If both devices are equipped with the same hardware and use the same software, then it would work. However, I would recommend a Synology NAS as a replacement for the WD solution if possible, because with Synology you get a better equipped NAS solution and also longer support.
@Falabella From a purely theoretical point of view, it would work because the connection is the same, but we wouldn't recommend it because of the different bay sizes alone and also because the SSDs wouldn't be as durable in a raid.
Hello,
You can install a maximum of 2 x 20 TB disks (total 40 TB), but be careful about the power supply, you need to buy one with a minimum of 48W, from 16 TB upwards (2× 8TB).
Yes, the Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra is compatible with WD Red WD20EFRX SATA drives. These drives are specifically designed for NAS applications and are listed in Western Digital's compatibility list for the My Cloud EX2 Ultra.
The HDDs go into a sleep mode, the time can be set. In my case, they achieve a maximum of 69 MB/s, USB 3.0 is faster. So if you don't want to stream to TV over the network, I'd recommend an enclosure with USB 3.0.
Can clear. As long as the dimensions are right, this is not a problem. However, it is usually advisable to use WD Red, as these are designed for continuous operation (less RPM -> longer life, etc.).
Fun Fact: Apparently you can even mix Black and Green https://community.wd.com/t/things-you-want-to-know-about-the-ex2-but-nobody-had-the-answers-until-now/221314
Yes, you can buy the empty NAS device, the Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra (0 TB), and equip it with two 4TB WD Red NAS hard drives.
Here are the key points to consider:
- Compatibility of the hard drives: The My Cloud EX2 Ultra is compatible with WD Red NAS hard drives, so you can use two 4TB WD Red drives.
- Installation and formatting: The My Cloud EX2 Ultra has tool-less, tray-less drive bays, which means that you simply plug in the hard drives and do not have to mount them additionally. After installation, you must format the hard drives, which is easy to do using the NAS device's user interface.
- Firmware: The firmware of the NAS device is already pre-installed. All you have to do is connect the device to your network and configure it via the web interface or the My Cloud app.
You can then buy the empty NAS device, plug in the WD Red hard drives, format them and get started. The entire configuration is relatively simple and user-friendly.
I think the best solution would be to buy the exact same My Cloud Home Duo. However, it could of course work if the WD My Clout EX2 Ultra simply recognises the disks and can use them. However, it could well not work either. The My Cloud Home Duo hardware uses a Realtek RTD1296 CPU with four 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 cores and a total of 1 GByte DDR4 RAM.
However, the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra has a completely different Armada 385 (SoC - 1.33GHz) Dual Core CPU. I know from other manufacturers that a direct transfer from one hardware to another is only supported if the CPUs are more or less identical. I think the best thing to do is to buy another My Cloud Home Duo and try to get the data back.
What I can highly recommend is a backup concept that supports the 3-2-1 rule. Three copies on two devices and one copy in another location.
A lot of people think oh I have RAID, it's all good, but RAID is not a backup. It's hardware failure protection. The best solution would really be to keep three copies of the data, also a consideration would be to switch to another NAS provider, QNAP devices are cheaper but also more complicated, Synology devices are a bit more expensive but also easier to use. With WD you have good hard drives, but usually the support at WD is not comparable with Synology or QNAP. If the data can also be copied back from another medium (not only available on the Duo disks), then I would suggest the following: Buy a Synology DS420+ or DS418, put the two disks from the Duo into the Synology NAS (4 drive bays because it is cheaper to expand) and then copy the data from the other medium to the Synology NAS and then dispose of the Duo enclosure. Good luck saving the data.
Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what exactly you mean by NAS firmware. If you mean the software with which this NAS runs, it does not have to be installed on the hard disks. You can buy normal hard disks without special requirements and install them in this NAS.
If the NAS is only running for a few hours at a time and is completely switched off when not in use, then in principle you can use any hard disk. If the NAS is to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hard disks that are optimised for continuous operation in NAS are recommended. These would be, for example, Seagate Ironwolf or WD Red hard drives.
Have a look at the manual for this NAS http://products.wdc.com/library/UM/DEU/4779-705148.pdf
