Best SSD for the Synology DiskStation DS423+
By Devin Chua · Data checked by Owen Nakamura · Updated The 4 bays of the Synology DiskStation DS423+ take 2.5-inch SATA SSDs as well as hard drives, but over 2 × 1GbE it rarely pays: the network caps throughput long before the drive does, and SSDs cost a multiple per TB. An all-SSD DS423+ makes sense for silence in a living space, or for the many small parallel reads of virtual-machine storage — not for a file-and-backup NAS.
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SATA SSDs for the DS423+, live from Amazon.ca
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.
When SSDs make sense in the DS423+
A SATA SSD reads about 550 MB/s, a good NAS drive 200 to 280 — but the DS423+'s 2 × 1GbE only carries part of that anyway, and per terabyte the SSD costs several times more. For file storage, backups and media on the DS423+, hard drives are the sensible choice by every measure.
Two cases flip it. Silence: if the DS423+ lives in a living room or bedroom, an all-SSD build is the only thing that truly quiets it. And many small parallel reads — virtual- machine storage, a busy photo database — where the SSD's access times, not its data rate, are what you are buying. On a lighter box like the DS423+, that second case is rarer than it sounds.
The Synology drive policy on the DS423+
unrestrictedOpen. The 2025 restriction does not apply retroactively; every NAS drive works.
The DS423+ at a glance
| Bays | 4 × 3.5-inch SATA and 2.5-inch SATA SSD |
|---|---|
| Maximum raw capacity | 96 TB 4 × 24 TB: the largest drive on Synology's list for this model. The often-quoted 108 TB is the maximum volume size, not the sum of drives. |
| Processor | Intel Celeron J4125 (4 cores) |
| Memory | 2 GB, DDR4 SO-DIMM, no ECC (2 GB soldered plus 1 slot) 6 GB official (2 GB fixed plus a 4 GB module). In practice a 16 GB module runs (giving 18 GB); Synology does not endorse it. |
| M.2 NVMe | 2 slots 2 × M.2 NVMe for cache; an NVMe storage pool requires a Synology drive |
| Network | 2 × 1GbE |
| Operating system | DSM 7.x |
| RAID types | SHR, SHR-2, Basic, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10 SHR also makes use of mixed drive sizes. |
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, where we also explain why CMR rather than SMR is mandatory in any RAID array.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put third-party drives in the DS423+?
Yes, without restriction. The 2025 Synology drive lock covers only the 2025 models, so the DS423+ takes any NAS drive and has always done so.
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)