Bought yourself a Buffalo LinkStation LS220D and not sure how to get started? Don't worry! Here's our in-depth guide to connecting your Buffalo LinkStation to a Windows PC.
Today we'll go over how to get the device visible on your drive, how to create your admin account, add users, permissions and folders, and then lastly how to map your network drive, so you'll be able to access your LS220D locally from any remote device you own!
Step 1: Setting up the NAS drive and creating your account
Firstly, you'll want to take your Buffalo NAS drive and plug in the power cord. The plug will go into the wall and the other end will need to go into the bottom socket. Next, take the supplied ethernet cable and plug one end into one of your router's LAN ports, and the other end into the ethernet socket of the NAS drive (The socket above the power point).
Switch the power toggle from off to on, then wait until the flashing LED light turns solid - At this point you are ready to head to your Windows PC/laptop!
Getting your account setup
To get your account created, the first thing you need to do is download the latest version of NAS Navigator.
You can download the NAS Navigator application from this website: https://www.buffalotech.com/support/download
Accept any terms and conditions and ensure you select your model number LS220D when prompted. When the application is ready to run, open up the Navigator, you should see your device visible as LS220D. Right-click on this device icon, then select settings. This will take you to the Buffalo settings page in your default web browser (e.g. Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer).
You'll need to enter a password for your account, the username is set to admin and cannot be changed (Please note you cannot use the word password as your admin password). Ensure that you re-enter your password in the confirm password box - Once your new password is set, you'll be able to see your user in the getting started ---> users section. Click next.
Next up, you need to set your RAID type, we always recommend you choose RAID 1 if you have a duo LinkStation, as this mean you have a mirror copy of your data always sat on the NAS. In the event of a drive failure you'll always have a backup drive available to recover your data. RAID 1 may be slightly slower than RAID 0 in terms of read and write speeds for the drive, but the security of having your drive backed up is crucial if you have sensitive or important files/applications you need storing - Click next.
Lastly for the basic setup process, you need to submit your time zone, this will only apply to the admin user, so any remote users who login to the web access will still see their own time zone (e.g. if they are based overseas or in another time zone).
Step 2: How to add new users, shared folders and permissions
Now that your Buffalo LS220D has an admin account attached to it, our next step is to add more users. To get to the user settings, open up the NAS Navigator application then click settings, this will take you to the web access in your browser.
Creating additional remote users
Click on advanced settings, and when prompted, login to the tile using your admin username and password (Remember, the username is simply "admin").
Next, click on file sharing, then select the users icon. You will see that there is always two users displayed when you first setup your account, the admin, and the guest access.
To create a new user, click on the create user icon. Next, fill out the new user details, you'll need the following:
Username
User ID
Password
Confirm password
The optional settings include a description or an email address (For notification purposes) for the new user, as well as the choice of setting a quota for the user. A quota simply limits the amount of storage space available to the user i.e. if they wish to move any files to the NAS drive. Once you are happy, click on OK to finish.
Creating a shared folder
In your Buffalo NAS drive, shared folders allow certain users to access data and files in specific places. You can control the access level for different users, depending on what you want them to see and manage. Shared folders can be made for purposes like family, work and certain friends etc.
To create a shared folder, once again head to the web access portal and select advanced settings (You'll be required to login first with your admin username and password).
Next, click on file sharing ---> folder setup.
On the next page, click on the create folder icon, to begin customizing your new shared folder.
You'll be required to enter the following information:
A shared folder name
The volume that the shared folder will sit in
The attribute the folder will be assigned - This means either read-only access or read and write access for all non-administrative users.
Recycle bin enable/disable (Basically if you delete files/data from the NAS drive, they'll be sent to your recycle bin instead of being wiped.
LAN protocol support (Please see image below) - This gives you the option of allowing remote users to access the drive from different operating systems such as Mac, as well as gaining web access.
Access restrictions enable you to amend the specific control a single user has with a shared folder, such as denied access, read-only access, or read and write access.
Once you are happy with your shared folder settings, click OK to proceed. The new folder should be visible in the Shared Folder List section.
Setting user permissions on shared folders
User permissions help you to maintain maximum security on your shared folders. To set folder restrictions, first go to advanced settings and login with your admin username and password.
Click on file sharing ---> folder setup. Locate the folder you wish to change user permissions on and click on it, next select the edit icon to open up the folder settings.
In the access restrictions option, make sure the toggle is set to enable.
The permissions you can select are shown below:
Read and write access (W/R) - The user can view, and write data onto the folder. This means they can view files, as well as add, remove or edit those files.
Read only access (/R) - The user can view the files and data that sit within the folder, but they cannot write data to the folder, nor can they add/remove/edit files from the shared folder.
No access (none) (/) - The user cannot write data or view the shared folder. The shared folder will not be visible in the user's Buffalo NAS file location if you give them no access.
To change a user's permission level, simply toggle the button you wish to set the permission level as. Once you are happy with the changes, click OK.
Step 3: Mapping the network drive for your Buffalo LS220D
When your shared folders are up and running, the last thing you need to do is map the network drive. This ensures that you can access the folder from a local standpoint, instead of having the shares sit in your network folder.
To map the network drive for a folder, head to the NAS Navigator and right-click on the icon for your NAS device.
Select browse shares from the pop-up menu - When the shares appear, right-click on the shared folder you wish to map the network drive for and select map network drive.
In the map network drive box, select a drive letter you wish to assign to the shared folder. As for the folder name, it should already be inputted for you. If not, use the following format:
\\LS220D\sharedfoldername - This format consists of the name of the Buffalo NAS icon when you open up NAS Navigator, and the name of the shared folder within the NAS drive.
Your shared folder is now mapped and ready to access locally!
If you need help with any other features for your Buffalo LinkStation device, you can find the answers you need on their website, here's the link: https://www.buffalotech.com/knowledge-base
