Western Digital has built a strong reputation for themselves by consistently delivering products that compete with, or excel past, other competitors in the computing market. With a very strong name built on the personal storage and network attached storage market, their newest My Book World Edition II is no exception to Western Digital quality. With all the features you expect from a NAS device, and then some, the My Book is a very solid choice for someone looking to pick up a substantial amount of space for cheap with a reputable name and brand attached to the product. Reliability means peace of mind.
Ease of Use
Like all other network attached storage devices, the WD My Book performs all of the same storage functions you would come to expect of a hard drive attached to your network. Where Western Digital steps up their game in the NAS world is by offering an easy to setup and use backup system in which the device automatically backs up all of the computers connected to the network. This means that you can truly have a set it and leave it device that protects and backs up all of your data even if you don’t remember to.
In an additional note to the ease of use of the device, straight out of the box the My Book World Edition II is simple to get going. In most cases, the device will work simply as a plug and play device, automatically recognized by all of the computers on your network. Obviously, further tweaking can be done to assign specific IP addresses and network information to the device, but for those that want a no fuss setup to simply back up their files or serve files out as a central media hub, the My Book is great and extremely easy to get going.
Not So Great
Unfortunately, every great device always seems to have a drawback. The WD My Book World Edition II is no exception. While Western Digital advertises the My Book as having the ability to transfer media files and data across the network at up to gigabit speeds, that simply isn’t the case. They may have put in a gigabit capable network card within the device, but the processor within the WD just simply doesn’t have the punch necessary for delivering files at a speedy rate. You may be asking yourself, “but isn’t that the case for all network related devices?” Yes and no. Most other NAS devices slow down because of a slow network card, not because of a slower processor.
In the case of the My Book, the processor speed is just fast enough to manage an average of about 10MB/s (megabytes per second), which is plenty fast if you’re simply accessing files from time to time, but an initial backup to the device’s internal 2TB hard drive may take you a few hours to finish.
In Summary
Overall, the Western Digital My Book World Edition II is a solid device that has plenty of space for even the most diehard media collectors. Although the device may be a little slow across the network, the speeds aren’t crippling and if you’re willing to wait a little longer, you should have no qualms with the device speed. Easy set up is great for those not looking to have any fuss and just have something that works straight out of the box with a reliable name. The Western Digital is just that.
Buying Choices
Western Digital My Book World Edition II 2 TB (2 x 1 TB)
Western Digital My Book World Edition II 4 TB (2 x 2 TB)
Western Digital My Book World Edition II 6 TB (2 x 3 TB)
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