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My aging but incredibly reliable ReadyNAS Ultra 2 running two 4TB HDs (RAID1) has stopped responding. It won't turn on. No LED power light. Nothing.
I'm a neophyte. I know only enough to be dangerous, but I can only guess that it's a failed internal power supply. Let me know if I'm wrong. My questions:
How do I know what part to get? Netgear support for this model has disappeared. There haven't been meaningful updates in years.
If I wanted to just kiss this old NAS goodbye and purchase a new NAS, would I be able to use the 2 drives from this unit as is? It's very important to me that I recover the contents.
You could also try connecting one of the disks to a Windows PC (using SATA or a USB adapter/dock). Then install R-linux for Windows (free), and see if that gives you access to your files. https://www.r-studio.com/free-linux-recovery/
There are no Internal parts available for any ReadyNAS system so you will most likely have to purchase an old Ultra 2 or a PSU that will be compatible with it. There are threads here on replacing the PSU.
If you are planning to purchase a NAS you can purchase the same old model if available or a new ReadyNAS OS6 system. Provided that your disks are healthy, migration can be done and your existing drives will be used.
So you might consider doing a risk-buy of a replacement power brick, and see if that brings your NAS back to life. If the system board in the Ultra has failed, then it might not work.
If you are planning to purchase a NAS you can purchase the same old model if available
Netgear discontinued the Ultra line in 2013, so if you buy a used model you'd end up with a NAS that is at least 7 years old. If you go that route, you could get any Pro or Ultra model (including 4 bay or 6 bay ones). They can be converted to OS 6 if you like.
If you are planning to purchase a NAS you can purchase ... a new ReadyNAS OS6 system. Provided that your disks are healthy, migration can be done and your existing drives will be used.
This option requires an x86 NAS, so the RN100 and RN200 series won't work. Also, although Netgear calls this path "Migration", it's really a way to temporarily mount your Ultra disks so you can off-load the data. After that the disks need to be reformatted, and the data restored from backup. So it's not a direct migration - just a way to offload the data.
@Marc_V and especially @StephenB I cannot thank you enough for the clear and detailed response about my options. I am ordering a new power supply as step 1 and shopping for a newer Pro or Ultra NAS at the same time. Will report back.
Well, the good news is that I found an inexpensive power supply for $11.88 on Amazon Prime with free returns, and it arrived quickly. The bad news is that the NAS remains unresponsive, so I'll have to take advantage of that free return and move on to step 2, which is to get a new NAS and try to recover the disks.
A couple of questions, Please confirm:
1) If I understood @Marc_V and @StephenB correctly, I could buy an old model ReadyNAS that runs RAIDiator, and just slide these two drives in. Correct?
2) If I buy a more up-to-date model running OS6, and want to migrate the data that's on my two 4TB drives, it looked from the instructions like I need to have another set of drives, and format those in the NAS, before I insert these older drives. Is that correct? Could those drives be any size? Or am I missing the concept entirely?
3) Finally, my needs are very simple. Any recommendation on which newer ReadyNAS model would be the most cost-effective for me to find/purchase?
Another legacy NAS running RAIDiator 4.2.x (so, an Intel based system, not a Duo or NV+ V1 or V2) should be able to mount the volume, assuming it was not damaged by whatever damaged the NAS. If you buy one somebody has converted to OS6, it is possible to go back to 4.2.x.
What you will need to move the data to an OS6 NAS is another place to store the data outside the NAS (like a USB drive). Netgear can assist you in mounting the old volume on the new NAS such that you can copy the data to that backup media. Then, you can re-use the old drives or use new ones to create an OS6 volume and copy the files from that storage to the NAS. Since it appears you have no backup plan for your NAS data, it would be good to plan on continuing to use that device for periodic backups.
You could also try connecting one of the disks to a Windows PC (using SATA or a USB adapter/dock). Then install R-linux for Windows (free), and see if that gives you access to your files. https://www.r-studio.com/free-linux-recovery/
Thanks so much for your generous advice. I'm slogging through that process with R-Linux now. It's working, but I sure wish there was an easy-to-follow manual!.
