NAS devices

Networking, connecting to the internet, wi-fi and home entertainment
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BobArch2
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NAS devices

Post by BobArch2 »

My faithful 8 year old WD My Book Live is starting to show signs of read failures. I am looking to replace it before it goes belly up.

The My Book Live is used for backups, file sharing and provides media streaming (via built in Twonky Media Server) to our TVs and Boxee(soon to be replaced by the Nvidia Shield). The unit is a 3TB box that is ample for my needs. The current TV is a regular SmartTV and might someday be replaced with a 4K unit.

I am partial to the WD line but am open for suggestions.

Two of the units I am considering are the WD My Cloud Ex2 Ultra and the WD My Cloud PR2100. Both of the NAS devices come in diskless and populated versions. When populated they come with the WD Red version of hard drive.

Aside from any suggestions, I wonder if anyone has used any of these 2 NAS units and if so, I would like to hear your comments ... good or bad.

Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Bob

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jonwallace
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Re: NAS devices

Post by jonwallace »

We've been using a Synology DS214play for a similar job for a number of years, It has two WD20efrx red disks in a raid array. I'm not saying it's any better than the WD but is works for us and I've had no trouble with it.
John

“Always trust a microbiologist because they have the best chance of predicting when the world will end”
― Teddie O. Rahube

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BobArch2
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Re: NAS devices

Post by BobArch2 »

jonwallace wrote:We've been using a Synology DS214play for a similar job for a number of years, It has two WD20efrx red disks in a raid array. I'm not saying it's any better than the WD but is works for us and I've had no trouble with it.
Hi John,

It appears that the DS214play has been replaced by the DS218play as the Synology web site does not show the DS214play in its list of current devices. Notwithstanding that you can still get support documents for the older versions. I know that the 1st digit in the model number pertains to the number of devices it can hold while I suspect that the remaining 2 digits refer to the year of release.

I did download all the documents I could find related to the DS218play and at first read the specs appear to be very good. I will read them in more depth and compare them to the WD products I mentioned.

Thanks for your input... much appreciated!
Regards,
Bob

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BobArch2
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Re: NAS devices

Post by BobArch2 »

jonwallace wrote:We've been using a Synology DS214play for a similar job for a number of years, It has two WD20efrx red disks in a raid array. I'm not saying it's any better than the WD but is works for us and I've had no trouble with it.
Hi John, time for an update...

After comparing the WD models with the Synology models I have abandon WD and went with Synology.

Albeit that the WD My Book Live NAS served me well, its features were not present in its newer versions ... My Cloud Home and My Cloud Personal. Those two units are basically a NAS device with no real media server capability. You would have to go with the My Cloud EX2 Ultra or My Cloud PR2100 to come close.

I researched 3 of the Synology DS218 line units ... the DS218play, DS218 and DS218+. All three have specifications that meet my needs and appear to be superior to the WD units that provide media server capability. With the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales the cost differential between the DS218play and the DS218+ was only about a Cdn$40 differential with the DS218+ providing many more features.

I bought the DS218+ and a pair of WD RED 4TB disks for a RAID array.

Many thanks for your input on the Synology line ... it was very helpful.
Regards,
Bob

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jonwallace
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Re: NAS devices

Post by jonwallace »

Glad to be of service
John

“Always trust a microbiologist because they have the best chance of predicting when the world will end”
― Teddie O. Rahube