Alienware’s 360Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor is now $280 off, delivering elite speed, color, and clarity for under $620.

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Keychron is expanding its Hall Effect magnetic keyboard line with a new 80% layout variant, another reminder that "gaming" doesn't mean the same anymore.

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The SteelSeries Rival 3 (Gen 2) Wireless is an entry-level, wireless gaming mouse with a colorful personality and good performance, but is it the best value?

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Razer has dropped the Phantom Green Collection, a reimagining of some of its best PC gaming accessories with sleek, translucent green designs that I love.

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Synology Explain WHY They Changed Drive Support and Verification in 2025 NAS

During a recent visit to Taipei for Computex 2025, I took the opportunity to visit Synology’s headquarters and speak directly with company representatives about one of the most discussed and divisive topics in the NAS community today — the company’s increasingly strict stance on hard drive compatibility. With the rollout of Synology’s latest generation of hardware, users have been met with significant limitations on the use of third-party drives, prompting concern over reduced flexibility, potential e-waste, and the future direction of Synology’s hardware ecosystem. This article provides a can overview of that visit, beginning with the HQ tour, but mainly it is about putting several big questions users have about the brand’s change in support of Seagate, WD, etc on their 2025 devices.

Four core questions — based on direct community feedback — were put forward, addressing the motivation, risks, and future implications of Synology’s current drive support policy. Each answer is presented exactly as delivered. Note, this article is not sponsored by Synology and they have no control over the editorial stance and output! For users, partners, and industry observers alike, understanding these policy shifts is essential for making informed decisions about Synology systems moving forward.

Touring the Synology Headquarters

The Synology headquarters tour took place during a coordinated visit arranged alongside the Computex 2025 trade event. Approximately 30 to 40 individuals were in attendance, a mix that included official Synology partners, resellers, independent media, and technology commentators. The tour began with a structured company overview presentation outlining Synology’s operational history, business units, and market positioning.

While much of this information was familiar to long-term observers, it served to reinforce the company providing integrated storage and data management solutions. The presentation also included a brief overview of Synology’s global distribution and the evolving structure of its enterprise product lines.

Attendees were then guided through various areas of the facility, which covered several floors within a shared building. Synology does not occupy the entire structure, but the portions shown during the tour were substantial, comprising office sections, collaborative workspaces, logistics coordination areas, and support-related operations. Notably, many desks were temporarily unoccupied due to staff presence at Computex’s Nangang Exhibition Center.

Nonetheless, the offices remained populated with active terminals and systems undergoing live testing.

A significant portion of the tour focused on the environmental and durability testing facilities, including designated zones for acoustic profiling, thermal analysis, and dust resilience. The diversity of units being tested suggested coverage across multiple device classes, including both rackmount and desktop models.

The most extensive portion of the tour was the dedicated test and burn-in area. This floor was almost entirely devoted to long-term performance and diagnostic evaluations. Numerous Synology NAS units — some dating back to the early 2010s — were in continuous operation, either running synthetic workloads or undergoing compatibility assessments with the current DSM operating system.

The presence of so many legacy devices in active testing underscored the company’s emphasis on software longevity and cross-generational hardware support. However, it also provided a contrast to Synology’s new strict verification policies, especially given the mixed hardware environments visible during testing. The tour was led by ZP Kao, Sales Director at Synology, and Chad Chiang, Regional Manager for the UK and Germany, who offered clarification and responded to several direct inquiries during the walkthrough.

Why Has Synology Changed Its HDD Support Policy? Questions and Answers

Questions I put to Synology about their change in policy regarding verifying and supporting drive media being used on their 2025 and later series of NAS devices. I based these on the comments and suggestions from videos on the YouTube channel and comments on previous articles. I am under no illusions that these changes by Synology in their drive support policies have financial justifications (ranging from Support efficiency and it’s financial overhead, to the simple profitability of prioritizing their own labelled firmware optimized storage media choices over those of other brands), but I wanted to know if these were the only reasons for this? What other reasons could Synology provide to support this large and unpopular move. Thank you once again to Chad Chiang for taking the time to answer these questions.

Note – for a better understanding of the current DSM Support of Unverified media, as well as test scenarios detailing each setup and how DSM handles it, you can read it HERE in my Test Article.

How has the verification process changed for which drives you can use on Synology systems moving forward? And are there drive options from WD and Seagate currently undergoing support verification?

Answer – At Synology, we constantly reflect on a core question: Why do people choose a NAS? We believe the answer lies in the need for secure, reliable, and hassle-free data storage. This belief has guided our mission for over a decade. When analyzing our support history, the data clearly shows that systems using Synology-branded drives experience 40% fewer issues compared to those with third-party HDDs. This insight underscores the importance of using thoroughly tested drives. As for which third-party vendors are currently undergoing drive verification, we’re unable to disclose details. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, we recommend reaching out directly to the respective manufacturers.

The response positions Synology’s verification changes as a reliability-focused initiative and smooth platform running as the chief reasoning for them, referencing internal data that suggests a 40% reduction in support issues when Synology-branded drives are used. However, as mentioned previously, the statement does not provide supporting metrics such as sample size, timeframes, or specific failure modes, making it difficult to assess the scope or significance of this claim. I do not doubt that it is true, but without the X/Y and details of how this result was achieved, we are only getting half the story here.  The policy shift is framed as a precautionary measure aimed at minimizing user disruption, but the absence of transparency regarding ongoing verifications with WD or Seagate limits clarity for users seeking alternatives – which is why users are seeing this more as a means for the brand to increase profitability in the 2025 series as a bundled utility purchase – not as a means of system stability.

Ultimately, discussing the technical standards or benchmarks involved in the verification process in paramount here. It largely confirms that responsibility for future third-party compatibility lies with the drive manufacturers themselves, effectively shifting the onus of transparency to them. While it is understandable that Synology might want to mitigate support complexity, the lack of specificity about how the verification criteria have evolved or what steps vendors must follow leaves key questions unanswered for both users and third-party storage providers. I reached out to representatives from Seagate and WD to see if they could elaborate further on this new media side verification process with their respective NAS/Server class media – neither was able to provide further details at this time.

UPDATED 07-05-25 = Added Unverified HDD and SSD (Migrated) Storage Pool RAID Repair, RAID POOL Expansion and Hot Spare Tests. Right now, the following is what works and what does not (between pre-2025 Series and the 2025 Series that is releasing now):

Feature / Function	Pre-2025 Synology NAS<br>(e.g., DS1821+, DS920+, DS923+)	2025 Synology NAS<br>(e.g., DS1825+, DS925+, DS1525+)
DSM Installation – Verified Drives	Full support	Full support
DSM Installation – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed (with warnings)	Blocked completely
Drive Migration (Non-Verified Drives)	Fully functional, minor alerts	Works, but shows persistent warnings
Storage Pool Creation – Verified Drives	Fully supported	Fully supported
Storage Pool Creation – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed (with warnings)	Blocked
Storage Pool Expansion – Verified Drives	Fully supported	Fully supported
Storage Pool Expansion – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed (mixed arrays supported)	Blocked – drives flagged as incompatible
Hot Spare Assignment – Verified Drives	Fully supported	Fully supported
Hot Spare Assignment – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed	Blocked
RAID Recovery – Verified Drives	Supported	Supported
RAID Recovery – Non-Verified Drives	Supported	Blocked – system will not rebuild with unverified media
M.2 NVMe Cache – Synology SSDs	Supported	Supported
M.2 NVMe Cache – 3rd Party SSDs	Supported	Blocked
M.2 NVMe Storage Pools – Synology SSDs	Not supported	Supported
M.2 NVMe Storage Pools – 3rd Party SSDs	Not supported	Blocked
SMART Monitoring – Verified Drives	Full support	Full support
SMART Monitoring – Non-Verified Drives	Full support	Limited or blocked (TBC)
Storage Manager Alerts – Non-Verified Drives	Warnings, dismissible	Persistent, cannot be cleared
Overall Compatibility Flexibility	High – mix-and-match drives allowed	Low – walled-garden enforcement

---

Users are able to migrate existing storage arrays that feature Unverified/unsupported drive media in previous Synology systems into 2025 Plus series devices and still use DSM services – however once they do so, they are unable to use the same model ID of drives to perform RAID recovery, RAID expansion or introduced a hot spare, unless that drive is on the verified drive list. Why is this?

Answer- Advanced operations such as RAID recovery, expansion, or hot spare assignment are technically intensive and carry a higher risk of data loss if inconsistencies arise. Drives that haven’t been validated through Synology’s verification process may behave unpredictably under stress, impacting array stability or performance. For this reason, support for these functions is limited to verified drives—a precaution designed to safeguard user data and maintain long-term system reliability.

So, this answer outlines Synology’s rationale for restricting critical RAID operations on unverified drives and It emphasizes the increased risk associated with advanced storage operations, particularly when performed on drives that may not have been tested under stress or fault conditions. The justification focuses on data integrity and system reliability, suggesting that verified drives have undergone stress testing scenarios that others have not. However, the lack of granularity in what defines “unpredictable behavior” makes it difficult to independently evaluate the severity or frequency of these issues. Much like the statistics point earlier, this seems a remarkable stretch in terms of reaction to what many users would consider a very, very low % risk factor. Equally, though there is an argument that some drive media is less suitable for NAS usage (eg the WD Red SMR drives, desktop single drive use media like Seagate Barracuda and high power draw HDDs/SSDs in some cases), these make up a very small % of drive media in the market and using this as a reasoning to effectively bar the continued support of drive media that has been supported/used in Synology server use over the last 2 decades to prevent RAID recovery and Expansion in the latest gen for those carrying them over seems insane overkill.

