Jun 23, 2025 07:00:00

Participating in Synology's internal tour and asking questions about 'restricting storage of other brands' results are published

Synology, a major NAS manufacturer,

restricts the incorporation of storage from other brands into its NAS . NAS Compares, a NAS-related media outlet, attended a Synology internal tour and asked employees questions about the storage restrictions.

I went to Synology HQ and Asked About Hard Drives… – NAS Compares
https://nascompares.com/2025/06/02/i-went-to-synology-hq-and-asked-about-hard-drives/

NAS is a storage device that can be placed on a network, and by introducing NAS, you can back up data from multiple PCs and smartphones in one place and use it to transfer files externally. Most NAS can be equipped with multiple storage devices, making it easy to replace storage devices to increase capacity or respond to failures. Many NAS devices can mix storage devices from multiple brands, but Synology has introduced a policy to 'restrict storage devices from brands other than Synology' for personal NAS devices since April 2025, which has caused backlash from users.

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

The restrictions on storage from other brands are wide-ranging, and it has been reported that even Synology's basic management system, DiskStation Manager (DSM) , cannot be installed when a third-party brand HDD is installed, making the system essentially unusable.

Synology held a tour of its headquarters in Taiwan to coincide with the electronics trade fair '

COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2025 ' held in May 2025. NAS Compares participated in the tour and asked Synology employees questions about storage limits, and published the results.

Here's what the tour looked like:

Synology has a stress testing area for NAS devices released so far, where compatibility tests with the latest DSM are being conducted. The NAS devices being tested include those released in the early 2010s, and the guide explained that 'the inclusion of so many legacy devices in the tests shows Synology's emphasis on software longevity and cross-generational hardware support.'

The tour also included a Q&A session with Director of Sales ZP Kao and Regional Manager for the UK and Germany Chad Chiang, during which NAS Compares posed several questions about storage brand restrictions and received answers. Here are the questions and answers:

question:
What has changed in the validation process for drives that can be used with Synology NAS? Are there any Western Digital or Seagate drives that are currently being validated for support?

Synology's answer:
Synology is constantly thinking about 'what makes people choose their NAS?' The answer is that they want data drives that are safe, reliable, and hassle-free. Analyzing our support history, we have clear data that systems with Synology-branded drives have 40% less problem occurrences compared to systems using third-party branded drives. This result highlights the importance of using thoroughly tested drives. We cannot disclose details about which third-party vendors' drives we test.

question:
Users can use DSM if they replace drives from a previous Synology NAS with drives from other manufacturers in a NAS released after 2025. However, features such as RAID recovery, RAID expansion, and hot spare are still unavailable in this case. Why is this?

Synology's answer:
Advanced operations such as RAID recovery, RAID expansion and hot spare carry a high risk of data loss when inconsistencies occur. Drives not verified through Synology's verification process may behave unexpectedly under heavy load, affecting stability and performance. For this reason, we limit those functions to verified drives as a precautionary measure to protect your data and ensure the long-term reliability of your system.

In addition, Synology revealed that it plans to add third-party HDDs to the compatibility list at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2025 and is calling on each vendor to participate in the verification program. According to Synology, in order for a third-party branded HDD to be included in the compatibility list, it must meet more than 7,000 hours of testing and benchmark criteria. NAS Compares said, 'It is almost certain that HDDs from manufacturers such as Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba will be added to the compatibility list in the next few months. So what was the purpose of Synology's brand restrictions?' and criticized Synology's previous decisions.