Synology: Difference between revisions

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}}'''[[wikipedia:Synology|Synology]]''' is a Taiwanese corporation that specializes in network-attached storage (NAS) appliances.

They have built a reputation for using open standards (eg. relying on standard Linux RAID instead of proprietary RAID like QNAP), providing feature and security updates for a very long time (in some cases offering security fixes for 12 year old hardware) and offering replacement parts for a long time and at a reasonable cost.

They have built a reputation for using open standards (eg. relying on standard Linux RAID instead of proprietary RAID like QNAP), providing feature and security updates for a very long time (in some cases offering security fixes for 12 year old hardware) and offering replacement parts for a long time and at a reasonable cost.

Recently the business has had a shift towards blocking third-party drives on their NAS systems.

==Consumer-impact summary==

{{~~Placeholder box~~|~~Overview~~ of ~~concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):~~

* User freedom

*User freedom: Revoked ability to use off-brand hard drives from modern NAS models<ref name=":0" /> and has as of October 8th 2025 been reversed<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Hagedoorn |first=Hilbert |date=8 Oct 2025 |title=Synology Reverses Policy Banning Third-Party HDDs After NAS sales plummet |url=https://www.guru3d.com/story/synology-reverses-policy-banning-thirdparty-hdds-after-nas-sales-plummet/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |work=The guru of 3D}}</ref>

* User privacy

*User privacy: Unknown.

* Business model

*Business model: Selling digital storage devices to consumers.

* Market control}}

*Market control: Limited; notable amount of competition from other brands such as QNAP, UGreen, [[Western Digital]], [[Samsung]], and [[SanDisk]].

==Incidents==

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Requiring Synology-branded hard drives for certain features===

===Removal of Hardware transcoding drivers (2025)===

Synology removed Hardware transcoding drivers for HEVC (H.265), AVC (H.264), and VC-1 [https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/status/eol-video-codec-support]. With these drivers removed, the external device receiving the video becomes responsible for transcoding. There is an unofficial guide on how to reinstall the drivers.[https://nascompares.com/guide/how-to-get-hardware-transcoding-back-on-your-synology-nas/]

===Requiring Synology-branded hard drives for certain features (2025)===

{{Main|Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS}}

Further reading: [[Guide: How to circumvent Synology hard drive restrictions]]

For the Plus Series of NAS systems, Synology required the use of their own rebranded hard drives in order to obtain full functionality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=16 Apr 2025 |title=Synology requires self-branded drives for some consumer NAS systems, drops full functionality and support for third-party HDDs |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |url-status=live |access-date=18 Apr 2025 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref>

Hardwareluxx ~~reports that you’ll~~ lose ~~several~~ critical functions, including estimated hard drive health reports, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analyses, and automatic firmware updates. The company also restricts storage pools and provides limited or zero support for third-party drives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Apr 2025 |title=Synology weitet Nutzung auf Plus-Modelle aus |url=https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/news/hardware/festplatten/65949-synology-weitet-den-zwang-zur-eignen-oder-zertifizierten-festplatte-auf-die-plus-modelle-aus.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 Apr 2025 |website=www.hardwareluxx.de}}</ref>

Reported by Hardwareluxx, using non-Synology-branded hard drives will lose critical functions for the NAS, including estimated hard drive health reports, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analyses, and automatic firmware updates. The company also restricts storage pools and provides limited or zero support for third-party drives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Apr 2025 |title=Synology weitet Nutzung auf Plus-Modelle aus |url=https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/news/hardware/festplatten/65949-synology-weitet-den-zwang-zur-eignen-oder-zertifizierten-festplatte-auf-die-plus-modelle-aus.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 Apr 2025 |website=www.hardwareluxx.de}}</ref>

The 2024 ~~Synology models and older~~ are not affected by this change. Still, those upgrading to or purchasing the latest Plus Series device, set to be released this year, will have to buy their drives directly from Synology or its certified suppliers to maximize their system. Because of this, you won’t be able to pick from the best hard drives if you get Synology’s latest Plus Series NAS Systems.<ref name=":0" />

