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DLink 2-Bay Enclosure Lets You Build A NAS And Features
Easy-install Disks For Network Storage
by Daniel P. Dern (dern@pair.com)
Vendor: D-Link Systems Inc. Product Name: 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure (DNS-323) Price (MSRP): $229.99 Availability: Now. Product URL:
For consumers with multimedia content they want to store, use and share — and who want to provide some managed storage for the rest of the household — or SOHOs with data to backup and
protect, external hard drives are a good start, but RAIDable network
storage makes more sense — if the price and usability are right.
At $229.00 for the enclosure — an excellent price, given the features — D-Link’s new DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure combines the
DIY (Do-It-Yourself) flexibility of a hard drive enclosure with the
flexibility of a network-based device.
You can start with just one SATA drive, and add another later — no tools or cabling needed, just pop the drive in. This lets you price and rebate-shop for SATA drive deals — or start with a drive you’ve got kicking around, and wait for a great deal.
With two bays populated, you can select define some or all drive capacity
for RAID 1 (mirroring), leaving the rest as JBOD for less critical content.
You can use the DNS-323 as a local file server, appearing as a lettered drive to your computer; as an Internet-accessible
FTP server
A built-in UPnP audio visual (UPnP AV) media server lets you stream digital content to compatible media players, including widgits like DLink’s DSM 520 Media Player,that can act as inputs to
your analog or digital stereo or television.
Other features include a USB print server port;
Memeo, which can do real-time file backup, which
saves a copy to the DLink when you save on the PC; a DHCP server, in case you need it; and spin-down power management; and, for digital media users, as a streaming server directly (i.e., you don’t need any computers on) to a digital media device,
including UPnP audio-visual devices that you can plug your analog stereo or television into.
I’m also thinking that the DNS-323 could do double-duty as a local RAID file server, and be an easy, inexpensive way to
Disk-to-Disk backup, for a hard drive copy to store off-site. Get four SATA drives, keep one in all the time, and cycle the other three — one in the drive, one stored off-site, one in transit. (Assuming the RAID re-synching will handle this.) That would be cheaper, faster, and easier than juggling multiple external drives, if it works.