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Forum Discussion
ReadyNAS 628
Hi, There is an opportunity to acquire a ReadyNAS 628 for a good price but I was wondering if the platform is more or less dead and if it is worth the investment. It is a powerful unit and it should...
beglitis wrote:That said, the old NVX/Ultra2 units I have are still working fine
The NVX is much less future proof as it has a 32-bit CPU and can't run OS6, whereas the Ultra 2 can be upgraded to run OS6 (even though not officially supported).
beglitis wrote:What makes the unit tempting is the small form factor, nothing I can find that I could put together myself would be as good for the price.
I have the RN528X and the RN626X and like both of them. The performance is great (I don't use 10GbE with mine, but it's nice to know that i can in the future).
Sandshark wrote:If Netgear does drop the line, it's hard to tell if they will release what the community would need to keep the line afloat. And with the lack of developers, it's hard to tell if the community would even be up to the task. Unlike some units, the 628 doesn't have a video port, so that limits the ability to go to another OS (though i understand the BIOS may as well).
If the line is dropped and if the community doesn't get the code needed to properly maintain the existing firmware, 3rd party OSes could be looked into.
It is possible to put on some 3rd party OSes e.g. ordinary Debian Linux on with the help of using the serial console. Any of the ReadyNAS with Intel CPUs even the 32-bit ones can run 3rd party OSes. Of course putting a 3rd party OS on may be easier if you have HDMI/VGA and a USB keyboard and mouse, but it's still doable to put some on with the serial console.
I ran Windows 7 briefly on a 516 a long while ago, just for the fun of seeing if I could, but then the 516 does have HDMI.
natisbad.org has tips on how to get ordinary Linux running on the ARM units (not that beglitis has any of those).
I ended up buying the ReadyNAS 628. For 500ish euros (used - diskless) I thought it was a fair deal. I am sure it will be as rock solid as the 2nd generation ReadyNAS units that are still going strong all these years later. Frankly, I don't need any exotic software running in them, I just want raw storage. I can have proper software running in different proper servers doing all the exotic stuff I could possibly ever need. There is something that has been puzzling me though. Netgear never managed to get the attention of the internet on the post 2015(ish?) units, there is countless videos on Synology and Qnap units or from other vendors, there is plenty of material on the NV+, NVX, Utra, Pro lines but not much after that. I wonder why. Didn't the marketing team think it was worth shipping free units to vloggers to test (and build brand awareness)? Financially wise, how has ReadyNAS performed for Netgear I wonder both in the home/SOHO space but also in the SME space?
All the best,
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