The models manufactured on or before 2024 are not affected by this change. Still, those upgrading to or purchasing the latest Plus Series device, set to be released this year, will have to buy their drives directly from Synology or its certified suppliers to maximize their system. Because of this, you won’t be able to pick from the best hard drives if you get Synology’s latest Plus Series NAS Systems.<ref name=":0" />

This can currently be circumvented at the user's own risk with a hack [https://github.com/007revad/Synology_HDD_db using a script available on Github] that adds the drives in the system to the list of compatible drives. Other solutions use changes to configuration files to disable the checks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Finally managed to get WD Red Disks working without compatibility issue on DS3622xs+ |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/synology/comments/161w36v/finally_managed_to_get_wd_red_disks_working/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Reddit}}</ref> However, these workarounds may cease to function at any time or have unexpected side effects or consequences.

As of 8th October 2025 this has been partly reversed<ref name=":1" />. Only 2025 models allow third-party drives "and do not apply retroactively to previously launched systems." Even on 2025 systems there is still a requirement for M.2 drives to be on Compatibility List for the use as a cache drive. [https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/Drive_compatibility_policies]

===Intel C2000 controversy (2015)===

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==Products==

~~{{Placeholder box|This is a list of the company's product lines '''with articles on this wiki'''.~~

* [[~~Example product line one~~]] ~~(release date)~~: ~~Short summary of the product's incidents.~~

===Network Attached Storage (NAS) / Storage Area Network (SAN):===

* [[~~Example product line two~~]] ~~(release date):}}~~

*[[Plus-Series NAS]]: In 2025, new Plus-Series NAS systems can only [[Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS|support proprietary hard drives]].

