I am looking at getting the 3TB WD My Passport as an external drive for file-sharing etc… on my home router. Will this drive be able serve in this capacity? It will be connected to a current technology router that recognizes USB3.0 and NTFS partitions? Will I still be able to use the bundled software? Drive encryption? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
The drive encryption is built in and you cannot disable that. You would not want to password protect the drive because the router would not have any way of unlocking it. Any other bundled software was written to be used on a computer, not a router. You might want to consider an Elements drive as these come with no encryption or software. That way you can put whatever third party security on the drive or if the router has it’s own security options.
Thank you for the reply. Software aside since this drive is formatted out of the box as a single NTFS partition, without enabling encryption, this drive will work as an external drive connected to a router, correct? You just lose software and encryption functionality…??? Thanks again.
For clarification the main reason I am opting for the My Passport vs. Elements is that if my family and I need to leave for any circumstances (natural disaster etc…) this drive will be able to travel with us, retain our data and have the necessary software available to use password protected drive encryption, backups etc… while not being shared behind a router. This is why I’d like to know if it works as a simple storage drive while connected to the router. Thanks and I hope that clears up my intentions.
FYI:
I have a 1TB Touro portable drive connected to the USB port of my Asus router. (HGST is the old Hitachi drive company currently owned by WD.) Some routers have a limitation as to the size HD that can be attached, so check router requirements.
The drive is protected by the router firewall. Drive had no fancy software on it; the backup software is unused (all media files on drive are from other backup sources.)
I initially populated the drive by connecting it to my PC and copying media files from my NAS server and other sources which I then connected to router which configured the data on it for use. I can update the data via the home network or taking it off the router and connect to PC. I can access the data from Windows at home, and from mobile devices using the Asus app – both locally and remotely. Very handy.
That’s what I was hoping to hear. That it’s in the realm of possibilities as a viable data protection solution that gives us mobility. Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it Sir.
