Synology NAS Died - What to Replace It with?

Munkeyalan on 27/05/2025 - 11:24

After shutting my 2-bay DS218+ down for a week, it now won't even power on. I've gone through the troubleshooting and tried a few solutions with no luck, so am looking for a replacement.

I'm considering another Synology NAS since I'm familiar with the software and have everything syncing with other devices in the house. The logical replacement is a DS224+ but my faith in the brand reliability has taken a hit.

Has anyone gone from Synology to another brand? When I bought mine the two best options were Synology and QNAP. Are there any new players I should consider? I've seen a few 'build-your-own' chassis on sale but as someone with limited tech knowhow, I don't know if this is a good option.

For background, I use it to back up photos and documents, download from Usenet and run a Plex server, including 4K content.

Computing NAS

Comments

  • oscargamer on 27/05/2025 - 11:35
    +2

    That's nothing wrong with Synology

    Get a newer model and hopefully you can simply put your old drives in it and it'll be like new

    • Munkeyalan on 27/05/2025 - 11:58
      +1

      Yeah I have everything backed up but the ability to migrate my drives to a new Synology is a massive plus.

      • FoxJump on 27/05/2025 - 13:34
        +1

        are your new drives also Synology branded? If not, i think you may be in a pickle with new models

        • Munkeyalan on 27/05/2025 - 13:40

          No they're WD and Seagate. I was going to get the 2024 model which is safe apparently. It's still a deterrent from investing further in Synology if this is the direction they're heading.

          • FoxJump on 27/05/2025 - 15:38

            @Munkeyalan: it's probably only one update away

            • gromit on 28/05/2025 - 17:26

              @FoxJump: wtf, I thought you just didn't know what you were talking about as no sane NAS producer would do that. but sure enough that is their plan. Personally my NAS has home built, it is 8 years old now so was thinking of off the shelf, but with that sort of BS I would rather stick to custom built with just a newer version of my current U-NAS case.

        • fatpizza on 27/05/2025 - 17:31

          I think if you're migrating drives from a previous Synology NAS then they'll still work in a 2025 device. They just shove constant warnings down your throat.
          Happy to be corrected on that though.

          • Drj55 on 28/05/2025 - 08:12
            +1

            @fatpizza: I couldn't believe it when I read that new synology units will only accept synology branded drives…even though synology don't even make drives so they've just stuck a sticker on another drive and marked up the price. Also correct me if I'm wrong but synology drives aren't super easy to come by in Australia so if one fails you have a nervous few day. This would seriously make me reconsider other nas brands when myv 918+ dies

        • skillet on 28/05/2025 - 23:40

          Synology drive lock bypass. Problem solved.

          https://github.com/007revad/Synology_HDD_db

        • trankillity on 29/05/2025 - 06:29

          That is such a nothing-burger concern. The new policy is basically "you get extra reporting if you use Syno branded drives". You can still use non-Syno drives.

    • Caped Baldy on 27/05/2025 - 17:18
      +2

      That's nothing wrong with Synology

      This won't affect OP but gives me pause.

      https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/synology-confirms-ne…

      • OzHan on 28/05/2025 - 10:25

        Same thing many enterprise storage vendors have been doing for decades.

    • PiratePete1911 on 28/05/2025 - 15:04

      Synology sold me a NAS back in 2015 that was later determined to have a faulty CPU in it and each time it died they would replace it with another of the same model with the same known bad type of CPU and they did this 3 times until the warranty was expired and just said bad luck go buy a new one.

      • faricity on 28/05/2025 - 15:36

        I had the same issue. Got a replacement with a similar serial number and it died a few months later. Got another with a very different serial and its still good today (well its turned off 80% of the year and needed a power supply replacement recently)

        Anyway turns out its easier for me to just use cloud services than worry about setting everyone in my family up.

  • Taxi01 on 27/05/2025 - 11:39
    +2

    if your drives are still working, you can put it in the same order, and it should continue to work. i had to replace my psu once with one of my 418… in saying that, between work, and home, our 5 Syno has worked for the past 10 years so I reckon it is reliable, if you prefer not to tinker etc with others that u have to assemble.

