⚠ Do now
Synology NAS data recovery
Brisbane.
Storage pool crashed, power light blinking, or DSM asking to install.
A Synology joins its drives with SHR or classic RAID, both built on Linux RAID, and keeps your shared folders on a Btrfs or ext4 volume on top. We image every drive and M.2 cache SSD first, then put SHR and the volume back together in software, working only from the images. DiskStation, RackStation and FlashStation units, DSM 6.2 to DSM 7.4.
Decode your Synology’s light or message- Every drive and cache SSD assessed free
- One fixed written quote before work starts
- Your drives are only ever read, never written
- Free tracked post-in from anywhere in Australia
- 01Enclosure, board and power adapter
- 02Drives in numbered bays
- 03SHR: Linux RAID sets joined as one pool
- 04Btrfs or ext4 volume
- 05The shared folders you see
Drag the slider to lift the drives out of the Synology and slide them back, or open the story to see what Degraded and Crashed mean inside the unit.
Look closer
- Part 1 of 4
Four drives, one SHR pool.
SHR joins the drives with Linux RAID and puts one Btrfs or ext4 volume on top. Your shared folders live in that volume, spread across every drive.
- Part 2 of 4
Drive 2 drops out: Degraded.
DSM keeps serving files from the other three. Synology says no data has been lost at this point; the pool simply has no spare copy left.
- Part 3 of 4
Drive 4 goes too: Crashed.
More drives are out than SHR-1 can survive, the allocation status shows Crashed and the shares go offline. Synology says the owner can no longer repair it, but the files are normally still on the drives.
- Part 4 of 4
How the files come back.
Each drive is copied in full, the SHR layout is put back together from the copies, and the volume is read in software. Nothing is written to the drives you sent.
Who signs off every Synology job
Viktor Burcevski
Executive Data Engineer / Executive Forensic Consultant
Viktor reads the image of every drive and cache SSD that comes in, works out how DSM built the SHR pool, and checks your file list before anything is invoiced.
Synology work he leads
Crashed SHR-1 and SHR-2 pools, read-write cache sets rejoined with their hard drives, encrypted volumes opened with the owner's own recovery keys, and ransomware cases where the drives are kept as evidence.
0Writes to your original drives
1Drive an SHR-1 pool can lose before it crashes
13Synology lights and messages decoded below
15,000+Jobs since 2016
92%Recovery rate
The 20-second answer
What should I do if my Synology fails?
Is the data still there?
Usually. A failed drive, a dead unit or a broken SHR layer rarely touches the files themselves. Crashed means DSM can no longer repair the pool on its own, not that your folders are gone.
What do I do right now?
Read the exact word in Storage Manager or Synology Assistant, then shut down from DSM or hold the power button until it beeps, and number each drive by bay. Call first if a Repair is running or a crashed volume still opens.
What will it cost?
Every drive and cache SSD is assessed free and you get one fixed written quote with a time estimate. The price follows how many drives there are, how they failed and what was pressed since. Say no and you owe nothing.
01 Symptoms · start here
What is your Synology showing?
Tap the light or message you can see for the first safe move and the one button not to press. Every answer is checked against Synology's Knowledge Center, and the full explanation sits below the decoder.
Synology light and message decoder
Tap the closest match. The full explanations follow just below, in “Synology warnings, explained”.
Lights and sounds
Storage Manager
Synology Assistant, or your files
Your answer appears here.
The unit, not your files
Power light blinking, no drive lights
- Do now
- Give it 20 minutes once. Still blinking: power off and number each drive by bay.
- Do not
- Start it with only some of the original drives fitted.
Safe to check with the drives out
Power adapter light off or blinking
- Do now
- Take the drives out, numbered by bay, and run Synology's no-drive test.
- Do not
- Keep switching it on and off with the drives fitted.
Read the screen first
STATUS light orange, or beeping
- Do now
- Open Storage Manager and read the word on the pool and on each drive, then pick it here.
