Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ 4-Bay 1 TB (2 x 500 GB) Desktop Network Attached Storage RND4250

What We Think Overall Rating: Pros: Compact design, easy-to-use, built-in RAID capability including X-RAID, provides media streaming for wide variety of devices, excellent online forums for add-ons and support Cons: Insufficient user manuals, add-on software does not always have complete feature set At a Glance Capacity: 1 TB (2x500GB) Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 8.7 inches (HxWxD) Warranty: 5 years

The ReadyNAS NV+ houses four drive bays in one compact, attractive enclosure. View larger.

Out of Box Impressions and Design Features
Taking the ReadyNAS NV+ out of the box, we couldn't help but be surprised at how compact and solid feeling the device is. Imparting an air of quality workmanship and sturdy reliability, the NV+ measures a compact 7.9 x 5.2 x 8.7 inches (H x W x D) and is a hefty 10 pounds without the disks installed.

The styling is attractive, with a metallic "cheese-grater" look that is reminiscent of Apple's Mac Pros, a design that also allows for heat dissipation. A door panel opens for easy access to the four drive bays, each of which is on its own tray with an easy-to-load push-button mechanism, making disk installation a cinch.

Below the panel door is a backlit LCD display that shows status info such as the IP address and drive capacity. The power button sits on the upper left of the front face, next to four LEDs that give the status of each hard drive, a USB port, and a button labeled "Backup." The back of the NV+ sports a carrying handle, two USB ports, an Ethernet port, the system reset switch, power connector, cooling fan, and Kensington Lock security hole. Overall, the design is attractive, smartly laid out, and clearly labeled. Unlike many other NAS devices that you want to hide in a corner or in a closet, the ReadyNAS NV+ adds a handsome touch to the work area.

Initial Setup and Configuration
Our test unit had four pre-installed 750 GB hard drives for a total of three terabytes of disk space. The drives are hot-swappable, which means that they can be swapped out one-at-a-time without shutting down the NV+, and which also means that upgrading or replacing the drives--if necessary--will be easy.

Share your files, USB disk, and printer with all your computers and networked media player with the NV+.

The NV+ supports the industry standard RAID 0/1/5, as well as NETGEAR's own proprietary X-RAID, which supports single volume auto expansion with redundancy against a single drive failure. X-RAID makes the device future-proof, as you can simply swap out a smaller capacity installed drive for a larger one, and X-RAID will automatically copy over all the data.

The initial hardware set up was as simple as plugging the AC cord into the wall and connecting the Ethernet cord into the local network. Installing the included RAIDar software let us find the drive on our network, from which we were able to bring up the Web-based control panel. Set up required an easy jaunt through the Setup Wizard, and once completed, the drive appeared on each of the networked computers as expected.

The unit is pre-configured in X-RAID mode, which worked fine for us; we were literally up and running in minutes. The only snag was that the manual gave the wrong user/password to log into the machine, but a quick online search revealed the correct input information.

After we had the X-RAID running successfully, we reconfigured the drive to a RAID 5 configuration. Like X-RAID, RAID 5 reduces overall storage capacity by about 25% but offers redundant protection so everything continues to function even if one of the drives fails. The actual reconfiguration through the control panel took only a few minutes, though the entire process took over eight hours and necessitated deletion of all the existing data on the drives. (Don't worry! The ReadyNAS NV+ did all the work itself after we left the office for the day.)

The one complaint we had during the set-up procedures was with the documentation. In fact, the manual is the weak link of the package. The NV+ has a lot of functionality that is not very well explained or simply not mentioned. Fortunately, the ReadyNAS has its own NETGEAR-supported community Web site (www.readynas.com) with FAQs, forums, firmware updates, add-ons, and other goodies. We found the process of downloading firmware updates and add-ons quick and extremely easy.

NETGEAR's FrontView web-based control panel makes configuration and administration simple. View larger.

