Introduction

Access your data anywhere in the world? That is exactly what Western Digital promises their My Book World Edition drives will enable. It sounds too good to be true, so we couldn't wait to get to work on the 500 GB edition of this product.

Storage, one never has enough. But what use is all that dis space if you are abroad and cannot access it? Of course you can lug around and external harddisk, but that doesn't exactly provides NAS utility where others can prepare files for you - or access the storage at all. The need for such a service is hardly a new discovery, as illustrated by existing products that enable you to share files through a web interface or FTP. However, Western Digital have a their very own approach to the problem.

External

The My Book's shape and design are familiar and resemble other models in the same series, although the manufacturer has chosen white as the predominant colour this time, combined with a blue light around the on/off button, right in the middle of the book shaped device's back. In all it is a distinctive design that sets the My Book apart from most other NAS devices, which usually betray their Asian origins through their design.

It's a design that will appeal to many normal consumers, and that seems the group Western Digital has mostly in mind in the development of this product. It doesn't have dozens of setup options, no clever tricks to appeal to the power user, it's simply a product that does what it has been designed for: share files even outside your own network. Software by MioNet is used to get that done in a user friendly fashion. For example, you do not have to worry about your router settings, MioNet takes care of that.

User friendly

It's all very user friendly.

After installing the software you can access the device as a drive, whether you are inside the network or on location elsewhere. Through the MioNet icon in the system tray you can access the management software, where you can create folders and share them. You can grant new users read or write access, or both. The device can also take care of mailing them their login details. Via www.mionet.com/mybook you or the user your granted access can access the My Book through the web. On that address a Java applet enables you to browse the disk and access files. On the same location you can download the MioNet software with which you can map a folder on the My Book to a drive letter. Other functions are accessing files on other servers and even remotely access a computer - and control it. All of these functions you can try out for free for a month when you buy a My Book, after that they cost $ 64,95 a year.

Access through the web.

The extra optional functionality of MioNet.

User friendliness is the main angle of the My Book and that goal has certainly been attained. It is a shame Windows is required to use the device: Apple users cannot access it at all. In a similar vein it's a pity the possibilities of the MyBook World Edition are so focused on only one purpose, without providing functionality like a mediaserver or a web photo album like we often encounter in NAS devices. The major disadvantage is the complete dependency on MioNet. While we of course hope the company will have a long and bright future, should they cease to exist the useability of the World Edition would be dramatically curtailed.

Technology

The webinterface is rarely needed.

The My Book contains a 500 GB harddisk, and has a gigabit Ethernet interface. The storage capacity can be enlarged by connecting an extra harddisk to the USB interface on the chassis. Usually the MioNet software suffices to manage the My Book World Edition, but the web interface is present for tasks like updating the firmware or connecting an extra USB disk. The web interface also enables works as a fileserver, but this is a lot easier with the included software. Aside from the software to access the harddisk, Western Digital includes backup software in the shape of EMC Retrospect Backup HD 2.0.

Like all other NAS devices we test, we've put this product through its paces in a series of performance tests. The results are disappointing: the MyBook World Edition 500 GB is not exactly fast, remarkably it makes next to no difference whether one uses a 100 Mbit or a gigabit network. On the last two pages you can find graphs detailing the read and write performance of the device, compared to product we tested at an earlier date. Should you wish to compare even more or have a look at the complete specifications, have a look at the choices at the bottom of this page.

Conclusion

Performancewise the Western Digital My Book World Edition 500 GB doesn't set our hearts and minds afire. If you are looking for the best performance in a NAS device: don't take this one. If on the other hand you are looking for an extremely user friendly way to share files between Windows computers both within your own network and outside of it, then you have with this device what you're looking for. We just hope Western Digital can solve the performance issues and includes more functionality like for example a mediaserver.

Performance (Read)

Performance (Write)