Western Digital My Cloud Network Storage. Mailru Cloud capabilities - how to use the Files program, web interface and mobile applications Cloud storage wd my cloud
The PMS.Cloud program is a full-featured service designed to automate the management of hotel rooms (hostel, boarding house, etc.). The online platform PMS.Cloud will help reduce theft, increase control, efficiency and quality of employee work.
Program description
The PMS.Cloud online service performs the necessary functions for running a hotel business and for simplifying the work of employees who can spend their free time on clients.
PMS.Cloud has undoubted advantages:
- the program provides an intuitive dashboard interface:
- the use of the unique Channel Manager system allows you to timely update information about the number of rooms on all connected booking portals;
- adding a booking module to a hotel website allows the owner to provide users with Special offers, promotions, discounts to attract more guests;
- A nice addition to the main functionality is round-the-clock technical support:
- The developers have provided a convenient panel for booking rooms, which significantly speeds up the work of employees:
- the program creates a detailed database of clients, both private and legal entities, in which you can view any information on guests - dates of stay, bills, payments and other information:
- Using the online platform, you can generate most of the reports necessary for running a business, including a migration card:
The company offers its clients a nice bonus - 30 days of free use of the cloud service:
Program cost
The cost of using the PMS.Cloud online program can be calculated using a calculator on the company’s website. The price consists of the number of rooms in the hotel (hotel, etc.) and additional modules connected.
Hard drive manufacturers have long turned their attention to external drives based on hard drives, which allow them to expand the range of products offered to the market and provide additional profit.
In the home devices segment, WD previously offered two models with one and two hard drives, respectively. It’s interesting that they turned out to be real “long-livers” - the My Book Live review was published by us three years ago, and we tested the two-disc My Book Live Duo a year later.
At the beginning of 2014, the company decided to significantly update this line, and today we will get acquainted with one of the three new products. Note that the changes affected both the hardware platform of the device and the built-in software.
WD My Cloud is available on the market in versions with a 2, 3 or 4 TB hard drive. The device has White color body and design familiar from previous models. It uses a dual-core processor and has a USB 3.0 port. In terms of firmware, the company tried to simplify work with the drive and implement simple remote access setup.
Delivery set and appearance
The device comes in a beautifully designed cardboard box in blue tones. It's a pity that there was no place for a plastic handle for easy transportation. The packaging contains a photo of the drive, specifications, system requirements and delivery set. Note that in our case, only a short list of device features was Russified.
In the box the user will find the drive itself, external unit power supply 12 V 1.5 A with replaceable plugs, network patch cord, warranty service conditions, getting started leaflet and description of the process of transferring data from the user’s existing one USB storage to a network device.
On the company's website you can download firmware updates, utilities for Windows and Mac OS, and an electronic version of the user manual. The device has a two-year warranty.
The drive is compatible with Windows XP and Mac OS 10.6 and older operating systems. To access data you can use all popular browser versions, including FireFox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari.
The case in its design and dimensions (49x140x170 mm) differs little from its predecessors. It is designed for vertical installation only. For this model, white plastic was chosen as the main material. The surfaces of this color are glossy. The top, back and bottom surfaces are light silver and matte. Note that they are covered with passive ventilation holes. There is no fan inside the case.
Four rubber feet provide stability to the drive. On the front side there is a small silver insert with a logo, model name and a multi-color status indicator, which glows blue when in working order. Interestingly, there is an option to turn it off in the settings.
On the back there is a hidden reset button, a USB 3.0 port, a gigabit network port with built-in indicators, a power supply input and a Kensington lock. Note that there is no power switch, and the case does not allow user access to the disk. But if desired or necessary, you can open it.
Design and hardware characteristics
The drive is based on the Mindspeed Comcerto 2000 platform. It uses SoC M86261, which has two ARMv7 cores operating at 650 MHz. Volume random access memory is 256 MB, a 512 MB flash memory chip is provided for the firmware image. SATA controller, network adapter And USB controller 3.0 are included in the main processor.
