My Synology Diskstation NAS (DS916+) has been a great purchase but I have had some issues with noise from vibration. Over a course of a few weeks, complaints from family members meant that I had to move the NAS from my desk, onto the floor, then into the garage (before I brought it into the kitchen to be next to the Internet connection – but that’s another story). You should be able to hear the noise in the video below (though it seems much louder in real life!):
As can be heard, the vibration noise reduces when I put pressure on the chassis. It seems that it’s actually caused by the screw-less drive carriers that Synology use on their NASs.
Thanks to advice from Chipware on Reddit, I was able to add some sticky-backed Velcro (just the fluffy side) between the disk carrier and the disk, and on the outside of the disk carriers. They now better fit the NAS and, crucially, the Velcro serves as a shock absorber, preventing any more vibrations…
And, at just £2 for a metre of sticky-backed Velcro (which I only used a few centimetres of), it was a pretty inexpensive fix.
Chipware says in his post that:
“I definitely think the 4 Velcro pieces connecting the sled to the cage solved the problem. The pieces between drive and sled connection provides negligible dampening.”
I initially only put 4 pieces on the outside of the carrier (2 of them can be seen in the picture) but my experience was that adding 2 more pieces on the disk itself (underneath the carrier) also helped. Of course, your mileage my vary (and any changes you make are at your own risk – I’m not responsible for any problems it may cause).
After making these modifications there’s no more noise, just a relatively quiet fan noise (as to be expected) and the NAS is back on my desk!
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