Storage devices are everyone’s needs nowadays. In the age of information that we are all living in at the moment, we all have a large amount of data to store. This is why we need a reliable tool that would allow us to do that. However, at the same time, this world is increasingly fast-paced and we are always on our feet.
This is why we need the tool to be portable as well. This brings us to portable storage devices. Portable storage devices such as the WD My Book are what we need right now. They’re small and easy to carry around but allow you to store great amounts of data.
WD has recently launched a new range of portable storage devices. Its new storage tools have been revamped in such a way that the design and build are much more improved and so are its technological aspects. WD recently revamped three of its products: My Passport, My Passport for Mac, and My Book. This article will be looking at My Book 8 TB and its specifications.
The software of WD is commendable in terms that it lets its user organize their content smoothly. Its interface is clean and user-friendly, and its aesthetic appeals to the eyes. The software has received a lot of positive feedback for being extremely easy to manage and simple to work with.
The WD Backup works very efficiently by automatically backing up all your content to the WD drive. It does so without you even making an effort. WD provides on-premise backups that it uses as primary storage.
While this was for on-premise backups, for off-premise backups, WD has another solution. It sends the data to the cloud where it is stored safely and becomes a part of it. Sending it to the cloud makes sure that it is protected at all times. Another advantage of sending it to the cloud is that it becomes less prone to accidents, so you can be sure about your storage files surviving accidents.
Main features
The WD Backup offers great compatibility with all kinds of software. Be it Windows 7, 8, or 10, every system is compatible with the WD My Book. However, for systems that are slightly different, it would need to be formatted. It requires a USB 3.0 port to work with but is also compatible with a 2.0 USB port.
Its design and build have been revamped and renovated with a unique design and stronger build. It has WD reliability integrated into its drive as well. Its hardware is fully encrypted with a password protection mechanism that offers complete security of your data. With a compatibility system that works with the Time Machine software, it has a full auto backup of your contents. Lastly, it makes use of WD Backup software that automatically backs your data to its online storage.
WD offers great protection and safety otherwise as well. It has several ways to make sure that it offers full safety of your content. It does so by offering a password protection method to make sure your files are safe. It also includes full encryption of your hardware to make sure it is not accessible by a third party. Lastly, and most importantly, the WD My Book 8 TB comes with a 2-year warranty. This means that you can easily get it fixed if anything goes wrong, provided that it’s in the first two years, that too absolutely free of cost!
The WD My Book 8 TB has a much smaller and aesthetically pleasing design than its predecessors but is, at the same time, very generous in its capacity. This is a double win as you’re getting greater space in a smaller device which makes it increasingly portable to carry around. There is also an added feature in this storage device that attracts a lot of people; this is the WD Backup. This is a built-in feature that the company offers and provides great ease to its clients.
Specifications
Its specifications include the number of different sizes it is available in. These include 3, 4, 6, and 8 TB. Therefore, as you can see, you have a wide range of options to pick from. You can choose whichever suits your needs best. Some people require storage devices and want one which offers a large amount of memory. Some people are obsessed with keeping all their data in the same place. If you are that kind of person, the WD My Book is the perfect storage device for you. However, if you are not, the company also offers it in other smaller sizes.
The WD My Book works with a USB 3.0 port that provides a smooth, clean, and user-friendly interface. Therefore, not a lot of people are going to have a problem with it. Also, USB 3.0 is a very common interface. This is why My Book being compatible with USB 3.0 is an advantage.
It also comes with a two-year warranty, which is a long time for any storage device. This means that if anything goes wrong in the first two years of your purchasing My Book, you can get it fixed free of cost!
Design and build
WD has revamped its storage devices to make them much more attractive now. The all-new WD My Book is appealing to the eye and smaller as well. As these storage devices are portable, special care needs to be taken that their design is such that it allows them to be taken from one place to another easily.
This is why the new My Book is much smaller so that you will not have any problems with portability. Also, it is made to look like a book with cornered edges and not rounded ones like its predecessors. However, it still has a 3.5-inch HDD.
My Book is made of a shiny material that doesn’t get smudged easily as opposed to a matte material. This not only decreases smudges but also enhances its aesthetic. It also has a textured design on its bottom. This goes around the entire device and wraps it in a way. There is an official WD logo on its front at the top.
However, there is an aspect of My Book that displeases some of its users. It does not have a fan. This leads to it overheating at times. However, the company has taken great care of it and has provided a vent at the top which does the fan’s job. Even though it does the job equally well, some customers still wish it had a fan.
