Synology DS425+ NAS Revealed
The Synology DS425+ arrives as part of the company’s 2025 refresh of its popular DiskStation NAS lineup, positioned as a 4-bay solution for prosumers, content creators, and small business users who demand reliable private cloud functionality, media handling, and data protection tools—all in a desktop-friendly chassis. Succeeding the widely adopted DS423+, the DS425+ builds upon the same Intel Celeron J4125 architecture but introduces upgraded network connectivity and improved support for SSD caching, aiming to enhance performance across daily operations like file synchronization, multimedia streaming, collaborative document editing, and surveillance management. Running the latest version of DiskStation Manager (DSM), the DS425+ leverages Synology’s full ecosystem of services, including Synology Drive, Active Backup Suite, Surveillance Station, and Synology Photos. With this release, Synology is also doubling down on its strict hardware compatibility enforcement, limiting drive support to Synology-verified models only—a shift that may influence buyers with preexisting storage investments. Even so, the DS425+ offers a compact yet powerful platform for centralized storage, hybrid cloud collaboration, and secure file access from anywhere.
Synology DS425+ Hardware Specifications
At the heart of the Synology DS425+ is the same Intel Celeron J4125 processor seen in the DS423+—a quad-core, Gemini Lake-based chip with a base clock of 2.0 GHz and a burst frequency of 2.7 GHz. While this CPU has proven competent for basic NAS operations like SMB file serving, lightweight multimedia indexing, and DSM’s collaborative apps, its inclusion in a 2025 NAS release feels increasingly outdated. The J4125 first launched in 2019, and although its low power consumption and integrated hardware encryption engine remain attractive for entry-tier devices, it’s now noticeably behind in areas like video transcoding, AI-assisted tasks, and virtualization performance. For example, when running more demanding DSM features such as Surveillance Station with high-resolution streams, or multiple simultaneous file indexing operations via Synology Photos and Drive, this processor can quickly become a limiting factor, especially in multi-user environments.
| Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Celeron J4125, 4-core, 2.0 GHz (base) / 2.7 GHz (turbo) |
| Memory (Default) | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC |
| Memory (Max) | 6 GB (2 GB onboard + 1x SO-DIMM slot up to 4 GB) |
| Drive Bays | 4 × 3.5″/2.5″ SATA HDD/SSD (hot-swappable) |
| M.2 NVMe Slots | 2 × M.2 2280 NVMe SSD (for Synology SSDs only – cache or storage pool) |
| LAN Ports | 1 × 2.5GbE RJ-45, 1 × 1GbE RJ-45 |
| USB Ports | 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 |
| Maximum Raw Capacity | Up to 80 TB (4 × 20 TB drives) |
| RAID Support | SHR, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 |
| Cooling | 2 × 92 mm fans |
| Power Supply | External 90W AC adapter |
| Power Consumption | 28.3W (Access), 8.45W (HDD Hibernation) |
| Dimensions | 166 mm × 199 mm × 223 mm |
| Weight | 2.18 kg |
| Noise Level | 19.8 dB(A) |
| Warranty | 3 years (extendable to 5 years in select regions) |
| Drive Compatibility | Synology-verified drives only (HAT3300, HAT5300, SNV3400, etc.) |
Memory configuration hasn’t changed either, with the DS425+ shipping with 2 GB of DDR4 non-ECC RAM soldered to the board and a single expansion slot allowing upgrades to a maximum of 6 GB. This is a practical ceiling for general use—enough to handle several DSM packages like Synology Office, Drive, or Hyper Backup simultaneously—but it’s insufficient for users looking to run dockerized apps, virtual DSM instances, or advanced services such as Synology MailPlus in a more scalable manner. The non-ECC nature of the RAM also weakens the case for this NAS as a long-term professional solution, especially when handling sensitive or mission-critical workloads.
Networking is where the DS425+ makes a partial step forward, but not without caveats. It features a single 2.5GbE LAN port alongside a 1GbE port—an improvement over the dual 1GbE design of the DS423+—but a closer look reveals an intentional limitation. Unlike many other brands that now offer dual 2.5GbE ports for link aggregation or seamless failover at full speed, Synology’s decision to pair a 2.5GbE with a 1GbE appears less about cost or chipset restrictions and more about product segmentation. This asymmetric port setup discourages buyers from choosing the DS425+ over higher-tier units like the DS925+, which offers more symmetrical bandwidth and better expansion paths. From a hardware standpoint, there is no compelling technical reason this device couldn’t have included dual 2.5GbE—especially given its target audience of small business and prosumer users with growing data needs.
Storage connectivity fares better. The DS425+ supports four hot-swappable 3.5″/2.5″ SATA drives and adds two M.2 2280 NVMe SSD slots for cache acceleration—valuable for improving read/write IOPS, especially in workloads like media library scanning in Synology Photos or large document syncing in Synology Drive. These M.2 slots do not consume the main drive bays, preserving all four bays for primary storage—a practical advantage for users looking to maintain high capacity while improving responsiveness. However, it’s important to note that, per Synology’s 2025 compatibility policy, only Synology-branded SSDs (such as the SNV3400 series) can be used for either cache or storage pool creation, cutting out a wide array of affordable third-party options.
In terms of design, the DS425+ remains compact and energy-efficient, measuring 166 × 199 × 223 mm and weighing 2.18 kg. It uses two 92mm fans for active cooling, and power usage is modest—28.3W under load and just 8.45W in disk hibernation. Two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports are available for external drive backups or peripheral support, and the unit is shipped with two RJ-45 cables, a power supply, and a 3-year warranty (extendable to 5 years in some regions). But while the physical build quality is solid, many of the internal hardware choices feel driven more by Synology’s desire to maintain product hierarchy than by a desire to fully meet evolving user needs in this segment.
Synology DS425+ vs DS423+ NAS – Much of an Upgrade?
On paper, the DS425+ and DS423+ appear remarkably similar—so much so that many users might question whether the DS425+ is a true generational upgrade. Both models use the same Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core processor, support up to 6 GB of non-ECC DDR4 memory, and house four 3.5″/2.5″ SATA bays alongside dual M.2 NVMe SSD slots. The physical dimensions, weight, fan configuration, and even the power draw figures are virtually identical. For many core use cases—such as basic file storage, Synology Drive collaboration, and multimedia backups via Hyper Backup—the user experience will feel nearly the same. This makes the DS425+ look more like a platform refresh than a reinvention.
| Category | Synology DS423+
|
Synology DS425+
|
Difference / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Celeron J4125, 4-core, 2.0–2.7 GHz | Intel Celeron J4125, 4-core, 2.0–2.7 GHz | Identical processor |
| Memory (Default) | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC | 2 GB DDR4 non-ECC | Same default memory |
| Memory (Max) | 6 GB (2 + 4 GB) | 6 GB (2 + 4 GB) | Same maximum capacity |
| Drive Bays | 4 × 3.5″/2.5″ SATA (hot-swappable) | 4 × 3.5″/2.5″ SATA (hot-swappable) | Identical layout |
| M.2 NVMe Slots | 2 × M.2 2280 (cache only) | 2 × M.2 2280 (cache or storage pool) | Allows storage pools (Synology SSDs only) |
| LAN Ports | 2 × 1GbE | 1 × 2.5GbE + 1 × 1GbE | DS425+ adds faster networking but lacks symmetrical dual 2.5GbE |
| USB Ports | 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 | 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 | Same |
| Max Raw Capacity | Up to 80 TB (4 × 20 TB drives) | Up to 80 TB (4 × 20 TB drives) | Same |
| RAID Support | SHR, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0/1/5/6/10 | SHR, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0/1/5/6/10 | Identical |
| Drive Compatibility | Broad third-party support (with warnings) | Synology-verified drives only | DS425+ enforces drive lock-in |
| Power Consumption (Active) | 28.3W | 28.3W | Same |
| Power Consumption (Idle) | 8.45W | 8.45W | Same |
| Noise Level | 19.8 dB(A) | 19.8 dB(A) | Same |
| Cooling | 2 × 92 mm fans | 2 × 92 mm fans | Same |
| Dimensions / Weight | 166 × 199 × 223 mm / 2.18 kg | 166 × 199 × 223 mm / 2.18 kg | Identical physical chassis |
| Warranty | 3 years (extendable to 5 years) | 3 years (extendable to 5 years) | Same |
| DSM Version | DSM 7.2+ | DSM 7.2+ | Same |
However, the key differences lie in network connectivity and platform intent. The DS423+ features dual 1GbE ports with support for link aggregation or failover, while the DS425+ trades this for a mix of one 2.5GbE and one 1GbE port. While this technically increases the potential maximum throughput to 2.5Gbps, this hybrid setup seems designed to offer “just enough” improvement to distinguish the DS425+ without cannibalizing interest in higher-tier systems like the DS925+. For users with modern 2.5GbE switches, the DS425+ will offer a slightly snappier file access and faster backups—particularly when working with large media libraries or high-frequency synchronization tasks in Synology Photos or Drive. But those with symmetrical link aggregation setups may find the port layout frustratingly limiting.