The policy effectively limits upgradability and flexibility in mixed-drive environments. While it is technically reasonable to restrict risky operations on unvalidated components, the ability to migrate but not expand or rebuild a RAID introduces a half-measure — allowing users to enter unsupported configurations while restricting them mid-cycle. The result is a system state that may appear functional at first but ultimately lacks key functionality unless users conform to the verified list. For long-term users upgrading from older systems, this shift can lead to unexpected limitations without adequate warning, particularly in small or home office deployments. The messaging has been poor and though I made a video about these limitations (embedded above), there is practically no other clear and transparent information about this online (with incongruous detailson the Synology Knowledge base that could stand to be a lot clearer and louder).

HOT TAKE, and hear me out – If Synology do not allow support of RAID repair/Expansion on drives that have been migrated over from older NAS systems where the drives WERE originally supported (unless they use 2025 verified drives) because of reasons of stability, I have a somewhat extreme suggestion. As unpopular as it might have been, Synology should have just BARRED the support of migration from older generation Synology NAS devices with unverified drives entirely. I personally think they should have allowed for RAID repair/Expansion of unverified drives, but if they are going to pursue this for reasons of system stability, they should have committed to this fully and not allowed this grey area with migration. As it just looks bad for the brand, as means of ensuring people can upgrade/remain in the ecosystem, but then have limited scalability when those older drives require replacement/growth.

---

Were pre-populated Synology NAS devices considered, given the strict verified support stance that this new Synology hardware generation contains?

Answer – Regarding pre-populated NAS solutions, there hasn’t been significant internal discussion or a formal strategy around this model. As such, I don’t have a concrete answer at this time. The focus remains on ensuring that any storage media used—whether user-installed or bundled—is fully verified to meet Synology’s reliability standards.

Not much to unpack here. It makes sense. I imagine they DID discuss this as an option (as they are already engaging with this with systems like the Beestation), but at least for now, it seems off the table. As unpopular as this might have been, in some ways it could have solved a lot of this friction for some users. Provide the 2025 PLUS series as an empty/enclosure-only solution with similar compatibility as the 2024 and earlier generation – but then also supply several pre-populated options that feature Synology drive media as standard. However, that would be a different discussion entirely (eg logistics, SKUs, viability, ROI by offering this alongside flexible options).

---

Can you provide example(s) of critical system issues that using unverified drives caused, that were the tipping point for this new strict HDD support policy?

Examples of what stepped up our verification process moving forward:

Performance Issues: Unverified drives may function under light workloads but can suffer serious performance drops (e.g., IOPS decline) under multi-user access or when running demanding services like virtualization, backup, or databases. This can lead to poor user experience or service disruptions (e.g., iSCSI timeouts).

Stability Risks: Without thorough testing, unverified drives are more prone to failures under stress conditions such as unexpected power loss or long-duration file transfers—leading to timeouts, reboot failures, or data integrity issues in high-load or long-term operations.

Compatibility Problems: Drives not validated for compatibility may show unstable behavior with certain NAS controllers, resulting in drive drops, RAID instability, or data access interruptions over time.

Advanced Feature Failures: Unverified drives may fail during operations like SMART testing or Secure Erase, especially after unexpected power outages. Some drives may not respond properly under frequent access or specific command sets, affecting system stability.

Drive Failures Under High Load or Density: Some drives may become unresponsive under high data density or I/O intensity, with issues persisting even after a reset.

The examples provided by Synology highlight a variety of operational issues associated with unverified drives, most of which relate to performance degradation, system instability, or failure of advanced features under stress. These scenarios focus on workloads involving sustained I/O, power fluctuations, and controller-level interactions. In isolation, many of the issues described are plausible for lower-tier or unsuitable drive models, particularly in demanding or enterprise-like environments. That said, that are very low margins (eg 0.01% or lower) when you look at the traditional deployment of many Synology NAS solution in the Plus series. Again though, the scale and frequency of these issues remain unclear. There is no indication of how widespread such failures are across Synology’s user base, nor whether they represent rare edge cases or common occurrences. The examples also apply more logically to enterprise or high-density configurations, whereas the same strict policies now affect all tiers — including two-bay and four-bay systems used by home and prosumer users. Without concrete statistics or clearer thresholds, it is difficult to assess whether these issues justify the breadth of the policy. The policy appears to target potential worst-case scenarios, but may have broader consequences for user flexibility than the risk profile necessarily warrants.

Additional Information and Details from the MyBroadband Article

Further context on Synology’s new drive compatibility policy was provided in an interview between MyBroadband journalist Daniel Puchert (click to read) and Michael Chang, Synology’s Regional Sales Manager. The discussion reinforced many of the points raised during the HQ visit, while also offering additional information into the motivations behind Synology’s stricter approach to drive support in their latest generation of NAS systems. Chang explained that Synology’s primary objective was to ensure product reliability and reduce system-level faults that were increasingly traced back to third-party hard drives. According to Chang, complaints received by Synology often involved third-party drive issues, yet Synology would still be held accountable by users due to their role as the NAS provider. This prompted the company to centralize responsibility and tighten control over supported hardware configurations. While Synology-branded drives are currently the only models certified, Chang noted that other vendors are being invited to participate in the compatibility validation program — provided they meet the same testing standards.

(In the case of the NAS drives) “..because Synology’s product would typically facilitate the usage of third-party hard drives, it would also be the scapegoat for any faults with the entire system.”

“..complaints received by Synology regarding issues relating to its NAS devices were most often caused by faulty hard drives.

“severe storage anomalies have decreased by up to 88%” for hard drive models that have adopted its hard drive compatibility policy, compared to older models.”

“We still welcome third parties to join Synology’s ecosystem and have invited vendors to join our validation program,”

Michael Chang, Synology Regional Sales Manager – full article HERE

The article also mentioned that Synology-certified drives undergo over 7,000 hours of testing, and systems using those drives reportedly experience 40% fewer failures than those using uncertified media. Additionally, Synology claims that severe storage anomalies have dropped by up to 88% in systems following its compatibility policy. Although Chang confirmed that third-party compatibility may expand in the future, it will only do so under strict adherence to Synology’s internal benchmarks. These statements align with Synology’s position during the HQ tour, further emphasizing a shift toward a closed, highly controlled ecosystem that prioritizes consistent performance over hardware flexibility.

Synology and HDD Support and Verification – Conclusion and the Long Term

My biggest issue with all this is that, almost certainly, we are going to see Seagate, WD, Toshiba and more slow (slooooooooowly) appear on the compatibility lists for a number of the 2025 generation of devices over the coming months. So, what was all this for? The PR damage and likely early sales damage of the Synolgoy 2025 Series because of this change of support I would estimate is going to be pretty substantial – and all the reports and reactions to this online are not going to go away as soon as a Seagate Ironwolf or WD Red drive appears on the support lists. Also, Synology work on these devices for a very, very long time before launch – why is all this happening now – and not before launch. The cynic in me wants to just assume it was pure profitability and that Synology want to maximize profits, and if when this does begin to U-Trun ,that the brand can say that it was the plan all along. But whether that is true or not, the damage to the brand in the eyes of a substantial % of their long term fans is notable, and with many more players in the market (UniFi, QNAP, UGREEN and more) launching new products in Q3 and Q4 – is this all going to be a gamble by the brand that ends up costing them more than just leaving the support status quo where it was? Only time will tell.

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OWC Reveals their new OWC Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station

At COMPUTEX 2025, OWC unveiled its latest leap in desktop connectivity with the introduction of the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock, a next-generation expansion solution aimed squarely at creative professionals, power users, and demanding hybrid workflows. Demonstrated live at the company’s booth in TaiNEX 1, the new dock consolidates high-speed data transfer, multiple display outputs, wide device compatibility, and substantial power delivery into a single desktop hub. Building on OWC’s legacy of designing hardware that blends reliability with real-world flexibility, the Thunderbolt 5 Dock offers users a central point for managing content-heavy projects, transforming USB-C tablets into full production stations, or anchoring a high-performance workstation setup. Its ability to handle up to three 8K displays, daisy-chain multiple devices, and deliver up to 140W of charging—all while being backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3, 4, USB4, and USB-C—makes it a standout solution for those needing a streamlined, forward-looking expansion unit. Just as importantly, the inclusion of certified Thunderbolt and Dock Ejector software integration ensures data integrity and safe disconnection, a key consideration for anyone working with volatile assets like live video edits, audio mixes, or large-scale backups.

OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock – Hardware Specifications and Performance

The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock introduces a significant step up in performance and versatility for desktop users, particularly those in content creation and technical workflows. Central to the dock’s appeal is its Thunderbolt 5 controller, which supports up to 80Gb/s of bi-directional bandwidth, enabling simultaneous high-speed data transfers and display outputs without bottlenecking. For visual workflows, the dock supports up to three 8K displays or dual 6K monitors on macOS systems, making it a practical tool for video editors working with ultra-high-resolution footage or multitaskers using panoramic screen real estate. The dock also supports multiple daisy chains, allowing professionals to maintain full performance across chained devices, such as external RAID storage, 10GbE adapters, or A/V capture devices, without sacrificing throughput.

