I have had a ReadyNas Duo at home for the last couple of years and for the most part happy with it. I need to deploy a solution such as this for a business and I was considering the Duo (like I have) and the Pro 2.
I can't find a comparison table on the Netgear site, is there one available?
Do I need to worry that since the Duo is older, sparc based, that it will hit EOL anytime soon?
Are there really any compelling differences in a 2 x 1TB configuration that I need to consider? The Pro is at least $200 more while it looks to be the same form-factor.
Am I missing anything here, any opinions either way will be helpful, thanks.
You are missing the far faster processor, the larger memory size and the vastly improved file transfer rate. While the later will not be readily apparent on smaller files but will be unmistakable on very large files. Also the maximum drive size that will be recognized in a Duo is 2TB, whereas the current limit in the Pro is 3TB, limited only by the maximum size available. When 4TB drives are available in the near future, that would be the new limit for the Pro.
I faced a similar decision last year when I was going to a second home unit and chose the NVX over a second NV+ because of the speed and file throughput as the new larger drives were not at that time a consideration. The NVX now has 2x3TB drives and 2x1TB drives.
Pro 2 offers a much faster CPU, more RAM and much faster performance. Additionally, it has a number of business features that may be of interest including: active directory support, VLAN, ethernet teaming/bonding, snapshots, rsync-over-ssh, SNMP support and a longer warranty (5 yrs).
...although the Duo/NV+ is a great little unit (I bought one back in 2007), however, it is getting a little long in the tooth. The ReadyNAS developers have recently released an upgrade to the home-user market called the ReadyNAS Ultra in 2, 4 and 6-bay units [the Pro 2, 4 & 6 are designed for business users with additional features]. These units have a faster CPU and are more suitable for transcoding and media streaming functions going forward.
The Duo & NV+ are quite capable at doing what it they were originally designed for (storing/sharing data and streaming media), but it's low-powered CPU is not suitable for doing some of the things that many folks who are into media are looking to do. All ReadyNAS products are based on Debian linux, however, support for the CPU included in the Duo & NV+ (it's a sparc-based CPU, as opposed to Intel Atom x86-based CPU in the newer Ultra/Pro series) has been removed in current generations of Debian development. This essentially is going to limit updates to the firmware.
Development on the x86 line is much more active, and new features are being added regularly, both by the developers and the community-at-large.
The lack of development on the sparc platform means that newer hard drives that use GPT are not supported on the Duo/NV+ and therefore are already encountering a hardware limitation.
