netgear readynas hardware

[SignedAdam]

I currently have a netgear readynas 422

Model: RN422

 

hardware : 

Intel Atom® C3338

2 GB DDR4

2 sata bays, 1 internal sata m2, 1 internal usb header, 3 usb 3.0 ports, 1 external sata port, micro usb uart port

when installing any os, I have to use the uart port to pass through the text using serial , “it kind of like a screen” back in the day and on some servers they still use uart, I would like to see the setup use uart, so I can install from a usb using this method. My device also needs an os that does eat ram

More information about kernel and stuff can be found here

so I guess it would be nice if we could have the ability to change the kernel if not that’s also will work

Edited Monday at 12:07 PM by SignedAdam
Added picture of what a uart serial looks like

[Magnus]

Hi there! Are you saying you’re trying to install HexOS on that? The specs you listed falls a bit short of the minimum requirements (8GB RAM)

[SignedAdam]

15 hours ago, Magnus said:

Hi there! Are you saying you’re trying to install HexOS on that? The specs you listed falls a bit short of the minimum requirements (8GB RAM)

Yes I’d like to have the ability 👍🏻

[Dylan]

5 hours ago, SignedAdam said:

Yes I’d like to have the ability 👍🏻

I'm with you. I have a 10yo RN212 that still works just fine. I even bought two HexOS licenses just in case. I even read your whole kernel thread (thanks for linking!) on the ReadyNAS forums. But it looks like even if we could find a way to port over HexOS, it still consume almost all HW resources on the ReadyNAS device not to mention the Fan sensor issues as well. Good thread, though.

[SignedAdam]

5 minutes ago, Dylan said:

I'm with you. I have a 10yo RN212 that still works just fine. I even bought two HexOS licenses just in case. I even read your whole kernel thread (thanks for linking!) on the ReadyNAS forums. But it looks like even if we could find a way to port over HexOS, it still consume almost all HW resources on the ReadyNAS device not to mention the Fan sensor issues as well. Good thread, though.

You should see some of the comments I’m getting about how a device with ddr4 deserves to not be supported ? 
 

 

[Dylan]

Looks like one user booted with just 2GB of RAM. Not sure how usable it is, but I bet more and more people will test this over time. I just want to be able to store my backups of my new NAS to the RN212. That'd be ideal. Side note, the SAME 2x4B WD drives are STILL holding it down. Damn thing refuses to die.  The disks just survived/passed the scrub process. Took like 4 days but they still look good. Crazy.

[StellarJay]

I would like to throw my hat into the arena on wanting to try getting HexOS working on Netgear ReadyNAS hardware. I have ReadyNAS 424 that has been working great but since Netgear backed out of the NAS game a few year back the OS is dated and I am constantly worried about it not being a secure as it should be but I have it pretty isolated to only working on my local network for serving up Plex media, but I'd really like to updated to a more modern OS that I can be confident in using for my own person image cloud storage that I can access from anywhere, it doesn't need to be fast, just reliable and secure. Here's the specs of the 424:

Processor Manufacturer:    Intel
Processor Type :    Atom
Processor Model :    C3338
Processor Core :    Dual-core (2 Core)
Processor Speed :    1.50 GHz

Memory
Standard Memory:    2 GB
Memory Technology:    DDR4 SDRAM
Network & Communication
Ethernet Technology:    Gigabit Ethernet

I believe there is an additional DDR4 SDRAM slot which could be used to add up to 2GB additional RAM I believe, possibly could support up to 8GB ( 2 x 4GB). I've found a couple posts where some people have managed to figure out how to get the hardware to chain load Linux Alpine on a ReadyNAS 4 series, it would be awesome if HexOS could implement some relatively easy process to allow us to update and repurpose these abandoned ReadyNAS devices who's hardware should be capable of supporting at least a basic barebones setup. Here's a GitHub project link for the most promising one I found: RustyDust/readynas-alpine: Convert ReadyNAS systems to an Alpine Linux box while keeping data and services intact. Perhaps the HexOS devs could use it as a starting point to come up with something we could use. I plan on setting up a basic Desktop PC with HexOS on it to potentially replace the ReadyNAS if I'm not able to use HexOS on the ReadyNAS as a backup plan.

