Backup Emails to NAS Securely: 3 Proven Methods 

Backup Emails to NAS: Choose an Optimal Method

Although you can save email from any service on a NAS device the correct approach varies on multiple factors like reasons of saving i.e. personal archive or a complete business backup, where emails are originally stored/hosted and even on the type and configuration of NAS.

For Example: A Synology NAS user with a MailPlus mailbox can directly save their emails to NAS Synology via built-in application rather than using an email client or a third-party software.

Here is quick comparison between the expert recommended approaches:

Can I Save Any Email Service to a NAS Server?

Yes, there is no limitation based on email service for email data storage on a NAS device, you only require a correct approach. NAS is merely an extended storage destination – you can store emails originating from different platforms like Gmail Cloud Server or even locally hosted such as Microsoft Exchange Server.

Choosing the right format when backing up your email data to the NAS drive is also crucial. Use a recoverable email format like – PST (especially for Exchange & Office 365), EML, MBOX, PDF (only if you need it for documentation & proof).

Why Backup Email Data on the NAS Instead of Just Cloud or Local PC Storage?

Legal professionals, government agencies, audit teams, and IT administrators need to save their email data on a NAS server for multiple reasons, including compliance, record-keeping, secure local storage, offline access – without connecting to email server and organizational policies. Here are core-practical reasons why archiving emails to NAS is crucial.

Centralised Accessible Archives

NAS enables easy access to archived email via shared sharing using the NAS app or a file manager that can easily be managed for multiple business departments from only the NAS device.

RAID-Protected Storage

Crucial email information, especially for government agencies, law firms, and banking and healthcare businesses, where one cannot afford data loss, is stored on NAS due to its redundancy framework and immediate access even after a single disk failure.

Structured Email Backup In NAS

NAS is widely used in organizations to store email backup as it enables to build a structured archive based on departments, users, projects, or financial years.

Expandable Storage

Unlike local storage on computer, HDD, SSD with limited storage – you can scale the NAS storage with ease which is often needed with always expanding mailbox archives and in case of mergers & acquisitions. Eg: 2 × 4 TB drives to 2 × 8 TB.

Complete Workflow on How to Backup Email to NAS Device

Saving emails on NAS shared, system or snapshot folders is not as simple as drag & drop. This is because NAS does not itself download emails from a specific email provider. Although the method may vary, the final result at the destination NAS remains to be the same. Here is the complete workflow that one may need to follow:

Method 1: Built-in NAS Mail Applications to Backup Emails to a NAS

With Synology or QNAP NAS you do not need any separate application to backup email messages to NAS devices as they offer their own solution. This method is best suited for users who need a local archive within the NAS ecosystem and whose email provider is supported (e.g. Mailplus for Synology NAS) by the built-in application.

In Synology Using MailPlus

In Synology NAS you can backup emails using applications like MailPlus Server (an application that turns NAS into a mailserver) and MailPlus (email client). They are natively available with DiskStation Manager (DSM). Based on your configuration you can directly backup emails to NAS’s another drive or backup emails from externally hosted email services via POP3. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to Synology DSM and install & setup MailPlus Server and MailPlus if not set up previously.
2. Based on your setup you can create and configure a mailbox on MailPlus Server or if you are connecting from an external server enter the POP3 server details in MailPlus client to download emails to NAS Synology.
3. MailPlus will automatically store the downloaded or hosted emails on the configured NAS storage.
4. Save the Setting and allow MailPlus to retrieve emails to be downloaded in NAS.

In QNAP NAS Using QmailAgent

The QNAP NAS offers QmailAgent which is a dedicated application for email management and backup. The QmailAgent enables users trying to backup emails to NAS to connect and multiple email accounts in one place.

Here are the steps to follow to store email on NAS in QNAP:

1. Download and open QmailAgent from App Center.
2. Configure you email account using credentials.
3. Wait for QmailAgent to synchronize messages from your mailbox.
4. Once synced the emails will be stored and managed by QmailAgent on the NAS.

Limitation of Using In-Built Applications to Store Email on NAS

The built-in applications are although good for managing emails they currently have various specially for backup needs. Because they are not specifically designed for email data backup to NAS purposes.

• After creating the backup you cannot move the backed-up emails to another folder on the NAS.
• Only have limited export format option eg: QNAP QmailAgent only in EML.
• Limited number of email archival to NAS.
• The method will not work with every email provider.

Method 2: Using Desktop Client to Backup Emails to NAS

For someone who need to backup personal emails to NAS drive and is unable to connect their IMAP or POP supporting email service to NAS application a better solution is to use a commonly available email client like – Outlook (exports in MSG, PDF, PST and EML) or Thunderbird (exports in MBOX, EML, HTML, PDF-bulk). This method offers a familiar interface to users and multiple saving formats.

1. Download & setup email client on your Mac or Windows.
2. Connect your email ID from which you want to transfer emails to NAS.
3. Export messages using the inbuilt option, by locating the profile folder on your PC or via the add-ons (eg: ImportExport Tools NG in Thunderbird).
4. To transfer the mailbox emails to the NAS shared folder, open the mapped NAS drive or shared on File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS) and your mailbox.
5. Then drag and drop or copy and paste to the NAS drive.

Backup Limitations of Email Clients to Save Emails on NAS

• No way to set up automation, bulk manage multiple accounts and require frequent manual update.
• Email clients have data export limitations hence the method is only suitable for small mailboxes.

Method 3: Backup Any Email Service Directly to a NAS (Recommended)

RecoveryTools Email Backup Tools is a secure professional solution for organizations to save email archives from multiple accounts to NAS drive in bulk while preserving all the email components like attachments, inline images, formatting and other hidden metadata fully preserved folder structure.

Backup Email to NAS Device in Few Simple Steps

1. Download and open the tool on your computer.
   
2. Select your email provider from the source panel.
   
3. Connect your email account or use batch mode to backup multiple email mailboxes to NAS at once.
4. Choose the mailbox data that you want to backup; you can even use filtered for precise selective backup based on date range, sender & receiver addresses, subjects and folder exclusion.
5. Select the saving type – choose for 25+ local saving formats like EML, HTML, PST, PDF, DOC, TXT, MSG, etc.
   
6. Choose the NAS folder from the saving destination and press the backup button.