Western Digital, offered me to test a 4-terabyte cloud network drive My Cloud.
On your computer, My Cloud is seen as another basic disk. In addition it can be accessed from anywhere on the Internet through a browser. There is a possibility of automatic backup to the disk files from your computer and smartphone. And yet My Cloud works as a DLNA-server, iTunes-Server, and Time Machine for Apple devices.
Included - drive, power supply 12 V 1.5 A, Ethernet cable.
The front panel of the drive - only two-color status LED on the rear panel - power connector, 1 Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 for connecting additional external drives, opening the Reset button and the lock Kensington.
To drive attached perhaps the shortest statement I have ever met.
All you need to do to configure the drive - turn it on, connect to the network and register on the site MyCloud. No need to configure anything, no need to register IP-address. Everything happens automatically. Magic!
Immediately after installation of the network device appears WDMYCLOUD shared folders Public, SmartWare, TimeMachineBackup. Of course, you can create a folder with any name. If you assign one of these folders, a network drive, your computer will be another drive letter, and this disk can be accessed in the same way as an ordinary disk.
The first thing I checked, the speed with which operates a network drive when connected directly to a computer on a gigabit network.
Everything is fine - the access speed of about 100 Megabytes per second. External hard drive works just a little slower than a local hard drive.
When connected to the USB-port flash drive or external hard drive, there is another shared folder.
I tested the speed of an external hard drive via USB 3.0 2TB drive on the network.
Left - speed direct connection to USB 3.0 computer, right - through MyCloud drive.
The speed during operation through the accumulator is reduced, but still remains high enough.
For the sake of the experiment, I connected to drive two external hard drives via USB 3.0 hub. It works, but slightly lacking power - one of the external drive suddenly stops. If you use a powered hub, everything will work fine.
Web-based storage.
Cloud interface online mycloud.com very simple.
But despite its simplicity, there is everything you need - you can download the files to the drive, you can download files drive, with some files if they are automatically packed in zip-archive and download files archive. There is a handy preview.
You can create links to the file, multiple files or folders, to which you can refer other people (of course only in playback mode).
MyCloud mobile application lets you access from your smartphone to any files stored on storage, and also provides automatic backup of all photos and videos from your smartphone at storage device. If the automatic backup function is activated as soon as the smartphone is connected to a WiFi all new photos and videos are uploaded to the drive.
Application for PC «WD Sync» allows you to sync any folder on the computer with the drive. First, it makes it possible to always have an automatic backup of all your important data, and secondly to have access to versions files and remote files, and thirdly to have access from the Internet to the copies necessary files to the computer even when the computer switched off.
MyCloud storage device can operate as a DLNA and iTunes-Server, as well as TimeMachine for the Apple devices. MyCloud have a backup system to another is the same drive, automatic loading system of any files from the Internet on a schedule. Enthusiasts are set to drive even the BitTorrent client Transmission.
MyCloud drive designed for continuous operation around the clock. Surprisingly, he has no function off and each unplugging it perceives as an emergency and runs diagnostics when restarting.
When the upper casing accumulator is heated to 42 ° (at a room temperature 26 °).
In normal mode, 4-terabyte drive MyCloud consumes 7W network. On the most expensive tariff (5.03 rubles / kWh) use of storage will cost 308 rubles a year, or 25.7 rubles per month.
In the power saving mode when a long drive is not being accessed, it stops the hard drive and begins to consume 3 watts. In this case, the electricity to power it on the same fare will cost 11 rubles per month.
I have a two-tariff accounting and electric, so WD MyCloud will "spend" my only 6 rubles per month.
WD MyCloud produced with discs 2, 3, 4 and 6 Tb. The best in terms of price / volume is now a 4-terabyte model that I tested.
Surprisingly, the price of WD MyCloud only a thousand rubles more than the price of disk WD Red, set in the drive. Thus a complete fast NAS with cloud capabilities cost almost nothing.
Drive WD MyCloud left a good impression - low-cost, smart, has a lot of additional features.
© 2016 Alex Nadozhin
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