Mac / OS X

• How well does ReadyNAS work in a Mac environment?
• Why is RAIDar not detecting my ReadyNAS?
• Which share protocol is the best for MAC users with the ReadyNAS?
• How do I access a ReadyNAS share with a Mac?
• I'm getting poor performance with my Mac. Is there anything I can do?

Mac / OS X

How well does ReadyNAS work in a Mac environment?

Macs are well-supported via AFP, CIFS and NFS protocols. We have an active Mac user gathering at the Infrant Community Forum.

Why is RAIDar not detecting my ReadyNAS?

Check if your Mac is blocking UDP traffic. Go to System Preferences → Sharing → Firewall → Advanced. If you are, uncheck it and press OK and you should now be able to use RAIDar to find your NAS.

Which share protocol is the best for MAC users with the ReadyNAS?

Our Mac users typically prefer AFP over CIFS due to better support for extended character set and better resource fork handling. Some prefer CIFS due to better forced compatibility with Windows users. Performance-wise, AFP and CIFS provide excellect throughput, with AFP providing faster searches via the Finder.

How do I access a ReadyNAS share with a Mac?

If you will be using AFP, from the Finder, select Go → Network → My Network → AFP on Hostname. If you will be using CIFS/SMB, from the Finder, select Go → Network → Workgroup → Hostname. Another option is Go → Connect to Server → Enter server address. This can be used to connect using SMB, AFP or NFS by entering the protocol then the IP of the NAS (e.g. smb://192.168.168.168, afp://192.168.168.168, nfs://192.168.168.168/sharename).

I'm getting poor performance with my Mac. Is there anything I can do?

Try setting TCP delay_ack to 0. Default is 3, which causes handshake problems with the ReadyNAS, causing severe performance penalty. You can set the delay_ack with the following command from the OS X terminal:

If you want the setting to stick when you reboot, add the line to /etc/sysctl.conf. For reference, see:

http://julipedia.blogspot.com/2006/02/samba-performance-under-mac-os-x.html http://mail-index.netbsd.org/tech-net/2003/01/28/0004.html http://systemsboy.blogspot.com/2006/02/delayed-a