WD My Book Duo vs NAS – which one is better? The WD My Book is a DAS device, using USB 3.0. It’s designed for a direct connection to a PC/Mac. For a wireless connection is designed the My Cloud, using Ethernet, instead of USB. Usually, there could be the possibility of attaching an external DAS drive via USB to the router to use it as a DIY NAS, but it depends very much on the firmwares, the drive and especially on the router itself. It could in most cases work with a portable external drive, but the My Book is more specific in design, so even if you succeed half way through you could either way encounter problems.
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That’s why there are specific NAS devices like the My Cloud, connecting through Ethernet. They are designed to be connected in the routers and accessed over the network. And the My Book Duo and the My Cloud Mirror are just the two-bay versions of the DAS My Book and NAS My Cloud. They have more options in terms of security as to their drives could be set in RAID. Which one is better – WD My Book Duo vs NAS?
WD My Book Duo vs NAS
| WD My Book Duo | My Cloud™ PR4100 (NAS) | |
| Type | Massive capacity desktop RAID storage | High-powered media server with built-in transcoding for rich video playback with Plex.TM |
| Capacities | • 20TB • 16TB • 12TB • 8TB • 6TB • 4TB | • 40TB • 32TB • 24TB • 16TB • 8TB • Unpopulated |
| Number of hard disks | 4 | |
| Interface | 1x USB 3.0 (compatible with USB 2.0) • 2x USB 3.0 hub ports (compatible with USB 2.0) | • 2x Gigabit LAN • 3x USB 3.0 host (compatible with USB 2.0) |
| Customization | • Third-party apps | |
| Features | • Massive capacity storage with auto and system backup • RAID-0 ready out of the box • RAID optimized WD Red™ drives • USB 3.1 Gen 1-ready, USB 3.0 compatibility • 2x USB 3.0 hub ports • 256-bit AES hardware encryption and password protection • Includes WD Discovery™ software for social media and cloud storage import, backup and password protection | • Upgradable to 16 GB RAM • Remote access by PC, Mac, AndroidTM or iOS • Hardware-based video transcoding with PlexTM Media Server • Two power ports (DC in) for redundant power supply • RAID level 5, 0, 1, 10, JBOD and Spanning |
| Supplied software | • WD Discovery™ software for WD Backup™, WD Security™ and WD Drive Utilities™ | • WD SmartWare™ Pro (25 user licenses) • WD Access • WD Sync • My Cloud™ app |
| Color | Black | Black |
| Power supply | AC power adapter included | External power supply |
| Warranty | 3 years | • 3 years populated • 2 years as unpopulated |
My Book Live Duo vs My Cloud PRO PR4100 (NAS) vs Synology DS716+II
WESTERN DIGITAL MY BOOK LIVE DUO (MBLD) | WESTERN DIGITAL MY CLOUD PRO SERIES PR4100 (PR4100) | SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS716+II (DS716P2) | |
| Launch | 2012 | 2016 | 2016 |
| Class | Small office / Home office | Small office / Home office | Small / Medium business |
| Body | |||
| Dimensions | 165 x 157 x 99 mm | 232 x 170 x 192 mm | 157 x 103.5 x 232 mm |
| Weight | 2.2 kg | 3.49 kg | 1.75 kg |
| Disks | |||
| Disk bays | 2 x 3.5″ SATA II | 4 x 3.5″ SATA III | 2 x 3.5″ SATA III |
| RAID | JBOD RAID0 RAID1 | JBOD RAID0 RAID1 RAID10 RAID5 | JBOD RAID0 RAID1 Synology Hybrid RAID |
| SSD support | no | no | yes |
| Network | |||
| LAN ports | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet | 2 x Gigabit Ethernet | 2 x Gigabit Ethernet |
| Wireless | no | no | yes, with USB dongle |
| Protocols | AFP CIFS/SMB FTP NFS | AFP CIFS/SMB FTP ISCSI NFS WEBDAV | AFP CIFS/SMB FTP ISCSI NFS WEBDAV |
