WD My Cloud Expert Series EX4100 4-Bay Diskless NAS $379.99 or WD My Cloud PR4100 $579.99 (YMMV Amex < 20% offer)

True to RFD form the 'affiliate' links do not work.....

Not sure why anyone would buy anything other than Synology at the moment, but buy with Amex offer for an additional 20% off.

Damn, this is beautiful.
I can't imagine needing this much storage, but it's impressive.

milhaus wrote: ↑ Not sure why anyone would buy anything other than Synology at the moment, but buy with Amex offer for an additional 20% off.

Not everyone has the AMEX offer unfortunately. Neither of my 2 AMEXs got it.

milhaus wrote: ↑ Not sure why anyone would buy anything other than Synology at the moment, but buy with Amex offer for an additional 20% off.

Isn’t that offer limited to items that are available thru the link that AMEX provided? Or is the discount applicable sitewide?

I still cant understand why people buy this crap.

I have an old PC (Dell XPS 755) running Windows XP with 6 HDs inside. It is next to and plugged into the router, just 2 wires, power and ethernet. I have access to it remotely from my main PC (via RDP), android, etc. I stream from it to the T.V using an Android box and ES File Explorer. No need for Plex or any of that garbage to encode or decode, it just sends the file and plays on the T.V. If needed, I can hotswap an external drive via USB, but usually I just transfer over the network from my main PC.

Someone please tell me why you need to buy this crap.

aandaleb wrote: ↑ I still cant understand why people buy this crap.

I have an old PC (Dell XPS 755) running Windows XP with 6 HDs inside. It is next to and plugged into the router, just 2 wires, power and ethernet. I have access to it remotely from my main PC (via RDP), android, etc. I stream from it to the T.V using an Android box and ES File Explorer. No need for Plex or any of that garbage to encode or decode, it just sends the file and plays on the T.V. If needed, I can hotswap an external drive via USB, but usually I just transfer over the network from my main PC.

Someone please tell me why you need to buy this crap.

Low power draw, hot swap rack, setup in minutes, hardware resources managed properly, form factor

These are the general reasons why a "prebuilt" is better. I myself use an unraid server from old computer parts and vouch for it, but i would vouch for these systems as well. It's all based on preference and what you expect. If my usecase was more advanced, I wouldnt run a server on windows like you do.

aandaleb wrote: ↑ I still cant understand why people buy this crap.

I have an old PC (Dell XPS 755) running Windows XP with 6 HDs inside. It is next to and plugged into the router, just 2 wires, power and ethernet. I have access to it remotely from my main PC (via RDP), android, etc. I stream from it to the T.V using an Android box and ES File Explorer. No need for Plex or any of that garbage to encode or decode, it just sends the file and plays on the T.V. If needed, I can hotswap an external drive via USB, but usually I just transfer over the network from my main PC.

Someone please tell me why you need to buy this crap.

For a file server for home use, your setup serve the purpose. If you need fast read/write, link aggregation, fail over, robust reliability, data integrity, running VMs, hot swapping PSU and drive, a server grade computer will be needed for this.

I can't say if Synology or QNAP are any better because I stopped using them. I am also on the cautious side of thee pre-built boxes due to the recent security breaches on a few brands and people losing data to ransomware.

It's much cheaper to re-purpose an 1U Xeon workstation/tower with UnRAID or TrueNAS for the same job as they would already have Xeon, ECC, RAID built in. Reliability is also unquestionable as they are designed for heavy workload over extended amount of time. Parts are also easily available for self-repair. I am currently using a X3100 M5 for my home NAS.

You can likely pick up a few Lenovo TS140/150 w/o drives for a few hundreds as they are being replaced by the ST series.

aandaleb wrote: ↑ I still cant understand why people buy this crap.

I have an old PC (Dell XPS 755) running Windows XP with 6 HDs inside. It is next to and plugged into the router, just 2 wires, power and ethernet. I have access to it remotely from my main PC (via RDP), android, etc. I stream from it to the T.V using an Android box and ES File Explorer. No need for Plex or any of that garbage to encode or decode, it just sends the file and plays on the T.V. If needed, I can hotswap an external drive via USB, but usually I just transfer over the network from my main PC.

Someone please tell me why you need to buy this crap.

Most of what you said isn't invalid... but Windows XP? C'mon.

