ReadyNAS: NEVER AGAIN!

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
You are indeed missing a few things regarding my case history, which is as described in my previous post. In summary to answer your question on raid configuration: - initial setup using raid 0 and upgrade to 6.1.9. - first "device is offline/do not reboot your device" crash, escalated to Support and quickly closed after instructing me to unplug/replug. The NAS comes back up.

At that point with the case not reopened (and no new one made), the issue was considered resolved.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:

- second "device is offline" crash, NAS doesn't reboot, escalated to support, this time one of the two volumes is corrupted. Advised to copy data somewhere else (which takes ages due to slow data recovery process and constraints swapping drives around because I don't have a second NAS to copy the data to). Health of both HDD is checked and confirmed by netgear support. Proceed with factory reset as instructed, in Raid-X as recommended (single volume) and copy all data back to NAS. Ticket closed.

Again the issue was considered resolved. Considering the time that had elapsed between the cases this second case would be deemed to be a separate issue

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
- third "device is offline" crash, in the middle of the copy process for a new back-up. Ticket reopen.

Considering this happened shortly after the second case, it could be considered part of the same problem and in this case it was so soon that the ticket could be reopened.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
The file system is corrupt, the NAS doesn't reboot with either of the disks in (I.e. the redundancy doesn't work. Isn't it the point of RAID redundancy in a two-HD configuration that when there's a HD failure, the other drive still allows to rebuild the volume? Oh but it's not a HD failure). "Low level"/"last resort" data recovery recovers about 70% of data.

Filesystem corruption is one thing that can go wrong. Corruption can affect all disks.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
- netgear support tells me I have to pay for postage to swap the chassis. Big joke, still laughing.

The warranty covers the hardware. The 104 is a home product, and as few users need a RMA it is not priced to include postage for Advanced Ground replacement.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:

Granted that, considering the problems I had already faced and as wandermerwe also rightfully pointed out, I could have been more cautious and kept a second copy of my backup until I confirmed that the first backup completed successfully. I was a fool to think I could trust the NAS for a couple of hours, as the later events showed. But at the same time, I would have needed two other 3 TB drives, and maybe another NAS from another supplier?

Well again it does come down to how important your data is to, your budget etc. A factory default is not normally necessary and having encountered such a situation it is prudent to be cautious.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
What I find most annoying is that, instead of trying to be accommodating both the NETGEAR support consultant I talked to and yourself mdgm keep saying that hardware can fail. Of course it can fail. Does it mean that you can sell an unreliable product and pretend it is the responsibility of the customer to not rely on it at all?

No product, no matter how reliable should be trusted to store the only copy of important data at any time. Filesystem corruption in some cases, multiple disk failures, accidental file deletions, fire, flood, theft etc. are all problems which can be encountered. Businesses can spend e.g. hundreds of thousands on servers and still see the crucial importance of backup.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
I would expect that a NAS doesn't fail several times in the first 3 months of its life

The first time may have been at least partially due to the way it was configured, but in the end the issue was diagnosed as defective hardware. Hardware can fail and it is unfortunate.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
and if it does you as a manufacturer face your responsibilities and do the right thing by your customer.

It's my view that our agent took great pains to do what was right by you and that the time taken for the case was not unreasonable given what transpired.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
By the way, as far as I can see, nothing is pointing to the hardware anymore than the software in this particular case (but you probably know something I don't, do you?).

Looking in your case notes there was a rare error that I hadn't seen before. I spoke with the support agent who handled your case and he hadn't seen the issue before either.

This would suggest as the agent handling the case concluded that a hardware problem is likely, possibly bad memory (RAM).

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
Side comment: I do agree, based on the third crash, that the instability for pre-6.1.5 installations is not at play in my case since I did do a factory reset and moved to x-RAID based on advice from your support

The pre-6.1.5 issue may well have been at play but it was not the only issue. The advice to use X-RAID was good advice. I don't think any regular on these forums would recommend RAID-0 over X-RAID for important data.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
(arguably I would probably have lost less data, had I stayed with a RAID 0 configuration, but it was hard to guess that the product could actually corrupt both disks in an X-RAID configuration).

With RAID-0 corruption is more likely to be an issue than with RAID-1. If the same stripe isn't affected on both disks, with X-RAID there is a much better chance of recovering data. RAID-0 can be useful for performance (though the wireless network if accessing over wireless and the gigabit network connection are bottlenecks) but a striped RAID-0 array is very risky.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:
Even though it was not at play in my case, I still find amazing that you do not warn users about the necessity of doing a factory reset *before* they do a firmware update, while it is just a click away on front view.

A factory reset is not necessary before/after doing a firmware update. A factory default after a firmware update is optional and does have some benefits such as filesystem improvements and the general benefits one would get from any clean install.

NotSoReadyNAS wrote:

Anyway all things considered, I was ready to accept all this as a result of bad luck/fate, but what really gets me is that my story is considered a standard support case that does not necessitate any particular commercial attention: it's a normal failure and NETGEAR won't even consider waiving its standard RMA fees. I hear a pretty clear message: "we sell an unreliable product, do not rely on it, if you do we're not responsible, please join the queue to complain and pay to have your product replaced by another one which by the way you should not rely on either".

Whilst we sympathise with what our customers go through, and some of us like myself feel great empathy with those who have lost data (I lost data when the hard disks in both my laptop and USB disk failed, before I ever got a NAS), the costs of fees have to be paid for whether it is upfront in the purchase price of a product or as needed by the small number of users who need it. We feel that it is fairer for the customers who need it to pay for advanced ground shipping rather than to include it in the purchase price, especially for home products such as the 104. For those home users who need a low level of downtime there is the option to purchase it. We also feel it is better for our customers to provide the choice to purchase it rather than to not provide it all. I hear NAS gurus who have tried several brands not recommending some solely because it takes too long to get replacement hardware when a RMA is needed and the manufacturer provides no option to speed things up for those who want it.

We believe in our ReadyNAS products and we back them with lengthy warranties. A lot of hardware you can buy will only come with a 1 year warranty. We back our home NAS units with a 3 year limited hardware warranty and our business NAS units with a 5 year limited hardware warranty. I hear from users who have tried multiple brands positive feedback about the quality of our hardware.

No warranty though can guarantee 100% that your data will remain safe from any company. Our engineers spend great amounts of time working hard to make sure our products are reliable as possible. We understand the pain that data loss can cause and the need to be vigilant in thoroughly testing our software and to continue to look for new ways to provide better protection for data. I see data protection as one of the key strengths of the ReadyNAS which makes it stand out from the competition. It was a key factor in our decision to move to using the BTRFS filesystem in our OS6 products.