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Add to SafariWhen comparing Apple AirPort Time Capsule 2TB vs Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra, the Slant community recommends Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra for most people. In the question“What are the best NAS enclosures under $300?” Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra is ranked 3rd while Apple AirPort Time Capsule 2TB is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra is:
At $159, this two-bay NAS device offers great value. It's virtually impossible to find another solution close to this price with such a good performance.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro An Apple a day...
This is the perfect solution if you are a heavy Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV user. Store movies, music, backups, and more using Time Machine. Access all of that information just as simply, using the built in software for Mac. It really is a calming feeling when all of your tech just talks to each other without you having to go through extra effort.
Pro Its a time capsule
The software is set up to integrate more transparently with Apple's Time Capsule features of MacOS and iOS, reducing some of the setup needed for a non-Apple brand NAS.
Pro Very affordable for a two-bay device
At $159, this two-bay NAS device offers great value. It's virtually impossible to find another solution close to this price with such a good performance.
Pro More than capable of managing typical home use
This two-bay unit has a 1.3GHz dual-core Marvell CPU and 1GB of DDR3 RAM. This is more than enough for typical home use, such as web browsing or movie watching. Media transcoding also works great with this device - Full HD videos have a nice and smooth playback.
Pro Simple set-up process
Setting up this NAS is as straightforward as it can get. You can get it running within a couple of minutes, even if you have no previous experience. Inserting the hard disks, plugging it in and filling out a form on mycloud.com is all that it takes.
Pro Save money by choosing one of the pre-populated versions
You can buy this device pre populated with Western Digital hard drives. You can choose between 4TB, 8TB, 12TB or 16TB storage space. This options is more convenient and cheaper than purchasing the hard drives separately.
Pro Users can choose between safety and storage maximization
This unit has two hard disk bays which can support RAID0 and RAID1 configurations. This gives you the choice of maximizing available storage, or halving your storage space in exchange for single-drive failure security.
Cons
Con Combining multiple needs increases impact during a failure
With both router and backup / NAS in one device, if either part fails you risk losing both services. I had one and had the hard drive fail, which would have meant losing my wireless service while it was out to be repaired, so in the end I lost my backup / central network share capability.
Con Cross compatibility issues with PCs
Apple is notorious for not allowing easy cross compatibility with PC's. That doesn't stop you from connecting your PC to it, you just have to go through some extra steps.
Con Lack of storage
Not much a way of upgrade options. Unless you are savvy and willing to forgo a manufacturers warranty, then the sky is the limit.
Con No offline storage or data migration via USB
Most NAS units typically come with USB ports for connecting storage. However, this unit does not offer USB connectivity, which would have been useful for offline storage or data migration.
Con Official documentation is incomplete and unclear
Key aspects such as power consumption or read/write speeds are not available on the official documentation. On top of that, the list of features is unclear and not explained well.
Con Not as many third-party apps as those found for more well established NAS brands
Western Digital is quite new to the NAS market, so it doesn’t have as many third party applications as other brands. Key applications like Plex Media Server, ARCUS and Dropbox are supported, but you may want to check app availability first before buying this unit.