Port selection on the Thunderbolt 5 Dock is deliberately broad, designed to cater to nearly every desktop connectivity requirement. The dock features three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports, two USB-A 10Gb/s, one USB-A 5Gb/s, and a 2.5GbE Ethernet port that supports remote management protocols like Mobile Device Management (MDM), making it suitable for enterprise setups. For storage and media ingestion, dual card slots supporting UHS-II SD and microSD formats allow fast transfers for photographers and videographers. Additionally, a 3.5mm audio combo jack is present for audio input/output, and the dock retains support for Apple’s SuperDrive, offering legacy compatibility that is often overlooked in newer designs.

Beyond the raw hardware, the inclusion of OWC Dock Ejector software adds a layer of operational safety not often found in third-party docks. This utility ensures that all connected drives are safely unmounted before disconnection, protecting against file corruption and data loss. This is particularly important when working with DAW projects or active NLE libraries. Moreover, thanks to Thunderbolt certification, users can rely on cross-platform interoperability and consistent performance whether they’re using macOS, Windows, or even supported Linux distributions. For iPad Pro and USB-C tablet users, the dock serves as a conversion point into a full workstation—adding monitor output, keyboard, storage, and audio capability through a single connection.

Power delivery is another area where the Thunderbolt 5 Dock asserts its future-ready stance. Capable of supplying up to 140W of charging power, it can easily handle even power-hungry notebooks like MacBook Pros or high-end Windows workstations, while also distributing power to connected accessories. The dock intelligently manages power distribution across the ports to maintain stability and avoid overdraw scenarios. As more users transition to single-cable workflows for portable performance and desktop-grade expansion, the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock stands out by balancing power, speed, and compatibility in a consolidated form factor.

Is Thunderbolt 5 a Big Jump on Thunderbolt 4, REALLY?

Thunderbolt 5 represents a major leap over Thunderbolt 4 in terms of bandwidth, display support, PCIe throughput, and power delivery—pushing the connectivity standard into a new performance tier. Where Thunderbolt 4 maxed out at 40Gbps, Thunderbolt 5 doubles that with 80Gbps of standard bi-directional bandwidth, and introduces a Bandwidth Boost mode of up to 120Gbps—a key benefit for multi-display setups and high-frame-rate output. Video support has also improved dramatically: while Thunderbolt 4 can manage a single 8K display at 60Hz or two 4K displays, Thunderbolt 5 enables multiple 8K displays or three 4K displays at 144Hz, and even supports a single 540Hz panel—important for ultra-responsive applications like game design, simulation, and high-end color grading.

PCIe bandwidth also sees a doubling, moving from 32Gbps (PCIe 3.0) in Thunderbolt 4 to 64Gbps (PCIe 4.0) in Thunderbolt 5, allowing external SSDs, GPUs, and fast capture cards to perform at significantly higher throughput levels. Similarly, power delivery has increased from 100W to up to 240W, with a new mandatory 140W standard for device charging—enabling the dock to power even high-performance mobile workstations over a single cable. Despite these gains, Thunderbolt 5 remains fully backward compatible with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, and USB-C/USB4 devices, scaling features based on host and peripheral support. As manufacturers like Apple, Dell, and Lenovo begin integrating Thunderbolt 5 into new devices, docks like OWC’s Thunderbolt 5 model are well-positioned to deliver the full benefits of this next-gen interface, particularly in workflows involving heavy media processing, multi-monitor editing suites, and mobile-first productivity ecosystems.

What else did OWC show at Computex 2025?

OWC Envoy Ultra – This rugged portable SSD is built for real-world use in demanding environments. With integrated cable design and speeds exceeding 6000MB/s, it’s ideal for creatives working on location. Compatible across macOS, Windows, iPad Pro, Chromebooks, and Surface devices, the Envoy Ultra offers high-performance external storage in a bus-powered form factor.

OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub – Designed for users who need more high-speed ports, this compact hub expands a single Thunderbolt 5 connection into three Thunderbolt 5 ports and an additional USB-A port. It supports full 80Gb/s bi-directional bandwidth and up to 120Gb/s for display tasks, making it a scalable solution for device-heavy workspaces.

OWC ThunderBlade X12 – Aimed at film editors and content studios, the ThunderBlade X12 is a RAID-capable SSD offering peak write speeds of 6600MB/s and sustained write speeds of 5990MB/s. It’s designed for high-resolution video workflows where real-time editing and transfer speeds are mission-critical.

OWC Jellyfish – This shared storage solution caters to collaborative editing environments, with scalable capacity from terabytes to petabytes. Supporting 4K to 12K media editing, Jellyfish includes management software and robust security, ideal for teams handling post-production and asset-heavy projects.

OWC Memory Cards and Readers – Built with performance and reliability in mind, OWC’s CFexpress and SD card lines offer fast write speeds and integration with OWC Innergize software, which optimizes performance and checks card health for professional photographers and videographers.

OWC Portable SSDs – Models like the Envoy Pro FX and Express 1M2 continue to serve mobile users with cross-platform support, rugged construction, and high throughput, ensuring reliable data transfer in the field or on set.

OWC Desktop Storage – The Mercury Elite Pro and ThunderBay lines offer RAID-enabled storage for desktop users, with Thunderbolt and USB-C interfaces for speed and versatility. These units are designed for high-capacity needs in media production, backup, and archiving.

OWC Archive Pro Ethernet – A robust LTO-based solution for long-term, high-volume data backup over the network. Tailored for enterprise, media, and government use cases, it supports automated workflows and is optimized for data integrity and longevity in cold storage environments.

OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock – Release Date and Price

The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock is now available for pre-order at $329.99 USD, positioning it as a premium but competitively priced solution for professionals seeking cutting-edge desktop expansion. Each unit includes a certified Thunderbolt 5 cable, external power supply, and access to OWC’s Dock Ejector software, with customer support included. Shipping is expected to begin in early July 2025, following its live showcase at COMPUTEX Taipei. With Thunderbolt 5-equipped laptops and devices entering the market, this dock is one of the first fully certified options to deliver the expanded bandwidth, power delivery, and device flexibility that next-generation workflows demand.

 

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Synology 2025 NAS Series 3rd Party Drive Compatibility Tests

UPDATED 07-05-25 = Added Unverified HDD and SSD (Migrated) Storage Pool RAID Repair, RAID POOL Expansion and Hot Spare Tests. Right now, the following is what works and what does not (between pre-2025 Series and the 2025 Series that is releasing now):

Feature / Function	Pre-2025 Synology NAS<br>(e.g., DS1821+, DS920+, DS923+)	2025 Synology NAS<br>(e.g., DS1825+, DS925+, DS1525+)
DSM Installation – Verified Drives	Full support	Full support
DSM Installation – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed (with warnings)	Blocked completely
Drive Migration (Non-Verified Drives)	Fully functional, minor alerts	Works, but shows persistent warnings
Storage Pool Creation – Verified Drives	Fully supported	Fully supported
Storage Pool Creation – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed (with warnings)	Blocked
Storage Pool Expansion – Verified Drives	Fully supported	Fully supported
Storage Pool Expansion – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed (mixed arrays supported)	Blocked – drives flagged as incompatible
Hot Spare Assignment – Verified Drives	Fully supported	Fully supported
Hot Spare Assignment – Non-Verified Drives	Allowed	Blocked
RAID Recovery – Verified Drives	Supported	Supported
RAID Recovery – Non-Verified Drives	Supported	Blocked – system will not rebuild with unverified media
M.2 NVMe Cache – Synology SSDs	Supported	Supported
M.2 NVMe Cache – 3rd Party SSDs	Supported	Blocked
M.2 NVMe Storage Pools – Synology SSDs	Not supported	Supported
M.2 NVMe Storage Pools – 3rd Party SSDs	Not supported	Blocked
SMART Monitoring – Verified Drives	Full support	Full support
SMART Monitoring – Non-Verified Drives	Full support	Limited or blocked (TBC)
Storage Manager Alerts – Non-Verified Drives	Warnings, dismissible	Persistent, cannot be cleared
Overall Compatibility Flexibility	High – mix-and-match drives allowed	Low – walled-garden enforcement

Here’s what we’ve confirmed so far in the tests as of 07/05/25:

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Using Synology 1st Party Drives – Everything Works as Expected

If you’re using Synology-branded HDDs or SSDs, then your experience on the DS925+ will be completely normal.

System initialization, DSM installation, storage pool creation, and all other operations work exactly as they always have, with no warnings, compatibility errors, or feature restrictions. This includes both the Plus series (e.g., HAT3300/HAT3310) and the Enterprise-class HAT5300 drives.

These drives are the only ones currently listed as fully supported on the official compatibility list for the DS925+, and this exclusive support ensures full DSM integration, performance monitoring, and system health reporting. If you’re a first-time buyer who’s starting from scratch, and you’re willing to buy fully into the Synology ecosystem, this route remains the most seamless — albeit more expensive — option.

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New Installations Blocked for Non-Verified Drives

As discussed in our NASCompares coverage and testing videos, attempting to initialise the DS925+ with hard drives that are not on the 2025 series compatibility list will block you from even starting DSM installation.

Below is the Synology DS925+ HDD Compatibility as of 3rd May 2025

This marks a major departure from Synology’s previous approach in DSM 7.0 and 7.1, where unsupported drives could still be used — though users would receive warnings in Storage Manager.