Another critical shift is in Synology’s approach to drive compatibility. The DS423+—like most NAS units in the 2020–2023 era—offered relatively open support for third-party HDDs and SSDs, including Seagate IronWolf, WD Red, and enterprise-class models. Users would receive warnings when using non-verified drives, but DSM remained fully functional. In contrast, the DS425+ adopts the same restrictive policy seen in all 2025 Synology NAS systems, outright blocking DSM installation and pool creation with unverified hard drives or NVMe SSDs.
This has broad implications for cost-conscious users or those migrating from older Synology NAS units, as they may find that previously functional media is now flagged and unusable. Even within Synology’s own ecosystem, only select SKUs (e.g., HAT3300, HAT5300, SAT5200, SNV3400) are accepted without persistent alerts or functionality restrictions. While this change may support long-term system stability and vendor accountability, it narrows the appeal of the DS425+ as a flexible, user-driven NAS appliance.
Ultimately, the DS425+ is one of the smallest refresh/upgrades over the DS423+, largely just in its added 2.5GbE port. But for users already operating a DS423+, the performance incentives to upgrade are limited—unless specific use cases demand faster network throughput or tighter integration with Synology’s enterprise-leaning ecosystem. For first-time buyers, the DS425+ makes more sense if you are already choosing only the media the brand recommends and want a relatively low-noise, compact NAS with good multi-user potential, cloud tools, and basic virtualization support.
Synology DS425+ NAS – Software and Services
The DS425+ runs Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), one of the most polished NAS operating systems available today, offering a blend of enterprise-level tools and consumer-friendly accessibility. Users can configure the device as a centralized file server, hybrid cloud gateway, backup vault, media hub, or private collaboration platform—all from within an intuitive web-based interface.
The system supports the Btrfs file system, enabling advanced data protection features such as file self-healing, quota management, and snapshot replication. With support for up to 256 system-wide snapshots and 128 per shared folder, users can roll back accidental deletions or ransomware-damaged data in seconds. Synology’s Hybrid Share also allows users to extend storage capacity to the cloud with on-demand file streaming and local caching, balancing scalability with local performance.
| Category | Specification |
|---|---|
| Operating System | DiskStation Manager (DSM) 7.2+ |
| File Systems (Internal) | Btrfs, ext4 |
| File Systems (External) | Btrfs, ext4, ext3, FAT32, NTFS, HFS+, exFAT |
| RAID Support | SHR, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 |
| Max Internal Volumes | 32 |
| Max Single Volume Size | 108 TB |
| SSD Caching | Yes (via M.2 NVMe SSDs – Synology verified only) |
| M.2 SSD Storage Pool Support | Yes (Synology NVMe SSDs only) |
| Snapshot Replication | 128 snapshots per shared folder / 256 system-wide |
| Synology Drive | Max 20 users / 500,000 hosted files |
| Synology Office | Max 20 users |
| Synology Chat | Max 100 users |
| Synology MailPlus | 5 free accounts, up to 20 users (license required) |
| Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) | Up to 2 VMs or 2 Virtual DSMs (1 license included) |
| Surveillance Station | 2 free licenses, up to 40 IP cameras (H.265 1080p @ 1200 FPS) |
| Hybrid Share | Yes (requires C2 subscription) |
| Hyper Backup | Yes (local, network, cloud—including Synology C2 Storage) |
| Active Backup Suite | Supports Windows, Linux, VMware, Hyper-V, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace |
| Active Insight | Yes (3 free licenses; subscription required for more) |
| AMFA (Adaptive MFA) | Yes – behavior-based multi-factor authentication |
| VPN Server | Max 4 concurrent connections |
| VMware / Hyper-V Integration | Yes – VMware ESXi 6.5+, Windows Server 2022, Citrix Ready, OpenStack |
| SMB Connections | 10 (with RAM expansion) |
| Shared Folders | Max 128 |
| Shared Folder Sync Tasks | Max 4 |
| iSCSI Targets / LUNs | Max 2 targets / 2 LUNs, with snapshot and ODX support |
| Cloud Integration | C2 Storage for backups and file sync (subscription required) |
| Access Protocols | SMB1/2/3, AFP, NFSv3/v4.1, FTP, WebDAV, Rsync, iSCSI, HTTP/HTTPS, SNMP, LDAP, CalDAV |
| Web Browsers Supported | Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari |
| Languages Supported | 25+ languages including English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified/Traditional Chinese |
Collaboration is another strong point of the DSM ecosystem. Synology Drive provides a private alternative to Google Drive or Dropbox, enabling real-time file synchronization across devices and platforms, with versioning, sharing permissions, and browser-based access. Integrated with Synology Office, users can collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with password protection and revision tracking.
These tools perform well even with modest hardware like the DS425+, and are ideal for distributed teams or remote workers. For communication, Synology Chat brings secure instant messaging with support for encrypted channels and message retention policies, while Synology MailPlus offers a fully-fledged private email server with support for up to 20 users (5 licenses included). These services transform the DS425+ from a simple storage box into a multi-role productivity appliance.
Synology also continues to invest in security and monitoring, with DSM 7.2+ adding features like Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (AMFA), which intelligently triggers additional login requirements based on user behavior and access patterns. Admins can leverage Active Insight, Synology’s cloud-based fleet monitoring system, to detect threats and performance anomalies across multiple NAS units, and even enforce policy-based snapshot creation during suspicious activity. For those managing backups, Synology’s Active Backup Suite covers Windows, Linux, VMware, Hyper-V, and Microsoft 365/Google Workspace, while Hyper Backup supports encrypted, deduplicated, multi-destination backups to local disks, other NAS units, or Synology’s C2 Storage cloud. Surveillance Station also comes bundled with two free IP camera licenses, and can support up to 40 H.265 1080p streams simultaneously—ideal for small-scale CCTV installations that want private, license-free storage.
Synology DS425+ NAS – Price and Release Date
The Synology DS425+ is scheduled to launch globally in June 2025, following an earlier rollout across Eastern markets beginning in the second half of May 2025. Based on its positioning and minimal hardware changes from the DS423+, it is expected to arrive with a similar MSRP in the range of $449 to $499 USD. This pricing places it firmly in the upper-middle segment of Synology’s 4-bay lineup, targeting users who need more performance and features than entry-level models offer, but without the broader expansion and higher price tags of units like the DS923+ or DS925+. However, with the inclusion of the new restrictive drive compatibility policy, buyers will need to factor in the additional cost of Synology-verified HDDs or SSDs, which could notably increase the total cost of ownership compared to similarly priced NAS systems that support a wider range of drives.
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Can a Synology storage pool be migrated to another manufacturer’s NAS enclosure?
When it’s time to replace my enclosure, can I just buy another, and move my drives over?
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Do any existing Syno customers like the vendor’s new policy ? Surely a majority are on-board, but how do they reason away the single-source storage media limitation? “Single-source” is usually a risk to be avoided. You don’t usually want your own business to be dependent on a single vendor, and certainly not on a vendor who’s experiencing backlash and boycott from other customers.
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I have a lot of hard drives in search for a new NAS.
Synology does not welcome my hard disks that I already had in my previous Synology.
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This is rough. I did see the community made a script to update the drive compatibility. Is it within your channel’s wheelhouse to review the hack?
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Synology is a NO buy recommendation from here on out. They’ve just screwed their customers too many times now
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Obviously they are after money here. That is understandable, and perhaps even fair (given that you get a lot of software for free with the purchase of a NAS). From here, they should add 2 more options for the user (in addition to “buy only our drives”):
1. Allow the users to purchase a “license” to add any drive they want. The license should be reasonably priced (no +$100 or more per drive nonsense).
2. Work with the manufacturers of other drives and have them pay the money to Synology behind the scenes. (This would be similar to how Google pays Reddit to be able to index their website.)
There is an implicit 3rd option too – considerably raise the prices for Synology NAS, or even sell software licenses separately. I doubt these choices will be popular among consumers either.
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was about to upgrade 2 x synology NAS’s, glad i saw this before going ahead with the purchase. very disappointed.
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I wonder if rebuilding or expanding the RAID on the migrated disks would be possible after disabling the scan as per the instructions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKS1lSaXJN8
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I’m sorry, but at the moment it’s just a piece of sh!t!
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The scenario about not being able to repair a migrated raid with the same exact model of (previously verified but now unverified) drive is incredibly customer-hostile for a NAS provider. I am sorry, but there is no reasoning that makes that ok, in my opinion, and you might as well have stopped the testing there as it is a full-stop deal breaker.
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What the hell… somebody needs to make Synology visible on the EU commission’s radar perhaps to remind them what happened to Apple and their “closed ecosystem”!
With the help of chatGPT… 😀
Dear Synology Team,
I am writing to formally express my outrage and disappointment regarding your recent decision to restrict functionality for non-Synology hard drives on your newer NAS devices.
As the owner of multiple Synology NAS units, I find it utterly unacceptable that your policy now breaks support for any system using drives not on your proprietary “verified” list. Most critically, this move prevents the repair or rebuilding of RAID/storage pools containing previously functioning third-party drives. This not only violates basic consumer trust but actively sabotages working systems with no technical justification beyond vendor lock-in.
