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

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#321

Post by Fischgericht » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:11 PM UTC

layer8 wrote: post #298

Fischgericht wrote: post #264

NOT true. They have NOT fully reversed on this. Please read: https://kb.synology.com/en-global/DSM/tutorial/Drive_compati...

The article is about the changed actual policy deployed with DSM 7.3, that only just started rolling out. Your link hasn’t been updated in over two months, so doesn’t reflect that yet. Edit: Updated KB article is here: https://kb.synology.com/en-us/DSM/tutorial/Drive_compatibili...

Because I am no longer sure people are all getting shown the same content for that URL, here is what is shown to me (no local caches or proxies):

Hard disk drives (HDD) & M.2 NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) Series

Details

FS, HD, SA, UC, XS+, XS, Plus, DVA/NVR, and DP

Only drives listed in the compatibility list are supported.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#322

Post by WmWsjA6B29B4nfk » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:12 PM UTC

Fischgericht wrote: post #318

avianlyric wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about. This is a quote directly from the page you’ve linked to: > At the same time, with the introduction of DSM 7.3, 2025 DiskStation Plus series models offer more flexibility for installing third-party HDDs and 2.5" SATA SSDs when creating storage pools.

I do not know if we are getting served different content for the same URL. Content I can see, with server-side timestamp of 2 seconds ago: Hard disk drives (HDD) & M.2 NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) Series: FS, HD, SA, UC, XS+, XS, Plus, DVA/NVR, and DP Only drives listed in the compatibility list are supported.

Looks like you are indeed getting an older page. Try https://archive.is/8aUdC

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#323

Post by reactordev » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:12 PM UTC

nottorp wrote: post #281

reactordev wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no reason to use a synology device anymore with RPI’s having sata shields and other SoC boards that are readily available that run Linux. Yes, Synology was easy but so is the decision to not ever use them again…

For one rPIs are severely i/o limited still. May be fine with one ssd. For two, if you like power adapters going into boxes out of which usb cables to go more external hard drives, a Pi may be fine. If you want one neat box to tuck somewhere and forget about it, they aren't. But then people buy Intel "NUCs" where the power adapter is larger than the computer box... And three, the latest Pis have started to require ac…

My point is there are alternatives, like you said.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#324

Post by ozim » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:14 PM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #216

deelowe wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can a pi achieve the same iops? I'd be highly suspecious of any such claims.

I don't know why people love Pi-s so much. They filled a niche, once, years ago, and were quickly outcompeted not even a year and a half after. Get some old i7 or Ryzen, get a big case, put 12-18 HDDs, spend a little extra on quality cooling solution if you have the server in your bedroom / living room, install modern Linux, tinker to your heart's content.

If you don’t have use for GPIO or some ISC^2 sensors and want to use it as a server then yes you should get something else.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#325

Post by thedougd » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:19 PM UTC

nottorp wrote: post #281

reactordev wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no reason to use a synology device anymore with RPI’s having sata shields and other SoC boards that are readily available that run Linux. Yes, Synology was easy but so is the decision to not ever use them again…

For one rPIs are severely i/o limited still. May be fine with one ssd. For two, if you like power adapters going into boxes out of which usb cables to go more external hard drives, a Pi may be fine. If you want one neat box to tuck somewhere and forget about it, they aren't. But then people buy Intel "NUCs" where the power adapter is larger than the computer box... And three, the latest Pis have started to require ac…

Exactly the route I took. I had an aging tower machine full of spinning disks running on an old LSI adapter that was doing hardware raid. They were out of space and I began to get nervous the LSI adapter could die and I would trouble replacing it. Decided JBOD for the future.

External drives were on sale, I bought several and setup with a RPI. Lots of headaches. It took effort to iron out all the USB and external disk issues. Had to work out alternative boot. Had power adapters fail for the RPI. Had to enhance cooling. etc. Kept running into popular Docker containers still not having aarch64 variants.

