WD aims revamped My Book storage at home backup market

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 11 March 2009 09:05

Your IT - Entertainment

Networked storage at home is quickly moving from the realms of geekdom into the mainstream. Western Digital's on the bandwagon with a redesigned version of its My Book World Edition NAS unit.

The updated My Book World Edition comes in 1T ($A399) and 2T ($A699) versions, and is intended as shared storage as well as a communal backup device for Windows and Mac systems.

And if you subsequently need more space, a USB 2.0 port allows the connection of an additional external drive.

"Finding a simple way to stay backed up can be a daunting task for consumers, especially when there are multiple PCs to protect," said Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD's branded products and consumer electronics groups.

"With a My Book World Edition drive, it just takes a few simple steps for a family to automatically back up all the computers in their home and keep the backup continuously up to date."

In addition to providing continuous backup for all the computers on the network, the My Book World Edition features a media server that can stream music to iTunes running on Macs and PCs.

Other types of media can be streamed to DLNA 1.5 and UPnP devices such as Xbox 360, PS3, networked picture frames and more.

Centralising media storage in this way may reduce the amount of disk space used, as the family can dispense with multiple copies held on separate computers.

Other features include Gigabit Ethernet along with a capacity gauge so you don't need to use a computer to see how full the unit is.

Importantly for a device that's likely to be permanently switched on, the My Book World Edition is fitted with WD GreenPower drives that are said to use up to 33 percent less power than conventional drives, as well as being quieter and cooler.