Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 4 Review

ReadyNAS Ultra 4 Drive Network Storage

Page Highlights:
Product Snapshot	Review Video
Product Application, Pros & Cons	Feature List
Bottom Line	Where To Buy
Review Detail	Related Products

Ideal Application:

- Home network storage, home music server, entertainment media server
- Small Business, SOHO (small office or home office) network storage

Pros:

Netgear ReadyNAS – Solid, reliable, feature rich, easy to use
Intel 1.66Ghz Atom Single Core CPU
1 GB DDR2 SODIMM Memory
Compact, energy efficient
2 – High speed gigabit ethernet (10/100/1000) ports
4 Hot swap drive bays
External USB support
Supports Windows, Mac & Linux computers
iSCSI target with expansion support
ReadyNAS Remote
TiVo Compatible
Media Shifting with Skifta (DLNA)
Transcoding with Orb for streaming on mobile devices
Native SATA II support
Attach a USB printer to share
Handles media sharing, streaming well
Snapshot with scheduling
VLAN support
Internal Power Supply (no brick!)
3 year warranty
Active online support forum

Cons:

RAID6, (X-RAID2 dual redundancy) not available (Ultra 6 does offer)
As a Pro-sumer device, carries 3 year warranty, not 5
As a Pro-sumer device, No Windows AD integration support (affects business use only)

Bottom Line:

The Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 4 is being promoted by Netgear for home network storage, with a BIG emphasis on entertainment media streaming.

Truth is, this is just a speed upgraded ReadyNAS NVX (a GREAT NAS, to be sure) with some business features removed. The NVX can do media streaming too.

But this is an exceptional home network storage device that is perfectly adequate to base an entire small business network around also, just happens to be so versatile as to be an excellent premium choice for home use also. These NAS devices deliver the power you need to run bleeding-edge applications and the flexibility you want to store, share and protect your prized multimedia collections.

With RAID1 or RAID5 you have the comfort of knowing that no data is lost if you lose just one drive and get it replaced promptly, but who needs that hassle? A more reliable drive gives you better piece of mind.

This NAS is a solid, versatile and reliable performer. If you like, you can start with a diskless unit and add your own hard drives or just 2 drives and expand as you have need. With the built-in XRAID2 functionality, you can simply add hard drives with no reconfiguration or reinstallation of any kind necessary.

If you currently do media streaming or think that would be in your future (hint: it should be), then this is high powered choice sure to make you happy.

Review Detail:

The Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 4 improves upon the NVX model in some ways and utilizes some of the most advanced network storage technologies available. Intel Atom CPU running at 1.66Ghz, a healthy 1GB of RAM, 2 gigabit network connections and iSCSI capability tell you that this NAS is ready for business if you choose, and even faster than the NVX.

There are no lines to draw between home network storage and business network storage with this unit. If multimedia storage and access is your thing, you can even get access to your files when you are on the road with your mobile device. Yet, dual gigabit network connections and RSync capability make it obvious that Netgear sees the Ultra being used in the office as well.

Certain business features, though, like Windows AD integration and Dual NIC teaming are not supported on the prosumer lineup from ReadyNAS which includes the Ultra models.

It supports SATA I & SATA II hard drives, with native support for SATA II. This network storage device performs well.

You can attach external USB hard drives and create shares on those drives as well. Keep in mind that performance will not be as high as the internal drives, nor will there be benefit of RAID technology on those external drives. In a business environment, I would only use those external drives for on-site backup or for offloading seldom used data that is backed up somewhere else but you want to have ready access to.

One of the benefits of buying any ReadyNAS product is the auto-expandable X-RAID technology. The Ultra 4 has the newer X-RAID2. While you can configure the drives as a larger, non-redundant data store (RAID0), doing so means that if a hard drive fails you lose data. This is not acceptable to me, but you can decide for yourself.

RAID1, on the other hand, allows 1 hard drive to fail without losing data. The unit can easily be configured to send you an email when this happens allowing you to immediately backup!, then replace the failed drive and restore data redundancy. The downside of this is that the NVX then offers you only half the storage size. But what good is a huge data store if you cannot depend on it?

If you configure with more than 2 drives, you can move up to RAID5, which allows you a larger data store, percentage wise of total disk space installed, than RAID1.

I highly recommend letting the X-RAID2 give you the optimum storage size while maintaining disk redundancy. This is actually the easiest option for you as well.

Uses:

The ReadyNAS Ultra 4 makes an excellent home network storage device for storing data on redundant drives, sharing data, photos both within the home and even with secure remote access via the internet. Display photos, movies or other multimedia on your PlayStation or XBox; attach to the NAS for access to music libraries played with iTunes, Squeezebox, etc. Use the built in BitTorrent for downloads.

