DLink DNS 323 - 2 Sata HDD Network Enclosure - Arrived!

[Nudge]

Procured one of these units during the week + 750gb seagate HDD. Setup last night and so far working well. Specs HERE.

The unit is not much bigger than the 2 HDD's it holds, pretty quiet, seek sounds of the seagates are the noisest issue. Measured temps around 40-44oC. I have my network setup in a large cupboard in the spare room so cooling and noise not a problem anyway.

I have only used single disk(s) setup, wasn't interested in RAID features, if one or both HDD's goes then I have backup of the imporatant media. Don't plan on using any of the other features yet - just using it as a simple storage server.



I already have a Maxtor 300gb shared storage drive, which has worked flawlessly over the last 14 months. It was just bursting at the seams with Music Vids, CDs and KIDS TV and DVD's. I also had a 750gb drive sitting in MCE 1 full of movies so it was time for some consolidation.

Connected the unit to power, network, installed single 750gb HDD. Used web interface to setup, formatted single disk in quick time. Transferred all the movies off the MCE1 machine (750gb o'night). Checked OK. Then moved the 2nd 750gb to the DNS323, formatted it also as single drive. Plenty of spare room for my media....for now.

Unit has been powering along now for a few days serving 3 PCs, I have found it a bit slower to load up folders than the maxtor after a PC or the NAS has been asleeep but all in all a good unit. RECOMMENDED.

Any questions or tips you may want to add - fire away.

Later,

Nudge

[Adster01]

We use one at work, two 250's mirrored. Does a neat job, and so small too. Great unit.

[wdric]

Looking forward to getting some thing like this.

I am currently trying a single drive network unit, but it is only a 100mbit network, which is a bit if a let down compare to its usb2 speed.

ric

[Nudge]

There is a great support wiki and forum HERE. I'm still using MCE05 at present.

The unit may not be everyones thing, only has 1 usb port for print serving at the back, no front usb for back ups. The HDD's are not hot swappable but changing drives can be done within a minute after powering down, no screws or fasteners.

If you are planning to get one, I would recommend if you can afford it, install both disks at the same time. I did one disk at a time so I could transfer files and then reuse the older drive. The unit supports this OK just starts the blood pumping when you think your data on the first drive has been wiped . When you install the second disk the configuration web screen simply pops up and says found new drive, ready to format. OK.

After formatting the 2nd drive you then need to return to the setup page and change the network accesses section. The drives may have swapped Volume_1 or _2 names and any shares that may have been mapped on your PC's may need changing to the new shares.

Originally Posted by wdric

Looking forward to getting some thing like this. I am currently trying a single drive network unit, but it is only a 100mbit network, which is a bit if a let down compare to its usb2 speed. ric

Yeah my maxtor is only 100mb but it still serves up ok to 3 machines, the DNS323 being gigabit for streaming media doesn't matter too much but on transferring large files around much quicker.

Originally Posted by Adster

We use one at work, two 250's mirrored. Does a neat job, and so small too. Great unit.

First comment I made when I took it out of the box, was its size.

Later,

Nudge