- Do not
- Silence the beep and keep writing to the NAS.
Then tap that word in the Storage Manager row above.
No Repair yet
Storage pool Degraded
- Do now
- Check every other drive's status. No restored backup? Call before you change anything.
- Do not
- Start Repair while another drive shows Warning, Critical or Failing.
Power down, send every drive
Allocation status Crashed
- Do now
- Photograph Storage Manager, shut down from DSM, number every drive and cache SSD.
- Do not
- Click Repair or Remove. Remove erases every drive in the pool.
Keep it on, call us
Volume crashed, but files still open
- Do now
- Call us. If you must copy, take only the few folders you cannot lose, and stop at the first error.
- Do not
- Power off mid-copy, or try a repair.
Getting worse, act now
Volume read-only
- Do now
- Take only what you cannot lose while files still open, then shut down from DSM.
- Do not
- Run a file system check or a repair on it.
Power down, send every drive
SSD cache crashed or missing
- Do now
- Shut down. Keep the cache SSDs with the hard drives, each numbered by slot.
- Do not
- Pull, replace or repair the cache SSDs on their own.
A warning about one drive
System Partition Failed
- Do now
- Check that drive's health and the pool's status. Anything not Healthy: stop and call.
- Do not
- Reinstall DSM or reset the unit to clear the message.
Call before you cut the power
A Repair is already running
- Do now
- Call us, and stop users and sync jobs writing to the NAS.
- Do not
- Pull a drive or cut the power mid-repair without advice.
Stop and call us first
Synology Assistant: Not installed
- Do now
- Close the installer, power down and number every drive by bay.
- Do not
- Click Install, or accept any prompt to format the drives.
Image first if there is no backup
Migratable, Recoverable or Configuration lost
- Do now
- No backup? Have the drives imaged first, because a reinstall writes to every drive.
- Do not
- Mistake these for Not installed, the status where installing deletes data.
Stop and call us first
Files renamed .L0CK3D, or a ransom note
- Do now
- Unplug the network cable, keep the note, and call before you power off, reset or update.
- Do not
- Reset, format or update first. Updating does not decrypt anything.
Questions, answered first
Synology warnings, explained
Allocation status: Crashed. Can the data be recovered?
Often, yes. Crashed means more drives dropped out than SHR or RAID can survive, or the file system broke, and Synology says the owner can no longer repair the pool. The files are normally still on the drives.
If files still open in File Station, Synology says not to power off and to copy the data off first. If they will not open, photograph the screen, shut down from DSM or with a short press until it beeps, and number every drive and cache SSD by bay.
Do not click Repair or Remove, reset, reinstall or move the drives into another unit. Remove erases every drive in the pool.
Storage pool Degraded: should I click Repair?
Not until the drives are safe. A Degraded pool has lost no data yet, but Repair reads every remaining drive across its used space, all of it once the pool is over 80% full, and that long read is when a second weak drive gives out.
Hidden bad sectors cluster and may not have been read since they were written. SHR and RAID 5 are Linux RAID, which drops a drive that stops answering for too long, so on a Degraded pool the second loss means Crashed. DSM also slows a repair on purpose, so the pool can sit unprotected for hours or days.
Do not start Repair if another drive shows Warning, Critical or Failing, or the files are not in a backup you have restored from. Image every drive first.
Can SMR hard drives crash a Synology array?
They can. A drive-managed SMR drive needs idle time to tidy its overlapping tracks; under the long writes of a Repair it can stall until Linux RAID drops it, with nothing physically broken.
In 2020 Western Digital confirmed its 2 to 6 TB WD Red drives used SMR and renamed its CMR range WD Red Plus, and iXsystems found the 4 TB WD40EFAX could fault during rebuilds. Synology tells owners not to mix CMR and SMR drives in one array.
Do not re-add a dropped SMR drive and press Repair. Check the model number of any replacement first.
