Review: Netgear ReadyNAS 4312

Today I am going to (try to) review the Netgear ReadyNAS 4312 enterprise rack-mountable storage solution.

I have been using–I’m sorry, let me rephrase that–attempting to use this device for the last few months but the experience has been a nightmare.

The unit has 12 hot swappable hard drive bays and came loaded with 8TB hard drives–for a total of 96TB of storage. With the RAID configuration I chose, about 75TB of actual storage should be available.

That’s all great, but based on my experience I cannot recommend this unit. While I’ve atempted to use the ReadyNAS 4312, every one or two weeks the root folder–which is only 3GB in size–would fill up with logs and cause the entire unit to crash and stop functioning. The only way to resolve the issue is to contact Netgear support and have tech remotely login and clear the logs. To add insult to injury, though, the unit only comes with 90 days of support. When this issue occurs on Day 91, you’re on your own with a huge, very expensive brick you can’t use.

I managede to find a workaround by changing the default save location for the log data. Then a completely new issue popped up. Now, the device tells me my username and password are invalid. But, they’re not. I did a complete reintsall of the device operating system, which also reset the credentials to the default admin account and password. I was able to get in initially, but within 5 seconds it kicked me out again and claimed that the username and password are invalid. So, the device is completely dysfunctional, but I am outside the 90-day support window and can’t get help from Netgear.

This unit retails for over $12,000 USD. I can’t comprehend how a $12,000 investment comes with a meager 90 days of support, but non-enterprise level equipment like my Netgear 12-port switch that costs a fraction of that comes with lifetime support.

Unfortunately, since I can’t do anything with this ReadyNAS 4312 to continue to review it, all I can do is share my experience and tell you the issues I have had. My recommendation is for you to stay far away from this thing. If you have $12,000 you don’t mind throwing away, there must be better ways to blow it.