NETGEAR Rolls Out All New ReadyNASes

[Amadeus1756]

Interesting to read about the new ReadyNAS line. Not surprising - the prices here in the UK have been quite low for some models for some time.

The RN516xx looks like a 6-bay version of the QNAP-TS879 but with only 6 bays, but *considerably* cheaper ($1000 dollars less?) or is there some other feature I've missed? Will be interesting to see if this sparks some kind of price war, or QNap will pull something out the bag in terms of functionality or performance.

 

[NSNE]

I agree, the ReadyNAS line was long in the tooth. But for Netgear to state that OS6 — a desperately needed update — won't be coming to existing prosumer x86 machines that can accommodate multiple gigs of RAM suggests an unforgivable callousness on the company's part.

This move does nothing to endear Netgear to its active (and up to now, rabidly loyal) ReadyNAS userbase. Not even Apple is this merciless about abandoning in-warranty devices.

 

[Amadeus1756]

I can totally understand being annoyed, but it's not that uncommon - Apple did it with Siri for example.
I imagine it won't be long before hacked versions of firmware are available for the older devices, tho most people with a Prosumer device wouldn't want to run an unsupported config I guess. Keep posting on their forums about how unsatisfied you are with the decision and it might change, you never know.

 

[beq]

I too look forward to SNB reviews of these new ReadyNASes vs QNAP/Synology, in terms of price/feature/performance.

Also interested in the choice of btrfs snapshotting file system??

 

[Amadeus1756]

The Wikipedia article on btrfs isn't inspiring but I'm hoping that the information on that page is out of date!
In fairness, it starts getting a lot more positive later in the page. Certainly has a lot of +ves if it works well.

 

[stevech]

I too look forward to SNB reviews of these new ReadyNASes vs QNAP/Synology, in terms of price/feature/performance.

Also interested in the choice of btrfs snapshotting file system??

btrfs - better than ext4 used in Synology and I suppose, other high end NASes, for quite some time?

 

[Amadeus1756]

There are a lot of interesting features and they look great value, but I suspect it's going to be a PITA for Tim to review - so many differences to test!

The 2 bay devices are now available in the UK so hopefully review models will be sent out soon.

 

[stevech]

btrfs - better than ext4?

 

[Amadeus1756]

I don't think ext4 does snapshots does it?
It's immature tho which makes me a little nervous of it.

 

[thiggins]

I don't think ext4 does snapshots does it?
It's immature tho which makes me a little nervous of it.

ReadyNASes have had snapshot capability for many years before the switch to btrfs.

 

[stevech]

is "snapshot" in marketing terms similar to a "journaled file system" as are widely used in Linux OSes?

 

[Amadeus1756]

Not my understanding of journaling.
A journaling fs is a fs with an audit trail of what's happened which means its easier to recover from issues.
A snapshot could be created from such a fs but my understanding is that they're generally considered distinct.

Someone else may have a more eloquent description...

 

[stevech]

what else besides journaling could the marketing-speak "snapshot" be? A NAS can't duplicate large volumes of recent data (other than ordinary caching for a few seconds).

Well, kind of moot, as my priority is to buy a NAS from a company that has that specialty rather than Netgear - who makes good switches and always has.

 

[s4mb4]

my understanding is that the older ReadyNas devices did limited snapshotting where the new ones will be limitless. (or untill you run out of space)
which is another new feature. the 8Tb and 16TB limits per share are now gone.

i pre-ordered a 516 but have not yet received it. the ship date keeps getting pushed back. it will be replacing my ReadyNAS Pro Business model.

 

[Amadeus1756]

Stevech: it doesn't actually need to copy the data; VMware will just start using a different hard disk file when a snaphot is created.

S4mb4: which country are you based? I got an email from a supplier in the uk saying that they had the 516 in stock. I'm dying to find out what they're like. I had decided on a qnap but these new netgear devices smash the price and support (5 years) of the qnap.

 

[stevech]

Stevech: it doesn't actually need to copy the data; VMware will just start using a different hard disk file when a snaphot is created.

Is VMware used in the ReadyNAS?

 

[Amadeus1756]

No, didn't mean to confuse matters, it was just an illustration of technique and why an entire copy of data isn't necessary.

Rgds

 

[stevech]

OK then: back to: What does their marketing term "snapshot" mean?

 

[beisser]

OK then: back to: What does their marketing term "snapshot" mean?

the new readynas systems use btrfs snapshots.

it gets explained here what those snapshots do:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/btrfs-snapshots.html

 

[stevech]

Looks like Netgear OS 6 uses BTRFS with Linux. Brave hearts.

http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.comp.file-systems.btrfs/23165

For snapshots, I use Time Backup to a different volume (drive), configured to keep the file versions (all) for 60 days.