Recently acquired a ReadyNAS Pro Business model (RNDP6350-100) with 6x750GB HDDs in excellent shape for almost free. Original owner added a second RAM stick to give it 3MB total but did no otehr upgrading. After browing these forums for several days, I've successfully upgraded the BIOS to V2 and the O/S to the unsupported 6.x.x. The question here that I've been unable to get out of prior forum entries is what the upgraded BIOS will allow me in terms of maximum hardware. I've seen references to alternate CPUs and mentions of RAM up to 8Gig but no real firm data. Can anyone provide something like a table for the BIOS/OS versions to show what each can support in the way of CPU, RAM, HDD for any given model? (Obviously with my ReadyNAS Pro Business unit of primary interest?)
There is no known disk size limit with OS-6, and the largest available drives (12 TB at the moment) will work in your NAS.
Currently shipping OS6 NAS start at 2 GB, so you might actually have enough RAM for now. But your system will support up to 2x4GB.
I'll let others speak to the possibilities on CPU upgrades. I will say that there's not much benefit in storage performance, but there would be a benefit if you want to run a CPU-intensive app such as plex.
If one of your goals is to maximize storage performance, then you should consider using the SSD metadata tiering feature. That will require using 2 slots for SSD disks, so you'd need to upgrade at least two mechanical disks to keep the same amount of storage (assuming single redundancy). I suggest using SSDs that are intended for NAS/server workloads (the EVO 860 Pro being one possibility).
Have pretty much the same ReadyNAS Pro Business Edition (as well as a 2100 v1 and v2) and was looking into getting memory upgrades for these units. I can't seem to find any table or upgrade compatibilty list of known working modules - seem to default to the netgear main page these days (although I do appreciate that these are unsupported units these days). Can anyone point me to an upgrade specs for the 2 x 4GB memory modules.
For all 6-bay Pro models, you need PC2-6400 low density (2Rx8) memory, 4GB max per slot. 4GB DIMMs carry a premium price because only 64-bit operating systems (which were not in common use except for servers when PC2 memory was the best available) can use more than 4GB. High density (2Rx4) will not work.
I've currently got the following spec in the ReadyNAS Business Edition and was thinking about upgrading the CPU. Found elsewhere in the forum that I would need the BIOS updating first then could upgrade to OS6. Any recommendations for the CPU? Some people seem to have fitted a Xeon in there which was a surprise! but willing to go up to whatever is suitable for cooling/power etc.
Unless you plan to do a lot of streaming with transcoding, the quad-core Xeon is very much overkill. And, frankly, if it doesn't get very hot on you with the factory CPU cooler, you're probably not using it to anything close to it's potential, so it's a waste.
I've gone with the Core2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz) on my older Pro units. The Pentium Dual-Core CPU E5300 (2.60GHz) on the Pro6 doesn't get enough extra bang from the Core2 to make it worthwhile, IMHO.
You do need BIOS version 2.0 if you go with the Core2 or Xeon, so make sure you do that update first.
I was have ordered the Core Duo CPU you mentioned as thought the Xeon might have cooling issues (but I have seen people seem to be using it ok in upgrades). Where would I download BIOS V2? Many thanks for the information.
I have updated the BIOS now - thanks for adding the reference date. All seems to have gone well so far. 🙂 Thanks both for taking the trouble to give me your help and advice on the upgrade. I upgraded the 2100 v2 that I have last night to OS 6 and what a difference (improvement) in the GUI for that.
