So the cheapest Synology variant comes to 133 Euro + 150 Euro for a 4 TB WD Red hard drive, what the bottom line requires an investment of 288 euros. And the thing has a fan - for me a knock-out criterion. A 4 TB My Cloud is with 179 euros much cheaper and also fanless and nice and quiet.
My main field of application of my cloud is streaming HD video from the basement (where the NAS) for Samsung Smart TV on the ground floor and several other clients such as tablets and smartphones in the entire house. One thing first: This application works with the My Cloud perfectly.
My infrastructure is a little daring and the signals go long distances, but the streaming is working perfectly:
- My Cloud on a GB Ethernet switch in the basement
- Switch> Devolo Powerline adapter to power outlet (older 200 MB model)
- Powerline> Fritz 7490 router on the first floor
- Fritz WLAN Repeater on the ground floor
- Samsung Smart TV via Wi-Fi connected on the ground floor
The Samsung Smart TV has started within seconds contact with the DLNA server of My Cloud and plays even HD video in 1080p resolution without any stuttering and without reloading on the 2.4GHz wireless connection from. Even wild wind back and forth is possible without delays / interruptions. Also, the Acer A510 tablet accesses via a free DLNA client software on the My Cloud and plays 720p videos perfectly from (1080p translucent the tablet hardware can not cope). ### UPDATE 22/09/2014: New iPad Air integrated into the system - the NAS streaming 1080p videos smoothly and without interruptions to the Apple tablet. Easy access via DLNA with the app nPlayer, direct file access via the File Browser app. ###
As so often went hand in hand, the acquisition of new hardware (the My Cloud) with a gradual modernization of infrastructure - and here are the typical, described by many reviewers problems buried:
Problem: With my old Telekom W701 router port connection for internet sharing was not maintained, because the router does not support UPNP
Solution: A new FritzBox 7490 installed - and lo and behold, internet sharing via port forwarding active right after the connection. Access via Internet using WD2GO smoothly and in an appropriate speed possible.
Problem: disconnections in the dubbing of large files (in Gbyte range) on the WD My Cloud
Solution 1: First, the extremely fragile and crash-prone copying from the Windows File Manager and 8 inhibited transfer large files with the WD-own client software WD My Cloud easily on the NAS. Transfer rate due to old 10/100 switch was 11 MB per second - not just fix, but a far cry from those described by many reviewers whole days and nights for data packets in 1 GB range ...
Solution 2: Create a new Gigabit Ethernet switch for 25 Euros installed (10/100/1000 Ethernet). Lo and behold, suddenly the direct transfer on the Windows 8 File Manager and the network drives work extremely quickly and without any crashes - the transmission rate varies between 30 and 80 MB / s and 2 GB of video file is in 30 seconds from the PC transferred disk to the My Cloud. Both PC and the My Cloud depend directly on the gigabyte switch.
Note: The USB port on the My Cloud is merely to extend the memory capacity with an external hard drive - direct copying from the connected hard drive to the My Cloud will only work on enabling SSH and with cryptic Linux command-line commands that a beginners is definitely overwhelmed.
So here's my tip for those interested: Abolish the WD My Cloud only appropriate when the rest of the network infrastructure to date is. A modern router as the current Fritz box models and a Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure work wonders when operating this very inexpensive NAS.
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SUPPLEMENT September 13, 2014
Even after three weeks in continuous operation there were no problems when using the MyCloud in our home network. The stream on all DLNA-receiver in the house always works quickly and smoothly, and now I have also set up a backup release, nightly backups moves to the Acronis True Image from my main computer to the MyCloud drive.
Furthermore, I have expanded the space of MyCloud by an external Toshiba Smart.E hard drive connector with 2 TB to the USB port of MyCloud. This plate does not need a power supply and is powered from the USB 3.0 port of MyCloud with enough power to operate. The MyCloud has recognized the drive immediately after connecting and incorporated as a separate release to the file system. As expected, can be read / write to the external disk not full Gigabit LAN bandwidth of up to 100 MByte achieve / second, but with constant 30-40 MB per second performance is nevertheless very neat - and my NAS storage is grown with an investment of 96 euros to 6 terabytes!