I finally replaced the RPI with a used Dell SFF. Kept the USB drives and it's been solid with similar power draw and just easier to deal with all around.

Though I am considering going back to a tower, shucking the drives (they're out of warranty) and going back to SATA.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#326

Post by mrob » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:19 PM UTC

j45 wrote: post #293

mrob wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which SoC boards have ECC ram? ECC ram is essential for any reliable data storage system. Disks have built-in error correcting codes, and RAID can detect errors, but none of this helps if the data is corrupted in RAM before it ever reaches the disk.

ECC is very helpful. Having used both, I can't help but notice how NAS' routinely run just fine without it.

>NAS' routinely run just fine without it.

How do you verify your data to confirm that?

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#327

Post by Fischgericht » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:20 PM UTC

WmWsjA6B29B4nfk wrote: post #322

Fischgericht wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not know if we are getting served different content for the same URL. Content I can see, with server-side timestamp of 2 seconds ago: Hard disk drives (HDD) & M.2 NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) Series: FS, HD, SA, UC, XS+, XS, Plus, DVA/NVR, and DP Only drives listed in the compatibility list are supported.

Looks like you are indeed getting an older page. Try https://archive.is/8aUdC

As German IT news media has retracted the "Synology reverses" story based on the content they are reading in the press release link, I suspect there is some Geo-stuff involved here (I tested this from multiple German IPs now and always get "the other version").

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#328

Post by whywhywhywhy » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:21 PM UTC

Hope the CEO realized when this was instigated that it's not as simple as reversing the decision, every Youtube video about it, every review that mentions it, every tweet that mentions it, every reddit post saying "Don't buy Synology" because of it and every LLM trained on that data will be there and showing up in searches and harming sales for at least a decade.

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#329

Post by reactordev » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:22 PM UTC

pdimitar wrote: post #299

hoistbypetard wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know why people love Pi-s so much. They filled a niche, once, years ago, and were quickly outcompeted not even a year and a half after. They still fill a niche for me, just not a server niche. The easy-to-access GPIO in a close-to-vanilla Linux system really doesn't have a competitor at its price point. For a fourth grade science project last winter, I had a pi 4 already (but it'd have been about $40 at my…

Ah, education, right. I never had interest in the whole GPIO thing but I'll admit life has been pulling me in very different directions, hence this dropped off my radar. Thanks for the reminder. Thing is, I was aiming at servers. I've read many HN comments where people adore a Pi for some reason that I just can't see; they have to install custom kernels, get Pi hats, do some extra cabling, 3D-print cases, mount small…

On a RPi I can control more aspects than I can a mini pc ITX board. I can boot straight to my program. I can write directly to frame buffers. I don’t need Linux. I don’t really need a kernel…

Here are some examples of where an RPi outshines a mini-PC (though one can still achieve the same results, just putting the box outside the box):

Coffee table Digital Touch map.

Weather Station powered by a solar panel and a LiPo battery.

ADSB receiver also powered by solar and a battery.

Arcade Cabinet that sits on a bar top with a bill reader.

Mini JukeBox at the local hacker space.

Sailing autopilot using NMEA2000 connectors.

Wearables.

Playing with high density distributed computing. (More than 5 machines)

Where the mini pc really shines is:

Storage. (NAS included)

Media PC (TV sold separately)

Gaming Console

Personal Cloud (docker + nfs + caddy + )

General Autopilot (sensors that need GPU support).

You have left over old PCs and don’t want to open your wallet…

Re: Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs

#330

Post by John23832 » Wed, Oct 08, 2025, 1:23 PM UTC

I never understood this. The customer type that wants to run an NAS is technically capable. They may choose to run a all-in-one NAS like those from Synology or are ubiquity because of the convenience but if you then make it inconvenient for them by adding these unnecessary hard drive restrictions, they can just as easily go to either another provider or run their own.

Talk about not knowing your customer.