Below is the Synology DS923+ HDD Compatibility for comparison

Now, if you’re using unverified HDDs (such as Seagate IronWolf or WD Red Plus), the DS925+ will not proceed past the initial setup.

You’ll receive a message informing you that the drive is not compatible, and DSM cannot be installed. There’s no bypass, workaround, or “install anyway” option — and this applies even if the drives are physically identical to previously approved models.

This new and more limited approach (at least at the time of writing) raises concerns for home and business users alike who have previously relied on mixing and matching their preferred HDD brands with Synology hardware.

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Drive Migration from Older Synology NAS – It Works, But Comes with Warnings

If you already own a Synology NAS and are planning to migrate your storage pool from an older system to the DS925+, you’ll be able to do so — even if your drives are no longer listed as compatible on the newer system.

DSM will recognize the array, import the configuration, and boot the system using your original DSM setup.

However, the entire system will then display a persistent series of warnings and error states, including amber and red icons in Storage Manager, drive health indicators marked “At Risk,” and compatibility warnings across the interface.

While everything technically works, the interface becomes visually and functionally “noisy.” For system integrators or IT administrators, this is especially important — your clients may perceive something is seriously wrong with the NAS even when the system is healthy.

It’s recommended to proactively inform any end users or clients about these warnings post-migration, to avoid unnecessary concern or support tickets. Synology has not yet provided a method to suppress or acknowledge these warnings permanently.

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SATA SSDs Seem to Bypass the Block – But Still Carry Warnings

One of the more surprising findings in our testing was that SATA SSDs, even when not listed on the official compatibility list, were still able to initialize the DS925+ and allow DSM to be installed.

We tested this with several models, and the installation process continued normally — a stark contrast to the hard stop experienced with unverified HDDs.

However, this partial loophole comes with a catch. Once DSM is up and running, the system flags the non-verified SSDs the same way it flags migrated drives, with warnings in Storage Manager and ongoing notifications.

So while you can proceed, you’ll still be treated to that same red and amber text throughout your DSM environment. Still, for users willing to tolerate the interface alerts, this may provide an interim solution — especially for those who prefer SSDs for quiet, low-power deployments.

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Expanding Existing Storage Pools with Unverified Drives is Blocked

Another key limitation to note is that you cannot expand an existing storage pool using unverified drives — even if your system was initialized using fully supported drives.

We tested this by creating a pool with Synology-approved HDDs, then attempting to add a non-Synology drive as an expansion. While the drive appeared in Storage Manager as “available,” the system refused to proceed with the expansion, citing that the drive was not verified or supported.

This strict enforcement essentially locks users into an all-or-nothing ecosystem. There’s no flexibility to upgrade later using lower-cost or readily available drives unless Synology chooses to add them to the compatibility list down the line.

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M.2 NVMe Drives: No 3rd Party Support for Caching or Storage Pools

Historically, Synology has limited M.2 NVMe storage pools to their own SNV SSDs, but allowed third-party drives for read/write caching. That has now changed in the DS925+ and, presumably, all 2025 series models moving forward.

Our testing confirmed that non-Synology NVMe SSDs are no longer usable at all — neither for caching nor for creating storage pools.

Attempting to configure third-party NVMes results in the same hard block and error messages as unsupported HDDs. At the time of writing, only Synology SNV3400 and SNV3410 drives are listed as supported — both of which are tuned more for endurance than performance, making them a questionable fit for cache-centric workflows.

Pool Expansion Using a 4TB Seagate IronWolf Drive

We attempted to expand the existing migrated RAID pool with an additional 4TB Seagate IronWolf drive (same model, also verified on the DS923+). The drive was physically detected, appeared in Storage Manager, but the system refused to proceed with expansion.

System Message: The additional drive was flagged as incompatible, and any attempt to integrate it into the existing RAID resulted in an error stating that the media is not suitable or not verified. However, if your migrated pool is using SATA SSDs (or you setup the system with unverified SATA SSDs, which is still possible at the time of writing) you CAN expand the pool with likewise SATA SSDs.

Conclusion: The DS925+ does not permit expansion of an existing pool using unverified drives if you are using unverified HDDs, even if the original array consists of the exact same drive model. But SATA SSDs still allow this feature at the moment.

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Pool Expansion Using a 4TB Seagate IronWolf Drive

What if you are using an existing pool that is made up of verified HDDs on the NAS (i.e drives from Synology or drives that are now on the verified compatibility list), but also want to create a 2nd pool, made up of unverified SATA HDDs or SATA SSDs?

Result: As expected, if you use SATA HDDs, then you can ONLY create a new separate pool using verified HDDs. However, SATA SSDs still allow for unverified SSD pools.

Hot Spare Addition Attempt Using Seagate IronWolf Drive

We repeated the process above but this time attempted to add a likewise Seagate IW 4TB drive as a Hot Spare.

Result: Just like the pool expansion test, the additional drive was visible but flagged as unsupported, and DSM blocked any attempts to add this as a failover Hot Spare repair drive with the migrated array.

Recovery of Degraded RAID Pool Using Seagate IronWolf Drive

To test RAID recovery, one of the three IronWolf drives in the migrated SHR array was removed, placing the system into a degraded state. We then inserted a fresh 4TB Seagate IronWolf drive.

Result: DSM detected the new drive but refused to initiate RAID rebuild, citing unsupported media.

Conclusion: Recovery of a degraded array using a Seagate IronWolf drive (unverified for DS925+) is not permitted — even when it’s the same model previously used in the pool.

Drive Removal and Reintroduction to Pool

Lastly, we removed one of the IronWolf drives from the active pool and reinserted it a few minutes later. This drive was part of the original migrated SHR setup.

Result: DSM re-added the drive without issue, recognizing it as part of the existing array. No rebuild or repair was needed, and the system returned to normal status — albeit still with the usual compatibility warnings.

Conclusion: Previously initialized and migrated drives will be accepted back into the same array, provided their identity matches the original configuration. However, these reinserted drives remain flagged as unverified.

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Background: How Synology Got Here

At the time of writing this review, Synology is seemingly waging a war on unverified third-party drives being used inside their systems. Back in 2020/2021, Synology began rolling out their own range of storage media for use in their systems — starting with SSDs and eventually expanding to a range of 3.5-inch server-class and enterprise storage-class hard drives. Over the years, we have seen the brand begin to reduce the number of third-party drives listed as certified and verified for use in the DSM platform and in their NAS server devices. This duality — of promoting their own storage media while supporting third-party drives — has had its balance shifted considerably over the last two major Synology generations and across several updates in DSM.

In 2022, when the brand rolled out an update in DSM 7.1 that changed the system status for any NAS using non-Synology-approved drives to display a warning state, the wider Synology user base was in uproar. Synology would eventually roll this back and, although they never reversed the policy of warning users that their drives were not on the compatibility list, they did soften the system’s response. Fast forward to now, and the brand is again changing its third-party drive verification and compatibility methodologies internally. The 2025 series and onward will strictly require drives that are already listed on Synology’s compatibility list. Why is that a problem? Well — twofold. First, right now only Synology HDDs and SSDs are listed on the official DS925+ compatibility pages, despite the hardware inside the DS925+ being identical to previous Synology hardware from both the 2020 and 2023 generations. Second, Synology’s aggressive approach to enforcement. Previously, users could proceed with installation and simply be warned later. Now, installation is entirely blocked.

This will no doubt be problematic with e-retailers and online dealers unless they make this strict compatibility policy exceptionally clear. The rollout has been inconsistent and unclear at best. It first emerged via a press release on Synology’s German website, and the DS925+ page remains vague on the specifics. It might well be that weeks or months from now, the list of drives supported on the Synology DS925+ and other 2025 NAS systems will expand to include more third-party media. Nevertheless, the messaging has been profoundly unclear. If Synology’s verification tests have changed, they need to clearly explain how and why. If they have reported failures with unverified drives, those results should be shared. In discussions with numerous users online, many agree that Synology is walking a confusing line. Either fully embrace third-party drives as before — or bundle your own media and commit to it. Don’t sit in the middle.

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Future Expansion & Unanswered Questions

Synology has stated that it is working with Western Digital, Seagate, and others to test and certify additional drives for use in the 2025 series. However, they also clarified that the responsibility for verification now lies more with the drive manufacturers, not Synology themselves. This means the pace and outcome of compatibility expansion are largely out of users’ hands — and still leaves early adopters in a restrictive position. We’ve already seen similar policies with M.2 NVMe SSDs in the 2023 generation — only allowing storage pool deployments if you use Synology-branded drives. And while DSM still supports caching with third-party drives in those older systems, that flexibility has now been removed in the 2025 series.

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Conclusion – CHECK DRIVE COMPATIBILITY BEFORE YOU BUY!!!

The Synology DS925+ is a great piece of hardware in many respects, but it arrives with a much more locked-down approach to storage media than any Plus series NAS before it. Users hoping to reuse existing drives, mix-and-match HDDs for flexibility, or use cost-effective SSDs and NVMes from other brands need to reconsider their storage strategy or prepare for an ecosystem that’s increasingly closed. We’ll continue to test newer Synology 2025 devices as they launch and will update this article as compatibility lists evolve and behaviors change. But for now, if you’re planning to buy into this generation — and especially if you need to build on a budget — be aware: the HDDs you might WANT to buy might not be usable with your system – SO CHECK THE COMPATIBILITY PAGES FIRST!.

