NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
RN21400 - Just bought one and wanting to ask a few questions about it
Bought a NAS so I can store tv/movies and music across my home network. I just have a few questions regarding it. Can i run the NAS with one hard drive and add more later on? How do i go about inst...
bobjimmy wrote:
Can i run the NAS with one hard drive and add more later on?
Yes.
bobjimmy wrote:
How do i go about installing another hard drive and running raid on them without wiping the drive with data on it?
Just hot-insert the new drive. If you are using XRAID (or adding the drive to a flexraid volume), then make sure the new drive at least as large as the biggest drive already installed. If it is unformatted, the NAS will automatically add it to the array. If it is formatted, you'll need to re-format it using a control on the volume page of the web ui.
With XRAID, the first addition will be used to create RAID redundancy, so there will be no increase in volume size. After that you will see an increase (the capacity rule is sum the drives and subtract the largest)
bobjimmy wrote:
Can i access the NAS without using my browser?
Yes, and you normally do. The NAS supports SMB (Microsoft file sharing), AFP (a Mac file sharing protocol), NFS (unix) and FTP.
You might want to download the hardware and software manuals for your NAS. You'll find them here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RN214.aspx
bobjimmy wrote:
Can i run the NAS with one hard drive and add more later on?
Yes.
bobjimmy wrote:
How do i go about installing another hard drive and running raid on them without wiping the drive with data on it?
Just hot-insert the new drive. If you are using XRAID (or adding the drive to a flexraid volume), then make sure the new drive at least as large as the biggest drive already installed. If it is unformatted, the NAS will automatically add it to the array. If it is formatted, you'll need to re-format it using a control on the volume page of the web ui.
With XRAID, the first addition will be used to create RAID redundancy, so there will be no increase in volume size. After that you will see an increase (the capacity rule is sum the drives and subtract the largest)
bobjimmy wrote:
Can i access the NAS without using my browser?
Yes, and you normally do. The NAS supports SMB (Microsoft file sharing), AFP (a Mac file sharing protocol), NFS (unix) and FTP.
You might want to download the hardware and software manuals for your NAS. You'll find them here: https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RN214.aspx
There is a mistake to correct is that if it is formatted, the NAS will automatically add it to the array. If it is unformatted, you'll need to re-format it using a control on the volume page of the web ui.
RongqingL wrote:There is a mistake to correct is that if it is formatted, the NAS will automatically add it to the array. If it is unformatted, you'll need to re-format it using a control on the volume page of the web ui.
No, the original statement is correct. if the drive is formatted, it will not be automatically added. It has to be formatted by the NAS first. This is for the protection of the user so they realize any data will be deleted. If the drive is unformatted, it is clear there is no data to lose, and it will automatically be formatted and added.
Sandshark wrote:
RongqingL wrote:
There is a mistake to correct is that if it is formatted, the NAS will automatically add it to the array. If it is unformatted, you'll need to re-format it using a control on the volume page of the web ui.
No, the original statement is correct.
Yes, the original statement is correct. OS 4 and OS 5 behave differently, and will automatically add any inserted disk to the array. Many users lost data accidentally, so Netgear changed the behavior in OS 6.
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
