Testing and Conclusion
We tested the EX4 on several levels including the following:
- Configuration and Options
- Network connectivity and Speed
- Backups, Failures, and Recovery
- Configuration and Options
We were very impressed with not only the layout and options available on the EX4, but also with how well they worked. We tested external drives as well as all ports with success and the speed of the UI was very good. Ease of access is paramount here and clearly a design element from the start. The EX4 comes in a trayless design so no screws to mess with when installing drives and the unit is virtually silent. The front LCD lends itself to both monitoring as well as actually being very informative during the start up process. If you leave the unit in DHCP mode then the LCD will help you identify the IP address with the push of a button.
In terms of software the EX4 comes with about every option you could want for a storage device and lends itself well to both home users and small to medium sized businesses. As we mentioned the layout of menu’s is excellent and superior in the market.
- Network Connectivity
We tested every one of the network options for the EX4, both stand alone and in LAG (link aggregation) and they all worked flawlessly. The EX4 didn’t skip a beat when in the middle of a transfer we yanked a cable from the back simulating a bad port when Active Backup is selected (Default). Speed was acceptable for Gigabit Ethernet and slightly enhanced when using 802.3ad for LAG.
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| Speed when using Active Backup LAG | Speed when using 802.3ad | Speed accessing files from the EX4 |
- Backups, Failure, and Recovery
We tested the EX4’s ability to handle failure as well and popped a drive out in mid transfer. The EX4 continued along although we did get a message about the unit going into a degraded status. When we popped the drive back in the unit went into automatic rebuild (as per our configuration). Additionally we tested network failure and file recovery. Both times the EX4 passed without issues. The system recovery utility is built into the EX4’s menu system and allows you to save and export the system configuration of the EX4 in case you mess a setting up or need to reconfigure to an earlier date.
Conclusion
Without a doubt the EX4 is one of the finest if not the finest storage device to be tested by TechwareLabs in quite some time. We were impressed with its build quality, features, software, price and usefulness. The EX4 is available at a sub $400 price point and is compatible with a wide array of other manufacturers hard drives. See WDC’s full EX4 website for a listing. Given the excellent UI layout, superior feature set, and ease of use we are happy to award the WDC My Cloud EX4 Personal Storage System our Editors Choice Award.
Hi Jason
Thanks for the great review of the WD MyCloud EX4. I had a similar type of system I purchased years ago called the LaCie 5Big. It had 5, 1.5TB hot swappable drives with auto backup, Raid, etc,. It worked great for years until it experienced it’s first power failure during a local storm. Upon power up it went through a rebuild mode which ended up corrupting all the data. After a very expensive data recovery I reloaded the unit, ran the system again and tested a simulated power outage. Same result. LaCie tech support had no solution other than to suggest a UPS and to do a controlled power down in the event of an outage. I did have a UPS connected but once it runs out in the middle of the night, unmanned, the resulting failure scenario remains.
I know you did a network failure test but did you happen to do a simulated power outage test on the WD EX4?
Martin