Best drives for the Synology DiskStation DS224+ in Canada
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated · Prices checked For the Synology DiskStation DS224+ fit CMR NAS drives like Seagate IronWolf Pro or Toshiba N300 across all 2 bays up to 48 TB raw. Synology's 2025 drive policy applies only to models launched from 2025, so the DS224+ takes third-party hard drives and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as it always has. At 2 × 8 TB the DS224+ keeps 7.28 TiB usable in SHR, about CA$960 in drives. Since its Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores) hardware-transcodes Plex through Intel Quick Sync and runs a stack of containers, with a light VM or two as the ceiling, buy the DS224+'s drives on price and quietness, not speed.
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Want to know whether the DS224+ fits your actual storage plan? Open the NAS Builder with this model weighted.
CMR NAS drives for the DS224+
Only new SATA drives from families with confirmed CMR recording and a 24/7 rating, in stock on Amazon.ca and within the DS224+’s published limits. SMR drives are kept out. CA$/usable TB assumes all 2 bays filled with equal drives in SHR.
| Model | Capacity | Recording | Price | CA$/raw TB | CA$/usable TB (2 drives, SHR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Seagate IronWolf Pro 32TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 512MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services (ST32000NTZ00)Newbest price per TB CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by THEKEYKEY · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$1,740Buy on Amazon | 32 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,740 | CA$54.37/TB | CA$108.74/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Toshiba N300 PRO 8TB Large-Sized Business NAS (up to 24 Bays) 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive - Up to 300 TB/Year Workload Rate CMR SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM 512 MB Cache - HDWG780XZSTBNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by HYPER MEGA Electronics · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$480Buy on Amazon | 8 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$480 | CA$60.00/TB | CA$120.00/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services (ST20000NTZ01/ST20000NT001)New CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by THEKEYKEY · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$1,235Buy on Amazon | 20 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,235 | CA$61.75/TB | CA$123.50/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 22TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD221KFGXNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Deals2You · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 8, 2026CA$1,400Buy on Amazon | 22 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,400 | CA$63.64/TB | CA$127.28/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Seagate IronWolf 16TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6GB/S 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for Raid Network Attached Storage, with Rescue Service (ST16000VN001)New CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by MAPOGO LION LLC · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$1,028Buy on Amazon | 16 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,028 | CA$64.25/TB | CA$128.50/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Seagate IRONWOLF 6TB NAS 3.5IN 6GB/S SATA 256MBNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Deals2You · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$389Buy on Amazon | 6 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$389 | CA$64.85/TB | CA$129.70/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services - FFP (ST10000NTZ01)New CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Deals2You · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 8, 2026CA$650Buy on Amazon | 10 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$650 | CA$65.00/TB | CA$130.00/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 16TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD161KFGXNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon.ca · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 8, 2026CA$1,060Buy on Amazon | 16 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,060 | CA$66.25/TB | CA$132.50/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 8TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5640 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD80EFPXNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon.ca · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$530Buy on Amazon | 8 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$530 | CA$66.25/TB | CA$132.50/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Seagate IronWolf Pro 14TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services - FFP (ST14000NTZ01)New CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Deals2You · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$930Buy on Amazon | 14 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$930 | CA$66.43/TB | CA$132.86/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Toshiba N300 PRO 20TB Large-Sized Business NAS (up to 24 Bays) 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive - Up to 300 TB/Year Workload Rate CMR SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 512 MB Cache - HDWG62AXZSTBNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by OneDealOutlet Canada · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$1,366Buy on Amazon | 20 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,366 | CA$68.31/TB | CA$136.62/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 4TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40EFZZNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS224+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon.ca · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 7, 2026CA$275Buy on Amazon | 4 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$275 | CA$68.75/TB | CA$137.50/TB | Buy on Amazon |
What sets the DS224+ apart
The best-selling two-bay DiskStation and enough for most homes. With two bays, RAID effectively means RAID 1: you pay half the capacity for fault tolerance, and SHR changes nothing with two equal-size drives.
Who the DS224+ is for
The DS224+'s Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores) is the home-NAS sweet spot. Its integrated graphics hardware-transcode Plex (4K HEVC included, through Intel Quick Sync) and it runs a stack of Docker containers without complaint; heavy virtualization is the one thing it leaves to bigger machines. With 2 GB stock and up to 6 GB, the DS224+ suits a household that wants its media server and its drives in one quiet box.
How the DS224+'s network shapes the drive choice
The DS224+ connects over 2 × 1GbE, and that ceiling decides everything below it. A gigabit link tops out near 110 MB/s, which even a single 5400 rpm NAS drive clears easily. So on the DS224+ a faster, pricier Pro drive returns no extra throughput at all: put an IronWolf or WD Red Plus in every bay and buy on CA$/TB, warranty and noise. The only reason to pay for a Pro drive on the DS224+ is its longer warranty, not speed.
Drive policy: Synology's 2025 drive policy applies only to models launched from 2025, so the DS224+ takes third-party hard drives and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as it always has. The DS224+’s full compatibility rules.
Keep calculating
To see how much capacity is left after parity, the DS224+ capacity calculator is preset to its 2 bays and RAID types. For the DS224+, the wider basics of choosing a drive are in the buying guides, and CMR versus SMR explains why SMR drives do not belong in a RAID array. Wondering what the DS224+ can actually do: Plex, Immich, Docker, VMs? See what the DS224+ can run.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put third-party drives in the DS224+?
Yes. Synology's 2025 drive policy applies only to models launched from 2025, so the DS224+ takes third-party hard drives and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as it always has.
Which drives fit the DS224+?
The DS224+ takes any 3.5-inch SATA and 2.5-inch SATA SSD drive; use a CMR NAS family rated for 24/7 duty such as IronWolf, WD Red Plus or Toshiba N300. On its 2 × 1GbE, even a basic 5400 rpm drive saturates the DS224+'s link.
How much capacity is usable in the DS224+?
In the DS224+, 2 × 8 TB in SHR gives about 7.28 TiB usable and survives 1 drive failing; the balance is parity.
Can the DS224+ run Plex with hardware transcoding?
Yes. The DS224+'s Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores) includes Intel Quick Sync, which hardware-transcodes Plex including 4K HEVC, so it handles several streams at once without loading the CPU.
Is a Pro drive worth it in the DS224+?
Not for speed. The DS224+'s 2 × 1GbE caps throughput near 110 MB/s, which the cheapest NAS drive already reaches, so a Pro drive only buys the longer warranty and higher workload rating.
Devin Chua works out which drives, RAM and NVMe cache fit which NAS model at nasdrives.ca, and what the RAID choice means for usable capacity, checked against what is in stock on Amazon.ca.
Data checked by Owen Nakamura, Technical editor (data checking)