USB Hub using expansion USB slot

[mikestickers]

I am shopping to buy a new WD My Cloud drive, Two questions:

1. I am wondering how does the expansion USB slot on the PR4100 works. I have 8, 4TB WB portable drives, two are used as master hard drives and the other 6 are redundant backups. If I connect a 10 port USB hub in the expansion slot will all 8, 4TB Drives work? I saw a YouTube video of a guy that did it with 7 thumb drives but not portable WD drives.

2. If question one works, my next question would be: Will the WD Cloud use the 8, 4TB portable drives and work like the for bay PR4100 and can I just continue using the backup software I am already using? All I really want is to set up the WD Cloud to access my 8, 4TB drives I already have…I really do not want to purchase all new RED drives like the PR4100.

Appreciate any advise and help here.

[Bennor]

If you are looking at buying a PR4100 then you should see the dedicated subforums for that device. This subforum (My Cloud) generally discusses a different device, the single bay/single drive My Cloud.

OS3 Firmware My Cloud Pro Series
https://community.wd.com/c/network-attached-storage/my-cloud-pro-series/214

OS5 Firmware My Cloud Pro Series
https://community.wd.com/c/os5/my-cloud-pro-series/256

I would suggest you take a few minutes, if you haven’t already, and read through the user manual for the My Cloud device you are interested in. Typically they mention something in there about attaching external USB hard drives.

WD Support - PR4100
https://support-en.wd.com/app/products/product-detail/p/139

The following WD Support Knowledgebase Article may also be relevant.

External USB Drive Will Not Mount, Not Seen or Detected by a My Cloud
https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18918

USB Hubs and Adapters

You can attach a powered USB hub to the external USB port and attach up to seven USB devices to the hub.
Powered or non-powered USB hub and adaptors may not be 100% compatible with a My Cloud resulting in USB drive being ejected from the bus, stalled end points and failed device enumerations.
The external USB drive may have a USB hub inside of the enclosure causing incompatibility issues…

[mikestickers]

Actually, I’m not sure what to get. I don’t think I need a beast like the PR4100, just something I can use for the cloud that will read all my WD drives I have now…