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Oct 29, 2021

Does anyone have any experience with the Netgear ReadyNAS 4200?

Hey everyone! I've been contemplating adding on some type of storage to my lab as I'm at about 55% of 10Tb used. Locally on craigslist a ReadyNAS 4200 (I'm waiting to hear back on the exact model a...

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StephenB

Guru - Experienced User

Oct 29, 2021

It is an older model (introduced in 2010), but looks like a good price. It came originally with 4.2.x firmware, but it should be possible to convert it to the newer OS-6 (which would give you support for SMB 3 among other things).

There was a 4200 v1 and 4200 v2, so it would be good to find out which is being offered. The v1 was limited to a max size 2 TB drives in bays 5-12.

I've never owned one of the rack-mounted units, but there are other folks here who have.

Sandshark
Sensei - Experienced User
Oct 30, 2021
If it's a 4200 V1, then that's actually not that great a price due to the 2TB limit on slots 5-12. And check that it comes with the caddies. While that style of NAS uses readily available SuperMicro caddies, they can add a lot to the price. The 4200 V1 is a mostly stock SuperMicro X7SB3-F motherboard system with custom firmware in a SuperMicro CSE-826 chassis. The 4200V2 is a slightly customized (IPMI removed) SuperMicro X8SI6 motherboard system also with custom firmware and the same chassis.

I have two 4200V2's as my backups and an RD5200 with SAS expansion chassis as my main NAS, all running OS6 (quite well). These beasts are noisy, especially when they do volume maintenance, so be sure you have a place to put them (like a basement or spare/store room). They also produce a lot of heat, so don't plan on putting one in a closet unless you have a fan bringing in cool air.

The 4200V2 will accept SATA or SAS drives in slots 5-12 and has no drive size limitations (at least running ReadyNAS OS6). Neither has caddies that accept 2.5" drives, but adapters are available.