SHR vs standard RAID
Synology Hybrid RAID makes resilient storage forgiving — mix drive sizes, expand by adding a disk — while still giving one- or two-disk fault tolerance. Standard RAID wins on portability and parity choice.
From desktop to enterprise HA
DiskStation Plus
Mid-range · SMBThe mainstream desktop NAS — 2025 Plus models such as DS925+ (4-bay), DS1525+ (5-bay) and DS1825+ (8-bay) on AMD Ryzen. Btrfs, snapshots, VMs and the full DSM app suite for small business and prosumers.
Value & J series
EntryAffordable home/branch NAS for file storage, backup and media — fewer apps than Plus, but the same friendly DSM experience and SHR flexibility for first-time NAS users.
RackStation
RackmountRack-mounted DiskStation Manager for business racks and branch sites — RS-series 1U/2U units with redundant options, expansion bays and 10GbE for shared storage and backup targets.
FlashStation
All-flashAll-flash NAS on Intel Xeon (e.g. FS2500) for the most demanding shared workloads — virtualisation, databases and high-concurrency file services that need sustained low latency.
SA series & HA
EnterpriseEnterprise SA-series with SAS drives and active-active high-availability pairing for larger, resilience-critical deployments — the top of the Synology range for data centres.
Indicative positioning across the Synology tiers — confirmed to your spec on quote.
The software makes the difference
The DSM software ecosystem
DiskStation Manager is the real differentiator: Synology Drive (file sync/share), Active Backup for Business (free, centralised backup for PCs, servers, VMware and Microsoft 365), Hyper Backup, Snapshot Replication, Surveillance Station, Synology Photos and C2 cloud — all in one polished interface.
SHR — flexible, forgiving RAID
Synology Hybrid RAID lets you mix drive sizes without wasting capacity and expand a volume by adding or upgrading disks — far more forgiving than fixed RAID. SHR-2 adds two-disk fault tolerance. Under the hood it is RAID, so size it with our RAID calculator.
Btrfs integrity + snapshots
On Plus and above, the Btrfs file system adds checksums and self-healing against bit-rot, plus near-instant, space-efficient snapshots and Snapshot Replication for fast recovery and DR — a strong ransomware posture for SMBs.
Drive compatibility — get it right
In 2025 Synology tightened drive support on its 2025 Plus models (DSM 7.2 favoured Synology-branded/certified drives); DSM 7.3 later relaxed this so unlisted drives work again. We fit drives that are on the compatibility list so you keep every feature and full support — and advise honestly on the trade-offs.
Surveillance & private cloud
Surveillance Station turns a Synology into a capable NVR, and Synology Drive/Photos give you a private alternative to public cloud — useful for businesses that want data kept on-premises and under control.
UK supply, sizing & support
Servnet sizes the right Synology model, drives and licences for your workload, supplies it in the UK and supports it — and because we sell QNAP and enterprise arrays too, our advice on whether Synology is the best fit is genuinely impartial.
Synology NAS — common questions
What is SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID)?
SHR is Synology’s automated RAID management. It lets you combine drives of different sizes without losing as much capacity as standard RAID, and expand a volume simply by adding or replacing disks. SHR (one-disk fault tolerance) is broadly comparable to RAID 5, and SHR-2 (two-disk) to RAID 6 — but with far more flexibility. Underneath it is still RAID, so you can size usable capacity with our RAID calculator. Standard RAID 0/1/5/6/10 are also available if you prefer.
Can I use any hard drives in a Synology NAS?
It depends on the model and DSM version. In 2025 Synology tightened support on its 2025 Plus models — under DSM 7.2 they strongly favoured Synology-branded or certified drives for full functionality. DSM 7.3 (late 2025) relaxed this, so unlisted third-party drives are treated as supported again on those models. To keep every feature and full vendor support, we fit drives that are on Synology’s compatibility list (including CMR NAS drives) and advise you on the current position for your exact model.
What is Active Backup for Business?
A free Synology application that backs up Windows PCs and servers, physical and virtual machines (including VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V), file servers, and SaaS (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace) — agentless where possible, with global deduplication. It is one of the biggest reasons businesses choose Synology: enterprise-style backup with no per-workload licence.
Which Synology NAS should I choose?
For most small businesses, a DiskStation Plus (DS925+/1525+/1825+) gives Btrfs, VMs and the full app suite. For a rack, a RackStation. For demanding shared workloads, an all-flash FlashStation. For enterprise resilience, the SA series with HA. Tell us the users, workloads and capacity and we’ll match the model, drives and licences.
Synology vs QNAP — which is better?
Synology leads on a tightly-integrated, polished software ecosystem (DSM, Active Backup, SHR, Surveillance Station); QNAP leads on hardware breadth and the ZFS-based QuTS hero OS. If you value software simplicity and integrated backup, Synology; if you value raw hardware flexibility and ZFS, QNAP. We supply both, so our comparison is impartial — see our QNAP page.
Can Servnet supply and support Synology in the UK?
Yes — we size the Synology model, drives, memory and camera/licence requirements to your workload, supply it in the UK and support it alongside the rest of your estate, including configuring SHR/Btrfs and the backup strategy.
Size it, compare it, pick the drives
Which Synology is right for you?
Tell us the users, workloads and capacity — we’ll choose the model, fit compatible drives, set up SHR/Btrfs and backup, compare it impartially against QNAP, and quote it for the UK.
Industries Servnet supports with this stack
IT, storage, networking and cybersecurity for UK media, broadcast and post-production businesses — 4K fin…
IT, cybersecurity and managed services for UK central and local government, police forces, blue light ser…
IT, cybersecurity and managed services for UK registered charities, foundations and non-profits — donor d…
IT, cybersecurity and managed services for UK retail and hospitality groups — multi-site POS estates, sto…
Compare Synology NAS with other vendors
Servnet is vendor-neutral. Explore alternative and complementary platforms in the same category.