Electronics & Computers Deals here!D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Manufacturer: D-Link Systems Inc. Part number: DNS-323
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure is a comprehensive solution to extend your network storage and functionality. It offers great performance and, despite its long list of features, remains very easy to use.
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CNET editors' review
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure price range: $179.99 - $219.99
- Reviewed by: Dong Ngo
- Edited by: Matthew Elliott
- Reviewed on: 04/09/2008
The good: Compact design; very easy to set up; intuitive Web interface; fast write speed; print-serving capability; two drive bays with RAID support; can operate as a UPnP AV, iTunes, and FTP server; can also act as DHCP server; USB port for sharing a printer.
The bad: Drive bays' cover comes off too easily; doesn't support hard drives in FAT32 or NTFS format; drive bays only hold drives of regular thickness.
The bottom line: The D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure is a comprehensive solution to extend your network storage and functionality. It offers great performance and, despite its long list of features, remains very easy to use.
The $200 D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure offers a quick, yet comprehensive solution for network storage. We really liked the device for its flexibility and useful features, and at the same time wished it supported FAT32 or NTFS hard drives like the Iomega StorCenter Pro. The device can house two 3.5-inch SATA hard drives of any capacity in RAID configurations. It can also be used as an FTP, a DHCP, a UPnP AV, or an iTunes server with an excellent, intuitive Web interface. The DNS-323 comes up big where it matters most: throughput performance. Despite its few flaws and rather bulky power supply, we can easily recommend it to people who are looking for a fast, reliable way to extend their network's storage and functionalities. If you are looking for a simple NAS solution that already comes with a hard drive, however, the Iomega StorCenter might save you some start-up time and money.
Setup and design
The D-Link-DNS-323 boasts a simple, compact design with all the ports (Gigabit Ethernet, USB, and power) on the back. On the front is the hard-drive bay cover that has the power button and three blue activity status LEDs, one for each hard drive and one for the network port.
The DNS-323 doesn't come with hard drives--leaving you the option to choose what storage capacity to add. It's very easy to open the device to access its hard drive bays. We found it a bit too easy, in fact. More than once we accidentally opened the cover just by holding the device from the front to lift it up. It would be a lot better if the DNS-323's face lid had some sort of lock to prevent this. Fortunately, NAS devices are generally not supposed to be portable, and the act of opening the cover doesn't interfere with the D-Link's working status. The device can take two 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, preferably of regular thickness: all you have to do is to slide the drives in and they fit in very well. Thinner drives don't fit as snugly. There's a release latch for each drive at the back of the device, in case you want to replace the hard drives. You can use just one drive with the DNS-323, but if you want to take advantage of the RAID configuration, the second one is a must.
Once the hard drives are installed, it's very easy to set up the DNS-323 on your network with D-Link's Easy Search Utility (included on the bundled CD). In our case, the Easy Search Utility found the NAS within a few seconds and helped us launch the configuration Web page. Of the many networking vendors, D-Link has always been our favorite in terms of how its Web-based management applications are designed. The DNS-323's is no exception. Its Web interface is very well organized and intuitive with a lot of built-in help, tips, and useful information. Nonetheless, the D-Link still comes with a very clear, well-illustrated Quick Install Guide that most people wouldn't need to read.
At the initial login, the Web application will prompt you to set up the drives. There are four options: No RAID, RAID 0 (Striped), RAID 1(Mirrored) or JBOD. JBOD (Just A Bunch of Disks) is an interesting setup that, similar to RAID 0, merges two hard drives. JBOD combines the drives in a linear way, meaning the combined storage is the total of the two hard drives even when they are of different sizes. (With RAID 0, the combined storage is always the size of the smaller hard drive multiplied by two.) Also, if one hard drive in a JBOD setup dies, only data on that hard drive is lost and it's possible--though not always--to recover information on the working one. JBOD's performance, though, is much slower than RAID 0. In short, if you want to maximize your storage space and have a bit more peace of mind about data integrity, then JBOD is a better choice over RAID 0. Then again, RAID 1 offers even better data security (at the expense of storage capacity, of course) and is probably the best option for a backup solution.
