ReadyNAS 2100: Data Transfer Rate

[Reado1]

I want to purchase a ReadyNAS 2100 4TB for file backup from multiple servers and streaming videos over RTMP. What I need to know is what is the data transfer rate of the NAS and the hard drives it comes with?

[arjoseph1]

Please check this site regarding performace expectations:

http://home.bott.ca/webserver/?p=363

[Reado1]

Thanks for your reply. We have a Gigabit network and very powerful machines; mine for example is an Optiplex 960 (w/ SSD, 4GB RAM, etc). What I need to know is what the NAS itself is capable of from a data transfer point of view as I cannot find anything on the Netgear or ReadyNAS websites that state this. I also need to know the make/model of the hard drives that come with the device so I can determine if they're suitable for our needs.

Do you know if the NAS is capable of using 10K or 15K rpm hard drives? What about SSDs?

Thanks in advance.

[mdgm-ntgr]

SSDs are not supported as they don't support SMART. I think the 10K and 15K rpm drives wouldn't be compatible either (perhaps for a different reason).

Only drives on the HCL are supported by NetGear.

[TeknoJnky]

SSD's support smart. Where did you hear that line?

They may or may not support the exact same attributes as regular drives, but they definately support smart.

Only drives on the HCL are supported by NetGear.

yes but you know fully well that just because something is not on the HCL does not mean it wont' work. The HCL only means that a particular drive has passed netgears validation tests.

@ OP, the drives that come with the device are determined by availability, netgear only uses enterprise level drives in it's business models, so while they may come from different vendors they will still be the enterprise model.

I would be very surprised if 10k or 15k sata drives or ssd's would not work, assuming you can find 2.5" to 3.5" adapters that will work with the device drive cages (cages only support 3.5" drives).

ssd smart info pic

[PapaBear1]

Mounting 2.5" drives in a ReadyNAS tray at least for the desktop models is all but impossible. I have a JBOD box whose trays support both. (no screws though) Since the question has come up before, I compared the footprint of the drives and the trays. The set of screw holes in the 2.5" drive closest to the connectors is beyond the bottom edge of the tray. One could drill a hole (if very accurate) in the bottom of the tray close to the edge where the latch hinges but the other rear screw hole is in the middle of one of the large holes in the bottom of the tray. In other words, there is only one spot where one could attach a 2.5" drive to the current design ReadyNAS tray that is used in Duo, NV+, Ultras, Pros and NVX series of desktop models. Adapters won't work because most put the 2.5" drive in the middle since they are used in desktops with cables that can be attached my hand. The back plane of the ReadyNAS had fixed sockets and even putting the thickness of the metal side of an adapter between the one edge of the drive and the edge of the tray would at least put the drive in a bind if not prohibit it's insertion totally. New trays would have to be designed. That scenario in the near future is not very likely.

There have been discussions about 2.5" drives before and for the desktop models, it does not make economic sense as the drives are more expensive and do not have the capacity of the 3.5" drives. Yes the SSD drives are faster, but even the SATA2 drives are faster than the 1GB network interface. However, on the commercial rack mounts with the 10GB options and teaming, that might be a different scenario. I think their trays are different, and some of the older rack mounts have different trays than the newer one, at least from the images, since I have never had my hands on any of them.

[TeknoJnky]

HD drives are only as fast/faster than gbit when very low concurrent access.

when you compare regular HD vs SSD in high concurrent random access, there is simply no comparison, the ssd will slaughter any hdd.

Not everyone needs loads of disk space, some situations call for very fast/low latency access. SSD can provide this, hdd generally can not.