Let me be clear: you are coercing your customers into using your overpriced, vendor-locked drives through what can only be described as software-level sabotage. This is not about “compatibility” — this is about cornering the market and eliminating competition through artificial restrictions.
As of today, I am already in contact with:
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP)
Consumer rights organizations within the EU
Multiple technology journalists and media outlets across Europe, some of whom are already covering your anti-consumer practices
The European Union has made its position abundantly clear with recent enforcement against Apple, requiring them to open their ecosystem under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). I believe Synology’s actions fall into the same anti-competitive category — and I fully intend to see this investigated and enforced at the EU level.
I am proceeding with:
Immediate termination of use of all Synology NAS devices under my control
Formal regulatory complaints to EU authorities regarding anti-competitive conduct
Public exposure of these practices through European tech media and consumer watchdog channels
Legal review of consumer rights violations and planned obsolescence tactics under EU law
This is your opportunity to correct course before regulators intervene. I demand:
A formal statement from Synology addressing this issue
Immediate rollback of policies that block functionality for non-Synology drives
Guaranteed future support for open and interoperable drive usage
I expect a response, and I expect transparency. This issue will not go away quietly.
Sincerely,
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I left a comment here yesterday with the solution/workaround. Seems it was deleted?? Is @NASCompares in Synologys pocket?
There is a GitHub script you can run that updates the Synology HDD database on your machine so it sees your ‘illegal’ drives as legit.
Just search for syno_HDD_db
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Beware the new Synology, folks. They don’t give a damn about your data any more.
And; Your timecodes are off, mate
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Stop being so money hungry Synology, you’re becoming another Toxic Company
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Synology – the end.
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Hi. Great stuff from you! As always.
Thank you very much.
Also will you test RAM modules? If there is the same compatibility rules as for HDD? Will 3rd party work?
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Bought last year’s four-bay system for home use to replace my Drobo which . . . you know. I don’t imagine I’ll ever need another, and if I do, there’s eBay. I feel fortunate I got in before this nonsense arose.
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Guess which hard drives aren’t on the compatibility list for my truenas system. This should be the death of Synology.
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Synology unverified themselves.
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Does this only affect the new diskstations or do they also plan to add this restrictions to older ones? Just in case, can you flash your DS to switch to another os? ????
I swear if they sneakily add this to a future “security” update, I will lose my shit ???? figuratively and literally lol
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Imagine buying a car and they won’t let you put on 3rd part tires, windshield wipers, or oil filters
Oh and their branded ones cost more, are harder to find, & aren’t any better than other options
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Synology really missed the boat here!
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Synology are totally a** … I already felt that after the Intel CPU disaster with the DS415+ models, where the devices started dying after only 1,5-2 years!
The issue was caused by the Intel Atom C2538 CPU, which had a well-known hardware flaw (LPC clock degradation) that led to system crashes and total failure. Synology knew about this problem – they fixed it at newer revisions – yet they denied everything and offered no real support.
Over 150 users on Amazon reported the same issue after around two years of use, but Synology never acknowledged it publicly. Instead of offering a fix or any goodwill gesture, they lied to their customer and just sent me a link to a new NAS model. No replacement, no discount, no technical solution – just silence.
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You are way to considrate with Synology.
The recomendation should be: Do NOT buy Synology 25 series until a lot more 3rd party drives are certified.
In my own consulting business I will be buying a QNAP with a view to learning it, and changing my clients over to it, unless Synology quickly changes policy.
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Synology has been my go to for me and my customers, the last gen is the last synology I use, going forward I’m going to use ugreen instead, what a greedy company synology has become.
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The motivation for Synology to limit drives: Greed
The reason for the aggressive warning and preventing even basic repair features to work: Greed
The basis for claiming only verified drives can be used: literally: Nonexistent (no, synology, one firmware issue a decade ago does not count)
We will see if collapsing sales numbers will get one of the synology managers to stop sniffing their own farts long enough to stop this self destructive crapshow.
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well this information set me back big… was thinking to go from my 2 bay DS220+ to a 8 bay with the capassaty to add 2 mor 5 bay cabinets . i can get synology drives in my contry but the price on them is not even close to a regular one and i am thinking a bout the future… 8+5+5 drive in 4 Tb is a desent storage but i was thinking to have the 8 in a raid 0 and one of the other 2 as a cold storage in a raid 5 with the last as a backup in a raid 5. so the activ raid will have about 29 Tb the cold storage about 14.5 Tb and that indecating that i need to have atlest 33,5 Tb in the backup. and in that case i need to get 5 10Tb drives for the backup. and that will cost me 3 times what the SD-unit cost itself… that´s not possible… not with my income so i am thinking to check other comparnyis solutions or build me my own PC-server/nas/router so everything is in the same setup… it will probely be more of a hassle but i thing that´s the bast solution… maybe this is not for this but i have sean mor and mor comparnyis is doing stuff to F with peapol… sory for the rambeling and anny miss spelling … have dyslexia
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Some people at Synology need to be fired.
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easy to bypass hard drive compatibility check on Synology 925+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t7Q7O5ii9g
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Man, imagine if Apple made a NAS, this would be about what you’d get. Un-freaking-acceptable. Be it commercial or consumer, people use these as a way to preserve and secure their data and the tests here confirm that Synology cannot be trusted with that data.
I also do not trust that they are taking any haste in whitelisting additional drives. Why would they? Whitelisted drives are exclusively Synology branded, which will carry a markup. It isn’t like WD and Seagate are gonna give them a portion of their sales should some of their drives get whitelisted.
In fact, the idea of a whitelist/blacklist for this kind of device is offensive. Trust your damn users, please!! I cannot believe that there is an issue widespread enough coming from WD and Seagate(who are almost certainly the producers of the vast majority of the drives that end up in these enclosures) that this kind of lockdown is necessary. If it was an issue, you’d hear it from them or their customers, but near as I can tell, its crickets.
As someone in your guest discussion video said, the best option was to either let them all work, or don’t even allow migration and lock it down airtight. At least with the latter, you go in knowing the situation and know to buy additional drives as cold spares.
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Its been a blast synology! See ya!
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time has come to go Qnap finally! 🙂
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This basically kills off the feasibility of upgrading from an old model if currently using third party drives.
A) It means that even if a third party drive is under warranty, a replacement would be rendered useless.
B) If you have to replace a third party drive, you’ll end up with an array with different brands, which is something Synology seems to be against now, after years of it being one of their great selling points.
I hope my six year old DS418Play lasts a good long time. I had been planning on upgrading, but its eventual replacement will not be Synology unless they undo these ridiculous changes.
I’m having a hard time figuring out Synology’s logic here, but It’s my guess that they predict not being able to stop the loss of SOHO customers to the likes of UGREEN and won’t reduce their prices to counter that, so have decided to drop that sector and gouge the corporate realm.
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Synology will achieve its goal of fewer support calls with this strategy. When no one buys the product they won’t call for support. I will never upgrade to one of these new NAS.
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Wow, still making excuses for this scumbag company. There is zero reason for them not to have other drivers verified before releasing. They are the worst anti consumer pile of crap company. At this point, there is nothing that Synology can do to get back as customer. I do not know what brand NAS my replacement for my DS1815+ will be but regardless what anti consumer pile of crap Synology those it will not be a Synology drive. They have proved that they will screw over the customer. That coming from some that had a Synology router. Has deployed Synology NAS at work. Has recommended Synology as a company for years. I cannot believe you’re still making excuses for this pile of crap company. There is zero reason to release a new NAS and not test any driver but their own before launch, other than to milk the customer for as much cash as possible.
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Appreciate the work. Was already convinced I was leaving but now I have new concerns about what to do if an older Synology dies and the drives need to go into a newer unit. That’s data loss territory! Exactly what your NAS vendor should NOT EVER be baking in. Screw ‘em. Bye.
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Good bye Synology. I’ve used your products both personally and professionally in my own personal business, I’ve deployed them to TONS of customer sites, and I use them currently in my daily profession in Public Safety. After your recent anti-consumer policies and unsupported 3rd party hardware I am going to migrate ALL of my products and services to pfSense and TrueNAS and my own hardware.
R.I.P. Synology. It’s been real, it’s been fun, but a HUGE mistake on your part and it’s going to cost you thousands of customers most likely more.
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RIP Synology. Even if they reverse their policies later, all trust I had in them has completely evaporated
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They seem to have bigger agenda with this. They want us home and SOHO users to be mad and leave ship so they can stop making home NAS boxes and focus solely on the enterprise market.
After 15 years I’m fed up with their policy and moving away to Qnap and QuTS Hero.
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Thank you for such an in-depth overview of the scenarios, very useful indeed. As a reseller of Synology devices this was disappointing news, I have been selling Synology NAS’s for years and are my go-to NAS, for now I will not be recommending the newer models and stick with the older series which do support 3rd party drives, while they are still available. Hopefully Synology will work with the 3rd parties such as WD and Seagate to make their products certified in the future. Otherwise there are other NAS vendors that their customers will move to and their sales and reputation will undoubtedly suffer.
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This is complete BS…been a customer for a long time, but now I’m going to find somewhere else to spend my money.
