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Forum Discussion
PRO 6 & WD EARZ drive compatibility
I finally decided to upgrade my 5 year old NV to a PRO 6. I checked the hardware compatibility list before buying the disks but I couldn't find any of the WD EARS or EADS drives available and the 4k ...
For x86 models, the firmware supporting 4k sector drives is 4.2.12: http://www.readynas.com/RAIDiator_x86_4_2_12_Notes
Now the Pro 6 was released late 2010 so it would have always come with firmware supporting 4k sector disks. So essentially the 4k sector issue is no longer relevant unless you were migrating the disks from an older x86 model (e.g. NVX, Pro). Having said that if you were to purchase the WD20EARS or the WD20EADS I would stick to the model specified in the notes.
Do also note that there could be under the hood differences or other differences in the way the drives work that may not be noticeable to an end-user using the drive as a single disk in a PC, but do make an impact to the drive's use in a RAID array. The NAS has to control things like disk spin-down etc. which a green drive would normally want to control itself. Regardless of whether the disk isn't on the list due to a compatibility issue or because it hasn't been tested NetGear can't support drives not on the list. If the disks haven't been tested they may have unknown problems that NetGear can't be expected to deal with or if they have been tested may have issues that prevent them from working.
Now regardless of this, I suggest you backup important data primarily stored on your ReadyNAS regularly e.g. to your NV. After all RAID is not a replacement for a backup.
Now the Pro 6 was released late 2010 so it would have always come with firmware supporting 4k sector disks. So essentially the 4k sector issue is no longer relevant unless you were migrating the disks from an older x86 model (e.g. NVX, Pro). Having said that if you were to purchase the WD20EARS or the WD20EADS I would stick to the model specified in the notes.
Do also note that there could be under the hood differences or other differences in the way the drives work that may not be noticeable to an end-user using the drive as a single disk in a PC, but do make an impact to the drive's use in a RAID array. The NAS has to control things like disk spin-down etc. which a green drive would normally want to control itself. Regardless of whether the disk isn't on the list due to a compatibility issue or because it hasn't been tested NetGear can't support drives not on the list. If the disks haven't been tested they may have unknown problems that NetGear can't be expected to deal with or if they have been tested may have issues that prevent them from working.
Now regardless of this, I suggest you backup important data primarily stored on your ReadyNAS regularly e.g. to your NV. After all RAID is not a replacement for a backup.
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