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Forum Discussion
Another NV+ v2 vs Ultra 4 question
Hi all!
I'm looking for a NAS system after running out of space on my 3rd 2TB external HDD and after initially considering Drobo, I found out about ReadyNAS and am having a huge amount of trouble deciding between the NV+ v2 and the Ultra 4 (and to a lesser extent the Ultra 6). I know there have been other threads on this topic (eg. http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=59272 ) but I figured what I'm trying to do is different enough from those that I should perhaps start a new thread.
I'm an amateur photographer and will be using the NAS mainly to store original raw photo and video files for access across the local gigabit LAN so speed is important (and the reason I decided Drobo wasn't really the solution I was looking for). My environment is mainly Windows 7, the odd Windows XP and a Linux box all hooked up with a mix of 100M and 1000M networking.
I've been looking through the comparison table at http://www.readynas.com/?cat=49 (which, incidentally, isn't the easiest chart to read - trying to follow across the rows by eye is impossible, I ended up printing it out, highlighting the NV+ v2, Ultra 4 and Ultra 6 columns and following across the rows with a ruler!) and have come up with the following pros for each unit:
NV+ v2:
- $175 cheaper ($353.53 on Amazon vs $518.42 for the Ultra 4)
- USB 3.0 ports (I'll be needing to occasionally dump stuff off to a USB 3.0 external HDD for offsite backup and to take on the road and dump stuff back in when I return so speed here is important)
- Android support
Ultra 4:
- iSCSI (I'm often caught out on the road needing to get a particular file, it'd be much easier to just be able to mount iSCSI and fire up Lightroom than to figure out where the file is, navigate to it over the web interface and pull it down manually)
- HTTP/HTTPS support (see below)
- RSync support (periodic backups of my Linux box)
- UPS auto shutdown
- Faster over the network than the NV+ v2 (according to the benchmark docs at least)
- Seemingly greater add-on support (the ARM vs x86 conundrum)
Now I've since got the impression that at least some of the data on that comparison table is out of date (either because newer versions of RAIDiator have added things or because people have written add-ons). So here are a few questions that I've been considering. It would be terrific if someone could throw some light on this! :-D
- Does the USB 3.0 port on the NV+ v2 really let it run that much faster in local transfers? I can't seem to find any benchmark results for transfers to and from the local USB 3.0 port on the NV+ v2 vs the USB 2.0 port on the Ultra 4.
- Is there really that much additional functionality in the Android interface on the NV+ v2 as compared to accessing the Ultra 4 over its web interface?
- Is there any other meaningful way (via reliable add-ons perhaps) of accessing the NV+ v2 as a share from across the internet?
- I've read various things that imply the NV+ v2 also has HTTP/HTTPS, rsync and UPS auto shutdown (at least in the latest firmware), I guess the comparison chart is just out of date?
- What *is* the largest file size that either system can realistically handle over SMB and (for the Ultra) iSCSI? Would a monster 3tb Truecrypt volume cause it to die, for instance? I usually keep the archives on my external drives encrypted (largely because I've been carrying them around when I travel and don't want some random to get to my last few years of work if my luggage gets misdirected) - while it isn't likely I'll travel much with the ReadyNAS, I'd like to hold open the possibility.
Many thanks in advance!
I'm looking for a NAS system after running out of space on my 3rd 2TB external HDD and after initially considering Drobo, I found out about ReadyNAS and am having a huge amount of trouble deciding between the NV+ v2 and the Ultra 4 (and to a lesser extent the Ultra 6). I know there have been other threads on this topic (eg. http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=59272 ) but I figured what I'm trying to do is different enough from those that I should perhaps start a new thread.
I'm an amateur photographer and will be using the NAS mainly to store original raw photo and video files for access across the local gigabit LAN so speed is important (and the reason I decided Drobo wasn't really the solution I was looking for). My environment is mainly Windows 7, the odd Windows XP and a Linux box all hooked up with a mix of 100M and 1000M networking.
