NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo 2-Bay 1 TB (1 x 1 TB) Desktop Network Attached Storage RND2110 by Netgear
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Digital camera reviews of NETGEAR ReadyNAS Duo 2-Bay 1 TB (1 x 1 TB) Desktop Network Attached Storage RND2110
Digital camera Review: Does what it states and more
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking for something to simply back up my computer and store important files on away from laptop. I used to consider myself a computer junky but i don't really have time to mess with things but I would like to have the option to. The features to backup, have an online drive, and wireless printer are fairly straight forward and easy to set up. There are more features but I did like how I didn't have to think very much to set up the basic features that I wanted out of this. I have both a Microsoft XP computer and a MacBook. They both are very easy to set up and work well together. The wireless print feature is great and very easy to set up with assistant from Netgears website and help files. My printer was not in the list but following the guide it was easy to get the driver to work. It does not enable all features of the printer but all I wanted it was to print and set print quality and it does that with ease. I did not have any issue with the AC plug as many have complained about so I imagine that issue has been corrected. So if you are looking for something that can backup your computer, store files on, print wirelessly, and the ability to due more this is a good choice. Again works well with both Microsoft and Apple products together. Apple Time Machine works well with it.Digital camera Review: Easy-to-use and robust storage system
Summary: 4 Stars
Occasionally a technically sophisticated product comes along whose installation and use thrills me for its simplicity. The Netgear ReadyNAS 2110 is one of those. I bought it with 2 additional 1.5TB WDC drives so I could implement a 2-drive RAID + offsite storage strategy for my music and home videos. Although I'm a techie and would've survived any issues that arose, the installation was remarkably simple. I powered it up, plugged it into the Gig-E at home and copied over the data from my iMac. Then I hot-swapped in one of the 1.5TB drives. About 8 hrs later, it was fully synchronized. I did a diff to verify the mirrored drive. Then hot-swapped in the other 1.5TB drive. Again 8 hrs later, it was done and the diff verified it. Off-site went the original drive and I've got an almost bullet-proof system.
Of course the drive works just fine with my Windows as well as Mac systems for all apps.
There are only two weaknesses (perhaps since I haven't RTFM):
1. Can't find any way to encrypt the on-disk data. I'd like to do that just in case a burglar steals the device.
2. The speed of the RAID sync (8hrs) seems too slow but perhaps it's the norm for this class of device. Not sure.
Digital camera Review: Empty Promises
Summary: 1 Stars
The ReadyNas duo is supposed to be for home and small office use but setup is way too complicated for the average user. I bought it so I could access my files form anywhere on the internet but in order to make that work you'll need a static IP and will need to register a DNS to point to the unit, neither of which most folks have. I have some other Netgear products that were very easy to setup and I'm extremely disappointed that netgear advertised a feature that is not really available to the average user. Just know that if you want to use this to access your files over the internet you better have system admin credentials.Digital camera Review: Excellent devices!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have so far purchased, configured and installed three of these devices: a 500GB unit for myself, a 1TB for a friend, and a diskless for another friend (we got 2x2TB drives for the diskless unit - it was cheaper that way to get the capacity he wanted).
I have owned my unit for probably close to 7 months and have not had any issues at all. Well, I did have one, but it was totally my fault and something I learned the hard way: while copying my files to my new ReadyNAS from my 1TB external USB drive, the power at my home suddenly went out and I ended up with a LOT of corrupt files. After much freaking out, heartache and research, I was able to recover the files myself with various third-party programs, but the lesson learned was very clear: buy a UPS (battery backup) if you don't already and ensure that your computer, router and NAS are all attached to it! A battery backup is highly recommended by Netgear as these devices do not like sudden, improper shutdowns.
As your internet router controls the flow of information between the NAS and computers on your network, it's critical to have that attached to the battery backup as well to avoid data corruption. Your DSL/cable modem can be left off of the battery backup if you run out of outlets.
One other very important thing to note up front is that this device is not the end-all, be-all of backup solutions. Being truly "backed up" means having MULTIPLE COPIES of your data. As this ReadyNAS mirrors your data over two drives, it certainly protects you against the failure of a single disk, but if you encounter a catastrophic issue with the device itself (as I did when the power went out without a UPS) you face a good chance of losing your data. At the end of the day, even when you purchase this NAS and have two drives installed in it, you still only have ONE copy of your data.
To head off this issue, Netgear has included 3 USB ports on the ReadyNAS that you can use to plug in a USB drive to back up the NAS. So, if you are like me and have tens of thousands of songs and pictures and are buying one of these NAS devices to guard against disk failure, don't be cheap: spend $100 on a 1TB (or larger) USB drive to truly back yourself up. Also get a good online backup service for critical files so that you have a triplicate of your data.
