May 29, 2009 at 3:37 Perfect NAS? Part 2 - NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo
The issue of storing gigabytes of information I have already raised in my reviews. Well, if I helped someone decide on the choice of network storage ... if not, here's another interesting device. To be sure $)
Detailed photo review, traffic.
Manufacturer's site :: Storage devices :: Device page
Acquaintance with this device began long before this review was written. It just so happened that, in addition to my e-books, I do not mind looking through various paper publications such as Iron , Chip and Upgrade (and even managed to fall in love with Russian C'T , but the crisis did its dirty work). So, in these media about ReadyNas Duowrote more than once. And Chip, in addition to reviews, even invited its readers to compete for the glorious prize a couple of times, which will be discussed in my review today.
By the way, I love competitions (I often win something), but I did not manage to win this servochka. By the way, in the pictures, he always seemed to me a huge chest, but in reality it is a very small device the size of a loaf of bread :) In general, three or two times.
Inside a small box (on which there were visual diagrams of the possible use of the contents) were:
- NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo NAS ;
- Network cable and power adapter;
- Patch cord 1.6m long;
- Screws for disks;
- A disk with drivers;
- Booklets.
There was also a bag of powder, but I have not tried it yet) It looks like silica gel.
The fuller name of the device model is NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo RND2150 , which, apparently, can be marked as:
RND = ReadyNAS Duo (butter), and 2150- that the device is designed for two (2) disks and inside it there is already one (1) disk with a capacity of 500 gigabytes. I climbed onto the site and my guesses were confirmed - it’s easy to guess what is inside the RND2110, RND2175 and other RND6610 models. My RND2150 is the youngest model in the series, but oh well.
I get the "loaf" on the table, now we will have lunch)
The first thing that is noticed is the weight of the device. Net - about 2 kg, with a disk - a little more. Gross weight is perhaps all three kilograms. However, I am not surprised. for the device that I just took out is cold, and therefore metal :) I liked the rectangular design - strict lines, high-quality materials - all together inspire some subconscious trust. Dimensions (in mm) - 222 x 142 x 101.
On the front side there is a large grid with a manufacturer’s nameplate, below is the name of the model (it is strange that without numbers). To the left of the grid is the power button (without a signature), three indicator points (act, 1, 2 - apparently, the status as a whole and each disk separately). A little lower - the USB 2.0 port with the Backup button - we already went somewhere ... well, you can insert a USB flash drive, press the button and all the contents will be inside the black box.
The mesh gate easily reclines (it is on a magnetic latch) - behind it there are hard drives. And not just located, but in special metal removable cartridges. To get a disk, you need to press the round button at the bottom of the cassette - a handle will rise, yanking the whole structure out. I have never seen anything like this in my reviews (well, right, it was all without hot swapping) - but this is far from a new phenomenon in the world of NASs and servers in general.
One disk (Seagate DB35.3 500GB, 8mb buffer; in the first cassette, numbering from above) is already there - I pull it out to see what's inside. And here's what :)
More intimate details of the internal structure can be found on IXBT.
The disks change quite easily - the cartridge is pulled out, the disk is inserted, fixed with a Phillips screwdriver for 4 screws (they are supplied in excess) and you're done. As you might have guessed, the device supports hot swapping.
There is absolutely nothing on the top of the device.
On the sides are the company name and air vents. 4 vertical strips of 5 columns of 17 lines in each - a total of 340 holes :)
Below - a sticker with information and 4 rubberized feet on the screws, so the device is stationary. Also, I think this will positively affect the noise at work.
On the remaining side of the device is a 60 mm cooler, an anti-theft connector for a Kensington lock, a reset hole, 1 network port and two more USB ports. Accordingly, all this needs to be fed with something - there is a power connector. All functional elements are signed - you will not get confused.
I insert the power cable into the server, connect the adapter to the outlet. "Chick" and the connector is also in place. I turn it on.
The buzz is not weak, but for 20 seconds. After that, the device becomes much quieter and after another 20 seconds it becomes almost inaudible (comparable to the volume of the disks). What is it? Probably a cooler with automatic adjustment of rotation of the blades) and speeds of at least three.
What was pleasantly pleasant - indication. When turned on, a fairly bright blue LED (in the power button) lights up, a little later it starts to pulsate and later stops blinking, becoming moderately bright.
The indicators of activity and hard drives are made with tiny dots that “burn” in green. This is how it should be!
