Unfortunately, Synology does not offer a way to keep notes on what each shared folder is for. So, these are those notes.
Volume1 is composed of a RAID 1 array of redundant disks. So it holds the highest-value content. Getting off-site backups of this content is considered highest priority.
| Shared folder | Description |
|---|---|
| apps | This folder is for holding locally installed apps that run on the NAS that are not installed through a package manager. Synology reserves the right to delete anything not in a Shared Folder during upgrades. The apps folder is a shared folder. |
| gitlab | This folder was created when installing GitLab. It is no longer used, but I am not sure if I can safely remove it. |
| home | A virtual directory pointing to the logged-in user's home directory. |
| homes | The home directory of all users. |
| music | We have music stored here. |
| NetBackup | This is an empty directory that is required for the HyperBackup application to work. |
| photo | We used to keep photos here. It is required for the Synology photos app, but is currently empty. All photos have been moved to the homelab/k3s/photos directory and are managed by Immich. |
| Public | This folder holds general files shared by all users of the NAS. |
| Storage | This is also general storage for things to keep long term. It is also a place where HyperBackup stores copies from other disks on the NAS to put them on a different (and backed up) device. |
| TimeMachine | These are backups from macOS machines in the format unique to the macOS Time Machine app. |
| web | Owned by the Synology web server. This can hold multiple web applications. |
| web_packages | Another directory managed by the Synology web server. |
Volume2 is composed of a single stand-alone disk. It is slated to hold backup information from all sources along with logs and surveillance data. The content of this disk is generally not itself backed up as it functions as a backup target.
| Shared folder | Description |
|---|---|
| backup | This is a generalized backup target used for random data sets. As such it has an eclectic collection of data. |
| ha-backup | This is the backup target for Home Assistant. |
| logs | A general directory for holding various system logs including those from Synology applications. |
| net-backup | A backup target for the net-1 proxmox host on the rachelski.internal network. |
| ranch-backup | A backup target for the ranch-1 proxmox host on the rachelski.internal network. |
| ranch-backup-2 | A backup target for the ranch-2 proxmox host on the rachelski.internal network. |
| Surveillance | Storage for surveillance video from security cameras. This is currently a target for the Surveillance Station Synology application. |
Volume 3 is composed of a single stand-alone disk. It is more of a miscellaneous storage disk used when we cannot figure out where else the data needs to go. The content of this disk may be backed up off-site or to another volume on this NAS.
| Shared folder | Description |
|---|---|
| docker | This folder functions as the root storage for all state in docker containers and volumes. As such, it does have high-value data that needs to be backed up. Right now, HyperBackup is making a copy to Volume1. |
| homelab | This folder is exported over NFS from the NAS to the Kubernetes cluster. It is actually quite a large directory as both Immich and the media stack are storing photos, TV and Movies here. I consider the movies and TV shows to be disposable. But the photos are pretty important and they are backed up to /volume2/backup/photo by HyperBackup. |
| iDrive | TODO: Confirm what this folder holds. It may contain Apple sparse bundles from video editing of drone footage. |
| Video | These are the older videos downloaded by the NAS when it was running SickChill and Download Station. There are some old videos here, but they are not considered high value as they can be re-downloaded if needed. |