Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Plus Network Storage Server Review

Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Plus Setup and Configuration

Netgear has incredible OS support, in that it supports Linux, Mac OS, and Windows with its Software. Being a Mac User, I installed the software on my Mac Pro (2010 Model). I have bootcamped my Mac Pro in order to still be able to game, so installed the Windows Version of the Raidar Software.

After installing the Raidar software, the software will auto discover your NAS, and simply click Setup to start setting up the NAS via the Web Page GUI.

Netgear provides the standard Network Proctocols one would expect from a NAS. It allows setting a hostname for the Netgear Ultra 2 Plus, as well as setting NIC Speeds, IP, DNS, Jumbo Packets and other settings.

The Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Plus supports all of the Standard Protocols you would come to expect from a NAS Device like, CIFS, NFS, FTP, and AFP. A nice feature of the NAS is that, it is essentially plug in play. Once connected to your network, the NAS immediately shows up with absolutely no configuration from the user in both Mac OS X and Windows 7.

Also supported are DLNA Certified Devices like TiVOs, BluRay Players, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and a multitude of other devices. The Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Plus was immediately recognized by the Boxee Box by Dlink, and allowed me with stream Music, Movies and Videos with very little configuration on both the Streaming Box, and the NAS.

Knowing that Netgear would not choose to include a Hardware Raid Card in the system, I determined that the system must be using Software Raid. After installing a Community Addon that allowed SSH connections to the NAS, I determined that the Ultra 2 Plus uses mdstat, like most NASes I have encounter on the market. Digging a little further I was able to discover that the NAS was using what I believe is a modified version of the Linux OS Debian.

Now that our device is completely configured, lets move on and see how we our NAS Performs!