The Western Digital My Cloud EX2 & My Cloud Launch Event
On the 19th of November, 2013, Western Digital introduced their 4-bay prosumer NAS - the WD My Cloud EX4 with the "Easy-Slide-Drive" technology. However, it was considered too pricey (check lowest prices here) for mainstream users, so Western Digital decided to introduce lower-cost 2-bay and single drive My Cloud models.
Today, we were invited to the official launch of the Western Digital My Cloud EX2 and My Cloud personal cloud storage solutions at Signature at The Roof, First Avenue. As this was an important event for Western Digital, they roped in WD APAC Branded Marketing's Senior Regional Marketing Manager, Albert Chang to present the new NAS systems.
Network-Attached Storage (NAS) systems may not be the sexiest hardware as far as personal computing goes, but they are actually one of the most rapidly expanding segments of the personal computing market. Many tech-savvy users not only want a networked home, but also a standalone storage solution that allows them to share their digital media with their family and even access on-the-go. For prosumers on a budget, Western Digital now offers the new 2-bay My Cloud EX2 system.
In the mainstream market though, many users are quite wary about NAS, because they think it's really hard to set-up and use. The jargon alone is enough to put them off - RAID, JBOD, spanning, FTP server, etc. All they want is a device that "just works". For them, Western Digital offers their new My Cloud personal cloud storage. Oh, the term "personal cloud storage" also sounds a lot less intimidating than NAS. ;)
Here are some pictures from the event today :
Margaret Koh, Sales Director of WD South Asia |
Albert Chang, Senior Regional Marketing Manager for WD APAC Branded Marketing |
From left to right - the new WD My Cloud, the new WD My Cloud EX2 and the WD My Cloud EX4. |
Our First Look At The WD My Cloud EX4
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The WD My Cloud EX2
The WD My Cloud EX2 is a 2-bay NAS that is targeted at the prosumer market. Here are its key features :
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High-Performance NAS - 512 MB memory and 1.2 GHz processor deliver reliable, fast performance for your home or small office.
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Drive management - Control your data with multiple drive management options including RAID 0, 1; JBOD and spanning modes.
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Data protection at its best - You’re armed with multiple options to secure your data from loss. Choose from RAID 1, USB, cloud or LAN/WAN backup depending upon your data security needs.
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Easy to manage - A powerful dashboard means your system is always under your control. Monitor your drives, manage users and utilize energy-saving features. Email and mobile alerts keep you informed on My Cloud EX2 status.
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Award-winning mobile and desktop apps - With WD's My Cloud apps, you can upload, access and share your documents from anywhere. Conveniently transfer files from your public cloud accounts to My Cloud EX2 using the mobile app.
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Advanced apps to customize your NAS - Featuring industry-leading apps, including aMule, Transmission, Icecast, Joomla!, phpBB, phpMyAdmin, SqueezeCenter, and more.
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Stream media to your connected devices - Stream videos and photos to connected TVs, media players, gaming consoles and other DLNA/UPnP devices. Features a Twonky 7.2 DLNA-certified 1.5 media server. And with My Cloud EX2 iTunes support, you can easily stream your music collection.
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Advanced serving options - Integrated file server, FTP server, backup server and P2P torrent download server.
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Back up, your way - Protect your data via remote backup to another My Cloud EX2 or My Cloud EX4, integrated cloud backup or local LAN/WAN backup. Enjoy peace of mind with WD SmartWare Pro for PC users, and Apple Time Machine compatibility for Mac users.
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Expand your capacity - Simply attach a compatible USB hard drive directly to one of the two USB 3.0 expansion ports on My Cloud EX2 and instantly expand your storage capacity.
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Integrated energy-saving features - Save energy with disk spin-down and scheduled power on/off.
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Advanced features - A full suite of advanced features to power your home or office including: iSCSI target, full-featured FTP services, jumbo frame support, iPv4/iPv6 ready, UPS support (USB and network), real-time resource monitor, volume encryption with boot-up password, SNMP and virtual volumes.
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Your own personal cloud - Unlike public clouds, My Cloud EX2 allows you to keep all your content in one safe place on your home or office network instead of a remote server. No mysterious location of your data. No monthly fees. No limits. Just blazing-fast performance for your high-speed digital life.
MSRP is RM 1,159 (US$ 369) for 4 TB, RM 1,459 (US$ 469) for 6 TB and RM 1,959 (US$ 569) for 8 TB. You can also check the latest prices here.
Available Models |
WDBVKW0080JCH (8 TB) |
Hard Disk Drive (Pre-Installed) |
Western Digital Red family of NAS drives |
Interface |
Gigabit Ethernet |
Height |
171.45 mm (6.75 inches) |
Depth |
154.94 mm (6.10 inches) |
Width |
99.06 mm (3.90 inches) |
Weight |
2.30 kg / 5.00 lbs (8 TB) |
Operating Temperature |
5 °C to 35 °C |
Non-Operating Temperature |
-20 °C to 65 °C |
Power Input Voltage |
100-240 V AC |
Power Input Frequency |
50-60 Hz |
OS Compatibility |
Windows / Mac |
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The WD My Cloud
The WD My Cloud is a single-drive NAS that is targeted at the mainstream market. Here are its key features :
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Your media and files on your own personal cloud - My Cloud allows you to keep all your content in one safe place at home. No monthly fees. No limits.
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Centralize your family's media collection - Store and organize all your family's photos, videos, music and important documents in one secure place on your home network.
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Access from anywhere - Enjoy your digital life from anywhere on your PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone. With WD's free apps, your personal cloud is always with you.
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Expand your tablet and smartphone storage - Upload photos and videos directly to your personal cloud from anywhere and free up space on your mobile devices.
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Flexible backup options - Back up, your way. PC users, WD SmartWare Pro offers options for how, when and where you back up your files. Mac users, utilize all the features of Apple Time Machine backup software to protect your data.
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Automatic file backup for all your computers - Easily back up the files from all the PC and Mac computers in your home. Get peace of mind knowing that all your files are securely and automatically backed up on your network.
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Connect to Dropbox and more - Easily transfer files between your personal cloud, Dropbox and other public cloud accounts using WD's free My Cloud mobile app.
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Increase your personal cloud capacity - Simply attach a compatible USB 3.0 hard drive directly to the USB expansion port on the My Cloud drive and instantly expand your storage capacity.
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Transfer and access faster - Gigabit Ethernet and a Dual-Core processor deliver faster file transfers and seamless remote access.
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Password protection for privacy - Your data is always safe and completely under your control. Protect your personal cloud from unauthorized access with password protection available for every user.
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Add an extra layer of protection for your files - You can automatically make a second copy, or safepoint, of your My Cloud on your home network. With double-safe protection for all your media, you get ultimate peace of mind.
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Set up in minutes - Get up and running in minutes with WD's rich web-based user interface for seamless web-guided setup. WD's software will auto-detect your drive to make it easy. Need extra help? Visit wd.com/setup/wdmycloud or call WD's easy setup hotline to have our expert customer support team walk you through the installation of My Cloud and WD's free apps for your computers and mobile devices.
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Direct photo uploads from your camera with USB 3.0 - Simply connect your camera using the USB 3.0 port to quickly add all of your photos to your personal cloud.
MSRP is RM 499 (US$ 149) for 2 TB, RM 649 (US$ 179) for 3 TB and RM 799 (US$ 249) for 4 TB. You can also check the latest prices here.
Available Models |
WDBCTL0040HWT (4 TB) |
Interface |
Gigabit Ethernet |
Height |
170.60 mm (6.70 inches) |
Depth |
139.30 mm (5.50 inches) |
Width |
49.0 mm (1.90 inches) |
Weight |
1.00 kg / 2.19 lbs (4 TB)
|
Operating Temperature |
5 °C to 35 °C |
Non-Operating Temperature |
-20 °C to 65 °C |
Power Input Voltage |
100-240 V AC |
Power Input Frequency |
50-60 Hz |
OS Compatibility |
Windows / Mac |
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Date |
Revision |
Revision History |
12-03-2014 | 1.0 |
Initial Release. |