Operation:
To document every aspect of the Thecus N3200 3-Bay SOHO network storage system in operation would be quite an extensive undertaking. This portion of the review will therefore focus on some of the key aspects in order to provide an overview of the physical features, software interface, and performance characteristics.
When powered up, the unit remains very quiet and the only way you might notice it was by the bright blue light coming from the power button and backlit LCD screen. The cooling fan is thermally regulated to keep the drives cool with as little noise as possible, with fan speed and drive temperature being just two pieces of information that can be displayed on the screen. According to the screen, the drives operated in the range of 33 to 38 degrees Celsius, and the fan spun at speeds from 950 to 1100RPM.
 
A variety of other information can be displayed on the LCD screen, and as it scrolls through everything automatically you may see information as shown above and below.
While the physical installation was a breeze, the first step to getting the N3200 connected to the network wound up presenting the biggest issue I have with the device. In addition to rather weak documentation, the initial configuration has the IP address locked to 192.168.1.100, which makes it undetectable on a network with any other range of IP addresses.
The N3200 does support DHCP, but you must first access it at 192.168.1.100 before you can enable this. The network where the N3200 was to be tested has DHCP enabled and allows IP addresses in the range of 192.168.3.2XX. After searching the documentation, online information, and just banging on the controls for the LCD screen, I eventually realized I was not going to get it connected. My options seemed to be to reconfigure my entire network (even if only temporarily) to make the N3200 discoverable, or bring it to another location with a network that offered the correct range of IP addresses.
I went with option number two, and took it somewhere else. While I assumed it would be mere minutes to access the device and enable DHCP in order to bring it back home for use, it wasn't so easy. Of course this other location happened to have their main server located at 192.168.1.100, and the N3200 remained unseen.
So, I finally reconnected to my network, reconfigured the router to a new range of IP addresses, and made my way into the web interface of the N3200. After enabling DHCP in the N3200, I restored my network to its previous state and proceeded with the review. Quite a bit of hassle that could have been avoided by setting DHCP to enabled at the factory.
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