Running a little ahead, I’ll say - in the admin panel there is a function of “detecting” the device and disks - apparently, in case there will be a whole data center in the device. By pressing a button on the desired device (or disk on it), the corresponding indication is called up. It's funny
It is) I first began to study the device with English firmware, which was located on the disk that came with the device. But then I remembered that more than once I made it a rule to first go to the official website and download the latest versions of software from there. So I went to the site and noticed a new version. Downloaded, reflashed - satisfied. There are a lot of changes in this version, the main of which for me was the presence of the Russian language.
About the update process. I downloaded the RAIDiator -4.1.5 file (that's what the firmware is called), which weighs about 60 megabytes. In the administration panel (it is called FrontView ) I upload the file, wait a couple of minutes until it is updated, I reboot the device - hurray, native letters.
So. To get started, you can use the programRAIDar - install and run. An animated image of a radar appears that is looking for a connected NAS-a device (Whose rocket is this? NASA, but a hundred?). Immediately after detection, a new program window opens in which certain information is displayed. I want to say a very convenient monitoring tool! You can see the devices (with the model name), their MAC-m, IP, names, statuses in general (and of each drive in particular + cooler status and, if any, UPS), firmware version. A little lower are the buttons Setup (drive admin), Browse (opening storage in the file browser), Rescan (searching for devices on the network again), Locate (will make the indicators blink).
Surprised that the admin / admin pairdid not fit, like admin / password - again convinced that the documentation should be read first. They will be allowed by default with admin / netgear1 , which is why I logged in (through a secure HTTPS connection). The first impression of the interface is “somewhere I already saw it” (perhaps I’m talking about all kinds of foreign products from companies like Norton and OnTrack - these rounded controls are very specific for those places). But it ceases to be evident in a couple of minutes.
On the main page there is information about the device (which is partially not available in RAIDar) - server name, model, serial number, exact firmware version, IP, amount of memory (with timings, heheh; SODIMM memory and its original 256MB, but the size can be increased to 1GB - remove the side panel and set the bar for a larger volume) and partition information. There is a menu on the left, and a status line with information about disk space, cooler rotation speed and, below. etc.
I think you don’t need to show screenshots of all the tabs with the settings, so again I have to take my word for it. On the left is the main menu of 9 items:
1. Network - configure the IP address (manually or from DHCP), mask, gateway, MTU, Jumbo Frames, host name, workgroup.
2. Security- here the administrator password is set, and very competently - with a password replay, a hint, an email for recovery. The password, by the way, can be reset to factory settings or by flashing it. Also in this menu item you can configure settings for user groups (quotas, creating a name folder for each user, the ability to change the password; there is a network basket), and you can create these same users here. Judging by the method of organizing the output of user lists, it implies support for a large number of them.
3. Services - contains several submenus. The first is standard file services, where you can enable or disable the following protocols - CIFS, NFS, AFP, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, RSync.
The second tab contains streaming services - SqueezeCenter, iTunes Streaming Server, UPnP AV, Home Media Streaming Server.
On the third - plug-ins. Of the BitTorrent client and ReadyNAS photo service available so far.
The torrent client is very good - you can feed links or a file to it - tasks will immediately appear in the same window where you can see the information (without reloading the page).
From the settings - ports, speed limit, seed settings.
About the photo service a little later.
4. Volumes - oddly enough, it contains volume settings. Also on a separate tab you can specify what to do if an external USB device appears in the system - where to copy it and on whose behalf.
5. Shared resources- shared resource folders, a very flexible system are configured here (for each resource you can set your own settings for different protocols).
6. Backup - you can set a backup task and see reports on their implementation. The backup tool itself is very flexible in terms of settings!
7. Printers - if desired, the drive can be a print server. I did not try to connect my printer.
8. System- time is set (can be synchronized with time servers), notifications. By the way, we’ve done well with notifications - you can specify up to three mailboxes where custom alerts will be sent (disk failure, lack of space, temperature problems, UPS, cooler). Some system performance settings, power and shutdown options are also available.
9. Status - you can see information about the disks (model, volume, temperature, status) and SMART state. And also - very detailed logs on the main actions in the admin panel and with the device as a whole.
Now, as promised, a few words about the photo service. To be honest, I did not really understand it, but still.
