Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs • Hacker News Board

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#11

Post by piva00 » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:36 AM UTC

I was looking into a self-contained NAS to keep my local archive of almost 20 years of photos, Synology was always the most recommended solution but this policy was definitely the reason I did not purchase one.

Unfortunately for Synology I will wait to see if it's a policy they stick to or if they might change it again in the future, I have all my backups synchronised to off-site storage (Backblaze and Glacier), so the local NAS was just a nice to have convenience instead of shuffling through different local disks...

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#12

Post by HelloNurse » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:36 AM UTC

Is Synology owned by some evil equity fund? A healthy NAS company would have predicted the outcome before attempting to squeeze customers like this.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#13

Post by aranw » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:37 AM UTC

jqpabc123 wrote: post #10

I'm pretty sure Synology does not manufacture hard drives. So you can't buy 3rd party HDDs --- but Synology can? Looks likes a blatant FU to the customer was returned in kind.

I believe they were basically saying a set list of approved hard drives

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#14

Post by okigan » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:37 AM UTC

walterbell wrote: post #8

> According to some reports, sales of Synology’s 2025 NAS models dropped sharply in the months after the restriction was introduced. What did NAS customers purchase instead?

Ugreen

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#15

Post by InsideOutSanta » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:38 AM UTC

For me, it's too late. I've already set up TrueNAS, and I found it a lot more user-friendly than I expected. Particularly now that ZFS AnyRaid is making good progress, I don't see myself going back to Synology.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#16

Post by jchw » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:38 AM UTC

joshstrange wrote: post #3

Thank god they reversed course. I’m coming up on needing another NAS and I was not looking forward to digging through alternatives. I’ve run raw Linux servers, I’ve run UnRaid, and now I have Synology and it’s been the best “set it and forget it” solution yet. Yes, the hardware is overpriced but it works and I’m willing to pay a premium for that.

I honestly think continuing to buy Synology is likely a mistake: not only have they not even properly apologized for this insanely bad anti-consumer decision, it's merely one of many over the past few years. (I speak as an 1819+ owner.)

If you're not interested in running your own, I think the most promising option is the UniFi UNAS which is due to be shipping soon (edit: Already has actually. A new model is due to ship this month though.) Ubiquiti, despite having Apple vibes, has been on a roll lately. The UNAS seems like it should be highly competitive (7 bays at $499!), and will probably be very nice for people who already use UniFi equipment in general. (Edit to temper people's expectations, though: the UNAS sticks to NAS fundamentals. You don't get the suite of applications like with Synology, or even a Docker integration. But you can use it as Network Attached Storage, after all.)

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#17

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:38 AM UTC

Customers lost tend to stay lost.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#18

Post by aranw » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:40 AM UTC

Aleklart wrote: post #6

It was a bald strategy move, but market was just not ready for the innovation

I don't think anything about this was innovating. I think it was purely a money grab attempt

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#19

Post by aranw » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:41 AM UTC

closewith wrote: post #5

joshstrange wrote: post #3

Thank god they reversed course. I’m coming up on needing another NAS and I was not looking forward to digging through alternatives. I’ve run raw Linux servers, I’ve run UnRaid, and now I have Synology and it’s been the best “set it and forget it” solution yet. Yes, the hardware is overpriced but it works and I’m willing to pay a premium for that.

If you just want storage and not apps, Ubiquiti's UNAS line is a much better choice, especially if you're in their ecosystem.

Yeah UNAS is one option I'm exploring. But the only thing I'm wanting on top of all that is something like Plex or Jellyfin and I don't know how well it will play with a UNAS if running on a external server

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#20

Post by Daedren » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 8:41 AM UTC

walterbell wrote: post #8

> According to some reports, sales of Synology’s 2025 NAS models dropped sharply in the months after the restriction was introduced. What did NAS customers purchase instead?

There's quite some competition even in the same form factor, like QNAP, ASUSTOR or even UGREEN which got their product in not too long ago.