I currently own a ReadyNas 4 Bay ultra and absolutely love the unit. I would like to upgrade this to a 6 unit NAS. However, I hear that this March 18th new upgraded units will be coming out. Is this true? Has anyone heard anything on these units? What specs? Will they also run Debian (So my addons are cross compatible)? Any info is greatly appreciated.
I have around 40 ReadyNAS devices out in the field and own a brand new Pro4 myself. As of today, Netgear effectively "End of Lifed" ALL existing devices below the ReadyNAS 2100. The new devices ship with a new OS that will NOT be back ported to existing supported in-warranty devices.
I have tested out many, many NAS devices over the last few years direct from distributors. As of today, I will be only be setting up Synology or InforTrend NAS devices.
Netgear did say publicly they were going to bring features like ReadyDrop (introduced last year to the Arm platform) to X86 devices like the Pro4, Pro6. Looks like that will never happen now.
I would actually like to use it to run sab and sickbeard. That is what i have been using mine for. It works incredibly well. Would it be worth getting the 500 series? I see that is coming out next month 😞
I don't see anywhere that it is not Linux. I'd be very surprised if this were true. And actually it said it is using btrfs instead of ext4 which is only available on Linux as far as I know.
As a very long-time owner of a ReadyNAS NV I've been thinking about upgrading to something more modern for a few months now, and despite the all-but-complete abandonment of these support forums by Netgear personnel, I've dutifully come back every week or so, to see if anything new was being announced. Lo and behold today there is an entirely new range of ReadyNAS devices, the 316 looking perfect for my needs (a 318 would have been preferred but I could always add an expansion box later, it seems). HOWEVER, there is absolutely no way I am going to spend that sort of money on a device from Netgear if their current amount of activity on this forum is indicative of Netgear's intended level of end-user support moving forward...
I'm also concerned that the mere handful of posts in this thread - the first that I can see talking about an exciting new range of boxes - indicates that the once-enthusiastic user base has all but abandoned ReadyNAS partly due to Netgear's apathetic interest.
So, the big question is, do I stick with Netgear or, like the majority of people I know with NAS needs, switch over from ReadyNAS to Synology?
I guess Netgear's response to this post (presumably, now they have a bunch of new devices, they'd be stupid not to ramp up support again and make amends for their past failures) will be a good test to help determine that decision. Over to you, Netgear... Do you want my money?
if the new models are anything like the Duo V2, I'd be worried. launched a model not fit for the market, & it's still not fit for purpose as it's buggy, when it's working it's great, but should I really have to put up with constant DLNA rescans, FTP service stopping for no reason, some have reported it will crash when at 80% full, rsync you cannot delete. Approx 1.5yr's later and they still do not publish what bugs these systems have. I'd happily beta test a new firmware as i can never trust this unit with live data. ps - I also own an NVX that I cannot trust data on it, as it keeps eatings disks on 4.2.22, downgraded it to 4.1.19. My ultra is working a treat with a western digital red. I cannot speak for another product as I stupidly went for the Duo V2...wish I hadn't.
Netgear must accept/publish the faults & commit to fixing them instead of leaving existing users in the lurch.
Well, I can't/won't speak for Netgear on their approach to the forum.
However, I will say that the RN102 is a nice box. The new GUI is very clean, and the OS (including the btfrs file system) has been stable for me. Re-unifying the feature set and UI across the full [new] set of products is a good idea.
Well, I can't/won't speak for Netgear on their approach to the forum.
However, I will say that the RN102 is a nice box. The new GUI is very clean, and the OS (including the btfrs file system) has been stable for me. Re-unifying the feature set and UI across the full [new] set of products is a good idea.
The OS 6 products are definitely worth a look.
stability is important, at least they've had some good people beta testing them as I respect your contribution to the forum and kept it alive when the jedi departed.
my loss of faith in the 'legacy' Readynas product line is due to the drop in standards - as we all know the last couple of firmware releases are not fit for purpose and no sign of rectifying the mess Netgear have left a lot of people in. Can I trust them to keep these new units bug free...I'm not convinced.
