I just recently bought a WD Personal Cloud EX2 Ultra 16 TB to move my Plex media to. I have installed the Plex app onto my personal cloud, and have clicked the “configure” button to go and configure it. However, it logs me and…that’s it. It doesn’t take me anywhere to set up anything. It’s as if I’m just logging in normally. I’m looking to find what settings my Personal Cloud should be set to, and then how to link the personal cloud to my Plex account to look for movies. Any help is very much appreciated!
I"m not a complete ■■■■■ regarding network/internet/plex stuff…but I’m no IT person either. Just a heads up.
Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the WD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting: https://support-en.wd.com/app/ask
Another super helpful post from WD Staff. . . . . .I believe I commented on this behavior in another thread in the announcements forum.
To the question at hand:
Plex operators in two forms;
* There is a plex server which organizes media and handles file management; and streams media.
* There is a plex app which finds a Plex Server and from which it receives a media stream.
If you are setting up plex; the first thing you have to do is setup a Plex server. This server can live on a PC or on a NAS. Once that is done, you can setup the plex app on a PC, on a phone, on a chromecast stick or whatever to play media.
When you setup plex server; you can setup libraries to find media. The library will consist of a bunch of folders. . .which can reside anywhere on your network. For example, I have two servers setup. One on my PC. . .which can read files from the NAS. I also have a server setup on the NAS. . .which reads the same files from the NAS.
When you setup the Plex App, you point the App to the Plex Server you want to use. That server can (literally) be anywhere on the planet.
*Note: The EX2 ultra is not powerful enough to transcode media for streaming on the fly. You need to stream at the original file resolution.
**This is not a be-all-end-all guide. Just a start to get you pointed in the right direction. Let us know if you have more questions.
Thank you for this. I have ran a plex server for 12 years (from a desktop) so I do understand the difference between the app and the server. But I also understand some people really may not know the difference. So again, thank you for the info. However, I’m having a horrible time understanding exactly what I need to do to get the new server set up. On my Personal Cloud, it allows me to install the Plex app directly from the WD cloud section onto the WD personal cloud. It’s called an app…but what good would a plex app be on my PC (personal cloud)? Would it not be the server? In any case, I cannot get Plex to look at my PC to even set up a server. When I go to add where I want it to look, it only will allow my actual computer. And I don’t want it to need a computer. I want my PC to run 24/7 so that my plex library is always accessible. I know quite enough to try and back track where my problem may lie, however, I feel like my brain is on the brink of exploding. I keep trying to take another step back to see if maybe I’ve overlooked the obvious. As someone posted, I may just open a case with WD and see if that will help. I do believe this may be a simple setting in either the PC itself or in Plex. And it’s just something I haven’t had to mess with before.
Bear with me; I have not run Plex from my EX2 ultra for some time . (I currently watch mostly from my PC. . .and I directly access the media from the NAS using VLC)
So - is your EX2 on OS3 or OS5? (I ask; because this is an OS3 subforum)(Also, I don’t have access to OS5) My EX2, which runs OS3, is on a network that has no internet connection (For OS3 security reasons); while my Roku sticks (the primary media consumer) are on a different network (With internet. . .for obvious reasons)
From what I see. . .when you fire up plex, it will access ALL the servers on your plex account. You have to pick which server you are USING and SETTING UP
When you log into plex. . . . on the left side you should be able to see a set of tabs. Things like “Home”; “Short Video” etc should show. At the bottom; there should be a “More >” tab.
Click the “More >” Tab. When you do that, you should see all the servers available to the account so you can play movies. In my case, I see the PC server, and a buddy’s server (that is across the internet - - → He is not even in the same country as I am). I do not see my EX2 server. . .because that server has no internet access. However, if it is running on your EX2. . . you should see it here.
You should also be able to reach the EX2 server by clicking on the “Settings” icon on the upper right hand side. From there, you should be able to see all the servers you own (not just play movies on) on the left hand side? Underneath the server. . .you can then scroll down to “manage” and then “manage - - > Libraries” to select content.