First you need to download a special program from the site ( ReadyNAS Photos, about 20 mb) and get an account there. Next - activate the service in the admin panel, install software, launch a shortcut from the desktop. A window opens, we log in and after that we get the opportunity to add our server and upload any photos. Which, as I understand it, can be shared and they will be visible from an Internet site services. Everything would be fine, but I just couldn’t do it to the final result :(
But it turned out just to upload the photos, create a photo album - everything is simple, unobtrusive and moderately nice.
This time, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit (NASPT) helped measure performance ). The indicators are as follows:
The temperature even after prolonged work with files did not exceed 45 degrees.
It's time to summarize. Once again I look at the buzzing master of gigabytes:
Pros
- Strict appearance, not easily soiled metal case, lack of vibrations;
- The ability to "hot" replace hard drives; “Smart” cooler; ability of robots through UPS;
- Unobtrusive indication, 3 USB (2.0) ports for connecting external devices and the ability to create backup in 1 click;
- Good speed and temperature indicators;
- Ability to work simultaneously with Windows, Mac and Linux;
- Spin Down function (to reduce power consumption and noise level);
- Possibility of flashing, flexible and functional administration panel in Russian; built-in BitTorrent client;
- Price (RND2000 variant, without disks costs about 10-11 thousand rubles, for comparison - Synology DS209 + without disks costs about 18 thousand).
Cons
- High noise at maximum cooler speeds;
- Minor flaws in Russification (fixable);
The patient reader, who reached this paragraph, probably already realized without my prompts that he had read a review of a very successful product.
To my previous article about NAS from Synology, which I called "ideal", they wrote to me, they say try NETGEAR - for sure your concept of an ideal NAS will change.
I tried) To say that I rethought everything is to lie ... yes, I fell in love with the ExtJS admin panel) But to say that NETGEAR hit his face in the dirt is undeservedly offending an excellent device. Considering that it was about NAS, and NAS is, first of all, network storage, in this regard ReadyNAS Duo proved itself fully and I have no serious complaints. Although, of course, something could be added. And with the advent of firmware, which, by the way, come out with enviable constancy, the device is becoming more and more functional.
Thanks to the hot swap function, the ability to work on a schedule and through the UPS, as well as the presence of a checkmark in front of the item “ Compatible with 1C: Enterprise”, The device can be adopted not only by home users (network-entertainers), but also by small enterprises. The piece of iron worked well, and the “price-quality” ratio just fits on the side and says in a friendly way: “ Well, buy, eh? ";)
Good luck!
Detailed photo review, traffic.
Manufacturer's site :: Storage devices :: Device page
Acquaintance with this device began long before this review was written. It just so happened that, in addition to my e-books, I do not mind looking through various paper publications such as Iron , Chip and Upgrade (and even managed to fall in love with Russian C'T , but the crisis did its dirty work). So, in these media about ReadyNas Duowrote more than once. And Chip, in addition to reviews, even invited its readers to compete for the glorious prize a couple of times, which will be discussed in my review today.
By the way, I love competitions (I often win something), but I did not manage to win this servochka. By the way, in the pictures, he always seemed to me a huge chest, but in reality it is a very small device the size of a loaf of bread :) In general, three or two times.
Equipment
Inside a small box (on which there were visual diagrams of the possible use of the contents) were:
- NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo NAS ;
- Network cable and power adapter;
- Patch cord 1.6m long;
- Screws for disks;
- A disk with drivers;
- Booklets.
There was also a bag of powder, but I have not tried it yet) It looks like silica gel.
The fuller name of the device model is NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo RND2150 , which, apparently, can be marked as:
RND = ReadyNAS Duo (butter), and 2150- that the device is designed for two (2) disks and inside it there is already one (1) disk with a capacity of 500 gigabytes. I climbed onto the site and my guesses were confirmed - it’s easy to guess what is inside the RND2110, RND2175 and other RND6610 models. My RND2150 is the youngest model in the series, but oh well.
I get the "loaf" on the table, now we will have lunch)
Appearance
The first thing that is noticed is the weight of the device. Net - about 2 kg, with a disk - a little more. Gross weight is perhaps all three kilograms. However, I am not surprised. for the device that I just took out is cold, and therefore metal :) I liked the rectangular design - strict lines, high-quality materials - all together inspire some subconscious trust. Dimensions (in mm) - 222 x 142 x 101.
On the front side there is a large grid with a manufacturer’s nameplate, below is the name of the model (it is strange that without numbers). To the left of the grid is the power button (without a signature), three indicator points (act, 1, 2 - apparently, the status as a whole and each disk separately). A little lower - the USB 2.0 port with the Backup button - we already went somewhere ... well, you can insert a USB flash drive, press the button and all the contents will be inside the black box.
