+- ASK NC (https://ask.nascompares.com)
+-- Forum: Q&A (https://ask.nascompares.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Before you buy Q&A (https://ask.nascompares.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=2)
+--- Thread: Question for Synology DS1522+ owners before I buy (/showthread.php?tid=12130)
Question for Synology DS1522+ owners before I buy - ralphaverbuch - 06-27-2025
Hi People
So I have a Synology DS214play. It's pretty old at this point but it's been a good unit.
I work from home (as does my wife) and we both need to store quite a bit of stuff. We do use Plex but I reckon I can get the encoding/decoding done at the client end on most of the dongles (Android TV) so I'm not too worried about the lack of hardware acceleration from an onboard graphics accelerator.
After mulling over the very latest restrictions placed on the latest generation NASs from Synology I'm very tempted to go for the slightly older five-bay 1522+ and mix and match a variety of hard drives I have floating around waiting to be brought back into use.
At home I'm on a fibre to the home broadband link of 300Mbps and I'm currently relying on Devolo wall plugs to feed the internet link around my home (or via wi-fi) so I do not think I'm going to need 10GBps Ethernet anytime soon (though I see I can upgrade if it were ever needed).
Two questions
1. Can I use any old NVME storage brand and can I make them storage pools - officially or not?
2. Ditto for the RAM. Do I have to use official Synology RAM and what is the unofficial/sensible expansion limit on this?
Thanks for any tips/insights/advice...
R
RE: Question for Synology DS1522+ owners before I buy - ed - 07-04-2025
Great questions — and good choice looking at the DS1522+. It’s still an excellent 5-bay unit, and you’re spot on about its strengths and limitations. Let me tackle your two questions:
✅ 1. NVMe storage pools:
Out of the box, Synology officially only supports using NVMe SSDs as cache (read/write) — not as standalone storage pools. And officially, they only certify their own branded NVMe SSDs for that role.
That said, many users have successfully installed third-party NVMe drives (Crucial P3, WD SN570/SN770, etc.) as cache with no issues — Synology won’t block you, though they may pop up a warning that the drive is “not validated.”
If you’re hoping to actually create a storage pool on NVMe, that’s not something DSM allows on the DS1522+. The NVMe slots are strictly for cache in DSM 7.x, even with unofficial drives.
✅ 2. RAM upgrades:
Same story here — officially they only support their own (overpriced) ECC SO-DIMMs. Unofficially though, the DS1522+ is quite tolerant. Users have reported running 32GB (2x16GB) of standard non-ECC DDR4 SO-DIMM at 2666/3200 without issues, though Synology only officially specs it for 32GB ECC max.
If you care about avoiding warning popups and having full compatibility, use Synology’s own RAM. If you’re comfortable ignoring the warning in DSM and saving money, Kingston, Crucial, Timetec and others make affordable, compatible SO-DIMMs that work fine.
Summary:
• NVMe: Third-party is fine for cache, but not usable as a storage pool.
• RAM: Third-party is fine up to 32GB (just avoid exotic high-voltage or non-standard kits).
If you’d like, I can even recommend specific models of NVMe and RAM that others have tested successfully in the DS1522+.
Best of luck — it’s still a very solid choice in 2025, especially if you’re happy to work around the Synology “approved parts” push.
RE: Question for Synology DS1522+ owners before I buy - ralphaverbuch - 07-04-2025
(07-04-2025, 01:56 PM)"Summary: Wrote: • NVMe: Third-party is fine for cache, but not usable as a storage pool.
• RAM: Third-party is fine up to 32GB (just avoid exotic high-voltage or non-standard kits).
If you’d like, I can even recommend specific models of NVMe and RAM that others have tested successfully in the DS1522+."
Thanks for the tips.
Please do recommend away - NVMe options & memory. Right now I'm not in a hurry as, compared to the DS214play, the 1522+ feels like a hot knife through the proverbial butter with its 8GB RAM.
However, if/when I want to run docker instances or start sharing it as a resource with others in my family, particularly remotely, (word and excel files, other documents, photos, music & video files), I think it would probably go some way to alleviating bottlenecks in the NAS at least. I recognise the speed of the ethernet and especially the fibre link to the house will be far more signiificant factors.
Anyway, does it matter if I get 1x NVMe for one slot or would it perform better if I use both? e.g. If I got one 200GB stick in one of the two slots versus 2x 100GB in both slots?
I just got the 1522+ and have four of the five bays populated. The first two with 6TB Ironwolf drives set as Pool 1 in SHR1 so they mirror each other and then a second pool I set up this morning with 2x 3TB older WD Green drives I had kicking about set up as pure storage volume (giving me about 5.4TB net). I guesstimate that my data needs will expand to about 2.5 to 3TB so thinking I'll still have 50% headroom for a while in Pool 1.
My thinking was to use this 2nd pool to specifically replicate the first pool's data files and folders (essentially all the documents and media files) for extra redundancy, though I'm not sure what's the easiest way to automate a selective folder duplication from Pool 1 to Pool 2? I will also be replicating Pool 1 to my old NAS as a separate backup so recommendations on the easiest way to do this are very welcome
Hopefully no faulty logic so far!
Cheers
R
RE: Question for Synology DS1522+ owners before I buy - ralphaverbuch - 07-08-2025
Still hoping for some suggestions/recommendations on the RAM and NVMe front for my 1522+
Cheers
R
RE: Question for Synology DS1522+ owners before I buy - ralphaverbuch - 07-24-2025
Helllllllllllllloooooooooooo?