Qnap versus WD Cloud

My WD My Cloud works fine for me with Plex providing UPnP services.

I understand it's not the fastest for file transfers but is quite acceptable as you have probably found with yours. Unless you wish to run Asset UPnP or something else then save your money to spend on music.

Please tell me what Asset and Plex are and what they do

Asset and Plex are applications that run on the NAS allowing it to serve files to your streamer. You'll need log on to your WD to install Plex - it's in the App tab on the AD control panel.

Thank you

The two standard recommendations to play your music files into a Naim streamer are either a Synology NAS running Minimserver, or a QNAP running Asset. These NAS devices are great for storing music files, or any other digital stuff, but they need UPnP server software installed on them in order to make the music files usable with a streamer. I'm not convinced that there is any need to buy anything more than the most basic QNAP NAS, as serving music files is not very demanding. Once you have transferred your music collection to a NAS, your MyCloud will be an ideal NAS for backup duties.

Guinnless posted:

Asset and Plex are applications that run on the NAS allowing it to serve files to your streamer. You'll need log on to your WD to install Plex - it's in the App tab on the AD control panel.

It may depend on the WD My Cloud version - I've got a 4TB version which runs the somewhat lame Twonky media server - I don't think I can install Asset or Plex.

I have WD NAS drives as back-ups but when I’ve tried using them as music sources, I’ve found the built in Twonky media server does not present the artist/album/tracks/composers etc nicely.

my QNAP with Assett Server installed makes browsing finding and selecting my music much simpler and logical.

i far prefer QNAP for storing my music and have relegated my WD drives to back-up services.

blythe posted:

I have WD NAS drives as back-ups but when I’ve tried using them as music sources, I’ve found the built in Twonky media server does not present the artist/album/tracks/composers etc nicely.

my QNAP with Assett Server installed makes browsing finding and selecting my music much simpler and logical.

i far prefer QNAP for storing my music and have relegated my WD drives to back-up services.

Mine has Plex not Twonky; mine is relatively new so maybe WD switched UPnP server software. I've no experience of Asset.

I use both WDMyCloud 2 x 4Tb Plus 2 X 4Tb USB Drives Plugged into both WD as backups. I use Asset on a separate headless solid state PC i use the QNAP for Archiving as couldn't get it to work with other non QNAP Network Drives so far about 5Tb of stored music.

I find Asset the most reliable for me and never have any issues with it.

Thank you for all your replies. I currently use an NDS and transferred files from an HDX to my WD MY CLOUD BT the NDS does not “see” the files. I came across TWONKY when I was trying to solve it but didn’t even know what it was!

IMHO Your Network Storage and Backup regime is critical in enjoying your digital media so would strongly recommend having a plan and make use of all the great advice here.

Thank you but I am not literate in the technical issues which are at the finger tips of many forum users. That’s one reason I am on the forum - to learn. I suspect there are many Naim users out there like me. The experts on the forum are generous in their time and expertise for which people like me are grateful 

Guinnless posted:

blythe posted:

I have WD NAS drives as back-ups but when I’ve tried using them as music sources, I’ve found the built in Twonky media server does not present the artist/album/tracks/composers etc nicely.

my QNAP with Assett Server installed makes browsing finding and selecting my music much simpler and logical.

i far prefer QNAP for storing my music and have relegated my WD drives to back-up services.

Mine has Plex not Twonky; mine is relatively new so maybe WD switched UPnP server software. I've no experience of Asset.

They've had these My Cloud devices for several years with a few different versions/similar products trying to appeal to people who are enticed to 'the cloud', whereas most of us I think just want solid LAN based services on the whole.  One of mine was used for Mac Time Machine backups but this failed and the archive is useless, fortunately I manually clone drives from time to time.

I have a couple of older ones with Twonky - they're not as bad as people make out, but could be better, but as ever I think the smaller specialist like Qnap/Synology companies make better products.