Power light blinking blue, fans spinning, but no drive lights
Synology's LED chart calls a blinking power light “powering on”: the hardware is still starting, before DSM loads or the drives are joined. Stuck there, it is a hardware or start-up fault, not a problem with your files.
Synology says blinking for more than 20 minutes points to the motherboard or power supply; a USB device, add-in card, M.2 SSD or a weak adapter can also stop start-up. For the DS415+, DS1515+, DS1815+, DS2415+, RS815(RP)+ and RS2416(RP)+, Synology acknowledged a clock-signal component fault in 2017 and said it was not known to cause data loss.
Do not start it with only some of the original drives. Synology lists drives missing from a pool as a cause of crashes.
Dead mainboard or failing power adapter: how can I tell?
Synology's test needs no drives. Power off, take out the drives (numbered by bay) and any USB device, memory, M.2 SSD or add-in card, unplug the power for a few seconds and switch on.
Adapter light blinking or dark: the adapter is the likely fault. Adapter steady but the NAS still blinking after 20 minutes: the board or power supply. A steady light and a beep within about three minutes means the board works, and a unit that fails only with several drives fitted points to an adapter short of current.
Do not move the drives straight into a replacement if there is no backup. HDD migration writes to them, so image first.
Won't start after a power flicker or a DSM update
Every restart passes power, the bootloader on the unit's flash, then the system partition on every drive, so a weak adapter, a failing board or a damaged system partition often shows on the first restart after a power cut or an update.
A sudden cut can also leave file system errors, which Synology lists as a cause of crashed volumes, and Linux RAID normally refuses to start a RAID 5 or 6 set that was degraded and shut down uncleanly. DSM updates cannot be rolled back.
Do not retry the update, reset or reinstall. Check what Synology Assistant says first.
Can a failed M.2 or SSD cache make a healthy Btrfs volume unmountable?
Yes. A read-write cache takes new writes on the SSDs first and passes them to the hard drives later, and Btrfs metadata can be pinned to it, so Synology lists a crashed or badly removed cache as a cause of crashed volumes.
One SSD failing in a RAID 1 cache makes DSM write the cache back and stop caching. More failures than the cache's RAID survives, and Synology says data held only on the cache is lost. Same-age SSDs wearing out together, an SSD pulled early, or a forced migration can each crash the volume with good hard drives.
Do not pull, replace or repair the cache SSDs on a failed unit. They may hold writes the hard drives never got.
Synology Assistant says Not installed: will installing DSM wipe my drives?
It can. Synology says drives that suddenly show Not installed are not being recognised, and warns: “Do not continue installing DSM, or all data on the drives will be deleted.”
Configuration lost, Migratable and Recoverable are different: Synology says a reinstall for those leaves the data in the volume alone. Even then, image the drives first if there is no backup, because a reinstall writes to every drive.
Do not click Install on Not installed, or accept a prompt to format. Close the installer and power down.
System Partition Failed: is my data at risk?
Not from that message alone. The system partition is a small copy of DSM that Synology mirrors across every drive, kept apart from the volume your files live in; one drive's copy has failed.
Treat it as a warning about that drive: check its health and the pool's status, and make sure what you cannot lose is backed up first.
Do not reinstall DSM or reset to clear it, or pull the drive while the pool is Degraded.
Before you press anything on the Synology
Safe to do. Not safe. Call us first.
Safe to do
- Photograph Storage Manager, Synology Assistant and the lights.
- Note the model from the label underneath, and the DSM version.
- Number each drive and M.2 SSD by bay or slot.
- For deleted files, look in snapshots, the recycle bin and Hyper Backup.
- Find each volume's recovery key, but keep it out of the form.
Not safe
- Repair with another drive warning, or with no backup.
- Remove on a storage pool, or on an Available Pool.
- Install DSM when the drives show Not installed.
- The drives into a new Synology or a PC.
- Pulling M.2 cache SSDs on their own.
- Disk checks or recovery software on the originals.
