Proxmox + Synology Homelab: Storage & Backup Guide 2026

Synology

You may like Synology DSM for file storage, backups, Synology Drive, Photos, snapshots, and other packages, but eventually discover that you want more CPU power, RAM, GPU flexibility, or virtualization options than your NAS provides.

You don’t necessarily have to replace Synology to solve that problem.

A Proxmox + Synology hybrid homelab separates compute from storage. Proxmox VE runs virtual machines and containers on dedicated hardware, while the Synology NAS continues doing what it does well: centralized storage, DSM applications, file sharing, snapshots, and backup.

The result can be a more flexible homelab without abandoning the Synology ecosystem you already use.

Why Combine Proxmox and Synology?

Running everything directly on a NAS is convenient until compute requirements begin increasing.

A dedicated Proxmox host can provide more processor cores, larger memory configurations, PCIe devices, GPUs, faster local NVMe storage, and greater freedom when building VMs and containers. Synology support can help configure reliable Proxmox backup workflows.

Synology can then remain responsible for services such as:

SMB and NFS file storage
Synology Drive
Synology Photos
Hyper Backup
Snapshot Replication
Active Backup for Business
Shared media storage
Backup repositories
Long-term data storage

This creates a clear division:

Proxmox = compute

Synology = storage, DSM services, and data protection

For many advanced home users and small businesses, that division is more practical than trying to make one device perform every role.

Don’t Automatically Put Every VM on the NAS

Proxmox VE supports both local and shared storage. Its storage architecture can work with NFS, CIFS, iSCSI, local ZFS, LVM-thin, Ceph, and other backends. NFS and iSCSI are both supported as shared storage options.

That doesn’t mean every VM disk should automatically live on Synology.A useful hybrid design is to place latency-sensitive VMs and containers on local SSD or NVMe storage inside the Proxmox server while using Synology for shared datasets and backup storage.

For example, a database VM may benefit significantly from fast local NVMe. The documents, media, installation images, and backup copies associated with the environment may be perfectly suited to the NAS. This prevents network storage from becoming an unnecessary bottleneck.

Use NFS When You Want Straightforward Shared Storage

NFS is one of the simplest ways to connect Synology storage to Proxmox.

Proxmox officially supports NFS as shared file-level storage and can use it for VM images, container data, ISO files, templates, backups, and snippets. When qcow2 is used, Proxmox can also provide snapshot and cloning functionality on NFS-backed VM images.

A common layout might therefore include separate Synology shares for:

Proxmox backups
ISO images
Templates
Media
General shared data
Selected VM storage

Keeping these functions separated makes permissions, snapshots, quotas, troubleshooting, and future migrations easier to manage.

Consider iSCSI When Block Storage Makes More Sense

Synology can also provide block storage to Proxmox through iSCSI.

Proxmox identifies iSCSI as a supported shared block-storage backend. However, administrators need to understand that plain iSCSI storage does not provide the same Proxmox storage features as every other backend. For example, Proxmox’s current storage matrix lists standard iSCSI as shared storage but without native snapshot support at that layer.

This makes storage design more important than simply asking whether iSCSI is “faster” than NFS. For many homelabs, NFS is easier to understand and administer. More advanced users may prefer iSCSI when their VM architecture specifically benefits from block storage. Choose based on the workload and recovery requirements rather than assuming one protocol is universally superior.

Give Important VMs Local NVMe Storage

One of the biggest advantages of separating Proxmox from the NAS is that the compute server can have its own high-performance storage.

Consider local NVMe for:

Databases
Busy application servers
High-I/O containers
Development environments
Frequently accessed VM operating systems
Workloads sensitive to network latency

The Synology NAS can still hold the important, persistent data or backup copies. For example, Plex itself might run inside a VM or container on Proxmox while the media library remains on Synology. That gives the application access to stronger compute resources without forcing a large media library onto expensive NVMe storage.

Networking Can Determine Whether the Architecture Feels Fast

Once Proxmox starts relying on Synology, the network becomes part of the storage system.

A 1GbE connection has a theoretical maximum of roughly 125 MB/s before protocol overhead. That may be completely adequate for backups, media, ISO storage, and lighter workloads, but it can become restrictive when several VMs are actively accessing NAS-hosted storage.

2.5GbE provides considerably more headroom, while 10GbE becomes attractive for heavier shared-storage environments. But buying faster network adapters is only part of the solution.

Check the complete path:

Proxmox NIC → switch → Synology NIC → storage pool

A 10GbE Proxmox server connected to a 1GbE NAS is still constrained by the slower side of the connection. Likewise, an HDD RAID configuration may not deliver NVMe-like random I/O simply because the network has been upgraded.

Separate VM Storage From Backup Storage

One mistake in a hybrid homelab is treating the Synology as one enormous shared folder. Create a deliberate storage structure instead.

You might have:

Proxmox-VMs
For VM disks that intentionally run from NAS storage.

Proxmox-Backups
For backup files.

ISO-Templates
For installation media and templates.

Media
For Plex, Jellyfin, or similar applications.

Shared-Data
For data accessed by multiple applications or users. Separating these functions allows different snapshot schedules, permissions, quotas, and retention policies. It also makes it much easier to understand what must be restored after a failure.

Remember That RAID Is Not Your VM Backup

If a VM runs on a RAID-protected Synology volume, the VM still needs backup protection. RAID helps maintain availability when a drive fails. It does not protect you from every form of deletion, corruption, ransomware, application failure, or administrative mistake.

