Set-up

Using the CD which D-Link provided with the enclosure, I launched the "D-Link Easy Search Utility", which scans your network for the enclosure. Upon finding it, I clicked "Configuration" and a browser window launched. In the browser window, I met the DNS-323's web interface. Provided I have the means of finding the enclosure's IP address, you do not need the D-Link utility. I'm able to access the web interface from Linux or Mac just the same.

On first time use, I opted to use the configuration wizard in the web interface. It's possible to configuration all these settings on their own, but I figured the wizard was a good way to learn about all the features. In the first step, I was given 4 choices on how to configure my disks, then how to partition them.

After formatting was complete, I was surprised to discover that the partition I had created was running the EXT2 filesystem, which is a Linux filesystem. I didn't realize up until this point that the DNS-323 was running Linux!

Continuing the wizard, I was given choices for an administration password, as well as my timezone.

And the wizard concluded with network settings and naming schemes. It's probably a good idea to set the device's IP address as a static IP instead of dynamic. This will remove any issues when DHCP leases expire and the IP address changes.

Heading back to the main web interface, I was able to enable an iTunes server, an FTP server, as well as add users and groups for different folders and partitions on the enclosure. All these extra features made the drive feel much more Linux-like than I'd realized before. I did wonder if there was an open SSH or Telnet port.

After configuring the device to my liking, it was time to mount the drives and and test the speed.