Netgear ReadyNas 312 Question. Can't see both hard drives

[comicrage]

Hi,

I just purchased a ReadyNAS 312 and have installed 2 - 1 TB drives.

I connected the ReadyNAS directly to the back of the PC with the ethernet cable.

When I open the RAIDar, it gives me teh IP address which I open with Window Explorer

In Window Explorer, I only see Documents, Music, Pictures, and Video folder.

How do I access both hard drives? It looks like I am see only the hard drive with the OS.

Anyhelp is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[StephenB]

By default your ReadyNAS uses RAID-1.  That mirrors the disks (so anything written to one is also written to the other).  The benefit is that you have some protection from disk failures, but of course you lose space.

If you want the space instead, you need to switch to FlexRAID, destroy the current volume, and then create two new ones (one for each disk).

That is described in the software manual here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/READYNAS_OS_6_SM_EN.pdf

Read through pages 26-34 (at least).

[comicrage]

Thanks for the quick response. So, in the future, when I upgrade to 8 TB, I assume that I need two identical 8TB drives for the ReadyNAS 312 and the mirroring configuration, correct?

Again, thanks for the great information.

[StephenB]

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@comicrage wrote:

So, in the future, when I upgrade to 8 TB, I assume that I need two identical 8TB drives for the ReadyNAS 312 and the mirroring configuration,

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Yes.  

[Mickatroid]

Remember though, having data stored on two drives could save your data (and all going well it will) when one drive fails but it should not be relied upon to do so.

If the whole NAS fails your data may still be lost (corruption, damage to drives etc), if one drive fails backing the good drive up (or re-mirroring it to a fresh drive) might cause the remaining working drive to fail.  If someone steals your NAS your data will be lost.

Mirroring/RAID1 is not a substitute for proper backups.

[StephenB]

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@Mickatroid wrote:

Mirroring/RAID1 is not a substitute for proper backups. 

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I agree.  RAID is not enough to keep your data safe.  

That is why I described the benefit as "you have some protection from disk failures"

[Mickatroid]

Your post was in no way misleading StephenB, I just thought it was worth while amplifying the 'some' bit.

RAID1 is seen by far too many people as a complete backup strategy and this was an opportunity to be clear that it is not.