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

D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
D-LINKVPN: DNS-323
Vendor: D-LINK
Price: $0.00 - $0.00 CAD from 0 stores
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Product Reviews

D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
38%
Excellent
40%
Very Good
19%
Average
2%
Below Average
1%
Poor
Rating: 8.23/10
JFL@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 09/28/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Noisy when the fan kicks inMissing some built-in featuresNo Wake-on-Lan

Pros:Works fineOffers different RAID optionsCompact (considering the presence of 2 HDD inside)Runs Linux which offers a bunch of possibilities
Comment:
From what I've seen so far, it works fine, but it lacks a few nice built-in features. For example, it would be nice to allow automatic backup of Windows' shared folder, or support OpenVPN. Since it runs a linux inside, I guess I can find a way to do all these, but it may not be trivial. Also it doesn't support Wake-on-LAN, that would have been nice for energy saving.
Darren_G@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 09/12/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:VERY SLOW transfers!!! Took 4 hours to go through 1.5T drive to allow sharing.

Pros:Easy to use. Setup was easy to follow.
Comment:
I like what it does, not how fast it does it. Transfer between drives is extremely slow. Read it goes from drive to PC and then to drive 2 not directly drive to drive. Hope Dlink issues a fix for the slow controller!
Olivier_f@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 09/09/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:none

Pros:smallno soundfast
Comment:
I always install this box when I need to share data in a small office. Good price, good quality, love it :)
Nick_Y@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 08/13/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:seems slow at times

Pros:Small size, easy to use
Comment:
I intended to use this device to backup my digital photos, but it works great as a upnp device to stream to my xbox.Excellent and low cost product, every home should have one
dshooper@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 08/08/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Slow and noisy, doesn't support NTFS.

Pros:Inexpensive; uses less electricity than a PC file server.
Comment:
I hooked this in to my Gigabit network expecting transfer speeds comparable to what I get transferring files between computers on the network (around 50 MB/s) but I'm getting just a fraction of that (1-10 MB/s). There is also an initial delay of several seconds while the unit comes out of "sleep" mode after not being accessed for some time.While the unit is virtually silent in sleep mode, when it is actually being used, a tiny but noisy cooling fan comes on and I can hear it from the next room with the door closed, even over the noise of my PC.On the the EXT2 and EXT2 file systems are supported, so moving drives of data into the unit requires copying the data to a spare drive, reformatting the original drive, and then copying the data back again (at the previously mentioned glacial speeds), which is quite a hassle.
Bruno_V@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/29/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:- you need to use the 1.10 B7 beta firmware to get the best out of it. If the Bitorrent add-on is running the unit will never go into hibernation even if you tell the Bitorrent client to stop seeding when the torrent is 100% complete. If you can't enable jumbo frames on your network this unit will be slow.- High price , don't worth getting if higher than 100$-E-mail alerts don't work at all because the unit don't support SSL authentification encryption. - Official firmware is old and the last beta is dated 04/11/2011 and im pretty sure the devloppement is stopped and this product wil be discontinued soon

Pros:- Funplug - you can use an alternate firmware like Alt-F- Jumbo frames support- Quiet- Well built-Raid 0/1/JBOD-if you looking for a networked mass storage unit with average speed for back ups and light tasks .. this is the NAS for you
Comment:
i was getting 8-10 MB/sec reading but once i was enable to turn on Jumbo frames with 9K packets on every client on my network i was getting 33 MB/sec reading and 10-12 MB/sec writing with the DNS-323. Make sure all you clients on your network is Gigabit compatable or you will never go above 12 Mb/sec.
Alexei_C@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/21/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Weak CPU. Doesn't support WD EADS/EARS HDDs.

Pros:Small. Good guality
Comment:
I've purchased it while on sale. 99$ is a good price for a such box.
Chris_A@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 05/19/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:a little loud sometimes

Pros:inexpensive, powerful
Comment:
This was so easy to setup. It was worth the price and now I saw it for $99. I put 2 2TB drives in it and there are many options on how to setup the drive configuration. I am very happy with this product!
TobyZ28@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/25/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Very poor performance, Raid-0 options is useless, glitchy interface at times.

Pros:Quiet and easy to setup. Works great for the most part. Easy access to drives.
Comment:
I tested this device in many different configurations. After over a year of using it i finally decided to junk it. If i were to do it all over again i would purchase a higher performance NAS :)With the device setup on a well functioning gigabit network using 7200 RPM drives moving the same file around.Single Disk Performance was around 14.5Mbit / secRaid 1 Performance was around 9-10 Mbit/secRaid 0 Performance was a sad 16Mbit/secSame hard drives running off a windows 2003 File share (single disk only)80 mbit/sec. The device also would crash when formatting new drives occasionally. Reboots would then take around 140 seconds.
Chad_M@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 01/14/11
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Update!!!!!!!