All components are assembled on one printed circuit board. The processor has only a metal cover. There is no obvious console connector on the board, but there are many unlabeled pads. We note that there is space for installing a miniPCIe connector; perhaps the manufacturer plans to use it to install a wireless module.
The board is fixed to the hard drive and this “sandwich” is installed in a plastic case using rubber inserts. Our copy was equipped with a WD20EFRX hard drive of the WD Red series with a capacity of 2 TB. Thanks to the cold nature of this series, the drive uses passive cooling. Unfortunately, the Web interface does not provide an indication of the temperature value, but, judging by the documentation, in case of overheating the user receives a warning. Testing has shown that at room temperature and high load, the hard drive does not heat up above 45 degrees.
The data partition uses the EXT4 file system, and the operating system is located on a separate 2 GB hard drive partition.
The most significant difference from its predecessor is the presence USB port 3.0. In addition, it is worth noting more high performance platform, although you need to look at real speed numbers, since it also depends on the firmware.
The last drawback noted in the previous article - the lack of a power switch on the case - has migrated to the new product. Of course, network drives do not require frequent power off, however, in our opinion, it was worth implementing this feature, since it is not always convenient to use network access from a PC or mobile device.
The drive was tested with firmware version v03.04.01-219.
Assembly and configuration
After connection network cable and turning on the power, the device automatically receives an address from the router and becomes available on the network under the host name wdmycloud. Access to data by local network works immediately without any settings. But to fully use the device’s functions and access settings, you will need to register and create an account in the appropriate service. However, the process is simplified as much as possible - you just need to indicate your first name, last name and address Email, open the sent link to confirm your e-mail address and create a password. A similar procedure can be carried out through a Web browser for Android or iOS. In addition, you can use the special WD My Cloud Setup utility for Windows and Mac OS for setup.
Additionally, the company offers the WD Discovery program for Windows, which can help with searching for a device on the network and performing some operations with it (for example, opening shared resources) and a similar in function, but slightly outdated, WD Quick View for Windows/Mac OS. In general, the use of external utilities is not required to implement device functions.
The web interface for setting up the device has changed compared to previous models, but in general its organization remains similar. The quality of localization is not bad, although errors do occur. Many items have built-in tips and a general help system. The interface works on standard ports 80 and 443 (HTTPS); unfortunately, they cannot be changed.
On home page the user has access to basic information about the status of the drive, including free space, generalized diagnostic results, data on the number of users and shared resources. From most points there are links to the corresponding pages with extended data (for example, the distribution of recorded files by type).
At the top of the window there are icons for going to settings for users, resources, cloud services, Safepoints and system parameters. The drive allows you to program the required number of users. Lack of group support and domain integration for home model not significant. Seemed a little strange automatic creation resource with username and full access for all.
By default, the drive has shared folders Public, SmartWare and TimeMachineBackup; in addition, the administrator can create new ones. All these resources are initially configured to have unlimited access. If necessary, you can disable this mode (except for the Public folder) and issue certain rights each user. The folder options also have a switch to include files from them in the indexing of DLNA and iTunes servers.
Since the device has only one hard drive, the question of creating a backup copy of it will be of interest to many users. For this, the company has provided Safepoints technology - creating copies of data from the device on local USB drives or shared resources on the local network, such as other network drives. In this case, not only user data is recorded, but also the settings of the device itself. The service has the ability to create several copying tasks, in each of which you can select a recipient and set a schedule (manual mode, daily, weekly or monthly). But you cannot select only part of the source data. The first copy is complete, and subsequent copies affect only changed files. Please note that no special formats are used to store data, so if necessary, you can refer to copies using standard methods and get the necessary files.
All other, less frequently used system settings are collected in the “Settings” section. The “Basic” page allows you to change the device’s network name, set the built-in clock, disable support for cloud access and services Time Machine, configure the disk to turn off when there is no user activity and turn off the LED indicator. However, it is worth noting that if the hard drive is disconnected, there may be problems with remote access from the mobile application - the disk does not always turn on.
