Labels: Cloud , Digital , Western

Western Digital My Cloud

Pros Incredible Read/Write speeds. Runs quiet and cool. Stylish design. Easy remote access to data on the drive.

Cons Limited functionality in remote access interface. No printer support on USB port. Bottom Line Western Digital's My Cloud has a gorgeous design and is a practically foolproof NAS for the home, with breathtaking performance. It's only weaknesses are a rather limited cloud interface and a lack of support for printers on its USB port.

By Samara Lynn

Western Digital's My Cloud is a NAS (Network Attached Storage device) perfect for those unfamiliar with NASes. It is a practically foolproof device for network sharing. Western Digital cleverly avoids the admittedly off-putting term "NAS" anywhere on the device, in its packaging, or in the online information—instead opting for the almost ethereal-sounding "My Cloud" brand name. The device lets users not only share and stream files in a home network, but the private cloud capabilities lets a user access data stored on the device from anywhere at any time. Did I mention, My Cloud turns in absolutely smoking performance, speed that even tops that of our recent consumer NAS device Editors' Choice, the Seagate Central? The one aspect in which My Cloud lags behind the Seagate Central is with a rather limited interface when connected remotely. Otherwise it's a high-performing, beautifully-designed piece of hardware.

Design and Setup
My Cloud has the design almost of an Apple product: it's a simple-yet-elegant white box with silver edges and accents. A blue LED for power is the only light in the front. The device operates upright and runs cool and quiet.

The rear panel has a Gigabit Ethernet port and a USB 3.0 port which only supports connecting USB drives, not printers. This is also where the Seagate Central has an edge over My Cloud; you can attach a printer (no multifunction printers, though).

My Cloud is available in a 2TB ($149.99), 3TB ($179.99), and 4TB ($249.99) models. Its 2TB version's list price is less expensive than the Seagate Central 2TB version which lists for $159.99. The price for both NASes is the same for each vendor's 3TB model and Seagate's Central is slightly less expensive with its 4TB version at $219 list.

As should be the case with NASes targeted to home users, My Cloud is very simple to set up. The device ships with an installation guide. Western Digital "dumbs down" the setup so much that the guide's instructions are all pictures. There are no words printed inside it anywhere save for, "WD My Cloud and wireless device must be connected to the same network." Wireless device refers to the device you use to set the NAS up.

The guide's images show how to connect My Cloud to a router. Once it's connected and powered, you simply open a browser to the setup URL provided in the guide. The URL redirects to a page with an image of the My Cloud device. Clicking the image starts setup. Links are presented on screen for downloading the required setup software.

A wizard walks you through the quick software installation and then you are asked to provide a username and password to access your personal cloud. The personal cloud is what My Cloud is all about. It's Western Digital's secured cloud service that lets you access your data stored on My Cloud from anywhere.

Once setup completes, you can create users, start uploading files to My Cloud, download mobile apps to access the device from Android or iOS, or backup your PC or Mac.

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