D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure

Pros: - Construction: Solid aluminum enclosure. Rubber rails instead of small pads on the bottom add stability. Hard drives install easily, securely, and stay cool (I'm using 2x Hitachi 1TB 7200/32 Deskstars). - Speed: I get 15-20 MB/s wired and 3-5 MB/s on 802.11n through a Time Capsule router to my Macs) - TONS of support from the community at "wiki dot dns323 dot info" : This site is amazing and has detailed how-tos for people who know little/no Linux. - Ability to add bunches of extra applications: Web server w/ PHP, Transmission (a better Bittorrent client), upgraded media servers, SSH access, Time Machine style incremental backups via rsync, and basically any other script you throw at it or any application that can be compiled for this device (there are lots!). - USB port: Besides connecting a printer, this can be used to store and run applications from a USB flash drive to avoid added wear on your drives. You can even get a hub going with multiple devices and a printer! - Low cos

Cons: Note that some of these are not necessarily cons, but things to just be aware of... - A low to medium level of Linux knowledge is needed to reach the full potential of this device. - Original power management is pretty poor: The fan runs *all* the time. However, this was easily fixed with the improved power management scripts that are available, and will be fixed in the official firmware 1.06 as well. Presently my DNS-323 runs nice and coolly/quietly in my bedroom even with torrents downloading 24/7. - RAID 1 support has not been the strongest, although this has been continually improving. - The built-in Bittorrent, uPNP, and iTunes servers are not the best (but again, this is easily remedied with the info on the wiki/forum). - FTP access not very secure (SSL support will be added in 1.06). - Don't even think about using JBOD or RAID 0 with this device. JBOD here means one big volume, and if one disk fails everything goes. Also, RAID 0 has been shown to *not* provide a speed boos

Overall Review: Some take home points from my experience with the DNS-323 1. This is basically a mini computer: A lot of people, myself included, initially expect a NAS device to function like any old USB hard drive. For better or worse, this is definitely NOT the case. You can run apps and do all sorts of great things with it, but on the flip side, it is definitely not as simple to use as a regular external HD. 2. RAID 1 is not the best *backup* solution: RAID 1 is designed to prevent system downtime from a drive failure, and *not* as a backup solution for your data. Anything that is done to one drive will instantly mirror to the other, and this includes deleting or corrupting files!!! Unless you have a business and are trying to prevent downtime, a much better option is to set up an incremental backup. 3. This product is best-in-class: I did my research comparing the DNS-323 to similar products from Linksys, Western Digital, Buffalo, Netgear, etc., and this is definitely the best bet out th

Pros: 1. to the person who 'accidently' formatted the wrong hard drive (had one drive in the NAS with data on it and added a blank drive and complained that the nas formatted the wrong drive: This happens if you add a drive and select Raid0 (spanning); the prudent thing to do when adding a drive is to first power down the nas and remove the drive containing data, then add the empty drive, have the nas format the empty drive, power down the nas, add the drive with data, and tell the NAS that you want independant drives (not to RAID the drives). 2. to the person who complains that the ethernet networking speeds are 'slow': the dns-323 uses the Marvell 88EE1111 chip. This is the identical chip used on flagship motherboards (msi k8n neo4 platinum). When connected thru a gigabit switch and to a pc with a gigabit nic, guess what? you get gigabit speeds! I suggest you turn OFF large frame support. continued under CONs ->

Cons: getting increased speed using enabling large frames is not trivial. suggest you NOT turn it on unless you know what you are doing. First use firmware v1.06 (released dec08) AND you need to also make sure all your network devices between the NAS and the end user also have large frames on and set to the same size. (this means you need to [at the very least] enable it and set to the same frame size for your network switch, AND the end use pc(s). (fyi -- many switches do *not* support large frames.) ...if you enable large frames without this, loads of packets will be dropped and whola! your network speed will DECREASE. Suggest anyone interested in turning jumbo frames on test the speed both before enabling and afterward. Somewhat related note -- Also: many people (myself included) use 5400rpm drives in the NAS. The 5400rpm drives I bought here had a default jumper which needed to be removed for the drives to operate at 3.0gb/s...

Overall Review: I own three of these, two in raid, one not. I've replaced (upgraded) drives without issue, have 5400rpm drives that have the default (slower speed) jumper set, and do not have jumbo frames turned on. [using the 1.05 firmware, I personally did not achieve significantly increased speeds with jumbo frames, so I turned them off] I have a 2gb/s switch (synchronous 1gb switch) with 1gb network cards in end user pcs. the speed i observe -- dns323 to/from dns323, dns323 to/from end user, server/firewall to/from end user, and end user to/from end user -- is all comparable.

Pros: The ease of installation and firmware features were the first big benefits here. A NAS that's this easy and with these features at this price is outstanding. It's very small and feels very well constructed. Cable-less install for the drives was a pleasure. They plug in firmly and securely. Multiple RAID options, and the firmware is one of, if not THE best I've ever seen, and I've seen a ton of them. The real benefits of the 323: fast spinup and customizable time-out periods. It's always available on the network and it's fast. The FTP server works perfectly. The download scheduler is excellent and a great idea if you run multiple websites, a big plus for me. Users, groups, email alerts...it's all flawless. This is an A+ device. If you need a highly available NAS that you can throw your own SATA2.0 drives into, this is it.

