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Forum Discussion
(Yet another) newbie seeking help
I am not interested in creating a brand war here, but I am looking at NAS solutions from Netgear, Thecus, and Synology, and would appreciate any input on the latter two.
Having said that, this forum is one of the main reasons I am looking at Netgear. I've seen as many bad reviews and I have seen good, and its only a matter of time before I need support, some of which might not be officially supported by Netgear, so this forum as a resource will no doubt become a godsend.
I have several terabytes of data spread over numerous hard disks in several computers. Its time to consolidate. Budget is an issue. I'll say that again... Budget is an issue. Extreme performance is not now, but will eventually become, and issue, and I think that if I can get an NV+ set up with 8TB today, I can save for the next solution and invest in a higher performing device.
I am looking at the NV+ because its cheap and appears to do most of what I need it to do right now. I see a second NAS in my future, at some point, likely large and high performance (for video streaming to multiple locations) and the NV+ could then be relegated to replicating the new array for further redundancy.
My concern is that the NV+ may be nearing the end of its life cycle, and I am concerned that Netgear may not feel compelled to release firmware updates to support 4/5/6/10TB disks when the become available. Any comments?
I am also looking at the NVX but again, that eats into my disk drive budget.
Secondarily, does Netgear's software allow for automated replication between (dis-alike) NAS units (such as NV+ to another brand), or is this something that has to be done by hand or with third party software?
Finally, what are the most common issues I am likely to encounter?
Having said that, this forum is one of the main reasons I am looking at Netgear. I've seen as many bad reviews and I have seen good, and its only a matter of time before I need support, some of which might not be officially supported by Netgear, so this forum as a resource will no doubt become a godsend.
I have several terabytes of data spread over numerous hard disks in several computers. Its time to consolidate. Budget is an issue. I'll say that again... Budget is an issue. Extreme performance is not now, but will eventually become, and issue, and I think that if I can get an NV+ set up with 8TB today, I can save for the next solution and invest in a higher performing device.
I am looking at the NV+ because its cheap and appears to do most of what I need it to do right now. I see a second NAS in my future, at some point, likely large and high performance (for video streaming to multiple locations) and the NV+ could then be relegated to replicating the new array for further redundancy.
My concern is that the NV+ may be nearing the end of its life cycle, and I am concerned that Netgear may not feel compelled to release firmware updates to support 4/5/6/10TB disks when the become available. Any comments?
I am also looking at the NVX but again, that eats into my disk drive budget.
Secondarily, does Netgear's software allow for automated replication between (dis-alike) NAS units (such as NV+ to another brand), or is this something that has to be done by hand or with third party software?
Finally, what are the most common issues I am likely to encounter?
3 Replies
- NV+ is almost certain to not be updated to support 3TB drives. NetGear cannot help that 3rd party development of the Linux kernel for Sparc stopped well before GPT support was added. We're fortunate that they were able to add 4k sector support.
The NVX is a 32-bit NAS (all other desktop x86 ReadyNAS are 64-bit). I would recommend purchasing a Pro 4 rather than a NVX. A 32-bit NAS is still a fine choice.
You can backup using NFS, Rsync etc. It's best if the other NAS supports these as well as these are native Linux protocols, but you could use CIFS if you really had to.
You can start with a few disks and add more as needed. x86 ReadyNAS (e.g. NVX, Ultra, Pro) have X-RAID2 (see X-RAID2 in Action)
There are few expansion limitations at the moment but I wouldn't worry about these now. - I appreciate your reply. I have been reading FAQs and forum posts since my initial post and have already learned a great deal. May I ask, can you briefly address the differences between the Ultra 4 and the Pro 4?
- Ultra 4 Plus and Pro 4 have faster CPU
Ultra/Ultra Plus have 3 year warranty and lack business features
Pro 4 has 5 year warranty and business features
Business features include things like AD (Windows Domain) integration, NIC Teaming, Rsync over SSH etc. which you may not need.
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