Multimedia, though really makes these Ultra’s shine:

First TiVo® compatible DVR network archiving and
storage device
First storage with transcoding capabilities from Orb™
First storage with media shifting capabilities from Skifta™

If you have a small business where you need to either store data on a more reliable platform than just your PC or need to share files with coworkers, the ReadyNAS Ultra is an extremely competent network server to build your network around. The ReadyNAS can function as your file server, print server, DHCP (network addressing) server and provide software and storage for individual PC backup.

The ReadyNAS Ultra, like other ReadyNAS devices, can even replace a Microsoft Windows Server or Small Business Server if you decide you want to simplify and save on maintenance, licensing and consultant costs.

Backup Options:

The Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra really shines, as all model in the ReadyNAS family do, when it comes to data backup. Remember, RAID1/RAID5/X-RAID is NOT data backup! It is data reliability and availability. RAID1 (otherwise known as mirroring) means that hopefully you never have to restore a backup due to media (drive) failure. It does not protect you against data corruption (virus, power loss) or accidental deletion by the user.

Let’s face it, network attached storage is all about your data. So to make it available and reliable, we use redundant disk technology (X-RAID2 in the Ultra). To make sure we do not lose it to fire, theft, natural disaster or even our own error, we back it up.

Backup with any ReadyNAS network attached storage device can be done using any combination of the following methods:

Local backup to an attached USB hard drive
Backup to another ReadyNAS unit, local or in a remote location using RSync
Online backup (in the cloud backup) using the built in support for ReadyNAS vault online backup service based on ElephantDrive technology

Where To Buy:

Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 4 RNDU4000 (Diskless)	Diskless	Shop Best Price on RNDU4000
Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 4 RNDU4220 (2 x 2TB)	4 TB	Shop Best Price on RNDU4220

Review Video:

Features:

Hardware:

Intel Atom Single Core CPU @ 1.66GHz

1 GB DDR2 SODIMM Memory (non-ECC), 1 slot 2GB max

4 Hot-swappable locking disk trays

2 – 10/100/1000 Ethernet port

3 – USB 2.0 ports

SATA I & II drives supported natively

LCD Display (IP Address, Space Available/Total)

Dimension: 205 H x 134 W x 223 D mm (8.07 H x 5.28 W x 8.78 D in)

RAID:

Auto-expandable X-RAID2

RAID levels 0/1/5 (Flex-RAID configuration)

Multiple volume support (Flex-RAID)

Hot-swap support

Background sync and Smart Sync resume

Life Support mode

Volumes:

Single volume auto expansion (X-RAID2)

Journaled file system

User and group level quotas

Disk set can be migrated to Pro series ReadyNAS

Network File Services:

Windows, Mac & Linux client support

CIFS/SMB for Windows & Mac OS X

AFP 3.1 for Mac 9 and OS X

NFS v2/v3 for Linux/UNIX

HTTP and HTTPS for web browsers

FTP and FTPS

Rsync

WebDAV

ReadyNAS Remote

Print Sharing

Media Streaming:

ReadyDLNA

TiVo Compatible

Orb Transcoding for mobile

Skifta

SqueezeCenter

Network DVD player compatible

Apple iTunes server

Sony PlayStation® 3

Microsoft® Xbox 360, MCE

Sonos Digital Music System

Netgear EVA Digital Entertainer HD

Network Security:

Selectable security mode

Windows ACL

Encrypted network logins

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

Network Options:

DHCP or static IP

NTP

WINS Server

DHCP Server

System Management:

RAIDar™ discovery and monitoring agent

Frontview™ Setup Wizard and Advanced Control

Configurable performance options

Device health status

Comprehensive enclosure and disk monitoring

Email alerts and event logs

Network UPS monitoring

Backup:

Integrated Frontview™ Backup Manager

Programmable backup button

Backup over CIFS/NFS/FTP/HTTP & Rsync

Backup to/from USB Disks

Built-in support for Time Machine

Syncing between multiple ReadyNAS devices

Full and incremental backups

Built-in support for ReadyNAS Vault™

Software Included:

Mimeo Premium Backup (3 users Windows/Mac)

ReadyNAS Photos

Embedded BitTorrent client

USB Device Support:

Hard disks and flash drives

Support for FAT32, Ext2, Ext3, and NTFS

Cameras

Printers

UPS

Power:

Approximate 48 Watt usage

Internal 120w Server Rated Power supply

Disk spin down option

Power on scheduling

Automatic shutdown initiated by UPS low battery

Warranty & Support:

3 Year coverage (This is a Pro-sumer Unit)

Exceptional online support forum

Related Products:

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