Page 1: Installation, Testing, Conclusion
Intro:
Western Digital makes some excellent products and relatively recently, it pushed very hard into the external storage market. When I asked about if they are worried about the impending SSD emerging market, there was really no big worry, yet. Even so, hard drives are their bread and butter and solutions exists for nearly every segment of the market. I always say how important it is to have a backup solution and the My Book Studio Edition II aims to fit that bill with ease.
Box:
The My Book Studio 2 targets the Mac crowd and the box is nice and red. The color scheme of the unit itself is purely Mac-ish.
Parts:
Here are the extra parts that come with the unit. Since the My Book Studio 2 has a wealth of connections you can use, it comes with many different cables. You get USB (A to mini which is pretty weird), Firewire 800 and 400, a power cable and some software and literature. The software works with Mac and Windows (no Linux support for switching RAID modes!). Surprisingly absent is an eSATA cable which is strange since the unit has an eSATA port.
My Book Studio 2:
The unit is classic Mac coloring. It is all silver (apologies for this picture). There is a lighted bar that will show the used space or transfer status and it is white colored. It is gimmicky and is only useful using USB or Firewire and not eSATA. Since most people buying this device will use eSATA (2x1TB drives). USB would be painfully slow and Firewire isn't as good as eSATA. The WD branding is on the sides of the device and it is a very sharp looking thing. Yes, it sort of looks like a bookend. Maybe.
The back of the unit contains the various connections to run the device. There are a few points to take away. The first is that the USB connection is mini USB. Why? It is strange since most devices of this type use a normal USB-B cable. Mini USB is fine, but it is just weird to see, plus USB-B is more secure, physically, in the connection. It isn't like the unit will be mobile and needs to save the physical space. That issue aside, there are enough connections to satisfy everyone's needs.
Another thing that you should notice is that the the entire unit has vent holes to release heat. The unit is whisper quiet other than some drive seeking noises. Anything to release heat helps with hard drive life.
There is a push release to the front of the unit on the top. You really have to push very hard to get the top to pop off, but it is not a problem. I bet it is done to prevent accidental openings. You don't want your drives exposed to the harsh reality of the world, after all. The unit is very well laid out. There is a bracket that holds the drives in place and can be removed with a single thumbscrew. Since the Studio 2 can do RAID 1, it makes sense to be able to swap drives in the event of a failure. The plastic pull tabs gives you quick access to the drives and are sturdy enough for the weight.
The drives themselves are 1TB GreenPower WD10EAVS drives. Western Digital makes excellent hard drives and are one of the few that I recommend that people buy with confidence. Still, it is nice to know that you can swap the drives out in the event of a failure. The two drives themselves are marked A and B. The drives take a bit of force to remove.
Western Digital makes some excellent products and relatively recently, it pushed very hard into the external storage market. When I asked about if they are worried about the impending SSD emerging market, there was really no big worry, yet. Even so, hard drives are their bread and butter and solutions exists for nearly every segment of the market. I always say how important it is to have a backup solution and the My Book Studio Edition II aims to fit that bill with ease.
Box:
The My Book Studio 2 targets the Mac crowd and the box is nice and red. The color scheme of the unit itself is purely Mac-ish.
Parts:
Here are the extra parts that come with the unit. Since the My Book Studio 2 has a wealth of connections you can use, it comes with many different cables. You get USB (A to mini which is pretty weird), Firewire 800 and 400, a power cable and some software and literature. The software works with Mac and Windows (no Linux support for switching RAID modes!). Surprisingly absent is an eSATA cable which is strange since the unit has an eSATA port.
My Book Studio 2:
The unit is classic Mac coloring. It is all silver (apologies for this picture). There is a lighted bar that will show the used space or transfer status and it is white colored. It is gimmicky and is only useful using USB or Firewire and not eSATA. Since most people buying this device will use eSATA (2x1TB drives). USB would be painfully slow and Firewire isn't as good as eSATA. The WD branding is on the sides of the device and it is a very sharp looking thing. Yes, it sort of looks like a bookend. Maybe.
The back of the unit contains the various connections to run the device. There are a few points to take away. The first is that the USB connection is mini USB. Why? It is strange since most devices of this type use a normal USB-B cable. Mini USB is fine, but it is just weird to see, plus USB-B is more secure, physically, in the connection. It isn't like the unit will be mobile and needs to save the physical space. That issue aside, there are enough connections to satisfy everyone's needs.
Another thing that you should notice is that the the entire unit has vent holes to release heat. The unit is whisper quiet other than some drive seeking noises. Anything to release heat helps with hard drive life.
There is a push release to the front of the unit on the top. You really have to push very hard to get the top to pop off, but it is not a problem. I bet it is done to prevent accidental openings. You don't want your drives exposed to the harsh reality of the world, after all. The unit is very well laid out. There is a bracket that holds the drives in place and can be removed with a single thumbscrew. Since the Studio 2 can do RAID 1, it makes sense to be able to swap drives in the event of a failure. The plastic pull tabs gives you quick access to the drives and are sturdy enough for the weight.
The drives themselves are 1TB GreenPower WD10EAVS drives. Western Digital makes excellent hard drives and are one of the few that I recommend that people buy with confidence. Still, it is nice to know that you can swap the drives out in the event of a failure. The two drives themselves are marked A and B. The drives take a bit of force to remove.