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Sunday, June 26, 2022
I've previously owned two Western Digital MyCloud NAS storage devices. Their hours-and-hours, and even days-and-days of HDD clicking activity annoyed me because, in my opinion, they were wasting energy due to bad software or hardware engineering choices. In comparison, my new QNAP TS-233, which is also a RAID device like the MyClouds, spins down after a period of no user-activity--I can hear its hard drive spin up and take a few seconds for the Qnap to come back online at my PC.
This "spin down" means that you don't have to install the much-more-expensive specially made NAS hard drives that are designed to be spinning 24/7. I've experimentally installed three different hard drives in my Qnap. The first was the expensive Western Digital 2-Terrabyte NAS hard drive that came with my second Western Digital MyCloud--my first My Cloud only lasted about a year and a half so I threw the whole thing away. The second drive I installed was a less-expensive Western Digital Blue drive as the 2nd drive in my Qnap 2-drive RAID configuration. It's installation after the first drive was online for several months, was a snap! It was easy to install and configure using the Qnap user web page.
When I became convinced that my QNAP TS-233 would be my way to go for serious network storage, I bought and installed a Seagate 8-Terrabyte Barracuda drive, and it is working just fine. My 2-Terrabyte drive is sitting along side, and I can switch them out, anytime I like, just like that!
So to sum up, in my opinion, the "spin down" of my Qnap hard drive after a short period of user inactivity saves energy and prolongs the hard drive's usable life, making the purchase of the more-expensive specially made NAS drives unnecessary. The "spin down" also lets me know that my network storage RAID device is not needlessly wasting energy--that it was designed, built, and programmed better than my Western Digital MyClouds.
By the way, after gutting my second MyCLoud of its hard drive, I threw the rest away. It was always warm to the touch, because it was always wasting energy, so it had to go, for the last time! And that's too bad because I've always held a high regard for the Western Digital brand. So let me say that they just 'blew it in terms of the MyClouds.
To be fair, let me add that my network storage device is for my home use. If I had needed a 24/7 network storage device, such as for serving an online business of some kind, or for something like that, then I cannot say how my Qnap would compare to a Western Digital MyCLoud in terms of 24/7 reliability. Only my comments about "energy saving" and "temperature" would fairly apply--higher temperatures should translate to lower usable lives, both for the hard drives and for the CPU and motherboards. But, again, those are my opinions.
I hope that my review will add to your knowledge in order to help you make the right buying decision for your network storage needs. It fits well with our furniture setup.
I like it It fits well with our furniture setup.
