Backupper is a specialized backup software which supports to backup files, folders, system, partition and disk. For data protection, you can use the software to backup files.

NAS and Backup to NAS Without Any Cost

NAS, short for Network-attached storage, is a file-level computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements. All individuals within a company are allowed to share their data at the same time by accessing remote NAS devices. As for data backup, you can put the backup image file to a NAS device instead of manually connecting an external hard drive to your computer.

To complete this job, a software that is able to back up Windows data to NAS and restore from NAS is necessary. Here let’s take a look at the latest free Windows backup and restore solution - EaseUS Todo Backup. This free software can help you do these things:

• Back up the entire system/disk/file periodically and get recovered without worrying about reinstalling when the system crash occurs.
• Conduct full/incremental/differential/schedule backups for the best overall performance of a specific system environment.
• Capable of restoring important data or information fast when a disaster happens and get business back to work on time.
• Real-time reports keep you always informed of every backup state. First-rate technical support helps you get out of trouble.

That is to say, the tool will help you backup OS, Emails as well as personal files to NAS and network drive. You can back up an external hard drive and USB stick to NAS as well. Incremental backup and differential backup are supportable.

You can use it to backup to NAS as well as restore from NAS in Windows. With Schedule backup option, you are enabled to set a backup schedule to back up your data to NAS daily, weekly, monthly and etc automatically.

Now you can free download EaseUS NAS backup software and follow the step-by-step guide to start your backup to NAS job.

Step-by-step Guide to NAS Backup

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup. Click the  icon to expand the menu. Choose one backup option as you want among 'Disk/Partition backup', 'File Backup', 'System Backup' and more.

Step 2. Choose the specific contents you want to back up, and this is where you can choose a NAS device to be a backup location: in the 'Destination' area, click 'Browse...'.

Step 3. On the new pop-out window, you will see 'NAS Device' on the list. Click the  icon and you're supposed to click '+ Add NAS device'.

Input your NAS IP/name and enter your credentials to connect to NAS. Click 'OK'.

Step 4. Click 'Proceed'.

Restore from NAS with EaseUS's Free Backupper

You may also want to know how to restore the backup images on the NAS. It is pretty easy. Let's take a look at the details.

1. Open EaseUS Todo Backup again.

2. Directly click the Recovery button to restore the backup you created before.

3. Choose one History version of the backup image, after confirming the contents, click the Next button and select target location to restore. Then click Proceed to start backup recovery.

Replace existing files - After checking this option, the original files and folders will be overwritten after recovery.

NAS aka Network Attached storage devices help to overcome storage problems and gives your data a centralized place. A place where people can access and share the data 24×7 through the network. There are lots of companies that offer Software + Hardware NAS boxes which are basically an out-of-box NAS solution, for example, Qnap and Synology are two veteran NAS vendors.

The cost of NAS boxes depends on the features such as the amount of storage, RAM, CPU etc. But if you want to convert your old system into a NAS box without spending hundreds of bucks then here is the solution. The Opensource Linux NAS software is light Linux Distros but enough power to handle your storage problem. You can build your own NAS server for your small business by using an old or new server/PC hardware. Here is a list of some best open source NAS Linux Operating system available on the Internet.

You can use the NAS box along with some software like OwnCloud to create personal home cloud storage solution. The personal cloud solution helps you to sync your personal files directly from the desktop to mobile devices. You can also listen to your songs and watch movies on the mobile phone those are stored on your NAS or personal desktop, while on the go using the internet connection. Here are 6open source personal cloud solutions.

Best Free NAS Software: Linux Based

If you don’t want to go through the whole article, then here is a quick view of the NAS operating system list. All are listed according to their popularity.

1. FreeNAS
2. NAS4Free / XigmaNAS
3. OpenMediaVault (OMV)
4. Openfiler
5. Rockstor
6. Nexenta Community Edition
7. Amahi
8. CryptoNAS

FreeNAS

FreeNAS is a most popular free and open-source NAS operating system that has enterprise-class features and enterprise-ready ZFS open source file system. It can be installed virtually as well as on hardware to create a centralized data environment. The interface it provides is very intuitive (web interface). It supports Windows sharing SMB/CIFS, NFS and Apple file shares (AFP), FTP, iSCSI. Besides this, it also supports plugins to extend its functionally such as CouchPotato, SickBeard, SABnzbd, Maraschino, HTPC Manager, etc.

One thing should be noticed before installing this OS on some Old specs system is that it needs a good amount of RAM to work, especially when you planning to install a ZFS file system. Website Link

NAS4Free / XigmaNAS

NAS4Free is an Open Source Storage NAS (Network-Attached Storage) distribution based on FreeBSD. Earlier it was known as NAS4Free but in 2018 its developer has renamed it to XigmaNAS. XigmaNAS supports sharing across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems.

It includes ZFS v5000 , Software RAID (0,1,5), disk encryption, S.M.A.R.T / email reports etc. with the following protocols: CIFS/SMB (Samba), Active Directory Domain Controller (Samba), FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, iSCSI (initiator and target), HAST, CARP, Bridge, UPnP, and BitTorrent which is all highly configurable by its WEB interface.

