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| At a glance | |
| Product | D-Link DNS-320L ShareCenter 2-Bay Cloud Storage 2000 [Website] |
| Summary | Entry-level Marvell-based NAS with 'personal cloud' features |
| Pros | • Relatively inexpensive • Many backup features including Time machine |
| Cons | • Slow • GUI should be better organized • Only one USB port • Need to run CD to connect NAS to cloud |
Typical Price: $100 Compare Prices Check Amazon |
Overview
Updated 12/12/2012: Corrected RAID expansion info
D-Link rejiggered its small NAS product line back in October, replacing the DNS-320 with the object of our scrutiny today, the DNS-320L ShareCenter 2-Bay Cloud Storage 2000.
I last checked in on D-Link's NASes over a year ago with the DNS-325, which now represents the highest-performance two-bay NAS you can buy from D-Link. A basic comparison of the products taken from D-Link's product pages is shown below. It's clear from the summary and, obviously, the product name, that D-Link is attempting to position the 320L as a "personal cloud" solution.
D-Link DNS-320L & DNS-325 compared
The 320L stands a bit taller than other two-bay NASes due to the vertical orientation of the drives. Like WD's My Book Live Duo, drives are inserted from the top and don't require a mounting tray. This means, however, that only 3.5" drives are supported. Before inserting the drives, however, you need to attach a supplied plastic strap that you will need to pull them out.
The 3 TB WD Red drives I inserted were a tight fit, requiring a lot of push to get them in. I cringed at the metal-on-metal scraping heard during insertion, imagining little metal shavings gently wafting down onto the main board. The whole process left me thinking I might have damaged something by inserting the drives. D-Link says the 320L accepts up to 4 TB drives and does not have an approved drive list at this time.
D-Link DNS-320L front panel callouts
The various lights, ports and switches are described in the callout diagrams above and below. As you can see, controls and ports are pretty basic. Only one Gigabit Ethernet LAN port and a single USB 2.0 port are provided for network and external drive and printer connection.
D-Link DNS-320L rear & bottom panel callouts
User reviews
Average user rating from: 2 user(s)
NOTE! Please post product reviews from actual experience only.
Questions, review comments and opinions about products not based on actual use will not be published.
320L review
Have had this NAS for 2 months now. It is a very reliable and good value 2-bay NAS.
The main reasons for buying the 320L were the price and the very low fan noise (I am an audiophile). I use it for video and audio streaming. To increase performance for video streaming I activated the NFS service.
There are also extra unofficial utilities that can be installed (see NAS tweaks and funplug)
Pros - Reliable, Quiet, Best price in its category
Cons - Performance for file read/write and read could be better
Overall - For the price it is an excellent 2-bay NAS
Good - but too noisy for home use
A good, inexpensive unit with oncouple inexcusable flaw, even after taking into consideration its price. The fan is just too high pitched and noisy for home use, unless isolated in a far-flung study. In an apartment it would drive you crazy. There's adjustment available but it's only to allow it to be on high speed permanently! At least it spins down in cooler conditions, which isn't that often when you have both drive slots filled.
Features and performance are what you'd expect from this type of unit; solid, but not stellar. Well worth it if noise is not an issue.
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