WD's My Book Mirror Edition simplifies redundant storage

That sound you hear is Western Digital grabbing hold of an udder and not letting go as it continues to milk the My Book brand for every penny it's worth. Today, the outfit is introducing a new line of dual-drive units that come ready to mirror whatever information you shove on 'em. The RAID-based Mirror Edition drives tout USB 2.0 connectivity, RAID 1/0 support, a fanless design, user serviceable enclosure, a capacity gauge and intelligent drive management features including automatic power-up and Safe Shutdown. The external HDDs arrive in RAID 1 (mirrored) mode -- which creates automatic duplicates of your files in case one drive fails -- but RAID 0 (striped) can be configured during setup. Stack your My Book collection even higher right now for $289.99 (1TB) / $549.99 (2TB).

[blomster @ Jun 18th 2008 10:42AM]

Udder.

[Dan S. @ Jun 18th 2008 10:43AM]

Utter?

Did you mean 'udder,' or 'otter'? I'll let you figure out which makes more sense -- both produce milk.

[JohnnyGTO @ Jun 18th 2008 11:06AM]

I believe he was referencing the production and delivery system ie. udder rather then a milk producing mammal known as an otter. While both do have something to due with milk I find using it in relation to the otter rather a confusing and disturbing image.

[Dan S. @ Jun 18th 2008 11:45AM]

I was trying to be funny. Obviously 'udder' was what he was striving for... though 'teat' is more the correct term, as the udder is the entire mammary, and as any farmer can tell you, squeezing one like a bag pipe won't get you any milk, but it will get you an angry cow.

[Kamokazi @ Jun 18th 2008 10:47AM]

This is gonna piss people off....unless they have some crazy HDD prices, it looks to me like the 1TB will be 2x500GB and 2TB will be 2x1TB drives...and out of the box it's configured with RAID 1.

I can see it now: Joe Consumer comes home from Best Buy, and is infuritated that his shiny new porn drive only has half the storage it advertised, and promptly returns to the store to chew out some return counter drone that has no clue.

I really hope you mark the packaging right, for your sake, WD...

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 18th 2008 11:02AM]

I think thats how its going to go, simple becuase you couldn't configure two 2TB drives to run in RAID1, as USB has a 2TB volume limit.

But if you look on Westerns site at the drive it's about as clear as mud.

[Kamokazi @ Jun 18th 2008 11:20AM]

I don't think USB has a 2TB limit (I wouldn't think the USB spec would affect volume size)...but a lot of RAID controllers do. I could be wrong and it's both, but I would be leaning toward it just being a raid controller on a specific device that lead to that conclusion.

Also, something we both overlooked...the biggest single drive is 1TB, so 2TB redundant would require a RAID5 of 3 1TB drives...

[Ed @ Jun 18th 2008 11:22AM]

... especially because the largest hard drives are currently 1TB each.

@BuddyBoy,
I think you're thinking of fat32, not USB. USB isn't a filesystem. Fat32 has a volume limit of 8TB

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 18th 2008 11:41AM]

I can't remember where I first found out about the limit but I know drive encllsures such as the Drobo which can take more the 2TB or storage automatically make a second volume at 2TB to get around this.

This was given as the same reason our dual firewire and eSata enclosure stopped working via firewire when we upgraded our drives.

It's not common knowledge but trust me there is a limit.

[happy_penguin @ Jun 18th 2008 11:56AM]

Pissed off why? WD's site. It says "up to". It should totally be understood that "up to" and the size of the drive unit means configured at max capacity. Mirroring drives always means the max capacity of one of them. Nothing wrong here.

[GrizzlyAdams @ Jun 18th 2008 12:23PM]

BuddyBoy, that limit is imposed by the firmware in your drive enclosure, or the ancient version of windows you are running. Whoever told you it was a limitation of the Bus/Protocol was flat out lying.
for PATA and (e)SATA, the limit is 144 PB
for SCSI, the limit is 8 ZB
USB (Mass Storage Class) and Firewire (Serial Bus Protocol 2) are limited by the underlying physical interface to the drives, as they each can use atleast 64bits of address.

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 18th 2008 1:11PM]

Yup Vista = ancient. So does Mac OS X 10.5

If its a firmware issue then why do modern enclosures such as the Drobo only support 2TB volume limits? It doesn't make sense to advertise that your enclosure can handle five 1TB drives but write firmware to limit the volumes to 2TB.

I'm not saying your wrong, just I find it hard to believe that all enclosure manufacturers purposely limit their products through badly written firmware.

[Kamokazi @ Jun 18th 2008 2:17PM]

That is what I meant Buddy...2TB Volumes...not total storage. You have to spend some decent change on raid cards ($300+) to bypass the 2TB limit. They can handle more than 2TB total, but for some reason the volume size is capped. It is not a USB restriction.

And happy, they will get pissed off because they are stupid and don't read the fine print. I've seen people pissed that their 80GB hard drive only has 74GB of free space, despite the little * next to it with the disclaimer.

