We are hosting an extended 4 week Ask Me Anything AMA for the NETGEAR ReadyNAS line of products and we would love to answer your ReadyNAS questions. Best of all, posting your question below enters you in a sweepstake to win a ReadyNAS 214 with 4x 2-terabyte hard drives. *Update - 9/14 - The Winner has been contacted - We will announce soon. Learn more about NETGEAR ReadyNAS products for Home and ReadyNAS for Small & Medium businesses. Sweepstakes rules and alternative means of entry: How to ask a question and enter: In the discussion thread below post a question for our ReadyNAS team about ReadyNAS products. During the Questions & Answers and entry period: 7/26/2017 – 8/28/2017 a ReadyNAS rep will visit this thread and answer relevant questions Monday-Friday. After the Q&A is finished one lucky respondent will be chosen at random to receive a ReadyNAS 214! We look forward to your questions. Good Luck Update 8/29 - The AMA Period is now closed. Thank you to everyone for submitting their questions about ReadyNAS. Register to post your question

Um, I get this contest is a great way to get everyone use to the new forum but it's not effective for responding to questions. This whole conversation is listed as a single topic, so many of the people who are asking questions will have to scroll through all the responses to get answers, and that's not the best experience with a new forum. However, I would like to say I like the digs.

Rottenweiler wrote: Does the 214 run OS6? How does an ARM processor compare to Intel models? Can you use the 10TB drives in this system? Thanks. Simply put, Intel processors are 64-bit, ARM processors are 32-bit. Of course, a modern ARM processor outperforms against a 2004 Intel processor. So, you do need to look at the architecture, the speed, etc. etc. But in general, if you are buying a new product from the same vendor, it is safe to assume that a system based on Intel processor is faster than one that is based on ARM. In the example of ReadyNAS, you have a quad core ARM in RN212/214. It is still slower than a dual core Intel in a RN420 (422/424/426/428). The size of the drive does not have any relevance to the overall performance (tiny bit, almost not noticeable). It runs the same, slow or fast. It is the conduit (i.e. interface) between the HDD and the mother board in the ReadyNAS that determines the speed. Of course, the spec of the motherboard.

Tofu87m wrote:How does this model compare to the qnap 451+ as far as streaming plex and capturing and streaming gameplay to places like twitch, YouTube, ectThe QNAP TS451+ has an Intel based chipset which is perhaps similar to the ReadyNAS 314 or the newer 400 series, also on price about the same. ReadyNAS 214 has an ARM based chipset more like the TS431+, specs and price also similar. For streaming, I think the answer is much simpler: can the RN214 stream content and even transcode, and the answer is yes it can. If you want to know which has more processing performance, then the answer is also pretty easy in this comparison, and that is the QNAP TS451+. However, I think you need to consider what you are trying to achieve and figure out the best NAS for the task. With your current question I think they can both do that task quite easily.

daspiel wrote:Why NetGear over any other brand?ReadyNAS is generally very reliable and stable and as a central file storage it is excellent. Afterall, your data is what you value most! I'm not saying there are no issues, but I observe excellent stability for this basic function. I find the backup modes also very good, if a little confusing to start with. When expanding capacity, popping in an additional disk and have ReadyNAS x-raid expand automatically was seamless the times I have done it. The fan on the Duo v1 was noisy (so I changed mine), the NV+ v2 is not as bad but not silent. There is no way to turn the fan off for example when the disk are sleeping and the temperature is sufficiently low, which would make the unit totally silent when not in use. The newer RN200 series have larger fans that are quieter I believe, so less of an issue now. When I have looked elsewhere, let's say QNAP (I have one) and Synology (I don't have one), the community forum here is by far superior in my opinion. Always helpful and I don't recall a time where the pros were sarcastic or flat out abusive (which I have observed on some forums). Having said that, I do feel the ReadyNAS lacks advanced features compared to the others, especially Netgear provides little (useful) add-ons. There was a time when Netgear wanted to go for fee based add-ons (even for community contributors who did not want to charge), that was a real joke and fairly offensive to consumer level users. The community add-ons are limited, so I suggest you take a look for yourself in the appropriate sections to check if there are any features missing. From personal experience, the ReadyNas NV+ v2 ReadyDLNA had tagging problem in early versions, I raised the issue here and one of the developers created a patch to resolve it. That was rolled in to the next release. I haven't experienced any other issues, and I've had 4 NAS units over the last 10 or so years. I am a bit disappointed that Netgear end-of-lifed the NV+ just a few months after I purchased it, and in fact it was only on the market a short while. I do understand the reasons and I accept that sometimes you just have to move on. The NV+ has still served me well for about 4 years (purchased Jan'2013) and is still my main NAS, so I can't really complain. Personally I would highly recommend the ReadyNAS and my own next purchase will likely be a RN214, which I think offers best value for money, performance and features that I need. I've got in to the ReadyNAS ways of doing things and don't want to change, but I'm sure other NAS units are also pretty good. It will mostly come down to preferences on the interface and whether the unit has the features you need.

