Users can opt for automatic X-RAID protection or manually set the RAID level to 0 or 1. The usage of this feature is outlined in the YouTube video here. Files on a CIFS share mounted in Windows can use the snapshot copies as previous versions directly. The clincher, in our opinion, is for Windows clients. Snapshots can also be setup at frequent intervals due to low performance impact. While btrfs has a COW (Copy-on-Write) snapshot mechanism, Netgear opts for a pointer-based one. You can read Netgear's marketing whitepaper here ( PDF). One of the interesting aspects about the ReadyNAS OS 6.0 is the integrated snapshot facility. The gallery below presents some screenshots from the ReadyNAS OS 6.0 UI. One doesn't get fancy 'multitasking' features in the interface, but, for a business NAS, this is hardly an issue. The interface is minimal, yet functional. While it is not a very fancy desktop-like environment or mobile app-like interface, it already appears ready for use on touch-oriented operating systems. Netgear has completely reworked the UI for ReadyNAS OS. In any case, even with pre-formatted disks, it is possible to fully re-initialize the NAS unit by following some key press sequence after a factory reset (outlined in the supplied setup guide). I still can't understand why NAS vendors (Netgear is not alone in this) refuse to format the disk after providing sufficient warning to the user. Unfortunately, I put in a single disk with existing partitions (fresh from another NAS unit) and ended up with more problems than I bargained for. Discovery worked well, and, as the steps indicated, starting off with fresh disks would have been straightforward too. In addition, Netgear has also incorporated cloud discovery using the Read圜LOUD service. After connection to the network, the unit could be discovered by RAIDar (offline discovery tool that has been around since the first generation ReadyNAS units). Our evaluation started with a diskless system. The power cord is customized to the country of sale. Despite having two GbE links, only one network cable is supplied. The Netgear ReadyNAS 312 is bundled with a 60W (12V 5A) adapter.

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