  • mboy on 27/05/2025 - 11:43

    How long did it last for, out of interest?

    • Munkeyalan on 27/05/2025 - 11:50
      +1

      I got it 7 years ago. It was reliable for 5 or so of those but there have been frequent unexpected shut downs and drive errors (with brand new drives) over the last 18 months.

      • McMaferMur on 27/05/2025 - 16:32

        mine bought second hand, in early 2012. no issue till now

      • BanannaMan on 28/05/2025 - 13:32

        Yeah I've had similar experience too

  • zoltanc on 27/05/2025 - 12:12
    +4

    Just be aware that Synology seem to be locking down which brands hard drives you can use in recent models:

    https://www.androidcentral.com/accessories/smart-home/synolo…

    I have a DS923+ and that is “restricted” with the brand of RAM and M.2 drives, though there is a script I can run to bypass that.

    Restricting the HDD models is next level lame. It can probably be worked around for now, but I’d be concerned about future updates.

    Other option is one of the other brands mentioned in the above article and then installing something like FreeNAS or Unraid.

  • evanssm2jp on 27/05/2025 - 12:23
    +2

    I went down the path of building my own using a Chinese 8 bay NAS case from Aliexpress and a hypervisor with openmediavault running as a VM with hdd's passed through so I can natively run other VM's as required then portainer/docker containers for everything else I want to run via OMV. I previously had an ASUS branded NAS that got cryptolocked - luckily I didn't lose anything too important but I figured branded NAS's that have internet based services running are a more likely target so managing linux updates and docker containers myself was safer..

  • ode1online on 27/05/2025 - 13:05
    +3

    Maybe the power brick is faulty, take it down to Jaycar and ask if they can test if its outputting a voltage. Might be a simple as replacing the PSU

    • Munkeyalan on 27/05/2025 - 13:10
      +2

      @ode1online Yeah that was the first thing I tried. I've had a heap of unexpected shutdowns so I thought it could be the power supply. I bought a replacement supply to test but got the same result.

      • rxjb on 28/05/2025 - 13:25

        loose power connector?

  • Make it so on 27/05/2025 - 13:57

    I just got a Terra Master two-bay one (F2-212; cheap model because I don't run much on it). It seems good in general, but it seems to have an issue where the drives never go to sleep. Known issue apparently.

  • YellowWiggle on 27/05/2025 - 14:01

    Any old hardware you have lying around and install xpenology+arc loader.

    You'll get to reuse anything you have and still be on DSM

  • vaper on 27/05/2025 - 20:43
    +1

    Don't buy a new Synology NAS. Synology are now locking their NAS to their own drives which are 4x more expensive than other drives (plus drives are not NAS rated drives). Even if you move your existing non Synology drive array to a new Synology NAS you are severely limited. This is my situation now, I am also on a SHR and the only way I can get out of my situation is to fork out thousands and thousands of dollars. Don't end up like me. Everyone seems to be moving to Ugreen.

    • PeterSnoot on 28/05/2025 - 08:49
      +1

      4x more expensive? Do you have a reference for that?

      • vaper on 28/05/2025 - 19:45

        Maybe a slight exaggeration, but not much. I paid $600 each for my 20TB WD Reds. The 18TB Synology Enterprise drives are going for $1400. But the point is with an open system such as Ugreen at least you have options and you can look for discounts because there is competition. By the way the Synology drives are just rebadged Toshiba drives.

        • PeterSnoot on 29/05/2025 - 08:43
          +1

          Ouch, I see what you mean. I has looking around the 8TB capacity and their pricing is more reasonable there. Like many others, I don't like the direction they are heading. Corproates wouldn't care.

    • OzHan on 28/05/2025 - 10:28

      Nothing new in the enterprise world. I don't trust Ugreen software. If I had to go down that path I'd rather install TrueNAS on a mini PC.

