Im in the market for a new NAS since my old one died i currently have 2 x 3TB drives and will be getting a third when i purchased the NAS making it 3 x 3TB drive.
1) Two of the drives are used and i dont really have a way to connect them to a computer to format (Only have a Macbook Pro in my possession. Is that ok will the RN104 format them?
2) Do i just put the 3 drives in and boot the unit up? How do i select which RAID i would like to use? (I would like as close to 6TB usable as possible so i think RAID 5 or equivalent is the best option)
3) If i was to use RAID 5 or equivalent is the transfer rate of this NAS fast enough to stream full HD or UHD content over lan? (or WIFI N/AC)
4) If i purchase a 3rd HDD (Of the same size and model) can i simply insert it into the NAS with no issues or data loss?
5) Is the processor sufficent to run a bittorrent app?
1) Two of the drives are used and i dont really have a way to connect them to a computer to format (Only have a Macbook Pro in my possession. Is that ok will the RN104 format them?
The NAS can format them (and should do it automatically if you do a factory install from the front panel).
2) Do i just put the 3 drives in and boot the unit up? How do i select which RAID i would like to use? (I would like as close to 6TB usable as possible so i think RAID 5 or equivalent is the best option)
You can just put them in, though you might need to use the boot-menu factory install to make sure they are formatted. XRAID is the default RAID, and it should be fine for you (it uses RAID-5 single redundancy with 3x3 TB drives). With OS6 you can change to flexraid later on with no data loss.
3) If i was to use RAID 5 or equivalent is the transfer rate of this NAS fast enough to stream full HD or UHD content over lan? (or WIFI N/AC)
@Full BluRay takes 6-7 MB/sec, full rate UHD disks take 16 MB/sec. Streamed or downloaded internet content is usually much less (1080p @ 8 mbits is pretty common, that takes only 1-2 MB/sec).
The NAS is much faster (perhaps 70 MB/s read, 50 MB/s write). So it will keep up. 802.11N or 802.11AC might not (but that is a separate question from the NAS.
4) If i purchase a 3rd HDD (Of the same size and model) can i simply insert it into the NAS with no issues or data loss?
I think you mean a 4th HDD? The answer is yes, and it doesn't need to be the same model. It does need to be >= 3 TB though.
5) Is the processor sufficent to run a bittorrent app?
You can run transmission (though I don't). Download/upload speeds won't be as fast as a desktop PC.