[mikeg @ Jun 18th 2008 3:09PM]

the volume limit is based upon the way you set up the volume

An MBR partition has a limit of 2TB and since 99% of windows users simply use the defaults when setting up a new volume, they see this limit.

A GPT (GUID Partition Table) can currently be up to 18 exabytes in size.

personally i use GPT partitions on my home network as i wish ot have voumes larger than 2TB (a raid 0 of four 759GB or 1TB drives is common on my network).

However before you run out and do this, you should be aware that many older os's do not support gpt partitions and thus they shouldn't necessarily be used.

this is why most network storage devices have the 2TB limit.
They use MBR tables for maximum interoperability.

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 18th 2008 10:55AM]

I'm a little confused... I already have a WD drive that has two 500gig drives in it, and i'm sure it said on the box it can be RAID 1 or RAID 0... how is this new?

[XGM @ Jun 20th 2008 12:36AM]

This seems to be the My Book Pro with a facelift, and its also fanless. As I recall my My Book Pro was damn loud when that fan kicked in, so i modded it somewhat to stop that cooling issue.

[Seminole @ Jun 18th 2008 10:56AM]

I just bought a MyBook the other day, and it was a great price.

$89.99 for 320GB. No other store in the are had that much storage for that price. Considering I'm just using it to back up files, I really don't need much more than that.

[0megapart!cle @ Jun 18th 2008 11:41AM]

I would take the drive back if I were you. I have had multiple problems with WD over the years, and the lower price of WD is not worth it, especially if you are using it for backups, where I assume it is critical that you don't want the data corrupted (One of my specific problems with multiple WD drives was corruption).

Spend the extra money for any other brand (Seagate is recommended), please, and save yourself the trouble.

[tiuk @ Jun 18th 2008 3:33PM]

I agree about the reliability of WD (specifically MyBook) drives. We have several at work that are used for backups, and I believe we've had three fail in less than a year. I'm not normally one to endorse Maxtor, but the 250 GB drives that the WD's replaced lasted at least five years.

I still say go Seagate.

[drewdraws2 @ Jun 18th 2008 10:57AM]

WD needs to mirror these drives since most of them go bad. I think they've just decided to make cheap double disks that back each other up rather than one that won't fail within six months.

So, really, this is just one 1TB drive. Ignore the mirror, you'll need it later.

[jonathan @ Jun 18th 2008 11:34AM]

I could have used this a couple weeks ago before my 500gb mybook gave me the beloved click of death.



Dear 175 gigs of music,

I hardly knew you.


Heartbroken,
Jonathan

[akstylish @ Jun 18th 2008 12:08PM]

Mine is 2 years old and had no problem so far. >.>

[tiuk @ Jun 18th 2008 3:34PM]

Knock wood, akstylish. It's only a matter of time.

[digitallysick @ Jun 18th 2008 11:04AM]

Usb?? why not eSata? Also how do you setup raid 0 on these? i hope its not through some software install cd (windows only) is it a firmware style program built in?

[Carnaval13 @ Jun 18th 2008 11:11AM]

Looks like the RAID software manager is for Mac & PC.
http://wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=466

They have another drive like this with eSATA (+ Firewire & USB)
http://wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=410

[CosterMonger @ Jun 18th 2008 11:13AM]

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=410

[CosterMonger @ Jun 18th 2008 11:20AM]

@Carnaval13
you beat me :)

[Wwhat @ Jun 18th 2008 11:22AM]

Striped RAID on usb2? Is that a joke or am I missing something here?

[CosterMonger @ Jun 18th 2008 2:23PM]

@Wwhat
You are so right!
JBOD makes sense, not RAID 0.

[CosterMonger @ Jun 18th 2008 11:08AM]

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=465

[MadMike @ Jun 18th 2008 11:10AM]

Wiebetech has better enclosures with better options. IMHO.

[Wwhat @ Jun 18th 2008 11:28AM]

The main things with enclosures are: reliability of the power supply included, and the firmware not wiping your disks, and you don't want some dodgy drives being used but I think that's not too often that they do that.
Oh and if it keeps the drives cool that's better too of course.
I don't quite get dual drive 'portable' drives though, how portable is that really? And as was said why they don't use eSATA.? if you want to sell a fancy RAID setup then also add eSATA, it's cheap, especially for WD one assumes, since they already paid any rights for SATA connectivity.

[Jon @ Jun 18th 2008 11:24AM]

Not happy with the last 1 TB Mybook model , Over heats ALOT ... its just annoying , i returned it to WD and they sent me a new one , same issue .. Hope they fixed those issues

[Daniel @ Jun 18th 2008 11:31AM]

It doesnt look like the studio edition (http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=410) can be setup in a raid 1.

[0megapart!cle @ Jun 18th 2008 11:38AM]

Friends don't let friends buy WD, at least external drives. Yes, they are cheaper than the competition, but you get what you pay for, people!!! I have had three drives from them over the years, and all three have had problems. The first I can't really blame on WD, as I dropped the drive a couple times, but that drive doesn't work at all anymore. The other two have been kept in perfect condition, but one has this annoying whine that comes randomly and can only be stopped by accessing the drive (hovering the cursor over the drive's icon in Windows Explorer). And both have serious problems with BeyondTV, where they corrupt the beginning of video, and make loud and grinding noises when they finish recording. I have a Lacie HD and a Seagate HD that have not had any problems, so I know it is the drives, not my computer or BeyondTV itself. And the drives were bought years apart, from two different generations of the My Book line, so it couldn't have just been a single bad batch of drives.

