Synology HAT3300 4TB Plus Series SATA HDD 3.5" (HAT3300-4T)

This review is for the Synology HAT3300+ 6Tb hard drive.Synology make superb NAS's and I now own two of them. However, Synology appears to be reducing its compatibility list of hard drives, as well as SSD's, on newer models. For example, my first NAS, a DS1821+, had a compatibility list that encompassed Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba hard drives as I recall. The DS223 I more recently purchased, when searching out its compatibility list, now only shows Synology branded drives, both hard disk and SSD varieties.Now, there is nothing at present stopping you from installing any drive you like. You will receive a warning message during the installation of a new drive to the effect that the drive isn't recognized as tested to be compatible. You can simply bypass this warning and continue on your merry way.However, I am wondering if Synology plan to gradually close down drive compatibility after their recent introduction of their own brand drives. To that end, I needed a new hard drive and so looked to the future, and possible compatibility lock outs, and opted for the Synology HAT 3300+ 6Tb drive. Synology boast that using their drives will permit online firmware updates, the only real differentiator between theirs and anyone else's drive. However, in my experience, a firmware update on a hard drive is something I've never, ever needed to do.Anyway, Synology drives are simply rebranded Toshiba units, albeit with Synology's version of firmware installed. Toshiba actually have a good reputation in the NAS oriented drive market, so those wondering if such a drive would be as good a choice as the Ironwolf series from Seagate or Red Plus/Pro series from Western Digital, need not be concerned.Rather surprisingly, the 3300+ series from Synology are actually competitively priced, even being cheaper than the aforementioned brands when I last checked. However, Sinology's higher end, 5300 series of drives are not well priced in my view, in particular the capacities above 8Tb. For most users, the 3300 series is all you'll need. This model has a 5,400 RPM spin speed, so will run quieter and be more power efficient than the faster 7,200 RPM higher end models.The drive's performance is on par with my 4Tb Seagate Ironwolf, at around 200Mb/sec sequential read. However, ultimate performance isn't really the point with these drives, rugged reliability is. Usable capacity on this 6Tb drive is 5.5Tb, so factor that if important to you. bear in mind that for newbies out there, the advertised capacity isn't what you end up with as being usable. My 4Tb drives have 3.6Tb available and my 8Tb has 7.3Tb.I want to address some of the one star reviews I've seen on this drive. Personally, I find it rather misleading to mark down drives that have arrived in a defective state. That, for the vast majority of cases, is not the fault of the drive, rather it's either the packaging or handling of said drive. Since the drive I have came in a sturdy box with support moulds either end and was shipped from the U.S to here in the U.K, I'd tend to think that the handling of the drive is usually the culprit to it arriving dead. It would be a little like reviewing a car and scoring it badly because it arrived with a flat tyre or a scratch. These things are likely a result of handling,not the inherent quality of the item.So far, I've experienced zero issues with my drive, which by now is around two months old. I find it no noisier than any of the other drives I have, performs similarly and so does what it's supposed to. There really isn't too much more to say, other than if considering drives for your new Synology NAS, then these might be the better long term option if Synology is headed in the direction I think they might. Plus, they're often cheaper than the competition, so what's not to like?

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