WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra without HDD

The WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra is a compact two-drive NAS with a minimalist design. The model is available both in a “bare” basic configuration without an HDD, and in versions with WD RED drives of various sizes (up to 16 TB).

Minimalistic design

The NAS server is made in a neutral and strict guise without any superfluous. On the “facade” of its case, only indicator lights are visible, the connection ports are located at the back : gigabit LAN, two USB 3.0 connectors and that’s it (except for the power connector). For some reason, the model was not even equipped with a power off button, although the corresponding indication is provided.

Hardware

Slots for two HDDs are "under cover" of the top perforated cover. Between them is a board on which a dual-core 1.3 GHz Marvell ARMADA 385 processor, 1 GB of DDR3 RAM and 256 MB of flash memory are soldered. The power consumption of the chip is claimed at the level of 5 W. This can justify the lack of a shutdown button — with such a low energy consumption, it simply does not make sense to turn off the device.

Options package

The menu interface of the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra drive opens in a browser. The desktop provides information about the operating mode of the NAS server, displays disk space usage statistics, the status of hardware sensors, the current network, processor and RAM load, etc. The user has the right to flexibly configure remote access to the storage, distribute individual access rights, use additional modules for his personal requests. It is this package of options that is required from a good NAS server for the home.