NETGEAR ReadyNAS 102 2-Bay Network Attached Storage Diskless (RN10200-100NAS)

I bought the diskless version of the ReadyNAS 102 to replace an old ReadyNAS Duo that I've had for a few years. I had hoped that this newer consumer grade 2-bay NAS would be similar to the older DUO in terms of set up. In the end I found the setup pretty easy to understand. As someone who is not a very familiar with networking devices, the instructions are sparse, but effective. Within a day I had transferred 2 of my own hard drives (2tb each), had them reformatted, and working in RAID redundancy.SetupSetting up the 102 is quite easy. The instructions were clear, and the average person like myself could do it easily. I took 2 old drives from my old ReadyNAS DUO and placed them into the ReadyNAS 102. In order for them to be used, the 102 told me I had to reformat them - which was what I had expected. (I had copied both drive's data to an extra external drive that I had before-hand.) After about 10 minutes, both drives were ready. However, in order for them to be set up in X-RAID, it took about 4.5 hours for the setup to complete. Once the redundancy between the 2 drives was completed, I had to do a few other things. By default, the 102 already had set several folders up: Music, Video, Documents, and Pictures. I changed the names of these folders to suit my needs specifically (you can also delete or add more folders). Once it the folders were to my liking, I set up the power-on settings. I had the drive turn on at certain times of the day, and turn off late into the night. I also was able to set up a remote access via Netgear's ReadyCLOUD. This allows me to access the 102 from my workplace's office even though the 102 itself is sitting on my desk at home. This is great because I no longer have to use a third party cloud service - I can just copy my workfiles directly to the 102 via the Internet.PerformanceThe 102 is very quiet, even though it has a fan. I can't hear it all even though it's less than 2 feet away from me on my desk. The drive bays are easy to access via the front plastic gate. Each drive can easily be "unlatched" with Netgear's custom bracket system which only requires your own hands to remove and re-install (no screwdrivers needed). Copying about 1TB of music, video, and document data to the 102 took about 5 hours total. I average about 40-45 mb of data per second when copying to the 102 - which isn't very fast at all, but it suits my needs just fine. I can easily play video off the 102 directly without any sort of hitching or delaying. I transferred all my iTunes music to the 102 and it works flawlessly. DLNA media playback of video and music works as well from my various game consoles (Xbox, PS3). Netgear provides a phone app that allows the backup of photos to the 102 via their service, ReadyCLOUD (free to use). I tried it with my iPhone 6 Plus. It works just fine, but my gripe is that I could not specifically designate which photos to back up. Still, its great that it will back up every photo that I take automatically. Additionally, the 102 has a USB port on its front for transferring data from a USB stick or drive. It also has 2 USB 3.0 ports on its rear panel. Unfortunately, these are not very convenient to use even though they are signicantly faster - I'd have to turn the 102 around physically to get access to these ports - which is a pain since I have other devices right next to it.ConclusionIt's not the fastest drive, but I found it easy to set up and so far reliable. I have the 102 working for about 10-12 hours a day, and it's been solid so far. I hope it lasts as long or even longer than my old ReadyNAS Duo which I had for 5 years.

