Review: D-Link DNS-343

Whether it is due to resource-hogging applications, ever expanding databases, or multimedia files galore, home users and businesses of all sizes are almost always looking for more storage space. With the continuous decline in hard drive prices, Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices are answering the call.

The Test Center took a look at D-Link's new DNS-343 and got a glimpse of where this growing market is headed.

In actuality, the 4-bay DNS-343 is a Network Storage Enclosure (the hard drives are not included). Its 2.7 pound (empty), 5.1 by 7.2 by 7.9 inch black case is sleek and unobtrusive. In addition, the bright, amber OLED display is easy to read.

For use with 3.5 inch SATA drives, reviewers found the tool-less installation a breeze. All that is necessary is to slide the front panel up and insert the drives, which line up perfectly with the connectors in the back of the unit. After plugging an Ethernet cable into the Gigabit RJ-45 port and attaching the power adapter, the DNS-343 is ready for action.

D-Link's Easy Search Utility, which is launched off the included CD, makes it simple to find and configure the device. It will search the network for all D-Link Network Storage Devices and show their network info (IP address, subnet mask, gateway, etc.) It will also allow the user to configure the network settings to use a static address or to receive DHCP. Additionally, the utility can be used to assign and map a drive letter to the unit.

Once the initial network settings are taken care of, all additional configuration and management is done by way of a browser-based console. This is where reviewers realized the power the little black box really contained.

As expected there are User and Group management pages to set access rights and quotas, as well as RAID configuration, with options for Standard (individual disks), JBOD-Just a Bunch Of Disks (combines all the physical disks into one logical drive), RAID 1 (mirroring), and RAID 5 (striping with parity). In addition, the DNS-343 can function as various types of servers. The DNS-343 can function as an FTP server, a UPnp AV server, an iTunes server, and a DHCP server, with each role having its own settings page on the console.

On the maintenance tab, administrators can remotely restart, shutdown, and restore default settings on the unit. Here, the device can also be configured to send an email alert when certain events occur, as well as customize how long before the hard drives hibernate and the display screen to turns off. A volume can also be remotely scanned for errors from this screen.

Via a separate login, users can schedule automated downloads of files and folders from an FTP server, Web server, or local network share. They can be scheduled for one time only, daily, weekly, or monthly. This is very useful for backups (there is even a check box that will allow for incremental backups when backing up from a local source).

The device itself is simplistic in its design. The front panel consists of only the OLED display and two buttons labeled Power and Next. On the rear are two small fan outlets, the power adapter port, a reset button, the RJ-45 jack, and a USB port.

The USB port can be used as a print server port, allowing a USB printer to be connected to the network without the need for a dedicated server. The port can also be used with a UPS monitor to automatically shut-down the unit during power outages and power it back up when power returns. Lastly, there are four drive eject buttons.

The OLED display manages to show a lot of information on a relatively small screen. The Next button scrolls through three different displays. The top of all three contain an image of two computers with arrows pointing in both directions between them. All three also have the numbers 1 through 4 to represent each drive. These images flash accordingly as each process they represent are in use.

The rest of the first screen (called the System State) shows the device's host name, IP address, firmware version, and internal temperature. The second screen (the Hard Drive State) shows a horizontal bar, similar to a progress bar, which illustrates the percentage of drive capacity that is being used. The last screen (Server Status State) shows whether a printer is connected, as well as the status of the UPnP, iTunes, and FTP servers.

During speed testing, the DNS-343 didn't perform as well as we had hoped. Copying 1.2GB of files to and from the device took 2 minutes, fifty-two seconds, and seven minutes, thirty-five seconds, respectively. The to/from times for 3.2GB of data were eight minutes, fifty-eight seconds, and twenty minutes, fifty-two seconds, respectively. These speeds are by no means debilitating, but they are slower than most other NAS devices the Test Center has evaluated.

With an MSRP of $519.99 (not including drives) the DNS-343 is a nice device that impressed reviewers with its good looks and powerful feature set. Other than the slow copy speeds, it lived up to the hopes we had for it.