I'm looking for NAS solutions for an SMB. The NAS's will serve primairly as backup drives for a number of MacBook Pros using Time Machine. We plan to use RAID 5 or 6. Help with these questions would be much appreciated:
1. Is ReadyNAS stable with Time Machine? We're looking for a set/forget solution, maintenance free (or nearly so).
2. Is there any performance advantage to a NAS with a 10GB port if the computers are backing up wirelessly? In theory, if multiple computers are backing up simultaneously, a 10 GB port might improve performance but I'm not sure if that translates into practice.
3. In case there's a benefit to the 10GB ports a. Can the 10GB port be plugged into one of the 10 GB SFP+ ports on the Netgear M4300-52G-PoE+, or alternatively, are those ports uplink only (tx/rx pass-through)? b. Does Netgear offer a 1RU NAS with a 10GB port? c. If Netgear does not offer a 1U NAS with a 10GB port, then Netgear's RR4312X would seem to be the most suitable 2RU model. Can you point me to a third-party supplier for DDR4 RAM for this NAS? Crucial offers no memory for the RR4312X. d. Is the Seagate 6TB ST6000NE0023 SSD a good choice for the RR4312X (stable, etc.)? If not, can you point me to a preferred SSD that's more stable?
1. Is ReadyNAS stable with Time Machine? We're looking for a set/forget solution, maintenance free (or nearly so).-
- IMO, It is doing pretty well. There had been issues after Catalina was released but it is now fixed. Though I still wouldn't suggest using it as maintenance free 🙂
2. Is there any performance advantage to a NAS with a 10GB port if the computers are backing up wirelessly? In theory, if multiple computers are backing up simultaneously, a 10 GB port might improve performance but I'm not sure if that translates into practice.
- It would if the AP or router's port where the WiFi clients are connecting is 10GB ready.
3. In case there's a benefit to the 10GB ports
a. Can the 10GB port be plugged into one of the 10 GB SFP+ ports on the Netgear M4300-52G-PoE+, or alternatively, are those ports uplink only (tx/rx pass-through)?
- Yes, it can be used
b. Does Netgear offer a 1RU NAS with a 10GB port?
- Unfortunately, only the RN4312S/X has 10GB which is 2U
c. If Netgear does not offer a 1U NAS with a 10GB port, then Netgear's RR4312X would seem to be the most suitable 2RU model. Can you point me to a third-party supplier for DDR4 RAM for this NAS? Crucial offers no memory for the RR4312X.
- No 3rd party memory module has been tested by NETGEAR but pretty sure community members that have tried replacing or upgrading the RAM will be able to share
d. Is the Seagate 6TB ST6000NE0023 SSD a good choice for the RR4312X (stable, etc.)? If not, can you point me to a preferred SSD that's more stable?
- Most of the SSDs tested are 4TB you can view them using this link, you will also find HDDs here. There are mixed opinions on SSDs being used for data storage though performance is better than the traditional. SSDs are usually advised for tiering.
