Netgear ReadyNAS Duo RND2110 1TB, RND2175 750GB and RND2150 500 GB Desktop Network Attached Storage Review

Netgear’s ReadyNAS series of Network Attached Storage (NAS) products includes the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo RND2110 (1TB)1000GB, RND2175 750GB and RND2150 500 GB. The large capacity range available will be appreciated by many sharing the common problem of ballooning digital media assets including photos, videos and personal application files.

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo

Media Server

The ReadyNAS can function as a network media streaming device for music, video, and photos for popular DLNA compliant devices such as a Playstation 3 or XBOX 360 or small wireless music streamers such as the Logitech Squeezebox, SONOS Digital Music System, and the Roku SoundBridge. Apple iTunes 7.0 server is also built-in allowing iPods, iPhones, or any iTune client (PCs or Mac) to access the shared music library. ReadyNAS provides excellent support for Macs by using the preferred AFP protocol rather than a Windows SMB/CIFS protocol.

For convenience, photos can be automatically loaded directly from your digital camera to the Duo while for other files it is a simple drag-and-drop task.

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo

BitTorrent Client

For standalone (computer can be off), queued, off-peak downloading the ReadyNAS Duo comes with a built-in BitTorrent client.

Netgear ReadyNAS Duo Remote Access

The ReadyNAS Duo provides remote access via FTP and HTTP, as well as SSL encrypted connections via FTPS and HTTPS. Once connected its simply a matter of using a Web browser to access the built-in Web File Manager via HTTP/S. If you’re on the same LAN or WAN you can simply drag and drop using your file explorer. Conveniently, the ReadyNAS Duo web interface will support six languages including; English, Japanese, French, German, Chinese/Mandarin or Korean. One can control disk quotas on a per-user or per-group basis.

X-RAID Technology

For avoiding the disaster of HDD failure, the ReadyNAS Duo has Netgear’s patent-pending X-RAID technology. With two HDD installed data is automatically protected by the mirroring of data one disk on the other. Storage capacity expansion is a simple matter of installing two larger capacity disks one at a time to allow data transfer and mirroring.

Backup can be scheduled or continuous with infinite versioning capability using the included NTI Shadow software. Using Quick Restore you can retrieve previous file versions. An alternative backup option is utilizing a backup button on the front of the ReadyNAS Duo. Any or all backup tasks can be delegated to the backup button.

If anything does go wrong with the ReadyNAS, you will be alerted so you can take appropriate action.

The included warranty against defects in material and workmanship for the ReadyNAS Duo is a noteworthy 3 years.