The N2R1DD2 measures 165 x 162 x 230mm (6.5 x 6.4 x 9.1 in) and weighs in at 4.2 kg (9.26lbs) without any hard drives. While this is a bit large for a two bay NAS, the built in DVD writer accounts for much of this extra space. Along the top of the unit, you can see an LCD panel and a series of buttons (Power, Set, Left Arrow and Right Arrow). The panel shows the current state of the N2R1DD2 and can be used with the buttons to set up the system and control a number of its functions.
On top of the N2R1DD2 there is a pop-up panel with a built-in 4-in-1 memory card reader and a USB port where you can plug in a digital camera, flash drive or external hard drive.
The two hard drive bays are located behind the N2R1DD2's front cover. Before you can remove a drive from the unit, you need to unlock the disk rack by pushing the lock button upward. From there, simply squeeze together the two levers and pull the rack from the system. Like the N4B1's rack system, this one is very smooth and it takes very little effort to insert and remove the drives.
Along the right hand side, the N2R1DD2 has a series of LED's. These LED's are used to show memory access as well as the current state of the DVD writer and hard drives. If one or more of them light up red, there is a problem. Otherwise, they will light up blue if everything is operating normally.
The rear of the N2R1DD2 is pretty straight forward. Along with the DC power connection, there is an 80mm fan. This fan is temperature controlled and only spins as fast as needed to keep the system cool. Right above the fan there is an ethernet port, eSATA port and two more USB ports.
