If I remove the disks of a Synology DS213j, is all personal information on it removed as well? Meaning it is safe to sell the device?

Question

I removed the disks in my Synology DS213j NAS, and put them into my stationary computer. (I've already saved my data elsewhere in the process). I will be selling the NAS without disks, and expected I had to wipe the device itself somehow. However, when I now log on to the device over my network I get prompted to install harddisks. Does this mean that all personal/private data is on the disks and not on some sort of internal storage on the device?

Is it safe to sell the device without further actions?

Solution

Synology devices store the OS and all its config-data on the hard-drives, with a copy on EACH disk. This is independent of all the data-files you save on the device.
So long as 1 disk remains in the device it will keep all its settings.
When you remove all the drives the system boots from a mini-OS stored in a chip, with a default-config. As soon as there is disk inserted this mini-OS will download a fresh OS and install that on the disk.

So Yes: Disks removed effectively wipes the entire device.

Comments

[André Christoffer Andersen]

Honestly, I'm not sure this is the case. I inserted new disks and followed the wizard instructions. There is no trace of personal information left.

[user186658]

If it had you reconfigure the username/password in the wizard then it's safe to sell after running through it once. The only data contained on the device itself is configuration. Everything else was kept on the disks.

[Ramhound]

Cite and quote the relevant information from the guide, your answer by itself, should answer the question. It currently does not. EVERY single one of your answers you submitted in the last hour has appeared in the review queue when I went though it, your answers, were the only answers in the late answers queue. Consider that before you reply to this comment

[TheNerdyNerd]

What? I don't understand what you mean? The answer above I explicitly that the OS boot etc lives in the RAM as well as the disks. To be sure you should reset the device so that it clears the RAM modules of any boot information that may relate to you the install.

[Ramhound]

What do I mean: You mention a guide, but when I made the comment, you didn't quote anything from the guide.

[TheNerdyNerd]

Is this a requirement? I thought the steps and if it was read I am sure people would get the exact context it was written in and the information was there.

[Ramhound]

Yes; Its required. I shouldn't have to read a third-party website if I want to reset my Synology, after asking how to do it, here at Superuser.

[TheNerdyNerd]

Backup a bit the info was all on there. You didn't even read it in the first place. It's because it wasn't quoted... that's the issue?

[Ramhound]

Compared to the actual guide, your answer, seems incomplete. I am only trying to help improve your answers. When you say "is quoting and citing a reference link required" it worries me.

[TheNerdyNerd]

Thanks for the tips. I believe I only quoted the pertinent part to resetting the box as expected. The rest of the guide are for different options.