Synology to require branded drives

Ars Technica tells us that Synology confirms that higher-end NAS products will require its branded drives:

Popular NAS-maker Synology has confirmed and slightly clarified a policy that appeared on its German website earlier this week: Its “Plus” tier of devices, starting with the 2025 series, will require Synology-branded hard drives for full compatibility, at least at first.

By full compatibility they mean compatibility with the profit growths they expect. Since there are only three hard drive manufacturers, Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba, this is definitely for the profits:

An 8TB 3.5-inch HDD from Synology’s Plus line, the HAT3310, costs $210 on Synology’s web store. One of the original drives the HAT3310 is reportedly sourced from, the Toshiba N300, can be found for $173 at more than one vendor.

They claim existing models won’t be affected, but I don’t even believe it. All they need is firmware updates. Printer vendors have done it.

At least I know what brand not to buy.