WD unveiled the Wireless Pro Wi-Fi and My Cloud Pro, which are the latest additions to its NAS Pro Series. The company ties the NAS products into the cloud with its My Cloud mobile app (iOS and Android), which allows users to edit, share and stream content. The app is also compatible with the Adobe Creative Cloud and Plex Media Server.
WD is the fastest-growing NAS vendor for a few reasons, such as its "finished" NAS products that come with the drives already installed. The company also offers a simplistic GUI as well as management features that are easy for normal consumers to use, as opposed to the somewhat intimidating management GUIs found with some NAS vendors. WD has a significant presence in traditional brick and mortar stores, such as Best Buy and Walmart, and it can be aggressive on the pricing front because it makes its own hard drives.
My Passport Wireless Pro
The svelte Wireless Pro allows you to connect via Wi-Fi (up to 802.11ac) and backup and transfer files from up to eight connected devices simultaneously. Up to four users can also stream content directly from the mobile device (albeit without transcoding), and it features up to 10 hours of battery life (under the best circumstances, of course). You can also charge other devices from the integrated 6,400 mAh battery, but this will reduce the Pro's battery life.
You can also use a direct USB 3.0 connection to transfer files quickly, and the device houses a USB 2.0 port and an SD 3.0 memory card reader. The 0.9 x 5.0 x 5.0-inch device houses a 2.5" WD Blue HDD in either 2 TB or 3 TB capacities. The lightweight device weighs only one pound.
The 3 TB Wireless Pro retails for $229.99, and the 2 TB model is selling for $199.99 and includes a two-year warranty.
My Cloud Pro Series NAS
The Pro Series NAS provides up to 32 TB of storage. The 1.6 GHz quad-core Intel Pentium N3710 with the Braswell SoC powers both models and is much faster at transcoding (due to Intel's Quick Sync technology) than the ARM-based Marvell processors that WD employed in the past. Both models come with 4 GB of DDR3L RAM, use the My Cloud OS, and are designed to work with the Plex media server.
The two-bay My Cloud PR2100 NAS is available without drives, or populated with 4, 8, 12 or 16 TB of storage. The four-bay My Cloud PR4100 is also available without drives, or with 8, 16, 24 or 32 TB of capacity.
The Pro Series NAS units are available on Amazon.com, B&H and the WD Store. The PR2100 is retailing for $399.00 without drives, and up to $899.99 with 16 TB of capacity. The PR4100 weighs in at $499.99 without drives, and up to $1,649.99 with 32 TB of capacity.
The WD site indicates the My Cloud Pro Series will be in stock on June 27, 2016. The diskless variants feature a two-year warranty, whereas the populated models come with a three-year warranty.
Paul Alcorn is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Storage. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.
