Hello - i have a Rn102 2 bay with a confirmed dead network card.
If i upgrade to a 4 bay Nas will i loose the data? or can i add the existing hard drives into the new Nas as is?
You can migrate to another OS-6 ReadyNAS without data loss. Though there could be an issue if the RN102 firmware is very old (before 6.5.2). Migration from very old firmware to current firmware can be an issue with the ARM platforms.
If your firmware is very old, then you're probably better off with an x86 NAS. On the other hand, if you have more current firmware and have apps installed, it is a bit simpler to get an RN214 - which is an ARM platform.
The other desktop models (RN314, RN424, RN524) are x86 platforms. The NAS can switch it's own software to x86, but it cannot switch the apps. So if you have apps installed, you will need to reinstall them somehow.
I recommend doing an install with a scratch disk (not part of the array) first, and if the new NAS isn't up-to-date with it's firmware, then update the firmware before doing the migration. You can also confirm that the NAS boots with the scratch disk in every slot. This is more important if you decide to get a used ReadyNAS.
