Which advantages does upgrading ReadyNAS Ultra 2 to OS6 have?

[Mrk74]

So I have 2 ReadyNAS Ultra 2 with 2x 2Tb disks in it.

I've seen that the Ultra 2 can be upgraded (without support) to OS6.

Which advantages does upgrading to OS6 have? Is it worth the risk / hassle?

[StephenB]

OS-6 includes a lot of features including

• support for SMB 3 (eliminating the need to run the SMB 1 protocol that Microsoft is deprecating).
• ReadyCloud and other cloud services
• Built-in Antivirus and Filesearch
• the ability to install plex

You'd get these features, and also security patches. Note that the ultra-2 is slower than "real" OS-6 NAS, and has less memory - so you might not be able to run every OS-6 feature - that would depend in part on how much data you have on the NAS.

Whether it's worth the hassle of course depends on how much you want those features.   If you do, another opton is to simply get a new ReadyNAS (an RN212 or perhaps an RN422), and repurpose your ultra-2 as a backup.

My main NAS is an RN526x - I've left my Pro-6 (which is just a backup NAS now) running 4.2.31.  When the time comes that it needs a factory reset, I'll probably convert it to OS-6.

[Mrk74]

Thanks for the fast reply StephenB!

Another question:

• When I update the ReadyNAS Ultra 2 to the latest OS6 firmware, will automatic OS6 updates work?

[StephenB]

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@Mrk74 wrote:

Another question:

• When I update the ReadyNAS Ultra 2 to the latest OS6 firmware, will automatic OS6 updates work?

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The system will find the updates, and you have a few options here (beta, latest, and stable).  Also, Netgear does push hot-fixes silently.

Of course if you are using a static IP address configuration, you do need to make sure there is at least one DNS server configured.