Newbie, some questions

My Cloud OS 3 Personal & Network Attached Storage My Cloud EX2
1

Hello,

I am considering to purchase a MY CLOUD EX2 ULTRA, but I am not sure whether this is the product I need.
I would be grateful if you can help me with the decision.

The musts are the following:

  • Sync with laptop&mobile.
  • Disc encryption
  • RAID (at least RAID 1)
  • Only accesible when I am in the same network. I mean, I can Sync only when I am at home. I do not want to be reachable by any mean, from the internet.

Desirable (I could live without them)

  • Backup schedule
  • Drops a mail if a disc fails
  • Wake on Lan

So, is this product what I am looking for?

Thanks in advance

2

Hi Josu,

  • Sync with laptop&mobile.

For Laptop:
WDSync is garbage, so I use FreeFile Sync on my laptop and added the RealTime Sync feature to my startup tasks. Very easy to set up and use.

Check out https://freefilesync.org/

For Mobile:
You have the My Cloud App, which backs up pictures and videos to a specified folder on your NAS. It’s a little jenky, but mostly because of Android MPT, so.

With regard to security, the App does have access over the internet through WD’s Cloud services, so setting up a separate user account from what you use on your laptop to limit folder access is what I did while experimenting. Ended up nixing that because I too would rather not have that security hole…

There are other sync services for mobile → NAS, but they have to support the WD OS. I am working on figuring out how to install syncthing on it, but it’s a hassle. Looking at BTsync, too, as a possibility. Have to do more research on it.

  • Disc encryption

Looking into it myself as well. Setting things up still.

  • RAID (at least RAID 1)

Yes

  • Only accessible when I am in the same network. I mean, I can Sync only when I am at home. I do not want to be reachable by any mean, from the internet.

You can set it up this way, yes. It is all dependent on the sync software you use.

In addition, if your router supports VPN clients (such as OpenVPN), you can VPN into your home network from abroad and it will give you access to the NAS. This will also allow your sync software to do its thing as if you were at home.

  • Backup schedule

Yes

  • Drops a mail if a disc fails

Yes

  • Wake on Lan

Not too sure what you mean, but you can set it up so that the NAS enters sleep mode when not in use. Mine wakes as soon as I start accessing it, or folders from my laptop change and the sync folder on the NAS needs to be updated. No issues with it, goes back to sleep after a period of time with no use.

So, is this product what I am looking for?

Possibly. I’m a little disappointed in their lack of non-3rd party mobile sync apps. I would definitely rather not use Amazon S3 or Dropbox services to achieve a mobile phone sync for backing things up. I’m sure there is a work around, but this is a fantastic product otherwise!

-Matt

3

Looking like BTsync, aka Resilio Sync, is the best sync feature. Resilio supports the EX2 Ultra and you can install the app onto the NAS. You can purchase the home pro version of this for 5 users, or just use the free version for 1 user. If you are thinking of purchasing Home Pro, search for a discount code.

Will probably ditch FreeFile Sync, too, but have to look into how Resilio works with a VPN while abroad. Since Resilio’s trigger to start syncing is the network you specify, I might have issues. Will have to play with it.

It allows you to select a custom option for when to start syncing, such as only when you are connected to your home network(s). Has option to setup encrypted folders, too.

-Matt

4

There are better NAS boxes out there (Synology, Q-NAP) but I find the MyClouds easy to use and set up (perhaps because I have installed seven of them over the last few years). If I was starting again from scratch, I’d probably go with one of the above two, mainly because of WDs poor customer support.