Memory upgrade for Readynas RN 422

[pkal]

Output from "top" command:

top - 20:04:50 up 6 days, 1:46, 1 user, load average: 0.04, 0.06, 0.00
Tasks: 173 total, 1 running, 172 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
%Cpu(s): 2.5 us, 0.5 sy, 0.0 ni, 97.0 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st
KiB Mem: 2011120 total, 1931152 used, 79968 free, 6684 buffers
KiB Swap: 523708 total, 128000 used, 395708 free. 504872 cached Mem

System seems to have exhausted system RAM and is using a lot of swap space.

Would like to upgrade memory.  Data-sheet says it has 2GB of DDR4 memory.  However, they do not give details like:

1. Is it UDIMM or SODIMM?
2. What is the speed 2133 / 2400 / 2666 /...?
3. Is it ECC or non-ECC?
4. Is it 1-slot or 2-slots?
5. What is the max that the system can take - can I upgrade to 8GB RAM?  

Does anyone have any idea as to what the system can / cannot take?

Netgear support is not willing to provide answers.

Looking forward to getting some clarification.

Regards,

Pramod

[mdgm-ntgr · Accepted solution]

I'm informed by hardware engineering that on the RN422 and RN424 the RAM is soldered on and so it cannot be replaced.

[mdgm-ntgr]

dmidecode suggests the RN422 and RN424 both have 4 DIMM slots (I guess not all of those would be usable though due to space constraints) and that a 2GB DDR4 Micron Synchronous Unbuffered (Unregistered) module with speed 1866 Mhz is installed

I don't know for sure what's in the unit but will try to find out. dmidecode suggests it supports a maximum of 32GB per slot (but again that would need some confirmation).

Which services are you running on your NAS? Are you running any apps?

Welcome to the community!

[mdgm-ntgr · Accepted solution]

I'm informed by hardware engineering that on the RN422 and RN424 the RAM is soldered on and so it cannot be replaced.

[ctechs]

Check the output from free -m too - top does not show how the memory is actually being used

e.g. on a ReadyNAS 516 with 4GB of RAM:

             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          3838       3634        203         17          1       2935
-/+ buffers/cache:        697       3140
Swap:         1023          0       1023

Only 203MB free - but the vast majority of the RAM is just being used for cache, the real available amount of RAM excluding cached items is 3.1GB, not 203MB...

[mdgm-ntgr]

If you want to be able to replace RAM (at your own risk, not supported) we do have the 520 series and 620 series:

RN524X: 2 memory slots (max: 32GB), support up to DDR4-1866
RN526X/RN528X: 4 memory slots (Max: 64GB), support up to DDR4-1866
RN626X/RN628X: 4 memory slots (Max: 64GB), support up to DDR4-2133

We use DDR4 UDIMM ECC memory module on shipping.

[pkal]

free -h -s 5
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 1.9G 1.9G 63M 2.5M 4.6M 361M
-/+ buffers/cache: 1.5G 429M
Swap: 511M 118M 393M

From what you are saying - this seems to indicate that of the 1.9G - 1.5G is used for cache?

[pkal]

The following is the sequence of events:

1.  I asked Netgear pres-sales support asking whether the RN422 memory could be upgraded - since Resilio-Sync warned me that the 2GB of RAM might be insufficient.

2.  I was assured by Netgear that the memory on this device CAN BE UPGRADED.

3.  I bought the device from Amazon (following a link on Netgear's web-site).

4.  One week later, I asked Netgear for the RAM memory specification.

5.  After 2 weeks of dithering - Netgear informed me that the memory on the unit cannot be upgraded.

At THIS point - I asked Netgear whether they would be willing to accept a return for the unit - since they had given me incorrect information on pre-sales support.  The comment you sent - was in response to this question.

This is clearly a case of pre-sales telling me one thing and then customer-support saying something quite the opposite after the unit had been bought.  I believe there is a technical term for it???

Please (a) let me know whether Netgear is willing to upgrade the memory under technical support (I do NOT want to void the warranty), or (b) whether Netgear is willing me offer me another model (equivalent or better) whose memory CAN be upgraded.

I remain open to a CONSTRUCTIVE and POSITIVE disucssion.

Regards,

Pramod

[mdgm-ntgr]

I can see that unfortunately incorrect Pre Sales advice was given looking at your case notes. I've asked customer service to reach out to you.

The memory (RAM) on the unit can't be upgraded. It's soldered on. I asked hardware engineering and this is what they told me. They're the ones that designed the hardware. They are the ones that can give a definitive answer on things like whether memory upgrades are possible even though they're not supported.

[mdgm-ntgr]

The RN426 and RN428 were just announced today. These use memory slots. It can support both UDIMM ECC or UDIMM non-ECC (however you should stick to UDIMM ECC RAM). Max memory capacity is 64GB with 4 memory modules. The current speed we ship is 2133MHz. Replacing the memory is not supported, but can be done on the RN426 and RN428.