System/Overview

The System/Overview page allows you to check on all connected external storage devices. You can even format them to all popular file systems should you need to do so.


These options allow you to set the time and date.

System/Volumes

Under the System tab is the Volumes menu. It allows you to set up a new RAID level or perform various storage-related administrative tasks, like defrag, scrub, or wipe. Inexperienced users can use Netgear's X-Raid option, an auto-expandable RAID volume you can add storage space to without reformatting the disks. Use it and you won't have to worry about backing the data on your HDDs up before adding another to increasing total storage capacity, and the NAS will be available throughout the whole procedure because such an expansion takes place online. However there is a catch: X-RAID uses a single-volume architecture, so you will only ever have a volume that consists of all included HDDs. X-RAID is definitely the way to go if you don't need more than one volume since it makes for easier system management and can be expanded automatically.


Flex-RAID doesn't allow for the expansion of storage capacity without reformatting the HDD(s), but it does let you pick from among several RAID levels, including RAID 0 and RAID 1. If you don't want to set up your HDDs in a RAID array, you can simply pick JBOD. Please note that the OS doesn't support folder encryption, only volume encryption, so you will have to activate encryption during the creation of a volume.

System/Performance

The Status page shows you the CPU and HDD temperatures and the fan's RPM in real time. Just run the cursor over a disk's status indicator if you want to get some additional information on its status and health.

System/Settings

You will find several interesting options on the Systems/Settings page, including the services you are running. This page also allows you to check for and apply OS updates or restore the NAS to its default settings.


You can back your configuration up by picking what to include, and another option allows you to restore the NAS over a backup archive.

System/Log

The log can prove useful information to not only experienced administrators, but plain users when it comes to troubleshooting a problem or while checking on the NAS server's various services and functions. Should you need to, you can also download the logs to a file.

System/Power

You can set the disk to spin down based on how long it has been inactive, or by the day of the week, which provides users with a lot of flexibility. You can do the same with the power-on time, and ReadyNAS OS also supports Wake on Lan. Connect a UPS device featuring a USB control port to the NAS and you will also be able to control it through the OS.

Shares - Snapshot - Bit Rot

The Shares page allows you to create new shared folders, enable compression, set a snapshot schedule, and enable Bit Rot data protection; Bit Rot protection automatically detects and corrects corruption due to media degradation.


Enabling Bit Rot protection will result in a small performance hit to transfer speeds, and Netgear does make a point of mentioning it. Our test results show the performance loss to be pretty minor, significantly lower than the performance hit due to encrypted file transfers. The other Share options consist of permission settings for file and network access to users, groups, and services.


Taking a snapshot of a folder is a very straightforward and fast affair.


Restoring a file or folder from a snapshot is also very easy.