The network connection settings are standard - there is DHCP support and you can switch the device to manual IP address assignment mode. The device does not support Jumbo Frames. On the same page you can change the name working group, enable support for the FTP protocol and access to the console via SSH. Note that FTP server works only with authorization, anonymous access is not provided. Note the support for passive mode and UTF8 encoding. Unfortunately, there is no way to change port numbers.
It is worth noting that the system supports not only SMB/CIFS and FTP protocols, but also AFP and NFS. The first will be useful for users of Apple computers, and the second may be useful for Linux supporters. True, there are no settings for them; in particular, NFS access works immediately to the entire drive without any restrictions. According to information from the company, the ability to configure this protocol is implemented in older models of the series.
The traditional set of system options includes resetting, saving and restoring the configuration, turning off and rebooting the drive, updating the firmware (from a file and in automatic mode). There is also a device diagnostic function. Most likely, in this case we are talking about using the capabilities of S.M.A.R.T. technology, but you cannot view the current state of the parameters from the Web interface.
The drive does not provide for storing a complete and detailed event log, but you can see a list of recent notifications by looking at the bell icon at the top of the page. You can use email to send messages to the administrator. You can add up to five recipient addresses to the list and select the same warning level for all. Conveniently, there is no need to configure a server to send messages - the device uses the manufacturer’s own services.
Remote access
To implement remote access to files from a PC, the wd2go.com portal is used, through which you can see all the devices registered in your account. Interestingly, the actual work with documents is done by mounting folders to local computer via the WebDAV protocol, rather than directly through the browser. The advantage of this solution is their direct accessibility from any program on the PC. However, in our opinion, this option still does not allow using a remote disk with the same load as a local one. Perhaps it would be worth implementing the version of a file manager in the browser or special clients familiar from other devices.
As another remote access solution, there is WD My Cloud proprietary software for operating rooms. Windows systems and Mac OS. It is a file manager for a network storage device that works with both local and remote connection. There is no need to change settings when changing the connection type; you can use most standard operations, upload new files to the device using Drag-and-Drop, and create direct links to download documents for quick information exchange. Additional options include the option to turn off the drive's power.
If the router has an external address and supports UPnP for port translation, the speed of remote work with the drive is determined only by the capabilities of the user’s Internet channel. If these conditions are not met, then the device works through the company’s servers and the speed is significantly lower. In tests we saw numbers up to several megabits per second. So if you plan to intensively use the device remotely, we recommend trying to implement the first option. The connection status can be checked via the Web interface.
It is also worth noting that the model in question does not have the standard ability to access device settings via the Internet. Despite the configured port translation rules and the functionality of the cloud service, the Web interface remains inaccessible.
To solve the problem of access from mobile devices to Android based and iOS, the manufacturer offers two proprietary programs - WD My Cloud and WD Photos. You can add a new device to them in another way - create a special temporary code of a dozen digits through the drive’s Web interface and then enter it in the program. When you create a code, it is automatically linked to a specific user, so that he does not have to use any accounts to work from a smartphone or tablet.
The first utility is interesting because it supports not only WD network drives, but also cloud services Dropbox Google Drive and SkyDrive. They can participate on equal terms in most document transactions. For example, in WD My Cloud you can copy files from your cloud Google service to your network storage. It is also possible to exchange data with the local storage of a mobile device.
The program supports opening multimedia files directly from cloud storage. To do this, programs installed on the device are used, and for unsupported formats, you can try first downloading the file to a local disk and then using external utilities. There is also an operation for downloading documents from a smartphone or tablet. In the case of Android, you can use this operation for any files, and for iOS, only photos and videos from the standard gallery are downloaded.
WD Photos is generally similar to the utility described above, but only works with photos. It is possible to download files from the mobile device gallery to the device, but the program selects the download folder itself. At the same time, for the platform Android utility It also supports automatic sending of new pictures and videos to the drive.
To work on the platform Windows Phone The WD 2go program can be used, but we did not have the opportunity to test it in action.
