I've had my ReadyNAS Ultra 2+ serving as a home media server for going on 9 or 10 years now, originally serving content directly via DLNA and in the past few years using Plex. I upgraded it many years ago to OS6 without any issues. Around the same time, I also swapped out the 2TB drives I originally installed with two 3TB drives, and it took over a day for the two drives to fully sync (swapping one drive at a time).
I've been frequently pushing up against the disk-space limit, so I'm looking to expand my space on the NAS again, hopefully giving it some life for another year or two. If the NAS dies then I'll use the drives in whatever NAS I pick up next.
Have people had experience using drives as large as 4, 6, or even 8TB in this hardware model? Do I need to be concerned whether the OS will recognize them?
Are there any hardware compatibility lists for this model (even if community-driven) that list somewhat modern drives? For this model I only found a guide from 2018, but that mentions RAIDiator which I no longer use since I'm on OS6.
Does the OS/firmware support so-called Hybrid or "NAS" drives, and is that a good approach, or should I look at performance-geared drives given that the drive will be the bottleneck and I'm looking to play videos (as I've done since I bought the NAS)?
I have a Pro2 (same hardware as Ultra2 except dual-core instead of single-core processor) running just fine OS6 with two 6TB drives. There is no reason it cannot handle larger ones, though at some point you may start to see RAM and/or CPU limitations slowing things down.
Netgear hasn't updated any compatibility list in quite some time, even longer for legacy models. Just stick with a CMR drive -- WD Red Plus, Seagate Ironwolf, or (non-archive) enterprise drive.
The drive speed will not be your limitation, especially since the SATA controller in legacy hardware is only SATA2 (3Gb/sec). Ethernet speed will. Just stick with a CMR drive, NAS-purposed (which are NOT typically hybrid, BTW) or enterprise.
You didn't ask, but the ReadyNAS does not have an issue with the newer drives that use SATA pin 3 for power disable (no "tape fix" needed). Pin 3 is floating.
Thanks Sandshark. I'll pick up a couple of 6TB drives and use those for the time being.
Is upgrading the RAM or CPU on my model a possibility to your knowledge? Are there any guides online and/or a list of compatible upgrades? I had been using the system for playing 720p videos and the occasional 1080p video (which I think still worked but might've been sluggish) through Plex, and an upgrade of either hardware would probably help there, but it might be time to look elsewhere for a new NAS.
It's too bad the ReadyNAS line of products appears to be ending - I would've taken the plunge with an upgrade if newer models were still available at a reasonable price. I don't know if I want to spend the time and money on building a dedicated media PC, either. If there's a dedicated NAS with a lot of the features of ReadyNAS products that you or others here would recommend, I'd appreciate knowing about it.