Danila wrote: hi! what can possibly convince me to switch to new model from my current model ? (RN 10400) Best regards, Danila The 104 is good as a basic file server or backup storage where speed is not a concern. Once you want to do more than that you'll really benefit from using a more powerful unit. I want our ReadyNAS customers to be happy. If you're happy with how your NAS is performing and what it can do now you don't have to rush into upgrading.In my opinion it's better to choose a unit that is more powerful than what you need than to choose one that's not powerful enough. I started out as a ReadyNAS customer before I joined NETGEAR. If I was buying a unit for myself now I'd buy the RN628X. At the same time I know the performance of that unit, the 8-bays and the price is way overkill for most home users and will remain so for years to come. I'm not the average user. We have a wide range of units to suit various needs. You can just move your disks across to the RN214 (it is advisable to get both units up to the same firmware first, put a scratch disk in the RN214, update the firmware if necessary, verify the firmware update was successful, power down both units, remove the scratch disk and move the disks across keeping the order the same).If you want to move to an Intel model (e.g. RN424) then I'd suggest uninstalling any apps you've got installed first. It's nice to know that you can move your disks to a newer ReadyNAS model when the time is right for you to upgrade whether it's now or later (of course it's best to check back when you do decide to upgrade to make sure that's still the case).

AMA - Ask Us Anything About ReadyNAS and You Could Win a ReadyNAS 214!

217 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

BlackWarrior666
Aspirant
Aug 09, 2017
Hi,
what kind of RAID is able to setup with 214?
Best regards
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 09, 2017
  BlackWarrior666 wrote:
  
  Hi,
  
  what kind of RAID is able to setup with 214?
  
  Best regards
  
  RAID 0,1,5,6 and 10. Note RAID 5, 6 and 10 are not available on the 212 due to minimum number of disks requirements.
  
  You can also use JBOD.
  
  The default X-RAID uses RAID-1 with two disks and RAID-5 with 3 or more disks.
KarenZ
Aspirant
Aug 09, 2017
Will the new ReadyNAS such as the 214 have any upgradeable features, such as the RAM or hard drive controller capability?
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 09, 2017
  KarenZ wrote:
  
  Will the new ReadyNAS such as the 214 have any upgradeable features, such as the RAM or hard drive controller capability?
  
  The RAM is soldered on on the RN214. The only user replaceable parts are the hard drives themselves.
  
  You can replace the RAM in some of our higher end desktop models but doing so is not supported.
nighthawk2k17
Aspirant
Aug 09, 2017
Does Netgear plan on letting users create apps for the ReadyNAS product line. If so, can you share more information of SDK availability.
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 09, 2017
  nighthawk2k17 wrote:
  Does Netgear plan on letting users create apps for the ReadyNAS product line. If so, can you share more information of SDK availability.
  
  You can create apps. Have a look at the developer section at https://apps.readynas.com
  
  We look forward to seeing what you come up with.
loneal3
Aspirant
Aug 10, 2017
How does READYNAS work with Windows 10?
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 10, 2017
  loneal3 wrote:
  
  How does READYNAS work with Windows 10?
  
  It works great with Windows 10.
  
  Windows 10 has been around for a few years now.
Gatspud
Aspirant
Aug 14, 2017
What RAID types does it do? I would assume RAID 0,1, 10?, 5? If RAID 5 (for 3 drives) , does it support Hotspare for the 4th drive?
Also, do the 2 1Gbps interfaces support bonding?
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 14, 2017
  Gatspud wrote:
  What RAID types does it do? I would assume RAID 0,1, 10?, 5? If RAID 5 (for 3 drives) , does it support Hotspare for the 4th drive?
  