Summary: I gave 1-Star because the device only provides about 1/5 the functionality that is advertised. If you plan on ever leaving your home, or using any android devices (I can’t speak towards the Apple app)…move on to the Western Digital MyCloud devices. Netgear’s ReadyCloud devices are horribly underdeveloped.Unfortunately for me, I set up the device on my home network before I went on a very long trip for work; I only discovered all of the uselessness of the “Cloud” services offered by Netgear when I was already on the road, and by the time I return I’ll be LONG past the return window.The Good: In-Home NASThe ReadyCloud does work fairly well as an in-home NAS. Unfortunately this is where the functionality stops. When connecting to the ReadyCloud, on the same network, using the ReadyCloud software, everything runs perfectly smooth. Media can stream, file transfers are quick, and it acts just like any other NAS, direct file/folder access, live editing of files on the device, etc. This alone is where the ReadyCloud earned its one star from me.The Bad: Cloud AccessThe entire point of buying a home cloud, with cloud services (as opposed to a NAS) is the ability to use it when *not* on the same subnet/not at home. Access and use of files while traveling is a key component to advertising something as a personal cloud device. And this, my friends, is where the ReadyCloud absolutely and utterly fails.The first thing I learned as soon as I left home is that the ReadyCloud software that is installed on my laptop that works so well at home…cannot connect to the device from the internet at large. When in a hotel, Starbucks, airport, etc…the ReadyCloud software can’t connect. For “cloud” access you must use Netgear’s comically underdeveloped website for access. When connecting to the device from the website your device turns from a fully featured network file storage to nothing more than a file-transfer service. The incredibly important features you lose when accessing via the website are:* Streaming – When accessing via the web you can no longer stream audio/video media…you can only download/copy the files onto your laptop and then play locally…sort of goes against the entire point of a cloud device.* Live Access/Editing – Just like with media, you can’t simply open a .doc file from the cloud, edit, and save, it has to be copied down to your local device, edited locally, and re-uploaded.* Device Management – You cannot edit any of the devices settings, you can’t edit folder permissions, can’t create new share users, can’t update firmware, and can’t change any of the other settings such as enabling/disabling USB access, updating/starting/stopping the AntiVirus services, running backups to connected external USB. Nothing.Literally all you can do when away from your home network is copy files up or down to and from the device. That’s it.Even worse is the actual web interface itself. The service is painfully slow (regardless of internet speed on either end). The interface is poorly written/developed, it takes numerous attempts to open folders, delete files, move files, anything. It truly feels as if it’s still in beta development.The Ugly: Mobile SupportNetgear has two official applications for Android devices for access/management of the ReadyCloud. Unfortunately neither of them work. The reviews on the google playstore alone show how absolutely horrible they are. There are a number of third party apps that have been developed; but those require you be on your home network in order to install third party app software onto the device itself in order for the mobile apps to connect. Again; another failure of the lack of cloud support. Basically, the ReadyCloud does not support android…it is advertised as such, but it just simply doesn’t work.In the end, I made a big mistake purchasing the Netgear ReadyCloud over a Western Digital MyCloud device. My decision was swayed by my own personal viewings of the two companies. I typically view Western Digital as a storage company (in fact my ReadyCloud is filled with WD Red NAS drives); whereas I typically view Netgear as a networking/internet company. Looking at that point of view, it’s obvious that I chose the Netgear as I expected the networking interfaces and functionality to be more fully developed and feature rich.A good friend of mine has a WD MyCloud and it works perfectly, at home and on the road. The locally installed MyCloud software allows full control of the device, direct file access, streaming, and all management features at home and on the road. Had I known of all the failings of the Netgear device…I’d have gone with WD. In fact, as soon as I’m done with this trip for work; I’m going to be purchasing an empty WD MyCloud, transferring my drives over, and just dropping this Netgear in the trash-bin where it belongs. I wish I’d have learned all of these problems when I was still in the return window… but the best I can do is tell anyone else who is looking to steer clear and save your money and stress.

Intended use: Bought this with two 2 TB drives with intention of using RAID-0 to get a 4 TB volume for storage of backups, media files (ie home videos, etc), and other miscellaneous items. Having it back up itself was not a priority as all important files have duplicates elsewhere on the home network.Pros: - RAID-0 setup was a cinch - Setting up NFS and CIFS sharing was a cinch - Good priceCons: - Web interface is a little painful to navigate (I'm a web developer so bad UI's turn me off) - Connecting/disconnecting external USB drives would interrupt NFS sharing of internal volume for a minute or twoWould I buy again? Sure, pro's and "works-as-needed" greatly outweigh the con's, hence the 4-star rating.

Solid unit for moderate home use. I've been using this for about 6 months now and am happy with it. It's not the fastest and most feature rich unit out there but for the price you really can't go wrong. It's been very reliable and love that I can access it remotely as well.

Decent throughput. But the software can be improved. The interface and troubleshooting is painful. The current version of OS is buggy.

Nice to Deal Again to buy products

Excellent product for sme