Overview

A Network Attached Storage (NAS) device is a shared storage box on your company network, similar to a shared drive that multiple people or computers can save files to. If your organization stores legal hold data on a NAS, the eDiscovery Download Client can save the downloaded data directly to that NAS instead of the local computer's hard drive.

This is useful because:

You do not have to download data to your computer first and then manually copy it to the NAS afterward.
The amount of data you can download is limited by the free space on the NAS, not by your computer's local disk space.

This article explains how to connect (register) your NAS with the eDiscovery Download Client and use it as a download location.

Before you begin

Make sure the following are true before you try to download data to a NAS:

The eDiscovery Download Client is already installed and running on the Windows computer you'll use.
That Download Client is already registered with Druva. For more information, see Register eDiscovery Download Client.
The Windows computer can reach the NAS over the network.
You know the NAS share path and it is written in the Windows network-path format described below.
The NAS user account that you plan to use has read and write permission on the destination folder, otherwise the download will fail partway through.

The path format the NAS location must use:

Windows can point to a shared network folder in two ways: a mapped drive letter (like Z:\) or a network path that spells out the server and folder name, called a UNC path. The NAS download location must use the second format:

\\server\share\folder

For example:

\\nas-server\ediscovery\Downloads

📝Note: A drive-letter path such as Z:\DruvaDownloads will not work as a NAS download location — it must be the full \\server\share\folder style path shown above.

Step 1: Register the NAS with the Download Client (Windows only)

Registering tells the eDiscovery Download Client which NAS to connect to and which account to use to log in to it. You only need to do this once per NAS.

Procedure

On the Windows computer, open Command Prompt as Administrator.

Run the following command:

eDiscoveryClientCLI.exe --action register_nas

When prompted, enter the following details:
- Host – the NAS's hostname or IP address
- Share – the name of the shared folder on the NAS
- Username – the NAS account username
- Password – the NAS account password
```
Host: server / ip Share: sharename Username: username Password: ********
```

The Host and Share you enter here must match the UNC path you'll later use as the download location.

For example, if you plan to download data to \\192.0.2.10\sharename\Downloads, register the NAS as:

Host: 192.0.2.10
Share: sharename
Username: admin_user
Password: ********

Step 2: Confirm the NAS was registered correctly

Before starting a download, double-check that the registration was saved correctly:

eDiscoveryClientCLI.exe --action nas_info

This displays the registered host, share, and username (the password is never shown, for security). For example:

Host: 192.0.2.10   Share: sharename   User: admin_user

Step 3: Use the NAS as your download location

When you create an eDiscovery download job, enter the NAS's UNC path as the download location instead of a local folder path. For example:

\\server\share\folder1

You can also point to a specific subfolder inside the share:

\\192.0.2.10\sharename\Downloads

The Download Client will save the data directly to that NAS location, and will automatically retry if the NAS connection is briefly interrupted during the download.

Using a NAS on a Mac

The registration steps above (register_nas, nas_info) apply only to Windows. On macOS, there is no separate registration step:

Mount the NAS location on your Mac using SMB, the way you connect to any shared network drive.
Confirm the mounted volume has read and write permissions.
Once it is mounted and accessible, select that mounted NAS location as the download destination in the eDiscovery Download Client. No extra registration is required.

Troubleshooting eDiscovery NAS download

NAS credentials have changed

If you have changed the username or password for the NAS account, the client no longer has the correct credentials saved. Re-register the NAS with the updated details:

eDiscoveryClientCLI.exe --action register_nas

Enter the new credentials when prompted. This resolves error EDISCOVERY_115.

NAS cannot be accessed

Check each of the following:

The NAS is reachable from the Windows computer (try browsing to it in File Explorer).
The UNC path you entered is typed correctly.
The shared folder actually exists on the NAS.
The host and share you registered match the download path you are using.
The NAS username and password are still correct.

The download starts but fails to save files to the NAS

This issue means a permissions problem. Confirm that the NAS account has read and write access to the destination folder, not just read access.

Quick reference

Create a shared folder on the NAS, e.g. \\192.0.2.10\sharename.
Create a NAS user account with read/write access to that folder.
Register the NAS: eDiscoveryClientCLI.exe --action register_nas
Verify the registration: eDiscoveryClientCLI.exe --action nas_info
Enter the NAS UNC path as the download location, e.g. \\192.0.2.10\sharename\DruvaDownloads.

❗Important:

NAS registration using register_nas applies to Windows only. On macOS, mount the NAS share over SMB first, then use the mounted path directly as the download destination.

Download eDiscovery Data to a NAS (Network Attached Storage) Location