  Yes. You could do RAID-6 too if you wanted. Using Flex-RAID you can create a volume and confgure a hot spare. Whichever RAID configuration you go with don't forget to backup. If data is stored on just the one device it's not backed up. RAID (except RAID-0) provides redundancy (your data should remain available in the event of a specified number of disk failures) but there's a range of issues that it won't protect against.
  
  Gatspud wrote:
  Also, do the 2 1Gbps interfaces support bonding?
  
  Yes
  - wdunn
    Aspirant
    Aug 14, 2017
    Using Raid-1, what the maximum disk size for each drive bay in the:
    ReadyNas 102, 212, and the 312 two bay systems? Seems like an easy question, but your marketing material/specs seems to vary.
mvpd
Aspirant
Aug 14, 2017
If I purchase a ReadyNAS will I experience the same horrendous support as I receive with my switch gear, or will this be handled by a different department?
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 16, 2017
  mvpd wrote:
  
  If I purchase a ReadyNAS will I experience the same horrendous support as I receive with my switch gear
  
  If you'd like to PM me a case number(s) I can ask for it to be reviewed. We maintain high standards with our support, but we're always looking to see if there are things we can do better.
  
  You can utilise the community to seek advice from your fellow users as well as use the support that you're entitled to. If you're not happy with the support you're receiving I can ask for your support case to be reviewed.
  - mvpd
    Aspirant
    Aug 16, 2017
    Since I can't figure out how to PM you... Case 33755564
dirty_elf
Aspirant
Aug 15, 2017
Can the ReadyNAS 214 be used in conjunction with a xxx.mynetgear.com ddns account to access my files from anywhere?
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 16, 2017
  dirty_elf wrote:
  
  Can the ReadyNAS 214 be used in conjunction with a xxx.mynetgear.com ddns account to access my files from anywhere?
  
  Not quite the same thing but you can use ReadyCLOUD to access your files from anywhere. There are community apps such as OwnCloud that you could use if you prefer.
Danila
Aspirant
Aug 17, 2017
hi!
what can possibly convince me to switch to new model from my current model ? (RN 10400)
Best regards,
Danila
- aks
  Virtuoso
  Aug 17, 2017
  Danila wrote:
  what can possibly convince me to switch to new model from my current model ? (RN 10400)
  Well, do you have any specific issues with your RN104? Likely not, so perhaps a consider the main difference - the RN214 will offer significantly more performance, both file handling and the ability to transcode video files on the fly. If neither of these are important to you, then the RN104 might just be the right unit for you today, and therefore wait a bit longer until there is a compeling reason to change. Of course Netgear might have a 'desire' for you to upgrade, but that's just business :smileyhappy:!
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 18, 2017
  Danila wrote:
  
  hi!
  
  what can possibly convince me to switch to new model from my current model ? (RN 10400)
  
  Best regards,
  
  Danila
  
  The 104 is good as a basic file server or backup storage where speed is not a concern. Once you want to do more than that you'll really benefit from using a more powerful unit.
  
  I want our ReadyNAS customers to be happy. If you're happy with how your NAS is performing and what it can do now you don't have to rush into upgrading.
  
  In my opinion it's better to choose a unit that is more powerful than what you need than to choose one that's not powerful enough.
  
  I started out as a ReadyNAS customer before I joined NETGEAR. If I was buying a unit for myself now I'd buy the RN628X. At the same time I know the performance of that unit, the 8-bays and the price is way overkill for most home users and will remain so for years to come. I'm not the average user. We have a wide range of units to suit various needs.
  
  You can just move your disks across to the RN214 (it is advisable to get both units up to the same firmware first, put a scratch disk in the RN214, update the firmware if necessary, verify the firmware update was successful, power down both units, remove the scratch disk and move the disks across keeping the order the same).
  
  If you want to move to an Intel model (e.g. RN424) then I'd suggest uninstalling any apps you've got installed first.
  