Stay tuned for more deep-dive comparisons, migration tutorials, and drive compatibility experiments right here at NASCompares. In the meantime, if you are considering purchasing an older generation Synology NAS that has more open and established storage media compatibility, below is a comparison of the Synology DS923+ from 2022/2023 and the new 2025 DS925+ NAS.

OLD Synology vs NEW Synology (DS923+ vs DS925+)

Reasons to Buy the Synology DS923+

Reasons to Buy the Synology DS925+

Faster 2.5GbE Networking Out-of-the-Box – Dual 2.5GbE ports offer higher baseline network speeds (up to 6Gbps aggregated), doubling the network performance compared to the DS923+ without requiring expansion cards. More Powerful Processor (More Cores/Threads) – The V1500B CPU offers 4 cores and 8 threads, delivering superior multitasking and heavier workload handling, especially for virtual machines, multiple users, and simultaneous services. Quieter Operation – The DS925+ operates at a lower idle noise level (20.5 dB vs 22.9 dB), making it better suited for office, home office, or studio environments where sound matters. Higher User and Service Limits – Thanks to the more powerful CPU, the DS925+ supports more Synology Drive users, Synology Office users, Synology Chat users, more concurrent SMB connections, and more virtual machines than the DS923+. Better Out-of-the-Box Experience – With stronger networking, higher multi-threaded performance, and no need for immediate upgrades, the DS925+ is ready to deliver higher performance without any additional investment, perfect for users who want maximum capability from day one.

PCIe Expansion for 10GbE Upgrades – The DS923+ features a PCIe Gen3 x2 slot, allowing users to install a 10GbE network card later, massively boosting network speeds beyond the built-in 1GbE ports. Broader 3rd-Party Drive Compatibility – Unlike the DS925+, the DS923+ allows full system initialization, storage pool creation, and DSM services even with non-Synology hard drives and SSDs—giving users more flexibility and choice. Lower Power Consumption and Heat Output – The DS923+ is slightly more energy-efficient in both active use and hibernation modes, making it a better fit for always-on environments where power savings add up over time. Potentially Lower Price (Especially Post-DS925+ Launch) – As the newer DS925+ replaces it, the DS923+ is likely to see discounts and wider availability, offering excellent value for budget-conscious users without sacrificing capability. Ideal for Customization and Long-Term Scalability – With the ability to upgrade the network, use a wider range of drives, and maintain full DSM functionality, the DS923+ is better suited for users who plan to evolve their setup over time.

In practical terms, the DS925+ is the stronger out-of-the-box choice, especially for users who value simplicity, improved default performance, and do not anticipate needing higher-than-2.5GbE networking down the line. However, the long-term value proposition becomes murkier when you factor in the DS923+’s PCIe expansion, broader drive compatibility, and the potential price drops that will follow its ageing status in Synology’s lineup. In short, the DS925+ is the better NAS on day one—more powerful, faster, and quieter. But if you’re planning for day 1,000, it’s worth pausing to consider whether the expandability and media flexibility of the DS923+ may be a better fit for your storage and networking needs over the next five to seven years.

Synology DS925+ NAS		Synology DS923+ NAS
Check Amazon in Your Region for the Synology DS925+ NAS	Check B&H for the Synology DS925+ NAS	Check Amazon in Your Region for the Synology DS923+ NAS	Check B&H for the Synology DS923+ NAS

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Synology is closing the gap on third-party hard drive support further in 2025

UPDATE 4 – The Synology DS925+ NAS is NOW LIVE, and that means that the extent to which you can use 3rd Party HDDs and SSDs on the 2025 series (at the time of writing) a now alot clearer. As it stands, it means the following:

If you use Synology 1st Party Drives – Everything is EXACTLY the way it was with Initialization, Storage Pool Creation and System operations:

As discussed on the videos and articles here on NASCompares, if you use HDDs that are NOT on the 2025 generation Synology NAS compatibility list, you will be able to initialize the system out of the box. This is a digniicant departure from when Synology alloed you to install DSM on unverified storage drives on other devices, but did so with warnings and disclaimers during the Storage Pool and Volume setup:

If you have an existing Synology NAS with HDD/SSD that are/were on the compatibility list of your older system, but are currently NOT on the 2025 generation Synology NAS (ie the DS925+, DS1525+, DS1825+, DS225+, DS425+, etc), you CAN still physically migrate the drives and your DSM setup over to the new system – however the system will show multiple ‘At Risk’ and ‘Warning ‘ signs across the board, and Red and Amber text/icons will appear at numerous points in the storage manager. So this is a little jarring to say the least, and if you are a System Installer or hired IT admin that upgrades a client’s setup via this method, defintely take the time to soften the blow with your ‘end user’ if they will be accessing DSM down the line – as it does look very alarming.

Interestingly (and importantly – at the time of writing!), if you install SATA SSDs in the DS925+ 2025 series device (despite them not being listed currently on the Synology media supported compatibility tests) these seemingly let you continue with your DSM installation as normal. However, keep in mind that much like when you physically migrate drives from an older Synology system, that if the SATA SSDs you are using are still not on the 2025 generation device compatibility lists, it will still the same amber and red warnings as before:

Additionally, some users wondered about whether you could expand an exxisting Synology Storage Pool that featured verified drives with an unverified 3rd party HDD after the DSM installation was complete. Sadly, the answer is ‘no’, and choosing the expansion option in the Synology Storage manager when you have the unverified drive installed will show the available drive, but the option to initiate a storage expansion will result in a pop up message telling you that the drive media is not suitable/verified:

When it comes to M.2 NVMes – Synology have strictly adhered by the same support and compatibility stance as they did on the SATA HDD support mentioned above, but also adding that the 2025 generation of devices will not be able to use 3rd Party m.2 NVMe SSDs (that are not on the compatibility list, which is only their own SNV series of drives at the time of recording) for both storage pools AND caching – the latter of which was always possible even with unverified M.2 SSDs.

I am currently running other tests. Synology do say that they are working with WD and Seagate (and others?) to get further drives verified – moving drive verification processes over to the drive media companies themselves. However this does still mean that, at the time of writing, the Synology DS925+ (and any other 2025 series devices that roll out in the very near future) with only the Synology branded drives as a choice.

UPDATE 3 – Synology has now made the DS925+ NAS NAS Product Page live in several of the Eastern regions (China, Australia, Japan – not the Taiwan page yet however). With it, we can now see the official compatibility pages. On the hard drive page there is now only Synology Drive media, and the option to select supported 3rd party HDD choices is removed. For all we know, this will return if/when 3rd party drives from WD and Seagate are verified. But at least for now, it seems the brand is serious about only recommending its own storage media in their 2025 systems at launch:

The full list of drives includes the Synology Plus series of HDDs, the Enterprise class drives and the enterprise class SATA SSDs. However, there are currently no Surveillance class drives listed (WD Purple/Seagate Skyhawk, etc):

In terms of M.2 NVMe SSD support, the brand has also removed any selection of 3rd party SSDs from Samsung, WD, Seagate, etc. I am particularly surprised about this, as their own M.2 drives are good for durability, but performance-wise are much lower than most in the market and whether it is as caching drives or as storage pools, there are definitely a lot of good options in the market. I hope Synology roll out some performance class SSDs to compensate for this very soon.

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UPDATE 2 (22/04) – I have been in communication with several representatives from Synology regarding this matter to get further clarification on this from them. 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. As of April 2025, the list will consist of Synology drives. Synology intends to constantly update the Product Compatibility List and will introduce a revamped 3rd-party drive validation program.” 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.

 

Original Article:

Over the last few years, Synology have not been exact about being forward in supporting. Back in 2021, we started to see the brand reduce the number of third-party hard drives and SSDs on their systems. This diminishing support has manifested itself in two main ways. The first is that drives that are listed on the official support and compatibility pages have significantly reduced, favouring the utilisation of their own growing range of hard drives and SSD media. The second way this has presented itself drew significant criticism in 2022/2023, when utilising third-party hardware resulted in the system presenting warning messages and even service limitations being suggested. It appears that this is something they are putting into force for their new 2025 series of devices. Numerous websites in Germany have today reported that Synology plans to go full first-party drive priority on all systems released from the 2025 generation and onwards. An official statement from Synology via an official source has not been released, but it appears that the brand is going to go hard on pushing their own drives when using their own systems – at least at launch. So, what are the intended limitations for those who want to use non-Synology branded drives from Seagate and Western Digital? And why would Synology do this with their systems that have been open for over 25 years? Let’s discuss.

UPDATE #2 – There is now an official press release by Synology on this, available from Synology.de:

Synology is increasingly relying on its own ecosystem for upcoming Plus models Germany, Düsseldorf – April 16, 2025 – Following the success of the High-Performance series, the company is now increasingly relying on Synology’s own storage media for the Plus series models, which will be released starting in 2025. Users will thus benefit from higher performance, increased reliability, and more efficient support.  “With our proprietary hard drive solution, we have already seen significant benefits for our customers in a variety of deployment scenarios,” said Chad Chiang, Managing Director of Synology GmbH and Synology UK. “By expanding our integrated ecosystem to the Plus series, we aim to provide all users—from home users to small businesses—with the highest levels of security and performance, while also offering significantly more efficient support.”  For users, this means that starting with the Plus series models released in 2025, only Synology’s own hard drives and third-party hard drives certified according to Synology’s specifications will be compatible and offer the full range of functions and support.

