NAS Solution - My Cloud EX2

[chaser]

Hey guys!

 

I'm thinking of purchasing a My Cloud EX 2 (2 x 4TB WD Red)  and I'm interested to know if anyone has any experience with it. I've read some mixed reviews online, with some saying it's terribly slow in RAID 0 (which is what I intend to run in), with some saying that it's a great budget solution for a NAS.

 

It'll only have to support 3 computers (my laptop, family computer and a future desktop build - with really only me using it) and I'll mainly be streaming and using it for backing up files.

 

Should the EX 2 suffice?

 

I'm on a tight budget, and if I had a little more to work with I would go for a WD EX2100, but will I be missing out on a lot with the EX 2?

 

 

 

[kkpatel87]

-snip-

 

Running anything for data integrity is going to be risky with RAID 0...if you have an older computer (or cheaper) lying around, it would be better to throw in some HDDs, load up FreeNAS and you have a very full featured but low cost NAS. If you want to go this route, let me know and i can show you a cheap configuration.

 

If you really want to stick with the COTS NAS solution, then i would recommend getting the EX2100.

[chaser]

Thank you for your reply!

 

I know raid 0 can be unsafe; I've been using a $60 2TB hard drive plugged into my router through USB for 3 years (running 24/7) now and I'm just waiting for it to fail haha

 

I don't unfortunately have any desktops spare But what would the approximate cost be for a 8TB set up? 

[kkpatel87]

Thank you for your reply!

 

I know raid 0 can be unsafe; I've been using a $60 2TB hard drive plugged into my router through USB for 3 years (running 24/7) now and I'm just waiting for it to fail haha

 

I don't unfortunately have any desktops spare But what would the approximate cost be for a 8TB set up? 

 

A few questions:

1. What kind of redundancy would you want or just RAID 0?

2. Do you have any spare parts at all lying around?

3. Do you care about size?

 

Here is what i came up with

 

eBAY Components:

Motherboard: Supermicro X8SIL - ~$60

CPU: Pentium G6950 - ~$10

Memory: 8GB (4x2GB) DDR3-1066 - $50

New

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W - ~$55

HDD: 3x3TB in RAIDZ1 (~6TB usable with a full drive redundancy and 2-disk RAID ) performance) - ~330

Case: NZXT Source 210 - ~$35

Not including software it is about $540 with a pretty limitless upgrade path.

Edited July 3, 2015 by kkpatel87

[chaser]

Oh wow, thank you for all this! I really appreciate it!

 

I don’t think I can afford redundancy at this stage; I would like to have around 8TB but under the 600 USD mark.

 

Looking at those specs, I think I can buy a local second hand computer for a similar price. I’m pretty new to networking so what speeds could I expect with a setup like this? In what manner is this better than a My Cloud EX 2? (Apart from expandability)

 

I embarrassingly get a dismal 2 mb/s through my current setup and anything above this would be wonderful.

[Captain_WD]

Hey guys!

 

I'm thinking of purchasing a My Cloud EX 2 (2 x 4TB WD Red)  and I'm interested to know if anyone has any experience with it. I've read some mixed reviews online, with some saying it's terribly slow in RAID 0 (which is what I intend to run in), with some saying that it's a great budget solution for a NAS.

 

It'll only have to support 3 computers (my laptop, family computer and a future desktop build - with really only me using it) and I'll mainly be streaming and using it for backing up files.

 

Should the EX 2 suffice?

 

I'm on a tight budget, and if I had a little more to work with I would go for a WD EX2100, but will I be missing out on a lot with the EX 2?

 

Hey chaser,

 

WD My Cloud EX2 runs very well in RAID0 and has great speeds and should be more than enough for you to use it with a few computers.

As @kkpatel87 pointed out, RAID0 offers good speed boost but no redundancy whatsoever and you'd be putting your data at risk. If you still plan on running it on RAID0, I'd recommend attaching one or two HDDs to the NAS's USB ports on the back and configure a backup solution just to be on the safe side. 

WD My Cloud EX2 is a great and fast NAS with many useful features, very easy to setup and use and should be sufficient for your needs.

Here's a link with more info: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=pc30Gq

Feel free to ask if you need more info. 

 

Captain_WD.

[TechNugget]

I have one and it does what it needs to do.

I backup my laptop to it and I also put films on it and stream either to my computer or on my phone. Seems to work fine, however we got ours with hard drives pre-installed

[kkpatel87]

-snip-

 

No problem.The reason i suggest building a NAS, rather than buying, is that you get limitless expansion. However, if you feel more comfortable with a pre-built, by all means go ahead. Just don't expect the performance to be worth the price though.

[chaser]

 

 

Hey chaser,

 

WD My Cloud EX2 runs very well in RAID0 and has great speeds and should be more than enough for you to use it with a few computers.

As @kkpatel87 pointed out, RAID0 offers good speed boost but no redundancy whatsoever and you'd be putting your data at risk. If you still plan on running it on RAID0, I'd recommend attaching one or two HDDs to the NAS's USB ports on the back and configure a backup solution just to be on the safe side. 

WD My Cloud EX2 is a great and fast NAS with many useful features, very easy to setup and use and should be sufficient for your needs.

Here's a link with more info: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=pc30Gq

Feel free to ask if you need more info. 

 

Captain_WD.

 

 

I have one and it does what it needs to do.

I backup my laptop to it and I also put films on it and stream either to my computer or on my phone. Seems to work fine, however we got ours with hard drives pre-installed

 

Thanks for that guys. I found a great bargain online for an 8 TB version in the US but I live in Australia and I'm interested to know if the difference voltage will be a problem for the power adapter. I know most modern power adapters allow for 110 - 240v 50/60Hz input, however do you happen to know if this is in fact the case with the EX2?

 

 

No problem.The reason i suggest building a NAS, rather than buying, is that you get limitless expansion. However, if you feel more comfortable with a pre-built, by all means go ahead. Just don't expect the performance to be worth the price though.

 

Minus the cost of the WD Reds (2 x 4TBs), the NAS is around $100. I think I'll build a iATX server when I run out of space eventually and retain the HDDs.

[Captain_WD]

Thanks for that guys. I found a great bargain online for an 8 TB version in the US but I live in Australia and I'm interested to know if the difference voltage will be a problem for the power adapter. I know most modern power adapters allow for 110 - 240v 50/60Hz input, however do you happen to know if this is in fact the case with the EX2?

 

If you get it at your local store the drive should come by default with the proper adapter and you should be ready to go. Otherwise you should get a adapter (not a transformer) so you can plug it in the power outlet. The drive indeed works 110V - 240V 50/60Hz and shouldn't have issues working anywhere.

 

Captain_WD.

[chaser]

 

If you get it at your local store the drive should come by default with the proper adapter and you should be ready to go. Otherwise you should get a adapter (not a transformer) so you can plug it in the power outlet. The drive indeed works 110V - 240V 50/60Hz and shouldn't have issues working anywhere.

 

Captain_WD.

 

 

Awesome, thank you Captain!