Green is in. And everyone wants to save money on their power bill. If your hard drives last longer as a result, then that’s an added benefit (mean time between failures; reduce “time”, reduce failures).
With your Netgear ReadyNAS network attached storage device you can set it to automatically spin down the hard drives after a defined period of inactivity.
This short video shows how. (Uploaded in HD, easier to read the screen if you view in larger format.)
And as promised, it isn’t a direct link unfortunately, but you can buy the memory by clicking on the link below and doing the search for part #CT12864X40B, description is “CT12864X40B 1GB, 200-pin SODIMM, DDR PC3200 memory module”. At this writing it goes for about $75.
Computer people love TLA’s; that’s Three Letter Acronyms. Lately you may have heard about NAS (Network Attached Storage) and SAN (Storage Area Network).
What’s the difference?
In a nutshell, NAS connects users to data; SAN connect servers to data.
The Netgear ReadNAS unit that I have been working with and writing about is a NAS device because it is designed to connect users to their data. Unless you are an IT person with a pretty good budget you won’t be coming across SAN’s soon.
Let me start by saying that I really like the Netgear ReadyNAS line of Network Attached Storage (NAS).
But those who know me know I’m very good at finding fault.
I installed 4 – 1T (1 terabyte) hard drives in a Netgear ReadyNAS RND4000 bare bones unit on Friday. Since I didn’t have time to set it up then I didn’t turn it on. Mistake.
I turned it on this morning to configure the volume and make some other configuration changes. Much to my dismay, 20 minutes later the unit still shows “configuring volume” on the LCD display.
Problem is, it is likely configuring all 4 drives in an XRaid configuration. That’s not what I want. I want 3 drives in a 2T RAID 5 with 1 hot spare. So after it FINALLY finishes, I get to login and undo what it did, then wait some more while it carries out MY instructions.
I know the manufacturers want to make these units so even an idiot can set them up, but try not to torque off the professionals that actually sell the units for you.
A wizard, which the unit utilizes, could do the same initialization but wait for the “Ok” from the person setting it up. When I flip on the power switch I want 1 of 2 things withing a minute or two:
