D-Link DNS-323 NAS Review

D-Link has been providing us with tons of affordable networking solutions for years, and this Network Attached Storage was a great welcome to a market that is ruled by the more expensive Drobo, QNAP, and Synology. Of course the DNS-323 does not provide all the bells and whistles like these juggernauts, but for the lower price you can have a very convenient backup solution and media provider for all your devices and computers.

Features:  

• Secure and Share Your Digital Files
• Insert Either One or Two Internal 3.5” SATA Hard Drives without Using Any Tools or Attaching Any Cables (Supports 2.5TB each drive for total 5TB)
• Protect Your Important Files with Mirrored Hard Drives Using RAID 1 Technology (JBOD and Raid 0 are also supported)
• Access Stored Files over The Internet
• Built in torrent
• UPnP AV for Storing and Streaming Media Files
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Port
• USB Print Server Port
• Built-In Fan Included

First and foremost, this drive uses the EXT2 (performance) or EXT3 (stability) file system format. So if you are using an old drive with data on it, make sure you back it all up somewhere because you need to format the drives before you can use them. Second, don't expect blazing speed like an external USB 3.0 dive. The most I've gotten using the gigabit connection was 20-25 MB/s. Using wifi connection my transfer rate ranged from 5-9 MB/s. These speed are perfectly fine streaming a 720p HD movie onto my Laptop, 360, or WDTV Live media player.

The enclosure is made of plastic and brushed aluminum painted black and gives a nice sleek look. Inside there is a fan to cool both of your drives. Installation of the drive was easy, and setting up was a snap. You have full control of who can access the drive, or certain parts of it, and also limit how much data they can backup. FTP access, UPnP server, and iTunes server are supported. 

This unit does have an ARM processor so it can run linux if needed I hear. The torrent is a nice addition. Although most people will use the torrent client of their choice, it's nice to have the option to have the DNS-323 download a torrent while your computer is off. The only downside to that is you cannot use any form of ip filtering to hide yourself from spying eyes.

Overall I am very happy with this little NAS. For anyone one on a budget looking for a network backup solution, this is a great option where you can swap drives in a out as you please. I have been using this for more than 2 years and it has not failed me once.

Here is a video of my unbox and review: 

YouTube