WD My Cloud Home Duo
High-capacity storage in a convenient package
The My Cloud Home Duo houses a pair of hard drives in a relatively compact package, with capacities ranging from 4TB to a huge 16TB. The Duo is configured as RAID1 by default, which cuts storage in half but offers data protection when one drive fails; you can also reformat and trade security for maximum storage capacity. The unit gets a bit noisy during read/write activity, so you’ll want to place it away from your desk.
It takes only a few minutes to set up, and with WD Discovery for macOS installed, mounts on the desktop like other volumes. There’s a mobile app for automatic backup of photos and videos or viewing content from anywhere, but the lack of native iPad support is a disappointment.
Transfer rates are good: around 90MB/s read and 60MB/s write, making the drive fast enough to play 1080p HD video. Handy when using the Plex Media Server app, which streams content to devices without a WD app, such as Apple TV. WD My Cloud Home Duo delivers spacious, secure storage for the home, with good support for devices.
There’s also an app for connecting cloud storage services and social networks, which syncs files to your personal cloud, and there’s IFTTT support to enable you to incorporate the drive into other workflows.
£629 (16TB) FROM Western Digital, wdc.com FEATURES Storage from 4TB to 16TB, 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, companion iOS app