Readynas NV vs TeraStation

[frny]

Hopefully this is not a forbidden subject - if it is then feel free to remove this post.

I am trying to decide between the NV and the TeraStation from buffalo. The NV is more expensive (for a 1TB the NV is >$1K vs ~$750 for the TeraStation). I have seen from reviews that the X6 (thus most likely the NV) is faster. What else makes it better than the Terastation? I am also worried that the NV might be much more noisy.

[iatacs19]

The Terastation is an older model. The new one is called TeraStation PRO.

Buffalo TeraStation Pro 1.0 TB
Model: TS-1.0TGL/R5

Terastation Pro

Features:
• PowerPC 266MHz CPU
• 128MB SDRAM
• Four operational modes: Standard, Spanning, Mirroring and RAID 5
• Advanced RAID system to continually check hard drive performance
• Quick swap hard drive tray via the front panel for easier maintenance
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet port and Jumbo Frame capability for higher ransfer speeds
• Four SATA hard drives
• Heat-release conscious design with smart layout and ventilation supply
• Memeo™ Easy Backup software included
• Large silent fan to release HDD heat effectively and quietly
• LCD Display showing HDD’s status
• Two USB 2.0 ports, allowing two external USB hard drives to be connected simultaneously
• Built-in FTP server functionality
• Easy setup wizard and management through intuitive web interface
• Dimensions 12.6 x 16.3 x 11.3 in.
• Weight 16.1 lbs.
• UPS UPS Compatible (Serial Port)



Infrant ReadyNAS NV

ReadyNAS NV Highlights:


• Infrant NSP IT3107 up to 280MHz (Faster CPU from X6/600)
• 256MB DDR SDRAM
• 4 lockable hot-swappable SATA disk trays
• Infrant Expandable X-RAID, RAID 0/1/5
• Programmable backup button
• One USB 2.0 port in front, two in back
• Dimensions 8.0 x 5.0 x 9.0 in.
• Weight 10.2 lbs (no disks)
• Server-rated power supply
• Powerful 92mm cooling fan
• Low power consumption and silent operation
• Compatible with Windows®, Mac, UNIX, and Linux systems
• Gigabit Ethernet with Jumbo frame support
• Simple setup wizard
• Integrated Backup Manager
• Compatible with leading network DVD players and UPnP AV streaming devices
• Multi-lingual browser-based setup
• Kensington lock compatible
• RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substance)

I highlighted some of the nice items in each, they are pretty evenly matched up.

I guess if you are anal like me about sound, you welcome the idea of choosing your own drives. It looks like the 92mm fan in the ReadyNAS NV is the standard 92mm which can be replaced with a plethora of silent ones, like panaflo, Nexus, etc. I will find out what kind of thermal management the Buffalo Terastation Pro uses and update this post.

[frny]

I am anal about sound. For that reason I am planning to use Samsung drives (250G - although I would love to be able to use their new 300G and 400G models but I cannot find them anywhere in the US).

I looked at this newer Terastation and it also supports Jumbo Frame.

The big thing with the NV is that it automatically expands (I would start with 2 drives). However you can find the "older" 1TB Terastation for the price of the NV with 1x250G drive which sort of reduces the appeal of this feature (why wait to expand later when you can have it all now).

I have not checked the support level from Buffalo. Infrant's support looks amazing from browsing this forum and that is a big plus for me.

[iatacs19]

I honestly don't think the older TeraStation even compares to the anything from Infrant. The new PRO version is a more resonable competitor IMHO.

[rgf_past]

I own both ReadyNas and TeraStation, beside what have already been said, I want add my two cents.

(1) PERFORMANCE. ReadyNas is indeed much faster.
(2) SUPPORT. You can get about almost everything you need from this forum, on the other side, there is nothing you can get. This maybe owning to the fact that TeraStation is developed on the other side of the earth, ReadyNas is rooted in this country.
(3) EXPANDABILITY. This feature is really nice. Not only ReadyNas can expand over more disks, but also it can expand to a set of larger disks. For testing, I have tried this: install 1 80G disk, use the box for couple days, then add 3 more 80G, use the box for couple of days, then replace one by one the 80G with 250G disk, after the last 250G got synced and rebooted according to email instruction, I got all of the disk capacity ready for me and with all my files right in there. If I want same effect from TeraStation, I need to take my data out and reinstall from scratch at least two more times.

[karavshin]

I have a terastation 1TB model. It's difficult to put in words how much I hate this device. It's totally unreliable and it's totally unsupported.

Go read the dead forums at buffalotech...it's just orphaned users complaining about frequent disk checks and terastations that disappear from the network. The last buffalo rep who logged in did so in july 2005.


I would never ever in a hundred years purchase another Buffalo product. I have GB's of large files stranded on my machine right now, that I essentially cannot rescue. It's ironic that my "raid NAS" is the least reliable hardware I have.

It's a really shameful horrible piece of crap, and even though it's the cheaper unit, it still cost a lot of money.

The reason I'm on these forums is that i wanted to see what kind of problems people are dealing with with infrant before I buy one. Wish I had done the same before I bought the Terastation. At the very least it seems like the infrant support people not only exist, but are active.

[lndshrk]

I'll make my inaugural post echo karavshin's above.

I am currently replacing 2 Terastation 1TB units w/ 2 ReadyNAS 600's.

I sent a total of 2 questions to Buffalo via email. One (regarding the
way their "differential" backup works) is still unanswered some 60+ days
later.

I had one Infrant question regarding SMB disconnects under CIFS, took
a look on THIS forum, question was answered already and now my
first RN600 is up and with an add-on - TADA - No Disconnects!

The force is strong in this one.. hmmm



Jim

[frny]

Thanks all for the feedback - I decided to go for the NV.

btw the new Samsung 300G are finally available at newegg. Note however that they are much slower than the 250G (different line as well) check tom's hardware for the review.

[Kolenka]

I am also currently working on getting a NAS up and running within my network, and have one thing to say about the TeraStation:

If you use OS X, and plan on hosting things where you don't have full control over filenames... stay away. I picked one up just last night (after mulling over TeraStation vs ReadyNAS), and it was not a fun experience.

1) It uses a hard-coded mechanism to try to bind to your active directory (which I am hosting on OS X Server), and poorly documents it. The result is that I can get access to the domain for a couple of minutes before my domain host terminates for unknown reasons related to the TeraStation. And it is at this point that authentication now locks everyone out of it. I have poured over docs, and have not found a way to work around this other than upgrade to the TeraStation Pro which fixes this.

2) It has insanely strict path restrictions. 120 characters for a total path length? *15* characters for a filename? Ouch. I simply cannot do what I want/need to do with a /15/ character limit. This is enforced no matter how the share is connected to. I don't know if this has changed, but considering how little the Pro changes things, I wouldn't be surprised if this is still true.

3) Quite simply, the permissions scheme is poor. TeraStation Pro has not fixed this, and doesn't seem to be aware of groups in an Active Directory either, which is a shame. Having to split a share that should be ONE into multiple shares simply because I want layered permissions is something expected in a lower-end product, not their 700$+ product.