A Quick Introduction to the ReadyNAS Duo and NV+ v2

If you haven’t done so already, please register your ReadyNAS so that we can alert you of any potential security issues, important firmware updates, and technical bulletins.  Registration also allows quicker technical and customer support if and when you need it.

Accessing the ReadyNAS

You’ve completed with the configuration.  Now to take advantage of all that new storage on the ReadyNAS, click below:

Accessing the ReadyNAS from Windows
Accessing the ReadyNAS from OS X

For more setup instructions, including how you can create additional shares, create user accounts so you can setup access restriction, and how you can setup scheduled backups, download the software manual for your ReadyNAS.  It’s a good idea to download the hardware manual as well for future reference.

Software Manual for ReadyNAS Duo and NV+ v2

Hardware Manual for ReadyNAS Duo and NV+ v2

 

 

Backing up your Mac or Windows PC

If you have a Mac…

We recommend using Time Machine to backup your Mac to the ReadyNAS.  The ReadyNAS has a built-in Time Machine service to allow you to use it as a target for your Time Machine backups.  For more information, please take a look at the Backup and Recovery chapter of the Software Manual (see link above).

If you have a PC…

We’ve included a one-user license for Memeo Premium Backup that runs under Windows.  A quick and simple setup with Memeo Premium Backup and your backups will be automated to the ReadyNAS on a continual basis.  And if you ever need to restore anything, you can restore from whatever saved revision of your files with Memeo Back-in-Time feature.  For more information on Memeo Premium Backup and its features, please take a look here.

To get started, click below to download Memeo Premium Backup for Windows.

If you wish to purchase additional licenses, click here.

Operating Tips and Precautions

Follow these guidelines to get the best performance and trouble-free operations.  For more details, please refer to the Hardware Manual (see link above).

Power Up/Down

Powering up the ReadyNAS can take about a minute.  To ensure an orderly shutdown, press the power button once, wait a second (on the NV+, you’ll be prompted on the LCD), and press the power button again.  Pressing the power button a second time will start a proper shutdown which will take about 10 seconds.

Ventilation

High capacity disks can produce considerable heat.  Be sure to install the unit so that the fan exhausts are unobstructed.  Also make sure the Alert Contact is set up correctly and is confirmed working.  This is the best way the ReadyNAS can warn you in the event of overheating or other potential failure conditions.

Using a UPS

An uninterruptible power supply protects your unit from power surges and failures, and can enable automatic proper shutdown when there is an interruption in power.

Redundancy and Expansion

ReadyNAS devices come pre-configured with X-RAID2 which protects your data against disk failure while allowing you to expand your capacity on the fly.  To expand a X-RAID2 volume, add a new disk with a capacity equal or greater than an existing disk in an empty slot.  You can do this while the ReadyNAS is powered on or off.

Alternately, if you run out of disk slots, you can hot-replace existing disks with larger capacity disks, one-by-one, allowing the replacement disk to complete syncing before replacing the next.  You can watch the progress of the syncing and expansion in Dashboard, or monitor your email for status updates and directions.

Replacing a Failed Disk

Disks can fail every several years or earlier.  When you do have a disk failure, you will get an email alert and Dashboard indication of the failure.  Obtain a replacement disk of equal or greater capacity than the failed disk (typically disks have a 3- or 5-year warranty), remove the failed disk from the ReadyNAS (the ReadyNAS can be powered on or off during the replacement), replace it with the new disk, and cold- or hot-add the disk back into the ReadyNAS chassis.  You will be informed via email and Dashboard of the status of the rebuild.  Once the rebuild process is complete, your ReadyNAS will be fully redundant again.

It is important that you make sure to replace with only disks listed in the ReadyNAS Hard Disk Compability List.

Technical Support

Registration of the ReadyNAS is required before telephone support can be offered.  Please make sure to register the ReadyNAS using the registration link at the end of the Dashboard Setup Wizard process, or click on the Registration button at the bottom of the Dashboard page if you missed the link.  Alternately, you can register at http://netgear.com/register.

A lot of useful information about the ReadyNAS can be found at http://www.readynas.com, and a community forum for ReadyNAS users at http://www.readynas.com/forum is a great resource to find help quickly and during off-hours.  Useful how-to’s created by NETGEAR as well as the community members can be found at http://www.readynas.com/howtos.

If you are still encountering issues with the ReadyNAS that cannot be resolved by the online resources, phone numbers for NETGEAR world-wide support can be found at here.