[TriLUG] WD MyCloud NAS Details

[Robert Dale]

So what you're saying is that at any given time WD has access to all
of my data remotely without my permission or knowledge?

On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 4:13 PM, Maxwell Spangler
<maxlists at maxwellspangler.com> wrote:
>
> Recently I helped a friend buy a NAS for her home and this weekend I got
> a chance to go exploring.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-3TB-Personal-Storage-WDBCTL0030HWT-NESN/dp/B00EVVGAC6
>
> The WD MyCloud 3TB is a consumer-grade, home-oriented NAS that consists
> of a plastic chassis, embedded computer running Linux and a single WD
> RED drive for storage.
>
> The physical case is about the same size as a large external enclosure.
> It's small, low-power, and quiet.
>
> The use of the WD RED drive helped me recommend this product to her as
> I've got 8 in production and like the a lot.  They're low-power, quiet,
> high-capacity, dense-capacity and fast when it comes to large streamed
> reads or writes (like ISOs, movie files, etc.)
>
> The embedded computer is a dual core 1.3Ghz ARMv7 processor with 256MB
> of RAM and a single gigabit ethernet port.  It has a USB 3.0 expansion
> port for more storage.
>
> The software environment is Debian Linux 7.0 for ARM.  From my brief
> look around it appears to be about 1/3 stock Linux components just doing
> their job, 1/3 Linux components configured by WD for product-oriented
> operation and 1/3 proprietary software that differentiates the WD
> MyCloud from other commercial NAS units and a Linux NAS unit I might
> build on my own.
>
> It has a nice, user-friendly web administration screen that lets one
> monitor it, configure users, configure shares and enable/disable various
> services including ssh.
>
> Every time a vendor ships something with Linux and lets me ssh into it I
> smile.  Mainstream products running Linux using Open Source and Free
> Software represent the hard work, patience and determination of the
> whole community working for 20+ years to push a rock up a hill.  Welcome
> to the top of the hill.
>
> Here are some observation during a little light exploring:
>
> * Apache for the web access
>
> * Samba for CIFS file sharing
>
> * Software RAID to mirror two 2G partitions, presumably the Linux OS.
>
> * NFS likely present but not supported by WD.   This would be nice in a
> Linux engineer's environment.
>
> * Ext4 for the storage file systems.
>
> * sar is present so I can monitor CPU use
>
> * dpkg used for packaging instead of anything proprietary
>
> * iptables present for firewall
>
> * Even vim present? that's nice of them.
>
> * Twonky DLNA media server
>
> * Apple-compatible DAAP server for iTunes Server
>
> * afpd for Netatalk / Apple File Protocol.
>
> * Smartd installed but no explicit configuration present
>
> * OpenVPN installed for connection to WD for remote access
>
> With ssh access and your Linux engineering abilities, this is quite an
> opportunity to make the box do what you want it to do.
>
> One of the things I found compelling about this device is WD's support
> for remote access.  Based on what I saw with OpenVPN, it looks like WD
> sets up a VPN link to their computers by reaching out from the MyCloud
> to WD.  You can then use software on Mac, Windows, Android and iPhone to
> connect with WD's servers and, presumably, reaching through that VPN
> have access to the data on your MyCloud from home.
>
> This feature, which I didn't expect to find, turned out to be a key
> "want" from my friend after she learned about it.  It only makes sense:
> she wants to use storage on this device like her own personal DropBox.
> While any kind of opening to remote access invites more than zero
> opportunity for intrusion, I think WD has done a good job putting
> something in place that's secure enough and gives users what they want.
>
> I didn't benchmark the box, but from what I saw, she was able to copy
> files at a speed satisfying to her experience and meeting numbers which
> looked similar to what I get on my home brew Linux servers.
>
> Overall, I really like this box.  At $179, It's $46 more than just
> buying the 3TB WD drive alone.  For that $46 you get an external
> enclosure, embedded computer and a configured Linux environment with
> some really good features.  I can't build something cheaper or build and
> configure something faster than just buying and configuring one of
> these.
>
> I'd actually buy two: a primary and a backup.  That single NAS drive is
> going to fail at some point and it'd be nice to have a second one with
> everything I need at a price for both at less than $400.
>
> Hope this helps someone!
>
> Disclaimer: I don't get anything from anybody for posting this.
>
>
>
> --
> Maxwell Spangler
> ========================================================================
> Linux & Open Source Systems Engineer
> Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
> http://www.maxwellspangler.com/
> --
> This message was sent to: Robert Dale <robdale at gmail.com>
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-- 
Robert Dale