Mapping USB drive connected to WD My Cloud Home

My Cloud Home - Personal Cloud Storage My Cloud Home
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Hi folks,

I was wondering if there was a way to map an external drive connected to WD My Cloud Home via smb? To make it visible on the local network as another share and be able to use it as extra storage, or as a destination for back-ups, etc.

Thanks!
S.

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@SAP

Have you already checked the User Manual and/or the Knowledge Base?

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Yes, I have, thank you. The manual does not contain any detail on how to map an external hdd connected to WD MHC via USB.

Thanks,
S.

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It is always easier to check with the Knowledge Base which is extensive and nearly always up to date as the PDF manual appeared to be dated from 2017 and unchanged since.

The My Cloud Home is a simple ā€œPersonal Cloud Storageā€ device that lacked many features of the traditional NAS, that much has been well publicized in the product brochure.

My Cloud Home: Unsupported Product Features

Please refer to the table below for a list of features that are Not Supported on a My Cloud Home or Duo which are typically supported on competitor Network Attached Storage products.

among the many unsupported features listed:

NAS to USB Backups // likely to mean limited USB access
Remote NAS to NAS Backups
Internal NAS Backups
USB Camera Backups
ā€¦
Password Protected Network Shares
Remote Access to Public Share
Remote Access to Backup Share // likely to mean the USB backup share as well
Amazon S3 Backup
Twonky DLNA Media Server
iTunes Server

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Thank you,

I have looked through the list of non-supported features, and I am not sure that this relates to exactly what I am trying to find out.

To me, Lack of back-up to USB is more about automated back-ups to USB, which is missing, indeed. It doesnā€™t necessary mean to me that you canā€™t map the connected USB drive as a separate share, though.

The lack of remote access to back-up shareā€¦ could be about it. Although it is also not that obvious to me that by ā€œback-up shareā€ they mean a usb drive. This looks more about connecting to Windows/Mac OS dedicated back-up shares outside of LAN to me.

Anyway, do I get it right that the answer to my question is ā€œit is impossibleā€?

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I have a MYCLOUD HOME and I am trying to connect an external HD through the USB port to increase the space on
MYCLOUD HOME. I checked the manual and it has no information on how to do this or if it can even be done. Can someone explain to me how or if this can be done. Thank you!

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The USB port and any USB drive connected to it is only for data backup by using the webapp or mobile app. It cannot be used to expand the usable space of the My Cloud Home (MCH), such as increasing the Public and Private spaces.

It is unfortunate that the MCH is near the EOL (End Of Life) period of about 8 years since introduction and there is no replacement by Western Digital in this space or by the look of it in any other NAS space in the retail storage market.

As a public service to the WD community readers, the following is a reasonable successor to the MCH and without showing the brand which is easily searchable, this item shown below is a good alternative to the MCH with the features relevant to USB share. The price has dropped to a level that is comparable to any other secure and reliable personal storage in this space.

Cheers on this Labor Day.

Imgur

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Can you give a little more detail on End Of Life (EOL). What exactly does it mean? Will I lose the ability to access my files through Plex? Will my MY CLOUD HOME stop working, please a little more details. Also this Beestation, will I be able to access my video files on an app. like Plex or only through my phone then I have to project it onto my TV. Also, about the Beestation, can I add an external drive to it through the USB to add storage capacity to it?

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One should ask WD Tech support directly about the future of the My Cloud Home (MCH) because they will not announce it until the time has come. And yes, the MCH could lose internet connectivity as shown by the announcement for the EOL support of the ibi Photo Manager which uses the same firmware as the MCH.

This post above was not meant to be a review of the features of the BeeStation and one should read the various reviews on the BeeStation to understand the capability of the unit, but suffice it to say it does support access to the USB attached storage both by webapp, mobileapp as well as locally through Win, Linux and macOS SMB support (see ā€˜usbshare1ā€™ from the Windows Explorer pictured above).

There is a BeePhotos app that allows viewing photos and videos but Plex is Not supported and there is no other Media Server as of this writing (Sept 2024). The BeeStation was designed to be a personal cloud storage device and not a Media Center and for the media feature, one should look to some other entry level NAS with proper capability to support media streaming.