NAS Upgrade

[Enquiries]

I currently run a Synology DS216 Play NAS on my Gigabit network at home. After recently digitising all my old camera films and copied them on - it has simply ground to a halt. I really, really need Synology Photos to work so I can find people and places easily. I also have a lot of old videos I would like to put on there. My children also would like to access the photos remotely. What should I change or upgrade. I guess I'm thinking about the DS925+ as the latest but worried about migration, drive support and how my current back-up to Synology C2 works. :-( Any advice appreciated. Thanks Mark

[ed]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for reaching out.

It sounds like you've hit the limits of what the DS216play can comfortably handle, especially with Synology Photos and the increased volume of media content. You're absolutely right to consider an upgrade, and the DS923+ (I assume that's the model you meant by DS925+) is a strong candidate—it’s far more powerful, scalable, and better suited for the kind of workloads you're now dealing with.

Here are some thoughts to guide you:

1. Performance Upgrade
The DS923+ offers:

A big jump in CPU power (AMD Ryzen R1600 vs ARM in your current NAS).

Up to 32GB RAM support, which is helpful for Synology Photos and remote access performance.

M.2 NVMe SSD cache support and optional 10GbE networking (future-proofing).

This will greatly improve indexing, facial recognition, and responsiveness in Synology Photos.

2. Drive Support & Migration
You’ll need to be aware of Synology’s drive compatibility list, particularly for newer models like the DS923+. Synology is pushing users toward their own branded HAT5300/5310 drives—though you can still use others with some limitations (e.g., warning messages, no official support). If you want to avoid potential headaches, starting with Synology drives may be simplest.

As for migration:

If your current NAS uses Btrfs and the drives are healthy, you may be able to move the drives directly and perform a migration.

However, because of the significant jump in hardware and DSM version, I’d recommend a clean install and data transfer if you're not confident—this avoids weird compatibility issues and lets you start fresh.

You can back up your current NAS to a USB drive or your PC, then copy it to the new one.

3. Synology C2 Backup
Your existing C2 backup will continue to work. You’ll just need to re-link your backup tasks and re-authenticate your account in the new NAS. Synology C2 is tied to your Synology Account, not the NAS hardware itself.

4. Recommendations
With your £1000 budget (without drives), here’s a basic build idea:

DS923+ ~£570

2x16TB Synology HAT5310 drives (expand later)

Add more RAM if needed—start with 8GB and see how it performs for you.

Alternatively, if you want to stay within a tighter budget or avoid Synology’s drive restrictions, you might consider QNAP or TrueNAS options—but for ease of use and smooth family photo access, Synology is still the most user-friendly platform.