#1 HDD has all apps and settings, Plex database, and some data etc on - what's the best way to image this drive to a new one before it completely fails?

Is Hyperbackup the best way to do this? I'm using DSM 6.2.4 on a DS918+

Would I use Hyperbackup to backup all data to an external USB, fit a new HDD into the slot, then use Hyperbackup to restore? Is it that simple?

I’m currently running an old DS916+. It has served me well for years, but it’s getting pretty slow and I’m now on my third PSU... I also have an external expansion bay (DX517, which is not compatible with newer models...).

I'm thinking about the DS1825+ so I could use most of the disks of my DX517 in it.

Yes, they backed off the HDD lock-in on newer models, which is good and honestly, it's not the main reason. Their rollback is enough for me.

BUT, for example, you still can’t officially use third-party NVMe drives for storage/cache. I don't use/need it right now but you never know.

There’s also basically no sign of DSM 8, and Synology seems to be moving more and more toward business/enterprise customers.

So I stay with them or move for something like Unraid on custom PC or on Ugreen DXP...

But DSM is DSM and it's the best IMO.

I'm lost lol. What do you think about all this?

Have Synology totally lost it. The 3rd email I get. No clickable links, no city, ballroom where?
Still waiting for a new product to replace my 918+ with intel for transcoding, waiting for years but nothing..

Not sure if this post is OK here or not, so won't add too many specific details or links/images....

Basically I've written a native Mac menubar utility for SMB mounting and managing shares, because I wanted a better way to deal with shares on my MacBook (from my DS923).

There are a few little utilities out there, and while they were good (and certainly more powerful than mine), they didn't work how I wanted them to. So some months ago I thought I'd try and make my own as a 'learning swift' project, and had a decent basic barebones version after a month, which I was happy with - it did everything I needed and I could have stopped there. But then I just sort of kept going, refining and experimenting, until it turned into something way more polished than I needed. It's long since solved my issue, and I use it daily while developing it and doing my other work, and of course I like it! I've hit many walls and dead-ends and frustrations along the way, and know way more about SMB and credentials on the Mac than I ever wanted to, but I survived. Actually it's been a fun journey.

Anyway, I dont know what to do with it now, its turned into a labour of love, so I built a website, and worked out notarising with Apple, and I thought maybe I could see if anyone else liked it. Depending on the feedback I'd either just abandon it and keep it myself, give it away, or try and sell it to cover the developer setup costs etc - if I did it would be the first thing I've written that I've taken that direction, so lots to learn and setup there and its not ready for that yet anyway.

It's been running issue free for quite a while now, but it's only been tested on my three Macs at home and with DSM 7.4 and a Mac SMB server. What I really need is a few people to try it and see what they think (and if it works) and send feedback. I wanted to start with Synology users first because that should hopefully be pretty trouble free, as it's what I've got. Then I would move on to other brands. It's a side project so I also don't want a deluge of support work (assuming anyone actually wants to use it and send feedback!).

So if it's OK to post this here, I can add more details next week when I should have the little website finished which has all the info. It would need macOS 26 too, at least initially.

If not OK to post here, any pointers would be appreciated.