News

D-Link Debuts 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure for Home Office and Small Business to Safely Share and Store Digital Media (27/10/2006)

D-Link's DNS-323 offers fast and secure access to media files locally and over the Internet, thus creating a central network for valuable data back-up

D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, today introduced a 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure designed to enhance multimedia file sharing, secure important data, and stream content to media players, whilst offering unparalleled backup and recovery features for consumers and small business owners.

The new D-Link 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure (DNS-323) which requires no tools or cables to install the hard drives is the first of its kind on the market.Ê It incorporate a full complement of next-generation technology, including a fast Gigabit Ethernet connection, support for two internal 3.5-inch SATA hard drives, a built-in FTP server for accessing files through the Internet, built-in UPnP audio visual (UPnP AV) media server for streaming digital content to compatible media players such as the D-Link MediaLounge family of products, and RAID 1 technology for backing up and mirroring important files.Ê Further to this, the DNS-323 also features a USB print server and has an iTunes(tm) Server for simple media access.

"This Network Storage Enclosure represents the next-generation of storage performance and protection, offering an extremely powerful and flexible solution for storing and sharing digital media across the home or office network or across the Internet," said AJ Wang, Chief Technology Officer of D-Link.Ê "It addresses the growing market need to store an ever-increasing amount of data in the home or business, while offering built-in protection to keep valuable data, photos, videos and other important files intact."

When used with the internal SATA drives, the DNS-323 enables the user to share documents, files, and digital media such as music, photos and video with everyone on the home or office network. Data transfers to and from the device are secured by assigning rights to specific users or groups. When configuring the DNS-323, the user has the ability to create users and groups and assign them to folders with either read or read/write permissions. These features are ideal for a small office environment with employee-specific sensitive data or for the home to ensure children will only have access to age appropriate material.

"Many tech savvy home network users and small business owners demand storage capacity flexibility in the products they buy. Storage enclosures offer that option," said Joyce Putscher, principal analyst for residential connectivity at In-Stat. "As mobility increases, a storage customer's desire to access their content while away from their home or business also increases, making remote access important as well. This enclosure addresses these and many other needs in the network storage market."

Key Features and Benefits:

Stream Digital Media Content: Users can back-up music, photo and video collections to the DNS-323 for safekeeping, then use the built-in UPnP AV media server to stream digital content to compatible media players (such as those found in D-Link's MediaLounge product line.)Ê This feature is highly convenient because it can perform this function while the computer is turned off.

Protection and Flexibility: The availability of four different hard drive modes (Standard, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID1) allows the user to choose the configuration best suited to his or her needs. Standard mode creates two separately accessible hard drives, while JBOD combines both drives in linear fashion for maximum space efficiency. RAID 0 combines both drives in a 'striped' configuration, which provides the highest performance, enabling speeds up to 23MBps-Read and 15MBps-Write when using a Gigabit Ethernet connection. RAID 1 causes the drives to mirror each other, providing maximum protection. If one drive fails while configured as RAID 1, the unaffected drive continues to function as a single drive until the failed drive is replaced. The new drive will then be re-mirrored, allowing the DNS-323 to return to its full protection.

Robust Software: The included CD contains D-Link's Easy Search Utility, allowing users to easily locate the DNS-323 anywhere on the network. Once located, this utility can be used to map the hard drive(s) so they will appear in "My Computer" on the PC. Backup software is also included on the CD to facilitate back-up of valuable files from a computer to the DNS-323 manually, by a schedule, or in real-time. Real-time backups provide a method of safeguarding against unfortunate accidents that may result in the loss of precious files.

D-Link's DNS-323 Network Storage enclosure is available immediately and has a recommended retail price (RRP) of £162.54 plus VAT.

www.dlink.co.uk