Call us first
- A Repair is already running.
- A crashed volume still opens files.
- Files renamed .L0CK3D, or a ransom note.
- A read-write SSD cache was in use.
02 Costs
How much does Synology NAS data recovery cost?
It depends on the unit in front of us, so there is no flat fee. Each drive and cache SSD is assessed free, you get one fixed quote in writing, and walking away at that point costs you nothing.
No Data, No Fee
If nothing can be recovered, you pay $0 and your drives come back to you free. The exception is highly complex or forensic cases, whose fees are set out in writing before any work starts.
What moves the price on a Synology
Five things that change a Synology quote
Drive count and condition
A two-bay DS224+ or a twelve-bay rack unit: every drive is imaged in full, and one with a physical fault goes to the hard drive bench first.
How SHR was built
SHR across mixed drive sizes is several Linux RAID sets joined as one pool, and each set is rebuilt before the volume opens.
Encryption
An encrypted volume needs its recovery key, plus the Key Vault password if the vault was kept on the unit.
A read-write SSD cache
The SSDs are imaged too, and their pending writes are merged back into the pool.
What was pressed afterwards
Repair onto a weak drive, Remove, a reinstall or a move into a new unit all change the rebuild.
Before you pay anyone
Is Synology recovery worth paying for?
Only when the files exist nowhere else. A Synology often keeps free copies of its own, so look there first.
Look in DSM's own copies
Btrfs snapshots, each shared folder's recycle bin and a Hyper Backup task may already hold what you need. Restore into a new folder, never over the damaged one.
When it is worth it
Client files, accounts, CCTV footage or family photos that only ever lived on the Synology.
When it may not be
A backup you have test-restored already holds everything. The free assessment tells you either way.
03 Process
How we rebuild a Synology from images of its drives
Each layer DSM built is put back in the same order, and only ever on images.
1
Bays and slots logged
Each drive and M.2 SSD photographed and recorded by serial, bay and slot.
2
Physical faults first
A drive that will not read cleanly goes to the hard drive or SSD bench before imaging.
3
Full images
Every sector of every drive, through write blockers, onto lab storage.
4
SHR reassembled
The Linux RAID sets are read from the images and joined as DSM joined them, extra mixed-size sets included.
5
Volume opened read-only
Btrfs or ext4 read in software, snapshots checked, encrypted volumes unlocked with your key, cache writes merged.
6
Your file list, then delivery
You check the recovered files before paying, then they go onto a new drive.
04 Laboratory
Who works on your Synology drives
One Brisbane laboratory, our own engineers, and no drives sent overseas or to another company.
The engineers
Viktor (Dante) Burcevski
Executive Data Engineer / Owner
Runs each Synology job, from the first call to the file list you approve.
Martin Daniels
Electrical Engineer
Takes the drives that will not spin up or read, and their board and power faults.
David Williams
Co-founder · mobile & encryption
Unlocks encrypted Synology volumes and folders with the owner's own keys.
Need confidentiality? We sign an NDA on request, and on every forensic case as standard. Where the drives may be evidence, forensic handling applies from the first call, and companies can be invoiced.
Ask whether they press Repair
A lab that runs DSM's Repair, or rebuilds on your own drives, takes the very risk you were trying to avoid.
Ask to see the files first
The recovered file list, checked against the folders that matter to you, should come before the invoice.
What our clients say on Google
4.8 from 96 reviews
“Great communication with fast service, managed to retrieve all family photos and videos off a broken hard drive.”
“Excellent Data Recovery and re set up. Viktor goes above and beyond to explain everything regardless of how long it takes. After disasters through the years gone by with other so-called experts, it was stessfree and a relief to discover Wildfire. Excellent pricing and communication. ☆☆☆☆☆ Highly recommend 👌”
“Wildfire Data Recovery were fantastic to deal with from start to finish. Extremely responsive to any customer requests and we able to perform data recovery and phone repair where Samsung official repairer advised they would not likely be able to preserve the data. Very satisfied with Viktor and his team. Highly recommend 👌”
05 Start
Book a free Synology assessment
Tell us the model, the drive count and the exact word on the screen. Anything you added from the decoder is already filled in below.
