# Re this ad for a Western Digitial "cloud based hard drive" what exactly is inside this "drive"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726 "2014-07-09T20:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/21 "2014-07-10T06:04:27Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So it does have an actual hard drive? This where I got confused. When I asked the sales clerk at Best Buy he said there was no hard drive in the device it was just a direct connection port to 2 gigs of cloud space. That would be weird, because that would make it an entirely superfluous device. ETA: well, almost. I guess there could be a niche market for something that presents cloud storage as a local SMB share or something like that - for the purposes of connecting legacy kit to the cloud. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/22 "2014-07-10T12:19:03Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > If the device actually gave you two terabytes of real cloud storage, I would be very interested. Two terabytes is a _lot_ of storage. > > It does not. It gives you consumer-grade NAS with a web app and portal to let you access your data from the internet (assuming the drive has power and a functional ISP). I am well aware of that. That is why I said “if.” ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/23 "2014-07-10T12:30:53Z")
How does this differ from enabling file sharing on your home PC? Ease of use? Storage size? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/24 "2014-07-10T12:45:29Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How does this differ from enabling file sharing on your home PC? Ease of use? Storage size? These devices typically consume less power than a PC and are designed to be on - and available - all the time and thus accessible to a bunch of different people and/or devices - dedicated to that task alone. You probably can do nearly any of the same things using a standard PC (essentially making it a bit more like a server), but then you have to leave it switched on - and when other people use data on it, this will compete with your own use of local machine resources and network bandwidth. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/25 "2014-07-10T13:10:15Z")
It looks like this device’s “cloud” capabilities is simply an app that syncs files from the drive to one’s existing cloud accounts, like DropBox, and does not provide the user any more cloud storage than he or she might already have. From this I conclude: 1. You only have cloud access to the subset of files you choose to sync, which is very likely a very small subset of 2TB, unless you have purchased 2TB of space from DropBox (or whatever cloud solution you use). 2. This is no different from using any 2TB external drive and simply using the software provided by the DropBox (or whomever) that syncs file from any drive. The coolest thing about this product, IMHO, is that it has a built-in DLNA/UPnP server, so media on it can be streamed to DLNA TVs and such. This has nothing to do with internet cloud storage, this is just media access within your home network. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/26 "2014-07-10T14:16:15Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That would be weird, because that would make it an entirely superfluous device. I suspect that was the reason the OP asked the question. He (and I based on his description) were picturing the My Cloud drive as an empty box that took up a hard drive enclosure and also came with an account on WD’s cloud server. Kind of like when you buy a Valve game and they give you a disk with nothing on it except a key to download the game off Steam. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/27 "2014-07-10T14:25:13Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That would be weird, because that would make it an entirely superfluous device. That would not stop someone from trying to sell it. In fact it seems like it’s kind of superfluous anyway. If I understand what it does, you don’t need specialized hardware to do it. The remote access functions are software, and any file server could be used for this if you have the right software. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/28 "2014-07-10T14:36:08Z")
People are willing to pay a premium for packages that allow you to do complex things relatively simply. You might as well say a combined washer-dryer is superfluous. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/29 "2014-07-10T14:51:47Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > These devices typically consume less power than a PC and are designed to be on - and available - all the time and thus accessible to a bunch of different people and/or devices - dedicated to that task alone. > > You probably can do nearly any of the same things using a standard PC (essentially making it a bit more like a server), but then you have to leave it switched on - and when other people use data on it, this will compete with your own use of local machine resources and network bandwidth. They’re not entirely plug in and forget; mine the software will crash every couple of weeks and needs to be reset, but they use a lot less power than leaving a computer turned on since they have just enough processing power to run the drive. I have a dual drive unit in mirrored RAID, but they can still be stolen, lost to fire, hacked, or just go nuts and write bogus data to both drives so I have a regular external hard drive that’s normally stored off-site. Besides backup the bulk of my media files are on it, I have small SSDs just for the operating systems on my computers. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/30 "2014-07-10T14:55:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > People are willing to pay a premium for packages that allow you to do complex things relatively simply. You might as well say a combined washer-dryer is superfluous. But are people even aware that they’re paying a premium for a simplification of something that could be done without this device? My impression is that the marketing is aimed at naive users who don’t realize that there’s nothing particularly unique about this device. