How to Have a Silent and High-Performing Western Digital MyCloud Mirror

silence.sh

# Update 2025-10-28:
# From chat:
#   It can easily be stopped through SSH with this command:
#
#     /usr/sbin/restsdk.sh stop
#     and restarted with
#     /usr/sbin/restsdk.sh start
#
#   To stop the offending services:
#
#     /etc/init.d/wdmcserverd stop
#     /etc/init.d/wdphotodbmergerd stop
#
#   To disable and remove the offending services from boot:
#
#     update-rc.d -f wdmcserverd remove
#     update-rc.d -f wdphotodbmergerd remove
#
#   Action "remove" must be used. For some reason, action 
#   "disable" removes but then adds again the scripts 
#   to boot start.
#
#   To reenable (if someone ever wants to):
#
#     update-rc.d -f wdmcserverd defaults
#     update-rc.d -f wdphotodbmergerd defaults
#
#     To restart (if someone ever wants to):
#
#     /etc/init.d/wdmcserverd restart
#     /etc/init.d/wdphotodbmergerd restart
#
# --
#
# ^ I haven't tested and verified them; and I don't have the
# setup at the moment to do so. Also, please check out the
# chat under this gist; it has lost of valuable information,
# thanks to the community ❤️.
#
# V.

#
# Needless to say, I (Volkan Ozcelik) take no responsibility, whatsoever,
# about what will happen to your NAS when you try these.
# When did it to mine, I observed *ENORMOUS* performance gain and a zen-like silence.
#
#     +----------------------------------------------------------+
#     |  WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO CAN LIKELY VOID YOUR WARRANTY  |
#     |                  SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION                 |
#     +----------------------------------------------------------+
#
# There I said. That’s not for the faint-hearted.
# Though if you are fed up with your WD’s poor performance
# and if you feel adventurous, read on…
#
# Where was I? 
# So if your WD NAS is torturously sloooow, the hard drives spin ever and ever,
# your web admin interface does not load in “minutes” and when it does you can brew
# a fresh irish cream latte and also drink it while navigating from one page to another,
# if your CPU utilization is around 50%-90% ALL THE TIME, then what you’ll read here
# might help you.
#
# The root cause of all these issues is that WD Cloud attempts to index all the images
# on your hard drive and create thumbnails for them — If you are an average Joe who
# uploads a bunch of family photos, that’s no big deal. — But if you are like me,
# who have mostly front-end-related projects, digital design, and artwork, that has
# been accumulated over the last 15 years; that indexing process can take YEARS to complete.
#
# ** I’m sorry WD, and I am not gonna wait for a year to have a silent and healthy drive!!!!!! **
#
# The good thing is, the indexing process can be disabled.
# The not-so-good thing is, you’ll need to ROOT into the device, which can void your warranty.

# If you are ready, let’s move on:

# Step 1) Enable SSH from the admin console.
# Log in to the web admin UI and then go to Settings » Network » SSH, and turn it on.

# Step 2) Shell into the device:
ssh -oHostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-dss sshd@your-western-digital-local-ip-address

# You HAVE TO use `-oHostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-dss` because your 
# WD drive’s OS (the particular flavor of Linux (BusyBox) on the device) 
# does not support secure SSH access.

# When you log in you’ll be prompted with something like this:
# root@WDMyCloudMirror root #

# Step 3) Stop the bastards:
/etc/init.d/wdmcserverd stop
/etc/init.d/wdphotodbmergerd stop

# Step 4) Check and verify that they are indeed stopped:
ps aux | grep wd

# You are all set!
#
# Enjoy your performant and quiet NAS!

# Extras
# ------
# There is probably a script somewhere that enables these services (wdmcserverd, wdphotodbmergerd) on reboot. 
# If you feel extra adventurous, feel free to hack into the system and disable that script too.
# When you do, I’dd appreciate if you comment on this gist as well.
#
# When you restart the hard drive, or when there is a power loss and a reboot, those services will go up.
# So you’ll have to shell into the box and kill them again.

# Extra Extra Tip
# ---------------
# Moving things around is MUCH faster when you SSH into the box instead of managing 
# them from your remote NAS mount. “The Cloud” is especially a bit foggy when 
# you are connecting through the wifi. Whenever possible prefer a gigabit ethernet 
# connection to your private cloud.

Is this the same as the "Network Database" option that can be enabled/disabled in network settings?

There is probably a script somewhere that enables these services (wdmcserverd, wdphotodbmergerd) on reboot.
If you feel extra adventurous, feel free to hack into the system and disable that script too.
When you do, I’dd appreciate if you comment on this gist as well.

Here it goes.

To stop the offending services:

/etc/init.d/wdmcserverd stop
/etc/init.d/wdphotodbmergerd stop

To disable and remove the offending services from boot:

update-rc.d -f wdmcserverd remove
update-rc.d -f wdphotodbmergerd remove

Action "remove" must be used. For some reason, action "disable" removes but then adds again the scripts to boot start.

To reenable (if someone ever wants to):

update-rc.d -f wdmcserverd defaults
update-rc.d -f wdphotodbmergerd defaults

To restart (if someone ever wants to):

/etc/init.d/wdmcserverd restart
/etc/init.d/wdphotodbmergerd restart

Thanks for the update @malversoft — will definitely be useful.

It has been a long time since I ditched that thing :D

Now, I'm using two dumb hard drives (WD Elements) that do not have any kind of operating system on them.

Could not have been happier :D .

For the record; I'm not actively maintaining this script anymore (mostly because I don't have a WD NAS to test on)

Anyone should combine the script with what they read in the comments.

If anyone sends a patch, I'm more than happy to merge it here.

Thanks for the update @malversoft — will definitely be useful.

Thank you. Your script and previous comments helped by pointing me in the right direction. So I found the definitive solution to disable the issue permanently. That solution is tested and working in my WD MyCloud.

August 2025
With Version 5 of the OS the service has changed, now the restsdk service does the indexing.

It can easily be stopped through SSH with this command:
/usr/sbin/restsdk.sh stop
and restarted with
/usr/sbin/restsdk.sh start

The effect is to hear immediately. However, while the service is down, the Cloud Access by the WD Cloud Access App is impossible, it reports "NAS offline". As soon as you restart the service, the device is accessible again.

@hbarkmann thanks for the update; that's very helpful.