Sync folders on PC to NAS on different network

[ubulord]

Hi
I'd be very thankful if anyone could help me here. I've just bought a QNAP and I want to do the following:
a) place the QNAP on my holiday home
b) sync folders on my PC to NAS (it will be on a different network, 100 km away)
c) I can't use QNAP's own backup program (NetBak Replicator) because instead of backing up "Test" (on my PC) to "Test" (on the QNAP) it instead creates an unwanted path on the QNAP - "\\NASXXXXX\Test\NetBakData\PSM@DESKTOP-XXXXX\Disk G\Test"
d) FreeFileSync is the program I've always used and I like it but I've only used it to backup to USB, never to disks on a different network
e) although I'm very proficient with computers I have zero experience with stuff like SFTP, FTP, etc., so any configuration to allow FreeFileSync to backup to the QNAP on a different network will need to be explained in detail and step by step.
Thanks in advance for any help
Pedro

[Plerry]

The most robust way to go about is setting up a VPN connection between your home (the location of your PC) and your holiday home.
You either need to run a VPN server at your holiday home and a VPN client at your home, or vice versa.
I don't now QNAP, but as QNAP NASs are feature-wise quite similar to Synology NASs, you can likely use your NAS to act either as a VPN server or a VPN client. Alternatively, some better routers are also capable of acting as a VPN server and/or client. At home you need to set up a VPN server or client either in your router, your NAS (if you also have one at home) or in your PC.
Effectively, you can then tie the two remote networks (or parts thereof) together as if it was a single network, for (almost) all protocols, including SMB.

Alternatively, you can use e.g. WebDav which, simplistically stated, effectively forms a VNP connection just for the SMB protocol.

You should avoid FTP, as that is unencrypted and may be intercepted.
You may consider SFTP, as it is safe and relatively simple (only requires port forwarding in the router at the client-side)
However, using SMB is probably preferred over SFTP, as quite some (S)FTP servers and clients do not support the preservation of timestamps, whereas SMB does.

[Zenju]

You should avoid FTP, as that is unencrypted and may be intercepted.

FFS also supports FTP over TLS (=FTPS). Generally, SFTP is the better protocol, except for one aspect: speed. (FTP is usually faster overall than SFTP).

However, using SMB is probably preferred over SFTP, as quite some (S)FTP servers and clients do not support the preservation of timestamps, whereas SMB does.

Practically speaking, all SFTP servers support timestamps, and (most non-ancient) FTP servers (those that understand MFMT).

[Plerry]

… Practically speaking, all SFTP servers support timestamps, and (most non-ancient) FTP servers (those that understand MFMT).

Then apparently all SFTP servers I deal with (at some big and renounced providers) are an exception.
Even with the WinSPC "preserve timestamp" option explicitly check marked, the time stamp is always the moment of copying the file over.
Or it must be a case of what is written in the WinSPC help/manual:
"Note that while you may have rights to overwrite the remote file, you may not have rights to change its attributes (permissions and timestamps)"

[ubulord]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm delving into an area that I know almost nothing about. I can foresee weeks of watching YouTube tutorials...