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[Pinoy323]

Is it safe to power on the Dns-323 only when I need it and power off after use?  I use it for storage, ocassional videos streaming and torrents downloading.  Does powering on and off negatively affect the lifespan of harddrives?

thanks!

[chriso]

Sort of sounds like the old debate of powering down your computer or not.

I would power it down.  Unless we are talking lots of times a day I think you would get more life out of it by powering it down and save power to boot.

[dosborne]

Keep in mind that you can set it to power down the drives when not in use.

I agree with chriso. It depends on how often and for how long you expect to power it up or down. If you only use it once a day for a couple of hours then I see no harm it powering it off the rest of the time, but it uses minimal power if left on (and is configured properly).

[jamieburchell]

If your drives are running 24x7 and hardly in use, then yes, by all means it's better to have them off. But just configure the DNS-323 to power down the drives and leave the unit on. It uses next to no power. For me, it's just the same as leaving the microwave or clocks plugged in

[Pinoy323]

Thanks for the replies....  I understand what you guys have suggested.  When you say configure unit to power down drives, are you all referrring to confirguring the hibernation option to allow drives to go to sleep at the set time?  Sorry, I am just starting to learn networking.

[gunrunnerjohn]

I measured 6 watts with the drives spun down, hardly worth the effort of powering down and back up unless it sits for days at a time.

[chriso]

Thanks for the replies....  I understand what you guys have suggested.  When you say configure unit to power down drives, are you all referring to configuring the hibernation option to allow drives to go to sleep at the set time?  Sorry, I am just starting to learn networking.

Yes that is what we are talking about: Tools -> Power Management

BTW even though I said I might power it down, well in reality for me I bought it for it low power, and it is used as the only storage for all personal data on two computers, and it has automatic backups at night.  And it stored in a hidden place.  So I never turn off mine.   

And given the low power and that you are shutting off the hard drives to lower the wear and tear on them, and given it takes a while to boot, I guess the only real reason I might turn it off if I was using it like you is because the sound/lights might bother me.  (I know I sort back tracked on this, but I do turn off my computers!  )

[gunrunnerjohn]

I have my computers go into hybrid sleep, they use about 4 watts, I figure that's not too big a price to pay.  They're up and running in seconds when I want to get back on.

[chriso]

I have had problems with hibernate on some desktops and devices, and from power on to use is about 30 second for me, so I go with that.  To me hibernate is the same as "shutting it off".

What I really don't like is when a computer is used for two hours in a day and then it is left fully powered up 24/7.

[gunrunnerjohn]

Well, I don't use hibernate, but rather S3 sleep.  It works perfectly for me on both Windows 7 machines.

[jamieburchell]

Also, if the fan is set to auto that probably won't come on either when idle. You can turn the front LED off too! BP oil spill eat your heart out. If we all turn our LEDs off...

[chriso]

Also, if the fan is set to auto that probably won't come on either when idle. You can turn the front LED off too! BP oil spill eat your heart out. If we all turn our LEDs off...

Actually the light off option has never worked right for me with 1.08 firmware (and others I know that have resorted to duck tape), but I don't care because my DNS-323 isn't anywhere I can see.

[Pinoy323]

My Dns-323's lights do not bother me, but actually beneficial at night.  Nas is placed about 1.5 feet off the floor, so at night they act as nightlights....very expensive nightlights!. 

[Chill]

quite an expensive nightlight indeed.

What FW is installed and HW version is your 323?

Most posts have already given you suggestion, i just want to add.....

If you have installed two drives on your NAS and you only it for a couple of hours per day, then powering down would be more cost effective. Heat from the two drives is more of my concern than cost to power it up/down. I lost gigs of data due to overheating and from the looks of your callsign nasa Pilipinas ka tulad ko, it can sometimes be so hot.

[Pinoy323]

quite an expensive nightlight indeed.

What FW is installed and HW version is your 323?

Most posts have already given you suggestion, i just want to add.....

If you have installed two drives on your NAS and you only it for a couple of hours per day, then powering down would be more cost effective. Heat from the two drives is more of my concern than cost to power it up/down. I lost gigs of data due to overheating and from the looks of your callsign nasa Pilipinas ka tulad ko, it can sometimes be so hot.

When I got my Dns-323 it had 1.07 installed. I upgraded it to 1.08 then 1.09.  I believe my version is B1, I have heard some recieved C versions, which may be the new version.  Actually nasa NY ako pero pag summer parang Pilipinas ang init.  How long have you been using your Dns323?  Cge!