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    October 7, 2014
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macfangirl's Reviews
 
This WD My Cloud drive features a 4TB capacity and lets you stream media to compatible DLNA-/UPnP-capable devices or upload and access data on the go via PC, Mac and compatible mobile phones and tablets. Automatic backup helps safeguard your files.
 
Customer Rating
1 out of 5
1
not good for Time Machine backups
on October 7, 2014
Posted by: macfangirl
I got this WDMyCloud drive five months ago because I had outgrown the backup drive connected to my computer and thought this new network drive would work like an Apple Time Capsule which I had used in the past but had become too small long ago. I had no problems connecting it to my Apple Airport Extreme (latest model) and making backups of my two computers even though it took several days even with a direct ethernet connection. I faithfully updated the firmware when a new version came out, and the Time Machine program on my macs were able to access the backups the way it was supposed to. I had/have no need of streaming video or photo storage so I can’t comment on those features. I only wanted a reliable backup device that would hold 3 or 4 TB.
About three weeks after the first backup I got a message saying Time Machine had to create a new backup for me to improve reliability. The only choice is to say OK do it now, or do it later, meanwhile nothing is being backed up and when you say yes or OK, all the previous backups are gone. So I spent two or three days doing that and losing everything I had backed up to this point in time. All I need is a reliable backup of my files.
There were a few times the hard drive lost its connection but I was always able to get it back online, sometimes having to reboot the drive using the WD web software. That has not been a problem. I can see the files on the drive using the Apple finder if I want to and using WD’s software. I can put up with some annoyances because I have been using computers and creating successful backup systems for 30 years. I have basic faith in technology and do not give up easily. All I need is a reliable backup of my files.
So in the ensuing months I got three more of these notices, each time losing my prior backups and starting over. For the past three months, on August 24, September 26 and October 2. Oh, and I was away and unplugged from a backup from August 28 through September 15.
I completely reformatted the drive five days ago and created another two sets of backups, five days worth, and have not received that message telling me to create a new backup so far. Should I be excited after only five days. I don’t think I can be.
There is a lot of chatter on the internet about this error. It comes from Apple’s Time Machine program, which I suspect does not like anyone using a NAS drive that is not an Apple Time Capsule. If this message is true, it is telling me the backups on the WDMyCloud are not reliable. If I keep getting these messages saying the backup is not reliable, why bother creating it over and over? After all these recreations in these five months I now have only five days worth of backups rather than five months worth as I would expect. All I need is a reliable backup of my files.
I have communicated with both BestBuy and WD, but I find that now I am stuck with this thing. Best Buy will not take it back because it has been longer than 15 days, WD won’t take it back because I didn’t buy it on their online store. Each company will happily replace the exact drive I have with one exactly like it, which means I will lose this past five days worth of backups once I replace it.
So If you don’t mind having to create new backups and perhaps reformatting the drive every month or so, then you can probably use this drive for the advertised purpose.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
+9points
12of 15voted this as helpful.
 
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