I have a ReadyNAS Ultra 2 with firmware 4.2.22. When I bought the NAS, I had a 2TB drive in it. Last week, I added another 2TB drive to it, and it automatically set up as X-RAID2.
The problem is, I don't want a RAID setup. I prefer two shares of 2TB each, and then setup what folders I want to backup from share 1 to share 2 (most of the data is unimportant to backup or already has another backup).
So my question is, how can I setup two shares with two drives instead of a RAID setup. If a solution needs a factory reset, does that mean all data is erased from my HDs?
If a solution needs a factory reset, does that mean all data is erased from my HDs?
Yes you need to do a factory reset and yes it will wipe the hard drives, so all data, settings, everything will be wiped.
You need to do a factory reset, open RAIDar (http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20684/), click setup and choose Flex-RAID and confirm your choice. There is a 10 minute countdown. If you don't choose the RAID mode during this time and confirm your choice the NAS will choose for you (by default the last mode chosen, I think).
I also have an Ultra 2. I want to expand the storage by adding a new HDD. It got setup automatically as a X-RAID2.
Now, can I remove one drive, reset Ultra2 and set it up as Flex-RAID, mount the second HDD that was setup as X-RAID2 and copy everything back to the Flex-RAID. Then, I remove the Flex drive, Reset Ultra2 and set up the second HDD as Flex RAID too and mount the initial Flex RAID?
This would avoid the hasle of copying all files over the ethernet onto a backup disk, which could actually be one of the 2 that are inside Ultra2 but reformatted as NTFS(?) for my W7 Ultimate PC to access it.
"Flexraid" is the mode for the entire box, not a drive. To switch into flexraid mode, you need to do a factory reset, which wipes the data. So there will be no way to copy, unless you make a backup to another device.
The best option is to get a backup plan in place first (perhaps using USB drives).
If you want to proceed w/o that, you could remove the second drive (with the NAS powered up), quick format it on your PC, and copy the data onto it over the network. Then factory-reset the ultra, set it up as flexraid (reinstalling add-ons, etc), and restore your existing data onto it. Then add the second drive as a second volume (which would wipe it). Then you could move some shares to the new volume to balance the free space. Though there is always some risk when shifting stuff around this way.
Can I ready one of the XRAID2 directly from my PC if I connect it directly to it? Do I need a specific software?
Can I backup the Ultra2 on the USB from the Ultra2 front port? If so, what format must be the disk? XRAID2? NTFS? Then, what software utility should I use? and will it be able to restaure on FlexRAID afterwards?
To be clear, the advice above is to quick-format the second drive on a PC (as NTFS), destroying its contents. Then copy everything over the network from the ultra. When the drive is re-installed in the NAS it would be reformatted again.
You can back up the ultra to a USB drive. NTFS will work, and if you have a PC is probably the best format to use (since you can then directly read it on your PC). You can also back it up to a drive (internal or external) on your PC over the network. Frontview backup can be used for this, another option is to use a Windows copy utility like robocopy. If you have a gigabit network, you will find that backing up over the network is faster than USB. However, USB is faster if you are using 100 mbit ethernet or WiFi.
It is possible to read the contents of the ultra-2 internal drives on your PC w/o reformatting them. You could try http://www.r-tt.com/free_linux_recovery/ for that, or the paid R-Studio app on the same site.