There will be no changes for Plus models released up to and including 2024 (excluding the XS Plus series and rack models). Furthermore, migrating hard drives from existing Synology NAS to a new Plus model will continue to be possible without restrictions.  The use of compatible and unlisted hard drives will be subject to certain restrictions in the future, such as pool creation and support for issues and failures caused by the use of incompatible storage media. Volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analysis, and automatic hard drive firmware updates will only be available for Synology hard drives in the future.  Tight integration of Synology NAS systems and hard drives reduces compatibility issues and increases system reliability and performance. At the same time, firmware updates and security patches can be deployed more efficiently, ensuring a high level of data security and more efficient support for Synology customers.

TL;DR: Synology to Restrict Third-Party Drive Functionality on 2025+ NAS Models

Starting with the 2025 generation of Synology Plus series NAS devices, the company appears to be tightening restrictions on third-party hard drives. While you’ll still be able to use non-Synology drives (like those from Seagate or WD), early reports suggest that certain features may be limited or disabled unless you’re using Synology-branded or Synology-certified drives. According to preliminary reporting (not yet officially confirmed by Synology), using third-party drives may restrict (i.e several news reports indicate this, but no official statement/confirmation yet):

• Creation of storage pools

• Access to health monitoring tools

• Volume-wide deduplication support

• Drive lifespan analysis

• Automatic firmware updates

• Access to official Synology support

Older NAS models (up to and including 2024, excluding XS+ and rackmount units) are not affected. Drive migration from existing systems to new ones should remain possible — but full functionality may require Synology drives.

Source – HERE (or click below)

What are the proposed limitations of using third-party hard drives in the Synology 2025 lineup?

Although the brand themselves, at the time of writing, has not officially stated that devices after the 2025 series will only support their drives, sources highlighted on numerous news outlets have detailed that a number of key storage features and functionality are going to be limited. These include health monitoring tools, deduplication features built into DSM, official support from the brand in some cases, and (most worrying of all if it’s true) storage pool support. I’m still waiting for further clarification if this storage pool support limitation to first-party drives is only referring to the use of M.2 NVMEs in storage pools (something we are already aware of from the 2023 series), or whether people are not going to be able to use third-party hard drives in storage pools moving forward in 2025 series releases. But it would seemingly very much indicate the latter. It’s also worth highlighting that this limitation seems to be a ‘launch’ choice and may also mean that drives are granularly added to the supported pages as the likes of WD and Seagate submit compatibility reports. But the message seems to be that Synology themselves will not be the ones who verify the drive compatibility.

It should also be worth highlighting that users who have purchased devices before the 2025 lineup will not be currently affected by this change and will continue to have broader support of third-party hard drives, although even that has diminished since 2021–2022 as it stands. This does bring into question for some whether this broader policy is something that would be applied in a large-scale DSM update down the road, i.e. DSM 7.3 or DSM 8. For now, until we have an official statement from the brand or access to compatibility lists for the intended new products, we need to reserve our full judgement.

Why would Synology reduce compatibility with the majority of third-party hard drives (Seagate and WD)?

There are plenty of reasons why Synology would consider a move like this, for good and for bad. So in the interest of balance, let’s start positive. What are the good reasons why Synology would endeavour to only support the use of their own storage media in their systems?

• To a much smaller group, it allows them to tailor performance and system deployment expectations a great deal more realistically and could result in improved overall performance for all users, as it allows the development of future solutions to be significantly more targeted.
• If Synology solutions only support Synology drives, it allows the brand to be a great deal more effective at reducing the TCO of the system to buyers, as it will be an all-in-one party solution and even opens the door to the brand rolling out bundled systems that will further reduce the total cost of ownership.

• Export costs in the US — Synology centralising the full component list of their products to the end user can also allow them to better absorb any potential costs efficiently and hopefully pass those cost savings onto the consumer, reducing reservations on purchasing the product in light of potential price hikes.
• Support will be a great deal more specialised if end user deployments have fewer variables to consider, resulting in reduced support resolution times and potentially improved support services as an end result for all users.

Beyond the other potential benefits, they will be considering this proposition to drastically reduce third-party hard drive compatibility and utilisation in the 2025 lineup:

• In a word, profit. Having their own storage hard drives as the main — and potentially only — storage option alongside their systems will allow the brand to make profit vertically across the product deployment. For a long time, the brand was only really monetizing the core system itself, which is really only going to be replaced every 7 to 10 years for most users. Storage media, given the escalating growth rate of people’s data, will require a great deal more regular replacement.

• If Synology storage media is largely the only option to buyers, the brand has a greater degree of control over which products are available. So, for example, currently Synology has fewer different capacity tiers and drive variation tiers compared with other brands (i.e. 24TB drives, surveillance-optimized drives, M.2 NVMEs built for performance, etc.), so in some cases a user may have to opt for a larger capacity or a more enterprise-class drive when they might not need to.

• Eliminates smaller-scale purchases. This is a particularly cynical point of view, I know, but a move like this will almost certainly push value series devices significantly more towards the likes of the BeeStation (which are already pre-populated and fixed with Synology storage media) and away from the Plus series, as a divide begins to appear in terms of the overall total purchase price for many users. Alongside upselling their value series to that buyer tier, it will also move only more serious buyers towards the Plus series and higher from 2025 onwards.

All of the above reasoning towards why Synology would prioritise their own drives over that of third parties are my own points of view, but I do think there’s a ring of truth in some of them.7

What are the potential problems surrounding Synology’s push toward its own storage media over third-party drives?

There are several small issues that are worth highlighting in this broader plan of Synology hard drive prioritisation that we should probably touch on — and hopefully ones that Synology themselves will resolve quickly if this is something they’re going to push hard on. Such as:

• The brand inadvertently revealed earlier this year that they are working on a 6 x 2.5-inch SATA SSD system called the DS-625 Slim. However, the only 2.5-inch SATA SSD media the brand has are way too enterprise — the SAT5200 series — and would be like putting a Ferrari engine into a Ford Focus in terms of the disparity in the hardware being used and the price point!

• Synology has still yet to introduce higher-performing M.2 NVMe storage media, and although several of the new 2025 series of devices arrive with M.2 NVMe support, Synology’s own M.2 SSDs prioritise durability over performance. That is a good thing, but users who are not going to be able to use third-party SSDs for caching or storage pools face being restricted to much lower-performing SSDs in these bays.

• How will the system identify the use of third-party drives, and to what extent are these drives going to be limited? Although lots of details have been revealed in the news reports today, we’re still yet to see a full detailing from Synology themselves on an official platform.
• Surveillance utilisation. Synology has an impressive range of surveillance solutions in the NVR and DVA series, as well as support for Surveillance Station on the majority of their systems, but to date, the brand still does not have surveillance-optimised hard drives in its lineup. Surveillance-optimised hard drive media like WD Purple are designed to have much higher write performance leveraging rather than read, and surveillance drives are generally only accessed for a very small percentage of the time when in use. Will third-party drive limitations extend to these systems as well?

I’m still waiting on an official Synology response on this matter, as there have been early indications (such as the Synology DS925+ Amazon.co.uk link 2 days ago) that indicate some of these systems may be arriving in May 2025 — not that far away! So, until we have full and officially backed confirmation on this, still treat it with a grain of salt. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disheartened by this move by the brand, as although their software is still absolutely the king of the hill in the world of NAS, further restrictions on their more modest hardware to only use their own range of hard drives — versus that of more widely available, globally distributed, and industry veteran–backed drives — seems a very odd move, and one that I think a lot of home/prosumer/enthusiast/SMB users might take issue with.

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‘Used Seagate EXOS HDDs Missold as ‘New – Other Drives Implicated

Now would be a very good time to check any hard drives you’ve purchased in the last 12 to 24 months! Recent reports from popular German news outlet Heise have raised increased reports of refurbished and modified SMART-reported drives being sold as brand new, leading to large concerns of widespread ex-cryptocurrency-burnt drives being sold through trusted business and domestic retailers. Although the scope of the issue seems to be largely focused on Seagate Exos data center-class drives, because of the wide-ranging drives that were used in Chia cryptocurrency mining several years ago, there is an increased likelihood that other large-capacity and high-durability drives should be considered, thanks to the relative ease of firmware modifications and larger quantities of HDDs being resold off the back of 5 year durabilities lines being crossed by the original coin miners!

UPDATED 20/02/25 (video HERE)

Reports are now arriving that Seagate Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro modified/mis-sold HDDs are now also affected. The extent to this is still too early to confirm, but the latest reports from Heise indicate that 8TB and 16TB HDDs have been highlighted.

Further reports from ComputerBase via a community member fanatiXalpha provided further evidence and indications of this via the images from the original article here:

REAL HDD	FAKE HDD

In this video I discuss multiple ways to initially identify issues with a ‘new’ Seagate Ironwolf HDD that do not involve connecting the HDD to a system. Later in this article cover several more methods that require connecting the drive to a NAS or general client system.

Another Example of a Fake HDD from user Busse:

Original Article:

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The Missold Hard Drive Issue – TLDR

• Check Your HDDs – Reports indicate used Seagate Exos hard drives are being sold as new, particularly 12TB-18TB models.

• Firmware Manipulation – SMART data shows zero usage, but deeper FARM tests reveal 15,000-50,000 hours of prior use.

• Widespread Issue – Over 200 reports from buyers in Germany, Japan, Australia, and other regions, spanning multiple retailers.

