Using WD SmartWare through a firewall to connect to a My Cloud

WD Software WD Software
1

Hi there,

First some background on my setup:
I have a My Cloud behind a local firewall (militarized zone, 192.168.2.0) to which I would like to back up my data using WD SmartWare from another local network (192.168.1.0) - please realize this is NOT about remote access over the Internet.

I would like to understand a bit how SmartWare and My Cloud communicate each other in terms of TCP/IP protocol. My intention is to understand if it is possible to define specific iptables rules on my firewall which would allow SmartWare to pass through and see the My Cloud from “outside” - Would it be just a matter of permitting specific UDP/TCP flows (including port forwarding , if needed)? Or is this for some reason not possible? Like, does the My Cloud firmware by design refuse any SmartWare request not coming from the same subnet?

Can anyone out there shed some light?

Many thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

2

Hi osunax,

WD SmartWare will not work in that setup. There should not be any firewall between them and the drive and SmartWare should be in the same network.

3

Hi peter.g,

Thank you for your reply.

Could I ask you to provide a bit more insight on your answer? As it sounds very generic and does not really help me understand the technical aspects of the issue.

Some comments/questions:

A “controlled” firewall (as in my setup) should not be the limitation as any necessary flows/ports (if known) can be explicitely permitted.

What is placing the restriction that both the SmartWare client and the My Cloud must be on the same LAN? Is it SmartWare itself or is it the My Cloud? - I suspect it is the My Cloud firmware? - Does Smartware at least try to make the connection?

Thanks!

4

Hello osunax,

It is the WD Smartware that needs to have the drive in the same network. WD Smartware will not even find the drive if they are in different networks. It is how the software is designed.

5

Hi,

If that is the case, in theory I should then be able to use port forwarding and NAT in order to make the firewall look like the My Cloud to Smartware…

Would you be able to state which TCP/UDP flows Smartware needs to establish to the My Cloud?

Thanks and regards!