I recently purchased the referenced external hard disk and installed it on one of the ethernet ports on my modem/router. I came up and gave me a blue light. So far so good.
I then came to thes desktop PC that connects via wifi to that router. I downloaded and installed the My Net View, WD DIscovery, WD MyCloud, and WD Smartware apps. Now I’m trying to figure out how to use them. If someone can guide me through this, I’d be eternally grateful.
I want to use the MyCloud device to run regular backups of this desktop system and a couple of laptops and to store music, pics, and videos so that they can be played back on devices that have network access. This list includes this desktop, 3 or 4 (sometimes more) laptops, iPads (4 and counting), iPhones (at least 4), couple of ROKUs, and a Samsung Smart TV. The Net View scan shows date and time and my network name. It then goes to Notifications- Warnings lTV] device type offline, laptop PC device name offline, Network Device offline (I think this is one of 2 Rokus, this one not in use at the time of scan) and under Network Performance Suggestions Anti-virus found with information that this might affect performance tests.
It then shows Your Network to include this desktop PC, my wifi Router/Modem, 3 network devices with IP addresses generally associated with routers ( I think these are for the other 3 ethernet cables attached to the router/modem, WDMYCloud, and one Roku. If I were to run the scan at other times I would expect to see iPads, iPhones, et al in the list. Is this correct? IOW it should show my network topology at the time the scan is run.
So far so good? Now I turn to WD Discovery and immediately become confused. From what I read this software is to assist the user in mapping the network attached MyCloud device. What does that mean? When I look at File Explorer I see the MyCloud device under the Network folder and it shows Public, Smartware and TImeMachine Backup folders. The Public folder has subfolders for Shared Music, Pictures and Videos. There are no subfolders for the other two MyCloud folders. Does this indicate that my network attached storage is properly identified to my network? Does this mean that it is properly ‘mapped?’ Further if I load the WD Discovery app, it displays the network servcies found (for active devices, I think). I can select each device and see to the right a column Things To Do which include Configure, Map Network Shares, Browse Network Shares, Create Desktop Shortcut; but there is no Help screen to tell me how to do those things. Furthermore, I cannot find a user guide for this app. Where do I get instructions for doing the things in the To Do list?
Lastly, we come to WD Smartware. This is the backup software, as I understand it. From the PDF I downloaded, this is a complex and powerful app. Licensing the PRO version promises even more power. I have read much of the doc without really being able to absorb and turn the information into a backup plan; so I will outline what I want to do. My desktop is the primary network station. It has a SSD that is meant to contain only the operating system software and control files and the applications installed on this unit. I have 3 internal (Western DIgital) HDDs that are intended to have all my data on them. I also have an external USB 3.0 (WD) HDD and a SATA-connected Probox that has 4 (WD) HDDs in it. I will eventually implement a strategy that will write certain data files on multiple HDDs to protect against a disk unit failure (what we old mainframe pukes used to call a ‘head crash’). I want to set up the SmartWare to backup various drives and or partitions as separate operation and timings. For instance, I want to do an image backup of the SSD partition (C:) twice a week. I want to back up some data files by partition on a daily basis and others on weekly and monthly backup schedules. Can I do this with SmartWare? If I know it is possible, I will RTFM and figure it out; but if it will not do what I want, I’d rather not waste the time trying.
As for the music, picture and video files I have on various devices, how do I get them to the appropriate folders on the MyCloud storage device. Can I create subfolders so that I can easily identify the source for the files? (eg, I’d like to set a subfolder for each network device - PC/ipad/iphone/laptop etc - to have a place to put music/pics/vids from each device. Is this doable?
Thank you for staying with me during this epic trek. I shall be grateful for any answers and advice you can give.