[Dylan]

@StellarJay and @SignedAdam I have been looking into whether or not to add an m.2 ssd to my new NAS (yet to be delivered) so I threw my question into ChatGPT and the reply mirrored what I have been seeing over and over - ZFS is a RAM hungry filesystem and while 2GB MAY enough to run it, even that may be a stretch - at least usefully. Especially as I plan on running a 4x8TB raidz2 storage pool. Don't forget, I too have an old ReadyNAS that needs a new OS...just not sure HexOS will be that OS anytime soon. Adding a text file with the ChatGPT output if that's helpful at all.

Good luck!

ZFS_ChatGPT.txt

[StellarJay]

1 hour ago, Dylan said:

@StellarJay and @SignedAdam I have been looking into whether or not to add an m.2 ssd to my new NAS (yet to be delivered) so I threw my question into ChatGPT and the reply mirrored what I have been seeing over and over - ZFS is a RAM hungry filesystem and while 2GB MAY enough to run it, even that may be a stretch - at least usefully. Especially as I plan on running a 4x8TB raidz2 storage pool. Don't forget, I too have an old ReadyNAS that needs a new OS...just not sure HexOS will be that OS anytime soon. Adding a text file with the ChatGPT output if that's helpful at all.

Good luck!

ZFS_ChatGPT.txtUnavailable

There's an open m.2 slot in the ReadyNAS 424 as well and I'm about 98% sure that it supports up to 4GB of DDR4 RAM (adding an additional 2GB to the open slot) and I believe it may support up to 8GB total (I'm about 60% sure on that though). DDR4 RAM is pretty easy for me to come up with. I'm just not liking the idea of decommissioning perfectly good usable hardware.

PS. I can't read the txt file you uploaded as I think txt files are blocked.

[Dylan]

Sorry for the wall of text:

Using a 1TB M.2 SSD as a caching drive in a 4x8TB RAIDZ2 storage pool can make a difference, but the impact depends on your workload and how the caching is configured. Here's a breakdown of the considerations:
1. Types of Caching in ZFS

ZFS supports two main types of caching that can utilize an SSD:
a. L2ARC (Level 2 Adaptive Replacement Cache)

    Purpose: Acts as a read cache for frequently accessed data that doesn't fit into the ARC (main memory cache).
    When it helps:
        If your workload involves frequent reads of the same data (e.g., databases, virtual machines, or media libraries).
        If your ARC (RAM) is insufficient to hold all the frequently accessed data.
    When it doesn't help:
        If your workload is write-heavy or involves mostly sequential reads (e.g., backups or streaming large files).
        If your ARC (RAM) is already large enough to handle your workload.

b. SLOG (Separate Intent Log)

    Purpose: Acts as a write cache for synchronous writes, improving write latency and reliability.
    When it helps:
        If your workload involves many small, synchronous writes (e.g., databases, NFS, or iSCSI).
        If you need to ensure low latency for these writes.
    When it doesn't help:
        If your workload is mostly asynchronous writes or large sequential writes.
        If you don't have a lot of synchronous write operations.

2. Workload Considerations

    Read-heavy workloads: Adding the SSD as an L2ARC can improve performance if your frequently accessed data exceeds the size of your ARC (RAM). However, L2ARC is not a substitute for having sufficient RAM, as ARC is much faster than L2ARC.
    Write-heavy workloads: Adding the SSD as a SLOG can improve performance for synchronous writes, but it won't help with asynchronous writes or large sequential writes.
    Mixed workloads: If you have a mix of read-heavy and write-heavy operations, you might benefit from using the SSD for both L2ARC and SLOG, but this depends on the specific workload patterns.

3. RAIDZ2 Performance Characteristics

    RAIDZ2 is optimized for data integrity and redundancy, but it has relatively high write and read latency compared to other ZFS configurations (e.g., striped mirrors).
    Adding an SSD as a cache can help mitigate some of the latency, but it won't fundamentally change the performance characteristics of RAIDZ2.

