Few questions before I purchase the EX2, or should I consider something else?

Legacy Products My Cloud OS 3
1

I’m new to the EX2 and NAS, I intend to purchase the EX2 diskless, but I have a few questions, but will waste peoples time if I start a new thread for each question.

1: With the EX2, is there a way to connect direct to the PC, it’s only for personal use, I do see these USB to RJ45 adapter, will they work.

2: I have a Belkin wifi router that supports 2 USB for expansion with drives, I suppose for the EX2 use, the problem is I also split my router for someone else to use, I have two cables coming out of the router one to my PC and the other to my room mate, whiles the EX2 will be connected to this router and is for my use only, would my room mate have access to contents in the EX2 if a PW is not in use, the EX2 is for myself to use, but I prefer not to put a password to it. My room mate does not have access to the router, it is PW protected by me.

3: With the EX2, will the folders and files for all the contents stored in the EX2 show up on the PC in a drop down format, or will it show just like what you see on a normal PC where you click into folder, also for drag and drop.

4: Can you watch video’s or listen to music directly from the EX2, ie, just find the files and double click and play directly, or do you need to download it to your PC first.

5: I have access to a few of these drives will they work as they are not NAS drives, I will probably use them as Raid 1 mirror.

Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD 4TB ST4000NM0035
Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD 6TB ST6000NM0115

6: Just a stupid question, can the EX2 operate if only one drives is used.

7: what is the actual differences between the My Cloud EX2 Ultra and the My cloud mirror.

Thanks

2

A few responses;

The EX2 is an inexpensive NAS. . . .stands for “Network Attached Storage” You need to attach it to the network using a network connection and a router. If you plan to hook it just to one PC. . .I suspect you are looking at the wrong type of device.

If you put a USB drive into the USB drive on the router, or the NAS on the network, it will be fully exposed to the entire network. That is the intent of the connection!!! With the EX2 software, you definitely have the ability to control access to various parts of the drive. The control is with passwords. . . . You create “shares” (i.e. directories) and you can authorize different users to use different shares. . . . the authorization is with passwords. The good news (for you) is that generally you just have to put in the password once, and WIndows will generally remember the passwords.

The NAS will appear as a network drive on your PC. You can assign a drive letter. (not recommended in the Ransomeware world). You can access it using a network address (i.e. \TheNasName\The sharename\The foldername) Once you access the folder either way using windows explorer, you can do anything you can normally do with windows explorer.

You can click a media file to run the file. You can store ITunes files on the drive. You can point a Windows Media Player library to the drive. The entire purpose of the NAS is to store files on the network so that they are not stored on the PC. In fact, it IS possible to stream a media file to two independent users at the same time.

I think (not sure) that you can run the EX2 with one drive. If you have raid1 with two different sized drives. . you will only use the SMALLER of two capacities. In other words, if you a 6tb and 4tb drive as a Raid 1, the result is 4tb of storage.

I am not familiar with the MyCloud Mirror. I believe the Mirror is a “cheap NAS”. Still hooks to the network, but runs a less powerful processor with less RAM. With more computer power, the EX2 should be able to stream files better and do other tricks “easier” than a Mirror. I have a MyCloud drive (non mirrored), the software and actual usage between the two devices (MyCloud/EX2) are VERY similar. But I can run PLEX (video server) on the EX2 and not on the MyCloud (maybe I can. . .I just don’t)

3

Thanks for a quick detailed reply, after posting this message, a alternative is a WD My Book Duo which plugs direct into the PC, this is probably what I want, but I hate windows 10 now, as it sometimes does not recognize a drive which is connected through USB after the PC has been powered off and then on. Further research on the EX2, I did find out that if the EX2 unit (not the drive) if it breaks down and not working, are all the files not retrievable as the drive is formatted to a unknown format, but luckly the case are easy to purchased as a diskless version and pretty cheap.

How reliable are these EX2 or a nas setup in general, i’m using it for storage of music and video files, and playback these files using media player classic.

I also stated that I have access to a few of the following drives, do you know if they will work, or do I need to use proper NAS drives, if I get the diskless version and use my own drives, how easy is it to setup, or are the drives just drop in and auto setup within the case.

Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD 4TB ST4000NM0035
Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD 6TB ST6000NM0115

thanks

4

WD NAS units come with WD Red Drives. . . .because this is a HD manufacturer, and Red Drives are the drives that they rate for continuous spinning. (24/7/365 NAS service).

Theoretically, the segate drives should work. But I have no idea.

In terms of setup, mine came with drives a year ago and runs fine. Setup was totally painless in a home network situation, with the caveat that I have a few other WD devices, so I am familiar with the menu logic and options. The “shares” and “users” took a short learning curve. . . but is basically intuitive.

I have been using the NAS as a media server to various PC, IOS and android devices both inside the home network and across the internet (using PLEX). It seems to do it fairly easily, with a few minor caveats.

Exposing the device to the internet was a harder curve. . .because I was previously unfamiliar with “port forwarding”, which required getting both the NAS and my Router to dance together. Complicate that with the fact that I decided to setup a VPN at the same time, and I was also setting up a second WD NAS device at the same time! Now that I know how to do it. . .I could do the whole thing in 30 minutes.

For backup. . . .yes, the NAS format seems to be proprietary (or possibly EX3 in Linux?) You probably see the other threads where another user talks about how to swap drives in-and-out between an offsite location and a second NAS box. The answer was apparently: Use a QNAP NAS if that is important to you.

My view is that the NAS is not a 100% backup because this is a single device sitting in your house in a single spot. If the house burns down. . .or lightning strikes. . . .the NAS and the drives inside are all toast. So you do need a “second” offsite solution for data. For me, that is a second external drive that normally travels in my workbag, which has all my data on it.

5

Thanks again for the reply, after all the advice and searching, i will probably get the My Book Duo, probably a external HDD is more what I want, since it’s only for myself to use, and i don’t need access whiles away from home.