Over All Rating Reviews :
NAS:
This is great as a RAID NAS. I didn't want a whole computer running to act as a file sharing device. Obviously, you can do that, too. I didn't want a network attached device or external USB drive without RAID because I'm looking for the reliability of RAID (two drives that mirror each other so that if one fails the other still has your data). Many of the RAID NAS devices in this price range have one built in drive or some other mechanism where if a drive fails, you have to send it back to the manufacturer to replace the drive(s) and rebuild it. What's the point?!? I popped in two 500 gig deskstars in there and away it went.
MEDIASERVER:
I wanted to share the photos and music I put on the network with my PS3. Using the latest (1.04) firmware, I was able to set it up and have it running with 10 minutes. I could play files just fine. HOWEVER the media server built into the NAS would unreliably provide MP3 Tags. For instance, it would allow for a "Rock" folder, but not "Soul". On the PS3, they were just listed under "Other". If I copied those same "Soul" files via the NAS to the PS3 HD, or put them on a USB Drive, the PS3 read the tags fine, so it was obviously a problem with the mediaserver. To verify even futher, I used a mediaserver on my desktop with those same files, again, and the PS3 saw them and categorized them just fine.
So... If you want to share a few songs, play one album at a time, view one folder of photos at a time- this will be awesome out-of-box. If you want to rip 300 CDs to the NAS and play by genre, rating, year, etc... You're screwed! ...Or are you? The DNS-323 allows you access to it's guts (Linux) so you can actually install a GOOD mediaserver on your NAS. I installed Twonky (Aprox $40) in about half an hour at most. You can find the info on the DNS-323 wiki. It's a lot easier and safer than it sounds.
So... all in all, this is a great device. Perfect RAID NAS. Okay Media Server (minus one star for that). But with the flexibility to install a good media server and other linux components like a web server.
Installation:
Piece of cake. Out of the box it had the 1.03 firmware. I updated that first- easy. Then I added the 2 drives- very easy. Then I logged in via the browser (I never installed the dlink software!)- easy. It asked me how I wanted to use the drives and then formatted them- easy. The PS3 automagically found the mediaserver- Super Easy! Figuring out why it didn't tag my music properly- Frustrating! Installing Telnet and a new MediaServer... Not bad if you have a clue about computers (FTP, and basic Linux).
Performance: Unsure. I'm using wireless right now and there seems to be a delay inbetween songs. It might be better wired, or maybe that's just a limitation of streaming from a separate device. Also, I've noticed multiple disconnects from my DSL. This almost never happened before (maybe once in 6 months). Right now my DSL modem is also the wired/wireless router- not the best option in performance.
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