The mesh gate easily reclines (it is on a magnetic latch) - behind it there are hard drives. And not just located, but in special metal removable cartridges. To get a disk, you need to press the round button at the bottom of the cassette - a handle will rise, yanking the whole structure out. I have never seen anything like this in my reviews (well, right, it was all without hot swapping) - but this is far from a new phenomenon in the world of NASs and servers in general.
One disk (Seagate DB35.3 500GB, 8mb buffer; in the first cassette, numbering from above) is already there - I pull it out to see what's inside. And here's what :)
More intimate details of the internal structure can be found on IXBT.
The disks change quite easily - the cartridge is pulled out, the disk is inserted, fixed with a Phillips screwdriver for 4 screws (they are supplied in excess) and you're done. As you might have guessed, the device supports hot swapping.
There is absolutely nothing on the top of the device.
On the sides are the company name and air vents. 4 vertical strips of 5 columns of 17 lines in each - a total of 340 holes :)
Below - a sticker with information and 4 rubberized feet on the screws, so the device is stationary. Also, I think this will positively affect the noise at work.
On the remaining side of the device is a 60 mm cooler, an anti-theft connector for a Kensington lock, a reset hole, 1 network port and two more USB ports. Accordingly, all this needs to be fed with something - there is a power connector. All functional elements are signed - you will not get confused.
Inclusion and work
I insert the power cable into the server, connect the adapter to the outlet. "Chick" and the connector is also in place. I turn it on.
The buzz is not weak, but for 20 seconds. After that, the device becomes much quieter and after another 20 seconds it becomes almost inaudible (comparable to the volume of the disks). What is it? Probably a cooler with automatic adjustment of rotation of the blades) and speeds of at least three.
What was pleasantly pleasant - indication. When turned on, a fairly bright blue LED (in the power button) lights up, a little later it starts to pulsate and later stops blinking, becoming moderately bright.
The indicators of activity and hard drives are made with tiny dots that “burn” in green. This is how it should be!
Running a little ahead, I’ll say - in the admin panel there is a function of “detecting” the device and disks - apparently, in case there will be a whole data center in the device. By pressing a button on the desired device (or disk on it), the corresponding indication is called up. It's funny
Software
It is) I first began to study the device with English firmware, which was located on the disk that came with the device. But then I remembered that more than once I made it a rule to first go to the official website and download the latest versions of software from there. So I went to the site and noticed a new version. Downloaded, reflashed - satisfied. There are a lot of changes in this version, the main of which for me was the presence of the Russian language.
About the update process. I downloaded the RAIDiator -4.1.5 file (that's what the firmware is called), which weighs about 60 megabytes. In the administration panel (it is called FrontView ) I upload the file, wait a couple of minutes until it is updated, I reboot the device - hurray, native letters.
So. To get started, you can use the programRAIDar - install and run. An animated image of a radar appears that is looking for a connected NAS-a device (Whose rocket is this? NASA, but a hundred?). Immediately after detection, a new program window opens in which certain information is displayed. I want to say a very convenient monitoring tool! You can see the devices (with the model name), their MAC-m, IP, names, statuses in general (and of each drive in particular + cooler status and, if any, UPS), firmware version. A little lower are the buttons Setup (drive admin), Browse (opening storage in the file browser), Rescan (searching for devices on the network again), Locate (will make the indicators blink).
Surprised that the admin / admin pairdid not fit, like admin / password - again convinced that the documentation should be read first. They will be allowed by default with admin / netgear1 , which is why I logged in (through a secure HTTPS connection). The first impression of the interface is “somewhere I already saw it” (perhaps I’m talking about all kinds of foreign products from companies like Norton and OnTrack - these rounded controls are very specific for those places). But it ceases to be evident in a couple of minutes.
On the main page there is information about the device (which is partially not available in RAIDar) - server name, model, serial number, exact firmware version, IP, amount of memory (with timings, heheh; SODIMM memory and its original 256MB, but the size can be increased to 1GB - remove the side panel and set the bar for a larger volume) and partition information. There is a menu on the left, and a status line with information about disk space, cooler rotation speed and, below. etc.