Please note that the performance of remote access services depends on the state of the manufacturer’s servers. Without their participation, the described utilities do not work. So, to increase the reliability of the connection, it is worth providing backup options, for example, through a VPN server in the router or an FTP server in the network storage device.
External devices
The drive is equipped with one USB 3.0 port, which significantly expands its capabilities compared to its predecessor. This port can be used to connect external drives in order to expand the available volume or implement Reserve copy data. There is no support for printers or other devices in this model. Together with an active USB hub, you can connect up to seven external drives.
Disks can have multiple partitions. File systems supported are FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3/4, HFS+, XFS. After connecting, each section is published on the network under its own name and access for all users without restrictions. It is also included in the media server indexing. This can be changed if necessary. After reconnecting the disk, the rights are retained.
For safe shutdown external drives there is a corresponding item in the Web interface.
Additional features and enhancements
The network storage device has built-in DLNA servers and iTunes. The user can select the folders required for indexing, as well as disable services if they are not required. Scanning of new files is performed automatically, but manual launch of this procedure is also possible.
The DLNA server is provided by TwonkyMedia 7.2.6. Note that the user has access to his settings interface, which can also be used to access media files from the browser. The list of indexed formats includes jpeg, bmp, tiff, png, mp3, m4a, aac, flac, avi, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpeg, ts and other popular options. For different types content is indexed by date, album, tags and folders. Testing together with an LG smart TV showed that this service can be used to watch high-quality FullHD video, including BD-remix format. The iTunes service uses music recordings in mp3, m4a, aac and other formats. With the current version of the program on a PC, the service was quite functional. The server settings have the ability to selectively block client access to files.
The drive supports standard systems reserve Windows copy 7/8 and Mac OS (Time Machine). Additionally, for Windows operating systems, the WD SmartWare program is offered, which has two options for selecting source data, scheduling settings, and a mode for constantly tracking changes, similar to Time Machine. Note that My Cloud buyers are provided with three licenses for the professional version of the utility, which features DropBox support and an expanded range of compatible external hard drives.
As in its predecessor, the network storage model in question provides access to the built-in console operating system via ssh. If you have some experience, this allows you to expand the set of functions of the device, for example, install a transmission module for downloading files from p2p networks.
Performance
Network access speed testing was carried out in Intel program NASPT. Our standard templates were used and standard hard drive WD20EFRX. The client was a modern PC running 64-bit Windows versions 8.1 and network card Intel I350-T2. The devices were connected via a D-Link DGS-3200-10 switch. Additionally, the graph shows the performance results of the WD10EFRX hard drive adapter connected to the drive via USB 3.0-SATA with file systems NTFS and EXT4.
Working with an internal hard drive is expected to be faster than working with an external one, but the differences are relatively small. All options provide single-threaded read speeds of 80-90 MB/s, which can be considered an excellent result for of this class models. Sequential recording is slower - at a speed of 40-60 MB/s. However, these figures are also typical for the initial segment of network drives with one or two hard drives. Patterns involving random writes are significantly slower, but in home use cases they are rare enough that this won't be a big problem.
Additionally, we checked the operation of the FTP server. Apparently this service has a lower priority, so you can write data to it at a speed of about 25 MB/s, and read files at a speed of about 45 MB/s. Similar results were obtained in the test of working with a computer running Mac OS X.
Compared to the previous generation of devices, performance has increased significantly. However, you need to understand that in single-tasking test scenarios only one processor core is running, and the second will help cope with multitasking load more efficiently.
conclusions
Network storage entry level WD My Cloud is a successful continuation of the popular series and may be interesting in several respects. First of all, it is worth noting the relatively low cost of the device. If we compare it with the hard drive itself, it turns out that at the time of writing, on average, an additional 1,400 rubles were asked for a “box” for 2 and 3 TB models, and for a 4 TB modification, the difference is less than 1,000 rubles. Like its predecessor, the reviewed drive boasts a beautiful and practical case, the quality of which has no complaints. By the way, it is worth noting that there is no fan, which is the key to quiet operation.
