Popular NAS-maker Synology has confirmed and slightly clarified a policy that appeared on its German website earlier this week: Its “Plus” tier of devices, starting with the 2025 series, will require Synology-branded hard drives for full compatibility, at least at first.
“Synology-branded drives will be needed for use in the newly announced Plus series, with plans to update the Product Compatibility List as additional drives can be thoroughly vetted in Synology systems,” a Synology representative told Ars by email. “Extensive internal testing has shown that drives that follow a rigorous validation process when paired with Synology systems are at less risk of drive failure and ongoing compatibility issues.”
Without a Synology-branded or approved drive in a device that requires it, NAS devices could fail to create storage pools and lose volume-wide deduplication and lifespan analysis, Synology’s German press release stated. Similar drive restrictions are already in place for XS Plus and rack-mounted Synology models, though work-arounds exist.
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Synology does not manufacture its own drives but packages and markets drives from major manufacturers, including Toshiba and Seagate. As such, Synology’s drives are typically more expensive than third-party models with similar specs. An 8TB 3.5-inch HDD from Synology’s Plus line, the HAT3310, costs $210 on Synology’s web store. One of the original drives the HAT3310 is reportedly sourced from, the Toshiba N300, can be found for $173 at more than one vendor. That number changes as you move up and down in capacity or move to “Enterprise” levels—and, of course, as you multiply it across large arrays.
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Source: Synology confirms that higher-end NAS products will require its branded drives – Ars Technica
And a lot of people, who are already pissed off with Synology for old software and removing HEIC and mp4 support will be leaving the brand.
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/synology/comments/1k3o1u6/the_results_are_in/
Robin Edgar
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