• Crypto Mining Connection – Many affected drives likely came from Chia cryptocurrency farms (2018-2022) and re-entered the market fraudulently.

• Tampering in Supply Chain – Drives may have been repackaged and resold by wholesalers and distributors, bypassing Seagate’s official channels.

• Retailers & Seagate Respond – Some retailers are issuing refunds/exchanges. Seagate denies involvement and is investigating the supply chain breach.

• Verify Your Drives – Use SMART, FARM, Seatools, and warranty checkers to confirm if your drive is genuine. Report suspicious drives to Seagate and your retailer.

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What has been reported on the Seagate EXOS HDD Misselling

Earlier in the year, Heise reported that they had received dozens of reports from users who had purchased brand-new, enterprise-class Seagate Exos hard drives, only to find that when receiving the drives, they had scuffs and marks on them that suggested they were used—and used en masse. Further investigation of the hard drives using popular firmware tools initially showed that the drives’ SMART data was indicating little to no power-on usage. However, deeper investigation with deeper drive tools went on to reveal that the firmware had been manually adjusted to hide the tens of thousands of hours that these drives had already accrued in use.

Usage on drives has varied from between 15,000 hours and 50,000 hours, well over five years of deployment and well outside the warranty and workload rating on these drives in most cases. What is interesting though, is that retailers that have been impacted by this, and in fact a wide-ranging number of German retailers, have been highlighted as sources of these drives. However, reported issues span outside of Germany and include claims from purchases made in Japan, Australia, and other parts of Europe.

Fingers are initially being pointed at wholesalers, large-scale resellers, and distributors who supply the traditional retail and e-commerce websites that most users would be eligible to purchase from. Depending on the retailer, and several have already been highlighted in the now over 200 reports submitted to Heise, the returns and RMA process does differ from site to site, but this does appear to be a growing issue that most users will not even realize they have been hit by unless they take the time to investigate the usage data on their drives.

Primarily, Chia crypto farming has been highlighted as the origin of most of these drives, with huge quantities of large-capacity data center drives being purchased in 2018 to 2022, when this emerging and less GPU-centric form of cryptocurrency was being mined. Brands such as Seagate, WD, and Toshiba saw extraordinarily high sales numbers during this period for these drives, and equally, domestic users ended up being negatively impacted by supply shortages and price hikes. It seems that a lot of these drives that have either been abandoned from previously pursued cryptocurrency setups or just simply swapped out for ongoing farming have now made their way back into the supply chain under the guise of being regular, new, out-of-the-box drives!

The distribution channels, wholesalers, and affected e-commerce websites in order to ascertain how these drives have entered the supply chain and to what extent it has happened. They issued the following statement:

“We are taking this matter very seriously and are conducting a thorough investigation. As explained in the previous statement, Seagate did not sell or distribute these drives to retailers. We cannot provide details of the ongoing investigation, but we suspect that these drives are new products that Seagate sold to customers and were later resold by them on the used market. In this case, we believe that the drives were remarketed somewhere in the used market supply chain and resold as new. We recommend that retailers only purchase drives from certified Seagate distribution partners, as purchasing from certified Seagate distribution partners is the best way to ensure the authenticity of Seagate products for retailers and their customers.

Seagate has processes in place to investigate these types of cases, with teams working proactively with our vendors to take action where necessary. Our security team also regularly works with local authorities to take necessary action. Many investigations are initiated based on anonymous tips and reports from partners and customers. These measures are designed to protect Seagate partners and end customers in an increasingly global marketplace.

We encourage anyone who suspects they have received a used drive marketed as new to help with the investigation by reporting the incident to us directly at [email protected] . In addition, customers who have doubts about whether the products they purchased match the claims of the sellers can access our warranty checker tool . Suspicious drives and/or sellers can also be reported anonymously through our Ethics Hotline .

We are grateful for the trust our customers have placed in us and are determined to do everything possible to maintain that trust.” – Provided to Heise.de in response to the 200+ HDD Claims HERE 7/2/25

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Which Hard Drives are affected/reported?

Currently, the bulk of aggregate reporting of this is going through the Heise website, and a lot of the submissions have been done via their anonymous reporting link, so exact model IDs are hard to track down right now. However, the bulk of the reported mis-sold drives appear to be Seagate Exos drives ranging from 12TB to 18TB. As mentioned earlier, however, the original reporting suggests that other drives have been highlighted by users. Realistically, it’s pretty unlikely that only Exos drives are going to be impacted as such. A wide-ranging procurement took place during the peak of Chia cryptocurrency farming, and pretty much any moderately durable, high-capacity hard drive was changing hands quickly at that time. This all does seemingly indicate right now that a lot of these drives are being offloaded with their firmware modified by one or a handful of bad actors, who likely are sitting on high quantities of the same hard drives. However, it would not surprise me whatsoever if over the coming months and years, we see spikes on affected drives outside of the Seagate Exos data center series.

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How Can I Check If My Drives Were Mis-Sold as New?

Tools:

• Putty Download Tools HERE
• Seatools (PC/Linux) HERE
• Smartmontools HERE
• DriveDX for Mac HERE

There are multiple ways to check whether the hard drive inside your system, which you purchased as brand new, is actually new. However, the suitability of each tool will depend heavily on the system type and operating system your drive is running on. Seagate’s Seatools application allows you to check and validate multiple data points on your hard drives. However, it is only available as a Windows or Linux client, as well as a portable version. That means Mac users, or those less comfortable with command-line tools, may find it difficult to use—not to mention users who have multiple drives deployed in systems without a suitable GUI or command-line interface for validity checks. Below, I’ve broken down recommended tools and commands that you can use to verify your drives, their power-on hours, and other critical details.

How NAS users can Check and Verify the usage of the HDDs:

NAS users who suspect their drives may have been mis-sold as new can verify their SMART data and power-on hours using various tools. Most NAS operating systems, including Synology DSM, QNAP QTS, TrueNAS, and UnRAID, have built-in SMART monitoring tools within their storage manager or disk health sections. These tools provide essential SMART attributes, including Power-On Hours (POH), Reallocated Sectors, and Drive Temperature. However, in some cases, the SMART data may have been manipulated to show zero usage, making further verification necessary.

For deeper analysis, users can SSH into their NAS and install smartmontools, a command-line utility that provides detailed drive health reports. Running the command:

smartctl -a /dev/sdX

(where X is the drive identifier) will display all SMART attributes, including power-on hours. However, if the SMART data has been reset or manipulated, users can check the FARM (Field-Accessible Reliability Metrics) values for a more accurate picture of a drive’s actual usage history. To retrieve FARM values, NAS users can use:

smartctl -l farm /dev/sdX

This will reveal true power-on hours, drive usage patterns, and whether a drive has been extensively used before being reintroduced into the supply chain.

For those using QNAP or Synology NAS devices without direct access to smartmontools, Seagate’s Seatools (Windows/Linux) can be used by connecting the drives externally via a USB or SATA dock. Additionally, Seagate’s warranty checker tool allows users to verify if their drive was originally part of a multi-drive batch—a red flag that it may have been previously used in a server or data center environment.

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How NAS Users Can Check SMART Data and Power-On Hours Over SSH (Including FARM Values for Verification & Integration with Smartmontools)

NAS users with SSH access can perform a deeper, more accurate verification of their hard drives’ SMART data and power-on hours to detect possible tampering. While many NAS systems, such as Synology DSM, QNAP QTS, TrueNAS, and UnRAID, provide built-in SMART monitoring via their web interface, these tools often rely on basic SMART queries, which may not reveal manipulated or reset power-on hours. By accessing the NAS via SSH, users can run Smartmontools directly, allowing them to extract FARM (Field-Accessible Reliability Metrics) values, which are not included in standard SMART logs.

To begin, users should SSH into their NAS and install Smartmontools if it is not already available. On Debian-based NAS systems (such as OpenMediaVault, TrueNAS SCALE, and some QNAP models running Debian Linux), install Smartmontools with:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install smartmontools

On Red Hat-based systems, use:

sudo yum install smartmontools

For NAS systems that do not allow package installations, users can still manually compile Smartmontools or install a Docker container that includes the tool.

Once Smartmontools is installed, running the command:

smartctl -a /dev/sdX

(replacing X with the correct drive identifier) will display SMART attributes, including Power-On Hours (POH). However, since bad actors can manipulate SMART data to show zero hours, users should perform an additional FARM query with:

smartctl -l farm /dev/sdX

Unlike SMART power-on hours, which can be reset, FARM values track long-term reliability metrics stored at a deeper firmware level, making them much harder to falsify. If there is a discrepancy between SMART-reported power-on hours and FARM-reported power-on hours, it strongly suggests that the drive has been used before but was manipulated to appear new.

Integrating Smartmontools into a NAS for Automated Checks

To automate drive health monitoring, NAS users can schedule periodic SMART and FARM scans using cron jobs or integrate them with the NAS system’s notification service.

1. Create a SMART Monitoring Script
   Users can create a simple script to check SMART and FARM values for all installed drives and log the results.

