Everyone who has upgraded to DSM 7 RC has certainly noticed that the exFAT package that used to be available for a fee of 3.99 USD on DSM 6.2.4 is now free on DSM 7. In response to Microsoft’s announcement to integrate exFAT into the Linux kernel in 2019, Synology has updated the license agreement with Microsoft and now offers exFAT free of charge on DSM 7.
Microsoft exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) technology is a file system optimized for flash storage devices. With exFAT installed, you can access external storage devices with a file system formatted as exFAT on your NAS. Unlike FAT32, exFAT supports a single file larger than 4 GB and can be used on both Windows and Mac operating systems.
Note: For now, other NAS vendors continue to charge users for the exFAT package. At the moment Synology is the only one offering the exFAT package for free to its DSM 7 users, once again a step ahead of its competitors!
This post was updated on Thursday / August 11th, 2022 at 12:30 PM