We could all benefit from having a reliable backup solution and as such the recent emergence of network attached storage (NAS) devices like the WD My Cloud is a welcome development. Such devices allow us to store our data on a separate piece of hardware, away from our main computers, allowing us to always have our data should something go wrong with our primary devices, either via physical or logical issues. With the added benefit of redundancy, whereby multiple copies of our data can be kept across multiple drives, such solutions can offer far more certainty than standard cloud-based solutions for keeping our data safe.

The WD My Cloud – made by Western Digital – in particular offers a fascinating mix of features that make it stand out from the crowd; for starters, the device’s simple, intuitive layout makes it incredibly user-friendly. Far from being a tech-heavy solution, anybody with even a rudimentary understanding of technology can hook the drive up to their home network, store data and access the data from any connected device. Additionally, the device supports a range of file systems, including those used by Windows and Apple, allowing for cross platform compatibility.

The device also takes advantage of more conventional cloud-based features; users can access their data outside of their home networks, essentially granting them the power to access their data wherever they may be. Also included is a whole host of impressive security features – everything from password-protected access to data encryption – ensuring that should the device be connected to the internet, only those with the correct access rights can gain access to your private data.

However, amongst the most impressive benefits of the WD My Cloud drive is the capacity. Depending on the size of the drive, personal users can store up to 6TB of data – the equivalent of more than 1000 average-sized movies! For businesses, massive capacities of up to 60TB are available, a substantial amount of data that can serve large corporate operations for many years.

All in all, the WD My Cloud offers a potent mix of features allowing personal and enterprise users a fantastic way to store and protect large amounts of data. Improving upon more conventional solutions, such as cloud-only data storage, the WD My Cloud appears to be a step-up solution that offers verification, security and redundancy. Regardless of whether you are a personal or professional user, this device looks to be an invaluable addition for reliably backing up and storing your data.