Trying to make sense of smartware pro

why does the above dump my files into this location?

\WDMYCLOUDEX2100\Music\WD SmartWare.swstor\C-PC\Volume.dccbe85d.3d06.11e4.bff8.00241d769bde

i expect the files to go \WDMYCLOUDEX2100\Music\

and the file structure to follow the main file structure i selected so for eg ideally

\WDMYCLOUDEX2100\Music\mp3.…

Is there a better way to upload files i want to the ex2100 and allow it copy in the background as i had several issues with the wd mycloud app as i tried to copy with that but then i had to shut down the pc , after i rebooted the pc and tried again mycoud app said the folder already excisted and did not copy the missing files…hence why i switched to smartwave pro.

any suggestions or ideas ?

Thanks

It’s how Smartware works,. You set the root directory (\WDMYCLOUDEX2100\Music\ in your case), and it then creates the WD Smartware.stor directory and populates it. The first level is the name of the PC being backed up (C-PC in this case) and then underneath that there will be a directory for each volume/drive within that machine which is backed up (the volume. and the string of letters and numbers which is unique to the drive). Underneath that you should find the folder tree of your backup, and the files within it as appropriate.

To my knowledge there’s no way to change that, it’s how Smartware is designed to work so that it can be used to back up multiple machines (and drives/volumes within each machine) without the backups getting mixed and merged.

but how does this aide in basically organising stuff on the ex2100?

its perfect for backups but couldnt there be a option for users like me that just wish to sync folders and have there nas organised in a clear concise manner?

i can always move my mp3 folder on the nas to a parent folder liek i need it but when i try to sync it again i will need to move my stuff back into the folder as above,

am i using the wrong software?

im trying to keep my files orgainsed and thinking of when i want to stream stuff from my tv/laptop/phone etc.

Any further input would be appreciated.

Basically yes, you’re using the wrong software. Smartware is backup software, not sync software.

There are third party solutions which are sync software, a quick search using the engine of your choice can give you various options depending on your OS, or I’m sure others can make recommendations (I don’t use such software, so can’t make a recommendation).

You have to remember also that Smartware is designed to run on a network on various PCs all using the NAS drive as the target. Hence why it adds the extra folder layers to the tree, so that it can keep all the backups in one place (the Smartware.stor folder, which by default lives in root of the target drive) without them becoming mixed up and merged. Indeed for a single PC it can also backup multiple drives/volumes, and again uses the lowest level of added folders to differentiate between them for the same reason.

Depending on how you’re running your ex2100 you may be better just using it as the primary stream source (copying or moving your archive there) as it should be backed up automatically against disk failure by the RAID settings (if you’re using an appropriate RAID setting). Or looking at a dedicated sync program rather than a backup one, but WD don’t make one of those.

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