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# My (maybe terrible) NAS Setup
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/my-nas-setup/
- Published: 2021-07-31T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-08-25T17:05:36.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: meta, #Import 2023-06-01 22:41, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

There are some tech things where I want to buy the best, there are others where I want to get the best thing at a reasonable price, and there are other things where I just don’t care that much and just need *something.* A network attached storage (NAS) is something that falls into the last category for me. I don’t need something great, nor do I need something super fast, I just need a big ass hard drive I can access without plugging into my computer.

## My Use Case

My use case is pretty simple. I run a YouTube channel and I have a lot of video-related files I’d like to have backed up for later. These things include things like:

- Full-resolution video exports (aka no YouTube compression)
- Video project files
- Thumbnails
- Any other assets I may want one day

I had been saving these to a 1TB Samsung T5 portable SSD, which was great because it was super fast, but was inconvenient for a few key reasons.

1. I was running out of room (A Better Computer archives are north of 500GB).
2. It was easy to lose.
3. It needed to plug into my computer, which meant I needed to find it and then make sure I had a free port available (not a guarantee with a 2-port MacBook Air or 1-port iPad Pro.
4. I could only access the files if I had the drive physically on my person.

If I was going to solve these problems, a NAS had to help solve those problems.

## How a NAS Solves Those Problems

1. A NAS can have insane amounts of storage. In fact, a 1TB NAS would be pretty small by today’s standards.
2. A NAS is always plugged into the wall and router, so it’s always in the same spot.
3. A NAS is accessed via my home network, so no need for any physical connection.
4. A NAS usually offers an interface for accessing your files from any computer in the world.

## What I Got

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2021/07/mycloud.jpg)

You may be expecting a Synology something-or-other here, but remember, I don’t care that much about this, so I saved a bunch of money by getting a [Western Digital MyCloud EX2 Ultra](https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/network-attached-storage/wd-my-cloud-expert-series-ex2-ultra?ref=birchtree.me#WDBVBZ0000NCH-NESN) with 4TB of built in storage. I know, I know, I could do better, but this shows up as a network drive on my Mac, iPad, and Windows machine, and I can drag files to and from it without a problem, so it solves my problem.

I’m not opposed to nicer models (this one a few years old, too), but for about $300 I was able to get in the door and see if this actually fits with my workflows. If my YouTube career really takes off and I start to run into the storage limit again, then I will likely be in the market again and will consider something better, but this will do for now.

## My General Setup

![Aesthetic af, I know](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2021/07/60808337-821B-4FE7-A8E0-E8711A4F097B.jpeg)

Aesthetic af, I know

Update:

> Follow up: after feedback from numerous people, I have indeed switched my NAS to a RAID config that ensures I can lose a drive and not lose any data. In my defense, I did note my setup was "maybe terrible" 😂 [https://t.co/ve5FGbU9lh](https://t.co/ve5FGbU9lh?ref=birchtree.me)
> 
> — Matt Birchler (@mattbirchler) [August 25, 2021](https://twitter.com/mattbirchler/status/1430576771238408192?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=birchtree.me)

The MyCloud setup is pretty darn simple, and is basically 3 steps.

1. Plug the MyCloud into the wall for power.
2. Run the Ethernet cable from the MyCloud to a router (I’m using a Google Wifi satellite).
3. Go to [https://mycloud.com/setup](https://mycloud.com/setup?ref=birchtree.me) and walk through a quick setup UI.

I should make a video about this, but the setup didn’t take long, and it kinda “just worked” on all of my devices. My Mac and PC tower saw it as a network drive and I was able to connect to it immediately. My iPhone and iPad can add it, but I had to add it manually on them, but there’s also the [My Cloud OS 5](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/my-cloud-os-5/id1525641126?uo=4&at=10l8rH&ref=birchtree.me) app that integrates to the Files app and lets me see all of my files from anywhere in the world.

I’m not using this as a Plex server and I’m not planning on editing video from files stored on this drive, it’s exclusively an archive.

Oh, and I’m not replicating the data in a RAID format, so if I drive dies, my data goes with it. I know this is reckless, and some of you will be saying “that’s the whole point of a NAS!!!!” but I prefer the storage space for now.

## Performance and Stability

![The My Cloud web interface. Not pretty, but you don't spend much time here.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2021/07/DraggedImage.png)

The My Cloud web interface. Not pretty, but you don't spend much time here.

I’m less than a week in at this point, so take this with a grain of salt, but stability has been fine. the drives are always available when I need them, and I was able to move tens of thousands of files around with ease.

The web interface is a bit rough, but it’s not something I almost ever use after the initial setup. My interface for this device is the macOS Finder, Windows Explorer, and iOS Files app.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2021/07/DraggedImage-1.png)

And when I’m away from home, I can FTP into it or access everything from the Files app on my iPhone or iPad.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2021/07/83CD8FD6-0CE9-4AA0-847C-E80F90D8BF26.png)

In terms of performance, it’s not great, but it’s getting the job done for me. File transfer speeds are pretty abysmal by today’s standards, but I’m getting about 30-40MB/s to and from the device. These are not SSDs, and I think my router is actually a big bottleneck here, so I would not recommend these if speed is your main priority, but again, as an archive this is sufficient. It took the better part of a day to get all my files over there in the first place, but archiving or retrieving single projects has been just a couple minutes.

## Recommendation

I am in no position to review a NAS or give you any buying advice. As such, I hope this post was somewhat helpful for people who have never used a NAS to get an idea of how it can fit into a workflow. Is the Western Digital MyCloud EX2 Ultra right for you? Maybe!

If I was looking for something that I could use to put all my media files and edit those files in Final Cut, then this would not cut it, but that’s not my use case. For use as a long term archive, it works well enough for me now. I do expect in a few years I’ll get the itch to upgrade to something more substantial, but let’s leave that for another day.