It supports ZFS and encryption services. The web interface is not much user-friendly and one may find some difficulty while navigating and extending its functionality through plugins.

OpenMediaVault (OMV)

OpenMediaVault is very solid network-attached storage (NAS) solution based on Debian Linux. It can be your choice if you do not want ZFS. The services it provides are SSH, (S)FTP, SMB/CIFS, Rsync, BitTorrent client, DAAP media server, and much more. It is based on Debian which means you will get frequent updated and patches. Its plugins directory is not much vast but still evolving at a good pace and will keep home users happy. The web interface it possesses is very clean and user-friendly.

Rockstor: Opensource Private Cloud & NAS Server

Rocktsor is based on Centos Linux and BTRFS to provide NAS and cloud storage. It built on a rock-solid CentOs which is another good thing. It supports BTRFS which is a filesystem like ZFS to provide high data integrity and security. It can use as a personal cloud server and SMB Cloud Server with a clean and simple web GUI

Personal Cloud Server

Rockstor Personal Cloud Server allows you to create your own local private cloud to reduce the risk and cost of the public cloud.

Features

• Reduce cost
• Effectively scale capacity, manage privacy and performance
• Access data from desktops, laptop or mobile devices from anywhere.
• Move data between public cloud, Rockstor, and your devices

SMB Cloud Server

Rockstor Small and Midsize Business (SMB) Cloud Server is a special build for small businesses that require the capacity of several hundred Terabytes to capture the business demands. You can save you crucial business data on Rockstor SMB cloud server and less sensitive data on the public cloud. This practice will decrease the cost and increase the security of data. Also, an organization doesn’t need to rely completely on an expensive public cloud.

Helpful resource: How To Install Rockstor NAS On Ubuntu/Debian in Virtual Machine

Features of SMB Cloud Server:

• Build your Private Cloud Storage with a hybrid workflow
• Seamlessly integrate with public cloud storage
• Scale your storage as needs

Openfiler Community edition

Openfiler is another enterprise-level NAS/SAN Distro like FreeNAS. It can easily convert your old system into IP-based storage. Openfiler provides some very useful features such as iSCSI target for virtualization, Fibre Channel target support and block-level replication.

You might face some update problems with it. Also, the operating system on which it based is rPath Linux distribution which not updated since 2008 which makes it not a very reliable choice but you can lay your hands upon it for learning or to fork out some new NAS software distro.

Open Source Nas Software

Nexenta Community Edition

Nexenta’s edition is a free edition which basically a community version of a commercial storage product. The free version can support up to 18TB of storage. It gives ZFS support and based on open Solaris called Illumos. As it is a strip version of the commercial product so you don’t have worry about updated, stability and support.

It can be very useful for very small business and home users with limited features but if you’re looking for big enterprise grid functionality then you have to go for commercial Nexenta

Amahi

Amahi cannot be considered as NAS operating system instead of NAS it is a well-known Home server. It is a community version built around the commercial version.

It is a home server with tons of apps and plugins to expand the functionality such as WordPress, Plex media server, OpenVPN, Own could and more. It handles your entertainment, storage, and computing needs.

You can store, organize and deliver your recorded TV shows, videos, and music to media devices in your network. It is based on the most popular distros Fedora & Ubuntu. As it is not a full-fledged NAS so don’t use it for your critical or top-secret data. Also, we cannot rely completely on their cloud system they are providing because we don’t know how much secure it is.

Website Link

Some other open-source NAS/SAN projects

ESOS – Enterprise Storage OS

Enterprise Storage OS is a quasi Linux distribution based on the SCST project. Its purpose is to provide SCSI targets via a compatible SAN (Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, iSCSI, FCoE). For

Openattic: Open Source Ceph and Storage Management

openATTIC is an Open Source Ceph and storage management solution for Linux, with a focus on storage management in a data centre environment. The project is sponsored by SUSE.

opendedup

A cloud storage gateway and filesystem.

PetaSAN

PetaSAN is an open-source Scale-Out SAN solution. PetaSAN is designed from the ground up to do one thing: provide highly available clustered iSCSI disks.

www.petasan.org

CryptoNAS

Nas Software Free Cnet

CryptoNAS is web-based NAS server OS formerly known as CryptoBox. This NAS project is especially focused on-disk encryption. It comes as CryptoNAS live-CD and CryptoNAS-Server package.

How To Install Freenas

CryptoNAS live-CD: The live CD can use to encrypt data without bothering about complicated technical issues. A computer running on live-CD works as a file server (NAS) that encrypts your private data.

CryptoNAS-Server package adds a user-friendly, web-based front end for hard disk encryption to an existing file server.

Best Free Nas Software For Windows

Note: The CryptoNAS has not been updated for last 7 year, so this would not be a trustworthy project. For just a knowledge purpose it is here.

Best Free Nas Software 2016

Other Useful Resources: