Best drives for the Synology DiskStation DS423+ in Canada
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated · Prices checked For the Synology DiskStation DS423+ fit CMR NAS drives like WD Red Pro or Seagate IronWolf Pro across all 4 bays up to 96 TB raw. Synology's 2025 drive policy applies only to models launched from 2025, so the DS423+ takes third-party hard drives and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as it always has. At 4 × 8 TB the DS423+ keeps 21.83 TiB usable in SHR, about CA$2,288 in drives. Since its Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores) hardware-transcodes Plex through Intel Quick Sync and runs a stack of containers, with a light VM or two as the ceiling, buy the DS423+'s drives on price and quietness, not speed.
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Want to know whether the DS423+ fits your actual storage plan? Open the NAS Builder with this model weighted.
CMR NAS drives for the DS423+
Only new SATA drives from families with confirmed CMR recording and a 24/7 rating, in stock on Amazon.ca and within the DS423+’s published limits. SMR drives are kept out. CA$/usable TB assumes all 4 bays filled with equal drives in SHR.
| Model | Capacity | Recording | Price | CA$/raw TB | CA$/usable TB (4 drives, SHR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD202KFGXNewbest price per TB CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon.ca · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$1,201Buy on Amazon | 20 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,201 | CA$60.03/TB | CA$80.04/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 DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon US · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026 · ships from the US through Amazon.caCA$1,452Buy on Amazon | 22 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,452 | CA$66.00/TB | CA$88.00/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 DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon.ca · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$1,060Buy on Amazon | 16 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,060 | CA$66.25/TB | CA$88.33/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 DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Deals2You · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$930Buy on Amazon | 14 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$930 | CA$66.43/TB | CA$88.57/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 12TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD122KFBXNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon US · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026 · ships from the US through Amazon.caCA$815Buy on Amazon | 12 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$815 | CA$67.94/TB | CA$90.59/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 DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon.ca · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$275Buy on Amazon | 4 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$275 | CA$68.75/TB | CA$91.67/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 HD 18TB N300 PRO NAS 3.5 in 7200RPM SATA III TOSHIBA HDWG81JXZSTBNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Canada Direct - Often Ships Same Day! · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$1,253Buy on Amazon | 18 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,253 | CA$69.61/TB | CA$92.81/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 3TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD30EFPXNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Generic Computer · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$210Buy on Amazon | 3 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$210 | CA$70.00/TB | CA$93.33/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Seagate IRONWOLF 6TB NAS 3.5IN 6GB/S SATA 256MBNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Compute4Less Corp · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$423Buy on Amazon | 6 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$423 | CA$70.50/TB | CA$94.00/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 Western Digital 24TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD241KFGXNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Amazon US · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026 · ships from the US through Amazon.caCA$1,697Buy on Amazon | 24 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$1,697 | CA$70.71/TB | CA$94.28/TB | Buy on Amazon |
 HD 14TB N300 PRO NAS 3.5 in 7200RPM SATA III TOSHIBA HDWG81EXZSTBNew CMR, SATA 3.5-inch drive for the DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by Canada Direct - Often Ships Same Day! · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$992Buy on Amazon | 14 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$992 | CA$70.87/TB | CA$94.49/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 DS423+'s bays Amazon.ca · sold by OneDealOutlet Canada · one bare internal drive; shipping and taxes not included · checked Oct 15, 2026CA$572Buy on Amazon | 8 TB | CMR ✓ | CA$572 | CA$71.51/TB | CA$95.35/TB | Buy on Amazon |
What sets the DS423+ apart
The price entry with four bays and SHR. The Celeron J4125 can transcode Plex with hardware acceleration, but the 2 GB of RAM out of the box is tight: the single free SO-DIMM is effectively mandatory and caps you at 6 GB.
Who the DS423+ is for
The DS423+'s Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores) is the home-NAS sweet spot. Its integrated graphics hardware-transcode Plex (4K HEVC included, through Intel Quick Sync) and it runs a stack of Docker containers without complaint; heavy virtualization is the one thing it leaves to bigger machines. With 2 GB stock and up to 6 GB, the DS423+ suits a household that wants its media server and its drives in one quiet box.
How the DS423+'s network shapes the drive choice
The DS423+ connects over 2 × 1GbE, and that ceiling decides everything below it. A gigabit link tops out near 110 MB/s, which even a single 5400 rpm NAS drive clears easily. So on the DS423+ a faster, pricier Pro drive returns no extra throughput at all: put an IronWolf or WD Red Plus in every bay and buy on CA$/TB, warranty and noise. The only reason to pay for a Pro drive on the DS423+ is its longer warranty, not speed.
Drive policy: Synology's 2025 drive policy applies only to models launched from 2025, so the DS423+ takes third-party hard drives and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as it always has. The DS423+’s full compatibility rules.
Keep calculating
To see how much capacity is left after parity, the DS423+ capacity calculator is preset to its 4 bays and RAID types. For the DS423+, 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 DS423+ can actually do: Plex, Immich, Docker, VMs? See what the DS423+ can run.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put third-party drives in the DS423+?
Yes. Synology's 2025 drive policy applies only to models launched from 2025, so the DS423+ takes third-party hard drives and 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as it always has.
Which drives fit the DS423+?
The DS423+ 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 DS423+'s link.
How much capacity is usable in the DS423+?
In the DS423+, 4 × 8 TB in SHR gives about 21.83 TiB usable and survives 1 drive failing; the balance is parity.
Can the DS423+ run Plex with hardware transcoding?
Yes. The DS423+'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 DS423+?
Not for speed. The DS423+'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)