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Synology warns users that Kingston, Samsung, WD, Seagate, and SK Hynix are at risk. This is a direct confrontation between Synology’s own brand value and the above storage device manufacturers.
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I just bought QNAP, didnt even thought about synology… and to think my first NAS was dj210 from them…
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Here’s a disturbing thought…. Blocking non-validated drives is based on a ‘whitelist’ of ‘validated’ drives. That automatically means that somewhere on the NAS there’s a file that contains that list. What if that file gets corrupted? What if some Synology employee makes a booboo and puts a typo in there? What if there’s a ‘soon to be ex-Synology employee with a grudge’ who does that on purpose? And those corrupt files slip through QA? Things like that happen, and no matter how hard Synology is going to say it won’t I know it can, and probably will happen at some point. That might render your NAS unusable, or at ‘best’ cause you to have all these non validated drive issues with drives that might be perfectly validated and otherwise good. Artificial blocking in such ways is a recipe for disaster.
Mind you, I totally understand validation of hardware for vendors of NASes, and such. I have absolutely NO problem with them doing that. They have to keep their support costs under control (or charge the customers with the difference, which will make them much more expensive, etc). But this is just a stupid implementation of this policy.
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Ok, this is a big limitation, but Synology hw is so state of art…????
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Synology removed from the supplier list, including for small and Soho projects.
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After 10+ years of use, this is the end of the line.
RIP Synology
My 7 WD RedPro 10TB-Drives will find an other home.
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Thank God I didn’t get into synology when I decided to acquire my first NAS. All these companies seem to go down this route, when they got you into their walled garden, they start blackmailing you for more and more money, because line must go up
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was gonna refresh my synology… now need to check other brands
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When I first discovered the NAS Compares channel over a year ago my thought was once I’d made my NAS purchase I’d not have a need for the channel anymore. I was wrong! Thanks for keeping us in the know.
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If they don’t want me as a customer, I won’t be one any longer. Already ordered my first competitor NAS.
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I was wondering if that script that adds your drives to the “compatible list” works on the ’25 units, and if that’d be a way around the migrated pool and a drive failure/adding same disk test?
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If Synology will not let me use my own WD Data Center drives then I will have to ditch Synology! I will not be locked into their product hemisphere!
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Can you try a Toshiba branded drive that they are making available to Synology as a white label?
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Yikes!! Whoever pushed and shoved this decision through at Synology is probably doing a lot of “short selling” (or buying some major “put options”) in anticipation of the Synology stock tanking and taking a nose dive in price. Not so crazy, actually, Brilliant! Although, Really bad for the corporation. Oh yeah, and the consumer. Or at least what’s left of them. Major opportunities for other NAS competitors. And NASCompares.
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you cannot buy synology anymore that is the conclusion.
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Synology would like to thank you for being a loyal customer for years. So now when your Nas dies, you can purchase a new updated Synology NAS and all your hard drives all over again. You are welcome, its the least Synology can do to show you how important you are to them.
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Bye-by Syno, my next NAS will be an Asustor or Terremaster.
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meaning go for another brand NAS
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What you can do…
Give a wide berth to a company that insults the customers who have been loyal to it for years and have brought it sales.
Anyone who pulls this kind of crap has no future in the market.
One could surmise that the swings of the decision makers were a little close to the nearest wall.
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Thank you for the clear and thoughtful coverage of this important topic. I guess my old Drobo 5N will have to keep going for a little while longer while I consider other options.
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Shame on Synology.
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Not being able to recovery from a degraded array with a like drive should make 100% of people looking to upgrade completely stay away from these systems. The other scenarios people can grumble about but this on is a dick move.
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I cannot wait to see Synology products flooded with negative reviews about this stupid limitation.
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Synology redefining the term “clusterfk!”
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Hey guy, can u help me out I am on budget and I have 4 Nas ironwolf drives laying around and I just want something decent enough that I can just add my files and have my plex media installed only but I don’t want to upgrade in the future I just want something that can last me a very long time but in the synology brand with the features that one needs, please help. Thx
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Next step : you only can connect to internet if you use an RJ45 cable fom Synology, they’re trying to become Apple’s NASes, so sad
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The best user feedback, we as a community, can provide Synology is that the community does buy these devices.
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Turning your own products into useless rubbish. These companies never learn.
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Wow. This really sucks. We need an open source software that does SHR. Drobo’s had something similar and I went to Synology because they also allowed mis-matched drive sizes in a NAS form. Unraid and Hexos does not do a variation of SHR which is sad.
I hope my 10 year old synologies last another 10 years!
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Thanks for putting this video up. This is so disappointing by synology.. I researched and bought on in 2019 and wow happy with it. Will definitely find a new company somewhere else/
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Well, it looks like I need a Ugreen now to back up my Synology !!!
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Pointless since won’t be buying the new Synology… will be looking.. for alternative’s hahahahah
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bye bye Synology
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Why go with a device/company that has a target on it’s back when it comes to hackers. Wouldnt touch them with an electric cattle prod.
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The 2025 Synology series is unfortunately Dead to Me. I have a DS423+ (Plex user here) and there is zero reason to ‘upgrade’ to the 2025 models regardless given the HW specs. This is a pity as the DSM 7.2 version I’m on (before they removed Video Station) looks to be the version I’ll be staying on as long as I can (baring some significant security issue).
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I’ve been a loyal Synology user, and this is my third unit, but it will also be my last. It feels like Synology has forgotten who their core customers are. Casual users generally don’t care about NAS, while power users, who set everything up for their families, care a lot about flexibility and choice. Forcing users to buy only their drives is where I draw the line. I’ve always used IronWolf drives and have been completely satisfied with them. I’m not going to switch just to comply with Synology’s new restrictions.
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Stability is great. But let me choose. If you want to verify drives which guarantees me a certain level of stability, great. It’s my device though so if I want to put in different drives and don’t give a shit about your verification, then I should be able to.
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We’ve had an eight unit Synology NAS in our office for several years and have been waiting on the release of the 2025 model to upgrade this. The company’s decisionn to force users to buy their rebranded drives has sent me looking to their competitors.
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In Germany, we call it “Elektroschrott”…
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In Future no Videos about this company! – They should not get a positive advertisement.
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If you can’t use the drives you want, YOU DON’T OWN IT.
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LOL. @Synology, get over yourselves. You’re not even close to enterprise class devices, stop LARPing. I was looking at replacing my fleet of aging Netgear ReadyNAS 4, 6 and 8 bay enclosures and @Synology you WERE on the list. Now, you’re #1 on the “Hard no” list, as I don’t/can’t trust you, even if you roll back this greedy decision.
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Thank you for the work you did to put this together.
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They should’ve just raised the price instead of lock it. They want to fight HDD prices falling locking you in and tap into HDD sales. I was looking for a 10 bay and due to lock in I’m passing. I need to be able to move old RAID designed drives over not buy 10 new ones. This also forces you to buy bigger drives up front. I will not be buying one of their products. I have 86TB and will be growing 24TB a year. So who is this product for?
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I have worked the industry an I can understand the idea behind Synology’s decision to ban drives that are not on the HCT list. I can understand, but I don’t think they did it the right way. The right way would be to expressly state that if you are using drives that are not on the HCT list Synology will not accept any warranty claims in case of disk failure, array failure or data corruption.
The reason I say this is because I have built a lot of storage servers and run into disk compatibility problems. In one case WD shipped over 200 drives so we could swap out the drives that failed in the servers a customer bought. Thing is these drives were actually on the compatibility list, but then using an older firmware. Once the firmware was upgraded the disks were no longer compatible. In another case I had to sit at a customer and update the firmware of about 100 drives as the R6 arrays had failed. This customer had all error mail messages sent to an employee who never looked at them. Had he even just looked at the servers once he got an email he would have seen the error LED on the failed drives and the array failures could have been prevented. As it was the drives failed, the arrays were degraded, the standby drives were used to rebuild the array and another drive failed and the second standby replaced it only for two more drives to fail and the arrays were dead. This is when they called about the problem. Seagate and the controller manufacturer went through the logs from the controllers and Seagate provided a new firmware that solved the failures. These are things you don’t have to deal with if the drives are tested, certified and the drives you buy has the correct firmware. And to get the kind of service we got from drive manufacturers it helps if you are talking about several hundred drives at a time. It’s harder to get prompt service if you are a end user and have four or eight drives that cause a problem.
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I’m so upset with this, literally bought an upgrade to my old unit 10days ago, while I was searching for new drivers I discovered this news about the drivers, I really don’t like this idea of no freedom, so I will be returning the unit for refund and i will search other company , they don’t deserve my data
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Imagine you migrated an 18tb disk pool ..and can’t even replace with synology drives cause of size ????
Good bye synology
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Very logical testing, maybe I missed 1 scenario. Any issues found trying to reintroduce a migrate drive back to the original Synology NAS?
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What about older non-Synology drives?!
I have an old DS414 that I’d love to replace but was waiting for 2.5Gb network. Now I’m just a home user, I don’t have a big budget, so if I replaced my NAS, I would want to use my existing old (but working perfectly) drives, preferably with a clean install after backing up the data. I’ve no idea if these old drives are on any recent compatibility list even if Synology were to open up the allowed list a bit.
