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Ultra 4 questions

Bojamijams
Aspirant

Ultra 4 questions

I'm about to populate my new Ultra 4 with 4x WD20EARS 2TB drives (1 of which has data) but have a few questions to make sure I don't lose any data/have horrible incompatibility issues

1) Should the empty drives be formatted before dropping them in? If so, I assume it should be NTFS?

2) Should I load the drive with the data first then wait for something to happen before loading in the empty 3 drives (if so, when do I know I can load the next 3?) or can I put in all 4 at the same time and it'll automatically distribute the data properly?

3) Is the 1gb RAM upgradeable and if so, is there any point to dropping in a 2gb stick?

Thanks for any help.
Message 1 of 4
dbott67
Guide

Re: Ultra 4 questions

Bojamijams wrote:
1) Should the empty drives be formatted before dropping them in? If so, I assume it should be NTFS?


No. The ReadyNAS devices are all linux-based computers. The ReadyNAS will test and format each disk using the ext file system. If the disks were used previously, any and all partitions should be deleted. See this document: http://home.bott.ca/webserver/?p=388

Bojamijams wrote:
2) Should I load the drive with the data first then wait for something to happen before loading in the empty 3 drives (if so, when do I know I can load the next 3?) or can I put in all 4 at the same time and it'll automatically distribute the data properly?


Basically, my preferred steps are:

1. Install a single disk into the NAS and begin the setup procedure (basically consists of turning the NAS on, allowing the NAS to test & initialize the disk, create the partitions and then install the OS). This step only takes about 10 minutes with 1 disk. If you have more disks, you'll be waiting a long time before you can begin setup/
2. After that, configure the NAS desired settings (hostname, network settings, shares, users, etc.)
3. Copy data over to NAS.
4. Insert 2nd disk and let it test, initialize and re-sync the data (this will take a number of hours).
5. Upon completion, you should get an e-mail (assuming you setup e-mail alerts) or check the logs in Frontview. Depending on the size of the disk and the amount of data, this could take 10 hours or more.
6. Repeat with each additional disk. In addition to testing, formatting and syncing the data, the NAS will also perform an expansion of the data volume if you selected X-RAID2.

Bojamijams wrote:
3) Is the 1gb RAM upgradeable and if so, is there any point to dropping in a 2gb stick?


It is, but it's not supported. Unless you plan on running tons of memory-intensive apps on the NAS, it's unlikely to make any noticeable difference.

-Dave
Message 2 of 4
dbott67
Guide

Re: Ultra 4 questions

Btw, here's a thread where I've documented my various experiences with my Pro & NVX:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=25794&p=221934#p141833
Message 3 of 4
Bojamijams
Aspirant

Re: Ultra 4 questions

Good thing I asked!

Thank you for the answers.
Message 4 of 4
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