4. SSD Size and Performance

    A 1TB M.2 SSD is a good size for an L2ARC, as it can hold a significant amount of frequently accessed data.
    For a SLOG, the SSD size doesn't need to be large, as the SLOG only stores data temporarily until it's written to the pool. A small, high-endurance SSD (e.g., 32GB–64GB) is often sufficient for this purpose.

5. Potential Bottlenecks

    Network speed: If you're accessing the pool over a network, the network speed (e.g., 1Gbps vs. 10Gbps) might be a bottleneck, limiting the benefits of the SSD cache.
    Pool performance: The underlying RAIDZ2 pool's performance will still be a limiting factor for sequential reads/writes, even with an SSD cache.

6. Recommendations

    Add more RAM first: ZFS benefits greatly from having more ARC (RAM). If you haven't maxed out your system's RAM, consider upgrading it before adding an SSD cache.
    Use the SSD for L2ARC if read-heavy: If your workload is read-heavy and your ARC is insufficient, using the SSD as an L2ARC can improve performance.
    Use the SSD for SLOG if write-heavy: If your workload involves many synchronous writes, using the SSD as a SLOG can reduce latency.
    Monitor performance: Use ZFS performance monitoring tools (e.g., zpool iostat, arcstat) to identify bottlenecks and determine whether the SSD cache is making a difference.

Conclusion

Using a 1TB M.2 SSD as a caching drive in your 4x8TB RAIDZ2 pool can make an appreciable difference if your workload benefits from caching. However, the impact will depend on whether your workload is read-heavy, write-heavy, or mixed. For the best results, ensure you have sufficient RAM first, and then configure the SSD appropriately for L2ARC or SLOG based on your needs.

 

[StellarJay]

Thank you for the very detailed explanation, I really do appreciate it when people are very clear with their posts. I guess I should have introduced myself a little bit too though to maybe save you some of the hassle of having to over explain things. I'm an IT professional of more than two and a half decades working in everything from network engineering and SecOps to ICU board level repair/refurbishing to plugin and app development on numerous platforms and a whole bunch of other stuff in between. I'm quite familiar with current (and old school) raid technologies. I'm known for doing all kinds of funky DIY computer projects with hardware and software that were never designed for one another but it's a thrill for me when something ends up working out well. That being said there were a couple things I didn't know about in your post so TIL. I already knew that the RAM would be a bit of a sticking point for repurposing this hardware but I'm not overly concerned with speed as I am more focussed on reliability and security. If I can get the M.2 slot up and running I do have a 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD (MLC with a DRAM Cache) I can use in it so that may increase performance for my primary use case of serving up media through Plex but I also use it as a archival backup for my important files and the system drives of my PC's. However I may just end up doing all that on a new NAS setup for myself as I'm very interested in taking advantage of the "buddy swap" feature of HexOS. I have a friend who I've set up my own reverse proxy VPN for and I'm looking into getting him his own NAS finally setup so he can stop mooching off of my hardware for his backing up and I'll be able to setup an encrypted space on his NAS for me to store my offsite backup copy on so I can finally stop paying for cloud storage and if I can repurpose the RN424 I can just give that to him.

[SignedAdam]

5 hours ago, Dylan said:

Looks like one user booted with just 2GB of RAM. Not sure how usable it is, but I bet more and more people will test this over time. I just want to be able to store my backups of my new NAS to the RN212. That'd be ideal. Side note, the SAME 2x4B WD drives are STILL holding it down. Damn thing refuses to die.  The disks just survived/passed the scrub process. Took like 4 days but they still look good. Crazy.

1) You guys do know you don’t have to use Zfs! It’s a nice to have but not necessary! Zfs uses lots of resources… just use raid, 0 or 1 and so on! 
 

2) you can change the default boot device in the bios, you don’t have to use software to make the readynas hardware boot a drive… on my readynas there’s a micro usb port at the back, this allows you to connect to the nas by usb and uses a terminal window to view (a screen like interface) that even passes through keyboard, it’s called uart serial… learn how to do it here

[SignedAdam]

Can you guys do me a favour and explain to this douche king why we want these old devices to function on hexos

 

 

[Dylan]

Advocating for dev prioritization, whether for supporting older devices or focus on an improved feature set is fine. And this is the place for those conversations to be had - politely and with respect. Even when others may not show the same courtesy.

