Beneath the interface, a LinkStation or TeraStation is simply a small Linux box that uses the usual type of software RAID and file systems. This allows you to completely eliminate the appliance after imaging its disks.
Beneath the brand name, all of these appliances are simply the same old mdadm-based RAID volumes using either XFS or ext for their file systems. Once the disks are imaged, this is well-documented territory. It is the appliance's own repair tools that create problems: not what it writes when in operation, but how it tries to fix things when they go wrong.
LinkStation and TeraStation appliances are just simple mdadm software RAIDs with XFS atop them on most models. This is great news since it makes your disks readable on other hardware and the RAID rebuildable there also, without having to have the original device.
What distinguishes Buffalo from other NAS vendors is that their firmware locks down their drives so severely. If you pull one of the internal drives out of a Buffalo LinkStation and then plug it into a PC, there usually won't be anything useful in terms of files or data, since the way Buffalo partitions, along with their EM mode behaviour, is more restrictive than what Synology and QNAP have as part of their firmware.
The practical result: label all the drives with their bay numbers before pulling them out of your Buffalo, send the drives on their own, and do not attempt to go through the firmware recovery method the documentation recommends.
LinkStation LS220D, LS520D Consumer-level two-bay units. They use mdadm for mirroring or striping your disks, with XFS. This is the most common Buffalo model we see.
LinkStation LS410D, LS441D Ranges of single- and four-bay units. Same software stack but scaled up/down depending upon how many bays the unit has.
TeraStation TS3410, TS5410 Four-bay business units. RAID 5 and RAID 6 with XFS. Many times these units hold an entire company's file storage.
TeraStation WS series Windows Storage Server based versions. NTFS instead of XFS. Also, a completely different recovery process is needed for these.
DriveStation externals Single-disk USB externals. Ordinary external drive failures.
MiniStation portables Bus-powered 2.5-inch externals. Some MiniStations will encrypt at the bridge level (in which case you should send the enclosure).
In many cases, when a LinkStation fails, it drops into what Buffalo calls “emergency mode” and the recommended fix is to run the firmware updater. If the LinkStation has failed due to problems with the disks in the array, this can also reset the array configuration, which is not what you want.
If your LinkStation unit is in EM mode and the data matters, don't do anything except power it off and send it to us. The purpose of the firmware recovery process is to recover a functioning device, not to save data stored on the disks.
Take note of the flash pattern before turning it off (it will identify what was wrong). Turn it off, then stop. Don't run the firmware updater.
Only rarely in any useful way. Buffalo units have more restricted partitioning than most other manufacturers, and generally the disks will not show up as normal volumes on a PC. We recommend sending the disks labelled by bay, and we'll do the reconstruction.
No, not if the data matters. This is specifically designed to bring a working appliance back online and can reset the array at the same time.
Array work from £500 +VAT. Please send each disk labelled with the bay it came from, and also the unit if possible.
From £500 +VAT for all multi-bay units. From £300 +VAT for all single-disk DriveStation and MiniStation units.