And these NAS units aren’t cheap, there’s no way I can afford a new NAS and 4 new drives all in one go, and then what happens to my existing perfectly working drives?
I just can’t see how I can buy a new Synology NAS now.
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I’ll be replacing my DS918+ with a custom build Nas and true scale
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While it’s unofficial fixes, i would really appreciate it if you could test some of the HDD compatibility scripts (hacks), which replaces/expands the file which contains the compatibility list on the Synology NAS and whether or not it works.
Just Google “Synology_HDD_db”
EDIT: In fact, they just released a guide an hour ago to even get the new Synology NAS’es to allow you to install DSM with unverified HDDs.
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There are already scripts created that can add any disks to the Synology approved list or allow DSM to be installed on new disks. It remains to be seen if Synology will make changes to block them but for now, unverified disks can be used very easily.
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I hope more people are gonna build themselves their own storage server with Truenas
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There is no incompatibility with ‘unverified’ drives but aggravated obsession for customers money. Synology wants to make money out of thin air. Because most of Synology hardware was overpriced outdated trash 5 years ago and surprisingly it is now. But from now on company decided to do a quantum leap into degeneration and bankruptcy by enforcing usage of outdated and overpriced Toshiba drives relabeled. This would mostly hit home users, creators and some small businesses
Whatever this company did it won’t revert the accumulated negative effect. So it’s time to say “bye-bye overpriced trash”!
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Have anyone tested copying first blocks of unverified, but working disk (from DS923+) to new, but unverified disk? Something like “dd if=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1 of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1” ?
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F0 Synology!!! You lost a loyal client and reseller for good after 14 years!!!
Thank you very much to this great channel for the always complete reviews!
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What does a verified disk mean? Every 20 year old computer needs drivers and the thing will work, with all types of memory media. So they just don’t want the drivers to load for stable operation. petty????
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Curious if when a drive fails, if you can shutdown the DS925+, pull the good drive out, clone it to the replacement disk to get the synology partitions on it, place the original good drive back in and boot, then when running add in the cloned replacement disk to see if it will allow raid repair. Might have a similar situation as when replugging in the hot pulled disk.
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In the bin it goes????, its brand new trash
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All those years of getting r&ped up the wallet and telling ourselves we’re ok with mediocre hardware because THeiR sOFTwaRe is SO aaWSome…well 1)it’s not, I’ve used all their own apps now, many don’t really work. and 2)this is what our premium dollars have paid for, a deliberate sabotage at the software level creating artificial problems…that’s right artificial problems put there by Synology.
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That is really a shame, hope they do add 3rd party to the compatibility list. Actually the Synology drives are not compatible in a lower version of DSM like 6.x while the 3rd party are, so overall they are the least compatible drives on the market! What concerns me also is if the Synology drives are compatible on other brand NAS’s ? So you can save your investment if you want to switch.
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Pure evil. May their greed be their ruin.
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I am a migrating buyer
I planned to purchase a DS1825
I’ve had (2) 20 TB Seagate EXOS drives sitting in my desk waiting for a new unit
This was the final straw, I purchased a Terramaster F6-424 Max
So far, I’m happy
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Gracias a Synology por existir … así podemos usar Xpenology 🙂
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How many of you paused the video and listened to your own NAS when the beeps sounded on the video?
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What an interesting way Synology has chosen to ruin their company.
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This is so f*cking stupid I don’t even know where to start. For f*ck sake Synology, how can you be this turned away from reality?!
This is ensh*tification at its finest really. I could’ve bought it if buying your drives would’ve unlocked something extra and it was 100% optional, but this.. I can’t believe than I’m from now on is going to suggest QNAP to people who want to buy a turnkey solution…
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It is completely UNACCEPTABLE and DANGEROUS for Synology to block recovery of an array with non-Synology branded drives. That is a completely artificial restriction that they have chosen to implement and puts their customers’ data at risk. That is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE behavior from Synology!
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STOP MAKING SYNOLOGY VIDEOS!! STOP GIVING THEM ANY TIME!!
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I’ve got a dead DS1817+ and I’ve been waiting for 18 months to replace it; I’m fairly convinced that it’s the motherboard that has died. It has 8 * 8TB WD Reds in it. I want to transfer this pool to a new NAS. I’m hoping that I can move my current pool to a new DS1825+ then one by one replace my WD Reds with something like 16TB HAT3310s The cost will be prohibitive but I might be able to do this over an 18 month period… hopefully I will then be in a ‘safe’ position…
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I’ve been thinking about this verification nonsense from Synology, and it occurred to me that it is a brand lock-in, nothing more. Think about it, for years Synology have had NAS certified drives from Seagate, Toshiba and WD on their compatibility list, a list that they have claimed has been validated thoroughly. If this is so, and those drives from Seagate, WD and Toshiba have been fully verified for years, what’s changed? Why are those drives suddenly unverified now?
How can drives previously on Sinology’s much vaunted compatibility list be unverified? It makes no sense to me. I believe Synology are appeasing their user base by saying third-party drives are/will be verified in future without seriously wanting to do this. This exercise is being done to evaluate user pushback. If most users shrug, grumble a bit and accept this new situation, Synology may quietly forget about verifying thirdparty drives. If, however, the reaction from the Synology community is comprehensively negative, they will miraculously include the third-party drives they’ve always had on their compatibility list in short order.
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This is a huge showstopper for me and many. I have 918+ running and will most likely be looking for a way out of Synology ecosystem if they stay on this path. The hard part is replacing some of the apps that I use, like Photos (Immich?) and Drive (Nextcloud is the closest but bloated) and Surveillance station (???). If you are not using these apps then getting out of Synology should be pretty simple.
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Now it’s time to consider all alternatives over synology.
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Synology going this route of trying to lock in their overpriced rebadged Toshiba hard drives is a Rubicon that cannot be uncrossed. The trust is gone. Even if they claim they will loosen the restrictions on non-approved drives, why should I trust they won’t simply reverse course in a few years? It’s time to move on from Synology.
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I wonder if there would be market for hacking WD drives to identify themselves as valid verified drives 🙂 Most likely the firmware change they have made to the drives is very minimal and could be quite easily replicated/emulated on other drives.
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This pretty much ends synology for me. Practically zero reason to stay with them.
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Doesn’t matter. I still buy synology because ugreen nas isn’t available anywhere.
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That rebuild thing is a big problem, you should always be able to rebuild a RAID if drive fails, dataloss is worse than possible unstable behaviour that might occur. And if that really is a big issue, then just allow rebuild but keep the RAID in slow degraded mode where it really cannot be used until you rebuild it with verified drive, but in the mean time all the data will be safe as the RAID has been rebuilt and there is parity data.
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Why waist your time? Synology is toast! New UGREEN 8 bay owner here.
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Synology seppuku?
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Pathetic. to let you migrate non-standard drives and hten not repair a failed RAID??? Regardless if they “fix that”, it shows you their brain-dead strategy–those were the requirements for developers!
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It is such a bad move. ????????
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That’s the way to go, try some and see what happens but remember, Synology is watching all of your moves.
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Excellent presentation. Thank you. You are doing some really amazing reporting on this situation. I try to repurpose just about all of my drives, memory and whatnot as best I can when bringing in new home lab equipment. All my stuff is enterprise grade as I just dont buy “cheap stuff” for my lab. The thought that I could never any of it, not one bit, in a brand new premium NAS just makes want to vomit. It kind of reminds me what what MSFT is doing with TPM and what Broadcom has done with VMware. Of course Apple does this same crap with their computers, phones and everything else. I have really high hopes for the new Minisform NAS and their OS. Really hope the Minisform NAS OS can be virtualized under Proxmox either on their new NAS hardware or the MS-A2.
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So synology is using Non-standard hard drives because all other drives than synology are not working normally.
Do not explain me that… In my opinion all people should fill whole internet with simillar sentence in comments and reviews to force synology to explain themself more and that will show that they are just lying about true intentions
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Synology bad
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soooo long story short, time to draw a line and put out a warning to avoid and offer usable alternatives, rip synology
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Synology: Dead and buried in 2025.
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What happens if you use an expansion unit and 3rd party drives
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Good bye. I’ve been loyal because I like the product. However, I will not be forced to use specific drives. Fuck off, Synology.
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I wouldn’t normally comment on a YouTube video, but wow. I’ve been a Synology NAS customer for longer than I can remember. I currently own six units with a total of 32 drives across them. I heard about the drama, but I was waiting for some actual tests to see how bad things were. I would say this is disaster territory. I simply can’t trust Synology with my data going forward. It’s a real shame, I’ve loved the OS over the years, and I have boxes that have been powered on for something like 10 years non-stop. I have always recommended them as the go-to solution. Time to move on. Thank you for doing these tests, and for the great videos over the years. I look forward to finding out the best new options as they appear.
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cool
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Just say it outright: Synology can’t be recommended anymore. This policy is idiotic and most of the disabled features have absolutely nothing to do with drive “compatibility”. If their software is so finicky, it’s shit software and you wouldn’t want to use it anyways. This is just a money grab, plain and simple, and coming at the worst of times where nearly every other manufacturers hardware is better than the Synology oldtimers.