If you get new hard drives for the DNS-323, all these options work very well and the setup is very convenient. If you want to use hard drives that already contain data, however, it's a different story. If you have hard drives laying around that are formatted in FAT32 or NTFS file system (supported by Microsoft Windows), the DNS-323 will need to reformat them into Ext2 file system (supported by Linux) before they can be used. This means it's impossible to move an existing Windows/Mac-friendly hard drive into the DNS-323 without having its data completely wiped. This can also be potentially problematic in case the DNS-323 fails and you want to just hook its hard drives to a Windows computer for data access or recovery. For all the NAS devices (of which the hard drives are user-replaceable) we've reviewed to date, the DNS-323 is the first that supports only the Ext2 file format. This makes the user-replaceable aspect of the device less flexible. The formatting takes a relatively short time depending on the size of the hard drives. In our case, it took about 5 minutes for a drive of 400GB.
Other than the formatting, it's very quick and self-explanatory to set up other features. The DNS-323 supports user management with accounts, group, and quotas. The administrator can control disk space as well as what a user can do with the provided storage space. For example, the administrator can assign a user 20GB storage space, or assign read-only privilege to certain users or to certain folders to avoid accidental file deletion.
Features
Besides the print-serving capability courtesy of its USB port, which is rather ubiquitous in NAS devices, the D-Link also supports iTunes and Universal Plug and Play Audio and Video (UPnP AV) servers. This is a very helpful feature for those who want to stream movies and music seamlessly to Apple's iTunes and other UPnP AV-compatible devices. We didn't test the UPnP AV feature, but the iTunes Server worked very well. iTunes running on both PCs and Macs on our network could easily see and play files from the iTunes library on the DNS-323. As with iTunes itself, you can also restrict access to the music by password-protecting the share. However, we found the iTunes server was unable to add music to the share-list on the fly: if you copy more music to the iTunes folder on the DNS-323, the new music will not be shared until you manually reshare that folder. On the other hand, the iTunes songs shared from the DNS-323 are automatic divided into two sublists: Non-DRMed and DRMed for non-digitally protected and digitally protected music, respectively. This is a nifty feature that prevents you from adding songs that are potentially unplayable to the playlist.
Most NAS devices ship with the assumption that you already have a DHCP-enabled network. The D-Link-323, however, comes with a DHCP server of its own. This feature is disabled by default, but it can be turned on for use in case you don't already have DHCP on your network and want to mange your network with one. Having a DHCP server makes network setup very convenient as you don't manually assign IP addresses for each client.
Last but not least, the DNS-323 can also be set to automatically back up an FTP site, a regular Web site, or a network shared folder, including sites that require authentication. This is a very convenient and practical feature for backing up your network resources, especially when you host your sites from your own server rather than using a service that already has its own backup system. We tried it with our in-house makeshift FTP site, and it worked very well. We simply entered our FTP site's information (authentication information and URL), the location of where we wanted to back up it up on the DND-323, and the scheduled time. It's worth noting that the FTP backup function is separate from the rest of the DND-323's features. When you log into the Web interface, you'll find that this network backup feature (dubbed Scheduling) is listed separately from the rest of the features (dubbed Configurations), which caused a moment of confusion on our part.
Performance
The D-Link DNS-323 excelled on CNET Labs' throughput tests. On our write test, it topped the charts with the score of 55.6Mbps. On our read test, the device finished in the middle of the pack with a still respectable 42.2Mbps. For each test, we used two hard drives (160GB and 400GB; each a 7,200rpm drive with 16MB of cache) in a non-RAID setup. Also, we should note that the DNS-323 was very cool and quiet, even during a long duration of heavy activity.
Service and support
D-Link ships the DNS-322 with a one-year warranty, which is standard for a NAS device. At the company's Web site, you can find very good support information including downloads, FAQs, and a searchable knowledgebase. D-link's technical support phone line is available 24-7, and we were able to get ahold of a helpful and knowledgeable representative in less than 10 minutes. All in all, it was not a terrible experience.
