Synology DS925+ only works with proprietary hard drives

The Synology DS925+ comes with a highly controversial feature: this NAS only works with hard drives from Synology’s own brand.

Normally, we would dive straight into the specs and features of a new NAS. But the Synology DS925+ is noteworthy for a very different reason. It’s the first model in the Taiwanese brand’s Plus series to introduce a hard drive lock-in. In other words, only Synology-branded drives can be used. If you try to install third-party drives, a significant amount of functionality is disabled — making it a largely pointless move.

This hard drive restriction follows an earlier limitation introduced by Synology for memory modules. Many saw this coming, predicting that storage would become the brand’s next cash cow. And indeed: as of all 2025 Plus models, only proprietary Synology storage is allowed.

According to Synology

The irony, of course, is that Synology doesn’t manufacture its own drives. It’s mostly a matter of rebranding with a new label and altering the model number in an EEPROM. Synology justifies the move with the following rationale:

“The DS925+ is the first NAS in the 25-series that is compatible only with Synology HDDs. This serves four purposes: strict drive testing ensures optimal compatibility, performance is maximized, system stability is improved via dedicated firmware, and technical support is simplified with a unified solution.”

Of course, that argument doesn’t really hold water — there are plenty of third-party brands that offer NAS-specific drives, which are cheaper, easier to source, and just as reliable. It’s disappointing to see a step like this being taken.

For those still interested: more information on the Synology DS925+ and its companion expansion unit, the DX525, can be found here.