Suspect you have one of these, which I nearly bought until I saw Amazon reviews, so actually good to hear it's working well for you - the ability to run apps/services on it seems a step forwards for those who might want to:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-TB...Bmy%2Bcloud&th=1

In general the more automation, ease of use and functionality you require the more it costs.

I have no issues ripping CDs and managing file systems (UNIX is my daily bread) but for others a UnitiCore might be a better option.  I suspect most people have got Qnap/Synology devices that are suitable for a broad range of people but my 'cheap' NAS works fine for me.

The OP needs to do a bit of googling to decide which way he wishes to go.  And pop back here for any advice

I've just bought a Qnap to replace my WD my cloud

Have to say the Qnap is an arse to set up compared to the WD ...which was easy ...even for a computer ludite like me

Also twonky works well for naming files ... with just a little thought on your part

Japtimscarlet posted:

I've just bought a Qnap to replace my WD my cloud

Have to say the Qnap is an arse to set up compared to the WD ...which was easy ...even for a computer ludite like me

Also twonky works well for naming files ... with just a little thought on your part

 

 

I think a lot of issues I've had with Twonky stem from poor metadata in Qobuz purchases, whereas my own rips with dBpoweramp seem much better.

I have just installed Plex on the WD CLOUD - it is whirring away, hopefully making the files accessible. I have just listened to the Oddgeir trio through the NDS. Superb. When the ND555 brings in part-exchanges of the NDS there will be some real bargains out there. It is a fantastic machine 

My 2 cents would be that a QNAP NAS running Asset would be the way to go. The QNAP hardware is excellent, whilst its proprietary QTS operating system offers a much greater range of apps than the WD NAS devices, for those that want to explore other functions than using the NAS purely as a music server. The WD NAS devices are OK as far as they go - the WD My Book Pro (top end hardware) is actually decent (I use a WD RAID DAS device which has been rock solid), but it is only easier to set up because it's nowhere near as versatile. But as I said earlier, if all you want is a music server, with a bit of Plex for movies, it isn't too shabby - won't run Asset though... 

m.paul taylor posted:

I have just installed Plex on the WD CLOUD - it is whirring away, hopefully making the files accessible. I have just listened to the Oddgeir trio through the NDS. Superb. When the ND555 brings in part-exchanges of the NDS there will be some real bargains out there. It is a fantastic machine 

Glad you are up and running ☺

Thanks for all your support - I am getting better! Slowly!

Is it possible to use a WD Cloud for a Unity Core since no UPNP then is mandatory???
Will the Core "see" the WD Cloud?

Thorsten_L posted:

Is it possible to use a WD Cloud for a Unity Core since no UPNP then is mandatory???
Will the Core "see" the WD Cloud?

 

 

For backups you mean?

Thorsten_L posted:

Is it possible to use a WD Cloud for a Unity Core since no UPNP then is mandatory???
Will the Core "see" the WD Cloud?

 

 

You could use the WD as a network share so that the Core sees it on your network. It will then play its music files in the same way as it does from its internal storage, either over UPnP or SPDIF. 

Thank you.

I would use it as a network share to just "send" music to the Core...not really inspired to dive in the NAS world.

I have a 2 TB SSD in the Core and backup on an external 2 TB HDD.

I used to run a Synology NAS running its own Media Server. It worked fine but was getting a little old and I was rather spooked that I had drives which were at greater risk of failure than I could put up with.

I now have QNAP 253a with 8GB memory (with 2 x WD Red drives) running Asset. I would like to say I researched all this myself at great length, but the reality is that I stood on the shoulders of giants (hat tip in particular to [@mention:36201736971392588] & [@mention:4804681823084713]) here on the forum and bought what they recommended. [@mention:44366773372132405] kindly sent me some screenshots to show me the optimal QNAP settings. It all works really well and I would definitely recommend this setup.

I then back up roughly monthly to 2 separate portable drives. I could take the time to learn - or ask the forum - how to use QNAP's own incremental backup USB system, but instead I use MS Synctoy, which backs up what's new since the last backup.