| Article Index |
|---|
| Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ Review |
| Functionality |
| The Out Of Box Experience |
| Performance |
| Is the ReadyNAS NV+ For Me? |
| Conclusion and Thoughts |
| All Pages |
Page 5 of 6
Now that I've seen what the ReadyNAS NV+ is capable of, I can safely say where it is best suited.
| Market Segment | Number of Users |
Rating In This Segment |
Comments on the Rating |
| Home Theatre |
1-5 |
7/10 |
The Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ is certainly simple, quiet and draws very little power (about 1/4 of an ordinary desktop computer). The LEDs are unobtrusive (although the power LED is quite bright). X-RAID is a great solution choice for a home theatre environment. You can start with 2 disks, and add extra disks over time without losing data - no-one wants to reconvert all their movies from DVD if a disk fails, and streaming movies is less taxing than the loads this NAS can handle. Performance might be a problem if you wanted to stream more than one or two movies at a time (to different screens for example). |
| Home and SOHO Networks | 1-5 |
8/10 |
As a small file storage device the ReadyNAS is reasonably well suited to a role in a SOHO network. While the raw performance numbers might indicate that the ReadyNAS is slow, saving a 3MB Microsoft Word document to the NAS will take around 2 seconds, which is well under the threshold of annoyance for most people. The ReadyNAS is better suited to the SOHO fileserver role than the Home Theatre server role, thanks to the generous expansion capability. |
| Small Business |
6-20 |
6/10 |
Performance with larger numbers of users, or heavy users is definitely a problem with the ReadyNAS NV+, and while easy to manage the ReadyNAS NV+ just runs out of puff. The large capacity makes this an obvious choice for a computer backup destination, and the performance under the heaviest loads (which approximates 15-20 power users) is consistent if not lightning fast. The NV+ is outpaced by competitors such as the Intel SS4200, which has significantly better performance at a cheaper price point than the ReadyNAS NV+, but at the cost of flexibility. |
| Medium Business |
21-50 |
3/10 |
In the medium business segment, the ReadyNAS NV+ sports a few great features, and solid functionality. Active Directory integration is good, and works well, although there are some rough edges (such as security) that will limit its use somewhat. Performance, again, will be the limiting factor. |
