I am thinking about buying a 3TB My Cloud but I keep reading conflicting information and I am hoping you can help with a very simple question.
I want to use the my cloud to back-up my laptops but also want to host a load of media files (music and films) that won’t sit on any of the laptops. Can I do this just by dragging and dropping files on to the my cloud using windows explorer? I am worried that the my cloud just acts as a copy of the laptop drive and it will delete any files on the my cloud which are not stored on the laptop?
I currently have a USB hard drive connected to my router which is available as a network drive but it is slow and I am hoping I can replace it with the my cloud. Essentially I just want a network drive I can drag and drop to using windows explorer.
The My Cloud can look just like any other mapped disk drive. You can put media files on the My Cloud and they will not get removed because they are not on your laptop.
The My Cloud is what is commonly refered to as Network Attached Storage (NAS). It is a hard drive that resides on the local area network that all computers and mobile devices can access. It has an embedded media server that allows DLNA clients and iTunes devices to access and stream music. One can access the My Cloud using Windows File Explorer or Macintosh Finder.
Not sure where you are reading the conflicting information. The WD website gives general information about the My Cloud:
I would suggest you take some time to read the My Cloud User Manual (http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/?id=439&type=25) which explains the features/options of the My Cloud and how to “map” it to you local computer. Also see the following WD Support document that explains how to map the My Cloud to a Windows computer.
Some of the online reviews I have seen said that when you map the drive, you only have read access. They said the only way to write to the drive was using the WD software. Is that wrong?
Can you drag and drop using windows explorer or save directly from programs like MS Word?
They said the only way to write to the drive was using the WD software. Is that wrong?
Yes; they are wrong. I have NO WD software installed on my PCs, none at all. I use it as my primary media store, and as a non-media backup for my PCs.
Can you drag and drop using windows explorer or save directly from programs like MS Word?
Yes; if, as explained above, you map the drive to a ‘drive letter’, it can be accessed just like any other HDD connected to your computer, and used by all programs, including file explorer.
+1 as others mentioned.
To have read/write access, well it all depends what permissions you provide to the users.
Most NAS behave the same way. They are used as backup for laptops systems + as media servers for all clients.
And as with most devices, you do not have to use any proprietary software to connect to them or copy files. Just use all build-in tools/apps/commands within the OS.
Yes, 100% wrong. When a Share is configured for Public Access it has full read/write access. When a Share is configured for Private Access the User accounts can be granted Full Access (read/write), Read Access (read only), or No Access.
Of course. One has full read/write access to the drive depending on the permission settings.
As mentioned previously, read the My Cloud User Manual as it unfortunately appears you have read some seriously wrong information somewhere about the My Cloud.
