how do I get the hostname of FTP server in my remote WD Mycloud?
If your trying to access the My Cloud FTP server from outside your local network you need to access the WD My Cloud Dashboard and enable FTP, then you need to access your broadband router/gateway’s administration page and port forward the FTP port (21) to the WD My Cloud. From there you need your network’s external IP address which is usually found on your broadband router/gateway administration page or by going to Google and typing “what is my ip”. That external IP address is the host name.
On your local network either the IP address of the WD My Cloud or the My Cloud name is the host name.
To use FTP on the My Cloud you will most likely have to have a User and Password created through the Dashboard.
It is sometimes easier to use DDNS services that will provide you with a single IP (or name) address for your external IP address incase your external IP address changes from time to time. Often one’s broadband router/gateway will have a section for DDNS support.
I am in Thailand and my WD My Cloud is in us. I have port 21 forwarded to Port 8021 on the external IP address that I got from whatismyip while I was in the US.
From Thailand when I view WDmycloud it shows as a device name in a box and below that shows the file structure of the cloud including 2 directories with the files of the cameras FTP’d. Are you saving the hostname is the device name or is it the directory for the files received from the camera.
Thanks for your patience.
The host name is the device name (when connected on the local network), but the host name is the IP address (unless one has a web address assigned to their IP address) when connected remotely offsite using FTP. Since your connecting remotely you should put in the host name field, the public IP address that is assigned to the broadband connection to which the My Cloud is attached in the U.S. If you have changed the port number that will also have to be changed in the FTP client software.
When you connect via FTP to the My Cloud it will show any folders that the User account is permitted to access. This will include the Public folder and any Private folders for which the User account is configured for Full Access or Read Only access.
There is a little bit more information on FTP and how to configure it (which may or may not apply in your case) in the WD My Cloud User Manual. And at this WD Support link: http://support.wdc.com/KnowledgeBase/answer.aspx?ID=2680
your external IP address incase your external IP address changes from time to time.
My router external IP address changes every time it reboots, no doubt due to router negotiating an IP address with my ISP (essentially, using DHCP at the ISP network level, rather than the local network level).
My router can reboot spontaneously…
Yes the router changing its public IP address every time it reboots is a problem. One that can be potentially solved by using a DDNS service. There are a variety of free DDNS services out there and some routers have DDNS support in their coding/administration pages.
