WD 8TB My Cloud EX2 Ultra 2-bay NAS - Network Attached Storage RAID, file sync, streaming, media server, with WD Red drives

Had this for only half a day so will update this as I go on if anything changes my opinion. So where to start well set up is easy when it comes to assembly (I bought diskless version) disk are easily insert into the very compact double drive bay. The whole thing is silent when in use though during boot up when it tests the fans etc it does get a bit louder but only briefly. On the software side I only had an issue setting up the Plex media server app but that resolved itself after a few attempts not sure what the issue was but I digress. I installed all the apps I wanted at the click of a button and configuration was painless. I strongly urge the use of the virus protection app and you set up an automatic scan schedule as it only takes a minute and protects you if you intend to use remote access as I have. I can't say I had any issues that another reviewer encountered as I am not that computer lierate but have spotted a lot they doing wrong and avoided the same obvious mistakes. All in all I have found to be fast and quiet and solidly built with some well chosen apps made available for installation on it. I have only tested the official supported apps but it does seem other open source ones are available but I urge you to use caution and only get from trusted sites if you want to add any of them as this is a reasonably expensive bit of kit to risk turning into a brick! All in all great to use very easy to set up and personalised and streamed all my test media copied to it to my TV my laptop and my phone both locally and over the internet would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting control over their data. The only thing I haven't managed to get it to stream with yet is my Google nest hub and Google home speaker group but I hope to have that sorted soon after a look online for more up to date method of doing so as it seems it is to do with Google changing things their end that is the issue preventing me from doing that and not a fault at WD's end.

My ageing Synology DS12 seemed to constantly tell me disks were bad, so I took the plunge and abandoned it. Not too flush with cash, this was a well reviewed and fairly priced alternative. My NAS needs are quite simple, don't get divorced if the laptop dies and all the photo's and home movies go with it! OK, and being able to server them up to the TV for some family nostalgia, along with RAID 1 just in case.This deals with those things very smoothly. A solid leap in performance from my old 7 year old device. The user experience is well laid out but no an on board operating system like other manufacturers. It's more like what you get from a Wifi Router. Still, lots of easy to configure options with a reasonable amount of depth.Ultimately, it was VERY easy to get up and running to setup shares, be able to stream to TV's, and also manage the device and content remotely over the web. I quite love that I can set my Iphone (8) up with the WD software to automatically push photo's and videos to a share, then manage the content directly on the NAS, rather than going via PC. The EX2 Ultra will also Email me alerts on issues or log changes.Power management is interesting. You can set a schedule for up and downtime, but there is no power button, so if you want to access it when you've scheduled it to be off, you need to pull the power cable and reinsert. I might be missing a deep sleep wake on lan option, but don't think so. Ultimately I guess this keeps the price down, and with disk sleep it probably is OK to leave on all the time. Just doesn't quite fit with a green message.Disk loading (compared to my old device) is also nice and simple. Spring loaded lid, unscrew the clamp, push disk in. Super.

The setup of this unit is an absolute breeze even with the firmware update it took about 10 minutes and is definitely designed with the novice in mind.This unit is slow to add data to but is super quick to access and stream data and media and that's the most important detail, Who wants data stream's that suffer with lags.OK so it took a full day to load my 1.6 Tb of music to the drive (I was not impressed by that) .So when all was in place I started my Marantz music Streamer/Amp and connected with ease and started playing my tunes... Perfect no lag... no loss of quality it was and is doing the job it was brought for with ease.So although I have a dedicated NAS just for films and TV series I chucked a few movies on to it on a share with remote access and asked a few friends and family to log in and view them with as many devices as possible and let me know how things went.Only one person could not connect but only because they were on a university network,Connections were made from behind VPN's using smart TV's mobile phones/tablets and laptops and base PC's.All reported that they had enjoyed perfect playback with no lag or sound drop and of the highest picture resolutionSmart TV's will when on a slow network auto adjust the playback quality to avoid lags all had 4K straight down the pipe and on screen.I am aware that because I have the highest speed fibre that I have an advantage over standard broadband connections but I think this would have a only have a negligible effect on overall performance when accessing via remote access.So my view is that although its a pain putting large blocks of data on to it at the start once setup is complete it is a superb piece of kit and well worth the money.Be aware that after the initial set up e-mails for confirmation (required) WD will start to send you marketing e-mails (never saw a box to opt out) but just open the mail and click unsubscribe at the bottom and they stop.