D-Link DNS-323 NAS Part 1

In Malaysia, we use "terror" very often to describe people. For instance, your peer told you that he just yelled and scolded the boss and you might react "Wow! You so terror!"

Another example. Your friend took half the time to travel from point A to point B which even Michael Schumacher may have problem to achieve that. You reacted "Wah Lau Eh, you damn terror lah".

In my daily life especially in office, my peers also use "terror" a lot. But this "terror" ain't the "terror" I explained above, it's spelled "tera". And I finally joined the "tera club".

Huh? What is this crap?

Look at this photo...

A network attached storage or NAS that supports up to 2000GB of data.

Yes, if you have made the right guess. 2000GB = 2TB = 2 terabytes. This was the "tera" I meant.

Perhaps it's the "Phase 1" of my 2-year mega project. It's rather an impulsive purchase 'cause I did not plan to execute the plan at this time being. But I came across this warehouse sale...

And the price list...

Darn tempting right? It's a 50% cut from the original price. No kidding as I confirmed the price with retail stores in Low Yat.

My initial target was WD My Book World Edition II in the price list, but I changed my mind after reading through some reviews. And at the warehouse I found this D-Link DNS-323 NAS which was often being compared with WD My Book World Edition II in the reviews I read...

With the latest price list from Low Yat...

It priced at RM395 at the warehouse sale, so I convinced myself it worth a try. Price wasn't the only criteria, at least it matches some other considerations such as, BitTorrent support, no restriction on sharing, FTP access and HTTP folder browsing would be a plus, iTunes and UPnP for AV server support. Most important is the BT support, so I don't have to switch on my PC 24x7 for download.

DNS-323 isn't my ideal choice. There are other NAS in the market has better features, such as Synology at the same price range. However, I've not heard about this company before and was hesitate to give a try on it 'cause there were not many reviews on its products. So, D-Link was a striped down decision.

Anyway, let's unpack the box...

The package: the GPL license for the Linux firmware, the manual and the utility CD, the NAS enclosure, the CAT6 cable and the power adapter.

The front view...

With the sticker teared off...

The side...

The rear with power supply at the left, Gigabit network port and the USB host for print server...

And with the front panel removed. 2 slots for 2 x 3.5' SATA harddisk...

Obviously the look isn't comparable with WD My Book. But with locked down in sharing certain file types in WD My Book, definitely D-Link is the wisest choice.

So now I am also "terror" huh? Oh, typo, I am also "tera". My geeky peers can no longer tease me. All of them have joined the "tera club" months ago and few of them even have built up their storage to 6TB!! Geek like us no longer talk about gigs business, we are "terror" (tera) in business now! Hehe...

I am the late comer :") in tera club but I am the first on NAS, all of them are on local USB storage. If I found this NAS a "fit-for-purpose" project and better than USB storage in coming times, then I guess it's a good start for my 2-year mega project.

Let me get myself a terabyte harddisk and fire it up for my "tera" business ;) and don't tease me anymore! :P