I want to buy the MY CLOUD EX2 ULTRA 0TB (diskless version) and use only with my WD Elements Desktop 4TB attached to the USB, is this possible? Basically I want to convert my WD Elements Desktop 4TB into NAS (My Cloud)
You should probably see the dedicated EX2 subforum as this subforum (My Cloud) typically discusses a different device. The single bay/single drive My Cloud.
https://community.wd.com/c/network-attached-storage/wd-my-cloud-ex2/109
Not sure of your question. Why would you spend money on a diskless NAS enclosure just to attach a USB hard drive to it in order to make that USB drive into an NAS drive? Or are you thinking about “shucking” the WD Elements USB drive to extract the internal hard drive and you want to put that single drive into a EX2 Ultra dual bay enclosure?
If the former there are numerous other (cheaper) ways to turn a USB drive into a NAS drive than using a diskless NAS enclosure. If the later that is the way to go. One can shuck the WD Elements enclosure to extract the internal hard drive and then put that drive into the EX2 diskless enclosure. Plenty of discussion on shucking drives online (youtube for example) as well as threads in the EX2 subforum. Note that one typically has to format the shucked WD Elements drive which will delete all the data so backup up (or copy to another location) before formatting the drive.
Can you give me some examples of those cheaper ways to create my USB into NAS?
Thanks in advance!
For example using a Raspberry Pi. Just one explanation/method for how to do it, there are tons of others (like OpenMediaVault for example). One could also run additional programs on the Pi in addition to sharing the USB hard drive, Pi-Hole and Plex Media Server for example.
Some consumer grade routers (like Asus, Netgear, Linksys and others) offer the ability to connect a USB hard drive and setup local network access to it. Often these routers can be purchased new or used for relatively low cost. If you have your own, non ISP provided router, check the specifications to see if it supports turning a USB drive into an NAS drive.
There are also various stand alone products that can apparently turn a USB drive into an NAS drive. There are apparently several devices from Pogoplug that will share a USB drive on the local network.
https://www.amazon.com/Usr-Ushare-Mini-NAS-Adapter/dp/B0050JRXVU
https://www.amazon.com/Pogoplug-POGO-E02-Multimedia-Sharing-Device/dp/B0033WSDR4
https://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-Filehub-Hotspot-Extender-Streamer/dp/B08229WMSM/
Generally though many people will just “shuck” the WD Elements enclosure and use the hard drive in a diskless NAS like the EX2 Ultra. Normally what people do is wait for the various sales that happen on WD USB Desktop hard drives then buy two of them to shuck and put into a diskless NAS box.
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Thanks for your help!
