A few months ago, I unboxed and gave you my first impressions of WD My Cloud Mirror Gen 2. For 1 full month, it made me realize how important it is to have a personal network-attached storage device at home. The backup solution it provides barely scratches the surface of its relevance. Personalized cloud backup solution and security are – in my opinion – make this an essential investment for anyone who loves keeping files that they wish to last.
For this review, I’d like to distance from the technical aspects of the device, but rather focus on how easy it is to use the device, and how it can really help you access and share the files you saved to the personal cloud storage.
It doesn’t take a genius to setup WD My Cloud Mirror. We’ve covered this on our unboxing, but I’m posting the full video again below for your reference.
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As seen on the video above, I only attached all the necessary cables to the hard drive, and plugged it in directly to my TP Link Archer C7. You don’t need to purchase a mid-range high-power router like the Archer C7 in order to connect to the hard drive locally. However, if you’re going to maximize its cloud features, then I highly recommend that you buy a quality and high speed router and an internet connection with at least 3mb synchronous connection.
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- Using the provided Ethernet cable, connect one end of the cable directly into a router or network switch port.
- Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable to the Ethernet port located on the back of the My Cloud device.
- Connect one end of the power adapter into the power supply socket on the back of the device.
- Plug the other end of the power adapter into a power outlet. The unit powers up automatically.
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The WD My Cloud Mirror is a network attached hard drive. So there’s no option for you to access the drive using other connections. With “My Cloud”, the drive will automatically turn into a private personal storage, which allows you to back up and access your contents anywhere you are. The device outstandingly carried out its features and flawlessly performed during my tests.
My Cloud is a godsend, as its the central browser based hub where you can access and even modify the contents of your NAS (network attached storage) at home. It even has a mobile app version, so you can do whatever you can do on your desktop via Android or Apple. There’s even an option on its mobile app that allows you to save all photos and videos automatically to your NAS.
Think of this way, simply put, My Cloud Mirror acts like your personal “Dropbox” or “Google Drive” without having to subscribe and pay to any cloud services.
Let me simplify my review further using the demo I prepared below:
The reliability of the hard drives installed on WD My Cloud is unquestionable. These type of WD hard drives installed are 2 3.5-inch SATA RED drives, which are made specifically for NAS. These drives are fast – both write and read speeds, and are known to be very reliable. During my 1-month test, I only had to restart the NAS because of a firmware update triggered by the WD Sync, an app that allows my PC to connect to the hard drive seamlessly.
Undoubtedly, the WD My Cloud Mirror (Gen 2) is the best entry level NAS for first-time NAS users. Price may be a little steep, but it’s a justifiable price to pay for the kind of quality and reliability of the device, and the benefits you can get out of it.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