  It's nice to know that you can move your disks to a newer ReadyNAS model when the time is right for you to upgrade whether it's now or later (of course it's best to check back when you do decide to upgrade to make sure that's still the case).
Charlesb224
Tutor
Aug 17, 2017
I'm in the market for a new NAS. I currently have an old RND2000 (Duo V1) and a RN102
Funnily enough, I'm considering the RN214, which is the subject of this sweepstake. I have a separate Intel NUC box which currently handles my CCTV needs via a Windows based Software platform, which is not the most ideal. I would have liked to migrate this to my new NAS, but the disproportionate costs of the licensing are putting me off the RN214. However, another piece of this is whether Dual NIC would enable me to utilise the RN214 on a separate network if there is no Gateway/Router. That is to say, that the 2nd NIC would be connected to an unmanaged switch which is also connected to the IP Cameras in use, all using a separate Network Subnet. Would the RN214 be able to 'route' to the separate Subnet from the main subnet?
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 18, 2017
  Charlesb224 wrote:
  
  I'm in the market for a new NAS. I currently have an old RND2000 (Duo V1) and a RN102
  
  Funnily enough, I'm considering the RN214, which is the subject of this sweepstake. I have a separate Intel NUC box which currently handles my CCTV needs via a Windows based Software platform, which is not the most ideal. I would have liked to migrate this to my new NAS, but the disproportionate costs of the licensing are putting me off the RN214. However, another piece of this is whether Dual NIC would enable me to utilise the RN214 on a separate network if there is no Gateway/Router. That is to say, that the 2nd NIC would be connected to an unmanaged switch which is also connected to the IP Cameras in use, all using a separate Network Subnet. Would the RN214 be able to 'route' to the separate Subnet from the main subnet?
  
  This question does leave a lot of return questions to clarify your request. It might be best to open a new thread and provide a link to it here so we can follow up with you on this.
- kohdee
  NETGEAR Expert
  Aug 18, 2017
  Hi Charlesb224
  
  What licensing costs of the 214 are you mentioning? I was not sure from your post.
  
  To answer your question regarding the Dual NIC... The ReadyNAS itself can be on two networks at once, one network that you have an umannaged switch and cameras with static IP, and the other network is your main network. Software like Milestone Arcus on ReadyNAS (MAoR) can find cameras on your unmanaged switch network, and you can access Milestone from your main network to view your cameras. You, on a computer on your main network, cannot route from your main network to your unmanaged network through the RN214, though.
  
  MAoR is not supported on RN214; it is minimally supported on RN31x or RN42x.
  
  Hope this helps :)
  - Charlesb224
    Tutor
    Aug 18, 2017
    The licensing costs for the 214 are for the ReadyNAS Surveillance Camera Licenses @ £180 for 4 roughly. I used to have a dedicated NVR for my cameras, which died earlier this year, I replaced it with a Intel NUC using a quad core 1.5Ghz processor and 2GB RAM. The issue I have is mainly disk related. I did try an use the Surveillance software on my RN102 with the single license as a trial, but frankly it wouldn't work with my IP Cameras.
    
    I looked at Milestone Arcus (Windows) version. Currently I'm using Dahua SmartPSS PC-NVR software (FREE!) for my 4 IP Cameras, and I determined that Arcus was no better.
    
    What I'm looking to do is setup the NAS (With dual NIC's) with an iSCSI volume and have the Intel NUC Read/Write to that iSCSI share rather than to it's internal 2.5" disk. Sounds like it's possible with a separate network
3100
Guide
Aug 17, 2017
Welche Nas von Netgear ist zu Empfehlen , um zufrieden zu sein , für längere Zeit.
1. Für Privat
2.Von der Leistung
3.Und den Verfügbaren APPS
4.Natürlich soll das Preis Leistungsverhältnis stimmen
(Also nicht zu teuer für Privat)
MFG. 3100
- mdgm-ntgr
  NETGEAR Employee Retired
  Aug 18, 2017
  3100 wrote:
  
  Welche Nas von Netgear ist zu Empfehlen , um zufrieden zu sein , für längere Zeit.
  
  1. Für Privat
  
  2.Von der Leistung
  
  3.Und den Verfügbaren APPS
  
  4.Natürlich soll das Preis Leistungsverhältnis stimmen
  
  (Also nicht zu teuer für Privat)
  
  MFG. 3100
  
  If being able to use a wide range of apps are important to you I'd personally look at the RN420 series, RN520 series and RN620 series. You'll find a greater range of apps work on the x86 units. It really depends on your budget and what features, performance etc. you're after which way to go.

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AMA - Ask Us Anything About ReadyNAS and You Could Win a ReadyNAS 214!