Moral of the story, don't buy WD, spend the extra couple bucks for Seagate (my personal recomendation, they are excellent across the board), or pretty much any other brand!

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 18th 2008 12:46PM]

I used to be a LaCie fan but I have say I cant disagree more. I've had 3 LaCies die on me this year alone and that's out of 7 drives we bought. But this year we bought 12 WD drives not a glitch so far.

Thinking about it I think drive makers can't keep it consistent enough for any length of time to be able to make a solid recommendation.

[0megapart!cle @ Jun 18th 2008 1:28PM]

I've only had one Lacie drive, so I can't really speak on their quality. (Although it seems like it would be more random with them as they aren't obligated to use any one manufacturer).

I don't know how much my experience speaks of WD in general, but it just seems very unlikely that two different drives, purchased years apart, manufactured years apart, would have the same peculiar corruption problem. Along with the whining problem that one of the drives has. The fact is that the price difference from one drive to the next doesn't amount to much, and yet WD is consistently the cheapest manufacturer around. I can't imagine my problems and WD's cheapness are a coincidence. And Seagate, in particular, has a better warranty and a great reputation. I would just spend the extra couple bucks.

[CosterMonger @ Jun 18th 2008 2:35PM]

"The first I can't really blame on WD, as I dropped the drive a couple times, but that drive doesn't work at all anymore."

you drop stuff, it breaks!

[0megapart!cle @ Jun 18th 2008 7:39PM]

No shit, but the drive worked for a long time after the dropping, and then just suddenly stopped. I'm sure it was the dropping that caused it, but still...

And that doesn't explain the problem with the other two drives, purchased years apart.

[Wwhat @ Jun 18th 2008 9:14PM]

LaCie uses a variety of drives, often seagate though, but I'm told they used WD ones too, so it's a bit silly perhaps to say LaCie drives are so great since they don't make drives, they make enclosures and use other people's drives.

[0megapart!cle @ Jun 19th 2008 1:42AM]

Which is exactly what I said in the later comment. But Lacie is still better than WD, because you have a chance of not getting WD inside.

Seagate is definitely the overall recomendation, though. As a bonus, their external drives are quieter than WD as well.

[Charles Han @ Jun 18th 2008 11:56AM]

man if i had money to dish out on new storage system i much rather get drobo.

[Joseph @ Jun 18th 2008 1:57PM]

how can you compare a $500 shell to $250 w/ drives?

[Mike K @ Jun 18th 2008 12:15PM]

Every time that I've had a drive failure it's been because the enclosure broke, (power supply got cooked, broken case, broken connector etc).

What's the point of putting your backup in the same case? That's sort of like storing your extra set of car keys on the same ring as your normal set of car keys...

This configuration only protects you from the failure of the drive. But if you drop the damn case you loose it all (unless you an cut the drives out, and if you've ever tried to get into a My Book case you know what a PITA it is).

[TexManhattan @ Jun 18th 2008 12:22PM]

Yes, Western Digital has a big success in MARKETING the MyBook line but the engineering reality about the reliability of these drives is an increasingly well-documented nightmare: their controller and the firmware that runs the controllers.

Western Digital's own firmware wipes out a fair number of these drives and their could really care less about the damage and thousands of dollars of costs its customers have to bear just because they installed the firmware "upgrade" suggested on Western Digital's own website. Be afraid, be very afraid, Stay away, stay far, far away from Western Digital's MyBook.

[Wwhat @ Jun 18th 2008 9:19PM]

All externals are tricky in regards to firmware, and I'd seriously expect ANY external to wipe my data if I updated the firmware, and especially if it was a RAID setup.
However when you buy something from a known brand I agree that you expect them to try to protect their reputation and use their engineers and expertise to make sure your data is safe, and if they don't.. well that's just sad and lousy PR, and exposes them to lawsuits since big names have big money.

[Jhongerkong @ Jun 18th 2008 12:32PM]

Wtf?

P.S. Shouldnt have given out your email.

http://spamyourenemies.com/

[BuddyBoy @ Jun 18th 2008 12:38PM]

Yup Vista = ancient. So does Mac OS X.

If its a firmware issue then why do modern enclosures such as the Drobo only support 2TB volume limits? It doesn't make sense to advertise that your enclosure can handle five 1TB drives but write firmware to limit the volumes to 2TB.

[Nomi @ Jun 18th 2008 1:02PM]

Do MyBooks have external power switches? That was one of the reasons I didn't get the seagate freeagent drives as they were always on unless I unplugged them or turned off my computer.

[rob @ Jun 18th 2008 1:14PM]

My 2 months old WD Mybook Home Studio external drive just lost 15G of data yesterday. Beware of WD.