(Longer bars indicate faster performance)
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NAS read test | |
NAS write test |
User reviews
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Must be turned on manually after power outage
by RGabriele on March 12, 2008
Pros: When it worked it worked well
Cons: Must be turned on manually after power outage
Summary: Well I really link Dlink products! Unfortunately I had big problems (over 10hrs with tech support) that they said were related to hard drives not on there approved hard drive ...
Summary: Well I really link Dlink products! Unfortunately I had big problems (over 10hrs with tech support) that they said were related to hard drives not on there approved hard drive list. After a power outage the unit would not allow access to the raid1 share... would have to login and reset to factory defaults ... it would then see the share but I could no longer get into configuration to setup FTP etc
Funny thing is I was going to buy approved hard drives. But found out that every time the power goes out you have to manually turn it back on. Not an option I want on a FTP server, a feature I was using3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good solid fast product
by Anthony 110 on June 5, 2008
Pros: Fast download and upload, sleek look, runs cool, very quiet, easy setup.
Cons: Wish it was a tad faster
Summary: Overall a great product for cheap. The download and upload speed are usually around 2.0mb/s. It runs so quietly with the two WD 500GB drives I have in ...
Summary: Overall a great product for cheap. The download and upload speed are usually around 2.0mb/s. It runs so quietly with the two WD 500GB drives I have in it, runs very cool as well with its little fan. Look sleek and feels fairly solid. I wish it had a few more features but for the money it was well worth it.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Works exceptionally well so far, easy setup, cost effective network storage
by tkanazawa on February 12, 2008
Pros: Works exceptionally well. easy setup
Cons: Dlink help desk was no help on a simple question
Summary: Works exceptionally well so far, much quieter than my Linkstation; if it continues to work as well, I'm thinking I may get another. Set it up with a DLink ...
Summary: Works exceptionally well so far, much quieter than my Linkstation; if it continues to work as well, I'm thinking I may get another. Set it up with a DLink DIR-655 wireless router and two Western Digital 1TB harddrives. Easy setup. Updated firmware to latest version. Had a hard time deciding whether to configure it as Standard for 2TB or RAID1 for 1TB. Finally decided to be conservative with RAID1. Now I want to store everything on the DNS-323, and not on my Linkstation. Haven't tried the print server or ftp server, but plan to soon
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Solid product - saved my digital life
by imageeclipse on January 17, 2008
Pros: No cables, fast
Cons: bright LEDs
Summary: This product is awesome. I recently had my primary PC crash and burn... luckily, I had the 323 set up to backup all of my files so I was easily ...
Summary: This product is awesome. I recently had my primary PC crash and burn... luckily, I had the 323 set up to backup all of my files so I was easily able to get back to normal. The unit is solid and built like a truck. It also has gigabit speed for quick back ups and transfers. Only complaint is the bright blinking LEDs - I recommend not keeping this in your bedroom at night unless you're looking for a strobe nightlight.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Hard to use, non-standard confusing, runs hot, BAD
by NerfBlossom on August 28, 2009
Pros: Small, RAID 0 or 1, cute LEDs
Cons: You CANNOT create userids the normal way you expect without getting a multiplicity of share names, each specific to a user. If you want 3 users on 1 folder, you get SHARE, SHARE-1, SHARE-2 and have to remember who gets what share. RUNS VERY HOT!
Summary: This is just plain horrible. It is my second try to replace an aging Maxtor and I wanted RAID so I got this turkey. The unit can be found and ...
Summary: This is just plain horrible. It is my second try to replace an aging Maxtor and I wanted RAID so I got this turkey. The unit can be found and setup for network attachment easily as any other NAS box but after that, the setup is a total nightmare. Groups are COMPLETELY BROKEN. When you assign a user to a group, it works. When you assign that same user to another group, IT IS REMOVED FROM THE FIRST GROUP! This makes setting up group a waste of time to consider. Not documented! When you add additional users to share a folder, you get a different share for each user named in the order they were added with a dash and a number behind. You cannot change this. IT IS NOT DOCUMENTED! This unit has a fan which does nothing to cool the unit. I had to purchase an external fan to keep it below 100 degrees in a cooled environment. Without the fan, it goes to about 120 when used at all. During initial loading (if you still insist on buying one of these turkeys), be SURE to have a fan blowing on it and best to just keep it going forever.
