WD My Cloud EX2 Personal Cloud Server Review
Introduction and Specifications
Western Digital’s original My Cloud personal cloud storage solution brought a unique approach to the NAS segment, for individuals and the SOHO crowd, and the subsequent multi-bay My Cloud EX4 offered a beastly amount of storage--8TB, 12TB, or 16TB--via the same “My Cloud” platform.
WD introduced the My Cloud EX2 as something of a ‘tweener' solution, bringing a two-bay option that isn’t as hard on the wallet as the EX4 yet offers a copious amount of storage capacity and more powerful features such as RAID.
Even with a few more choice features on board, the My Cloud EX2 is designed to be as simple to set up and manage as the original single-bay My Cloud.
The My Cloud EX2 comes in capacities of 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB, but you can also order a unit with no drives if you want to use your own. WD ships populated EX2s with WD Red NAS drives in a RAID 1 setup by default. The device also supports RAID 0, spanning, and JBOD configurations, and drives in the two bays are hot-swappable.
WD introduced the My Cloud EX2 as something of a ‘tweener' solution, bringing a two-bay option that isn’t as hard on the wallet as the EX4 yet offers a copious amount of storage capacity and more powerful features such as RAID.
Even with a few more choice features on board, the My Cloud EX2 is designed to be as simple to set up and manage as the original single-bay My Cloud.
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| Capacity: Processor: CPU: System Memory: RAID: Bays: Ports: OS Support: Included Software: Weight: Dimensions: Warranty: Price: |
4TB (as configured) Gigabit Ethernet 1.2GHz 512MB DDR3 RAID0, 1, spanning, JBOD Dual Ethernet x1 USB 3.0 x2 Power supply port Kensington Lock Windows XP (SP3)/Vista/7/8 Mac OS X Mountain Lion/Lion/Snow Leopard/Mavericks Android, iOS, Windows Phone WD My Cloud WD My Cloud Dashboard WD SmartWare Pro Torrent downloader FTP downloader HTTP Downloader Web File viewer 3.4lbs 6.75x3.9x6.1 inches (HxLxW) 2 years 369.99 (as configured) |
The My Cloud EX2 comes in capacities of 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB, but you can also order a unit with no drives if you want to use your own. WD ships populated EX2s with WD Red NAS drives in a RAID 1 setup by default. The device also supports RAID 0, spanning, and JBOD configurations, and drives in the two bays are hot-swappable.
;)
The device sports a 1.2GHz CPU with 512MB of system memory, and it’s compatible with Windows and Mac on the desktop as well as iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices, which we’ll get into more in a bit. You’ll also find that when DLNA/UPnP streaming is enabled, you can stream files--including, for example, your iTunes music library--from the EX2 to a number of other devices, such as a smart TV, Xbox, PS3, Blu-ray players, and more.
The My Cloud EX2 is somewhat unassuming, with looks that evoke many of WD’s other external storage devices. The front has power, Drive 1, and Drive 2 LEDs, while the rear of the device is home to two USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, a power port, and a Kensington lock. There’s also a tiny reset button/hole if you need it, and the device has integrated WiFi capabilities.
The My Cloud EX2 is somewhat unassuming, with looks that evoke many of WD’s other external storage devices. The front has power, Drive 1, and Drive 2 LEDs, while the rear of the device is home to two USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, a power port, and a Kensington lock. There’s also a tiny reset button/hole if you need it, and the device has integrated WiFi capabilities.
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Those two rear USB ports are handy, as they allow you to expand your storage capacity simply by connecting a USB storage device. Further, you can network with other EX2s and EX4s and give yourself a convenient remote backup and restore option.
You can also back up your EX2 via cloud storage, such as Amazon’s S3 service, making the platform ideal for prosumers and small businesses that want to keep a tight rein on files but also need the peace of mind that comes from having a secondary backup in a different location. You can also snag 100GB of free cloud backup (for one year) from ElephantDrive with your EX2.
Make no mistake; although the EX2 is a good solution with easy management for any individual or family with high storage capacity needs, WD built in a host of tools aimed at small business users too. You can use the EX2 as a simple backup option, but it also comes packing quite a bit of advanced software and capabilities.
You can use it as an FTP, P2P, or web server (WordPress), and it comes with built-in apps that include a torrent downloader, FTP downloader, HTTP Downloader, and Web File viewer. Software includes aMule, Transmission, Icecast, phpBB, phpMyAdmin, Joomla!, SqueezeCenter, NZBGet, and Git, and thanks to WD’s SDK, plenty more are in the offing.
The WD EX2 also offers integrated Apple Time Machine support and 10 user licenses for WD SmartWare Pro, and businesses can connect the EX2 to their company domain as well.
For security, users get 256-bit AES volume encryption and active directory support for Windows Server 2003/2008/2012.
You can also back up your EX2 via cloud storage, such as Amazon’s S3 service, making the platform ideal for prosumers and small businesses that want to keep a tight rein on files but also need the peace of mind that comes from having a secondary backup in a different location. You can also snag 100GB of free cloud backup (for one year) from ElephantDrive with your EX2.
;)
Make no mistake; although the EX2 is a good solution with easy management for any individual or family with high storage capacity needs, WD built in a host of tools aimed at small business users too. You can use the EX2 as a simple backup option, but it also comes packing quite a bit of advanced software and capabilities.
;)
You can use it as an FTP, P2P, or web server (WordPress), and it comes with built-in apps that include a torrent downloader, FTP downloader, HTTP Downloader, and Web File viewer. Software includes aMule, Transmission, Icecast, phpBB, phpMyAdmin, Joomla!, SqueezeCenter, NZBGet, and Git, and thanks to WD’s SDK, plenty more are in the offing.
;)
;)
;)
The WD EX2 also offers integrated Apple Time Machine support and 10 user licenses for WD SmartWare Pro, and businesses can connect the EX2 to their company domain as well.
For security, users get 256-bit AES volume encryption and active directory support for Windows Server 2003/2008/2012.