Due to its build and design, the My Book is supposed to be placed in a vertical position. It has rubber on its bottom so that it stays steady on all kinds of surfaces and does not slip. The connectivity options are all on its back. This also helps in making it look aesthetically pleasing. These options include a USB port, a power port, and a lock port.
Performance
The performance of a storage device is of great importance. A lot of people think it is only for storage purposes, which is true, but it also needs a good performance so that it can transfer data at high speeds. This is crucial as the speed with which a storage device receives and sends data is something you need to know beforehand. For this purpose, My Book was compared with another storage device and their reading and writing speeds were measured.
The IOMeter was used to test the speed of My Book with the help of the Z640 workstation. The first test was done to test the 2 MB sequential speed. WD My Book gave a speed of 171.27 MB/s write and 171.59 MB/s reads. The next test was done for 2MB random transfers. My Book gave a speed of 90 MB/s write and 118.25 MB/s reads.
The next and final test for the My Book was done with the IOMeter with a random 4k transfer. My Book gave a speed of 457.32 MB/s write and 168.94 MB/s reads.
These tests were further legitimized by a set of more tests. The same station, the Z640 workstation, was installed with PCMark. PCMark is a tool that tests the speed of a system at two levels: the system level and the performance level. It does so by showing the conventional speed that it should have for all kinds of PCs and stations.
These stations include mobile stations, desktops, tablets, PCs, and much more. PCMark tests a wide range of categories that includes usage from home, work usage, and recreational usage. It also tests the storage usage that will be discussed here.
This kind of usage tests the speed of drives that are installed on it. To test the speed of the drives installed on it, it needs to collect traces from MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite, and a lot of video games.
It does this so that it can test the difference in speed between a range of different storage devices. In this test, the WD My Book gave a bandwidth of 10.45 MB/s and a PCMark score of 2552, which was exactly as expected.
Pros
The pros of the all-new WD My Book are many. To begin with, it has an extremely inspiring and attractive design. Its design is new and appealing to the eye, and its body is sturdy and compact. Therefore, you can easily carry it around without any risk of it being a hassle to you since it’s much smaller than its predecessors.
Nowadays, the aesthetic of such tools matters much more than the performance to some. There are several people who purchase devices such as these entirely based on how they look. This is why its design is a major advantage.
Moreover, My Book comes with integrated software called WD Backup. It is straightforward to use and highly user-friendly. You can back up your content on it on-premise. You always have the cloud to back your data on for off-premise backups.
Lastly, it provides good performance for the application that it is designed for. Performance, here, refers to the speed at which it works. As mentioned above, it provides great read and writes speeds for both sequential transfers and random transfers. The speed of a storage drive matters a lot as the time spent on transferring data from and to it will depend on it.
Cons
There aren’t a lot of cons to the great WD My Book. It mostly received positive feedback and garnered attention for its positive aspects. However, two main cons received a little backlash. One of these was that it offers no upgrades on its components. This means that its predecessors offered the same features as this one.
This isn’t an issue for a lot of people who do not care about such insignificant details and don’t already have their predecessor, but for some technology lovers, this does matter. They always want the latest software and the most recent technological advancements.
The second con is its vent which is present because the My Book does not have a fan. This pesters some users because they want a proper cooling system for their drive. A vent isn’t a legitimate system to cool the device for a lot of people, and they require a fan. Some people have even reported the device overheating, so care needs to be taken while using it.
Conclusion
All in all, the WD My Book is a great purchase to make if you want a solid storage device for massive amounts of data.
Its 8 TB storage will make sure that it covers all your data-related needs and stores all that you want in one secure place. This is good, especially for people who love being organized and want all their data in one place.
Moreover, it comes integrated with WD Backup which will make sure that all your data is safely backed up to its on-premise storage. This will save you the effort of manually doing it yourself every time. If you want off-premise storage, it will back your data up to the cloud. That is equally safe and grants equal protection of your content.
However, most of this was still possible to get in My Book’s predecessors. They offered the same storage and speed, so there haven’t been a lot of technological advancements. However, people who are into design and building will like this model as that is the only thing that has been changed.
It’s clear how the performance of the WD My Book is way better than its competitors. The test results mentioned in this article clearly show the fast speed with which the My Book transfers data.
It is obvious that its performance is something that you cannot complain about, but if you already own a WD device, you will not find much to be excited about here.