Pros:Works wellLot's of options
Comment:
No complaints. Does what it's meant to do with out any guff. Nice options if you need them.
Mitch_T@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 11/24/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:slow speeds

Pros:does what its make to dosmall
Comment:
it does what it was made to do, its a great little device,has a ton of mods(haven't tried any yet, just got my two 2tb HDD for it)
Marius_Z@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 10/10/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:- Slow controller, don't expect blazing transfer speeds- Inside of case not padded, disks can vibrate

Pros:- Reliable, 3+ years trouble-free- Good vendor support- Active community- Lots of features- Quiet
Comment:
Not sure if I already wrote a review for this or not, but if I did, it was a long time ago.Had two of these units for about 3 years or so, maybe longer, running with 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F1s. Absolutely no issues with the boxes, at least for the my purposes. I use them as just plain SMB network storage, not using any of the fancy features like FTP or iTunes server.Aside from bricking one of the units when I first got it (the configuration file was text format, and, well, long story, user error), there have been no major issues. The only real complaint I have is that there is no/little padding inside, so the drives in one of the boxes sometimes vibrate the chassis. I flipped the unit on its side, and no problems since. It would probably be an easy fix with some strategically placed self-adhesive padded tape.D-Link releases firmware upgrades every 6 months or so, and earlier in the year added support for 2TB drives. They're always adding useful features, fixing bugs and inconveniences, so it looks to be still a well-supported product, even after 4 years, which is very commendable.The fan on the back of the box is quiet enough that I do not notice it over the regular ambient noise of my computer (which is fairly quiet to begin with), which can be attributed to automatic fan control (off/low/high, came with one of the firmware upgrades I believe) as much as the quality of the bearings. The disks spin down after inactivity, so this can be a very quiet and energy efficient system. It certainly does not sound like a jet engine in your room, that some NAS vendors believe is acceptable in a consumer product.For the more technically inclined, the box can be hacked easily (fun plug) to give you a UNIX/Linux shell, so you can run pretty much any software on it. There is a fairly well developed community around the DNS-323, check the forums and wikis before upgrading the firmware, or how to get to customizing the hardware and software, which would undoubtedly void the warranty. Yes, it runs Linux (2.6.12 kernel, ARM architecture) and uses regular Linux partitions/file systems, so all kinds of things are possible.A very reliable and recommended model.
Gilbert_F@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 10/01/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Noisy when the fan run at hight speed

Pros:Easy to use and to set up. Capability of 4TB or More !Fully documented, reliable.Many usefull features
Comment:
Excellent product overall.Raid 1, UnDP, groups and users managing work like a charm I don't think that there is any match in this price category.Easy to install and partition hhd. (Auto back up give peace of mind)I'm very happy with this device.
Frederic_B@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 08/05/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Not the fastest network hardware out there, but quite adequate for home office.

Pros:Very easy to use, intuitive and no-nonsense web interface, flexible and efficient.
Comment:
Excellent little NAS, outfitted it with 2x 1tb Seagate 7200.12 and works like a charm in Raid1. This unit is VERY sturdy, all metal save for the front, which is quite securely fastened in place. This isn't something you'd jog with your elbow, it's diminutive but massive.The unit is fast, formatting the drives was a charm. Be sure to update  your firmware, then install your drives in, be aware that your drives WILL be formatted, so backup whatever you might have before.The web interface is easy to use, anyone who has had a DLINK router will feel right at home.The only drawback is that the network component for this unit, while adequate, is not the fastest when it comes to NAS, but then again, at this bargain price, it was a known fact and one I'm quite comfortable with. I'd recommend this to everyone who needs their data safe and secure.BTW, Raid1 is NO substitute for backups, use your brains! :)
wlee@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/21/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Price

Pros:Easy to setup
Comment:
I finally got my hands on this NAS, build quality is decent, setup is easy, make sure the firmware is updated to latest before popping in the hard drive to format.
Roger D ©@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/15/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Maybe the fan but if it burns out in the long run and the NAS is relatively cool then no problem.

Pros:Price, Dual Bay, Easy Setup, Usefulness, Build Quality.
Comment:
Bought this to use in a Township Office for doing Acronis Backups from 3 wireless clients and so far just using this as a NAS is the perfect thing. I am not running any of the FTP-Bittorent etc items this unit offers just simply a NAS. I found that creating users/groups easy and setting access just the same. I myself run a QNAP TS-109 and the comparison I find is that the QNAP is alittle more robust however this DNS NAS is far from lacking and for its price...Beautiful. I loaded the latest firmware immediately which is 1.09 at writing. There are 2 1TB Seagates in this with spindown/sleep features working 100%.
alanw2005@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 07/14/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Ships with a 2 year old firmware that can't format hard drives.

