Netgear ReadyNAS 3130 review

Netgear’s 1U rack NAS teams up some interesting backup features with a boost in performance

IT Pro Verdict

The improved hardware in the ReadyNAS 3130 makes it much faster than previous models. Netgear’s block-level snapshots offer good data protection features and it’s not short on cloud apps either

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Much improved performance; Unlimited snapshots; Integrated cloud backup and file syncing

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Still no expansion support; AV scanner hits backup performance

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Thanks to a high price, lacklustre performance and lack of expansion capabilities, Netgear's little ReadyNAS 2120 failed to impress us when it visited the IT Pro labs. The new ReadyNAS 3130 aims to remedy most of these shortcomings as this 1U rack NAS is endowed with a more serious hardware specification.

Out goes the elderly Marvell Armada XP of its predecessor and in comes a superior 1.7GHz dual-core Atom C2338. Along with support for a 2GHz turbo mode, the C2338 also supports server-grade ECC UDIMM memory and the base 2GB can be boosted to 16GB.

This is easy to do as you remove the lid where you'll find two standard DDR3 DIMM slots. Small offices will also like the fact that the three system cooling fans run very quietly.

The Gigabit port count gets increased to four and there are dual USB 3 and eSATA ports at the back. However, external expansion is still not possible as Netgear doesn't offer a rack expansion unit and the 3130 doesn't support the EDA500 5-bay desktop units either.

Netgear's ReadyCloud portal helps with installation and provides remote access to shares

Dave Mitchell
Dave Mitchell

Dave is an IT consultant and freelance journalist specialising in hands-on reviews of computer networking products covering all market sectors from small businesses to enterprises. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.

Dave has produced many thousands of in-depth business networking product reviews from his lab which have been reproduced globally. Writing for ITPro and its sister title, PC Pro, he covers all areas of business IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, network security, data protection, cloud, infrastructure and services.

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