The hardware platform received a new dual-core processor, which increased the speed of work in scenarios for reading and writing files over the network. But a more significant change seems to be the USB 3.0 port installed on the device, which allows, if necessary, to increase the storage capacity and expand its capabilities.
The new firmware version supports SMB/CIFS, AFP, FTP and NFS network access protocols. In addition, it implements new way remote work with the device from computers and mobile devices. Branded software clients also play a significant role in this. We haven’t forgotten about DLNA and iTunes media services.
Despite the relatively small set of features compared to more expensive devices in the home segment, WD My Cloud can be useful for the mass home user who requires affordable storage for work files, backup copies and multimedia library. Wherein easy setup Remote access allows you not only to use the drive remotely with mobile devices, but also to share files with friends.
We thank the company and agency 2L
for the network storage device provided for testing
We thank the company
for the equipment provided for testing
We thank the company
for the switch provided for testing
Despite the hegemony of AWS in the global cloud services market, an inquisitive mind will always find a reason and opportunity to look for an alternative to the “uncontested leader.” Today's applicant “lives” in the generally recognized IT capital of Germany, Karlsruhe. In this post I share my impressions of getting to know the cloud offered by the German company SIM-Networks.
A few words about SIM-Networks
West German hosting provider. The company's headquarters is located in Karlsruhe, a city that has become home to several thousand IT companies. From the SIM-Networks office to two high-tech data centers where server capacities and, in fact, the SIM-Cloud cloud are located, it is several hundred meters away. The company has been operating in the professional hosting and infrastructure solutions market for more than ten years. SIM-Networks client geography covers 68 countries around the world. The provider's product range includes absolutely all types and types of products inherent in a professional hosting provider. Customer support is provided in four languages (EN, RU, DE, UA) 24/7/365.
Cloud SIM-Cloud, description
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CLOUD (information provided by SIM-Networks):
| Computing |
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| Net |
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| Storage system | Software-defined storage (SDS). Two types of disks: | |
Tier I (SATA):
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Tier II (SSD):
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| Backup System (BaaS) |
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Implemented at the resource level in SIM-Cloud reservation N+1.
Client isolation in the cloud: users are invisible to each other, and there are absolutely no circumstances under which unrelated clients "intersect" in the virtual environment. Isolation of data and applications running inside virtual machines, is performed using the KVM hypervisor. Client network traffic in private networks is protected using VXLAN technology, due to which all data and private client traffic are isolated from each other.
Manage ordered resources the user carries out through the SIM-Cloud Dashboard control panel.
Security of the cloud and information stored in it provided on several levels.
LEVEL 1: Tier III and Tier III+ data centers in Karlsruhe (Germany) certified according to ISO27001, which guarantees physical isolation of everything that is located and happening in the data center from the outside world.
LEVEL 2: all infrastructure and software part SIM-Clouds are designed, installed and configured so that only SIM-Networks employees have access to them. All cloud systems and services interact in secure and isolated environments and networks, all connections use encryption and strong authentication. All elements of SIM-Cloud are under continuous (24/7) control of the systems automated monitoring and engineering group.
LEVEL 3: the state of Germany and its strict legislation.
SIM-Cloud: comparative testing
To assess the technical qualities of the cloud in question, I conducted series of comparative tests two large cloud service providers Amazon (AWS) and Microsoft Azure and the cloud of SIM-Networks.
Tests were carried out on machines with configurations that were as close as possible in terms of quantitative indicators:
The boot disks were on SSD storage, for Amazon we took storage with 20,000 IOPS and additional regular SSD storage. For SIM-Cloud and Azure, standard SSD storage was used.
Tests were done to measure CPU, RAM and SSD indicators.
The following methods were used for testing:
- Cinebench r15 – CPU: a normal test is done, without additional settings, the result is a result in “parrots”, which can be immediately compared with other results. Evaluation criterion: higher value – better quality;
- x265 banchmark – CPU: two tests were done: one for rendering 1080p video, the second for rendering 4k video. Indicators in FPS (frames per second), criterion: higher value – better quality;
- SiSoft Sandra – RAM: RAM throughput was measured; criterion: greater value – better quality;
- Crystal Disk mark – SSD: 32 queues in 32 threads; criterion: greater value – better quality.
