ReadyNAS 102 + single disks (non raid)

You can do this - my RN102 has drive 1 as Volume C and drive 2 as Volume D. You can create scheduled backup jobs to update one from the other.

I am using WD30EFRX drives (not on the HCL [yet], but there was no HCL when I got the beta unit).

Thanks Stephen,

The software manual doesn't really say how to accomplish this. Unless I'm missing somethng it only references XRaid and Flex-Raid. Can you point me in the right direction. I've got the same WD drives, just waiting on the NAS purchase so I can install them. The compatability document found here (http://www.netgear.com/home/products/storage/prosumer/RN10200.aspx#three) does show compatabilty.

SInce you have hands-on experience with RN102 I hope you can answer some more questions. My win 7 computer has an SSD as its main drive and 2x WD Green storage drives (just about full) and I stream mostly 1080p but also some 720p .mkv files using Serviio or Tversity depending on the device. Is the 1.2GHz CPU in the 10200 sufficient? I was considering the QNAP TS-219p II as it has a 2GHz processor. The QNAP is like $90 more than the Netgear. Would it be better to mount the netgear drives in windows using iSCSI and continue using Serviio and TVersity?

Thanks again,

Pretty much any NAS can stream the usual 1080p or 720p MKV - even my Duo V1 can do that w/o strain.

I'm not using Serviio or Tversity, but I can easily stream 10-12 mb/s 1080p to my NTV550 - either over CIFS or ReadyDLNA. I'm sure it would handle BluRay also, though I don't have any on there. Where it gets challenging is when you need the server to do on-the-fly transcoding. If you need transcoding, then don't go with the RN1xx line.

You could of course map a drive on the Win7 machine to each of your media folders and continue to use it to as your Serviio/Tversity server (hosting the media on whatever NAS you choose). In that case, the Win7 machine is doing the transcoding, so the CPU speed of the NAS is not a concern. I wouldn't use iSCSI for that (at least it wouldn't be my first choice), as iSCSI images on the NAS are too difficult to back up.

In terms of setup:
Install the first disk. It will come up XRAID2. After install, you can convert to flexraid. The existing volume is deleted, and you get a new single-disk volume. (This is different from the other ReadyNAS, in that you don't need to do a factory reset, and there is no 10-minute window with RAIDar. You do lose your data, but that is not a problem since you haven't put any on there yet).

After that completes, install the second disk. You then create a new volume from the GUI, selecting the second disk. That's it.

If i want a NAS to do transcoding will a faster ARM do (ie. the qnap has a 2GHz cpu) or do I have to move to an Intel Atom or better based NAS?

Can you explain the backup difficulties with iSCSi images on the NAS? If drive 2 is a copy of drive 1 than I don't need to backup. If one drive dies I install a new one and copy from the good drive and I'm back where I started, no?

What would be the best method to mount the drives in Windows so I can see them and move things around as I see fit? I figured with iSCSI i can just mount them with drive letters so they appear like the 2x 2TB drives currently in the computer. I'd then move things off the 2TB drives onto the 3TB drives. Once 5TB drives become available ( I hear late 2013/early 2014) I'd get one in an enclosure, connect via USB3 to my computer and copy the contents of all 5TB for added protection.

Thanks for the assistance and sorry for all the questions.

PS I guess you can tell I've never owned a NAS or any storage device that wasn't already present in a computer. I have some familiarity with an iSCSI SAN.

For transcoding you need Intel. An Atom may be fine for low quality files, but for high quality video you want something much more powerful still.

Don't confuse RAID with backup. RAID is great. It provides redundancy or high-availability but there are problems it cannot protect against. Take a look at http://www.readynas.com/?p=3153

The best solution is to use RAID and one or more backups preferably with at least one backup off-site at all times.

squigly1 wrote:
What would be the best method to mount the drives in Windows so I can see them and move things around as I see fit?

If you create a CIFS/SMB share on the NAS, you can mount it as a Windows Drive. http://www.itechtalk.com/thread3673.html

Can't see me going for an Intel based NAS as an Atom based one is more than I really want to spend. I'm not interested in Raid. I'm looking for a device I can put on the network to use as storage. 2 drives, with 1 being a copy of the other (as long as both drives don't die at the same time I'm pretty safe). I have the same currently in the computer but the storage drives are just about full. No more SATA 6GB but I guess I could use SATA 3GB and forgo the NAS altogether. Wonder if the 750W PS could handle 2 more drive and if I have connectors, hmm........

Thanks for link Stephen

Well, the RN102 would provide the storage you need.

Another alternative is to get USB drives for backup, and use the two drives in the existing Win-7 PC as primary storage.

Ok, I have installed the 2 WD Red drives in the PC. So now I have 2x WD 2TB drives (1 is a copy of the other) and 2x WD 3 TB drives (1 is a copy of the other) in the PC for storage. So a total of 5TB storage ( 2 drives of 5TB storage and 2 drives of 5TB backup of the storage). Once they come out with 5TB drives I'll get one to go in a USB3 enclosure for added protection. One day I may need a NAS but today is not that day :)

Thanks for the assistance, suggestion, etc.