I've been looking through the comparison table at http://www.readynas.com/?cat=49 (which, incidentally, isn't the easiest chart to read - trying to follow across the rows by eye is impossible, I ended up printing it out, highlighting the NV+ v2, Ultra 4 and Ultra 6 columns and following across the rows with a ruler!) and have come up with the following pros for each unit:
NV+ v2:
- $175 cheaper ($353.53 on Amazon vs $518.42 for the Ultra 4)
- USB 3.0 ports (I'll be needing to occasionally dump stuff off to a USB 3.0 external HDD for offsite backup and to take on the road and dump stuff back in when I return so speed here is important)
- Android support
Ultra 4:
- iSCSI (I'm often caught out on the road needing to get a particular file, it'd be much easier to just be able to mount iSCSI and fire up Lightroom than to figure out where the file is, navigate to it over the web interface and pull it down manually)
- HTTP/HTTPS support (see below)
- RSync support (periodic backups of my Linux box)
- UPS auto shutdown
- Faster over the network than the NV+ v2 (according to the benchmark docs at least)
- Seemingly greater add-on support (the ARM vs x86 conundrum)
Now I've since got the impression that at least some of the data on that comparison table is out of date (either because newer versions of RAIDiator have added things or because people have written add-ons). So here are a few questions that I've been considering. It would be terrific if someone could throw some light on this! :-D
- Does the USB 3.0 port on the NV+ v2 really let it run that much faster in local transfers? I can't seem to find any benchmark results for transfers to and from the local USB 3.0 port on the NV+ v2 vs the USB 2.0 port on the Ultra 4.
- Is there really that much additional functionality in the Android interface on the NV+ v2 as compared to accessing the Ultra 4 over its web interface?
- Is there any other meaningful way (via reliable add-ons perhaps) of accessing the NV+ v2 as a share from across the internet?
- I've read various things that imply the NV+ v2 also has HTTP/HTTPS, rsync and UPS auto shutdown (at least in the latest firmware), I guess the comparison chart is just out of date?
- What *is* the largest file size that either system can realistically handle over SMB and (for the Ultra) iSCSI? Would a monster 3tb Truecrypt volume cause it to die, for instance? I usually keep the archives on my external drives encrypted (largely because I've been carrying them around when I travel and don't want some random to get to my last few years of work if my luggage gets misdirected) - while it isn't likely I'll travel much with the ReadyNAS, I'd like to hold open the possibility.
Many thanks in advance!
4 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- Hmm ... OK been doing a little more poking and now I'm even more torn between the two systems.
Newegg has the Ultra 4 with a 2TB Seagate for a combo price of $579.98. The same combo with the NV+ v2 is $319.98. Is the Ultra really $260 better? After some more poking around it looks like the only things lacking on the NV+ v2 that I can't work around with add-ons are:
- iSCSI (this is the biggest issue)
- Speed (not quite such a big problem)
Of course, if I do use iSCSI then the only way of accessing the files is via iSCSI, Access via the web interface will be impossible (perhaps not that big a problem if I also use Truecrypt - anything connecting to it over the net that can decrypt a Truecrypt volume will probably also have an iSCSI initiator).
*sigh* decisions decisions ... I wonder if iSCSI would be too slow to use over the internet anyway ... - *sigh* OK now I'm swinging back towards the Ultra - it looks like it's possible to run Truecrypt on the Atom in the Ultra (http://readynasxtras.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24) ... I imagine it isn't *too* out of the question running Truecrypt on the Marvell processor in the NV+ v2 (people have managed to get it cross-compiled for other ARM processors) but I would hate to think what kind of performance hit I'd get trying to decrypt a Truecrypt volume on the fly on that processor.
I wonder if there is a way of locally mounting the iSCSI LUN on the ReadyNAS so that its files were also accessible on the local filesystem. - OK I've finally gone and bought the NV+ v2 ... at the end of the day, it looks like to get what I want (encrypted storage, fast network access, fast dump and restore to USB 3.0, relatively seamless remote access) I'd either need to do a pile of hacking of an Ultra, buy a high end QNap ... or buy an NV+ v2 just as a nice decently fast NAS with a few Truecrypt containers on it that I can connect to over the local network and use the Linux server (which I already have anyway, stays on all the time and which cost me $50) to handle all of the exotic stuff (such as on-the-fly decryption for remote access and dumping to/from the portable drive via its USB 3.0 port).
Now let's see if I'm right. ;-P - How you like the unit so far? I am considering between NV+ and Ultra 4 as well.
Ultra 4 is atleast double the price... not sure if I really gonna get that much extra features :)
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