Synology Backtracks Allowing 3rd Party Drives – Synology has reversed its controversial decision to restrict third-party drives in its 2025 NAS lineup.
Synology Backtracks Allowing 3rd Party Drives – Synology has reversed its controversial decision to restrict third-party drives in its 2025 NAS lineup with the new DSM 7.3 update. This latest update now allows users to install and use drives from brands like Seagate and Western Digital (WD) without restrictions or warning messages, following significant backlash from the user community.
The original decision by Synology was to restrict the majority of their product range to proprietary Synology drives, which were somewhat higher in cost than other brands. While Synology’s own drives will still offer some advantages like deeper system integration, the core functionality of using third-party drives is now fully restored for most users. This is big news for Synology NAS users and has restored faith in the company for many, as the cost of proprietary drives was not feasible for most small office and home users.
This is great news for users wishing to upgrade to Synology’s latest line of NAS products, which have been crucial for the security industry for many years.
The current compatibility matrix on the Synology website is in the process of being updated with these new models as Synology works with drive manufactures to determine compatibility.
DiskStation DS925+
The DiskStation DS925+ is a great example for a small business and home office NAS devices that can store up to a massive 180 TB of raw video recording and file data when connected to a DX525 expansion unit. Without an expansion unit, its maximum raw storage is 80 TB across its four internal drive bays. The system also supports both internal 3.5″ SATA HDDs or 2.5″ SATA SSDs, as well as two internal M.2 NVMe slots for caching drives.
- With expansion: The DS925+ can be connected to a DX525 expansion unit, allowing for a total of nine drive bays and up to 180 TB of raw storage.
- Without expansion: The DS925+ has four internal bays, supporting up to 80 TB of raw storage on its own.
- Other storage options: It includes two M.2 NVMe slots that can be used for caching to improve performance, rather than for primary data storage.
Surveillance Station – Synology Backtracks Allowing 3rd Party Drives
Synology Surveillance Station (SS) is a video‑surveillance application developed by Synology. It runs on Synology NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices and transforms them into a full‑fledged video management system (VMS) / network video recorder (NVR).
It is available for free download from within the Synology DSM software that comes pre-installed with the device. You use a Synology NAS + Surveillance Station + compatible IP cameras to monitor, record, playback and manage your surveillance setup.
Key features & capabilities
Here are some of the major features:
- Live view & multi‑camera monitoring: You can view real‑time feeds from multiple IP cameras via web browser, desktop client or mobile app.
- Recording & playback: SS supports scheduling recordings, motion/event‑based recordings, timeline playback, search tools, etc.
- Broad camera support: It supports thousands of IP camera models (brands + ONVIF) so you’re not locked into one brand.
- Alerts & event management: Motion detection, missing‑object detection, zones, push notifications, etc.
- Security & privacy: Since footage is stored on your NAS (on‑premises) you have control over data rather than fully cloud‑based systems.
- Integration & add‑ons: Supports accessories like door controllers, I/O modules; add‑on packages for advanced features.
You can learn which drives are compatible with which Synology products on their website by clicking here. Go here to see heaps more great news articles from SEN.
