Experiences with the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+

As part of the new multimedia setup here at our new house, I decided I had to get a new NAS to keep my media files safe and stored somewhere which didn’t require a complete computer running (to save power and keep the noise a bit down). As I’m using the Squeezebox (v2) as my main source for playing music, the ReadyNAS from Netgear seemed like a good choice as it’s the only NAS on the market with the Squeezecenter (the server software for the Squeezebox) integrated into the appliance itself. A bit pricey, but it has proven itself to be of good value.

People were very amazed with what the Drobo could do, but as they only deliver USB / Fireware disks that need a host computer, they were out of the equation early on. I was however very impressed by the ReadyNAS and it’s no-disk-configuration-needed-we-just-raid5-and-journal-it-for-you approach. Netgear uses their own X-RAID configuration which allows you to shrink and grow the raid as time goes by, and the NAS configured itself to a RAID5 like structure. The web interface to the appliance has been a bit wobbly at times, but I think this is just because I were a bit impatient with getting everything up and running. It even runs on gigabit ethernet, so it’ll be a great storage location for all digital media here. Recommended!