Below are screenshots of each test, broken down by testing software:
Cinebench r15
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I draw your attention to the indicators: AWS - 624, MS Azure - 799, SIM-Cloud - 968. Thus, we see a significant performance gap between the eight-core processor of the SIM-Cloud cloud and its competitors.
We continue testing processor power using the x265 benchmark test for 1080p and 4k video formats:
x265 benchmark 1080p
Criterion: higher value = better quality
x265 benchmark 4k
Criterion: higher value = better quality
Based on the results of this test, we see that SIM-Cloud is in the lead, significantly ahead of cloud IaaS from AWS.
Now, using the SiSoft Sandra system stability analyzer, we will measure the RAM throughput on the configurations we have chosen.
SiSoft Sandra
Criterion: higher value = better quality
From the results of this testing, we see that although AWS is significantly ahead of its competitors, at the same time, the SIM-Cloud cloud of interest to us is noticeably superior to Microsoft Azure.
Now let's check the speed of SSD disk storage using the popular Crystal Disk mark utility.
Crystal Disk mark
Criterion: higher value = better quality
Amazon AWS 20,000 IOPS
Amazon AWS standard SSD
conclusions
In general, SIM-Cloud’s performance is very good both on its own and in comparison with two recognized market giants, which actually formed this market. It is worth noting that the SIM-Networks provider with the SIM-Cloud is a good alternative to both Amazon and Microsoft, as testing has clearly demonstrated. Technologically, it surpasses them in many ways, and in terms of price, it offers a much more attractive price tag for renting cloud resources.
A nice bonus: the SIM-Cloud cloud can be tested for free for 7 days, and all this time the provider helps in every possible way to figure out what’s what and makes the testing process as productive as possible.
Four years ago we were introduced to a dual-disk network drive. This solution was remarkably original appearance and an equally original software component that allows you, without any special knowledge of network technologies, to organize a file server at home with access to the data stored on it via the Internet. For a long time in model range WD My Cloud devices had only two NAS, which differed in the number of installed hard drives(two or one) and, accordingly, the possibilities of organizing disk space. But last year, this family was replenished with two more new network drives.
The WD My Cloud Home and WD My Cloud Home Duo models also differ from each other only in the number of pre-installed drives (one or two, respectively), but there are much more differences from the previous generation products. The new models have a more productive hardware base, and also, according to the manufacturer, improved software. Looking ahead, we note that the manufacturer has generally revised the ideology of using network storage, greatly simplifying not only the process of connecting and configuring the device, but also its use. Moreover, he names new products personal cloud storage, but at the same time never mentions the generally accepted abbreviation NAS, emphasizing their originality. We will study a new approach to the design of network storage devices using the example of the two-disk WD My Cloud Home Duo model, which we will begin to get acquainted with.
⇡ Contents of delivery
The device comes in a very compact cardboard box that easily fits into a plastic bag - taking it from the store to your home is no problem at all. Inside, in addition to the drive itself, you can find accessories:
- power adapter with two removable plugs of different standards;
- network cable;
- A quick printed guide to getting started.
The package included with the device is the same as most other network drives. The software required for operation can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website, and hard disks already installed in the appropriate slides. The WD My Cloud Home Duo model comes with a total disk capacity of 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 or even 20 GB for the user to choose from. Our copy was equipped with two WD Red WD20EFRX drives with a capacity of 2 GB each, adapted for working with a NAS.