I think you don’t need to show screenshots of all the tabs with the settings, so again I have to take my word for it. On the left is the main menu of 9 items:
1. Network - configure the IP address (manually or from DHCP), mask, gateway, MTU, Jumbo Frames, host name, workgroup.
2. Security- here the administrator password is set, and very competently - with a password replay, a hint, an email for recovery. The password, by the way, can be reset to factory settings or by flashing it. Also in this menu item you can configure settings for user groups (quotas, creating a name folder for each user, the ability to change the password; there is a network basket), and you can create these same users here. Judging by the method of organizing the output of user lists, it implies support for a large number of them.
3. Services - contains several submenus. The first is standard file services, where you can enable or disable the following protocols - CIFS, NFS, AFP, FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, RSync.
The second tab contains streaming services - SqueezeCenter, iTunes Streaming Server, UPnP AV, Home Media Streaming Server.
On the third - plug-ins. Of the BitTorrent client and ReadyNAS photo service available so far.
The torrent client is very good - you can feed links or a file to it - tasks will immediately appear in the same window where you can see the information (without reloading the page).
From the settings - ports, speed limit, seed settings.
About the photo service a little later.
4. Volumes - oddly enough, it contains volume settings. Also on a separate tab you can specify what to do if an external USB device appears in the system - where to copy it and on whose behalf.
5. Shared resources- shared resource folders, a very flexible system are configured here (for each resource you can set your own settings for different protocols).
6. Backup - you can set a backup task and see reports on their implementation. The backup tool itself is very flexible in terms of settings!
7. Printers - if desired, the drive can be a print server. I did not try to connect my printer.
8. System- time is set (can be synchronized with time servers), notifications. By the way, we’ve done well with notifications - you can specify up to three mailboxes where custom alerts will be sent (disk failure, lack of space, temperature problems, UPS, cooler). Some system performance settings, power and shutdown options are also available.
9. Status - you can see information about the disks (model, volume, temperature, status) and SMART state. And also - very detailed logs on the main actions in the admin panel and with the device as a whole.
Now, as promised, a few words about the photo service. To be honest, I did not really understand it, but still.
First you need to download a special program from the site ( ReadyNAS Photos, about 20 mb) and get an account there. Next - activate the service in the admin panel, install software, launch a shortcut from the desktop. A window opens, we log in and after that we get the opportunity to add our server and upload any photos. Which, as I understand it, can be shared and they will be visible from an Internet site services. Everything would be fine, but I just couldn’t do it to the final result :(
But it turned out just to upload the photos, create a photo album - everything is simple, unobtrusive and moderately nice.
This time, the Intel NAS Performance Toolkit (NASPT) helped measure performance ). The indicators are as follows:
The temperature even after prolonged work with files did not exceed 45 degrees.
Control weighing
It's time to summarize. Once again I look at the buzzing master of gigabytes:
Pros
- Strict appearance, not easily soiled metal case, lack of vibrations;
- The ability to "hot" replace hard drives; “Smart” cooler; ability of robots through UPS;
- Unobtrusive indication, 3 USB (2.0) ports for connecting external devices and the ability to create backup in 1 click;
- Good speed and temperature indicators;
- Ability to work simultaneously with Windows, Mac and Linux;
- Spin Down function (to reduce power consumption and noise level);
- Possibility of flashing, flexible and functional administration panel in Russian; built-in BitTorrent client;
- Price (RND2000 variant, without disks costs about 10-11 thousand rubles, for comparison - Synology DS209 + without disks costs about 18 thousand).
Cons
- High noise at maximum cooler speeds;
- Minor flaws in Russification (fixable);
Total
The patient reader, who reached this paragraph, probably already realized without my prompts that he had read a review of a very successful product.
To my previous article about NAS from Synology, which I called "ideal", they wrote to me, they say try NETGEAR - for sure your concept of an ideal NAS will change.
I tried) To say that I rethought everything is to lie ... yes, I fell in love with the ExtJS admin panel) But to say that NETGEAR hit his face in the dirt is undeservedly offending an excellent device. Considering that it was about NAS, and NAS is, first of all, network storage, in this regard ReadyNAS Duo proved itself fully and I have no serious complaints. Although, of course, something could be added. And with the advent of firmware, which, by the way, come out with enviable constancy, the device is becoming more and more functional.
Thanks to the hot swap function, the ability to work on a schedule and through the UPS, as well as the presence of a checkmark in front of the item “ Compatible with 1C: Enterprise”, The device can be adopted not only by home users (network-entertainers), but also by small enterprises. The piece of iron worked well, and the “price-quality” ratio just fits on the side and says in a friendly way: “ Well, buy, eh? ";)
Good luck!