I had a chance to beta-test the RN102. It is certainly linux.
Yes. It's using Debian Wheezy/Sid and a 3.x kernel.
I beta tested the RN312 and I'm very impressed with it.
Shedding wrote:
I would actually like to use it to run sab and sickbeard. That is what i have been using mine for. It works incredibly well. Would it be worth getting the 500 series? I see that is coming out next month
The RN516 would perform extremely well in it. It's got a very, very fast CPU in it and 4GB RAM. If you're looking for a new ReadyNAS and have the budget to purchase this model it would be a great choice.
Will still be monitoring ReadyDATA for my video clients.
I am curious about your selection of ReadyDATA for video applications. I am evaluating Synology for a 400 to 500 camera system with full time recording for about half of those. Similar rack mount very high capacity storage chassis. I was drawn to Synology by their next day answers to my presales questions, the online calculator they have to size and spec exactly such a system and mostly by their open and well documented REST API to the surveillance module so that we can write a custom application to manage and control the constellation of NAS's.
What strengths would you give to ReadyDATA that we should not overlook?
Whilst I can't speak for desktopguy, I would say the stand-out feature of the ReadyDATA is the use of the ZFS filesystem. It's a very mature filesystem and the perfect choice for storing important business data. ZFS is far less prone to data corruption than filesystems such as EXT4.
I partly agree with desktopguy in that it is a BIG disappointment that the new OS will not be available for existing ReadyNAS x86 units. I would have thought that this could at leats have been made available to the Pro units. Having recommended and installed several Pro units devices, some fairly recently it will reflect badly that devices we have recommended to business will now presumably not receive any future update. Having been to CES this year and seen the interfaces for Synology, Buffalo and the like, the ReadyNAS interface is far behind in both ease of use and available features.
While I have not seen the new interface/devices (not fortunate enough to be a beta tester for these devices!) I would have hoped that thos OS would have been backwards compatible to Pro x86 ReadyNAS devices.
Another question I have is that will Replicate become free for those with the Pro devices now that the licence fee has been removed for the new family of devices? I am guessing that it won't due to the fact the the ReadyNAS OS and interface will not be changing for the older devices.
I have been on the ReadyNAS bandwagon ever since it was Infrant however it seems that Netgear is now taking a dangerous path of neglecting existing users (specially business user's of the higher end devices) and this is certainly swaying me to look for another NAS brand that are prepared to offer these upgrades exisrting user's of soon to be phased out devices to recommend to be implemented into other businesses. As a software developer and hardware technician I cannot see too many technical issues in getting the new OS and interface to work on existing x86 devices (save for the fact that there may be a requirement to completely erase the existing NAS data to install a new OS and file system) as it is basically the same CPU platform and the only real issue may be some hardware drivers.
As mdgm said the old devices will not suddenly stop working or go our of warranty but I do think as mentioned above that the Pro Nas's at least (or even from the Pro4 upwards including the rack mount devices) that these should all have been able to get an OS/interface upgrade
Now that I have calmed down, let me expand on what I said earlier.
I will test the RN516 when it hits Australia as the feature set is second only to the Infortrend NAS. (which has a hideous web interface) No other NAS devices I know of come close to the feature set - if it works as promised. It will be good to see Netgear finally allowing JBOD expansion on smaller devices.
I can understand Netgear want to sell new gear - not support existing equipment. There is NO reason to NOT support ReadyNAS 6.0 on the Pro4/6 except for maybe minimum RAM specs. If they are not going to back-port ReadNAS OS 6.0 they at least have to fix outstanding bugs. Case in point. Today an interstate client had the dreaded issue of his ReadyNAS Pro6 stuck at the "booting" screen. After I did all the usual troubleshooting (os re-install, skip volume check etc…) I dropped the device into tech support for L3 to fix. Turns out the issue was the boot volume was full due to logs files growing too large. My client was off line the entire day waiting for L3 to fix. (from 8am to 7pm) This is the second time it has happened to that client and it has happened to several other clients. It's a known issue and they even have a add-on to address the issue but it never been documented anywhere or the fix merged into the standard firmware. Its these kinds of bugs that they HAVE to squash before releasing a new OS.
