Synology Reverses Drive Limits on New NAS Models
▼ Summary
– The Synology DS1525+ NAS previously required special Synology-branded disks to avoid warnings and potential functionality limitations.
– Using non-verified drives triggered “DANGER” alerts in the DSM interface and initially blocked S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic data access.
– Workarounds existed to disable the verified drive requirement but posed risks for business users relying on unsupported configurations.
– Synology’s validated drives offer tested performance benefits, but the policy appears aimed at generating additional revenue from specific market segments.
– The company adopted this strategy to capture higher margins similar to enterprise storage vendors by making proprietary drives mandatory for more products.
Synology has made a significant policy reversal, lifting its restrictive drive compatibility rules on several new NAS models. This change marks a departure from a strategy that many users viewed as a transparent effort to lock them into purchasing the company’s own, often more expensive, branded hard drives. For anyone managing network-attached storage, this update represents a welcome shift towards greater hardware flexibility and potential cost savings.
Previously, inserting a hard drive not officially verified by Synology into an affected NAS unit would trigger a cascade of limitations. Core system functionality could be reduced or disabled, and the DiskStation Manager (DSM) interface would bombard the user with prominent “DANGER” alerts, suggesting their data was at risk. The company initially went so far as to block access to the vital S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic data from third-party drives, a restriction it later relaxed following user backlash.
Technically proficient system administrators discovered methods to bypass these verified drive requirements entirely. However, relying on such unofficial workarounds introduces its own set of problems, particularly in a business context. For a home lab user, tweaking a system is a minor risk, but for an organization where operational continuity is critical, depending on an unsupported configuration to keep a production NAS running is a considerable gamble. Synology’s previous stance seemed to bank on the idea that businesses with larger budgets would find it easier to justify the premium for certified drives to ensure seamless operation and avoid potential support issues.
While Synology’s assertions about its validated drives undergoing rigorous testing and offering performance optimizations are technically valid under specific conditions, the overarching strategy was widely perceived as a revenue-generating tactic. The move appeared to be an attempt to create a new, high-margin revenue stream by compelling customers to buy proprietary hardware. This approach mirrors the lucrative practices seen in the enterprise storage sector, but it was being applied in the competitive consumer and small-to-medium business market where Synology primarily operates. The underlying message to customers felt coercive: use our approved—and costlier—drives or face a degraded experience with implied threats to your data’s safety.
(Source: Ars Technica)