If I could give it negative stars, I would but can't so gave it the lowest I could. AVOID!! I am somewhat stuck with it now and trying to make the best of a sad situation. Tech support DOES NOT CARE and they don't intend to fix anything, ever on this box. With reasonable software, I would love it. Small, quiet and Broken as Designed (BAD).1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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OK as a NAS, useless as an Upnp server.
by bartyartfast on February 27, 2009
Pros: Ok for shared file storage & backup across a network.
Cons: Media server just doesn't work; with 14,000 music tracks & 22,000 photos it takes 8 hours to index and then serves only about 1% of the files - the rest says 'no content', and the images are distorted. Power saver doesn't work either!
Summary: Just about OK as a NAS but the non-windiws file format is annoying. CNET didn't test the upnp server - they should have done, as it is completely hopeless. ...
Summary: Just about OK as a NAS but the non-windiws file format is annoying. CNET didn't test the upnp server - they should have done, as it is completely hopeless. D-Link's poor tech support lived up to its name and have totally failed to help. The unit is supposed to have a programmable hibernation mode to save power when the unit is not in use - doesn't work! Also, the included backup software is only a 30-day trial (not mentioned on packaging or promotional material) - very shoddy approach indeed and technically a breach of advertising regulations. You can be sure I won't be buying any more D-Link products.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Nice solution, just upgraded to a mirrored set of 1.5TB
by jiggysmb on February 19, 2009
Pros: Lots of features, you can connect a printer to network it, has iTunes server, FTP server and uPNP sharing(sort of). Most recent firmware added support for 1.5 TB drives so you can have up to 3 TB in this tiny enclosure. Could be portable!
Cons: Firmware update are usually buggy and most always effect file system, see summary for explanation. The new uPNP support for XBOX360 and PS3 is not solid,s ee below. Box gets very hot with little airflow inside device.
Summary: Dlink support staff is usually 6 month behind. I got mine a few weeks before release and the support team had no idea what a DNS323 was. A few months ...
Summary: Dlink support staff is usually 6 month behind. I got mine a few weeks before release and the support team had no idea what a DNS323 was. A few months later I had trouble with my original xbox (XBMC) only seeing the root files and support still had no documentation on the device.
In early FW releases you had to reformat your drives which was very time consuming to copy off your data, reformat then copy data back to DNS.
For uPNP, if you share a folder with sub folders your DNS will crash with pink LEDs which Dlink support has no documentation of pink LEDs.
I still think this device is better than most others but would like more airflow or a larger fan to pull hot air out of the box.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good hardware & maddeningly unpolished admin tools
by MRMinSF on January 6, 2009
Pros: good value for dual-bay device; excellent hardware
Cons: begs to be hacked to exploit its potential... which is fine unless you're not a linux gearhead
Summary: Bottom line: gets the job done (although not very gracefully) for a decent price.
Great hardware, smaller than I expected. Physical installation nearly idiot-proof. Quiet. Relatively low-waste packaging. Probably the ...Summary: Bottom line: gets the job done (although not very gracefully) for a decent price.
Great hardware, smaller than I expected. Physical installation nearly idiot-proof. Quiet. Relatively low-waste packaging. Probably the best value for a multi-bay NAS right now, all things considered.
BUT the admin tools are very version-1. Critical and basic oversights include inability to rename the shared disk (you're stuck with "Volume_1" like it or not) or configure email alerts for modern mail servers (no way to specify SSL or non-standard SMTP port, required by most spam-conscious ISPs). A host of other small but annoying head-slappers like that take a big bite out of the otherwise positive impression I have of this unit.
Clunky user interface reminds me of the early days of small routers before they hit the consumer mainstream and companies realized they had to hire someone to make things look right and work for average folks. Since more and more 'average' folks are indeed looking at NAS products, these admin/UI problems really need to be addressed.
The vibrant community of linux geeks/gurus out there with sites dedicated to hacking and enhancing this device is evidence of the 323's versatility and potential...and the shortcomings of its out-of-the-box features. Maybe D-Link should hire some of these talented people to exploit its potential.
