Does anyone know the difference between the Ultra 6 vs Ultra 6 Plus vs Pro vs Pro 6? It's really hard to get an answer from someone @ NETGEAR. I've tried many times calling and putting in support for a presale's question. I would like to know are ALL the features in the Ultra 6 & Ultra 6+ are in the business version such as the Pro & Pro 6. What is the business version lacking? Performance wise, what is better?
The Ultra 6 and Ultra 6 Plus share the same feature set, but the Ultra 6 Plus has a much faster CPU. The Ultras have a 3 year warranty and lack business features.
The Pro 6 has a faster CPU again. It has all the features of the home models plus it has business features and a 5 year warranty.
The business models have NIC teaming as a feature. This allows you to bond two NICs together to get failover and/or faster performance (if you have multiple client machines accessing the NAS over different protocols).
Naturally as the Ultras are targeted at the home user, the home features are advertised for these. The Pro 6 is targeted at the business user so when these products are promoted the business features are highlighted.
I'd definitely recommend asking PreSales questions here on the forum.
The ReadyNAS web site say that the Ready NAS Ultra 6 Plus is not longer available (EOL), it has been replaced with the ReadyNAS Pro 6 http://www.netgear.com/home/products/storage/advanced-prosumer/RNDP600U.aspx
"RNDP600U is no longer available and has been replaced with RNDP6000."
Whats the excepted life of the Pro 6? As this has been around a while now too...
They are still available in the retail chain. The only thing I can think of is that they can no longer get the E2160 Intel chip which powers the Ultra 6 Plus. The Pro 6 is powered by the E5300. Maybe one of the Jedi can enlighten us.
The Ultra 6 Plus was pretty much the same as the later first gen Pro systems hardware wise. The Ultra 6 Plus was the follow on to the Pro Pioneer. I agree with PapaBear that they might not be able to get the E2160 chip in sufficient quantities any more. This is the same chip that was used in the first gen Pro released in 2008.
Also one would think that many people looking at the Ultra 6 Plus would decide the Pro 6 is a better choice. For a little extra you get 2 years more warranty, a considerably faster CPU and a larger feature set.
The ReadyNAS 600 released back in 2004 still receives firmware updates from NetGear (4.1.9 is currently in public beta: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=59222). Even though the Ultra 6 Plus has been discontinued firmware updates for it are not going to stop anytime soon. New purchases of the Ultra 6 Plus (some units will be left in the supply chain) will still come with a 3 year warranty and even after that period one would expect firmware updates to still be made for the product and some help available on the forum here.
The Pro Business Edition and Pro Pioneer were released late 2008 and the Pro 6 and Ultra 6 Plus were released late 2010. Following on from that you'd possibly think perhaps late 2012 for the next gen but the Pro 6 is a really powerful NAS that can even transcode (convert on the fly) 1080p video. It's possible it could be in production for longer than that, maybe even an extra year. We'll have to wait and see what NetGear does. My advice would be to buy when you need it. As with all technology there's always something newer and better around the corner.
Wirregar - My two NVX units purchased in the summer of 2010 (1 Business Edition and 1 Pioneer) are also on the discontinued list (as of late 2010) are still humming along just fine. Yes, the Ultra 4 and certainly the Ultra 4 Plus are faster, but I don't really consider them obsolete because of Netgear's consistent OS upgrade path, they are currently on 4.2.17 even though one came with 4.2.7 and the other with 4.2.9. If one totally croaks outside the warranty period (only 1 year left on the Pioneer), then I can simply pull the disks and insert into an Ultra, Ultra Plus or Pro, boot up and keep going.
If you see a unit that fits your needs and your budget, go ahead and purchase it. I would not worry about a unit being replaced, for as long as it still operates, it will be supported software wise. Case in point, as mdgm pointed out, RAIDiator 4.1.9 is in Beta and that version only runs on the Sparc units and they have been discontinued for over 6 months and the retail supply chain is almost totally empty of new units. I don't know of any other company out there still providing updates to the OS for a unit that is now 8 years old (the ReadyNAS 600) and there are still some owners posting on this forum.
That's a good choice. I would love to have a Pro 6 myself, but my two NVX units cover my needs so it will remain a want, not a need. I have to be careful though about looking at them online for the drool starts getting on the keyboard.
