Synology HDD Restrictions UPDATE - DS925+ Compatibility List, Initialisation, Official Statement

Video Description

Update #4 - I have performed extensive testing of Unverified/3rd party HDDs in a Synology 2025 Series NAS. You can see the results here - https://youtu.be/aKS1lSaXJN8?si=1OFhvLEErd8NeRbs (TLDR - Now you cannot use unverified HDDs on a storage pool that you have migrated over from an old system for RAID Recovery, RAID Expansion or Hot Spares) Synology 2025 NAS Hard Drive and SSD Lock In Confirmed - Bye, Bye Seagate and WD https://nascompares.com/news/synolgoy-2025-nas-hard-drive-and-ssd-lock-in-confirmed-bye-bye-seagate-and-wd/ Synology DS925+ NAS Review on YouTube now LIVE https://youtu.be/CSz5aOcJVtc And the DS925+ Written Review is here - https://nascompares.com/review/synology-ds925-nas-review/ ----------------- UPDATE (22/04) - The following statement was provided by a senior Synology representative and provided publicly with their consent : “Synology's storage systems have been transitioning to a more appliance-like business model. Starting with the 25-series, DSM will implement a new HDD compatibility policy in accordance with the published Product Compatibility List. Only listed HDDs are supported for new system installations. This policy is not retroactive and will not affect existing systems and new installations of already released models. Drive migrations from older systems are supported with certain limitations. Reason for the new Synology HCL Policy: Each component in a Synology storage solution is carefully engineered and tested to maintain data security and reliability. Based on customer support statistics over the past few years, the use of validated drives results in nearly 40% fewer storage-related issues and faster issue diagnostics and resolution. Each validated hard drive on the compatibility list undergoes over 7,000 hours of comprehensive compatibility testing across platforms to ensure operational reliability. Technical support data shows that validated drives result in a 40% lower chance of encountering critical disk issues. For models that have adopted the new hard drive compatibility policy, severe storage anomalies have decreased by up to 88% compared to previous models. By adhering to the Product Compatibility List, we can significantly reduce the variances introduced by unannounced manufacturing changes, firmware modifications, and other variations that are difficult for end-users and Synology to identify, much less track. Over the past few years, Synology has steadily expanded its storage drive ecosystem, collaborating with manufacturing partners to ensure a stable and consistent lineup of drives with varying capacities and competitive price points. Synology intends to expand its offerings and is committed to maintaining long-term availability, which is not available with off-the-shelf options. We understand that this may be a significant change for some of our customers and are working on ways to ease the transition. Synology is already collaborating with our partners to develop a more seamless purchasing experience, while maintaining the initial sizing and post-install upgrade flexibility that DSM platforms are renowned for." - Senior Synology Representative on the record. ----------------------- Video Chapters 00:00 - Introduction: Revisiting Synology’s 2025 Drive Policy Shift 00:26 - Explosion of Coverage & What’s New This Week 00:48 - Synology’s Official Statement (Read Aloud) 02:04 - Justification: 40% Fewer Issues with Validated Drives 03:55 - DS925+ Launch Confirmed in Eastern Markets 04:38 - Missing from Taiwan Site, Specs Largely Confirmed 05:26 - Compatibility Page: Synology Drives Only 05:56 - No Third-Party Drive Options Shown Yet 06:19 - Lack of Third-Party NVMe Support for Caching 06:47 - DX525 Expansion Confirmed, No 10GbE Upgrade Slot 07:24 - Leak: Third-Party Drives Blocked at Installation 08:43 - Initialization Halted if Drives Not Verified? 09:07 - Caution: Cannot Fully Validate Until Unit Is Tested 09:26 - Dissecting Synology’s Official Statement 09:45 - Context: Synology’s Appliance-Like Model Not New 10:18 - Synology’s Ecosystem Goals Have Been Clear for Years 11:10 - Existing Devices Unaffected, Migration Support Promised 12:06 - Global Availability, Pricing, and Product Prep 12:23 - Problems: Ambiguous Messaging & Unclear Rollout Plan 13:14 - Questions: What Counts as a Synology Drive? 13:47 - Who Verifies Drives? Synology, OEMs, or Both? 14:49 - 7,000-Hour Testing Requirement – Timeline Concerns 15:54 - Synology’s Statistics: We Want the Data 16:50 - SSDs, Surveillance Drives & Special Media Support 17:34 - Need Clarity on SSD Caching and Surveillance Use 18:27 - DS925+ Compatibility Limits 19:00 - Global Reaction: Confusion, Messaging Issues, Community Feedback 19:45 - Hope for Clearer Messaging at Global Rollout 20:09 - Final Thoughts: Transparency & Choice Are Key 20:38 - Will I Still Recommend Synology?