View and Download Netgear ReadyNAS NV + specifications online. A New Class of Network Attached Storage. Also for: Readynas nv+. With the help of EMC® Retrospect® backup and recovery software, you can set automatic backups of all of your network clients – whether they are Windows, Mac. To manually install add-ons for all ReadyNAS devices, download the applicable package from ReadyNAS Apps & Add-ons. SNMP MIB for ReadyNAS OS 6 devices can be downloaded directly from the management interface by going to System Settings SNMP and clicking on the Download MIB button in the SNMP settings pop-up. RAIDiator SNMP MIB.
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During a spate of acquisitions earlier this year, Netgear purchased NAS maker Infrant Technologies (soon followed by SAN storage maker Zetera), acquiring the ReadyNAS line. Since the transaction occurred in May, Netgear has had little time to integrate Infrant's products into its own offerings, let alone improve on the devices. But that doesn't take away from the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+. Bottom line: I love this thing. If the company reps want it back, they'll have to pry it out of my network.
The NV+ doesn't look much different from other RAID-enabled home and small-business NAS boxes, including the Buffalo TeraStation and the Iomega StorCenter—though it's certainly more stylish with its chromed case and front-mounted display. You'll find all the common features: support for up to four hot-swap hard drives, a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, two USB ports (for external FAT-formatted drives or to let the box function as a print server), a reset button, and a backup button. What sets the NV+ apart is what's inside.
Get Your NAS in Gear
Before you can appreciate the box's inner beauty, however, you have to set it up. Those who bought it without drives can consult a hard-drive compatibility list in the included documentation or on the Netgear Web site. It's simple to install each drive into one of the provided hot-swap enclosures, slide the enclosures into the case, plug in the power cord, connect the network cable, and—don't hit the power button, yet.
That comes after you install the RAIDiator software (Netgear includes versions for Windows 2000 and XP, Mac OS X, and Linux) on all the systems that need access to the NAS but lack UPnP or have it disabled. Even for a task as simple as browsing the NAS, home users of such systems must either access RAIDiator or map the NV+ as a network share—a bit of an annoyance (as is having to install client software), but hardly a major drawback. Vista machines don't require the software, as I discovered. The OS just dropped icons for the management console, media-server console, and data server into Network Connections as soon as the NV+ booted up on the network.
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I went through the configuration process—really just a matter of completing a wizard that takes about 20 minutes (if you don't have an editor barking at you every few minutes about grabbing screenshots for a PC Magazine online slideshow). The wizard clearly explains the steps, which include setting up IP addressing, workgroup or domain associations, and user accounts (if any); naming and provisioning shared folders; and enabling streaming services. The process isn't as easy as with Windows Home Server (WHS), for example, but it's certainly simple enough for a computer-literate person in a small business as well as for most home users. Even if you encounter terms you don't understand, Netgear's defaults almost always work just fine.
And while setting up WHS may be marginally easier, WHS makes its major features available to Windows clients only. By contrast, not only does the NV+ support the major OSs, it lets you enable features specific to each of them. For example, you can opt to support not just the CIFS file system, but NFS (for Linux) and AFP (for Macs). The NV+ also supports rsync, a file and directory synchronization utility that several Linux backup programs use. The rest of the NV+'s capabilities are standards-based, for example the FTP feature, which works with whatever client OS you're using as long as you have Internet connectivity.—
Speedy Storage
This product has several outstanding points. Hefty storage capacity that's easily expandable is one—you're not locked in to the drives that came with the device. Speed is another—the NV+ is fast. Real fast. It can actually make all this newfangled media-serving stuff work, and that's truly impressive.
The easy storage expansion comes courtesy of the patented X-RAID technology. Unlike normal RAID technology, X-RAID doesn't require new drives to have exactly the same capacity as the units they replace. That lets you scale the NAS upward incrementally. Most buyers will probably start with the basic version of the NV+, which is built around four 250GB disks. But the machine can support today's 750GB drives and will be able to handle higher-capacity storage devices as they become available. This means that you can insert a single larger drive without having to rebuild the NAS, something you can't do with a standard RAID device.
The fast transfer rates of the NV+ will, generally, count for more in the home than the office, since home users are more likely to want media-streaming capabilities. Typical NAS boxes run under 10 MBps for most data transfers—fast enough for data work, but too slow to prevent artifacts in movies. With my typical small network setup, which consists of a DSL modem, a gigabit switch, and a variety of PCs running Windows XP and Vista, Linux, and Mac OS X, I clocked the NV+ at up to 30 MBps for both general data transfers and media streaming. That's plenty fast enough for smooth streaming video.
