What is the fastest 3GB newest latest and greatest HD that I can put in my WD Dl2100. I would like faster response time… If it will not give me faster response time, I would stick with the regular Western Digital 3TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD30EFRX. Is this any better than my 2gig 64mb memory disk. One of my disks is red. I need to replace… or should I just upgrade to a better unit.
I would NOT trust the DL2100 or DL4100 because they both have a critical CPU flaw that eventually bricks the device.
What would you get instead… I have had this for 7 years no problem… just one red light on one drive. I would like to speed it up and get more memory
My PR4100 has been mostly reliable, except for a few botched OS5 firmware updates from WD. Many people have switched to Synology, but I don’t personally like them.
Honestly, all NAS devices are basically the same in my eyes. Some have a flashy user interface, but the apps are always the same craptastic assortment of nothingness.
My DL died years ago I’m very happy with my Synology DS 220 plus but now I would get a DS 224+
it has a lot of useful add-ons that are not ■■■■.
I find the synoglogy software superior.
Of course. . .the “boxes” ARE more expensive.
I mostly use NAS boxes as “file storage”. The one really nice thing I like is that I can do file management on the NAS using a Web Browser GUI. Once logged in; I can readily have the NAS do all sorts of file operations (within the drives or attached external drives) without any further involvement from the PC. Heck. . .I can even transfer from WD drives to my Synology without PC involvement.
Of course, using SSH and linux tools; I could do the same with the WD boxes. . . .but honestly; for the price delta. . . .I just don’t want to become a Linux pro to do basic file management.
I am sure my 220 has more horsepower than the EX2 Ultras. . . . frankly I am not taking advantage of it. Just doing basic NAS stuff.
All we want it for is to back up all our documents and pull financials from it…. We do not keep any data on our laptops incase the HD bones out.
So what is the model you use and where did you get it. How many drives does it take. I am not up on RAID configuration, but willing to learn
So true…… I should just replace the drive…. I have had no problems for years.
Personally, I see no problem with continuing to use the DL2100. It may eventually fail, but it shouldn’t be a problem if you have backups.
Also, the drives should be compatible with other 2-4 bay My Cloud (not Home) devices like the EX2 Ultra, if this option should ever be needed.
The key word in the above message from Cerberus is “backups”
A NAS is not foolproof. There are MANY single points of failure possible in the units. The DL2100 CPU flaw (not WD’s fault FWIW) is one mode of failure. “Fire” is another mode of failure, as is “Ransomware”. You want your data on a NAS; plus at LEAST one other physical device. Preferably some miles from your home.
RAID addresses perhaps the most common failure mode: HDD failure.
Raid 1 mode basically takes the two drives and makes them mirror images of each other. If one drive fails, then data will live on Drive 2. Replace the bum drive 1 - - > and the DL2100 will copy all of the data on drive 2 back to drive 1.
DO NOT PICK RAID 0. (Data is spread across both drives: Lose one HDD=all data gone).
You can google more on RAID drive configuration (Plus JBOD mode). . . . but simply put; configure for Raid 1 for some piece of mind.
In terms of “what box”. The EX2 Ultra is a pretty decent and cheap 2-bay NAS. For simple file storage - - -more than adequate (despite being over 5 years old). I am not sure I would put new drives in a DL2100 at this point, but I think if the known CPU flaw strikes. . .you can take the drives out and insert in another WD NAS without too much bother.
In terms of drives: Some might suggest Seagate iron wolf line as “lesser of evils”. In the WD line - - -you want to buy “Red Plus” line of drives. “Red Plus” has 5400rpm disks; which is fine for a file server. “Red Pro” uses 7200rpm disks. . . for a touch of speed. AVOID RED. For the reason: Google “WD SMR RED”. Avoid SMR drives like the plague. There is no use case at the consumer level for SMR drives.
People always think they don’t need backups… until they do.
They believe that buying extra hard drives to store backups is too expensive, right up to the point when they lose all their data, and the “data recovery” vultures begin picking at the corpse of their self-delusions.
Then there’s the commonly-held belief that RAID will save the day, when most people have zero clue about the true purpose of RAID, or why it even exists in the first place. But that’s a completely different can of worms that I’d rather not open.
Please tell me you are backing up your DL2100. They die. You would be much better off leaving data on the pc’s and using the wd utility to back them up to the NAS.
I do not know if IDRIVE is available on WD but it is on synology. For 70 bucks a year you can get 5tb of storage with versioning. So you can use any windows PC to get your data back. You do not have to figure out how to read *.nix files from your nas backup. You also get versioning in case of malware
Yes, it is backed up on a portable 6tb WD pocket HD. Need redundancy
Redundancy is good.
I have an embarrassing collection of NAS’s and HDD’s.
Every few years; I upgrade and buy a New NAS and New HDD’s and put the old stuff in a drawer. That way. . .when ransom wear hits, I don’t lose everything.
I have a HDD in a remote location with a full backup a few months old.
I must admit my philosophy is getting harder to keep up because the HDD’s are not keeping up with my data growth. I used to be able to put everything on a single 500GB HDD. Until a year or two ago; everything but media could fit on a single 4TB My Passport. Now. . . all the MyPassports are SMR drives (which I won’t use). . .and SSD’s are a bit too pricey. I am a bit slower to buy the big 12TB BookCase drives - - But I guess that’s what I need to do.
I trust cloud storage as far as I can throw it.
You are one missed CC payment error from losing all your data.
You are one lost password from losing all your data.
You are one update to the terms of service from losing all your data;
You are one update to the terms of service from finding that someone else now legally owns all your photos.
Don’t get me wrong. . .cloud has it’s place as part of an overall strategy.
I am one lightning strike and fire from losing all my NAS units.
I am one robbery away from losing my NAS units.
I am one RansomWare attack away from losing all data on my NAS units.
NAS with Cloud backup has many strong arguments in favor.
That’s what companies want these days, to release a “service” instead of a product, so the customer has to keep paying, rather than paying once and being done with it.