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They will hopefully learn their lesson soon or go bankrupt. I for myself will never use Synology ever again and do my datndest to not let them into the corps i work for.
Damage is done ….
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Sorry if I missed it, but can you at least use third-party SSDs for the SSD cache?
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By bye Synology. Learn from Nokia
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So some kind of low level format with a USB harness could condition the disk as if it was a Synology drive?
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At this point people should boycott synlogy and move on this is nuts
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Just delete the OS and install truenas. Problem solved.
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At first I thought I would just quit if they bs spec lock. Now I need to advise other against their bs scamming. Remember this ‘once they start bs any business practice, they will do it again and again. NEVER EVER TRUST OR GIVE IN TO THEIR LIARS’
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needs to have a dev mode, where you can do what you want with your system you purchased
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Wow, looks like I may be looking at HexOS now and my own hardware solution or perhaps one that comes without an OS. I really do love Synology, but this huge change is a deal breaker for sure.
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unable to repair the raid, is the absolute minimum for ANY NAS, oh, fuck you sonology.
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Many thanks for the video . To be absolutely clear . . . . another vote for UGREEN + TrueNAS
Synology face sales loss from people/SME who start with a low end product and later upgrade to several higher end products.
It would make sense if Synology modelled their likely sales loss based on these comments . . . do they care?
Surely Synology must realise that a very small percentage of the population buy NAS units
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to late – Already migrated to UGreen 8 bay
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Ugreen here i come 8 bay
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Good job with lipsync 😉
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Nope. I own Synology NAS devices at home and for my employer (Government – Police, Fire, EMS). I’m out. This is a deal breaker for me. I will not be buying any more Synology hardware while they are vendor locked on the drives. Hard drives all meet standards. We put them in RAID arrays to protect against those rare failures. Artificially raising the price is asinine. Get your head out of your asinine Synology!
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…and don’t forget, what you might be able to do today will properly be turned off in a DSM update when they get aware of the loopholes found by the users ????
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Their decision is so stupid that it would even make more sense to stop accepting sata drives and create a new Synology type of drives…
They will regret it but probably it is already too late.
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One of the most absurd thing about all this story is that the Synology drives I see listed on Amazon (at least here in Italy) are obviously either Seagate or HGST manufactured WD (that btw for some funny reason have the sticker flipped upside down compared to the OEM drives), so there is no reason for not allowing other drives of those brands to function inside the NAS.
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Good information. My opinion is to stay away from Synology for now. Even if you pay more and purchase all compatible drives today, it does not mean they will be on the list for your next replacement system. Sadly, as a home user, I like the SHR. Does any other manufacturer allow mixing drives.
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After exchanging emails with synology the official answer is “drives that do not meet the new compatibility policy WILL NOT WORK”. I can forward the email to you if you want or you can ask for details from them.
RIP Synology. It was a nice trip.
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Jsut get Unraid. Never looking back.
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Synology turning into a useless toaster.
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What about repairing RAID consisting of unverified HDDs with new verified HDD, that should work , right ?
Also F Synology, greedy bastards.
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I’m not yet sure if I have to replace my current NAS with another one, but this crap rules out any chance for a Synology. They have begun the route down this path, and I don’t believe they will reverse it.
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You could potentially try “initialize” the drive in the older nas to try to use it as replacement for degraded RAID.
If you migrate the older box is usually kept as the backup so it may be kind of the workaround foe those who must upgrade.
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Thanks for your detailed and scientific approach to NAS videos. I have been watching about 6 months. I don’t own a NAS yet, I like to do a LOT of research before purchases like that. I’m glad now I didn’t purchase a Synology system recently.
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To whom are they going to sell their drives if most of the people will no longer buy their appliance?
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For a dominant NAS vendor like Synology, I can’t believe this product release was a marketing blunder. They’ve had plenty of time to verify 3rd party drives so the fact they have launched with a retricted compatibiity list speaks volumes for their mindset. Even if they add a few 3rd paty drives over the next few months, I think the writing is on the wall. Ultimately Synology will be a closed ecosystem and I’m certainly not going to validate their position with a purchase.
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You do realize how Synology “works” with WD and Seagate. Just trying to squeeze money out of them for “verification”. Because their NAS disks are already absolutely compatible for the reason that no special compatibility is needed. They just need to meet industry standards.
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Surely Synology knows this will hurt them? ????
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The lock-in strategy is a straight Yuck Fou to the customer. Which customer likes that?
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I have a random crazy theory. I don’t know if it would work. Lets say you have four drives from an older system. You migrate them to a new NAS. They work! Now, one of those drives goes bad. You replace it with a new blank drive of the same model. The NAS rejects it. Just pull one of the working drives, put it in a system and do a sector by sector clone to the blank drive. The New NAS will recognize the new drive as being Synology and let you rebuild the system using it.
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2:08 this part of the video testing unverified drive information is good enough for me,because i prefer seagate brand. Currently own ds920+ with 4x8TB seagate,plan want to buy 5 bays but i guess i’ll pass.
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Yeaaaaaaaa, that’ll be a big ol’ NOPE from me. “They’re looking into compatibility with WD & Seagate”!?! Well, Synology, the damage is DONE. Shoulda ‘looked into’ it prior to launch. Your company will never recover from this backlash.
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So, I was going to update my 1817+ to a 25+ model. Not anymore. I have Seagate enterprise drives in it with several purchased spares (all on the compatibility list for that model). I can migrate but have to use Synology drives going forward for expansion/spares?! Um, no thanks. I’ll be going with a different brand. Why do companies get greedy and then stupid?
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Consider me riled ????
At this stage, I’d consider it a risk to migrate a storage pool from an older model.
I would be tempted to say that they should only offer the Migration Assistant method to move data from an older model to the ds925+ having Synology branded disks. At least this way there would be no confusion about which scenarios my data is safe.
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12m – attempt to be balanced … it has only just been launched … they may add further drives down the line….
Never buy something on a promise or assumption; buy on what it is now (especially at this price point)
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So this isn’t an issue with an existing Synology + series of NASes? does that mean firmware/upgrade support of old devices is going away? Since ultimately this is a software lock it seems.
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I take it (excuse if dumb statement) none of this matters if you’re running anything other than DSM ?? ie Truenas, unraid etc etc?
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I just bought a DS923+ and 2x Ironwolf 16TB drives to upgrade my DS918 , all to avoid this synology drive lockdown mess.
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next NAS will be qnap
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Was ready to upgrade later this year but at this point we are going to remove all Synology drives out of our business it’s a waste now being forced into certain hardware.
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RlP $ynology
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Why do they not just simply sell the hardware with drives included?
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Thanks Robbie. Great video as always. I had ONE more thought, but I totally understand if you don’t revisit. If you have a migrated pool & volume, you remove a “bad” drive, and you install a “new” unverified drive… that you first setup as a “blank” single drive in a DS923+ or whatever… would THAT allow you to use the single unverified to repair? Using an older NAS to “prep” drives to use in the DS925+ doesn’t make much sense, but if it works… well, that’s something. Again, thanks for all you do, and have a great day!!!
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I for one will never buy a Synology NAS!
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Is it possible an migrated pool with unverified drives to expand/replace failed drive with an Synology verified drive?
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Synology is dead to me. I replaced my 920+ and relegated it to a backup system until it dies and at work where we had 6 1820+ systems that we had already started migrating off of before this latest BS they announced. Outdated / limited hardware, removing features from software, and competitors catching up and surpassing them on the hardware side while options like TrueNAS, UNraid, and others are filling the gap on the software side without vendor lock in.
The value proposition Synology once had been already trending down, with the new release it is gone.
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Really hope Synology watching your videos and reading comments. I wanted to upgrade to a 925+, and wanted to buy another unit for my parents house.
Now i wont, and i will switch to ugreen or qnap.
Hope you make a good amount on your rebranded drives synology.
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Synology is dead to me now. What folks should do — what I have done — is acquired a small Plus-series drive from the recent past that can run Active Backup for Business. Use that machine as an appliance for the sole purpose of network backup. Use larger devices from other vendors as the target of your backups and for all other purposes.
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All of this wouldn’t be an issue if Synology drives were readily available in the sizes in we want for a reasonable price, similar to the existing WD/Seagate offerings. But if I need to wait a week and pay anywhere between 10-50% more for essentially the same thing, then that’s what makes me extremely annoyed at this situation.
IF you have a Synology system, maybe they should offer existing users a discount or something to buy Synology drives. They need to offer some incentive at least. However who knows how long that will last. Maybe a year down the road once we are locked into our 925+, they can decide at any point to significantly increase the price of the drives or stop selling certain sizes that meet our existing budget. Who knows.
There are too many unknowns here and for that reason, it’s obvious we need to look elsewhere.
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I have migrated to UGreen
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If they planned the compatible list they would have at least some drives on it when announcing the units , they just wanted to wait if there would be a backlash. I skip synology for a while, will buy the unas and backup my old synology to that.