Web-based Control Panel
The Web-based control panel gives the administrator full control over the system. From it you can check the status of the machine, set the security settings, create user and group accounts, configure streaming services, update firmware, and much more. With processes that took more than a few minutes to complete, the ReadyNAS NV+ sent us email notifications at the completion of the tasks so we could continue with our other work in the meantime.

The control panel is clean and intuitive, eliminating the need for administrators to fiddle with a Unix command line to check status or change settings. Though some configuration and management issues can arise that better documentation could easily address, as long as the administrator is comfortable searching out information online when necessary, he or she should find managing the ReadyNAS NV+ relatively easy.

Our Performance Review
We ran the NV+ as our primary file server in our small workgroup -- consisting of both Macs running OS X and PCs running Windows XP -- without any problems or complaints of performance. We were able to access the server to work with, copy, and move files around seamlessly, with no hiccups to speak of. Our computers were all able to connect easily via CIMB and/or AFP protocols. Additionally, the ReadyNAS has support for the Network File System (NFS), but we did not test this as we do not run a Linux/Unix environment.

However, our one caveat is that we do not work heavily with media files such as large video files, so we cannot say for certain if the performance would be acceptable for use in, say, a high-performance video lab or similar setting.

Hard disks are installed on separate drive trays, making upgrades simple. View larger.

One important feature we needed was the ability to work remotely. To do so, we downloaded a WebDAV add-on from the ReadyNAS community Web site that allows for drag-and-drop file access to the ReadyNAS NV+ through an Internet connection via HTTPS. While we were easily able to connect to the ReadyNAS NV+ remotely, an apparent limitation or bug in the current firmware resulted in some problems with privileges. Specifically, when we revised or created files and folders remotely, they became "read-only" and required permissions to be manually changed through the control panel. A post on the ReadyNAS message board confirmed this behavior, which, while not a deal breaker, is certainly inconvenient.

Though the RAID configuration we chose has built-in redundant storage, we nonetheless decided to create nightly backups for even more peace of mind. We connected an external USB drive to the front USB port, and once the drive was recognized, it was a matter of seconds and a simple push of a button to schedule a daily backup of our main work folder.

Built-in FTP, iTunes, and Other Features
The NV+ features many add-ons and extras that we were able to easily install, either through the control panel or by downloading software updates and documentation from the ReadyNAS community Web site.

The ReadyNAS includes a built-in print server and an FTP server that were easy to set up. It also features a built-in Web server, which we successfully tested by creating simple Web pages. The built-in iTunes streaming server worked like a charm. After copying over MP3s into the designated folder, the songs automatically showed up in the iTunes folder of the networked computers.

The ReadyNAS NV+ also has built-in support for Squeezebox music players, UPnP AV devices, and streaming playback of videos, music, and photos from networked DVD and media players. Based on the ease of use with the iTunes server, we assume a similarly uncomplicated process. The ReadyNAS also has a built-in BitTorrent client, add-ons for a photo slideshow application, SSH access, and much more.

Included Back-Up Software
NETGEAR bundles a five-user license for EMC Retrospect Professional for Windows and a five-user license for EMC Retrospect Desktop for Macintosh. After installation on a desktop, we could easily automate and schedule backups of our desktops onto the NV+. EMC Retrospect is a pro-grade backup software offering powerful features superior to many bundled backup programs.

Conclusions
The ReadyNAS NV+ is a powerful, attractive, and flexible Network Attached Storage device that would work great in a home setting or even a small-to-medium office setting. It offers much of the functionality of a dedicated server, while requiring a small amount of space. Since set up is mostly plug-and-play, it does not require a dedicated IT personnel to manage, which is a huge bonus for home use or for a business on a budget.

As noted, the manual does not give all the answers. Fortunately, the strong online community and Web forums offer excellent support and services. And finally, the ReadyNAS NV+ is backed by an industry-leading 5-year warranty, so you can rest assured that you'll be protected should anything go wrong.