D-Link DNS-321

I recently bought a D-Link DNS-321 diskless NAS.  I have been looking at buying a NAS now for sometime.  The problem that I have ran into is that all of them seem to fall short in one way or another.  The only way to get network storage that is decent is to go with a more expensive unit (like a ReadyNAS), or to go the server method (like a Mac Mini Server or some other server).

The D-Link DNS-321 is not what I would call an amazing NAS, but I found it at Tigerdirect.com for roughly $70 after mail-in-rebate.  I found it on sale still/again at dealnews.com for the same price.  For $70 this device offers a decent location to store music, video, and archived data, so I decided to give it a try.

So far I have been pretty happy with it.  It took me about 10 minutes to get it setup and it gives you your basic needs.  Now the problem that I am running into is that I need more storage.  I have been using two 250GB drives in a RAID 1 array, and I am ought of room already (had the NAS a week).  Now I am looking at purchasing two WD 500GB drives for $80 after $30 mail-in-rebate ($15 mail-in-rebate per drive) from newegg.com.

For a in depth review of the DNS-321 visit the review at SmallNetBuilder.com.

Its Offical - Roku To Get Hulu Plus

I just wanted to keep you in the loop, in case you haven't already heard, today it was announced that Hulu Plus will be coming to the new Roku set-top boxes and Tivo Premiere users.  This announcement undoubtedly helps Roku compete, and in many instances have a upper hand on many other set-top boxes on the market.  Now I am wondering, should I buy a Roku now, or is there still hope that Apple TV will get Hulu?  Disney is part owner of Hulu and they do have close ties with Apple, courtesy of Steve Jobs.  I doubt this will happen, but something to think about.

TV via Internet

Recently I decided to save some money and not pay for cable/satellite TV.  This has also made me more alert of Internet alternatives like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon VoD, etc...  These services continue to have an increasing amount of valuable content, which makes them very attractive.  One of the largest downfalls to these services is that there is not a good central location that you can go to access them.  This makes watching TV very cumbersome and requires users to be somewhat tech savvy.  

I have been paying attention to Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, and the PS3.  Each set-top box offers most of the above services, and some services are implemented better than others.  I have been most attracted to the Roku boxes because they are affordable and they offer Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, and more.  The ONE service they are missing, that I want, is Hulu. Recently streamingmedia.com reported that Roku boxes will indeed be receiving a Hulu channel soon.  When and if this happens, it will make a Roku box #1 on my list of set-top boxes.  This would allow you to get practically everything you could possibly want for about $20/month (Netflix+Hulu Plus subscriptions).  If there is anything missing, you also have Amazon Video on Demand where you can purchase individual shows/seasons too.  The only thing that would make Roku the set-top box of set-top boxes would be the ability to play media from local network devices (There are reports this may be coming).

What are your thoughts, do you use a set-top box currently?  What do you use?  What features would you like that you don't have?

Zach