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How to check the operating time of your Seagate HDD (the right way)
by Kevin Hofer
Synology further restricts free choice of hard drives in NAS
17.4.2025
Translation: machine translated
Synology has announced that it will further restrict the free choice of hard drives in NAS systems. New models in the Plus series will only accept selected HDDs. However, there is a loophole.
Synology previously only required the use of its own hard drives or certified models from third-party manufacturers for NAS models from the Enterprise series for business customers. From 2025, the requirement will also apply to new devices from the Plus series for private users. This is reported by Comupterbase, among others. Nothing changes for models up to and including 2024 - exceptions are the XS Plus series and rack models. This provides an opportunity to circumvent the restriction.
Restrictions on functions and support
Synology cannot physically prevent the installation of non-certified hard drives. However, they are subject to various functional restrictions. For example, the manufacturer disables lifespan analyses, automatic firmware updates and volume-wide deduplication for third-party HDDs. There will also be restrictions on the creation of storage pools and support. These are very important functions for a NAS.
Synology cites the success of the measure in the high-performance series as the reason for the extension of the hard drive requirement. With the obligation to use Synology hard drives «, users benefit from higher performance, increased reliability and more efficient support», according to the company.
Recently, used hard drives that had been sold as new caused a stir. This should not be possible with Synology hard drives. However, Synology only provides HDDs from one of the three major manufacturers with its own label.
Loophole: Transferring hard drives from older NAS
Synology does not restrict the transfer of hard drives from older NAS systems. This means you could set up the hard drives of your choice in an older NAS model and then transfer them to a new Plus series device without restriction.
Header image: Martin Jud
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
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