Prefer to speak to us?
1300 806 55706 Delivery
Sending your Synology drives to the lab
Post the drives from anywhere in Australia on our free tracked label, or in Brisbane book a courier pickup within the hour for $85 (up to $120 further from the city). With four or more drives, call before you pack.
Shut down from DSM
DSM's Shut Down, or a three-second press until it beeps. Save the ten-second hold for a unit that will not respond.
Number bays and slots
Each drive gets its bay number, each M.2 SSD its slot, before it comes out.
Send the cache SSDs
M.2 or SATA cache SSDs go with the hard drives, removed only with the unit fully off.
Wrap each drive alone
An anti-static bag each, padding between them, and a firm box.
The DiskStation stays home
Keep the unit and adapter unless we ask for them.
Keys stay with you
Have recovery keys and the Key Vault password ready; never pack them or type them into the form.
Repair running
Call 1300 806 557 before cutting power.
Crashed volume still opens
Leave it on and call.
Assistant says Not installed
Close it. Do not install.
Thinking of a PC test
Please do not: Windows may offer to initialise them.
07 Answers
Questions about Synology recovery
What Synology owners ask us most, answered from Synology's own documents and drive-failure research.
Data and lifespan: same-batch failures and ageing disks
How many years do hard drives last in a Synology running 24/7?
There is no safe age. In Backblaze's 2025 analysis of about 317,000 drives running around the clock, failure rates stayed fairly flat for most of a drive's life and peaked at 4.25% a year at about ten years; its 2021 analysis peaked at 14.24% at about seven years and nine months.
A small office NAS is not a data centre, so your drives' model, age and warnings matter more than fleet averages. The real double-failure risks are a set of same-age drives, one already on Warning, and a pool left Degraded. Synology recommends data scrubbing twice a year; we add planned replacement and a backup you have test-restored.
Why do drives bought together fail within hours of each other during a rebuild?
Same model, same age, same hours and heat: their failures are not independent. A study of drive replacements in large fleets found significant correlation between them, and Backblaze says drives bought in bulk can fail in a cluster when a model has a problem.
A rebuild then reads every used sector of every survivor, often the first full read in years without regular scrubbing, which is when hidden bad sectors surface. The second failure is usually a drive that was already weak, so image first and rebuild only from the images.
Playbook and emergency triage: what not to do
What exactly should I do the moment my Synology storage pool crashes?
- Check File Station. If files still open, Synology says not to power off: call us, and copy only the folders you cannot lose, stopping at the first error, noise or slowdown.
- If nothing opens, stop using the NAS and photograph Storage Manager and the lights.
- Shut down from DSM or with a short press until it beeps. Not at the wall, and not a ten-second hold.
- Number every drive by bay, including M.2 cache SSDs and any drive pulled earlier.
- Leave Repair, Remove and Install DSM alone, and do not reset, update, move the drives, or run disk checks or recovery software on them.
- Have every drive imaged. Synology says a crashed volume cannot be repaired, and sends owners whose data will not read to a data recovery company.
Will putting my old drives into a brand-new Synology recover a crashed SHR volume?
No. HDD migration carries the pool across unchanged, so a Crashed pool arrives crashed, and Synology still says a crashed volume cannot be repaired.
The move also writes DSM onto every drive and keeps the newer DSM version. It fails outright if the new model lacks Btrfs (Synology says the volumes then cannot be mounted), if a 2025 model refuses the drives, or if a read-write cache needed removing first. For a crashed SHR volume, image the drives before they go into anything.
Should I try recovery software, or Synology's spare-drive method, first?
