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Forum Discussion
Upgrade options for ReadNAS Pioneer Pro
I'm after some advice from fellow ReadyNAS owners.
I have a ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer Edition with 5 x 2TB drives and one bay empty. The unit (Model#: RNDP600E) is running 4.2.30 with 1024 MB [4-5-5-15 DDR2] and originally purchased in March 2010.
I'm looking at increasing the storage and my options to do so. To replaces disk and/or upgrade to OS6 (knowing it is not officially supported)
General questions while still under 4.2.30
My first question is whether the maximum supported drive size is 4TB per the website or is it that the compatibility list is not updated for legacy devices? Or is it that 4TB the limit under 4.2.xx.
I've also read that there are some limits to the amount an array can expand (max 16 TB or more than 8 TB from the starting point - which ever is smaller). I'm not sure how many drives I started with, I know I purchased 3 x 2TB. I'm guessing worst case it could have been 2 x 2TB give 2TB array or possibly 3 x 2TB giving 4TB. Is there anyway of telling from the logs?
Upgrade to OS6
I've also read that a bios upgrade might be required first. Should I do that anyway even if I decide not to upgrade. According to my logs I have "10/03/2008 FLAME6-MB V1.6".
Am I right in assuming from the bios log that I have a V1.6 Motherboard? If I choose to go the OS6 path is a processor and memory upgrade recommended? Any suggestions or guides on that stage?
A lot of the threads I've seen have been for older versions of the software like 6.3.5, but I see that in https://www.readynas.com/contributed/mdgm/r4tor6/ the latest is 6.7.1. Common issues seem to be related to fan speeds and temps, is that something that I still need to worry about?
Sorry for all the questions and appreciate any advice.
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You do not need to update the BIOS just to move to OS6. But since it's easier to do it under OS4.2.x, you may want to. If you plan to put in a faster processor, some of them do require the update. You can speed your Pro Pioneer up quite a lot with a faster processor. You may want to bump the memory up to at least 2GB, too.
I have 2 ProBE's and two Pro6's running OS6 and have had no issues with the fans since the early days. Mine are the stock fans or equivalent replacements (not replaced with slower/ lower noise ones). I've not moved to 6.7.1 on my 6-bay units yet, though; I'm still at 6.6.0.
I don't have anything still runing 4.2.x, but I don't think there is any real limitation on the drive size. I think I saw a thread some time ago where somebody put a 6 or 8TB in an NVX with no issue (except that the NVX is pretty slow by today's standards).
Sandshark wrote:
I don't have anything still runing 4.2.x, but I don't think there is any real limitation on the drive size. I think I saw a thread some time ago where somebody put a 6 or 8TB in an NVX with no issue (except that the NVX is pretty slow by today's standards).
There are two expansion limits with 4.2
- a volume cannot expand over 16 TiB
- a volume cannot expand more than 8 TiB from its starting size.
Both create headaches if you add larger drives or try to use mixed sizes with larger drives. Doing a factory default with large drives that are all the same size will generally work with OS 4.2.
Obviously, while not hard limits, those constraints are good reasons to seriously consider OS6.x. I never ran OS 6.x on an original Pro with the orignal processor and RAM. I do have it on an Ultra6, whihc proobably sin't a lot faster, and it's fast enough for simple NAS use (it's a backup). I don't think I'd want to run a lot of apps on it.
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