Likewise, a Proxmox snapshot should not become your only long-term backup strategy. The hybrid architecture should have separate layers for production storage, snapshots, backups, and preferably an offsite copy.

Synology itself recommends a 3-2-1 strategy and currently describes Active Backup for Business, Snapshot Replication, and Hyper Backup as serving different roles: workload protection, point-in-time/disaster recovery, and versioned/offsite backup respectively.

Synology Can Become the Backup Layer for Proxmox

There are several ways to approach Proxmox protection.

A straightforward method is to have Proxmox backup jobs write to dedicated storage on Synology. The NAS then becomes a separate backup destination rather than simply the place where production VMs live. Another option is to protect supported guest operating systems using Synology Active Backup for Business. Synology documents an agent-based method for protecting VMs running on Proxmox by installing the Active Backup for Business Agent inside supported guest operating systems.

Do not assume every version of Active Backup for Business provides the same native hypervisor-level Proxmox integration that it provides for VMware or Hyper-V. Synology’s current DSM 7.4 Active Backup for Business specifications still describe VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V as its agentless VM platforms, while supported Linux systems can be protected through the agent.

For more advanced enterprise Proxmox protection, Synology’s newer ActiveProtect platform should be evaluated separately rather than confusing it with Active Backup for Business.

Protect the Backup Repository Too

Putting Proxmox backups on Synology is only the first layer.

What happens if the Synology itself fails?

Synology recommends protecting Active Backup for Business repositories with Snapshot Replication when another Synology NAS is available or Hyper Backup when creating another copy on cloud or other supported storage. Its current guidance specifically recommends applying the 3-2-1 backup strategy.

The same architectural principle applies to your broader Proxmox backup repository.

A strong design could look like:

Production VM on Proxmox

↓

Backup on Synology

↓

Secondary/offsite backup

The third copy might live on another Synology, supported cloud storage, external storage, or another appropriately designed backup destination.

Keep DSM Packages on Synology When They Already Work

There is little benefit in moving an application merely because Proxmox is available. If Synology Drive is working well, leave it on DSM. The same logic can apply to Photos, Hyper Backup, Snapshot Replication, file sharing, and other DSM services.

Use Proxmox when the workload benefits from:

More CPU
More RAM
GPU access
Custom Linux distributions
Windows VMs
Application isolation
Advanced networking
Development environments
Containers requiring greater hardware flexibility

This prevents the homelab from becoming unnecessarily complicated.

Avoid Making Synology a Single Point of Failure

The architecture also needs to account for dependencies.

Imagine your DNS server, authentication server, Home Assistant VM, firewall tools, and other essential services all run on Proxmox but every VM disk resides on one Synology NAS. If that NAS goes offline, your powerful Proxmox server may have very little it can actually run.

For critical infrastructure VMs, local Proxmox storage can reduce that dependency. Synology can then provide backups and persistent shared datasets without becoming mandatory for every VM to boot. The goal is not simply to centralize everything. It is to understand which services depend on which systems.

Think About What Happens During Maintenance

A good hybrid homelab should survive routine maintenance without becoming frustrating.

Ask:

Can important VMs run if Synology is rebooting?
Can DSM services continue if Proxmox is offline?
Are backups still accessible if one host fails?
Is DNS dependent on storage that requires DNS to mount?
Can you recover Proxmox if the host boot drive dies?
Can you recover Synology configuration and data?
Do you have copies of VM configuration information?

These questions reveal circular dependencies before an outage does.

A Practical Proxmox + Synology Layout

For many users, a balanced 2026 architecture looks like this:

Proxmox server

Local NVMe:

VM operating systems
Containers
Databases
High-I/O workloads

Synology NAS

HDD/SSD storage:

Shared files
Media
Synology Drive
Photos
NFS shares
Selected shared VM storage
Proxmox backup repository
DSM applications

Secondary destination

Another Synology NAS
Offsite storage
Supported cloud backup
Other independent backup storage

This architecture allows each platform to focus on what it does best.

The Best Hybrid Homelab Doesn’t Replace Synology

Adding Proxmox does not have to mean migrating away from DSM. In many environments, it actually makes the Synology NAS more useful.

Instead of asking the NAS to provide storage, applications, virtualization, and every compute-intensive service simultaneously, you can move demanding compute workloads to dedicated Proxmox hardware while keeping DSM as the centralized storage and data-protection platform.

That can extend the useful life of an existing Synology, provide considerably greater virtualization flexibility, and make future compute upgrades easier because your important shared data remains centralized.

Run compute-intensive and latency-sensitive workloads where Proxmox has the hardware advantage. Keep shared data, DSM applications, snapshots, and backup repositories where Synology has the management advantage. Then protect both sides so losing either machine does not mean losing the homelab. Large storage solutions provide room for scalable platform migrations.

About Epis Technology

Epis Technology helps businesses and advanced users design Synology environments that integrate with modern virtualization infrastructure instead of forcing one platform to handle every workload. Services include Synology NAS deployment, Proxmox storage integration, NFS and iSCSI planning, networking, 2.5GbE and 10GbE infrastructure, VM storage design, Active Backup for Business, Hyper Backup, Snapshot Replication, offsite backup, ransomware resilience, and disaster recovery. Epis Technology can help determine which workloads should remain on Synology, which should move to dedicated compute infrastructure, and how to build a reliable storage and backup architecture around both platforms.