This review applies to WD PR4100 and all other WD NAS that have been upgraded to OS 5. All reviews that include the old model of OS 3 no longer apply. This is essentially a new product with the same name.
I bought this in December 2020 to replace an old WD NAS that I had for 14 years and it worked well. I installed OS 5 when prompted as the NAS was shipped with OS 3. OS 5 was introduced in late 2020.
I loaded 2 TB and all seemed good. Then I turned on Cloud Access. This is required to allow access from smart phones or computers not connected to the network, i.e. literally access from the cloud.
As soon as I did this, the NAS went in to an indexing mode. It is creating thumbnails of every single file so that there are icons beside the file name in the smart phone screen much like Windows does. But in Windows there are views where this is not required. There are approximately 1/4 million files in that first 2TB segment.
Indexing is only required if Cloud Access is on, and cannot be turned off without also disabling the cloud access. There is no provision of remote access with thumbnails turned off. Without cloud access, the system is probably fine. But access to data from anywhere is one the points of buying this. It is called "My Cloud" after all.
After 24 hours of loud fan and disk noise from the NAS and the CPU at 100% I took the attached screenshot. 1/4 done in 24 hours. So about 3 more days. And I have 4 more TB to load. I can expect 8 additional days of continuous disk thrashing. My total indexing time is almost 2 weeks continuous.
During this time, the NAS works on the local network, but cloud access does not until the indexing is done. So, for every 2TB of data loaded, it can't be seen online for 4 days.
I submitted complaints to the WD support site and the answer was "too bad". I have to wait until the indexing is done. There was no hint of when a fix to this would be produced. It is also impossible to revert back to the previous version OS.
Days and weeks of disk thrashing that can't be turned off is not acceptable. This product is not fit for purpose with the current version of OS 5. It has been fully updated as I have the current version, 5.07.118.
There are WD forums where this problem is discussed, and all users are livid about it. Those who upgraded existing machines have all had exactly the same response I did from support complaints. There were other complaints about OS 5, but I can't personally verify them as I did not get that far.
I have returned this defective PR4100 and will try again with another brand. No more WD for me.
When and if the OS 5 is fixed, this review will no longer apply. The hardware seems fine and it should be a good product once the firmware is fixed. I am not willing to wait for an unknown period to find out.
| Standing screen display size | 3 Inches |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 3 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 3 |
