MyBook Desktop Drive
The WD MyBook Backup Device is an external hard drive that is designed for backups of your system. While the data transfer speed is slower than some other storage solutions, the hardware is reliable and will hold up for long-term data storage. The MyBook is an affordable backup solution and there are a lot of capacities available for a variety of uses. Because MyBook is a well-established product, it is disappointing that WD hasn't upgraded some of the connectivity features of the device.
- DESIGN
- EASE OF USE
- PRICE
- RELIABILITY
- CAPACITY
MyBook Backup hard drive is a safe, reliable option for daily backups.
What’s your backup strategy? This is a question that I’ve been struggling with for years. I used to work for my dad’s video production company and when everything switched from analog to digital media, we found ourselves scurrying for backup solutions. The video files we were working with quickly began slurping up our internal storage.
We began buying internal hard drives and using them to back up our data. We were thrilled when Western Digital released their MyBook line of products because it made regular backups much easier. It also made storing the drives much safer. We literally had the internal hard drives stacked on top of one another inside cabinet drawers.
We knew it wasn’t a safe or smart way to keep our data backups, but it was the only option we had 10+ years ago. Today, there are a lot of different backup solutions to take advantage of. WD still makes their MyBooks, but now they are available in much larger capacities than they were back then.
Design & Details
The WD MyBook is a backup solution that is designed to back up photos, videos, music, and documents. The hard drive has built-in 256-bit AES hardware encryption with password protection (using the WD downloadable software).
The MyBook backup device meets the demanding requirements for durability, shock tolerance, and long-term reliability. The hard drive comes with a 3-year warranty. The device is easy to use out of the box and it comes pre-loaded with the WD software utilities.
SPECS
- Capacity: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB
- Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 1
- Formatted exFAT for out-of-the-box compatibility with Windows and Mac
- Compatible with Windows 10+ and macOS 11+. May require reformatting for other operating systems
- Dimensions: 5.48″ x 1.93″ x 6.72″
In the Box
- MyBook Backup Hard drive
- SuperSpeed USB-A cable (5Gbps)
- AC adapter
- Software for device management
Unboxing & First Impressions
The box of the hard drive I received was white and orange. I know that in the past, WD has color-coded their boxes depending on the capacity and product line of the device housed inside. So, I can’t say whether or not all the MyBooks have the same packaging. Inside the box, you’ll find the hard drive surrounded by plastic bookends, which keeps the drive from shifting around in the box while in transit.
The MyBook Backup hard drive is a little larger than a 3.5-inch internal hard drive. The reason for this is because what is housed inside the case is a mechanical hard drive. This is important to note because while the MyBook is technically portable, you want to be cautious about how you move it because of the type of hard drive inside the case.
One of the first things I noticed about the hard drive was the presence of the USB 3.0 port. The specs state that it’s a USB 3.2 Gen 1, which is essentially the same as USB 3.0 – just a newer name for it. USB 3.0 first started appearing as a connection option on devices in 2008.
While the cable type provides a solid connection it is an older technology and not as fast as other USB options. That said, utilizing this older technology makes it possible for this larger capacity hard drive to be more affordable. USB 3.0 tops out at 5Gbps data transfer. USB 3.2 Gen 2, which utilizes USB-C as a connector, can top data transfer speeds of 20Gbps. If I had received this hard drive a few years ago, I would understand the reasoning for continuing to utilize the USB 3.0 port over USB-C, but today, USB-C is considered mainstream. According to the date listed on Amazon, this model MyBook was first offered in October 2016, but the copyright date on the box indicates 2020 as the version year.
In addition to the USB 3.0 cable, the MyBook Backup hard drive comes with its own AC power adapter and cable. It is not bus-powered like many SSD portable hard drives are. Since this hard drive comes with two separate sets of cables, it would be nice if it had some sort of case or maybe a way to attach the cables to the case itself. That way you never get them mixed up with other devices.
While I don’t mind that the MyBook backup device has external power needs, I don’t like the style of cable that comes with it. It’s a power brick that is oriented left to right. That means it has to sit sideways on a power outlet or a power strip, it potentially covers two outlets. I would have much preferred a standard power cord.