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I bought a Synology NAS last year. As long as they do not mess with being able to do the basics I will continue to use it until I need to upgrade. But, when I need to upgrade based upon what is being reported by nearly all, Synology will not be part of my next purchase. I think they have made it very clear that DIY is not their focus going forward. If the other manufactures go the same way there is always TruNAS.
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Dear Robbie, Thank you SOOOOO much. You’re the first to cover RAID FAILURE and REBUILD of Migrated systems [8:25 into your video: Test 8: RAID recovery fails with identical unverified HDD]. As soon as they announced they would allow MIGRATION, that INSTANTLY became the one CRITICAL QUESTION. You are the very first to answer. As a Mac and Synology consultant for 10+ years [and I PERSONALLY OWN 5 8 Bay Synology 18XX+ series servers]. This is the MOST IMPORTANT THING. And an ABSOLUTE DEAL BREAKER. Obviously NASs are about 2 things
– PROTECTING your data from Drive Failure
– Understanding that the drives in theses systems ABSOLUTELY [eventually] will fail
– Allow ing you to RELACE Drives when they do fail.
Since ALL my Synology servers [and ALL my clients] have AT LEAST 1 20 to 24 TB drive in EVERY unit they own, this is INFURIATING… and ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. Either Synology has to:
– STOP ALLOWING MIGRATION
– Allow Migration and Replacement with UNVERIFIED DRIVE
– SHIP reasonable price “PLUS” [NOT Enterprise] 18, 20 and 24 TB drives.
They HAVE to comply with the above, I NEVER get mad, I’m a 1984 Mac Consultant who smiles and laughs all the time. I’m a professional poet & beer vlogger.. I do NOT get angry.. almost NEVER. I am ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS and this thing you have discovered of NOT ALLOW FOR a RAID to be REPAIRED when a drive fails.
Thanks for discovering this.
– Eric ZORK Alan & Sweetie [ ????Professional????Poets & Bed ???? & Beer???? Vloggers ]
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Well, if you’re a home user especially, why even try and deal with all the verified current and future compatibility issues that may come up? There are just too many other options available to keep jumping through the Synology hoops, and they are better and usually cheaper. For the home and small business user, look elsewhere, which is jus what Synology wants those users to do anyway.
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Giving you a thump up but that is not for Synology. For Synology I will give them both thumbs down.
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all this because they don’t care about their core base and want to focus more on enterprise. when I don’t see why any enterprise would choose them over a JBOD + controller
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when you got your glasses on your head, we know you been busy. Seriously though, thanks for reaching out on Reddit and confirming your strategy and taking on feedback for additional tests. All of this is incredible. And some of folks learned what BOSH means.
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Say goodbye to Syno NAS systems which are ending with >25.
Just bought a DS1621+ (used) and will never upgrade!
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This is what happens when a company gets too big, arrogance will be their downfall
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something important: the “unverified” status will override drives that have isues too, so if a disk is in critical status it will say “unverified” instead, very hard to actually know which drive it is, only indicator is the orange light, since the usual “disk critical” popup also didnt show for me.
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Someone was obviously bored up at $ynology HQ and thought, “how do we get the new rigs out there but pay less for advertising”
I bet you they switch back to how it was up to a point.
Tenner says they do????
But even without all that. Why would you go from a 920 or 923 with all the perks that come with them?????
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I am happy to say that late last year (having got fed up of waiting for a newer version) I purchased a DS1522+ and migrated the 6tb drives from my aging DS1415. No problem . I added a 16tb Ironwolf & then have since replaced 2 of the drives with 16tb Ironwolf, all no problem. Had I hung on for a 5 bay 2025 model I’d clearly be stuck with no choice but Synology drives. I’ve always used Ironwolf or Toshiba NAS srives and never had an issue.
The cyncic in me says that Synolgy want all my money not sust some of it ????
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Instead of all this work, why you just don´t ask, you still trust Synology? That is the main issue because all of this can change at short notice dependent on theirs greediness mode.
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Synology again? This company doesn’t exist for me anymore. As well as this channel, as You seem to be their billboard.
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Wel, I’m going to look for another NAS solutions if Synology not going to change there path…
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FU!!! Synology!
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Bye bye $camology.????
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You haven’t been able to mix HDD and SSD in a pool for a long time now. My guess is the unsupported SSD thing will change when the new slim model comes out.
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HAHAHA you can not repair your migrated raid pool after a disk failuare? That’s the final nail on the coffin. Bye bye $ynology. LOL.
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Worth noting too that RAID recovery would be impossible if you’re migrating say 24TB drives of which Synology doesn’t have such higher capacities. I’d be very interested to see how they might reply to this
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congratulations for the video! ????
I would like to have your opinion: I have some tera of jpg+raw photos and just bought a DS423+ do you think it would perform better if I used 7200 rpm disks or 5400rpm + SSD Nvme as cache? Thanks!
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Want 5-6 bay with Intel. Sticking with my 916+ for yet another year. fyi had better reliability with Synology vs Ironwolf drives. My use case is 10 cameras, Plex, 2 Docker containers, and office files.
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USB upgrades for 2.5gbe works great. Just have to run a few commands.
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I wanted to upgrade from my DS220j that I bought as a beginner. It took me about two months to explore and I finally bought a DS423+. I’m happy to say that I chose well for my needs.
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Integrated graphics in DS423+ I think not suitable for people editing content on the NAS, DS923+ should be better for that, mostly for large files and AMD processing of graphics isnt that bad. If you’re only streaming plex, DS423+ probably best.
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Cannot you bond 2 LANS for 2 gbe?
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Australian, and most Modem Routers the ethernet ports available are 1gbe, maybe a small number with 2.5, yet alone 10 gbe. You can get switches with 10 GBE , but at a home level , most people would be using 1gbe
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Have one too.????
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Do we have a new synology model that replaces this model?
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This is what finally drove me away from the brand. A rebranded 920. I really thought it was a gag or hoax, then I leaned it was real… Went with QNAP and very happy and well timed move. Now 2 years later, even more satisfied with zfs on a 453e or 464. The 453e really should have been the 423. It would have saved them.
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Just a side note, with link aggregation you can get the network up to 2gbps; still would rather have 2.5 integrated (in each port!) or a 10gbps, but doubling it up to 2 is better than leaving it at 1.
Upgrading from 2gb to 6gb of RAM made a world of difference for me, but I’d still like it to be higher. I’ve read some people put in a 16gb chip and it works, but for my small plex “server” that streams no more than 2 things at once (which is my primary use) this thing has been flawless since implementing link aggregation & adding 4gb or ram.
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Synology = Underpowered, overpriced and still rocking 1GbE
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Man I’m confused… I want to setup my first NAS, I want it to run PLEX as best as possible (since we use that a LOT), but also use it for my video editing and general storage, I want it to be fast and reliable and not spend a billion dollars if possible… not sure where to land. I thought this model might be it, but I’m not sure now.
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elo sir, i got DS418, i want to buy DS423+ for next server. Does i need setting again for switch HDD to new server or just plug and play?
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Could be a new DS923+ coming this year?
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Thenks You Stop me to buying pain in my ass – I was thinking to replace my DS718+ and DS214+ to migrate drives to DS423+ to having all data on one server – actualy I think: that is stupid becouse hardware limits of that nas
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Old laptops. Replaced the DVD drive with SSD trays. So one boot drive and two 2.5″ drive bays. Enough for 4.5 TB with some leftover hdds and ssds I had laying around. Not the best performance but it will saturate my gigabit network so I’m happy for now. Definitely would love to upgrade everything to raid of spinning drives. They’re just so consistent compared to cheap ssds. A solid 1-200 MBPS is light years better than something that starts at 500 and drops up and down all the time.
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On this very own channel you’ve shown us how to add 16g RAM, 2.5gig adapter, and non synology nvme as storage pool. Of course all of this is unofficial but it works, so I’m not sure any of those negatives actually matter.
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Hi Robbie, thanks for the video. I asked in your free advice area last year which NAS (ideally under 500 nicker and ideally 4-bay) would be best for use primarily as a Plex Media Server (with file storage and backup as the secondary use) and this is the one you recommended. Would you say your opinion on this has changed? I don’t think I’ve seen anything better despite the weak CPU and lack of memory expandability on this unit. Time and money limits have meant I still haven’t made the NAS investment yet unfortunately. Cheers and say hello to the seagulls for me!
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I have a 918 & 412. Synology are getting more and more like apple, locking down on what hardware you can use. My next NAS upgrade will be an Ugreen if the software improves over the next few months.
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I like that it had an easier way to get 2.5/10GB networking but the CPU of the 920 was better for video transcoding. *edit, turns out the 923+ doesn’t support 2.5-10GB either. D’oh*
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DS423+, 18GB RAM (2+16), USB 2,5GBe ethernet (github hack) + storage pool Crucial 500GB SSD NVMe (github hack), free virtual Windows Hyper-V Server 2019 with graphics GUI in VMM. F*ck to Synology official compatibility list. It’s compatibility list for 5+ years old devices… QNAP TS-462 is much better in this way (except for the native email server)
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I’m exactly at 1Y with my second ds1522+ and I love everything Synology. I don’t have the expanded warranty, so time will tell how the manufacturer might turn their back on me. As for now though, it’s brilliant!