Macs see and use the shared disk fine, and web-based admin tools are platform-agnostic. D-Link's Quick-Start CDROM and printed instructions are Windows-only, however, so if you're setting this up with a Mac you will have to take a few leaps of faith to get things up and running. It's do-able, but you're on your own.
iTunes server is fun in theory, but not sure it's worth the effort to set up and manage an additional music library when iTunes on my laptop shares itself just fine.
Not sure if drive mechanism would be readable in a standard USB/Firewire drive enclosure now that it's been formatted in 'EXT-2' format. That slightly concerns me should I ever need to abandon the Dlink box for some reason.
I thought this unit was unique by featuring "WAN" access. Turns out this functionality is by way of an oh-so-very-1993 FTP server. If you're going to open a port on your router to allow FTP access anyway, you may as well direct inbound SMB or AFP traffic to your NAS and access it as a shared drive. That technique will work with any NAS.
Prior to this purchase, I experimented briefly with an Apple Time Capsule and found both the admin tools and Finder/Desktop integration to be smoother for both Mac and Vista workstations. The D-Link box clearly has more features (not the least of which is a dual-bay enclosure), and I know RAID features are important to many NAS consumers. But since I already have a reliable offsite backup solution in place, if I had it to do over again, I think my modest home storage needs (and a desire for fewer electronics, cords, power bricks, etc) would be better served by the all-in-one TimeCapsule product.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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No issues after 1 year
by JackTheMan18 on June 25, 2008
Pros: -rock solid;great support
Cons: none so far
Summary: What a great product!
I have had no issues after 1 year...Summary: What a great product!
I have had no issues after 1 year...1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Non-standard file system and security, poor support
by stevemas_1999 on October 27, 2008
Pros: There was nothing I liked about it
Cons: Non-standard file system, can't configure permissions for a single user for a particular folder, can't hide partitions, can't allow read access for users and write access for other users to same folder. Can't backup drives.
Summary: This is going in the junk pile, the box where I keep all the orphaned power blobs and connectors.
Summary: This is going in the junk pile, the box where I keep all the orphaned power blobs and connectors.
2 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: D-Link Systems Inc.
- Part number: DNS-323
- Description: The D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure, when used with internal SATA drives, enables you to share documents, files, and digital media such as music, photos, and video with everyone on the home or office network. Remotely accessing files through the Internet is also possible with the built-in FTP server. Whether you are allowing access locally or over the Internet, keep data safe by only giving rights to specific users or groups. When configuring the DNS-323, you can create users and groups and assign them to folders with either read or read/write permissions. This is ideal for an office environment with employee-specific sensitive data or for the home where you can ensure your children will only have access to age appropriate material.
General
- Device Type NAS server
- Host Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet
- Installed Devices / Modules Qty 0 (installed) / 2 (max)
- Width 4.1 in
- Depth 7.8 in
- Height 5.2 in
- Weight 2.7 lbs
- Built-in Devices Print server
Storage Controller
- Type RAID - Integrated
- Controller interface type Serial ATA-150
- Storage Controller / Supported Device Type Hard drive
- RAID level JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1
Hard Drive
- Type Standard - 3.5" x 1/3H
Optical Storage
- Type None
Optical Storage (2nd)
- Type None
Storage Removable
- Type None
Hard Drive (2nd)
- Type None
Networking
- Type Network adapter
- Data link protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
- Networking standards IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3ab
Expansion / Connectivity
- Expansion Bays Total (Free) 2 ( 2 ) x Internal - 3.5" x 1/3H
- Interfaces 1 x Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45
Software / System Requirements
- Software type Drivers & Utilities
Video
- Video Output None
Environmental Parameters
- Min operating temperature 32 °F
- Max operating temperature 131 °F
- Operating humidity range 5 - 95%
Manufacturer info
- D-Link Systems Inc.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse D-Link Systems Inc. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.dlink.com/
- Address:
17595 Mt. Herrmann, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 - Phone: 1.877.453.5465
- Email: tech@dlink.com
