ReadyNAS NV+

This is a quick page to capture my experience upgrading RAM from the original 256Mb to 1Gb on a ReadyNAS NV+.  The larger memory provides a small increase in data transfer speeds, around ten percent on average.  I conclude that there is not a big incentive to spend much money for new memory, but there is an incentive to upgrade if a proper memory card is available otherwise.

Installation:

• Many pages may be found on the web showing how to remove the covers in the ReadyNAS and slip the new memory card in place of the original.  No need to reinvent the wheel here.
• Only a few specific memory boards are known to work correctly with the ReadyNAS memory timings.  It is also easy to find a board that meets *most* of the specifications and *should* work, but you will be the first to try it.  Trying to avoid a science project, I went with the conventional Crucial unit that is known to work.
• The original board that came with my ReadyNAS NV+ was made by Unigen.  The two boards are compared in this photo.

Testing:

• LAN speed test V2 was used to compare the two memory configurations.  Version 2 allows large files where the additional RAM may reduce the number of block R/W through the NAS.  My basic topology was PC - router - ReadyNAS, connected with Ethernet cabling.
• Preparing command and configuration files for the test is described on a separate page.
• I ran both memory configurations "a bunch" of times with minimum other traffic on my home network. Read / Write speeds across all size files transferred averaged ten percent faster with the 1Gb memory over the 256Mb memory.  The smallest boost was 6% and the largest was 26%, with no trend seen for either file size.  The results were similar for reading and writing.