For deleted files on a healthy Synology, try snapshots, the recycle bin and Hyper Backup, restoring into a new folder. For a crashed or degraded pool, no: software needs every drive attached and SHR reassembled before it can see a file, and Synology's spare-drive method writes the system partition to your original drives.
Do I need to send the whole Synology, or just the drives?
Usually just the drives and any cache SSDs, each numbered by bay or slot. Keep the unit and adapter until we have spoken.
Can you recover an encrypted Synology volume?
Yes, with the keys. Each encrypted volume needs its recovery key, and the Key Vault password if the vault was set to Local. Skipping the vault password after a migration erases the vault, leaving each volume locked until its recovery key is entered.
How long does Synology data recovery take?
Most jobs take 12 to 15 business days. Complex ones take longer, because slower methods are needed to reach the data, and your written quote gives the estimate for your unit.
What do I pay if nothing can be recovered?
$0, under our No Data, No Fee policy: you get a plain account of what we found, and your drives come back free by tracked post or for collection. The exception is highly complex or forensic cases, whose fees are set out in writing before any work starts. Read our No Data, No Fee policy.
08 Learn
Synology security watch, and what has changed
Ransomware, critical advisories and company changes that matter when a Synology fails, newest first, from Synology's own advisories and press releases.
Security watch · last checked 15 November 2026
Ransomware and critical advisories on Synology
- 10 Nov 2026
CriticalSA-26:19: a no-login file access flaw, and new minimum builds
Synology rates CVE-2026-76954 at 9.8: a flaw in DSM's Auth API that lets an attacker with no login read or write files. It also fixes an rsync login bypass, with no workaround listed. Run at least these builds, released 12 October 2026:
DSM branch Minimum build DSM 7.4 7.4.1-90080 Update 1 DSM 7.3 7.3.2-86009 Update 5 DSM 7.2.2 7.2.2-72806 Update 10 DSM 7.2.1 7.2.1-69057 Update 13 DSM 7.2, 7.1, 6.2 No fix listed - 8 Nov 2026
ImportantSA-26:17 Plex2Shell: update the Plex package
Four flaws in the Plex Media Server package, fixed in version 1.43.5.11079. Packages update separately from DSM.
- 29 Oct 2026
RansomwareC3RB3R ransomware on outdated DSM
Synology warned of ransomware on outdated and end-of-life DSM, tied to a flaw it fixed in December 2024 (SA-24:20). Press reports name it C3RB3R: files renamed .L0CK3D, a note called read-me3.txt. Synology has not named the flaw used, and one security firm blames the September 2026 flaws instead. Hong Kong's computer emergency team says disconnect, keep the note and logs, and do not reset or format; updates do not decrypt.
- 22 Oct 2026
CriticalSA-26:14 PHP2Shell, fixed even on end-of-life DSM
Two PHP flaws scored 9.8 open PHP packages such as Web Station and WordPress to remote code. Synology patched them even on end-of-life DSM 7.2, 7.1, 7.0 and 6.2 (PHP 7.3 excepted), and says DSM's built-in PHP is not exposed; CISA lists both flaws as exploited since 26 October.
- Jan to Sep 2026
CriticalEarlier 2026 fixes: SA-26:13 and two Telnet flaws
SA-26:13 (18 September) fixed two no-login flaws scored 9.8; its builds are superseded by SA-26:19. Two Telnet flaws were fixed in January and March, one of them on CISA's exploited list: turn Telnet off in Control Panel, Terminal.
- 21 to 22 Oct 2025
Pwn2OwnA DS925+ and a BeeStation Plus broken into
At Pwn2Own Ireland, researchers broke into a DS925+ twice and a BeeStation Plus. Fixes: SA-25:12 for BeeStation (Critical, BeeStation OS 1.3.2-65648) and SA-25:14 for DSM.
- 2014 to 2021
HistoryEarlier attacks on Synology units
StealthWorker (2021) guessed weak admin passwords; a Synology variant of eCh0raix (2020 to 2021) encrypted data folders; 2019 brought a password-guessing wave; and SynoLocker (2014) encrypted files on old DSM 4 builds that Synology said it could not decrypt.