⇡ Specifications
| WD My Cloud Home Duo | |
| HDD | 2 x 3.5" SATA |
| RAID level | JBOD, RAID 1 |
| Network interfaces | 1× Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 |
| Additional Interfaces | 2 × USB Host 3.0 |
| Clients | Windows 7 and later (64-bit only); MacOS/OS X 10.9 and later; iOS 9 and later; Android 4.4 and later |
| Systemcooling | 1 × fan |
| Dimensions, mm | 179 × 160 × 102 |
| Weight, kg | 2,3-2,4 |
| Guarantee, months. | 24 |
| Price*, rub. (for 4/8/12/16 TB) | 22 000 / 26 000 / 36 000 / 45 000 |
* AveragepriceBy"Yandex.Market"onmomentwritingarticles
While all the parameters of previous NAS could be easily found in the public domain, for the WD My Cloud Home Duo, only the most basic characteristics of the new product are provided on the manufacturer’s website and in the user manual. No detailed information about the hardware platform or network protocols, alas, is not given. In the instructions you can only find information on the type of RAID array used. WD My Cloud Home Duo hard drives are mirrored by default RAID array 1, but you can also use JBOD mode.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to disassemble the new product without damaging the thin locks of the plastic case. We did not break it, and therefore the hardware component of the device remained unknown. The manufacturer does not provide any data. The only thing we can say with confidence is the presence on board of the drive of a gigabit Ethernet network controller and two USB 3.0 interfaces for connecting external storage media.
Appearance
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Appearance of WD My Cloud Home Duo |
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The new product is made in the form of a parallelepiped with sharp edges and right angles without roundings. Its modest dimensions allow you to place the device almost anywhere. For example, this could be a desk, bookshelf or window sill. Visually, the plastic case is divided into two halves - white lacquered and silver, with a characteristic waffle structure. On the front panel of the device there is a narrow transparent strip between them, behind which the LED operation indicator is hidden. There are no interfaces on the front panel of the WD My Cloud Home Duo.
The back panel is more interesting. There are two USB 3.0 ports, an RJ-45 network port, a connector for connecting an external power adapter, and a reset button recessed into the body. Between the parts of the case there is a narrow power control button for the drive, and the entire upper half is given over to ventilation holes. Behind them is a cooling system fan that blows air through another radiator grille, located not at the front (like other models of network drives), but at the bottom.
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Hard drive bay |
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Access to the hard drive bay of the WD My Cloud Home Duo is not from the front, like other network drives, but from the top. There, the device has a removable flat panel. It is held on by four dense rubber bushings and can be removed using a screwdriver, wrench, ruler or any other object that can be used to carefully pick it up by the edge. Under the cover there is a compartment for hard drives, which in this case occupies almost the entire internal space of the drive.
The disks in the compartment are placed in plastic slides of the simplest design. The discs are held in them not by screws, but by small metal axles secured in soft rubber bushings. This solution has a positive effect on ease of installation and on reducing vibration during operation. Well, inside the drive housing the slide is secured with a simple plastic lock. However, there is definitely no need to worry about the discs accidentally falling out during operation or moving the drive from one place to another. When placed vertically, you still need to manage to accidentally pull the slide out of the body.
As we already wrote above, unfortunately, we were unable to disassemble the body of the new product. But if it is impossible to determine the hardware component without opening it, then the principles of the internal structure of the device can be understood without disassembling it. Inside, the WD My Cloud Home Duo case has a metal frame, which can be seen through the ventilation grilles and through the disk compartment. Motherboard The device is mounted vertically along one of the walls of the housing. Apparently, she is quite small. In general, the WD My Cloud Home Duo model is not very different in design from a regular NAS - except that the compactness of the new product causes admiration and even surprise. Otherwise, this is a quite nice classic network drive.
⇡ Working with the device
Unlike a regular NAS, which can be configured over a local network, you cannot connect the WD My Cloud Home Duo without access to the Internet. The drive does not have its own web interface, so communication with it is possible either through the Internet service MyCloud.com, or using installed special software, which can be downloaded both for a desktop PC running Windows or MacOS / OS X, and for mobile devices with Android or iOS.
When connecting via the web interface, the device should be detected automatically. If this does not happen, the Internet service will ask the user to enter the device code indicated on the case. Note that when testing with one of the Internet providers, no connection problems arose, but with another the device flatly refused to be detected. Wherein network hardware and its configuration in both cases was the same. Unfortunately, we were never able to find out what this is connected with.
