I am planning on buying a new NAS for my home and wanted to run my configuration thoughts by the forum to get some advice. Here are my requirements and what I am planning on buying. Any assistance would be appreciated.
Requirements: - Initial 3TB of storage and want to be able to add more over the next few months - DLNA capability is key, multiple home media boxes connecting to the media - Ability to perform raid expansion on the fly...my big concern is the initial RAID1 (2x3TB) to RAID5 (3x3TB and above) - Ability to grab a section of the drive for important documents and such for mirroring in the cloud.
Planning on Purchasing: - NetGear ReadyNAS Ultra 4 Plus (RNDP400U) - 2 3TB Seagate Barracuda HDD (ST33000651AS) - Initially, then plan on adding 2 more of the same over the next 3 months.
Questions/Concerns: - Performance - I don't want to spend this type of money and find the array choking on requests - Concern of making sure I the FlexRAID configures right on initial install - Concern of needing to perform a firmware update before I can install the 3TB drives (Can I just stick any drive in to start this process?) - ReadyNAS Ultra 4 Plus versus ReadyNAS Ultra 6 Plus (Would the performance be such an increase that this be a better recommendation) - How reliable is the FlexRAID expansion from RAID1 to RAID5...I know I need to backup "critical" data, but is this a 50/50% shot on the expansion or is it pretty reliable? - Any other recommendations/concerns? (I welcome any assistance and appreciate it.)
I had a bad experience with a Buffalo NAS and am trying to make the best choice for this new purchase. Willing to spend the money, but want to make sure that I am going with a reliable option and plan.
Note that the Ultra 4 Plus uses the same CPU as the Ultra 6 (not Plus). See CPU Specs of the ReadyNAS
k2ice wrote:
- Concern of making sure I the FlexRAID configures right on initial install
I would stick with the default X-RAID2. Flex-RAID RAID-1 volume cannot be converted to RAID-5. X-RAID2 uses standard RAID levels (RAID-0 - single disk, RAID-1 2 disks, RAID-5 - 3 or more disks, RAID-6 - optional with 4 or more disks in a 6-bay ReadyNAS)
k2ice wrote:
- Concern of needing to perform a firmware update before I can install the 3TB drives (Can I just stick any drive in to start this process?)
Can put a single 3TB drive in NAS. Will likely be recognised as less than 1TB if on firmware prior to 4.2.16. Do an update via System > Update > Remote (may need to do a couple of updates) to get on the latest firmware. Then power down, put other disk in and do a factory default via the Boot Menu (http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/boot/how_do_i_use_the_boot_menu) which will give you a clean setup on the latest firmware.
k2ice wrote:
- ReadyNAS Ultra 4 Plus versus ReadyNAS Ultra 6 Plus (Would the performance be such an increase that this be a better recommendation)
I reckon it's worth it for the optional X-RAID2 dual-redundancy (like RAID-6) alone, let alone the better performance. The Pro 6 is faster still and a good option if you intend to use e.g. Plex to transcode (convert on the fly) 1080p video to a device such as an iPad
k2ice wrote:
- How reliable is the FlexRAID expansion from RAID1 to RAID5...I know I need to backup "critical" data, but is this a 50/50% shot on the expansion or is it pretty reliable?
X-RAID2 is better and will expand from RAID-1 to RAID-5.
Expansion is very reliable. However there can be unforeseen problems such as a failing disk that may lead to issues. Best practice is to check the SMART+ stats under Status > Health in Frontview, run the disk test option via the Boot Menu (http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/boot/how_do_i_use_the_boot_menu) overnight or while you're out of work and if you're still not sure then consider powering down, remove drives (label order) and hooking the drives up to an internal SATA port in a PC and checking them using vendor tools. If you can test the drives you intend to add using vendor tools. The NAS will run a short test to test the disk before adding it to the array anyway.
When I mentioned checking disks obviously this was to try and detect if a disk is failing or dead before replacing it or adding an extra one. This is good to do in addition to backing up data. Important data should be backed up regularly and preferably stored at multiple locations (e.g. home, work) at all times.
K2ice - I am not sure which Buffalo device you have, but you might want to consider hanging on to the box. If you start the ReadyNAS (which ever model you decide on) with new drives as you intend, then once you have the data transferred over the network to the new box, you can possibly use the Buffalo for a while as a backup target for critical and important data, as well as some of the video files.