Pros:Excellent NAS. Full featured. Cheap price.
Comment:
I wasted 2 hours trying to setup my drives to Raid 1 before I figured out the unit shipped with firmware 1.04 from 2 years ago. Once I upgraded to 1.09, set up was super easy and fast.
Sterling_F@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 06/30/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:WD EARS advanced drive doesn't work with it.

Pros:Takes up little space and power.
Comment:
This is a great nas. I bought it to put 2x2TB drives in, but I bought the WD EARS (advanced format) drives. They don't work in this nas. The EADS drives do, if you're wondering. I replaced those with 2x1.5TB seagates and all is well.
Greg_D@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 05/09/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:-Not a huge minus, however be sure to upgrade the firmware to maximize it's potential.

Pros:-Small-Inexpensive-Great for media storage
Comment:
It took several attempts to format my 2 WD20EADS Caviar Green 2TB hdd, however it occurred to me that the firmware probably had to be updated. Once that was done, the setup was a breeze.Overall quite pleased with the performance.
joe_b@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 04/09/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Weak web interface included with the unit.Weak processor that doesn't really utilize the gigabit ethernet to it's potential, but this isn't really built for speed, it's built for mass storage.

Pros:-funplug-dual bay-quiet-easy setup-sits in the basement connected to a switch...
Comment:
With a little bit of googling you can transform this unit into a full featured powerhouse. funplug is AWESOME.Besides the obvious use of a NAS, I also use mine to run transmission-daemon to manage torrents (and transmission remote dotnet on my Desktop to control it over RPC), and run an SSH server which I use to securely remote into my home network from the office (as well as bypass pesky work internet filters by having my webbrowser use the SSH tunnel as a Socks Proxy). As for file permissions, if you are familiar with linux, you can manually chmod everything to your hearts content.More than fast enough to play 1080p movies off of the unit.
David_Y@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 04/05/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Firmware 1.08 has bug for hard drive formattting. Fan keep running dispite off/low/high settings at power management. Access control is difficult to implement.

Pros:Solid built, quite unit and reasonably priced for home or home office use.
Comment:
I bought this unit two month ago and the overall experience is good. It's not a luxery unit with fancy interface but it can do what it is expected. It's quiet and cool for 24/7 operation.Bittorrent is working, but I wouldn't recommend this function as it kept hard drive running all the time and the unit cannot go to sleep even though the download is finish. The speed is slower than many other bittorrent such as utorrent. You have to stop the application in order to bring the unit back to normal.Access control is difficult to implement, I never get it worked properly. So have to leave it shared to everyone on the network. I didn't use its raid function as per some other reviews. So don't know how it works. I would recommend this unit if you use it as shared network resource at home, especially for media streaming. It may not work very well with aceess control at office environment.
Patcoola@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 04/03/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Weak user permissions,10 user groups and 60 registered users limit.

Pros:Price,Web Base Manager,Raid JBOD, O, 1Easy to set up and swap disks
Comment:
This device is a great for the home or small office.For single computer use, I have experienced great performance and speed.Gigabit: R:22, W:18 MB/sFast-Ethernet: R:9, W:7.8 MB/s*MB/s MegaBytes per secondThis device has limited user permissions and is best used as personal storage for each user. Disk space quotas can be set for users and or groups (set space limits).Overall device speed is limited to it connectivity, so the hard drives can never reach full load.Overall it is a very good device.
Marc_A@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/30/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:weak-what? No! Joke. Can't change drive format without reformat.

Pros:sleak design, VERY silent, feature rich, hackable into a linux PC
Comment:
It's my second network storage box from DLink. I made a review on the DNS-321 a while back and decided to purchase this (on special bundled with a 2TB drive) big brother. Never again will I purchase a n external drive enclosure to plug into a USB port. I higly recommend to anyone.Once formatted, a drive can't be changed configuration without the need to extract all the data because of a reformat. You can't change a JBOD to Raid without wiping the data. That's the only negative point I've found with this product's family.
Jamal_Z@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/15/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:None that I have seen.

Pros:RAID, Torrent app, FTP and print server.
Comment:
Great for the home. Easy to setup. The print server and the torrent feature work great. I have not tried using a 1gb connection only 100mb.
Ming_M@NCIX
Rating:

Review Date: 03/13/10
D-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure
Cons:Performance

Pros:Features, price, and easy setup
Comment:
Overall, I really like this NAS.I mainly use it as a movie streaming device via my wireless G network. No problem streaming it like this.Transfering file over wifi is at around 3.5mb/s... 100Lan is about 8mb/s... So performance is not the best.Build quality seems good with metal casing. I dont have any heating issue yet, but the build-in fan doesn't seem very powerful.Configurability is high with mainly perimeter to choose from.I have one of those tiny Addonic NAS and the DNS323 will kick it's axx...
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