With respect.

[jjoshlin]

Since this person can not act mature i will post full context here. Truenas at its core and friends before it where built on the core principle of leveraging the ability of ZFS. HEXOS devs are not the ones who will rewrite/redesign truenas to run on this hardware. If a truenas rep wants one I even volunteered one for them to work with to make a "core" version that could be stripped down. 

 

Knowing this project is so young and has so many who are new to tech I'm trying to be concise and offer solutions that are within budget of most people. What's going to hurt this project is immature people that fell the need to insult and thump there chest. I want to see this a success and why I'm here trying to leverage my decades of experience to more novice people.

[SignedAdam]

10 hours ago, jjoshlin said:

Since this person can not act mature i will post full context here. Truenas at its core and friends before it where built on the core principle of leveraging the ability of ZFS. HEXOS devs are not the ones who will rewrite/redesign truenas to run on this hardware. If a truenas rep wants one I even volunteered one for them to work with to make a "core" version that could be stripped down. 

 

Knowing this project is so young and has so many who are new to tech I'm trying to be concise and offer solutions that are within budget of most people. What's going to hurt this project is immature people that fell the need to insult and thump there chest. I want to see this a success and why I'm here trying to leverage my decades of experience to more novice people.

Being sarcastic and assuming someones knowledge online are signs of maturity?
 

what people have to hand, will, and is always going to be the best option for them. Going out and spending money on new hardware, is always going to be the last option. 

 

you seem to be recommending people do things backwards, buy new hardware rather than use what they have to hand…

 

like I explained, the more devices hexos can support = more income for the developers. Supporting new features shouldn’t come before making the user base larger, having a larger audience should be this projects 1st goal, supporting as many devices as they can. 

Edited 8 hours ago by SignedAdam

[jjoshlin]

Do you understand hexos is not the base operating system? It is a management system for truenas. This is why I have stated more than once, its not on the hexos team to try and modify the base OS that would be a truenas dev team that would need to complete that task. It is the same with supporting ARM as old data center arm systems are aging out and hitting the gray market there is great horsepower at affordable pricing but the base OS does not support them. I don't raise requests with HEXOS team to support arm because they are not the ones tasked with coding for CPU support. By all means, go to truenas forum make the same post to support these older NAS boxes and I will 100% be behind you. Like I have stated I have several of these also, but I understand its not on this DEV team to support them. 

[SignedAdam]

6 hours ago, jjoshlin said:

Do you understand hexos is not the base operating system? It is a management system for truenas. This is why I have stated more than once, its not on the hexos team to try and modify the base OS that would be a truenas dev team that would need to complete that task. It is the same with supporting ARM as old data center arm systems are aging out and hitting the gray market there is great horsepower at affordable pricing but the base OS does not support them. I don't raise requests with HEXOS team to support arm because they are not the ones tasked with coding for CPU support. By all means, go to truenas forum make the same post to support these older NAS boxes and I will 100% be behind you. Like I have stated I have several of these also, but I understand its not on this DEV team to support them. 

Well I believe you are wrong, the hexos team will have a lot of control over the inner workings of the operating system, they will have a list of software features that are on by default that are sucking up all the resources, they might even have more control than truenas, they could even give us control over these features/ services and allow us to turn them on and off under some type of advanced subsection.

truenas will be under an expectation from their community, while hexos are just starting up, I have already asked truenas to lower the requirements and I got the default excuse “ ZFS is making the requirements so high “ 

 

[jjoshlin]

Please take the time to read this, they are only a UI of truenas they have no control of the root operating system. This is not my opinion or assertion it is fact. If you have watched any of the installation videos like the one by Lawrence systems, your start by installing truenas onto your machine, then logging into the hexos portal with a machine on the same network to see the trunas installation. Therefore its not HEXOS that will need to support lower ram, its the operating system vendor. I am sorry if this seems curt in any way, but you simply do not understand what hexos is providing. 

 

 

https://www.truenas.com/blog/powered-by-truenas-hexos/#:~:text=By leveraging the robust and,manage their own home servers.