The ReadyNAS device itself has worked great - all three of them I've used. (Again, throughout my review I'm talking of the three I've personally purchased, installed & configured).
It has tons of cool features, such as the ability to easily and securely remotely access the device. In my experience, the file transfer rate is pretty darn slow, which means you shouldn't plan on downloading more than a few Word documents or so; definitely don't plan on downloading movies from your ReadyNAS remotely.
You can schedule ReadyNAS to turn on and off at any schedule you desire, you can use it to download torrents so that you can leave your more power-hungry computers turned off, and you can create a slick webpage to share photos with friends & family directly from the NAS. I haven't done this personally, but it's supposed to work quite well according to all I've read and Netgear did such a great job with the overall experience and implementation of this device that I've no reason to doubt it would be anything short of awesome.
One other thing to keep in mind is that when you go to insert a new disk drive for whatever reason, (expansion, old drive fails, etc.), it does take quite a long time to initialize, so do it at the end of the day, when the unit can sit overnight. If you are setting this up for the first time and have two drives for your NAS, either configure it first, insert the drive and let it sit for about 6+ hours, or stick both drives in, let it sit for several hours and then come back to it. Personally, I'd rather just go the first route of getting it all set up first to ensure it's working properly and then insert the second drive.
Also note that if you purchase the diskless model, do insert one drive first in the #1 slot, which is the slot closest to the power button and front USB port. Otherwise, the diskless NAS just sits there, not quite knowing what to do. Again, something I learned firsthand.
One of the really, really awesome features of ReadyNAS is that you can configure it to send email alerts to up to three different email addresses upon occurrence of any of a list of events; when the unit's hard drives near capacity, when it starts to heat up, when one of the drives fail, when a new disk finishes initializing, and so on. That way you can rest assured knowing you will automatically be kept apprised of what is going on with your ReadyNAS. You can also read the full logs of what has happened with your device through the web interface. The NAS health logs make for exciting fare for a Friday night or parties, trust me! ;-)
Netgear has created an excellent product page and support system at [...] - there is a great, helpful discussion forum and more support information than you could ever want.
Setup is pretty straightforward: plug it in to power and your router, install the RAIDar software to initially "find" the NAS on your network. It will work best if you set a static IP address for the NAS, otherwise when you shut it off (or the power goes out) it will get a new address and become more difficult to "see" on your computer. If you map a network drive on your computer to the NAS, that will be broken quickly without a static IP.
Setting a static IP is easy: first login to your wireless router and find where it tells you what range of IP addresses it hands out. Usually most of them start at 192.168.1.100 and will hand out any IP address over .100
You want to change that to, say, start handing out addresses at .102 or something. This means it will "reserve" or simply never assign .101 or .100 to any other device that logs onto your network, so any device that you manually assign .101 to will maintain that address through shutdowns and the like.
You then login to the configuration page of the ReadyNAS through the RAIDar software by hitting the "setup" button. You'll probably get a message that the security certificate is invalid; I've tried many, many times to import or permanently store the certificate in Chrome and IE and have NOT been able to; FireFox seems to allow you to. Anyway, you then navigate to, I believe, the "network" tab on the left and then "Interfaces" (I'm not near my NAS as I write this and it's powered off so I can't remote into it ) and then tell it to use the IP value that you enter; either .101 or .100 or whatever else you like, again ensure that whatever address you want to assign to the NAS is outside of the range of addresses that your wireless router will assign. This concept holds for network printers or any other network device that you want to assign a static IP to.
Overall, all three of the ReadyNAS devices I've worked with have been great and simple. They are among the best-rated NAS devices of any manufacturer, so buy with confidence. Netgear frequently offers mail-in rebates on these units, so keep your eyes peeled!
Wow, didn't expect this "review" to go so long and turn into a "how-to" but that's what happens with too much caffeine!
Digital camera Review: Fantastic
Summary: 5 Stars
Unit was smaller than I thought. Removed it from the box, plugged it in to the power outlet and the network. Installed the software on my Mac then went through the wizard via the web interface, that was it. I also purchased a 1 TB extra drive. Placed it in the tray, screwed it down via 4 screws, inserted it into the ReadyNAS and that was it. The ReadyNAS did the rest. I wish all my hardware devices were so easy to configure.
I looked at a few backup software applications and chose SuperDuper Backup for $27.95. Great product, also easy to use.