NETGEAR ReadyNAS NV+ 4-Bay 0TB (Diskless)

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: No disks included 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Amazon.com Product Description
Whisper quiet, and about the size of a shoebox, the NETGEAR RND4000 ReadyNAS NV+ 4-Bay Gigabit Desktop Network Storage device offers homes and small businesses an easy-to-configure and cost-effective way to store your data and serve your digital media. With its several advanced server features, you will have true peace of mind knowing that your irreplaceable data is safe and secure.

The ReadyNAS NV+ offers an easy-to-configure and cost-effective way to store your data and stream your digital media. View larger.

Use the ReadyNAS+ to stream music and video, share network printers, and share files across multiple platforms.

The NETGEAR RND4000 ReadyNAS NV+ 4-Bay Gigabit Desktop Network Storage offers: A way to store and protect up to 4 terabytes of data. Compatibility with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Ability to share network printers. Not much bigger than a shoe box, the NETGEAR ReadyNAS NV+ 4-Bay Gigabit Desktop Network Storage device is compact, but powerful.

The NETGEAR ReadyNAS NV+ is an ultra-compact box with four empty bays ready to store up to 4 terabytes of data, and is designed to fit easily on your desktop. NETGEAR also offers the Ready NAS NV+ in the ReadyNAS 2x750GB Drives ReadyNAS 2x500GB Drives, ReadyNAS 4x500GB Drives and ReadyNAS 4x250GB Drives models. Once connected to your network, you can store and protect all of your digital data and stream your digital media. What truly causes heads to turn with the ReadyNAS NV+ is its RAID functionality, along with its own X-RAID technology. Combined, these two features that are normally found only in high-end servers will ensure that your data will never be corrupted or lost due to hardware failure.

The device's RAID functionality, or Redundant Array of Independent Disks, copies, splits and shares your data across the hard disks within the device, so that should one of the drives fail, the data can be rebuilt with the remaining drives. Without RAID, once a failure occurs, you risk losing all of the data stored on the drive. ReadyNAS's patent pending X-RAID technology automates the volume expansion as you scale from the two included disks to four disks. (The ReadyNAS NV+ includes additional expansion slots for two additional hard drives.) In short, X-RAID automatically manages the RAID details for you, so you don't have to spend the hours that it normally takes to format the disks. Simply put, you won't find a simpler or more secure way to protect and store your data.

Data Back-up, Monitoring and File Serving
With the ReadyNAS NV+, the days of storing your digital files across several computers or storage devices are over. This device is scalable to up to two terabytes of data, which means that you can bring all of your data together for fast and easy access and file serving to multiple clients simultaneously. And as any small business knows, having a sound backup strategy is essential. With the help of ReadyNAS NV's EMC Retrospect backup and recovery software, you can set automatic backups of all of your network clients to your ReadyNAS. Additionally, the device includes an integrated backup manager that enables one-button backup to an external USB HDD for offsite rotation, or to remote servers for even greater security.

If something should go wrong with one of your disks or if performance has been compromised, the ReadyNAS NV+ offers advanced-server monitoring features that alert you via email when something is amiss. The device will also shut itself down if the operating temperatures of the disks are too high.

Media Streaming
But don't think that the ReadyNAS NV+ doesn't know how to have fun. If video or other media is your business or passion, you can use your ReadyNAS for streaming to multiple devices at the same time without the need to keep your desktop computers running. The ReadyNAS includes built-in media servers, including Slimserver and iTunes, that will let you stream audio and video to devices on your network.

Easy Set-up and Other Features
With an easy-to-use Web browser interface and setup wizard, ReadyNAS can be configured quickly. Simply plug the device into your network, power up, and you'll be ready to go.

The ReadyNAS NV+ also includes three USB ports, which can be used to connect a USB printer, a back-up power supply, external drives and more. The device measures 7.9 x 5.2 x 8.7 inches (H x W x D), and weighs 10 pounds without the disks. The ReadyNAS NV+ includes a five-year warranty.

What's in the Box
ReadyNAS NV+ with 4 empty hard disk trays, getting started guide, warranty card, power cable, Ethernet cable, ReadyNAS Installation CD (ReadyNAS Discovery Utility, 5-Client EMC Retrospect Professional for Windows, 5 Client EMC Retrospect Desktop for Macintosh), and 16 screws for future HDD installation.