Synology confirms that its upcoming Plus-series NAS gadgets will prohibit some software program performance should you fail to make use of accredited arduous drives. This transformation doesn’t have an effect on older Plus-series {hardware}.

The corporate introduced its new drive validation necessities in a press release on April sixteenth and later mentioned the coverage with Ars Technica.

In line with Synology’s press launch, clients who use an incompatible drive in a 2025 Plus-series NAS “shall be topic to sure restrictions … such because the creation of swimming pools.” Plus, “volume-wide deduplication, lifespan evaluation, and computerized firmware updates of arduous disks will solely be out there for Synology arduous disks.” Most of those options are unimportant to the common consumer, however drive pool creation is important to file safety and NAS efficiency.

Synology hasn’t clarified the way it will prohibit drive pool creation. If the corporate is speaking about one thing minor, like a proprietary RAID scheme that requires “accredited” drives, then this actually is not an enormous deal. Hell, possibly there will not be any actual restrictions—this might merely be a case of “we can’t show you how to troubleshoot random arduous drives.” But when the corporate locations a paywall on fundamental pooling performance, clients are proper to be outraged.

“Synology-branded drives shall be wanted to be used within the newly introduced Plus sequence, with plans to replace the Product Compatibility Record as extra drives will be completely vetted in Synology programs … Intensive inner testing has proven that drives that observe a rigorous validation course of when paired with Synology programs are at much less threat of drive failure and ongoing compatibility points.” – Synology through Ars Technica

For what it is price, these sorts of restrictions aren’t uncommon within the enterprise-grade server market. Massive SAN options, together with these from Synology, typically require “suitable” drives which have been vetted for firmware and thermal efficiency—these necessities encourage vendor lock-in and make {hardware} warranties extra restrictive, however additionally they serve a sensible goal: enterprise-grade servers might use superior options (like proprietary RAID implementations or error restoration programs) that don’t work correctly with off-the-shelf drives. Plus, drive producers which might be on a server vendor’s “compatibility” checklist could also be contractually obligated to offer well timed HDD firmware updates that resolve important bugs or safety flaws—enterprise clients profit from this scheme.

However I am struggling to know how drive restrictions will profit the common shopper. Synology says that its drive compatibility mandate will improve clients’ knowledge safety and supply extra dependable software program performance—in that case, the corporate must show it or supply some distinctive performance as an incentive for accredited drive utilization. Synology must also take the time to elucidate how storage swimming pools shall be affected by “incompatible” drives, since that is what most clients are involved about.

To reiterate, these arduous drive restrictions solely affect the 2025 lineup of Synology Plus NAS gadgets. Older items within the Plus sequence, in addition to new fashions within the J and Values households, aren’t affected. Curiously, Synology says that unsupported drives utilized in older Plus-series NAS gadgets will be migrated to 2025 fashions with out challenge.

Different consumer-grade NAS manufacturers don’t place software program restrictions on drive utilization, although they might suggest or refuse to troubleshoot sure fashions of HDD. If you wish to keep away from a NAS model’s software program restrictions, loading up an alternative operating system like Unraid, TrueNAS Scale, or OpenMediaVault is often one of the simplest ways to take action. Booting into an alternate OS should not void your {hardware} guarantee (verify the guarantee first), although NAS manfuacturers often will not present buyer assist for third-party software program.

Supply: Synology through Ars Technica