WD Sync 1.1.5731 - Getting close to a solid product!

WD Software & Mobile Apps WD Software
1

I have just tried WD Sync!  This is getting pretty close to a good product.  Thanks for the development.

I feel that we are finally getting closer to a dropbox like application. 

To make it clearly obvious what this does, allow me to explain:

e.g.  I create a new file on my computer’s harddrive.  It is sent to the WD Device.  My laptop grabs it and saves it on it’s local harddrive.  And vice-versa, ensuring that I have the latest copy on my harddrives.

Cool Features:

Let’s say we accidently deleted a file on my laptop?  I can see recently deleted files, and restore them.

Let’s say I see a word file, but someone erased the executive summary by accident.  I can see recent versions (up to 5), and restore them.

My personal Issues:

I do not see the folder where the sync is occurring when I log in directly into the WD device.

I do not see where I can see the folder with my Cloud Account… although I MAY be my own culprit here, I think I may be logged in as different users.  I will test that later.  (It was me!  This is working fine.)

Very novice friendly, and does not allow options for powerusers (eg - the 5 versions mentioned above, what if I am willing to sacrifice diskspace and keep 200?)

Forces a default share, and not clear where it is within the WD Device.  Although this is really an extension of the previous ‘novice friendly’ quote.

Non-existent manual for concepts.

I am EXTREMELY EXCITED that we are now getting this application.  I bought a DL4100 early this year, assuming this was part of it from the get go.  (I was shocked it wasn’t!  )

I cannot wait to see it developed into a more polished application!

Kudo’s to WD for bringing this App to us!

  • Robert
2

Hello,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the product, You can share any suggestions or ideas by posting on the software ideas board:  http://community.wd.com/t5/Software-App-Ideas/idb-p/software_ideas

3

Hi,

I made some quick tests of WD Sync (1.1.5731) since I was hoping to use it to replace my existing cloud storage solution.

I consider it extremely important that the software recognises all situations where changes are made but files do not need to be copied over the internet.

eg. I rename a directory. WD Sync renames the corresponding directory on the storage device - fine.

BUT: I move a directory (within the sync’d directories). WD Sync should do the same on the storage device. Instead it seems to delete the original directory and start uploading the contents of the directory in the new location.

This is really bad if the directory I move contains a large amount of data. It results in emormous waste of time and data transfer.

WD Sync must recognise that a simple move of directory does not require re-uploading.

It’s present state I cannot use WD Sync.

I’d be interested to hear whether anyone else has tested this.

  

4

For now it feels like a beta product.

1) Bad exception handling. In most cases sync fails without even notifying a user (like when database corruption occurs).

  1. Not exactly WD Sync client problem, but the content database on EX2 gets easily corrupted. WD Sync depends on that database, so it can’t sync anymore (no error message to user, shows ‘up to date’)

  2. The hard drives on my EX2 are constantly doing something when sync is turned on, even if everything is already synchronized. At some point it leads to content database corruption.

  3. Also it is constantly making calls to Google Analytics, I’m not sure why.

  4. Artificial restriction on characters in filenames. If filesystem allows it, sync should also support it (just make sure filename is not passed to some commandline tool without escaping special symbols).

  5. One would expect local sync to be faster, but if you have lots of small files it takes longer than Dropbox and even One Drive!

5

One more strange thing - it talks to my EX2 via external router IP even if I’m on the local network.

6

Eugr_ wrote:

One more strange thing - it talks to my EX2 via external router IP even if I’m on the local network.

Of course! It connects up via the WD supplied user registration in the same way as the desktop “WD My Cloud” application does. So it gains access from “outside”. I guess it doesn’t know anything about our local networks.

I had tested “syncing” a directory containing a number of files which were already copied up from my computer to the WD storage and found it didn’t just accept them all as matched. Instead it spent quite some time “upating” some of them. I was hoping to sync a larger amount of data locally to speed that process up. But now I guess being local won’t help.

I see under “Add device” it says “Discovering devices…”. I haven’t tried locally, but I wonder if that finds local ones?

I also tested the SYnc behaviour a bit more and found it is not just directory moves which are handled inefficiently. Even moving a single file results in the file being uploaded to the new location and the original deleted. Complete waste of time and data transfer. 

7

I have similar issues with WD Sync on Windows 8.1 and 7 Professional to my My Cloud 4TB. I have to rebuild the content database frequently and re-configure both clients. It would be nice to have access to the logs to aid us when troubleshooting.

This could be a game changing addition to the products, but needs to get out of the alpha like stage of development.

I expect to be able to sync files between my desktop, laptop, and mobile devices via the LAN and/or WAN.

WD Sync 1.1.5731
WDMyCloud v04.04.01-112