I’m planning to by a DS1522+ (old machine DS713+ 2Tb SHR1) during the 2023 black week. My need for storage capacity is quite low, 2-4Tb. Today I run 5 static wordpress sites. With the new machine I want to have a small homelab where I can run VM’s, Docker etc. After viewing SpaceRex video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmyrlIYrhIE I had nearly decided to go for all SSD. The video does not mention what SSD’s to use, or give example of SSD’s that can be used in regard to the Synology compability list. Also it is difficult to find information on the net of what SSD’s use in their Sinology’s for data storage.
But I have started to hesitate and don’t really know what way to go (maybe a few HDD’s in one pool (Synology verified) and a couple of SSD’s in another where VM’s etc can run).
Any suggestions on third party SSD’s that I can use (WD Red SA500?) and any other tips for this use case?
TIP: Unless this is a hobby, don’t be the guinea pig. Use the drives on the approved list or pay up for Synology’s branded drives.
I run some 920+, all SSD, 4-2TB Samsung 860 EVO in one, and 4-2TB WD Red in the other, both types “approved”, both on SHR-2 with their fans set to Quiet Mode. I’ve been running these since Dec 2021 and am quite pleased. They run cool and quite at all times, never work hard enough to kick the fans up, use less energy than my old NAS with HDDs, and provide more throughput than my 1 Gb network can generate, so there’s no advantage to adding cache, etc.
Because my networks are 1Gb, they don’t come close to saturating the bandwidth. I could easily go to 10GB and still be solid with the SSD’s. I used SSD’s for longevity, quiet, cool operating temps, and the ability to upgrade the speed of my network, but with the 920+ that’s limited to 2Gb, so it’s never going to outrun the drives and they’re never going to work hard. That plus I didn’t need more space and I had room in the budget.
On the downside, the 860 EVO is no longer available. Originally, #2 had 4-2TB Samsung 870 EVOs (the 860’s were gone by the time I set it up) which were not “approved” and all four failed. That’s when I learned a lot about the validity of Synology’s approved list. Suffice it to say, there are valid reasons for it. They test the drives with the firmware listed on the actual models they list. Just because an SSD/HDD is approved for a model does not imply a different FW iteration for that SSD/HDD is approved. It’s likely OK, but not necessarily. They also sell their own private label SSD/HDDs that have special FW for them, and meet their exact specs. They provide FW upgrades for those, stand behind them during warranty, advance ship RMAs. etc. Those lists are on Synology’s website.
Thanks for prompt reply. Since the server will have both a “production” environment and a new homelab env. for hobby isn’t one way to go to make a mix of two storage pools, one with verified HDD’s and one with unverified SSD’s? Let’s say I have this setup and the SSD pool fails doesn’t that mean that the HDD pool and the server as a whole will work as usual?
The Synology compability list is hard to understand. I checked compability for WD Red SA500 SSD and at least DS1517+, DS620slim, DS918+ are compatible. I guess those systems all run at least DSM 7.1 today. So one can wonder why not other systems e.g. DS1522+, have the WD Red SA500 as verified. I guess that there is no connection between a SSD verified status and what system the DSM is running on, so the WD Red SA500 should run without problem on the DS1522+ (except for the warning message). My DS713+ is running DSM7.1.1 and has lots of SSD¨s in the compability list but DS1522+ has only verified Synology’s own SSD.
Maybe the more restrictive compability list is also a question for Synology of reducing the verification job in the jungle of HDD/SSD’s with different FW etc.
Regarding the WD Red SA500, can it be mounted in the tray as is or do one need an adapter?