Cons: The only negatives to me are very, very minor: 1) The fan is always on, though nearly silent (only in the dead of night with no other sounds eminating from outside, inside or from any computers can you hear the fan). I think the fan should spin down, say, 2-3 minutes after the drives spin down after their timout period expires. 2) The three blue LEDs are permanently on. I'd like a firmware feature to dim them or disable them. I've seen this feature on computers and DVD players, so why not here? That's it. I can sure live with these two arguable oversights.

Overall Review: I've had the DNS-323 for almost two months and couldn't be happier. Sure, using a direct USB2.0 or eSATA connection would be faster for data transfers, but this is a NAS enclosure. If you want eSATA speeds, get an eSATA drive. This device has a USB2.0 port on it as well, but it's not utilizing what this baby was made for: highly available network storage. For anyone who says it doesn't have NTFS or it doesn't have EXT3 or other transparent complaints, I say: do the research. There are NO plug-n-play NAS boxes that support NTFS on the network, you must always use propriatary software (like Ximeta's DNAS). And EXT2 is the clear winner over EXT3, that's why D-Link removed it from the firmware. Upon installing the drives, choose the EXT2 formatting option. Then upgrade the firmware to the latest 1.03 release from D-Link. Configure, sit back and enjoy! Oh, and it works great with a DynDNS.org account for external access to the FTP server. :-)

Pros: Assuming you do everything correctly and know something about networking, it works well. I have 2 750GB WD on RAID 1, no issues on capatibility or general read/write operation.

Cons: No scan. No defrag. Power outages wipe out drive mappings. The firmware is a little quirky to move around, but it works. I keep getting an error logging into FTP, but it still works. Also, the firmware in the manual seems to report it being 1.1... NOT TRUE, IT'S 1.01! Update it when you get into the NAS config browser.

Overall Review: Very basic guide: 1) Install your drives. 2) Plug it in and hook it all up. 3) Run the search utility on the CD. 4) Refresh the applet to view the NAS. 5) Login to NAS and format. 6) Config it; UPDATE FIRMWARE TO AT LEAST 1.02! Make sure have network redundancy. 7) Have firewall rules set or the applet won't map! Username/password box means you oups'd (somewhere). 8) You're safe to play with the rest.

Pros: Simple, tool-less drive installation. Low power, and fairly quiet. Fast! I never installed any software. Configuration is simple, though I'd recommend internet explorer to configure it until after you've installed firmware 1.03.

Cons: Very finicky. I took some working 250GB drives off a raid 5 box and installed them. It didn't want to boot, then dropped my connection to the web configuration multiple times, dropped access to the drives regularly after they were formatted, etc. As it turns out, it didn't like one if the 250GB drives that had worked fine on my 3ware raid5 controller. I replaced the one drive with another identical drive and it has worked fine since. On my second box, two NEW 500s worked flawlessly for over a month, then for no apparent reason I'd get clicking noises from the box when it was NOT being accessed, and it would get HOT and stay HOT. After reformatting everything, it's good again, temps are Ok, and no more clicking noises.

Overall Review: Back up your files. I use usb connected drives to sync everything regularly. It saved me a lot of trouble, and data loss. Also, the DNS-323 seems VERY picky about what drives it will work with, and seems to have fits sometimes for no apparent reason (high temps, disconnects) which a reformat and/or drive replacement will fix. Neither DNS-323 said there was a problem with a drive when it was having fits, which makes it difficult to know what to do when it isn't working. (Maybe it is less picky when not using raid-1?)

Pros: Can use large drives

Cons: Very slow. Takes up to 60 seconds to give a directory listing when browsing over the network.

Overall Review: I've been an IT guy for nearly 20 years and this has to be one of the most frustrating pieces of equipment I've ever used. At least when something doesn't work at all you can replace it. This thing does work, but half the time you have to wait nearly a full minute just to get a directory listing to show up in Windows Explorer. Other times things work fine. I have all DLink hardware on a gigabit network. This thing should scream. Instead, I'm the one doing the screaming. :-)

Pros: VERY customizable. Currently, I have 3 drives rotating every month: two are connected at all times and the third is at my bank. Since RAID is not perfect, I have an auto backup every week from one drive to the other on top of rotating once a month (the swap is REALLY easy to do). I have used FTP, SSH, torrent, and all have worked flawlessly. Highly recommended especially if you're not afraid to tweak it.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I sleep much better at night now that I have three copies of all my important data (especially since one is in a vault at night) :-)

Pros: For anyone complaining about slow transfer rates, again I go back to Read the Directions, in the web setup start page select LAN on the left side, at the bottom of that page is a small section titled Jumbo Frame Settings. Click Enable and set it 9000, apply and save. This thing BLAZES. I did three simultaneous backups, transfered about 30gig of pictures, and ripped a DVD all at the same time. Total time needed= about 45 minutes for everything. I love this unit and will be adding a second HDD in the near future!!! I used a single HDD and had no issue with a 94% hang. I don't plan on using RAID when I add another drive so I dont see it as a problem in the future.

Cons: For the utter novice, like me, its rather tricky to get this setup to be utilized by the entire network. I did a little research and finally got it done after a couple of days. This is not the units fault but my own. I am still having an issue getting the printer to work through the USB port.

Overall Review: This is an outstanding addition to even a stand alone system or a home network. I don't know that it would be effective in a business setting, even at 9K frame rates I don't see it as a viable business solution. But for a HTPC or a small network it is must have item. If you have a SATA HDD to put in and a router there is no reason not to get one other than price. I admit that the price of this unit w/o HDD's had me looking at a lot of the other units, but I am VERY satisfied with it. BE ADVISED-when you assemble this and boot the FIRST thing its going to do is reformat your HDD's. Back up your data or start with an empty drive.