Synology NAS is trying to restrict the use of drives other than those approved by the company
Synology has announced a policy to restrict the use of HDDs (hard disk drives) other than those manufactured by Synology or certified by Synology in the 'Plus Series' NAS to be released after 2025. This new policy will be expanded to products for individuals and small businesses, based on the success of the business models already introduced.
Synology Inc.
Festplatten-Zwang: Synology weitet Nutzung auf Plus-Modelle aus - Hardwareluxx
https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/news/hardware/festplatten/65949-synology-weitet-den-zwang-zur-eignen-oder-zertifizierten-festplatte-auf-die-plus-modelle-aus.html
Synology could bring “certified drive” requirements to more NAS devices - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/synology-could-bring-certified-drive-requirements-to-more-nas-devices/
Synology's German subsidiary has announced a policy to impose restrictions on non-genuine Synology HDDs in its 'Plus Series' NAS products released after 2025. This change will disable advanced features such as deduplication, drive life analysis, and automatic firmware updates when non-genuine HDDs are used, and may also restrict the creation of storage pools. Furthermore, there is a possibility that you will not be able to receive official Synology support in the event of a problem, so in effect, the use of genuine or certified HDDs is strongly recommended.
Synology's genuine HDDs are based on Toshiba and Seagate products and feature their own proprietary firmware. The firmware can be updated while connected to the NAS, and one of Synology's strengths is that maintenance can be performed without the need for an external PC.
Certified HDDs are HDDs whose compatibility has been officially verified by Synology and are fully supported like genuine HDDs. However, according to Synology, 'features such as deduplication, lifespan analysis, and automatic firmware updates are only available on genuine HDDs.'
On the other hand, if you use a 'non-certified HDD' that Synology has not verified for compatibility, not only will it not be supported, but the estimated health status of the drive will also be invalid, which will increase the management burden on the user. However, such restrictions will only be introduced on new models from 2025 onwards, and will not affect the Plus series released before 2024. In addition, when migrating HDDs from older models, drives already in use can be used on new models without restrictions.
The background to this specification change is Synology's shift to an 'integrated ecosystem.' Synology has previously implemented a similar policy for its enterprise-oriented XS Plus series and rack-mounted models, which have proven to provide high stability and improved support quality. Synology claims that by optimizing the hardware, software, and even drives in-house, it can improve the performance and security of the entire NAS. By expanding this to the Plus series, the company hopes to provide a safe and efficient usage environment for a wider range of users.
Users' reactions to these changes are polarized. Those who value enterprise reliability and security have welcomed the changes, but general users who value self-assembly and cost performance have criticized Synology for sacrificing its traditional flexibility in order to lock in their users. For individual users who are considering low-priced Plus models, such as entry-level models like the DiskStation DS224+ , configuring with Synology's genuine drives can be a burden in terms of price.
According to IT news site Ars Technica, some technically savvy users have found ways to circumvent the certification check by editing the internal configuration files of the NAS. However, this is of course an unrecommended practice that is not officially guaranteed, and Synology may take measures to block it in the future. This was announced by Synology's German subsidiary, but it is not clear at this time whether these restrictions will be applied only to Germany and the EU region, or to the whole world.
Continued
Synology has released a NAS that limits storage from other companies, but the vast majority of users on the Internet are saying they will switch from Synology to a NAS from another company - GIGAZINE
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in Hardware, Posted by log1i_yk