WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra versus WD My Cloud Mirror (2022 version)

[NAS8TB]

I have seen this comparison dated 2017, but since products likely evolved over 5 years, I wanted to solicit new feedback.

I currently have two separate WD My Cloud (model WDBCTL0080HWT). Each NAS drive is 8TB of media (movies, pictures, music) with 2TB free space. One is primary, the other a backup.
The primary shares are mapped for PLEX which have worked very well since 2017.
As I update the primary NAS drive, I manually update the backup NAS drive to keep them in sync.

I was originally looking to replace the backup 8TB NAS drive which has failed. The primary NAS drive is currently the only copy of my media.
Unfortunately, WD discontinued this model. I'm considering purchasing one of the duel-drive NAS unit above to keep data in sync automatically. I would then use my existing working 8TB NAS drive as a secondary backup.

My questions:

1. In your opinion, which model below is better to support PLEX?
- WD 8TB My Cloud Mirror
- WD 8TB My Cloud EX2 Ultra

2. Both units have two drives (4TB each)

3. Are they both just 4TB drives with a 4TB backup/mirror?

4. If I actually need 8TB to store media, do I need to purchase the 16TB NAS?

 

[degrub]

First thing is to get another 8-12 TB drive and copy all of the files to it as a backup. Ideally make two backups on two separate disks.
It looks like it has a USB3 ss port on the back, likely for this purpose.

Then start exploring what to replace the WD box with.
you might consider a 10-12TB dual drive based box set in RAID 1 configuration with two 10-12 TB drives. That would be about the same speed you have now. That way you would have a working copy in case a drive failed. If you won't be adding significantly more files, or add files slowly, a 8-10 TB drive size would work. You will still need to backup the NAS data to an external drive or two. NAS is for availability, not backup.

 

[L&LD]

I agree, first, safeguard the data you have (if it's that important to you). Copying to two or more new drives is the recommended step (even a new drive can fail, hopefully, your luck won't allow two or all three copies of the data to fail, all at once).

Instead of any of the WD 'My' products, I would suggest a real NAS instead. A four-bay drive NAS, even with just two drives used initially is a far better experience all around. Add drives as you need to expand the storage and the data availability too.

For your question 4 above, yes, at least a few of those models are simply 2x 8TB drives (and marketed as 16TB), making them rather lame, IMO.

A four-bay or six-bay (recommended, if the budget allows) NAS with 3x 8TB or larger drives today (to start) will give you redundancy, performance, and peace of mind for the next decade or so. In the case of the six-bay model, will allow you to add 3 more drives (can be a different size than the first array) and a second array too. Your existing 8TB drive (it is not a NAS) can still be used as a backup (up to its capacity limit) for the NAS (as has been mentioned already above).

Having TBs of data is expensive if you want to ensure its availability. The one thing to note, using external drives like the WD 'My' products (they are not NAS'), is not a way to grow and protect any of the data you're serious about keeping (indefinitely).

 

[NAS8TB]

I could get the 16TB WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra (2 x 8TB) and use RAID 1 to create a mirror copy and use my current 8TB NAS My Cloud as a backup. After copying manually or using a backup program weekly, I could disconnect it from my network and store it in a safe location. I need to watch costs and complexity and keep this fairly straight forward for other family members to maintain it beginning in a few years. I'll look again at NAS servers for PLEX.

 

[degrub]

Make sure you have an external USB3 drive, NTFS formatted, with a copy of your files as well. That can be read by any PC or Mac when the WD heads South. If you want to be able to pull the remaining working drive from the dual WD and recover the files to another PC, keep those drives NTFS formatted as well if possible.

 

[Tech Junky]

I'm in the camp of DIY using a PC as a NAS.

I setup the NAS function on mine with 4 x 8TB drives in a raid 10 configuration to get redundancy and speed. I can push 400MB/s since it's mirror + stripe. Drives at the time we're less than $800 with tax and shipping for WD reds. Enclosures are nice and clean but they're also limiting

KISS for family though might be a tough sell on the diy method. However using a full PC for streaming has some perks if it needs to transcode the CPU can handle it without sweating.

You can do it a bit cheaper with a DAS which is a NAS without the network component and hook it up to a PC with USB as a share. It depends on how flexible you want to get with things and of course budget.

