| Article Index |
|---|
| Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ Review |
| Functionality |
| The Out Of Box Experience |
| Performance |
| Is the ReadyNAS NV+ For Me? |
| Conclusion and Thoughts |
| All Pages |
A couple of weeks ago we put the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo through its paces. We were a little disappointed in its performance, and now the ReadyNAS NV+ has shown up to try to defend the honour of the ReadyNAS family. Will it succeed or will it fall to the incessant pounding of our network stress tests?
The 4 disk ReadyNAS NV+ has arrived to wreak vengeance for the disappointing ratings we delivered to its little brother, the ReadyNAS Duo. The ReadyNAS NV+ sports 4 disks instead of 2, and this should allow the ReadyNAS NV+ to work in multiple RAID modes instead of just RAID 1 and 0.
Netgear position the ReadyNAS NV+ as "A high capacity, reliable solution for home storage":
- Serves files easily
- Backs up data effortlessly
- Streams music and video quickly
- Shares printers with ease
- Works with Windows®, Mac®, and Linux®
The Netgear specifications are quite comprehensive; interestingly the primary difference between the NV+ and the Duo is the number of disks:
- 4 Serial ATA channels
- Compatible with SATA and SATA II HDD
- Hot-swappable trays
- 10/100/1000 Ethernet
- LCD Display
- 3 USB 2.0 ports
- 256 MB PC2700 DDR-SDRAM SO-DIMM
- Embedded 64 MB flash memory for OS
- Supports Windows, Mac, Linux/UNIX Clients
- Setup wizard and easy browser-based interface
- NETGEAR Auto-Expandable X-RAID™
Significantly, the ReadyNAS NV+ uses exactly the same CPU and memory combination as the ReadyNAS Duo, and we saw that the performance of the Duo was often below par. These types of CPUs often struggle to perform under heavy mixed loads as they are optimised for specific tasks. The use of a DDR SO-DIMM may offer us a chance to upgrade the memory and get better performance - Netgear even offer a special edition of the NV+ with this upgrade already performed.