===Backup/Recovery===

*No relevant products for wiki yet

===Surveillance===

*No relevant products for wiki yet

===Routers===

*No relevant products for wiki yet

==See also==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 }}'''[[wikipedia:Synology|Synology]]''' is a Taiwanese corporation that specializes in network-attached storage (NAS) appliances.
-They have built a reputation for using open standards (eg. relying on standard Linux RAID instead of proprietary RAID like QNAP), providing feature and security updates for a very long time (in some cases offering security fixes for 12 year old hardware) and offering replacement parts for a long time and at a reasonable cost.<!-- 3rd party sources needed – this is based on my personal experience -->
+They have built a reputation for using open standards (eg. relying on standard Linux RAID instead of proprietary RAID like QNAP), providing feature and security updates for a very long time (in some cases offering security fixes for 12 year old hardware) and offering replacement parts for a long time and at a reasonable cost.
+Recently the business has had a shift towards blocking third-party drives on their NAS systems.<!-- 3rd party sources needed – this is based on my personal experience -->
 ==Consumer-impact summary==
-{{Placeholder box|Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):
-* User freedom
+*User freedom: Revoked ability to use off-brand hard drives from modern NAS models<ref name=":0" /> and has as of October 8th 2025 been reversed<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Hagedoorn |first=Hilbert |date=8 Oct 2025 |title=Synology Reverses Policy Banning Third-Party HDDs After NAS sales plummet |url=https://www.guru3d.com/story/synology-reverses-policy-banning-thirdparty-hdds-after-nas-sales-plummet/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 Oct 2025 |work=The guru of 3D}}</ref>
-* User privacy
+*User privacy: Unknown.
-* Business model
+*Business model: Selling digital storage devices to consumers.
-* Market control}}
+*Market control: Limited; notable amount of competition from other brands such as QNAP, UGreen, [[Western Digital]], [[Samsung]], and [[SanDisk]].
 ==Incidents==
 This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
-===Requiring Synology-branded hard drives for certain features===
+===Removal of Hardware transcoding drivers (2025)===
+Synology removed Hardware transcoding drivers for HEVC (H.265), AVC (H.264), and VC-1 [https://www.synology.com/en-global/products/status/eol-video-codec-support]. With these drivers removed, the external device receiving the video becomes responsible for transcoding. There is an unofficial guide on how to reinstall the drivers.[https://nascompares.com/guide/how-to-get-hardware-transcoding-back-on-your-synology-nas/]
+===Requiring Synology-branded hard drives for certain features (2025)===
+{{Main|Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS}}
+Further reading: [[Guide: How to circumvent Synology hard drive restrictions]]
 For the Plus Series of NAS systems, Synology required the use of their own rebranded hard drives in order to obtain full functionality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Morales |first=Jowi |date=16 Apr 2025 |title=Synology requires self-branded drives for some consumer NAS systems, drops full functionality and support for third-party HDDs |url=https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/nas/synology-requires-self-branded-drives-for-some-consumer-nas-systems-drops-full-functionality-and-support-for-third-party-hdds |url-status=live |access-date=18 Apr 2025 |website=Tom's Hardware}}</ref>
-Hardwareluxx reports that you’ll lose several critical functions, including estimated hard drive health reports, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analyses, and automatic firmware updates. The company also restricts storage pools and provides limited or zero support for third-party drives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Apr 2025 |title=Synology weitet Nutzung auf Plus-Modelle aus |url=https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/news/hardware/festplatten/65949-synology-weitet-den-zwang-zur-eignen-oder-zertifizierten-festplatte-auf-die-plus-modelle-aus.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 Apr 2025 |website=www.hardwareluxx.de}}</ref>
+Reported by Hardwareluxx, using non-Synology-branded hard drives will lose critical functions for the NAS, including estimated hard drive health reports, volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analyses, and automatic firmware updates. The company also restricts storage pools and provides limited or zero support for third-party drives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 Apr 2025 |title=Synology weitet Nutzung auf Plus-Modelle aus |url=https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/news/hardware/festplatten/65949-synology-weitet-den-zwang-zur-eignen-oder-zertifizierten-festplatte-auf-die-plus-modelle-aus.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 Apr 2025 |website=www.hardwareluxx.de}}</ref>
-The 2024 Synology models and older are not affected by this change. Still, those upgrading to or purchasing the latest Plus Series device, set to be released this year, will have to buy their drives directly from Synology or its certified suppliers to maximize their system. Because of this, you won’t be able to pick from the best hard drives if you get Synology’s latest Plus Series NAS Systems.<ref name=":0" />
+The models manufactured on or before 2024 are not affected by this change. Still, those upgrading to or purchasing the latest Plus Series device, set to be released this year, will have to buy their drives directly from Synology or its certified suppliers to maximize their system. Because of this, you won’t be able to pick from the best hard drives if you get Synology’s latest Plus Series NAS Systems.<ref name=":0" />
 This can currently be circumvented at the user's own risk with a hack [https://github.com/007revad/Synology_HDD_db using a script available on Github] that adds the drives in the system to the list of compatible drives. Other solutions use changes to configuration files to disable the checks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=Finally managed to get WD Red Disks working without compatibility issue on DS3622xs+ |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/synology/comments/161w36v/finally_managed_to_get_wd_red_disks_working/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Reddit}}</ref> However, these workarounds may cease to function at any time or have unexpected side effects or consequences.
+As of 8th October 2025 this has been partly reversed<ref name=":1" />. Only 2025 models allow third-party drives "and do not apply retroactively to previously launched systems." Even on 2025 systems there is still a requirement for M.2 drives to be on Compatibility List for the use as a cache drive. [https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/Drive_compatibility_policies]
 ===Intel C2000 controversy (2015)===
@@ Line 38: / Line 48: @@
 ==Products==
-{{Placeholder box|This is a list of the company's product lines '''with articles on this wiki'''.
-* [[Example product line one]] (release date): Short summary of the product's incidents.
+===Network Attached Storage (NAS) / Storage Area Network (SAN):===
-* [[Example product line two]] (release date):}}
+*[[Plus-Series NAS]]: In 2025, new Plus-Series NAS systems can only [[Synology requiring proprietary-branded drives to be used with its NAS|support proprietary hard drives]].
+===Backup/Recovery===
+*No relevant products for wiki yet
+===Surveillance===
+*No relevant products for wiki yet
+===Routers===
+*No relevant products for wiki yet
 ==See also==