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Fresh Costumer to ReadyNAS 104, quick review and some questions...
Hello dear friends...
For some years now, i have being using home NAS to Cloud Services, since the BITCASA Fiasco, where i lost some very important files that where irreplacable...
Being a very cautious buyer, i purchase long time ago a Synology NAS, a 2 bay 800mhz single core cpu, with just 256mb. Have being runing very well for these years...
But its getting old and my space limited... So i went to see the market and discovered some good brands fighting in the NAS space...
Qnap, Synology, Netgear, etc... and being also a NETGEAR user on the Routers space, i inspected they NAS offer, and i was very pleased with what i saw...
They are on par with the big dog´s of the NAS, having the hybrid RAID process (called here X-RAiD and Flex-RAID), good support, a forum and a good (but must be better GUI interface for the NAS).
The interface is clean and easy to use, mas the workspace is very barren and sparce... I hope NETGEAR keep refining their GUI with something more in the likes of an desktop interface (DSM for example).
Im currently operating both nas at the same time, and i believe this would do wounders for NETGEAR! I see too much "router like GUI".
But adavancing... i saw a very competitive pricing and give NETGEAR a chance with their ReadyNAS 104.
First impressions where great... very sturdy and robust cardboard case... very strong and thick cardboard, and inside good quality foam and a thick plastic protecting the unit itself.
After unboxing, the unit looked really well and have a very solid feel... everything is metal on the structure, and its heavy! (solid feel). All of the HDD´s cages where solid too with metal plastic mix that never felt cheap in anyway.
I really liked the informative 2 lines LCD, that gives very usefull information about what the NAS is doing... i did miss that on the Synology.
Operation was smooth the first time i plug the power on it... The fan started a little fast, but then settled... The system automaticly started booting and updating the firmware... and after that, started to build the array on my 4 Seagate NAS 4TB units. (the time to build is 2 days but i see i can allready use the array).
From a noise standpoint is pretty silent... well i can hear the 4 drives working, but the fan is silent. But from what i see, so far im very happy with the purchase...
Now my questions...
- Why can i install apps on the NAS? I tryied to install the AV Plus and Cacti, but both start to try to download the packages but fail after a little time?
- I could not see and sync app for the Gdrive ou other Cloud service. On Synology i have an app that allows some files and folders to be sincronized with an external cloud service for extra security... Does Ready NAS have any of that?
- How ofter ara the OS updated with bug fixes and enhancements?
- Can i use the dual RJ45 for lan aggregation on an NETGEAR R6300 1750Mbits? Is there any automatic setting by being from the same company?
- Can i create two "units" on the be detected by Windows PC´s and also a Minix media player? I have created that on my Synology, as on drive is for Work Contents and the other is for media files?
Here is a pic of what im talking about...
Wish list for Netgear, for upcoming OS updates:
- Fan Profiles, that have manual control of auto, or semi-auto settings
- Addition of the temp and speed on top of the screen for an allways there aproach
- Keep refining the GUI to adapt to the "new times" and let it go the "router look" approach
- Auto-Updating of the OS with the possibility of "back track" if incomplete or error on upgrade.
So far this is all i have to say about this product and NetGEAR as a company...
In the past i got a problem with my router, and live chat support was top notch, and they really help me out and where very professional.
And its because of that that i am a Netgear costumer, i believe that company´s that do care about their costumers must be supported by them...
With my best regards, and sorry for my big post!
Lord Paulus Cobris
20 Replies
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Hello,
How are you trying to install the apps? If you do it manually, have you by any chance configured a static IP address for the ReadyNAS and forgot to set the DNS servers also?
There is a built-in Dropbox functionality. It can be found on the local admin page: Backup > Cloud Storage > Dropbox (Cópia de seguranca > Armazenamento na nuvem > Dropbox)
The Firmware is updated regularly. Users have access to beta versions of the next firmware prior to the final release if they wish.However, like with any beta version care has to be taken when applying beta firmwares.
You can map any share on the ReadyNAS as a separate network drive to your PC client. When you create the mapping you will need to add the share name to the IP address of the ReadyNAS.
Bye, Eskender
Hello Eskender,
Thanks for your reply.
Well i did configure a static IP for the NAS, should i add anything else on that part?
Im trying to install the apps from the NAS Interface.
I go to Apps, the "available apps" and then i click install.
The Dropbox function i did see on the Backup part, but no other cloud solution was listed there... Any reason why? Some kind of exclusivity deal or something?
I use the Gdrive because i have an android ecosystem that i use for work. On the Synology there are a agnostic app that uses several cloud services that allow for sync the files and folders with ease...
Are NetGear considering this approach? Gdrive extra security layer is for me a plus!
Do the ReadyNAS OS (Does it have a name?), allows for automatic updates? Or some form of information that an update is available? That is important because sometimes i don´t have the time to manually check if there is any new version of the OS.
I have allready see the 6.4.0 Beta version that are being tested, but my point is are these kind of updates regular?
Are enhancements being expected on the GUI front of things?
Or any of the other things i reported? The fan control is very needed, because with that manual control we can control for silence or noise, or balance...
As for the mapping i can do a map drive of a shared folder, but if i do that i cant see the space in properties... like i have on that mapped drives in the synology... Why is that?
Also what is best... Mapping a Folder by creating a drive with the full space of the volume or create IScsi LUN?
Also about the dual lan ports, i have a Netgear Router, is there any special sinergy of configuration due to the fact that are 2 products from the same company?
With my best regards,
Paulo Eduardo
Hello Paolo,
on the same dialog, where you set the static IP address is also a tab for setting the DNS server. Please make sure that this information is also entered. Thinking of it, if you are presented with Apps on the admin page most likely everything is set correctly. However, it might be worth checking.
I believe Dropbox is the only external Cloud Service integrated at the moment.
Concerning the firmware there is no scheduled interval at which new releases are provided. This is also due to an extensive beta phase of varying time. Once a new firmware is released you will be notified when you login to the local admin page. An auto-update feature is not implemented and I believe would not serve well.
When I create a mapping and check the properties Windows displays the total occupied and free space on the ReadyNAS. Are you not seeing any information or would like to see the information per share? In terms of total available size no change would to be expected as currently a share could occupy all space on the ReadyNAS.
I would choose a normal share/mapping unless you have specific reason to use iSCSI.
For Link Aggregation configuration is still required on both ends. In terms of performance I would not expect to see any benefit in a normal environment.
Unfortunately, I cannot provide information on which new features will implemented at which time. However, experience has shown that feedback does have influence on the development process. A request for specific elements may be elevated depending on the response of other users to it.
Thanks, Eskender
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