Reviewed by Chris Noel Hidalgo
Sure you can add a microSD card to your smartphone and you can upgrade your computer with more storage drives, but the reality is, there’s a finite number of card slots and SATA ports on your devices. The cloud is really the only viable option for those looking for more space for their multimedia collection. The creativeand prosumer-oriented WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra promises the convenience of up-in-the-air storage and the security of having a physically accessible archive. Let’s see how it performs.
Specifications:
Available Capacities: Diskless, 4 TB, 8 TB, 12 TB WD Red drives
Drive Bays: Two hot swap capable 3.5 inch hard drive bays with trayless design
Processor: 1.3 GHz dual-core Marvell Armada 385
Memory: 1 GB DDR3
Ports: Two USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet
Disk Virtualization: RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD, Spanning
Volume Encryption: 256-bit AES
File System: FAT, FAT 32, NTFS, HSF+J, and Linux EXT2, EXT3, EXT4
Features; FTP server, download manager, My Cloud remote access
Design: 4/5
The WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra retains the distinct sleekness of WD’s My Cloud product line. Measuring 6.20 x 3.90 x 6.50 inches (L x W x H), its body is a black plastic shell which features a front panel that wraps around either side for a clean look that won’t be amiss on any professional’s table.
Its design is only disturbed by a matte panel that curves to the right. This inlay features the product’s marque as well as the power and hard drive activity LEDs. The interfaces—namely the Kensington lock slot, reset pinhole, two USB 3.0 expansion slots, Gigabit Ethernet port, and power input—are all in the rear.
Meanwhile, vents aplenty can be found up top and down below to help the drives passively dissipate heat. The bottom part also has four rubber feet that raise the EX2 Ultra about 4 mm from the surface it’s on for even better breathability. Lastly, the top can be popped open to give users easy access to the drive bays.
Hardware: 4/5
To help facilitate better read and write speeds, data management, as well as provide stability when being accessed by multiple devices, the My Cloud EX2 Ultra is equipped with a 1.3 GHz dual-core Marvell Armada 385 processor paired with 1 GB of DDR3 memory.
It also has two trayless and hot swap capable bays that take 3.5-inch drives. Preconfigured units are shipped with the durable WD Reds in RAID 1 which halves drive space for data redundancy. For our 8 TB review unit, this means that there’s only 4 TB of usable storage as the two drives are mirror images of each other. Other virtualization modes such as RAID 0 and JBOD are also available for those looking to trade off fail safes for maximum performance and storage space.
As for the ins and the outs, the My Cloud EX2 Ultra sports two USB 3.0 expansion ports and a Gigabit Ethernet jack.
User Experience: 3.5/5
The setup process was a bit of a pain as the device ships with a three-step instruction page that’s not really useful. Long story short, it took me a couple of tries to register a My Cloud account and to have the EX2 Ultra readily available for anyone on the network. A more in-depth user manual should really be included in the box.
With that out of the way, let’s move on to performance. Over a local Wi-Fi network using a local ISP’s default router, the My Cloud EX2 Ultra only managed a slow but still respectable 11 MB/s sequential read and write speeds according to CrystalDiskMark. Wired, it performed only slightly better in the benchmark. I’m pretty sure I could do things on my end to push those numbers up (like get a better router and better cables), but if you’re a regular, non-hardcore techie Juan, it will take you days to backup TBs worth of data. Still, I was able to stream HD videos and scrub through the timeline with little to no preview lag.
The one thing that separates the WD My Cloud line of storage devices from your run of the mill network attached storage is the ecosystem. Whether you’re accessing your files via wired physical connection, over a native wireless network, or even from miles away via the My Cloud app and webUI, you can be sure that everything is there.
Value: 3.5/5
The 8 TB WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra retails for PHP 29,190 with a three-year limited warranty. Pretty expensive, eh? Though you can build a similar capacity NAS for less dough, the price for convenience is pretty steep. Time is money after all. The EX2 Ultra enables you to quickly deploy an over-the-air storage without the hassle of dealing with technical gibberish. That in itself makes this device worth it if you have the spare cash.
What’s Hot:
- Reliable WD Red drives out of the box
- Feature-rich
- Clean aesthetics
What’s Not:
- Average read and write speeds
- Clunky initial setup
- Wallet-busting price tag
Bottomline:
- The convenience of the cloud and more—at a rather steep price.
Final Score: 15/20
