Together with the 2025 NAS models, starting with the DiskStation DS925+, Synology has an unpleasant surprise for its fans: The NAS maker now has storage lock-in for its Plus (+) lineup. In other words, you will need to purchase the server, as well as storage, which includes hard drives and SSDs, from Synology.
It’s worth noting that the Plus (+) lineup is the most popular for home and small business users, thanks to its excellent balance of performance, features, and cost.
This post will explain this approach in detail and help you set expectations, drawing on information from Synology and my recent real-world experience with the DS925+ and other 2025 models. Here’s the gist: Get a pre-2025 Plus server and hold on to it for as long as possible.
Synology storage lock-in: Not exactly surprising, yet still a major shock
I’ve used a Synology NAS server consistently since the DS410 was released over a decade and a half ago. I still have that nostalgic server today, and occasionally, I turn it on to see how the brand has evolved through different versions of the DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system.
Over the years, as the brand has improved significantly, Synology has begun to behave similarly to Apple, exerting more control over its hardware. The most significant milestone in this department, in my opinion, is the release of DSM 7, which sheds support for many third-party apps and all third-party USB dongles that added extra functions to the server, such as a faster-than-Gigabit network card or Wi-Fi support.
On the storage front, for years, Synology has maintained a compatibility list of (third-party) hard drives and SSDs that are “approved” to work with its server, which includes many products from known third-party vendors, such as WD or Seagate. Still, you can use any third-party drive with any server of previous model years. The only consequence is a one-time “incompatibility” warning when you add a non-listed drive for the first time.
But things have slowly gotten tighter.
In reviewing the DS923+, I lamented the fact that it required expensive Synology-branded NVMe SSDs if you wanted to use them as storage space—third-party NVMe SSDs can only be used for caching. That remained the case since the other 2023 model years and is still true today.
And that brings us to the 2025 model year.
Synology 2025 model year and beyond: Synology’s self-branded drive is required
In early 2025, rumors surfaced that Synology would require Synology-branded drives in all of its 2025 Plus lineup. I contacted the company on the matter, and a representative confirmed with me that it would be the case. Specifically, I was given this statement:
“With the launch of the new Synology 25 Plus series product lineup, Synology is introducing a streamlined compatibility policy designed to enhance reliability and improve user experience. Synology-branded drives will be needed for use in the newly announced Plus series, with plans to update the Product Compatibility List as additional drives can be thoroughly vetted in Synology systems.
This decision reflects Synology’s ongoing commitment to deliver the highest levels of system stability and performance. Extensive internal testing has shown that drives that follow a rigorous validation process when paired with Synology systems are at less risk of drive failure and ongoing compatibility issues.
Additionally, Synology will be introducing a carefully curated drive compatibility framework for those wanting to integrate third-party drives into their Synology systems. Users can submit drives for a comprehensive testing and documentation process. Drives that meet Synology’s stringent standards may be validated for use, offering flexibility while maintaining system integrity.
It is important to note that existing Synology products released prior to the ’25 series will continue to support third-party drives in accordance with current compatibility guidelines, and this change does not affect J and Values Series models. Additionally, users will be able to migrate older drives from previous Synology models into the new ’25 models, ensuring that their data is still accessible and protected.“
Synology storage lock-in, explained: The devilish details
There are two key points to note regarding Synology’s new storage requirements.
The first and straightforward is that starting with model year 2025, all Synology Plus servers will require Synology-approved hard drives.
When asked if there were any third-party drives on the approved list, a Synology representative informed me that there were none “for now.” So, as it goes, Synology’s self-branded drives are currently the only “legitimate” options. And that’s indeed the case if you look for the compatible list of any 2025 Plus server, such as that of the DS925+.
To make the matter worse, this storage lock-in also applies to the expansion unit for servers that support storage expansion. Specifically, all 2025 Plus (+) servers with storage expansion capability come with a new USB-C expansion port (as opposed to the eSATA port of previous models) and require a completely new expansion unit, the DX525. Here’s the list of the DX525’s compatible drives—it includes only Synology-branded drives.
The second thing to note, which is also somewhat confusing, is that 2025 Plus models can be used with third-party drives, provided that the drives are not used as part of a new volume. Specifically, according to Synology, if you currently have a 2024 model year or older server using third-party storage, you can migrate its drives to a 2025 model, and they will be grandfathered in and continue to function as intended.
Now, if you think you can simply keep an old server and use it to render third-party drives kosher, you’d be in for a big disappointment, as things weren’t that easy in my experience.