I would probably aim for 12 or 18 TB drives in a raid 1 at a minimum. They're in the $300/ea range at current pricing. Then just decide on which method to attach them to your network.

 

[NAS8TB]

I have seen this comparison dated 2017, but since products likely evolved over 5 years, I wanted to solicit new feedback.

I currently have two separate WD My Cloud (model WDBCTL0080HWT). Each NAS drive is 8TB of media (movies, pictures, music) with 2TB free space. One is primary, the other a backup.
The primary shares are mapped for PLEX which have worked very well since 2017.
As I update the primary NAS drive, I manually update the backup NAS drive to keep them in sync.

I was originally looking to replace the backup 8TB NAS drive which has failed. The primary NAS drive is currently the only copy of my media.
Unfortunately, WD discontinued this model. I'm considering purchasing one of the duel-drive NAS unit above to keep data in sync automatically. I would then use my existing working 8TB NAS drive as a secondary backup.

My questions:

1. In your opinion, which model below is better to support PLEX?
- WD 8TB My Cloud Mirror
- WD 8TB My Cloud EX2 Ultra

2. Both units have two drives (4TB each)

3. Are they both just 4TB drives with a 4TB backup/mirror?

4. If I actually need 8TB to store media, do I need to purchase the 16TB NAS?

First thing is to get another 8-12 TB drive and copy all of the files to it as a backup. Ideally make two backups on two separate disks.
It looks like it has a USB3 ss port on the back, likely for this purpose.

Then start exploring what to replace the WD box with.
you might consider a 10-12TB dual drive based box set in RAID 1 configuration with two 10-12 TB drives. That would be about the same speed you have now. That way you would have a working copy in case a drive failed. If you won't be adding significantly more files, or add files slowly, a 8-10 TB drive size would work. You will still need to backup the NAS data to an external drive or two. NAS is for availability, not backup.

*** UPDATE ***
On each 8TB NAS drive, I have the following shares.

• DOCUMENTS (Private Share, Password required. About 150GB including business & tax files, family genealogy, etc.) All document files are currently backed up weekly on Samsung T5 SSD with 250GB capacity via USB port on PC)
• MOVIES (Public Share, about 2,000 DVD’s & purchased digital movies)
• TV SHOWS (about 50 DVD’s & purchased digital movies)
• MUSIC (about 300 CD’s & purchased digital music)
• PHOTOS (family vacation photos, etc.)
• HOME VIDEOS (family vacation, etc.)

Each Public share is mapped to Plex with a different drive letter. I’m using my PC as the Plex Media Server (specs below).

• HP Omen Desktop 880-150t
• Intel i7-8700K with liquid cooling
• CPU @ 3.70GHz 3.70 GHz
• HyperX® 16GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM (2 x 8GB)
• Windows 10 Pro
• 1 TB HDD (only system files are on C: drive. All family data is maintained on WD My Cloud drive in DOCUMENTS share.

Options (Minimize complexity):

1. Use a NAS as the Plex Media Server. Require 20TB (two 10TB) dual-drive with Raid 1 would work as a minimum.
2. Continue using my PC as the Plex Media Server.
   • Purchase a new 8TB My Cloud drive with similar configuration/process to the original 8TB My Cloud.
   • Replace the working 8TB My Cloud drive with two new 10TB My Cloud drives or a dual 20TB My Cloud drives. (WD My Cloud Mirror –or- WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra)

Since my son will inherit this system and since he's a Microbiologist, I want to keep it as simple as possible. Science and IT are different worlds.

 

[Tech Junky]

Options (Minimize complexity):

1. Use a NAS as the Plex Media Server. Require 20TB (two 10TB) dual-drive with Raid 1 would work as a minimum.
2. Continue using my PC as the Plex Media Server.
   • Purchase a new 8TB My Cloud drive with similar configuration/process to the original 8TB My Cloud.
   • Replace the working 8TB My Cloud drive with two new 10TB My Cloud drives or a dual 20TB My Cloud drives. (WD My Cloud Mirror –or- WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra)

You could use a NAS and map Plex to it from the PC for the best experience. The PC will have the HP to transcode if needed. In this case though yo could go with a DAS / enclosure w/o the networking port of a NAS and save a couple $$ in the process.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XRK93R9/?tag=snbforums-20 - $99 + disks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PWDTBJ6/?tag=snbforums-20 - $170 + disks

$70 for an ethernet port / autonomy

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K981143/?tag=snbforums-20 16TB / $286/ea <$572>
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K3TFM92/?tag=snbforums-20 18TB / $380/ea <$760>

If you want more speed for bulk transfers then going with something a bit more complicated such as Raid 10 would double your speeds to ~400MB/s n a 5GE network connection. The 5GE connection could be done with a NAS with an open PCI slot for the card to sit in or find a way to connect through the USB-C port if there's one on the back and the SW allows for using a dongle 5GE connection. The dongle option would be cheaper at ~$60 but, then you have to upgrade the rest of the network to make use of the higher speeds.

I would get away from the pre-built enclosures like WD though with the increasing security issues and potential for a remote wipe. It all depends on if you can live w/o the data though if something were to happen. If you were running R10 though you would have the speed of R1 + R0 and could drop the size of the drives to ~10TB/ea and still be able to use ~18TB of the space w/ 4 disks @ 400MB/s + redundancy (backup) if a drive fails in the set.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YYKKJVZ/?tag=snbforums-20 - 12TB / $185/ea <$740>

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082KDCLRL/?tag=snbforums-20 - 4-bay enclosure w/ R10 - $170
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09288773X/?tag=snbforums-20 - 4-bay / $172
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L7R2P2K/?tag=snbforums-20 - 4-bay w/ coupon $170

NAS -
https://www.amazon.com/QNAP-TS-431K-Home-1GbE-Port-dp-B086X7TKMG - 4-bay QNAP - $320
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TB8XMR0/?tag=snbforums-20 - WD 4-bay $364

So, you can see the price difference for adding the Ethernet / PC components roughly doubles the price. When it comes to storage though the money is better spent on the drives than the enclosure. If you have an old PC laying around with room for a few drives you could get better performance with a couple small upgrades like bumping RAM / NIC to something slightly better.

Taking into account the full price.
R1 (16TB usable / 200MB/s) - $742 w/ 2 x 16TB + enclosure (($168 cheaper))
R10 - (24TB usable / 400MB/s) $910 12TB x 4 + enclosure

 

[NAS8TB]

I have seen this comparison dated 2017, but since products likely evolved over 5 years, I wanted to solicit new feedback.

I currently have two separate WD My Cloud (model WDBCTL0080HWT). Each NAS drive is 8TB of media (movies, pictures, music) with 2TB free space. One is primary, the other a backup.
The primary shares are mapped for PLEX which have worked very well since 2017.
As I update the primary NAS drive, I manually update the backup NAS drive to keep them in sync.

I was originally looking to replace the backup 8TB NAS drive which has failed. The primary NAS drive is currently the only copy of my media.
Unfortunately, WD discontinued this model. I'm considering purchasing one of the duel-drive NAS unit above to keep data in sync automatically. I would then use my existing working 8TB NAS drive as a secondary backup.

My questions:

1. In your opinion, which model below is better to support PLEX?
- WD 8TB My Cloud Mirror
- WD 8TB My Cloud EX2 Ultra

2. Both units have two drives (4TB each)

3. Are they both just 4TB drives with a 4TB backup/mirror?

4. If I actually need 8TB to store media, do I need to purchase the 16TB NAS?

degrub​

Thanks! Until I can decide on the Plex/NAS/DAS configuration I took your advice. I now have three copies of all DOCUMENTS. For MOVIES and MUSIC, I created a backup of all digital downloads on SSD's. For other MOVIES and TV SHOWS, I have the original DVD's and CD's (although I wouldn't enjoy having to converting them back to digital format). Again, this is temporary.

 

[NAS8TB]

UPDATE #2 Thanks to all of you for your input! It helped me get to a decision.
I’ve reviewed your advice and read numerous websites, forums, recommendations on a Plex server on NAS to my current DYI Plex server on my HP desktop. I’ve decided to run Plex on a NAS. I’ve reset my cost expectations to around $1500-$1600. DYI may be cheaper and more powerful, but when my son inherits the system, he will only use his laptop which may not perform better than Plex on a NAS.

NAS unit
I’ve decided on the Synology DS920+ 4-bay 4GB ($549)

RAM
The DS920+ comes with 4GB DDR4 non-ECC unbuffered SO-DIMM 4GB (D4NESO-2666-4G).
If the 4GB has performance issues, I’ll upgrade to 8GB RAM which is the max supported. Synology also requires their memory card brand to support their warranty, so I will purchase a Synology RAM DDR4 ECC SO-DIMM 8GB (D4ES01-8G) for $179.99.

NAS DRIVES
As for drives, I will replace my two 8TB drives (one functional, one not functional) which are at 75% capacity.
Given your advice, I’m leaning toward two new 10TB drives (RAID 1) for now and use my existing 8TB drive as a JBOD backup. Over time, I’ll replace the 8TB with one or two 10TB drives.

QUESTIONS
1. Does anyone have experience and preference with the drives below? I don't need rescue/recovery services. This is why I keep three backup copies of legal/business/tax documents.
2. Do you recommend Air or Helium filled drives? I've read arguments both ways.
3. Any other comments/advice?

Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6GB/S 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for Raid, Data Recovery Rescue Service (ST10000NE0004) ($293 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, Data Recovery Service – Frustration Free Packaging (ST10000NE0008) ($269 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, Rescue Services (ST10000NE000) ($250 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache RAID NAS Home Servers - Newest Model (ST10000VN0008) ($239 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, with Rescue Service (ST10000VN0008) ($237 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, with Rescue Service (ST10000VN0008) (Renewed) ($219 ea.)

 

[L&LD]

WD Red Plus drives. Seagate is still too sketchy, IME.

 

[Tech Junky]

WD red is what I run and they've been stable for a few years 24/7.

 

[degrub]

Red+ drives
Or spend for enterprise drives with 5 yr warranty and 10^-15 error rate

 

[L&LD]

The enterprise drives are an option, at the same price or less.

Failure rates are effectively identical to the the Red Plus range.

 

[NAS8TB]

UPDATE #3 - Thanks to all of you for your input! It helped me get to a decision.
I’ve reviewed your advice and read numerous websites, forums, recommendations on a Plex server on NAS to my current DYI Plex server on my HP desktop. I’ve decided to run Plex on a NAS. I’ve reset my cost expectations to around $1500-$1600. DYI may be cheaper and more powerful, but when my son inherits the system, he will only use his laptop which may not perform better than Plex on a NAS.

NAS unit
I’ve decided on the Synology DS920+ 4-bay 4GB ($549)

RAM
The DS920+ comes with 4GB DDR4 non-ECC unbuffered SO-DIMM 4GB (D4NESO-2666-4G).
If the 4GB has performance issues, I’ll upgrade to 8GB RAM which is the max supported. Synology also requires their memory card brand to support their warranty, so I will purchase a Synology RAM DDR4 ECC SO-DIMM 8GB (D4ES01-8G) for $179.99.

NAS DRIVES
As for drives, I will replace my two 8TB drives (one functional, one not functional) which are at 75% capacity.
Given your advice, I’m leaning toward two new 10TB drives (RAID 1) for now and use my existing 8TB drive as a JBOD backup. Over time, I’ll replace the 8TB with one or two 10TB drives.

QUESTIONS
1. Does anyone have experience and preference with the drives below? I don't need rescue/recovery services. This is why I keep three backup copies of legal/business/tax documents.
2. Do you recommend Air or Helium filled drives? I've read arguments both ways.
3. Any other comments/advice?

4. Whether it's Seagate or WD, as long as these HDD support NAS, 6GB/s or faster, 7200 RPM, do you recommend keeping them all one brand/same specs? or can they be mixed?
5. Can my current WD 8TB HDD be removed from its container and loaded into the new NAS? It has about 6TB of data files, movies, and music.

Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6GB/S 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for Raid, Data Recovery Rescue Service (ST10000NE0004) ($293 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, Data Recovery Service – Frustration Free Packaging (ST10000NE0008) ($269 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf Pro 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, Rescue Services (ST10000NE000) ($250 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache RAID NAS Home Servers - Newest Model (ST10000VN0008) ($239 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, with Rescue Service (ST10000VN0008) ($237 ea.)
Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID NAS, with Rescue Service (ST10000VN0008) (Renewed) ($219 ea.)

 

[Tech Junky]

I prefer to not mix and match because it tends to be more likely to cause an overall speed issue when you have different cache sizes / RPM / etc.

If you want speed from spinners you don't need to pay up for the 7200's you just need a good raid option.
Raid 0 multiplies the controller speed for every disk you add
Raid 1 keeps the single disk speed but mirrors the data across both drives
Raid 10 doubles the speed and mirrors the data across a 4 disk set.

If you add another pair of drives to R10 you get 3X the speed.

WF Red / 256mb cache drives hit ~200MB/s per drive
In R10 I hit over 400MB/s across a wired connection to the storage device
If I want to max out the 5GE link adding another 2 drives would yield 600MB/s+ across the link and max out 5GE

The issue with Raid is how much usable capacity you can store data.
R0 = 2 X disk - 16TB + 2 X speed
R1 = 1 x disk - 8TB
R10 2 x disk = 16TB + 2 X speed

#2 - most higher end drives are HE based for the gas inside the case.
#4 - see above
#5 - you can "shuck" it from it's enclosure and use it. If you google "shucking" you'll find things like this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/mefg9z

Some drives work 100% w/o any mods needing to be done and others require modification to get them to work internally or in a different enclosure.

 

[degrub]

ideally, use all same drive, same generation firmware if possible.
WD RED + or
enterprise drives with 5 yr warranty, bit error rate 10^-15 (do the numbers on a 10 TB drive ;-) )

 

[NAS8TB]

Who said “He who waits”? As I began placing an order for the Synology DS920+, it was no longer available on Amazon. Other options cost about $50 more, so I went to B&H since I’ve always had good service from them. They matched Amazon’s original price. I’ll receive it Friday. I also ordered two WD Red Plus 10TB Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache on Amazon arriving Thursday.

I've already begun shucking my non-functional WD 8TB HDD from its shell (for practice). I just need to remove the additional IC board on the bottom. Before I destroy the non-working drive, I’ll try to access data by installing it in DS920+.

My plan is to install two WD Red+ 10TB drives using RAID 1. Then use my working 8TB de-shucked drive in the DS920+ as JBOD. BTW, I bought both WD 8TB in Jan 2017 for $299 each. They both worked well for over 5 years with one still usable. I also keep all legal/business/tax data backed up on two separate SDD cards, so the majority of files on theses drives are movies, TV shows, music, vacation/family photos If all goes well, I'll purchase a third 10TB drive as JBOD. A fourth drive is also in the future. Right now, there are only three users with local access through Plex on Ruko apps on four separate HDTV’s, iPads, and iPhones. No remote access for now. I’ve been using Plex since 2017.

But the question I keep wrestling with is whether I use RAID 1 mirroring in the event one drive breaks and can replace that drive or to immediately have two 10TB drives as JBOD giving me two full backups (I understand NAS is not about backups) and a third backup after a few weeks. I do understand the speed benefits between RAID options.

I’ll need to check whether two RAID 1 drives can be easily changed to JBOD and vice versa. i.e. do the drives need to be wiped and reloaded when converting JBOD to RAID 1, etc.?

Thanks again to all of you.

 

[Tech Junky]

Well, you just have to remove 1 from the R1 setup and strip the raid info from the disk and then copy the remaining member info to the drive.

i.e. format the drive you want to use JBOD and then copy data to it.

mdadm is rhe linux version for raid and there's some helpful info in there for messing around with things such as using the "missing" option to create a raid that requires multiuple drives to allow for making the raid and then copying the data into the disk and then converting the disk source to raid / adding it to the array.

The thing about NAS boxes off the shelf though that worries me is what will it do when you first insert the drive. Will it wipe it / add it / sync it or will it leave it alone and let you configure / manipulate it prior to doing anything. With linux it doesn't do much until you tell it to do something.

 

[L&LD]

I don't know any NAS that will read existing data off a drive. They (usually) all want to format the drives first (and sync them if setting up RAIDx).

If you want any chance of getting to your data, install the drive into a desktop computer and hope when you boot up, the drive is available then.