| P2P support | no | BitTorrent eMule | BitTorrent |
| Media server | DLNA UPnP iTunes | DLNA UPnP iTunes | DLNA UPnP iTunes |
| Cloud backup | no | Amazon S3 Dropbox ElephantDrive | Amazon S3 Box Dropbox Google Drive Microsoft OneDrive |
| Connectivity | |||
| USB ports | 1 x USB 2.0 | 3 x USB 3.0 | 3 x USB 3.0 |
| eSATA ports | no | no | 1 x eSATA |
| System | |||
| CPU | Applied Micro APM82181 @ 800 MHz | Intel Pentium N3710 quad-core @ 1.6 GHz | Intel Celeron N3160 quad-core @ 1.6 GHz |
| RAM | 256 MB | 4 GB DDR3 | 2 GB |
| Flash | 512 kB | ||
| Operating system | WD My Book OS | WD My Cloud OS | Synology DSM |
| Alternative OS | |||
| Power | |||
| Power supply | 12 V / 3 A | 19 V / 4.74 A | 12 V / 5.4 A |
| Consuption | 19.14 W / 9.5 W | ||
| Fans | fanless | 1 x 120 mm | 1 x 92 mm |
| Noise level | 18 dB(A) | ||
| Features | |||
| Specials | LCD Panel Failover and link aggregation Dual power ports | VMWare Ready Failover and link aggregation DX213/DX513 Expansion Unit | |
| Administration | |||
| Default IP | DHCP | DHCP | DHCP |
| Default username | admin | admin | admin |
| Default password | admin | [blank] | [blank] |
WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra, Synology DISKSTATION DS216 AND SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS116
WESTERN DIGITAL MY CLOUD EX2 ULTRA (WDBVBZ0000NCH) | SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS216 (DS216) | SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS116 (DS116) | |
| Launch | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 |
| Class | Small office / Home office | Small office / Home office | Small office / Home office |
| Body | |||
| Dimensions | 165 x 157 x 99 mm | 165 x 108 x 233.2 mm | 166 x 71 x 224 mm |
| Weight | 800 g | 1.3 kg | 700 g |
| Disks | |||
| Disk bays | 2 x 3.5″ SATA III | 2 x 3.5″ SATA III | 1 x 3.5″ SATA III |
| RAID | JBOD RAID0 RAID1 | JBOD RAID0 RAID1 Synology Hybrid RAID | no |
| SSD support | no | yes | yes |
| Network | |||
| LAN ports | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet | 1 x Gigabit Ethernet |
| Wireless | no | no | yes, with USB dongle |
| Protocols | AFP CIFS/SMB FTP ISCSI SFTP WEBDAV | AFP CIFS/SMB FTP ISCSI NFS WEBDAV | AFP CIFS/SMB FTP ISCSI NFS WEBDAV |
| P2P support | BitTorrent eMule | BitTorrent eMule | BitTorrent |
| Media server | DLNA UPnP iTunes | DLNA UPnP iTunes | DLNA UPnP iTunes |
| Cloud backup | Amazon S3 Dropbox ElephantDrive | Amazon S3 Box Dropbox Google Drive Microsoft OneDrive | Amazon S3 Box Dropbox Google Drive Microsoft OneDrive |
| Connectivity | |||
| USB ports | 2 x USB 3.0 | 1 x USB 2.0 2 x USB 3.0 | 2 x USB 3.0 |
| eSATA ports | no | no | no |
| System | |||
| CPU | Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 dual-core @ 1.3 GHz | Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 dual-core @ 1.3 GHz | Marvell Armada 385 88F6820 dual-core @ 1.8 GHz |
| RAM | 1 GB DDR3 | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Flash | 16 MB | ||
| Operating system | WD My Cloud OS | Synology DSM | Synology DSM |
| Alternative OS | |||
| Power | |||
| Power supply | 12 V / 4 A | 12 V / 5 A | 12 V / 3 A |
| Consuption | 15.48 W / 7.2 W | 10.68 W / 6.28 W | |
| Fans | fanless | 1 x 92 mm | 1 x 60 mm |
| Noise level | 18 dB(A) | 16.4 dB(A) | |
| Features | |||
| Specials | |||
| Administration | |||
| Default IP | DHCP | DHCP | DHCP |
| Default username | admin | admin | admin |
| Default password | [blank] | [blank] | [blank] |