Synology storage lock-in: Frustrating real-world experience
For consistency in testing, I keep myself well-stocked with many NAS drives from WD and Seagate of different storage capacities. The idea is that, whenever possible, all servers are tested using the same drive models, allowing for consistent evaluation and comparison.
That proved to be extremely hard with the DS925+ due to the new drive requirements.
The first thing to note is that the server didn’t accept any new third-party drives. When I used them to set up the server from scratch or added them manually, the server displayed a warning stating that it “can’t recognize” the installed drives and didn’t offer any options to proceed with them. In other words, the server would recognize a third-party drive just enough to show users that it’s not “recognizable”.
The conclusion on new third-party drives: If you intend to use third-party drives with a Synology DS2025+ server to create a new storage pool (volume), be aware that this is not possible. You must use drives on the approved list, which currently contains only Synology-branded ones.
So, I decided to go with the “grandfathered-in” route by migrating existing drives from my DS923+ into my DS925+ review unit, and the migration process worked out like usual. Upon starting the new server, however, I received a storage “system warning status” similar to that of a crashed volume, suggesting that I should replace the drives with compatible ones immediately. I ignored that warning, which persisted each time I logged into the server or accessed its Storage Manager app, and everything worked as usual. Well, almost.
For testing, I generally use multiple types of RAID configurations. As soon as I deleted the current grandfathered-in volume to rebuild it with a new RAID type, all four drives became unrecognizable, just like any new third-party drives.
In other words, the Synology 2025 Plus models’ third-party drive support via the grandfathered-in route applies only to the migrated volume (or storage pool), not to the individual drives. Anytime you need to make changes to that volume, such as replacing a drive or extending it, you’ll need a Synology-branded drive. If you break that migrated volume to build a new one, its third-party drives are no longer recognized.
So, for the remainder of my testing, I decided to use a DS220+ to simplify the steps of migrating my RAID-0 and RAID-1 disk groups using SATA SSDs. Again, other than the system warning, the DS925+ worked fine with these migrated volumes.
And here’s the thing: The performance of the DS925+ remained the same regardless of whether I used third-party drives or Synology-branded ones. Its network throughput is generally limited by the 2.5Gbps ports.
That said, here are a few things to keep in mind when migrating existing third-party drives from a pre-2025 server to a 2025 Plus or newer model:
- If you keep the volume(s) the same, the new server will function as intended with existing third-party drives, notwithstanding the “system warning status”. Generally, it’s best to migrate from a server with the same number of drive bays, such as from the DS923+ to the DS925+, or from the DS1522+ to the DS1525+. When you need to repair the migrated volume, such as replacing a failed drive, you must use a Synology-branded drive as the replacement.
- If you break the volume for any reason, all of its third-party drives will become unrecognizable. Consequently, it’s impossible to migrate from a server with more drive bays to one with fewer, such as from a 5-bay DS1522+ to a 4-bay DS925+.
- You need a Synology-branded drive to extend a volume, such as when migrating from a two-bay server to a four-bay server and want to add more drives to the migrated volume. In this case, it’s possible to mix third-party and Synology-branded drives, and the system will work well despite the “system warning status” mentioned above.
The conclusion on the grandfathered-in route: Migrating an existing Synology server’s storage to a 2025 Plus model is not smooth sailing and is only meant to be a stopgap measure until you comply with Synology’s storage lock-in policy.
The takeaway
Synology’s new “compatibility” requirement and its storage lock-in policy are clearly deliberate and self-serving. This practice is controversial since Synology-branded drives are often noticeably more expensive and less readily available than third-party drives from reputable vendors, such as Seagate or Western Digital.
Additionally, Synology doesn’t make hard drives or SSDs. Instead, it utilizes third-party drives, rebrands them with its logo, and applies proprietary firmware, thereby ensuring they are, among other things, “approved”.
To cut costs, I’ve been using third-party hard drives with my Synology servers for over a decade—I currently have more than a dozen of them at various locations—and they’ve all performed exceptionally well with high reliability. As mentioned, my DS410 with all of its original WD drives is still working today. While using Synology-branded products might make your system even more reliable, which remains to be seen, it’s not necessarily something that immediately benefits consumers.
That said, if you need a new Synology server today, stick with pre-2025 models, of which, so far, none has proven to be a must-have compared to the previous model they replace in terms of hardware specs. The DS925+ is, in fact, somewhat of a downgrade compared to the DS923+.
Going forward, if you still wish to stay with Synology, note that you’ll need to stock up on Synology-branded drives, specifically those listed as compatible. That’s simply how the world works now, unless Synology changes its mind, which is highly unlikely.
