Synology NAS HDD compability

[Enquiries]

Hi!

I'm about to purchase my first ever NAS and opting for Synology DS1520+ with two Seagate HDDs and one SSD (for Plex).

I'm kind of stuck on the issue of finding/buying a HDD that _exactly_ matches the Synology compability list. For example, let's say I want a Seagate Ironwolf Pro 8 TB drive. I go to the list...

https://www.synology.com/en-us/compatibility?search_by=products&model=DS1520%2B&category=hdds_no_ssd_trim&filter_brand=Seagate&filter_type=3.5%22%20SATA%20HDD&p=1&change_log_p=1

... and decides for the "Seagate IronWolf Pro ST8000NE001 - 2M7101 EN01".

There's no problem finding the model ST8000NE001, but what does the extra sequence 2M7101 mean?

On e.g. Amazon you can find the model ST8000NE001 but no further info/model#.

Any advice?

(Reason: would like to avoid DSM 7.x messages about drive not supported.)

[ed]

Yes, finding a compatible hard drive for a Synology NAS can be stressful. In their compatibility list, they show an HDD model number and the firmware version of the drive they tested.
Nowadays HDD manufacturers release firmware updates similar to other electronics that require microchips to operate. This is for security and efficiency purposes.
You can manually update this firmware if you connect the drive to the PC via SATA cable or USB dock. Or you can ignore it.
It will work even if the firmware version does not match the one Synology have tested.
This is also a marketing trick from Synology in order to sell their own Toshiba relabeled hard drives. This is an act of deliberate marketing intention using confusion.


I hope this helps.

Thank you for your support, this really helps us going.