  • Mikefr on 27/05/2025 - 22:16

    Power supply is confirmed to be working, and it’s the Actual unit that’s faulty?
    Replacing the external power brick $60 ⬆️

    • Munkeyalan on 27/05/2025 - 22:44

      Yep buying a new power supply was the first thing I tried. It's funny, it makes the fan twitch when I plug it in so it's getting some sort of power. Just won't turn on.

  • shadyscab on 28/05/2025 - 05:56

    There’s been a couple of posts on this recently there’s a few solid quality Chinese NAS going cheap (Aoostar N100 2 bay from 250ish aud) they’re mostly bundled with windows so ideal for unraid or openxnology or whatever it’s called, one user specced out a custom build using an n100 itx board and a jonsbo case for around 600 without drives.

    Food for thought.

  • b00 on 28/05/2025 - 07:24

    My Synology cpu was affected by this issue https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/1/post/136284

    Added the pull up resistor as per the page above and it’s keep going again since 2014! Requires basic soldering skills though.

  • backpaqer on 28/05/2025 - 08:02

    Happy with my Synology ds1821+ but if it died I'd be switching to ubiquity

  • bargaino on 28/05/2025 - 09:28
    +1

    I've seen a few 'build-your-own' chassis on sale but as someone with limited tech knowhow,

    You don't need much tech knowhow to BYO these days. For a home hobbyist, it is a great option.
    Just get yourself a mini-PC with 2 or 3 SATA ports, and load up TrueNAS. https://www.truenas.com/truenas-scale/
    It will take a bit more time to set up, but is easy to learn. Like Synology, it uses Docker to add things like Plex.

  • Scumbag on 28/05/2025 - 11:18

    I had a DS1511+ that would POST but reset/reboot when booting up. When trying to diagnose, I found that it would boot if the Ethernet was disconnected, then after boot I could reconnect.

    There are discussions online about failing capacitors in the power supply. Wasn't keen on trying to fix that, and got an inexpensive replacement power supply on eBay instead. It wasn't hard to replace.

    I hope that helps.

  • ReaperX22 on 28/05/2025 - 12:05
    +1

    Def make your own if you've got the time/knowledge. It's definitely more involved but you gain full control/can also get more powerful hardware to be honest than the pretty weak CPUs they put in those units..

    Or go with low power and look at something like the ZimaBoard 2 and like 3d print/buy an enclosure that'll work with it. I plan to migrate to a mini rack eventually (DeskPi T0) and want to downsize from my 4-bay NAS (Also synology, also turned off due to the new synology branded HDD requirements), and evne migrate to a couple of SSDs, potentially in RAID0 for storage without the extra cost (ONLY used as a media server moving forward, so losing data isn't important here just an inconvenience..) And I ultimately want silence out of my rack, no more noisy/seeking HDDs XD

  • trankillity on 29/05/2025 - 06:34

    I have a DS423+ which is one of their last with the Celeron CPU for Intel QuickSync compatibility. This was highly desired because I use my NAS as a Plex server and as an NVR ingesting 5 video feeds. However, if I had my time again, I'd build from scratch and use Unraid to power it all. This would have given me the flexibility to constantly upgrade the hardware to suit my needs. Unraid seems to be the easiest to use of all the alternative NAS OS solutions, while also being very powerful and well-supported.

    As for your particular problem, no matter which way you go I would recommend trying to find a friend who has a Synology that you can borrow the shell to be able to back up/transfer from it to your new solution. Alternatively you could very easily get away with an Amazon return after you've done the swap.

    • Munkeyalan on 29/05/2025 - 15:36

      Good advice, thanks. I thought you could just slot the old drives into a new chassis and do a migration?

  • Lexar ANZ Chris on 29/05/2025 - 17:01

    I have a RS422+ running in my server rack, but my DS1512+ still working fine despite it is dirtier than the insides of my Dyson Vaccum.
    If it's just not power up, may be it's just power supply unit or the power adapter died.
    If you know any electronics repairer or you are handy yourself, you might be able to get it running again

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