On the high end video side, I have lot of 22 bay Synology setups (head + JBOD) with my clients. They are a good devices with great pricing, but there is no drive scrubbing so I am concerned about "bit rot". Add to that SHR RAID is not as robust as XRAID2. Also, whilst there is an Australian distributor, if there is a major issue, you have to drop it into telnet mode and get Taiwan to remote in and fix it. At least with Netgear, I can open a case (usually in the Philippines) and then get the local L3 technicians in Sydney to take a look.
The ReadyDATA is an interesting product that will fit into alot of video production setups - especially with the dual 10Gb connections. It does go head to head against the Infortend NAS. They have an amazing track record building solid RAIDs. Both systems are ZFS based so feature set is similar.
RND asked about features to look out for on the ReadyDATA. It's simply not an area I am interested in - my video production clients want rock solid, fast bulk storage. ReadyDATA is a better fit than Synology for that. But does come an increased cost.
As a point of comparison, I test NAS devices regularly - it it does not meet my client requirements, I let the distributor know. Ive tested Ingrasys, Pegasus, LaCie, ActiData, Infortrend, ReadyNAS, Synology and a few other brands. Even with all it's quirks and issues ReadyNAS is still my go to product for mac based creative networks. I will be testing the Asustor NAS next week, but don't have high hopes… I would love to test Thecus and QNAP, but the local distributor does not loan to consultants - only resellers. Their loss…
I understand the fact that there has to be some stage where bug fixes stop on EOL'ed devices. However to stop bug fixes prior to devices being EOL'ed is certain uncommon if not rare! This is evidenced by the long wait from when 4.2.22 was released, when 4.2.23 was first beta'd and then when 4.2.23 was 'officially' dropped (viewtopic.php?f=51&t=69201&start=135).
I would have thought there would at least be some interest in Netgear to get this working on at least the Pro devices as the Pro6 at least is generally seen as a SMB product and business generally don't like seeing this sort of behaviour on devices they may have purchased a month before a new line is announced. It certainly doesn't help build confidence in a new product being supported in the future. There was certainly no mention of any new ReadyNAS devices at the recent CES 2013 conference in Las Vegas which leads me to believe this was always their intention to just abandon any bug fixes on the older x86 devices in addition to their already stated position of not releasing the newer OS on existing 64 bit x86 devices.
The fact that there is a t least a possible revenue stream (ie: older devices getting the new OS and buy default getting access to the app store giving Netgear $ from app store sales royalties on ReadyNAS apps) and also that it is showing Netgear to be supporting the ReadyNAS customers they already have would have (in my opinion) been reason enough to make this happen. Customer confidence can often be worth a lot more in the long run than the initial cost of supporting recently EOL'ed devices.
COMPATABILITY CONCERN: If the PRO Series is becoming redundant and the new OS isn't being rolled out to them, I can also see a compatibility issue. Example: Some of my clients have invested in multiple units. If one fails they can currently take the drives from one and then place into another UNIT and away they go. This will no longer be possible if they invest in the Newer Models. The drives in newer model can't be placed into the older should something go astray. In turn they are left with a "mish mash" of NAS technologies. Not good at all and a very poor decision by Netgear not to look after their dedicated clients who have stood by them over the many years. Its also embarrassing for us resellers who recommended the PRO series based on support, future updates and compatibility. What are Netgear thinking leaving their PRO series users hang out to dry! I am 100% certain, my clients won't be buying the newer models down the line. Why would they!
COMPATABILITY CONCERN: If the PRO Series is becoming redundant and the new OS isn't being rolled out to them, I can also see a compatibility issue. Example: Some of my clients have invested in multiple units. If one fails they can currently take the drives from one and then place into another UNIT and away they go. This will no longer be possible if they invest in the Newer Models. The drives in newer model can't be placed into the older should something go astray. In turn they are left with a "mish mash" of NAS technologies.
So assuming you (or your client) bought one of the new models and it failed out of warranty (some models have a 5 year warranty) and assuming your old Pro was still working then you could install the new OS onto it (use a spare disk) and use it to recover your data. After recovering your data you could downgrade the Pro back to the old OS if you wish (this would also require a factory default after installing the modified firmware image to downgrade).
