ReadyNAS Ultra versus PRO and Egnyte

Reading the comparison sheets I can only see the following differences between the Ultra and Pro:

1) CPU Intel Dual-core versus Intel Multi-core (which means what, exactly?)

2) Snapshot with scheduling not listed on Ultra. Johnny: Is the Egnyte add-on using snapshots?

3) Ultra is using Intel Atom, the Ultra PLUS and PRO use Intel Pentiums

Paul,

I set a meeting with the Engineering team for later today about this topic. I will let you know what they say :)

~ Johnny

Just got out of the meeting with engineering, here are the answers to your questions.

pszilard wrote:
Question 1: Has anyone actually tried any ReadyNAS Ultra and Egnyte? Is it possible to load the Egnyte add-on?

While it is technically possible to load Egnyte on Ultra devices, we have not had any customer cases of anyone doing so. And since there has not been any use cases, we cannot determine on how Egnyte will run on Ultra models.

pszilard wrote:
Question 2: What IS the difference between an Ultra and a Pro?

Like you mentioned, the biggest difference between Ultra (home use) and Pro (business use) is the level of performance. Business ReadyNAS models have multi-core processors that allow them to have much stronger computing power to support larger data transfer, storage and synchronization. Running Egnyte on Ultra devices would see significant drop in performance that could hinder the full potential of utilizing a cloud file server.

pszilard wrote:
2) Snapshot with scheduling not listed on Ultra. Johnny: Is the Egnyte add-on using snapshots?

Egnyte uses its own snapshot functionality, separate from the ReadyNAS.

Hope that answers your questions. Great discussion, keep them coming!
~ Johnny

Thanks Johnny for running with this. Although in my current customer situation performance would not have been an issue (5 users on site), I was too chicken to take the chance and ordered a PRO 6 bay box.

Wish I had a demo Ultra Plus to try. Perhaps I'll order an NFR one...

If anyone is reading this, who has an Ultra or Ultra Plus NAS, would you please test the Egnyte client? (You can open a demo account for free, run the test and report back, then close the account - unless you are sold on the great Egnyte service, of course!)

Cheers,

The Ultra 4 Plus has the same hardware as the Pro 4 and the Ultra 6 Plus has the same CPU as the Pro Business Edition. The Ultra 6 has the same CPU as the Pro 4, the Ultra 4 has a single-core CPU vs the dual-core in the Pro 4.

Personally I can't see why it wouldn't work, as long as Egnyte doesn't rely on the availability of business features. If there is an incompatibility it would be due to a software issue not a hardware one.

I tested the ELC add-on last year and it worked fine then with my Ultra 6.

mdgm wrote:

The Ultra 4 Plus has the same hardware as the Pro 4 and the Ultra 6 Plus has the same CPU as the Pro Business Edition. The Ultra 6 has the same CPU as the Pro 4, the Ultra 4 has a single-core CPU vs the dual-core in the Pro 4. Personally I can't see why it wouldn't work, as long as Egnyte doesn't rely on the availability of business features. If there is an incompatibility it would be due to a software issue not a hardware one. I tested the ELC add-on last year and it worked fine then with my Ultra 6.

Thanks for your post, mdgm. Where can I see a summary of the Business software features? Or can you give a list?

Thanks...

"Active Directory Secure Mode", Rsync over SSH, Snapshot Feature etc.

mdgm wrote:
I tested the ELC add-on last year and it worked fine then with my Ultra 6.

Big thanks Matthew for chiming in. Good to know that someone has successfully used Egnyte on a high end Ultra device.

mdgm wrote:
"Active Directory Secure Mode", Rsync over SSH, Snapshot Feature etc.

Egnyte bundles our own Rsync and Snapshot functionality in OLC. The only potential software problem I see is if businesses want to utilize Active Directory integration. Since home ReadyNAS models don't support "Active Directory Secure Mode" (maybe there's a workaround?) there might be issues for businesses wanting that functionality.

Thanks guys, appreciate the discussion :)
~ Johnny

My small business has an Ultra 2 Plus. Is there no hope for us to use your service?

Hi Cain,

Technically you can use Egnyte on an Ultra 2 Plus since it's mostly the same firmware as business models (we've heard of a few users who have used Egnyte on prosumer ReadyNAS devices).
However we do not recommend or support the use of Egnyte OLC on prosumer device. From what my engineering team tells me, there might be performance issues with prosumer models for businesses that utilize heavy file transferring. There also might be problems with Active Directory integration as it is not supported on prosumer models.

~ Johnny