CISA's exploited list (9 November 2026 edition) has nothing under Synology's name, but the PHP and Telnet flaws Synology patched are on it under other vendors. In Australia, report ransomware to the Australian Cyber Security Centre on 1300 CYBER1.
Synology, 2024 to 2026
Synology changes that matter when a unit fails
Which DSM versions still get fixes
DSM 7.4 (June 2026) runs to about June 2028 and is the last version for most 16 to 19 series units. DSM 7.3 (October 2025) is the long-term branch, to about October 2028. 7.2.1 and 7.2.2 still get fixes; plain 7.2 has had none since February 2025, 7.1 ended about June 2025 and 6.2 on 1 October 2024. Updates cannot be rolled back.
The 2025 drive rules
DSM 7.3 lets 2025 DiskStation Plus, Value and J models use other makers' hard drives again, but M.2 pools and caches still need listed drives, and 2025 rack and FlashStation units accept unlisted hard drives only by migration. Remove the pool on such migrated drives and Synology says that unit will not use them again.
Packages that have gone
Video Station left in DSM 7.2.2, Photo Station in DSM 7.0, and DSM 7.4 drops Mail Station and Synology Mail Server. A reinstall or newer unit loses their databases.
The company
Synology is trading normally, with DSM updates in October 2026 and advisories in November 2026.
Inside the unit
How a Synology stores your files
Five layers, each put back in order before your folders reappear.
Drives in numbered bays
Every drive carries pieces of every layer above it, so bay order matters.
The system partition
DSM mirrored on every drive, with the bootloader on the unit's flash. A reinstall writes to every drive.
SHR or classic RAID
Linux RAID. SHR slices drives into chunks so mixed sizes waste less; SHR-1 survives one failure, SHR-2 two, and mixed sizes mean several RAID sets in one pool.
Btrfs or ext4 volume
Btrfs adds snapshots and optional checksums; ext4 is common on older and entry models. Snapshots live inside the same volume, so in our view they are no backup if the pool is lost.
Your shared folders
With a read-write SSD cache, new writes reach the SSDs before the hard drives, which makes the cache part of the set.
09 Library
Synology words, in plain English
The terms DSM uses on a failed unit, and the documents behind this page.
- DSM
- DiskStation Manager, the operating system on a Synology NAS.
- Storage Manager
- The DSM app showing the status of each drive, pool and volume.
- Storage pool
- The drives DSM has joined with SHR or RAID, before a volume goes on top.
- Volume
- The Btrfs or ext4 space on the pool where your shared folders live.
- SHR
- Synology Hybrid RAID, built on Linux RAID, which wastes less space on mixed drive sizes.
- Btrfs
- Synology's newer file system, with snapshots and optional data checksums.
- System partition
- A small copy of DSM mirrored across every drive, apart from your data.
- Read-write cache
- SSDs that take new writes first and hand them to the hard drives later.
- Hot spare
- A standby drive DSM uses to start a repair on its own.
- HDD migration
- Moving the drives to another Synology, which reinstalls DSM onto them.
- Synology Assistant
- The desktop app that finds the unit and shows statuses such as Ready or Not installed.
- Recovery key
- The key that unlocks an encrypted volume, often held in the Key Vault.
Where these facts come from (66 sources)
Synology's own Knowledge Center, advisories and press releases first, then government, research and drive makers. Press reports are used only for dates and names.
- Synology, How to differentiate system modes of your Synology NAS by LED indicator statuses
- Synology, My Synology storage system cannot boot up and the Power LED indicator keeps blinking
- Synology, What are the possible reasons for errors in different system modes?
- Synology, The STATUS or ALERT LED indicator keeps blinking or lights up steadily in orange
- Synology, What do the device statuses in Synology Assistant and Web Assistant mean?
