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RN 204 - New user previously owned/used device
So purchased this 4 bay model, new to NAS completely to then find seemingly nothing available now for it. Managed to get and install Plex Media Server by googling but, is there any other software ava...
No install disk is needed. All it contains is RAIDar, which you can download and is just a tool for easy access, a (now outdated) electronic version of the manuals, and maybe the client-side ReadyCloud, which is no longer supported. Your RN204 is one of the most underpowered ReadyNAS in terms of CPU and RAM, and using it for surveillance (which is also no longer supported for new users) was not really a very good idea even when it was supported. It's also not going to allow you to do transcoding via Plex. You will be much better off getting a dedicated micro-PC for any apps (both in terms of computing power and application choice) and then using the NAS as storage for them. For surveillance, I recommend Blue Iris, then set your NAS up as the backup location.
I'm not sure why you say you wasted your money beyond using it as network storage, as that's what it's designed to be. You cannot connect it to a PC via USB -- the USB is for backup drives and UPS monitoring.
But Netgear clearly is exiting the NAS market and we in the forum are not expecting anything major in the way of OS updates from here out. So, you may want to look for a NAS from a manufacturer who is staying in the market instead of learning to use a NAS that's already end-of-life per the manufacturer.
"Netgear clearly is exiting the NAS market and we in the forum are not expecting anything major in the way of OS updates from here out. So, you may want to look for a NAS from a manufacturer who is staying in the market instead of learning to use a NAS that's already end-of-life per the manufacturer."
Sandshark - Thank you for the honest straightforward comment here, wish that was known to myself before purchasing it.
Your answers whilst not what was wanting to hear is extremely appreciated.
As stated know very little about NAS at all and of that little it seemed Netgear one of the better companies from googling, perhaps my google was too limited as until you stated it knew nothing of them ceasing the products.
My first issue on receiving the product which is good condition but used was no setup instructs or discs so concentrated on getting it up and running which was not easy without ReadyCloud and no knowledge at all beyond my general computer use.
Had no idea at all what any included discs with the system new would contain.
It is up and running, and now the discs stay connected in raid 5 array in X-Raid while at first powering off meant having to redo the array as disc 4 was dropping out, now turning power off and then powering back on next day means it stays functional.
You already taught something to myself with the comments in regards to the USB port use although the UPS monitoring will have to be looked up, had thought would be possible to upload via usb to the router files (or is that download?)
The lack of surveillance part is frankly annoying, again, should have investigated further.
Apart from Plex Media Server the only thing managed to install so far from apps on Netgear pages is SMBplus 1.08 which then removed again as think it is not required.
Unable find anything else that installs.
Have duplicated my music from my PC though which in itself takes up almost a 1tb drive and glad to have the backup that doing so means.
A Qnap 259pro+ was also purchased used, but that is only a double bay not the 4 bay of this netgear one. It had no drives so not really done anything with it.
I realize I mixed up the 104 and 204. The 204 is more capable.
Mentioned that also purchased a 2 bay QNAP TS-259Pro+ (2 x1tb) which is limited as unable to run it in raid 5 so currently the 2 drives are jbod 1.82 tb drive.
Can the RN204 be added to it and then the 6 drives run as raid in the QNAP software? Presumably that would mean raid 6 though would prefer raid 5
ctxuk wrote:Can the RN204 be added to it and then the 6 drives run as raid in the QNAP software?
No, that isn't possible. The RN204 can't work as a USB drive enclosure. USB can be used to connect external drives to the RN204, but it cannot be used to connect the NAS internal disks to another PC or NAS.
Your Qnap can't run RAID5 because RAID5 requires at least 3 drives, not because it's otherwise hardware limited (though it is a bit, with just a 1.8GHZ Atom processor and 1GB of RAM). But it should be able to run RAID1. Even if you could connect the two together to be one RAID, it's not something you'd want to do. One little glitch in the interconnecting interface and your volume is damaged.
You can mount the ReadyNAS as a share on the Qnap, or vice-versa, though I can't tell you precisely how you'd do so on the Qnap. Your network would provide the transport path between them, not USB. I'm not really sure what advantage there would be other than maybe running an app on the Qnap that uses the storage on the ReadyNAS. The Qnap does at least seem to be getting OS updates, unlike the ReadyNAS.
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