Synology RS2825RP+ overview
The DS1825+ serves as a successor to the DS1821+ introduced four years prior, and similarly, the new RS2825RP+ follows the RS2821RP+. Part of the H1 2025 refresh, the 16-bay RS2825RP+ (with "RP" indicating redundant power) is the first rack-mounted 3U model to join the existing X25 lineup.
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The RS2825RP+ (redundant power) is a versatile and cost-effective 3U 16-bay storage system for central data storage and sharing, endpoint and server backup, surveillance management, and other business applications
With more than half a dozen new X25 models releasing by mid-June, this is the sole RS model among them. Synology opted to update one of their more affordable 16-bay models, last refreshed in 2021. The second model is another 16-bay RS, offering the option to attach two 12-bay expansions, accommodating a total of 40 drives, the RS4021xs+.
: Specifications
With most of their RS lineup featuring up to 12 bays and a height of 2U, the RS2825RP+ stands as an exception. It is generally regarded as a robust unit, offering ample power and abundant storage space.
Similar to other X25 models so far, the RS2825RP+ has not undergone significant changes compared to its predecessor. The model appears identical externally, and its internal specifications offer little novelty.
Synology upgraded the CPU to an AMD Ryzen V1780B (from the V1500B in the 2021 model), running at 3.35 GHz base and 3.6 GHz turbo. Additionally, the RAM has been doubled to 8GB of DDR4 ECC as standard, with a maximum capacity of 32 GB.
At the back of the unit, the redundant power supplies remain on the left-hand side, characteristic of the RP+ model, alongside a few port changes. Compared to its predecessor, the RS2825RP+ now features only two 1GbE ports, reduced from four, but includes a copper-based 10GbE network adapter by default.
This upgrade mirrors the enhancement made with the RS2423+ two years ago, eliminating the need to upgrade using the single Gen3 x8 (x4 link) PCIe slot.
The number and generation of USB ports remain unchanged, with both being USB-A 3.2 Gen 1. Additionally, the single expansion port on the back is now compatible with the new RX1225RP 12-bay expansion.
Designed for small businesses and remote office deployments, this system features up to 560 TB of raw storage, providing ample throughput and storage capacity to power business workloads.
Similar to the DS1825+, this model also offers additional 10GbE or 25GbE upgrade options via compatible PCI cards, along with M.2 SSDs.
This unit also falls under the new 2025 strict disk compatibility policy, so be sure to check the compatibility list for both the RS and RX devices.
: Synology and 3rd party drive support
Based on the official information that was announced on April 16th, the following changes are in effect.
Düsseldorf – April 16, 2025 – Following the success of the High-Performance series, the company is now increasingly relying on Synology’s own storage media for the Plus series models, which will be released starting in 2025. Users will thus benefit from higher performance, increased reliability, and more efficient support. “With our proprietary hard drive solution, we have already seen significant benefits for our customers in a variety of deployment scenarios,” said Chad Chiang, Managing Director of Synology GmbH and Synology UK. “By expanding our integrated ecosystem to the Plus series, we aim to provide all users—from home users to small businesses—with the highest levels of security and performance, while also offering significantly more efficient support.”
For users, this means that starting with the Plus series models released in 2025, only Synology’s own hard drives and third-party hard drives certified according to Synology’s specifications will be compatible and offer the full range of functions and support.
There will be no changes for Plus models released up to and including 2024 (excluding the XS Plus series and rack models). Furthermore, migrating hard drives from the existing Synology NAS to a new Plus model will continue to be possible without restrictions. The use of compatible and unlisted hard drives will be subject to certain restrictions in the future, such as pool creation and support for issues and failures caused by the use of incompatible storage media. Volume-wide deduplication, lifespan analysis, and automatic hard drive firmware updates will only be available for Synology hard drives in the future. Tight integration of Synology NAS systems and hard drives reduces compatibility issues and increases system reliability and performance. At the same time, firmware updates and security patches can be deployed more efficiently, ensuring a high level of data security and more efficient support for Synology customers.
This means that on day one of the release, no official 3rd-party drive will be supported unless they have passed the certification. How the certification of 3rd-party drives will go remains to be seen, but we can see that Synology drives will not be, in fact, exclusive.
For the RS2825RP+, Synology supports all 3.5", 2.5", and several NVMe drives. Additionally, due to recent policy changes, drives migrated from an earlier model will also function, although they may operate with limited features.
Another note to point out is that this new policy is affecting the HDD lineup of drives, not SSDs. Meaning that while 3rd party SSDs will be unverified they will still be usable.
The up-to-date 2025 policy is also explained in more detail in the Synology KB article on the following link.
Synology Inc.
The RS2825RP+ is expected to be priced similarly to the previous generation, around €3100, depending on the region and VAT. It comes with a standard 3-year warranty, which can be extended to 5 years through the Synology Extended Warranty Plus program.
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