As for if your Pro fails out of warranty you should be able to check to make sure the ReadyNAS OS device has the latest firmware on it (use a spare disk), then power down, remove the spare disk, migrate your disks across and boot the NAS. Do not do a firmware re-install. The NAS should boot the old OS and you should be able to copy off your data. If you like you could test this using a spare disk (not from your array) moved from a 4.2.x box to a 6.0.x device. Before moving the disks across you could also clone the disks from the failed 4.2.x NAS in case something goes wrong.
Thanks for the response. This is fine if one wants to play around as a Hobbyist, but certainly not an option for a client site as the thread (and you) state This is UNSUPPORTED by NETGEAR. Do so at your own risk, without support from NTGR.
In Short: The ReadyNas series used to be all about convenience and without having to mess about. This new OS's introduces a dilemma.....for those that already have the PRO Series. Netgear need to introduce the new OS to them if they seriously want current customers to add more NAS's to their systems (in my opinion only). I for one wouldn't introduce a new OS NAS to my systems. Its easier to just buy a second hand Pro series as a spare. Bad news for Netgear sales.
Late Edit: Having just read the Thread about being able to run the new OS on a current system. Yeah right..................sounds like a lot of trouble for something that doesn't work very well! I wouldn't even attempt it.
For recovering data even though unsupported running the new OS on the Pro would be an option worth considering if you need it. Assuming the array is fine you shouldn't encounter many difficulties migrating an array and backing up the data. However considering some of the new ReadyNAS OS models have 5 year warranties by the time the new models are out of warranty your Pro units would be very old, well out of warranty and may have even failed themselves by then.
If at some point in the future you couldn't find a working unit to migrate the data from a failed Pro or a ReadyNAS OS model you could connect the disks up to an ordinary Linux PC to recover data. Just need to install mdadm, lvm2 (for 4.2.x) using apt-get (if they are not already on the system) and use a handful of commands to mount the array. The commands are a bit different for 4.2.x versus 6.0.x (6.0.x is actually a bit simpler). You have plenty of options to recover your client's data should you need them.
As you have mentioned you could buy a second hand unit as a spare (no support from NetGear for that, but the community here may be able to help) or possibly get one from a client (if they upgrade to a newer system and no longer want the Pro Series unit).
You should be able to get some support for booting an array running the old OS on new systems for the purposes solely of recovering your data (after all eventually - probably still years away - they will need to start replacing failed Pros under warranty via RMA with new models like they have replaced some failed NVX units with Pro 4s). After backing up the data you could then do a factory default and restore the data from backup onto the new OS.
Do you have any idea how long it takes to rebuild and restore 4TB of Data. I do, as I just did one over the last few days. Even if (under RMA) they replace the Pro with new version, wouldn't that be worse if current drives (OS) don't work in new units (or would they work?). If that was the case, it would take many days to rebuild the system and restore the Data (assuming one has a copy on hand).
Regardless, All I am saying is Netgear should have considered its existing clients when deciding to bring out a new range of NAS's, I think this is what the post is about and I am in full agreement. Appreciate your feedback though.
Even if not on the compatibility list for the new models they might work, but you would need to backup your data, do a factory default then restore data from backup to the NAS.
I think if you put an array from a 4.2.x box into a 6.0.x one it should still boot the 4.2.x OS (don't do an OS Re-install) but I haven't tried this.
When I copied my data to my Ultra 6 from my NV+ (v1) using Frontview backup jobs it took me a few days. But the NV+ (v1) is slow so it would be quicker only using newer models.
I think if you put an array from a 4.2.x box into a 6.0.x one it should still boot the 4.2.x OS (don't do an OS Re-install) but I haven't tried this.
Now that's a test worth doing as the transfer of Data is the time consuming part, If one could place the current drives into a new unit using original OS and it worked, then this would initially get one up and going. If you get a chance and have a spare Disk, plonk some data on it and see what happens if you move the disk from the Pro to the new.