After unpacking the hard drive, I plugged the AC adapter into power and plugged the USB cable into the hard drive and then into my dock. I’m currently using the Kensington SD5600T Thunderbolt 3 docking station to connect peripherals to my 2021 M1 MacBook Air. The USB port on the front of the dock (where I plugged the MyBook into) is USB-A 3.2 Gen 2. which supports up to 10Gbps data transfer.
The MyBook backup hard drive does not have any sort of lights on it to indicate that it’s plugged into power or connected to a computer. You can hear the hard drive inside whirring, but it’s not super loud.
Testing
The first step I took when testing the MyBook backup device was to open Disk Utility and verify that it was a brand new hard drive and that it was formatted as the box stated. The app showed me that the hard drive was formatted as ExFAT and has a capacity of 6TB. Only 113.2 MB was used out of the box. This is because the WD comes equipped with WD’s backup software included.
The three software packages included on the hard drive are WD Discovery, which includes WD Security, and WD Drive Utilities. These are helpful apps to have if you have no other backup software available, but they aren’t necessary for using the device. You can always download them here if you decide to format the drive.
Formatting the hard drive is exactly what I decided to do before I ran my tests. Because I plan on using this with my Apple devices, I formatted it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). After formatting, the MyBook backup device showed that 1.4GB was used, but no files were left on the hard drive after formatting it.
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test: This is always the first disk speed test I run on hard drives. It’s a good all-around test that helps users to determine their disk performance. In addition to providing a read/write speed, Blackmagic Disk Speed Test also shows what the disk performance is for working with high-quality video. The test provided scores of 184.3 MB/s WRITE and 186.3 MB/s READ. This is barely faster than a 1Gbps transfer rate.
AJA System Test Lite: This is the second utility test I run to test hard drive performance. This app will run the same type of stress test on the hard drive as the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, but you can change the type of stress test to fine-tune it so that you are emulating different types of video files. I usually set the test with the following parameters:
- Resolution: 4096×3112 4K-Full
- Test File Size: 64GB
- Codec Type: 16bit RGBA
With these settings, the test showed a data transfer speed of 181 MB/s WRITE and 183 MB/s READ. I usually find these two performance tests are in line with one another. So, I wasn’t surprised to see this was the result.
Drag-n-Drop Test: This test is a real-world test that I run to see how quickly files transfer in real-time. I will select a folder to copy over to the hard drive and time how long it takes with a stopwatch. Then I will divide the file size by the time elapsed during the transfer. This gives us an idea of a real-world data transfer rate. The file I used was 2.74 GB in size and it took 16 seconds to transfer. This calculates to a transfer rate of 171.25 MB/s.
I was very impressed at how cool the hard drive stayed. Even after all the stress tests, the hard drive was cool and I didn’t notice it whirring too much either.
Lessons Learned
The WD MyBook backup device is a very reliable backup solution for most situations. At this point, I don’t know if I would recommend it as a daily-driver hard drive – meaning something that you are actively using throughout the day. Years ago, before USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 speeds were attainable by consumers, USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds were enough to work from, but now, if you are running a video workflow, you need something faster than the MyBook.
So, who is this drive good for? It’s a good backup option. By that I mean you can use it to run daily backups to have a secure option for storing your data long-term. The USB 3.0 connection is solid and it does a good job transferring data securely and safely, but it’s just not very quick these days. If you are a Mac user, I would easily recommend this as a good option for a TimeMachine backup device.
One of the reasons this MyBook Backup hard drive is a little on the slower side is because of the hard drive housed inside. I haven’t cracked open the external case to find out for sure, but there were many sources online that stated the hard drive is a WD Red with a 5400 RPM spin. That means it’s not going to be very fast, but it will be reliable for backups. WD Red drives are built for use in NAS systems and are meant for writing and rewriting constantly.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The MyBook Backup hard drive is a reliable option as a dedicated backup device. That is what it was designed for and as long as it’s utilized that way, I think users would have good luck with the hard drive. The MyBook is affordable and it works with most systems. This is an ideal option to use for recurring backups and with today being World Backup Day, it’s a great time to pick one up.
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