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I’ve got one packed full of IWP 18s and it’s running like a champ. Plex server and general data hoarding.
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I unfortunately did not have much luck with synology , I had it for just under 2 years for basic home use , files/photos/plex , while the ability of being able get files of it via home network worked fine , I wanted Plex to work so bad and was a constant nightmare, the last straw was trying to get it to update and it sent me in this perpetual loop with this “offline” error , I built my own NAS with an old pc had lying around and used UNRAID , omg the difference in chalk and cheese. I just found synology most of the time just clunky and slow.
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Sounds like I’m sticking with my 920+for awhile.
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Thanks for the video. Yes the negative points you mentioned are true and Synology disappointed me a lot. They use old hardware for expensive money. Sorry I have already switched and am waiting for my new Nas which comes out in June. ????
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When are Synology going to improve their power connector. Useless thing loves to slip out when I move the unit to clean
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be nice if synology ever brought out some up to date models :/
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More downgrades to come for sure. Welcome to the new era of tech. Make everything worse and raise the prices.
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Thanks for the 1 year review! The story is slowly getting old, but still I see no real innovation from the 918+ I currently own. Hopefully the x25+/x26+ models finally will offer something new.
Can you share some details on the foam pad you have the 423+ NAS standing on?
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I like my 1621+. I had a 415+ before I replaced it.
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I’ll stick with my ds1515 and ds411 for now, they both work. those NASes desperately need new cpus, something from the N100 line
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Synology needs to drop a thunderbolt one to catch up to QNap
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what is good DS423+ or DS1522+
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The only problem i have with mine is the noise from seagate exos drives, the system dosent let them sleep thus making noise every 5 seconds (I assume its the drive head moving) The drives also resonate very well with my desk making the noise even louder
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I regret selling my 920+ but ended up with an F4-423 Terramaster. As I only use my NAS for Plex it does an excellent job. Whilst I do store some photos Plex is the thing that I do need transcoding every now and then.
DSM is the leading OS for sure but once set up the Terramaster just sits there and plays my movies and TV shows without a complaint.
Synology lost the general consumer plant after the 920+. Especially with the proprietary shift.
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No 2.5Gbe inside, no buy. Synology must get it already, single reason I went for QNAP, no additional level of SW will make more impact in a day to day operation for most setup-once-and-just-use people. It’s simply nonsense when the interface bottlenecks even a single HDD speed.
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I made the rookie mistake and bought the 2-bay version. Now I need to upgrade to 4. But then I’m worried I might need 6-bay ????
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I purchased this NAS 2 months ago for plex server usage. Upon purchase I made the error of going for 4 4TB drives, they were filled up quite fast so 1 month in I switched to 4 10 TB non supported drives. The price for supported drives (even 2nd hand) was just too high for my liking.
I only have 1 Gbit network at home, so a truncated Gbit connection will suffice. It would have been nice if the NAS would have come with a newer CPU, but given the current choices between the 423+ and the 923+ (or 1522) I chose for the multimedia support in my given use case. I put in a 16 GB memory module (check the NASCompares site for compatible memory modules), the mentioned HGST Ultrastar 10 TB HDDs in SHR and 2 Lexar 1 TB NVME SSDs in Raid 1 (also check the site for the commands to get non supported SSDs working in storage pool). I am quite happy with the NAS, it supports all my needs and for the pricepoint I found it quite reasonable (purchased in the Netherlands, price was 528 euro).
Self build would have been quite a lot more (upon purchase and power usage) even though I would have a better system. I dropped QNAP due to the problems with the ranson attacks and the experience from other providers just didn’t appear to be as well rounded as DSM. My previous NAS was a 216se, so synology did have a small advantage.
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I really only want to use a NAS as a file server. Nothing but a file server. Sure I want redundancy so a failed drive doesn’t mean lost data, but no media serving or Plex media servers or anything. Serve files safely and nothing more. Am i so behind the field that I should just go hide in shame or what should I do? I really would like to have something with 12 drive bays or more and redundant power, networking, Raid6 or better and nice performance.
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The DS423+ is actually a really good choice for a huge chuck of those using a NAS. When you really look at what one does with a NAS its more than sufficient. What most do is look at their computer needs and they apply those thoughts to a NAS. The only reason I have an RS1221+ is for its 8 bays and rack mount form factor (you really can’t beat rackmount deployment density). It actually doesn’t fill me with joy looking at its constant sub-3% CPU usage and flatline 12% RAM usage.
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Hurry up synology. I need a NAS and I don’t want to settle for this!
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I have the 1522+. Did you make a simular year old video on that device or are you planning to?
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Wait… I did add 16GB of RAm though, what am I missing?
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I was considering the DS-423+ or DS-923+, but I’m keeping my old DS1815+ STILL running but who knows how much longer????
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It would be great to have a video discussing the options per use-case (or a video per primary use-case, ie. Plex) at various price points across brands
I’m trying to figure out now if I should go QNAP, Synology, ASUSTOR, etc., or a custom build. There’s so much information it’s hard to figure out
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It’s the lack of networking options and processing power that has prevented me from upgrading from my ds918+
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At least it has an Intel CPU (I need transcoding), but not powerful enough to replace my DS916+ (now getting long in the tooth). Hopefully some of the Synology releases this year will include CPU with GPU capability – fingers crossed for a Plex- friendly DS924+ or DS1524 (unlikely though)! If not, then will be abandoning Synology Brand for NAS to replace/upgrade 916+ – have been following your uGreen videos with interest – lovely Plex-friendly hardware…….. I will miss DSM 7.2 (which I love)! ????
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Why can’t I update to 7.2..
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Great video. I am looking to replace my 5 year old Netgear ReadyNAS 204 with a new Synology 923+ or 1522+. I am primarily using it as a file server but in the future I would probably also use at for automatic backup of our 3 desktop PC’s and 2 laptops.
hould I consider anything other than these 2?
It will be connected to a 10 BGit network.
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“Should you buy”? Does Synology charge to upgrade DSM?
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I keep looking at the Synology option, but the drive compatibility aspect just make me go meh. So still on QNAP using WD Red Pro and Red NVME. DS1621+ of interest.
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I understand why they would limit the HDD’s/SSD’s compatibility to avoid misuse but they could at least allow CMR NAS and Enterprise WD and Seagate drives. Btw starting and shutting down a nas everyday what does it do to the disks? Does it prolong the life of the components? Even though they are designed to run 24/7
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Be clear on the SSD storage pools, its not that other units do not support it, they do… Rather, this is just fleecing customers – Synology don’t want to enable on other models, as they want you to believe its “unique” to certain models an encourage you to buy the newer model, and throw the old one out (Yeah, great environmentally-friendly move there!
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Still at DSM 7.2-64570 Update 1 here.
Waiting for the DS1821+ update train to arrive in Australia.
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Synology Hyper Backup doesn’t even support OneDrive natively. DSM and Synology apps seem consistent, but there also seems to be a walled garden that limits what you can do with a Synology NAS.
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More and more realising I will have to buy QNAP in future. Smething like qnap tvs-h874.
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SSD for storage pool is only supported in few of the newer models, I only seem to be able to use that as a cache drive
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Excellent content as usual. Thanks.
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Umm I hate to say it but your wrong on both accounts of BTRFS and encryption. I just got their lowest end current model the ds223j and i have both of these options. I however didnt enable encryption as it will make transfering data slower and im not worried about my NAS getting stolen.
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Thanks for the video. I am using Exos 14TB hdd in my new DS1522+ system hope that’s okay. I got that incompatibility warning as well but ignored it.
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Do the Docker containers already installed, work seamlessly in the new Container Manager when updating to 7.2?
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I have a Synology DS918+, but the way I’ve always tried to use it is to basically make my setup idempotent as it were. What I mean is everything I host on there, I just host it with Docker using Docker Compose, so if I ever got another NAS, or built my own server – whether it was Unraid, TrueNAS Scale, or just plain Debian, I ought to be able to just install Docker on it, then copy my docker folder over to it (which contains the docker-compose.yml and all the persistent storage for my containers), then run: docker-compose up -d, and all my stuff should basically just work, without being dependent on a particular operating system or vendor.
The only “first party” Synology things I use tend to be monitoring and backup. I do use Hyper Backup to backup my important stuff to Backblaze B2, but I’m wondering if Hyper Backup makes a backup that only a Synology NAS could read. If my NAS died would be be able to recover my data without buying another Synology NAS?
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Damn these vids are just too good. I like the hardware of Qnap and I like the software of Synology and I’m still undiceded which to buy.
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Great overview mate. My only gripe, as always, is no DTS support on video station. I have to transcode my videos before putting them up on the Nas. Why don’t they simply charge the user a fee for a license to which I am willing to pay? Being I don’t use Plex, does Plex play DTS videos on a Synology NAS? Thanx Robbie & G’day! ????????????????????
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I’m somewhat of a novice and this may be a dumb question, but HDDs seem like plug and play hardware, why would some drives not be compatible with Synology NASes?
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Thanks for all the hard work putting this together!
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Synology locking out all the hard disks compatibility and not testing new one anymore is all the proof that your better off going to Qnap.
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Great stuff
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