#!/bin/bash

LOGFILE=”/var/log/smart_check.log”

echo “SMART Check – $(date)” >> $LOGFILE

for DRIVE in /dev/sd[a-z]; do

    echo “Checking $DRIVE…” >> $LOGFILE

    smartctl -a $DRIVE >> $LOGFILE

    smartctl -l farm $DRIVE >> $LOGFILE

done

Save this script as smart_check.sh and make it executable:

chmod +x smart_check.sh

2. Schedule Automated Checks with Cron
Users can schedule the script to run daily or weekly using cron.
Open the cron editor:

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How Desktop Windows users can Check and Verify the usage of the HDDs:

Desktop users can verify the SMART information and power-on hours of their hard drives using several tools, including Smartmontools 7.4+, CrystalDiskInfo, and Seagate’s Seatools. The easiest method is using CrystalDiskInfo, a free GUI-based tool for Windows that displays critical SMART attributes, including Power-On Hours (POH), Reallocated Sectors, and Drive Health Status. However, if a drive has been tampered with, its SMART data may have been reset, making further verification necessary.

For deeper inspection, users can install Smartmontools 7.4 or later, which provides advanced diagnostics, including FARM (Field-Accessible Reliability Metrics) values, which can reveal the drive’s true runtime history. To check SMART data, open a command prompt (or terminal in Linux/macOS) and run:

smartctl -a /dev/sdX

(replacing X with the correct drive letter) to view detailed SMART attributes. If the reported power-on hours seem too low or suspiciously reset, users can retrieve FARM values by running:

smartctl -l farm /dev/sdX

This command will reveal the actual power-on hours and potential prior usage, even if the SMART data was modified.

Alternatively, Seagate’s Seatools (available for Windows and Linux) can run extended drive diagnostics, check SMART status, and validate warranty details. Users can also enter their drive’s serial number into Seagate’s warranty checker tool to confirm if the drive was originally sold as part of a batch, which may indicate prior data center or enterprise use.

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How Mac users can Check and Verify the usage of the HDDs:

Mac users can verify SMART data and power-on hours using Smartmontools 7.4+, Seagate’s Seatools for Linux (via a bootable drive), and third-party macOS utilities like DriveDx. Since macOS does not provide built-in SMART monitoring tools, users need to install Smartmontools via Homebrew by running:

brew install smartmontools

Once installed, users can check SMART attributes, including power-on hours (POH), by opening Terminal and running:

smartctl -a /dev/diskX

(replacing X with the correct disk identifier, which can be found using diskutil list). If the reported power-on hours appear suspiciously low, users can retrieve FARM (Field-Accessible Reliability Metrics) values by running:

smartctl -l farm /dev/diskX

This will reveal the true runtime history of the drive, even if the SMART data was manipulated to show zero or low usage.

For users who prefer a graphical interface, DriveDx is a third-party macOS tool that provides SMART data, health status, and power-on hours. However, DriveDx does not display FARM values, so Smartmontools remains the best option for deeper diagnostics.

Since Seagate’s Seatools is not available for macOS, users can create a bootable USB drive with a Linux live environment (such as Ubuntu), run Seatools from there, and check the drive’s SMART health and warranty status. Additionally, Mac users can enter their drive’s serial number into Seagate’s online warranty checker to confirm if the drive was originally part of a batch sale, which may indicate prior enterprise use.

It’s important to note that depending on your system, the directory paths and identifiers for your drives will vary significantly. So, even if 100 users all had the same hard drive model, if they deployed them in different NAS brands, desktop OSs, or even external enclosures, the directory paths and device names would be different. Keep that in mind.

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Are only Seagate EXOS Hard Drives Affected?

The Exos series drives appear to be taking the brunt of the reporting here. Realistically, if this flood of dubiously classified new drives is true, then the Exos series is definitely not going to be the only drives impacted by this. Moreover, Seagate was not the only hard drive manufacturer that was pumping out large-capacity hard drives at 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB during the peak of this particular crypto-mining industry change! I think it is only now, thanks to the correlation of reports by Heise, that any kind of through-line has been found that specifically targets one hard drive brand or model series. At best, it really comes down to the bad actors who are modifying the firmware on these drives having the financial incentive to do so on a larger scale on a different hard drive series that they happen to have their hands on. The modification process of the onboard firmware and SMART data on Seagate drives is largely identical to that of the process on WD or Toshiba hard drives, and therefore, it really once again comes down to a question of correlating reports of these fake new drives all being collected together.

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How Has This Happened? How Did Used Hard Drives Enter the Supply Chain?

You might not know, but when you purchase a hard drive from your local retailer, that retailer almost certainly does not directly receive their stock of hard drives from the hard drive manufacturer in question. Ordinarily, hard drives, like a lot of electrical components, have a pre-established supply chain that retailers and e-commerce websites have to follow when selling their goods. With the exception of OEM companies who can buy from further up the chain and cloud/data centers like AWS and Google who can even buy right from the top, there are technically four layers in the supply chain of hard drives.

1. The first part of the supply chain is the hard drive manufacturer itself, in this case, Seagate Technology, which manufactures the hard drives at one of its production facilities in numerous locations around the world.
2. The next step in the supply chain is the Regional Distribution Centers (RDCs). These are the hubs where the hard drive brand sends its manufactured goods to be distributed to numerous smaller distribution centers across different countries.
3. The next step is wholesalers and resellers. Sometimes resellers can also act as direct-to-end-user sales points, but the lines can get blurry depending on the quantity or device in question. Nevertheless, the majority of electronics and consumables (including hard drives) cannot be sold directly from this point to an end user and instead need to be funnelled to the final step in the chain—retail shops.
4. Which brings us to the final step in the chain—traditional retail outlets on the high street and the e-commerce websites you choose to purchase from. These are the ones you’ll be most familiar with, and unfortunately, a lot of these are the same retailers that end users impacted by these mis-sold hard drives have as their initial point of contact.

The issue is that these used hard drives, which are being falsely marketed as new, have been introduced into the supply chain somewhere between steps two and four. Seagate has not had any involvement in their reintroduction into the supply chain. Somewhere along the line, these used drives were inserted into the system, and that is what Seagate is currently investigating. The retail outlet where an affected user purchased the drive has more than likely been completely unaware that they have been selling used drives as new. In most cases, these drives would have arrived in sealed retail packaging, and the retailers would have been reluctant to open up supposedly new products for testing, as doing so would immediately devalue the product in the eyes of their consumer and business buyer base.

Therefore, it is going to take time for Seagate to find the smoking gun and pinpoint which wholesaler, reseller, or distributor allowed these used drives to re-enter the supply chain.

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Is Selling Used/Refurbished Hard Drives Illegal?

The sale of used, data center-grade, refurbished, or officially recertified drives is completely legal. Although Seagate, WD, and Toshiba would probably prefer to see the used hard drive market disappear, selling used drives is not illegal.

Many online retailers, including Amazon and Newegg, actively sell recertified and renewed drives—just as easily as brand-new ones.

The problem here is that these were used drives that were fraudulently mis-sold as brand new—and that IS illegal. In short, this is fraud, and the people selling these drives could be pursued for damages if customers lose data due to these drives failing far sooner than expected. That’s why any drive that isn’t new is required to be labeled as recertified, refurbished, or renewed. This ensures clarity for the buyer when making a purchasing decision.

That said, some sellers intentionally make it hard to determine if a drive is refurbished. For example, a Seagate IronWolf 12TB hard drive sold on Amazon’s “previously owned” listings might clearly state that it’s used—but it won’t mention that it was originally manufactured in 2017, meaning it could be 8 years old and already have tens of thousands of hours of prior use. It wouldn’t be so bad if the manufacturing date was displayed at the top of the listing, but instead, it’s buried deep in the product details. Bottom line: Selling used drives is not illegal. Selling used drives under the guise of being brand new is fraud—and highly illegal.

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Is This Seagate’s Fault?

In all honesty, one could argue that Seagate is responsible for selling large volumes of high-capacity, data center-class hard drives to the original cryptocurrency farmers. However, this would be no different than selling the drives to any regular SMB, just a question of large-scale volume. Seagate is not responsible or in any way officially authorizing the reselling of its hard drives under the classification of new storage media. Additionally, the official partners that Seagate chooses to sell its goods through have almost certainly sold these drives with as much authentication between them and the distributors/resellers as possible. It could be argued that Seagate should personally step in at the supply chain level further down the chain to periodically check the health and condition of drives—much like a hard drive secret shopper—but that’s really about it. Right now, as long as Seagate commits to investigating how this occurred and acts upon what they find to ensure that mis-sold drives don’t enter the supply chain again, that’s about as far as I think this can go in terms of blaming Seagate. Realistically, we can’t lose sight of the fact that it is the fault of the bad actors who modified these hard drives in an effort to recover the original money spent on them before Chia farming collapsed. Wherever the entry point was that allowed these drives to re-enter the supply chain, that is what needs to be identified and stopped.

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What Should I Do if I Believe my HDD was Missold?

If you believe that the hard drive in your NAS, server, or storage system was mis-sold to you as a brand-new drive when in fact it was heavily used, you need to contact your point of sale immediately. Tools such as Seagate’s own warranty checker allow you to enter the serial number of your hard drive into their database checker. Regardless of whether your hard drive is still under warranty, it will still highlight whether this is an official drive or not. Additionally, if you purchased a single drive that was sold as new, but upon entering the details into the warranty checker on Seagate’s website shows that this drive was part of a larger batch, this would imply that the drive you purchased was originally included in a larger server system previously—not unlike how a food or drink product is labeled as part of a multipack and not for individual resale. If a single drive that you purchased as brand-new is listed as originally part of a multi-drive system, it is highly recommended that you contact your retailer and/or raise this with Seagate directly for further investigation.

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Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions   Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

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