Linus built a home NAS recently

"We’ve built some crazy servers in the range of petabytes of storage, but we haven’t talked much about smaller, more practical home NAS units… or how you can build one yourself – like we’re doing today with the JONSBO N1 NAS case and Seagate storage."

This blows away the competition

aandaleb wrote: ↑ I still cant understand why people buy this crap.

Someone please tell me why you need to buy this crap.

Honestly, if you don’t see a use for them in your life, that’s one thing. But if you can’t understand why others might want this, despite the repeated debates that happens on every NAS thread, then it might be your IQ. See reasons already cited above.

Thanks for the feedback guys, most of your replies were very helpful.

pkphilip: fyi, I am able to run VMs over the network from the machine.

KorruptioN: It was already installed, so I just continued using it. I really dont want to have to learn Linux for a server when it already works just fine. I reboot it remotely once every 3 or 4 months just in case.

milhaus: your reply was just downright rude and very un-Canadian. I do have use for a server in my life, thats why I have one. What I couldnt understand is why people pay hundreds of dollars as opposed to just using their older hardware, it depends on what you want out of it. As for my IQ, im an engineer (twice), and its probably higher than yours. You've added absolutely no helpful information in your post, whereas at least mine asked a question, and shared information, giving some folks ideas/alternatives that they may not have been aware of or realized. Hangry? Go have a Snickers

Recommend to check WD Community (WD's official forum) before purchasing any WD 'NAS'.
I own a first gen My Cloud (in a month or two it will lose remote access as WD announced its EOL) and My Cloud Home. Would never ever purchase any NAS from WD.

Anyone know if you can run multiple VM and maybe Scprime mining?

Dhanushan wrote: ↑ Linus built a home NAS recently

"We’ve built some crazy servers in the range of petabytes of storage, but we haven’t talked much about smaller, more practical home NAS units… or how you can build one yourself – like we’re doing today with the JONSBO N1 NAS case and Seagate storage."

This blows away the competition

Keep in mind, the target price for the box in Linus' video was $700USD and they pushed right up against it. That's more than 2x this IF you can even get that case in Canada. That being said, there's no way that this I would recommend anything like this as you're reliant on WD not pulling support (which they have prior).

aandaleb wrote: ↑ KorruptioN: It was already installed, so I just continued using it. I really dont want to have to learn Linux for a server when it already works just fine. I reboot it remotely once every 3 or 4 months just in case.

You are aware that mainstream Windows XP support from Microsoft ended like ten years ago, right? It's a massive security risk at this point.

Don't chastise other members and talk about your own credentials because a product like this doesn't have a use case for you. A lot of people are looking for an all-in-one solution, which yours is not. And you have no right to call this crap, if you're willingly choosing to continue to run Windows XP to host your file server. XP had its time but it's simply a liability now.

Like you said yourself, it depends on what you want out of it.

I built my own unRAID NAS years ago but now run a Synology box because it's easier.

ValeDecem wrote: ↑ Recommend to check WD Community (WD's official forum) before purchasing any WD 'NAS'.
I own a first gen My Cloud (in a month or two it will lose remote access as WD announced its EOL) and My Cloud Home. Would never ever purchase any NAS from WD.

I just wanted to tag in and and agree with the same exact reason as ValeDecem. I am quite pissed that my remote access will be bricked by next month. In fact i couldn't tell that i had a first gen until i cross referenced the serial. The external box looks identical to the mycloud that is still supported.

In fact, if anyone is still willing to venture into a wd nas, fell free to take my complimentary 20% off coupon:

Thank you for being a long-time Western Digital customer. We understand that your content is important to you, and we appreciate that you trust us to help you preserve it. As promised, here’s an exclusive 20% discount coupon* that you can use toward an eligible device:
SB20-MAZN-4DKL-ZEDD-MKEK

All I ask is a TY reply so i can delete the onetime code once it is used.

Im not buying wd cloud devices ever again; in contrast there are tons of much older synology bays that are still supported today.

KorruptioN wrote: ↑
Don't chastise other members and talk about your own credentials because a product like this doesn't have a use case for you.

I only mentioned my credentials because he assumed I had a low IQ, not because the product doesn't have a use case for me. And I chastised him because he subtracted, rather than add anything to the conversation.