KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 – Synology has officially announced that beginning with its 2025 Plus Series NAS models, only Synology-branded hard drives or certified third-party alternatives will offer full functionality and support. The company says this tighter integration aims to deliver enhanced performance, increased reliability, and more efficient customer support across its consumer and prosumer range.
According to Chad Chiang, Managing Director of Synology GmbH and Synology UK, “With our proprietary hard disk solution, we have already seen significant benefits for our customers in various deployment scenarios.” By applying the same strategy to the Plus Series, Synology hopes to ensure consistent security, streamlined updates, and superior technical reliability for users ranging from home consumers to small businesses.
The move, however, means users opting for non-certified or incompatible drives in 2025 Plus models may face restrictions such as limited storage pool creation, lack of drive lifespan analytics, and the inability to access firmware updates. Despite concerns, Synology has clarified that existing Plus models up to 2024 will not be affected, and drive migrations from older units to newer models will still be supported without restriction.
This shift toward a more closed hardware ecosystem aligns Synology with enterprise practices but has stirred debate among enthusiasts and long-time customers. While Synology argues the decision reduces support complexity and increases system dependability, critics view it as a step toward vendor lock-in that limits flexibility and raises long-term costs for users.
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