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I have been running a ReadyNAS 104 since July 2015, very successfully. Now, for the first time, I received a warning that one of my four 6TB disks had an increased failure rate. So I bought a new one and changed it. It is resynchronizing as I write this.
Exchanging more HDDs will not be a problem, given that the resynchronisation of this new one is finished before the next one fails.
BUT now I have been thinking: What else is going to fail? I am really not an expert, but this thing apparently has some kind of motherboard, and it has a network card. It may have a RAID controller.
So, I wonder, in a seven year old system, are those components likely to fail anytime soon? And if so, are my data safe? Can those components be exchanged, or is it time to buy a whole new NAS?
What else is going to fail? I am really not an expert, but this thing apparently has some kind of motherboard, and it has a network card. It may have a RAID controller.
So, I wonder, in a seven year old system, are those components likely to fail anytime soon? And if so, are my data safe? Can those components be exchanged, or is it time to buy a whole new NAS?
RAID isn't enough to keep your data safe (no matter how new your NAS is). The best way to keep it safe is to have at least one backup on another device. So my first advice is to do that. Many folks use USB drives for backup - my own approach is to back up to another NAS.
As far as components go, the electronics in the RN104 are not generally repairable - the components are all soldered onto the system board (and Netgear doesn't see replacement system boards). You can directly migrate your disks to any other ReadyNAS running OS 6 firmware w/o data loss - there are quite a few models.
Based on posts here (and my own experience), disks are the most likely component to fail, The power supply would be next. You can find replacements for the external power bricks.
What else is going to fail? I am really not an expert, but this thing apparently has some kind of motherboard, and it has a network card. It may have a RAID controller.
So, I wonder, in a seven year old system, are those components likely to fail anytime soon? And if so, are my data safe? Can those components be exchanged, or is it time to buy a whole new NAS?
RAID isn't enough to keep your data safe (no matter how new your NAS is). The best way to keep it safe is to have at least one backup on another device. So my first advice is to do that. Many folks use USB drives for backup - my own approach is to back up to another NAS.
As far as components go, the electronics in the RN104 are not generally repairable - the components are all soldered onto the system board (and Netgear doesn't see replacement system boards). You can directly migrate your disks to any other ReadyNAS running OS 6 firmware w/o data loss - there are quite a few models.
Based on posts here (and my own experience), disks are the most likely component to fail, The power supply would be next. You can find replacements for the external power bricks.
Re: Succesfully changed HDD, but what else to expect?
Yes, I am aware of the need for backup, and I do make backups from the NAS to a large USB drive. Thank you for your comments. Here is one more question though:
I have received a message from the NAS that said my data are "adapted". However, the resync process is only at 12%. AND a second harddrive has suddenly increased its error rate at a disturbing speed. So, I hope the resync process can finish BEFORE that other disk fails. Any suggestions?
AND a second harddrive has suddenly increased its error rate at a disturbing speed. So, I hope the resync process can finish BEFORE that other disk fails.
Me too. There's not much you can do about that - the good news is that you have a backup, so you can set the NAS up from scratch with healthy disks, and reload the data. You could save the configuraton files, as that would speed up the setup process. Note if you use them, you should reinstall any apps before you restore the config.
While I fortunately haven't had another drive fail during resync, it isn't as rare as you might think. Most users purchase their initial drives at the same time, from the same supplier - and get the same models. Then they are subjected to identical loads in the same chassis. Another aspect (for me anyway) is that often there is a lot of archival data that isn't frequently accessed. The resync reads every sector on the remaining drives, and can expose issues that you didn't know were there.
If you haven't looked into the maintenance functions in the volume settings, then you should do that after you get through this. You can schedule disk tests, and scrubs (which also are good disk exercisers). Personally I schedule one maintenance task a month (rotating through them all three times a year).
