I am serving in one organization.
We do have some multimedia data of different festivals and functions - photos and videos mostly.(Monthly twice or thrice)
Now, to securely backup all these data should I prefer this WD MyCloud EX2 device RAID1 mode? So, that I will always have one secure safe copy of my data even one hard disk damages.
My access is mostly inside the network. And remote access also not required.
But I have 300 MBPS router. Should I prefer to buy a new GIGA byte router to have best use of this product?
Do I need to take care of all files backup in HDD2 or the backup will be automatically handled seamlessly by the software - in RAID1 mode?
RAID1 is the safer, it’s a MIRROR, if 1 HDD fails the other keep all data and you can rebuild RAID by swapping the damged one. If you have 2xHDD 2TB you will not see 4TB total space but 2TB, the 2 HDD will be seen like 1HDD from the user but in real you have 2.
For the multimedia flux, more MBps you have and better is so think about a cable 1GBLan solution, WiFi 300Mb with 2 ore more users is unusable
1 Like
Thanks Simone_Z for your quick reply.
I think at a time only I will access the data it will be suffice to have 300 MBPS router for me.
But what about the backup? Will it be done automatically or I need to do it manually in RAID1 mode?
no, it’s automatic you don’t need to do anything
1 Like
The issue with this scenario is that it only protects against specific hard disk failure. Wider problems, for example a power spike that fries the unit (and all of the drives in it), or a fire that destroys the device or a theft that removes it will of course mean you can easily lose everything.
So whilst RAID1 is better than a single point of storage solution, it isn’t the complete answer to data security and disaster management. For that you would need an additional data silo somewhere off-site where a duplicate copy is also stored.
Whether this is practical or even necessary is very much a case-dependent scenario, but it’s worth pointing out sometimes to save too much reliance on a single device for all data storing.
2 solutions:
- attach an externel USB disk and schedule a backup to it
- buy another EXT2 and implement a scheduled backup between them by network (not 3mbsp or you need 3 days avery time)
suggestion: the WD backup program by default is invalid, try Acronis
1a) …and then store that USB disk in a fire-safe or off-site 
Can a RAID 1 drive be taken out of the MyCloud and used in an enclosure to recover its data? For example if the NAS fails. Or - does it format the RAID 1 drive in some unique way so that it can’t be used outside of the MyCloud?
To the best of my knowledge yes it can. That said I’ve not seen a proven case study to confirm.
Apart from there is (certainly appears to be) a serious bug in the NAS to USB backup function in the EX2 firmware versions 2.10.302 and 310. Also you can’t schedule them unless you want to start learning some Linux.
If WD get that working (it’s a big IF), then a good scenario would be:
- EX2 in RAID 1 to keep the data safe from a single hard drive failure. In the event of the unit itself failing your data SHOULD be still safe on the drives.
- Buy a cheap’ish (not too cheap) uninterruptable power supply. A line-interactive type will protect it from both spikes, brown outs, sags and other mains quality issues, as well as total power loss. If you connect the UPS directly to the EX2 is should (if it works) shut down gracefully if the power outage last long enough to run the UPS’ battery down too low.
- IF WD fix the backup issue, regular backups to an external USB drive which you can then unmount and store securly.