For disk writes, transfers slowed to just under 20 MBps and can slow further if you're using small frame sizes or features like full journaling (which few home users would run). In any case, home users should have no performance worries with the ReadyNAS. The unit can stream multimedia for the SlimBox media server series or act as an iTunes server, sending music to connected iPods—you can enable either capability by checking the appropriate box for it during setup. The OS supports other media adapters via UPnP.
Netgear also did a lot of homework to make the NV+ a good fit for SMBs. Setup, for example, can integrate the device into an environment with just one PC, a small workgroup, or a home setup where the PCs see each other but there's no central server. The NAS can also integrate directly under an Active Directory (AD) domain, which is how most small business networks run. The Iomega StorCenter 200d, for example, works this way with Windows networks, since it's running Windows Storage Server as its OS.
The NV+ is slightly harder to install, though not much, and has the advantage that its features work with more than Windows clients. You'll probably have a few more hiccups importing large lists of users and groups from AD with the ReadyNAS, but if you've even got one client machine that's not Windows, it's well worth the effort.
Additionally, the NV+ takes good care of IT administrators. Setting up user accounts is easy, and once you've installed the RAIDiator software on the client, you can map the NAS as a single share or to whatever shares that user has access. If there's a problem with a drive, or someone changes a NAS configuration setting, the NV+ will e-mail alerts to IT personnel. Storage-savvy IT administrators will also like getting much greater flexibility in performance tuning than with most competing boxes. Admins can play with cache sizes, frame sizes, data journaling, and more until the way the NV+ runs perfectly suits the needs of the business.
Overall, I thought this product was elegant and well thought out— not, for the most part, because of the admittedly impressive transfer speeds or huge storage capacity, but for little things: RAIDiator's support for five languages, for example. Or, when you first plug the NV+ in, the feature that checks to see if your network has a DHCP controller and adjusts the configuration accordingly to avoid conflicts.
For tasks like image backups, the ReadyNAS NV+ requires you to install a third-party product, such as Symantec's Ghost (which worked just fine in the labs). Window Home Server takes care of that for you. But, in general, the NV+ can do everything WHS can and more. In addition, the NV+ supports clients running an OS other than Windows. Initially, a WHS appliance will likely be cheaper than a 1TB NV+, but that's probably for a 500GB machine. For home users the NV+ is an attractive purchase. For small-business use, I've yet to see a better all-around NAS box—period. Unless you're absolutely a Windows-only house, the ReadyNAS NV+ is byte for byte a better value, and wins our Editors' Choice.
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We loved the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+, and we gave it our Editors' Choice award in 2007. But that powerful unit might just be more machine (at a higher price) than many home users need. That's where the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo comes in. This new box, aimed more at the home than at small or midsize businesses, takes up less space and has a few new software tweaks aimed at pleasure rather than work. Aside from that (and lower cost, though it's pricier than some competing products), it's very similar to the ReadyNAS NV+.
Where the ReadyNAS NV+ comes in a chromed-out box large enough for four hard drives, the ReadyNAS Duo opts for a small black case just big enough for two. Among other advantages, the device is even smaller than that of its primary rival, the Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo (LS-WTGL/R1). First and foremost, it supports hot swapping and makes the task easy, thanks to a front-mounted door that provides access to easy-swap drive enclosures. The LinkStation Pro Duo doesn't intend that users hot-swap anything: You've got to open the case with a screwdriver and disconnect the SATA cables to take out a drive. Also, the Buffalo has just one USB port, as opposed to three (two on the back, one in front) on the ReadyNAS Duo. In addition, the Netgear has a front-mounted Backup button that automatically kicks off a one-step backup of its drive (or drives).
Ironically, the only hardware feature that the Buffalo box has and the Netgear doesn't is the two hard drives. If you order a 500GB ReadyNAS Duo, the company ships it with a single preinstalled 500GB drive rather than two 250GB drives. Unless you specifically request a pair of 250GBs, you'll get one. Our model came with a single 500GB Western Digital SATA. That's a little weird, since most of the Netgear's benefits require dual drives.
Still, if you've got the green, adding another drive is easy enough given the box's hot-swap capability—and the process is made even easier by the proprietary X-RAID technology, which lets users plug in a secondary hard drive of any size as long as its capacity is equal to or greater than that of the original. Slide the second drive in and it will start chugging away, no extra effort required. The X-RAID technology saves you from rebuilding the array manually, so you don't need to store your data elsewhere while inserting the new drive.