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/31 "2014-07-10T15:04:29Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > I have a dual drive unit in mirrored RAID, but they can still be stolen, lost to fire, hacked, or just go nuts and write bogus data to both drives so I have a regular external hard drive that’s normally stored off-site. I think a couple of companies sell NAS boxes that are packaged in a fire safe. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/32 "2014-07-10T15:07:17Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > But are people even aware that they’re paying a premium for a simplification of something that could be done without this device? My impression is that the marketing is aimed at naive users who don’t realize that there’s nothing particularly unique about this device. I think you mean “naive users who couldn’t set up a home server arrangement on their own”. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/33 "2014-07-10T15:22:58Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > But are people even aware that they’re paying a premium for a simplification of something that could be done without this device? My impression is that the marketing is aimed at naive users who don’t realize that there’s nothing particularly unique about this device. Why are you so down on this device? It is an inexpensive low power small footprint network attached storage device. The my cloud devices seem to be the least expensive NAS devices on the market. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/34 "2014-07-10T15:23:47Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How does this differ from enabling file sharing on your home PC? Ease of use? Storage size? It enables you to remotely access files without having your PC powered up all the time and set it up to serve files upon remote request (especially if it’s important to be sure that it’s _your_ remote request and not just anybody). Me, I just carry a couple of thumb drives with anything I might need on the road. Simpler, cheaper, and it also serves as an extra file backup. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/35 "2014-07-10T17:07:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I suspect that was the reason the OP asked the question. He (and I based on his description) were picturing the My Cloud drive as an empty box that took up a hard drive enclosure and also came with an account on WD’s cloud server. > > Kind of like when you buy a Valve game and they give you a disk with nothing on it except a key to download the game off Steam. :mad: That is correct. He went to his manager and the BB Geek Squad guys and no seemed to know what was in the magic box. IIRC there’s nothing specific on the exterior of the retail box referencing that there is an actual hard drive in there. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/36 "2014-07-10T17:12:49Z")
In that case, Best Buy and Western Digital are doing a shitty job of training the sales force on the products they’re selling. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/37 "2014-07-10T17:25:48Z")
I purchased the same item, but a 4TB unit about 4 months ago. I digitized my entire dvd collection and was looking for an easy way to stream it to various devices within my home. That is essentially what this unit does - it has built in capabilities and software to act as a mini-server for a household. It was explained to me that the "cloud’ part is your own household “cloud” I agree with OP, they do a really poor job of explaining it on the box. I was lucky - I asked the sales guy in the electronics dept at Costco about it and he said he owned one himself and explained how he used it. It was exactly what I was looking for. I think I paid about $250 for the 4TB version Costco. As others have noted, for single flies etc it’s far easier to use a thumb drive, but when I want to watch a movie on the living room TV (which has a wifi connection built in) and my kid wants to watch a different movie on his ipad, and another kid on her laptop, this is perfect. I could use third party “cloud” storage, but we have a household plan that’s limited to 160 gb /month. so this seemed like a cheap solution. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/38 "2014-07-10T17:41:58Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > How does this differ from enabling file sharing on your home PC? Ease of use? Storage size? I think the primary use of the device is to simply provide 2TB of disk space. The other stuff is useful, but not the main point. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/39 "2014-07-10T18:07:32Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It enables you to remotely access files without having your PC powered up all the time and set it up to serve files upon remote request (especially if it’s important to be sure that it’s _your_ remote request and not just anybody). > > Me, I just carry a couple of thumb drives with anything I might need on the road. Simpler, cheaper, and it also serves as an extra file backup. It also allows you to share a physical drive which contains only files you wish to share, rather than relying on your permission assignments and Microsoft to prevent remote users from accessing files on your PC that you don’t want them to see, and you don’t have to worry about some exploit involving remote file sharing biting you. It’s an extra security layer allowing you to share files without making your PC vulnerable by having it handle the requests. ETA: Yeah, I carry a thumb drive around on my keychain too. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726/40 "2014-07-10T19:43:35Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > No, the marketing department calls it that because **CLOUD** is a huge tag cloud word these days. Doubt they even know what it means. There’s a startup in New York called MakeSpace that claims to provide [cloud storage for physical objects](https://www.makespace.com/). Really. “Cloud” is eventually going to be as widely misused as “HD” (for example, these as-seen-on-TV [HD sunglasses](http://www.amazon.com/Security-Chain-G-HDULTRAB-1-Vision-Sunglasses/dp/B002V04OKO)). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-this-ad-for-a-western-digitial-cloud-based-hard-drive-what-exactly-is-inside-this-drive/692726.md?page=3)