The drive is configured completely automatically, without user intervention, who only needs to register on the portal by entering a name and password. In the future, when working with the device, the owner of WD My Cloud Home Duo is also free from any network settings- the device operates in fully automatic mode and does not require control. For some, this feature of working with the drive can be a real gift, because not all users like to customize the system to suit their needs. Some people just need to store data in one place and access it via the Internet, without turning their personal cloud storage into a full-fledged server. For everyone else, it’s better to pay attention to other network drives.
Access to data through the MyCloud.com web service, as well as through installed applications My Cloud Home, does not require too much detailed description. It's pretty simple file managers, which displays all file structure drive. When installing software for a PC, the drive is detected by the system as a regular, permanently connected network drive.
The mobile version has several differences from the PC version. Thus, this application allows you to automatically backup photos taken from your smartphone camera. Also only mobile version My Cloud Home makes it possible to copy data to the drive from flash drives connected to its USB port. In addition, both applications allow you to synchronize data, and through the web interface it is possible to synchronize data from some popular cloud storages: Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.
In general, working with the WD My Cloud Home Duo NAS is extremely simple and does not require instructions. Some confusion is introduced by a slight difference in the capabilities of the web service and installed applications, but you can get used to it. In terms of communication with the user, this model can really be called the simplest NAS, if such an abbreviation is generally applicable to this network drive.
⇡ Testing
If you access the WD My Cloud Home Duo only via the Internet, device performance will be entirely dependent on your ISP and router. If you also use the installed My Cloud Home applications, then in this case you can achieve much higher speeds for reading and writing data, since these operations will be carried out over the local network. It was in this use case that we tested the performance of the new product. In this case, standard WD Red WD20EFRX hard drives were used. The test bench for checking performance had the following configuration:
- CPU Intel Core i5-2320 3.0 GHz;
- motherboard GIGABYTE GA-P67A-D3-B3 Rev. 2.0;
- RAM 16 GB DDR3-1333;
- video adapter ASUS GeForce 6600 GT 128 MB;
- SSD-drive Intel SSD 520 with a capacity of 240 GB;
- Gigabit network adapter Realtek PCIe GBE;
- OS Windows 7 Ultimate.
The test bench's own read and write speeds were about 200 MB/s, so the bench will not limit the performance results of the network drive. During testing, the device's disks operated in a RAID level 1 array. Testing was carried out using ATTO tests Disk Benchmark and Intel NAS Performance Toolkit.
Test results indicate that NAS performance is lower when one client is connected bandwidth gigabit network, but at the same time it is quite enough for comfortable work with the device - that is, for transmitting large files over the network. For the main scenario of working with the WD Red WD20EFRX, that is, when exchanging data with it via the Internet, the demonstrated level of performance is even excessive. We also tested the device with direct data transfer. Three video files ranging in size from 2.5 to 3.5 GB were used as test data. The average write speed was 71 MB/s, and the read speed was 96 MB/s, which is fully consistent with the data from previous testing.
As for noise, the new product makes noise only when turned on. Then it quiets down, and the sound of the fan is not heard even during active operation. In general, active testing of the device did not reveal any shortcomings in the operation of the WD My Cloud Home Duo. The device worked stably, without failures.
⇡ conclusions
Without a doubt, of all the network drives that we tested in our test lab, the WD My Cloud Home Duo model can be called the easiest to use. To organize a personal remote data storage, the user of this device will not need any specific knowledge at all. You don’t even need to configure anything: connect, register, and use it! I was a little puzzled and upset by the failure when connecting to one of the providers, but it is possible that in this case we did not take something into account, especially since technical support We did not contact WD with this question (perhaps it has something to do with big amount blocked Amazon IP addresses).
The device cannot be called slow - its speed will certainly be enough for all those who will be satisfied with its capabilities. All this suggests that WD My Cloud Home Duo has a clearly defined target audience - these are those users who do not need to turn remote storage into a full-fledged file server with many features and dozens of various functions. This device is intended for those who require constant remote access to your files from any part of the world, as well as a point for backing up data from mobile and other devices. If you don't need anything else, then the WD My Cloud Home Duo is your choice!