- Synology, Synology Assistant displays Configuration lost
- Synology, My Synology NAS is unresponsive. What can I do?
- Synology, Product status update on the clock signal component (18 February 2017)
- Synology, Repair a storage pool (DSM 7 help)
- Synology, Why does it take a long time to repair a storage pool?
- Synology, What can I do if a drive is in Warning, Critical or other abnormal statuses?
- Synology, What can I do if one of my volumes crashed?
- Synology, What causes a volume to crash?
- Synology, What can I do to prevent volumes from crashing?
- Synology, What to do when a volume is read-only
- Synology, Storage Manager shows the system partition cannot be accessed or is damaged
- Synology, How do I recover data from a Synology NAS that is no longer accessible?
- Synology, Assemble a storage pool (DSM 7 help)
- Synology, What is Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR)?
- Synology, Which file system should I use to create a volume?
- Synology, DSM 7.4 software specifications: Storage Management
- Synology, Snapshot Replication: snapshots (DSM 7 help)
- Synology, Hyper Backup: create a data backup task (DSM 7 help)
- Synology, Will SSD cache increase the risks of data loss?
- Synology, How do I prevent simultaneous SSD failures in my read-write SSD cache?
- Synology, What should I do when a read-write SSD cache degrades?
- Synology, What are PMR and SMR hard disk drives?
- Synology, Drive compatibility policies for Synology storage systems from 2025
- Synology, Synology releases DiskStation Manager 7.3 (8 October 2025)
- Synology, How do I migrate data between Synology NAS via HDD migration?
- Synology, How do I migrate data between Synology NAS?
- Synology, System Update (DSM 7 help)
- Synology, What should I do before updating to a new operating system version?
- Synology, What is the last upgradable software version for my Synology product?
- Synology, End-of-life announcement for DSM 6.2
- Synology, Software Life Cycle Policy
- Synology, DSM release notes
- Synology-SA-26:19 DSM (10 November 2026)
- Synology-SA-26:18 DSM (10 November 2026)
- Synology-SA-26:17 Plex Media Server (8 November 2026)
- Synology-SA-26:14 PHP2Shell (22 October 2026)
- Synology-SA-26:13 DSM (18 September 2026)
- Synology-SA-26:03 GNU Inetutils (19 March 2026)
- Synology-SA-25:14 DSM (Pwn2Own 2025)
- Synology-SA-25:12 BeeStation (Pwn2Own 2025)
- Synology-SA-24:20 DSM (Pwn2Own 2024)
- Synology, Synology urges users to update DSM following ransomware attacks (29 October 2026)
- Synology, Synology urges users to apply security updates (29 October 2026, US release)
- Synology, Synology extends PHP2Shell security updates to end-of-life DSM versions
- Synology, Synology investigates ongoing brute-force attacks from botnet (4 August 2021)
- Synology, Ransomware attacks (July 2019)
- Synology, SynoLocker ransomware affects older DSM versions (6 August 2014)
- CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue
- HKCERT, Ransomware attacks targeting Synology NAS devices (2 November 2026)
- Australian Signals Directorate, Ransomware
- Zero Day Initiative, Pwn2Own Ireland 2025: day one results
- Zero Day Initiative, Pwn2Own Ireland 2025: day two results
- Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, eCh0raix ransomware variant targets QNAP and Synology NAS devices
- Western Digital, On WD Red NAS drives (2020)
- TrueNAS documentation, WD Red SMR drive compatibility notice
- Linux RAID wiki, Timeout mismatch
- Linux kernel documentation, RAID arrays (md)
- Backblaze, Are hard drives getting better? Revisiting the bathtub curve (2025)
- Schroeder and Gibson, Disk failures in the real world (USENIX FAST 2007)
- Bairavasundaram and others, An analysis of latent sector errors in disk drives (2007)
- BleepingComputer, Synology warns of C3RB3R ransomware attacks (press, dates and names only)
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