Specifications

The NAS is powered by an Annapurna Labs ARM Cortex-A15 dual-core CPU. Its manufacturer says to be 40 percent more powerful than the Cortex-A9 with the same number of cores at the same speed. This SoC supports hardware virtualization and is strong enough to power the 2-bay and 4-bay ReadyNAS models, all while consuming very little energy. The CPU is backed by 2 GB of RAM Netgear soldered to the mainboard, so the total is not upgradable; however, 2 GB is more than enough for a home NAS.

The ReadyNAS 202 has two Gigabit Ethernet ports that can be adjoined for faster network speeds (802.3ad protocol), or, should you not have a switch with LACP support, with one as a fail safe. The NAS also has three USB 3.0 ports, one at the front and two at the back, and an eSATA port. The unit is very compact because it doesn't pack an internal PSU, but uses a power brick instead. Speaking of the latter, it can deliver up to 5 amperes with 12V output, which is 60 W, enough for the ReadyNAS 202.

The NAS is kept cool by a 92 mm fan that will operate at low speeds most of the time, which will make it very quiet. The warranty is pretty long at three years since most competing offers only come with two years, and the NAS is priced honestly considering the product's feature set. However, the unit will have to be run through our test suite before we can figure out its actual price-to-performance ratio.