Those USB ports also make the device more flexible than its primary rival from Buffalo. Where the latter can accept only hard drives, the Netgear handles additional USB hard drives and flash drives, printers, and even a Netgear USB wireless adapter, so you can convert your ReadyNAS Duo into a wireless device. Netgear currently does not have a USB Wireless-802.11n adapter, but if your wireless router is from Netgear, it will likely support the company's Super G implementation. That's Netgear's technology for using two Wireless-G radios in tandem to provide up to 108-megabit-per-second throughput, which should be enough to stream even HD media content. Note, however, that I didn't test that.—Next: Configuring the ReadyNAS Duo
Configuring the ReadyNAS Duo
Getting started with the ReadyNAS Duo is exactly like configuring the ReadyNAS NV+: It all starts with installing the included RAIDar software (the CD has versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems) on at least one PC on the network. RAIDar will scan the network for any ReadyNAS products, so it will pick up any other ReadyNAS product you might have installed. Most likely, though, you'll see only one ReadyNAS; just click on it and then hit the Setup button at the bottom of the screen. This kicks off the Web-based management console, which is where you'll spend the rest of your configuration time.
This is the same Web-based configuration tool as on the ReadyNAS NV+—with a few changes. The configuration wizard kicks off the same way, however; just hit the Start Setup button. This will walk you all the way through initial setup, including IP addressing, configuring shares, assigning users and groups, selecting file system types for some or all shares (such as AFP for Macs on the shares you intend for your Mac users, and so forth) and more. It will also take you through setting up basic management, which includes defining an e-mail address that alerts get sent to, and scheduling a backup of all or part of the ReadyNAS drives to another location.
Much as with to the NV+, once you've run through the setup wizard, the ReadyNAS Duo will show up in your other PC's Network Neighborhood or Finder views. You'll still need to install RAIDar if you want to fully manage the ReadyNAS, but for basic back-and-forth copying or drive mapping, your other clients are good to go.
Backing up clients to the NAS requires backup software, which Netgear has included (NTI Shadow) on the Install CD. You can also use Windows' built-in backup software or some other third-party package if you prefer. The ReadyNAS Duo, unlike Windows Home Server, requires third-party software if you want an image backup of a network drive, and you can't make one when doing a backup of the ReadyNAS itself.—Next: For Those Playing at Home
For Those Playing at Home
Where the ReadyNAS Duo begins to differ from its larger cousin is in the home media-sharing department. The ReadyNAS NV+ has some basic media-serving abilities, and they're refined in the newer device. For one, in addition to being able to access your files using FTP or Secure FTP over the Web, the NAS actually has default templates that let you build a photo-sharing Web site directly from your photo folders. The box also has an iTunes server and a media server that's compatible with the
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You'll also find a download manager, including a BitTorrent client with its own Web interface, that lets you download content off the Internet directly to the NAS. It is also directly supported by the Netgear EVA8000 media extender, so users of that device can manage the NAS box remotely. If you own a EVA8000, you can start off a BitTorrent movie download in the morning from your home-office PC, then scan the ReadyNAS Duo that evening from the EVA8000 to see whether your content has downloaded. If so, you can immediately play the content.
The ReadyNAS Duo's performance was another nail in the coffin of the Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo. The ReadyNAS Duo, with its 256MB of memory, wasn't quite as fast as the ReadyNAS NV+, but it was still fast. On Gigabit Ethernet read tests, the box averaged 24.6 megabytes per second when working with 32MB files, falling to 11.31 MBps using 1GB files. Compare to the Buffalo's 14.7 MBps and 9.2 MBps, respectively. On write tests, the Netgear device managed 17.53 MBps with 32MB files and 13.7 MBps transferring 1GB files. That's noticeably slower than its more hardware-muscled precursor, but it's lightning-fast compared with the Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo, which averaged only 10.1 MBps with 32MB files and 8.92 MBps with 1GB files.
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In the battle of the dual-drive home NAS appliances, the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo is a clear winner over the current implementation of the Buffalo LinkStation Pro Duo. In fact, the latter seems suited much more to simply sharing small and medium-size files on a typical small-business network than to undertaking tasks such as media serving in the home. The only area where the Buffalo wins is on price, but considering the difference in features, I think most home users are better off opting for the ReadyNAS Duo. It simply has more features oriented toward home users, as well as better performance and more hardware flexibility.
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