NAS Drive Compatibility List
Data refreshed 2026-11-03 · automated daily pipeline
Which hard drives does your NAS actually support? Here is the official compatible-drives list (HCL) for every Synology, QNAP, Asustor, TerraMaster and UGREEN machine, plus UniFi's storage requirements — which drive part numbers each model lists, at which capacities, and which line to buy. Not a forum guess: every row is read from synology.com, qnap.com, the Asustor and TerraMaster compatibility pages, UGREEN's official compatibility tool and Ubiquiti's own documentation, refreshed daily.
If your drive is not on your machine's list, the answer changed in 2025: DSM 7.3 re-opened third-party HDDs on 2025 Synology desktop models, while rackmount and enterprise lines stayed strict. We break down what still requires a certified drive — and for sizing, start with our capacity picks, compare models by bay count or browse drives by how many machines list them. Choosing a brand first? Each vendor hub is a full brand guide — company background, product lines, software, strengths and who each brand suits. Running fnOS instead? Our fnOS drive guide covers the no-whitelist policy, and our fnOS official hardware guide covers Fnnas's own NAS line-up (EVO2, EVO4, BASIC4, EVO4 PRO, ME mini) — bays, 2.5"/3.5" fits, SSD options and fnOS install requirements.
Brand guides — pick your vendor
Every vendor hub doubles as a full brand profile: company background, product-line map, software ecosystem, honest strengths and weaknesses, and who each brand actually suits — then straight into the official drive lists.
Popular models
Synology models
QNAP models
Asustor series
Asustor publishes its compatibility list per series (e.g. AS 63/64), not per model. Each series page covers every model in it.
TerraMaster models
UGREEN NASync models
UGREEN's compatibility tool publishes a per-model drive list (DXP, DH, iDX, DX and HA lines). The list is advisory — off-list drives are not firmware-blocked.
UniFi storage devices
Ubiquiti publishes storage requirements (CMR, 7200 RPM, 5 V SSDs) instead of a per-drive whitelist. Each device page shows what qualifies and the drives other vendors list.
Most widely compatible drives
Ranked by how many Synology, QNAP, Asustor, TerraMaster and UGREEN machines/series list the part number — the safest picks for unknown or mixed setups.
| Drive | Brand | Series | Line | Listed on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MG04ACA400E | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 451 machines |
| WD1005VBYZ | Western Digital | Gold | Enterprise | 451 machines |
| WD2005VBYZ | Western Digital | Gold | Enterprise | 451 machines |
| MG04ACA300E | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 418 machines |
| MG04ACA200E | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 416 machines |
| MG05ACA800E | Toshiba | MG05ACA**** | Enterprise | 393 machines |
| WD4003FFBX | Western Digital | Red Pro | Enterprise NAS | 390 machines |
| ST6000NM021A | Seagate | Exos 7E8 | Enterprise | 389 machines |
| MG04ACA600E | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 382 machines |
| ST1000NM0008 | Seagate | Exos 7E2 | Enterprise | 381 machines |
| WD121KRYZ | Western Digital | Gold | Enterprise | 381 machines |
| ST4000NE0015 | Seagate | Enterprise NAS HDD | Enterprise NAS | 379 machines |
| ST2000NE0015 | Seagate | Enterprise NAS HDD | Enterprise NAS | 372 machines |
| ST8000NM0206 | Seagate | Exos X10 | Enterprise | 369 machines |
| ST10000NM0086 | Seagate | Exos X10 | Enterprise | 367 machines |
| MG04ACA100N | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 358 machines |
| MG04ACA200N | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 357 machines |
| WD141KFGX | Western Digital | Red Pro | Enterprise NAS | 355 machines |
| MG04ACA400N | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 353 machines |
| ST2000NM0033 | Seagate | Constellation ES.3 | Enterprise | 353 machines |
| WD40PURZ | Western Digital | Purple | Surveillance | 352 machines |
| ST6000VN0033 | Seagate | Surveillance | Surveillance | 349 machines |
| MG04ACA500E | Toshiba | MG04ACA**** | Enterprise | 348 machines |
| MN06ACA800 | Toshiba | MN06ACA*** | NAS | 347 machines |
| ST4000NM002A | Seagate | Exos 7E8 | Enterprise | 346 machines |
| ST1000NM0033 | Seagate | Constellation ES.3 | Enterprise | 344 machines |
| ST4000NE0025 | Seagate | IronWolf Pro | NAS | 344 machines |
| ST6000NE0023 | Seagate | IronWolf Pro | NAS | 344 machines |
| MN06ACA10T | Toshiba | MN06ACA*** | NAS | 343 machines |
| ST8000VN0022 | Seagate | NAS | NAS | 343 machines |
CMR vs SMR: which drives are SMR?
SMR (shingled) drives slow NAS rebuilds and cold backups to a crawl. Every rated drive series is flagged on its page, and the CMR vs SMR guide has the full table plus a part-number search — WD Red is the classic mixed line, IronWolf and IronWolf Pro are CMR throughout.
Popular drive series
Head-to-head comparisons
Compare by bay count
Every model at each bay size, across all six vendors, ranked by official drive-list depth:
NAS drive compatibility — quick answers
Where does this NAS drive compatibility list come from?
Every row is read directly from the vendors' own compatibility tools — Synology's storage-compatibility lookup, QNAP's compatibility list, Asustor's and TerraMaster's official compatibility pages, and UGREEN's official compatibility tool — and refreshed daily. Nothing here is a forum guess or user report.
Can I use a drive that is not on my NAS compatibility list?
It depends on your machine. Since DSM 7.3 (October 2025), 2025-model Synology Plus, Value and J series accept third-party HDDs and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs for storage-pool creation even when they are not on the official list — only drives on the incompatibility list are blocked. Rackmount, surveillance and enterprise lines still require listed drives, and M.2 NVMe caching remains restricted. See our guide for the full policy breakdown.
Why did Synology's compatible drives list get shorter in 2025?
In April 2025 Synology restricted new Plus-series models to Synology-branded and certified drives for pool creation, which shrank the effective choice and triggered heavy community backlash. DSM 7.3 (October 2025) walked most of that back for 2025 desktop models under the HCL 5.0 framework. Our guides cover what this means for each model line.
Which drive line should I pick for my NAS?
For 1-5 bay home units, NAS-class drives (WD Red Plus, IronWolf, Toshiba N300) are the safe match. For 6+ bay or 24/7 workloads, step up to Pro/Enterprise-class lines (WD Red Pro, IronWolf Pro, Exos, MG series) for higher workload ratings. Every model page on this site shows which lines its official list actually includes, at every capacity.
New to NAS storage?
Short guides written from the same official data — before you buy drives: