My Cloud Home Duo WD 4TB

Today we are reviewing a unique device from Western Digital called the WD My Cloud Home Duo. This device is a hybrid between an external hard drive and a NAS. Capable of being access from various devices on a network and with built-in backup and RAID-1 mirroring capabilities, the WD My Cloud would seem to be an ideal data storage solution for photographers and videographers alike. Without being too complicated, the WD My Cloud Home is also a viable option for those who want additional storage with more versatility than a standard external hard drive.

Unboxing & Overview

The front of the box displays Western Digital’s branding for the My Cloud Home Duo. There’s a picture of the My Cloud Home Duo which looks like an external hard drive. In the bottom right corner there are several icons which display key features of the device including 4TB storage capacity, WD Mirror Mode, Backup, 4TB drives included, iOS and Android support as well as HD streaming.

My Cloud Home Duo Review

The back of the box includes addition information such as box contents, system requirements and a few key points referring to the My Cloud Home Duo’s ease of use, RAID 1 mirroring, wireless access and easy searching and streaming.

Western Digital My Cloud Home Duo Review

Upon opening the box, you will see a card which has a website address written on the back as well as a key for your device. These are necessary to setup the software for the My Cloud Home Duo. The box is well-made and protects the device in transit, this important to note as hard drives are sensitive equipment and can be easily damaged.

My Cloud Home Duo Unboxing

The device is padded on both sides with large Styrofoam.

My Cloud Home Duo Personal Cloud

Everything to get started is included in the box: a power cable and brick, Ethernet cable, quick setup card and limited warranty information booklet.

My Cloud Home Duo Accessories

The back of the My Cloud Home Duo is where the ethernet, power and two USB 3.0 parts are located. A slim power button is present above the rear ports. There is also a large ventilated cut out on the top half of the enclosure to allow cool air in to the two 3.5” hard drives.

My Cloud Home Duo WD 4TB –  Duo Ports

Here’s the bottom of the My Cloud Duo, again there is ventilation for the dual drives. It’s also nice to see that Western Digital thought to add some rubber feet lift the device off the ground adequately for good airflow while protecting the surface the device is placed on.

Features

Before we get into the features of the My Cloud Duo it’s important to understand what this device is and how it slots into Western Digital’s lineup. The My Cloud Duo is a “personal cloud” not a NAS and not an external hard drive. It is meant to be plugged in to your router via ethernet and used as a massive storage device for all your documents, pictures, music and movies. It is, a networked multimedia storage device and has an accompanying feature set which accomplishes this goal quite well.

If you need a simpler data storage solution, we suggest looking at a Western Digital external hard drive such as the My Book series. If you need more advanced feature and will be running a home media server capable of streaming high quality 4K video while simultaneously being used as a central hub for computers to backup and download data files, we suggest looking into Western Digital lineup of My Cloud Pro and Expert series network attached storage devices.

It is extremely easy to set up, all that’s required is accessing Western Digital’s website, creating an account and then backing up your data. In fact, this can even be done on a mobile phone if you do not have a traditional desktop or laptop. After being connected to your Wi-Fi network, the My Cloud Home Duo can be accessed from mobile phones in addition to desktop and laptop computers. For smartphone access all that’s needed to is download the WD My Cloud Home app. In the app, you can backup your photos and videos allowing you to clear them off your phone and regain precious storage space.

My Cloud Home Duo Login

The app also has a useful search feature so you can sift through all your files relatively quickly as you would in a File Explorer or Finder window. Additional NAS-like features include the ability to setup additional accounts on the My Cloud Home Duo so individuals can have their own storage space that only they have access to. You can also use services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Chromecast and Plex Media Server. Again, if you are planning on hardcore video streaming and want the best possible performance, look to WD’s lineup of fully-fledged NAS devices.

Conclusion

My Cloud Home Duo WD 4TB is more than a home network based external hard drive. It offers a slew of NAS-like features while maintaining a simple and manageable set of services, all while offering users plenty of option to access data stored on it. You can also plug in existing external or flash drives in one of the rear USB ports to import data to the My Cloud Home Duo.

As its name suggests, the My Cloud Home Duo contains two hard drives and is setup with RAID-1 mirroring, ensuring your data is as safe and well backed up as possible. Western Digital includes a 2-year warranty which in today’s world of 1-year warranties is certainly welcome. We’ve enjoyed the WD My Cloud Home Duo and it accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: serve as a large network based external drive capable of being accessed from computers and smartphones alike. Given we had ino issues with the devices whatsoever in over a month of testing we highly recommend the WD

My Cloud Home Duo WD 4TB – Usable Storage Capacity

The My Cloud Home Duo 4TB contains two 2TB drives (4TB combined raw capacity). By default, the device ships pre-configured in RAID 1 (Mirror Mode), which automatically duplicates all data across both drives for protection against drive failure. In this default mode, usable storage capacity is approximately 1.96TB, not the full 4TB. Users who prefer maximum storage over redundancy can switch the device to JBOD mode to access closer to the full 4TB, though this removes the automatic data mirroring protection. Switching storage modes erases all existing data on the device.

Specifications