BUFFALO TeraStation 5420: 4-Bay 24TB NAS Storage for Small to Medium Businesses

The BUFFALO TeraStation 5420 is a powerful 4-bay desktop NAS designed to meet the storage, backup, and collaboration needs of small to medium-sized businesses. With 24TB of total capacity included (2 x 12TB drives), this unit is ready to empower teams with centralized file sharing, secure data protection, and scalable storage for growing workloads. Built for reliability and ease of use, the TeraStation 5420 combines enterprise-grade features with a compact, energy-conscious design, making it an ideal solution for offices, workgroups, media teams, and remote locations that require robust data access and strong backup capabilities.

• High-capacity out of the box: 24 TB total storage across four hot-swappable bays, provided as 2 x 12TB drives to get you started quickly and ready to scale up as data grows.
• Flexible data protection: supports multiple RAID configurations (0, 1, 5, 6, 10) to balance performance and resilience; hot-swappable bays simplify drive replacement without server downtime.
• Efficient networking for teams: dual Gigabit Ethernet ports enable reliable throughput, with options for link aggregation or dedicated networks for data access and backups, ensuring smooth collaboration even during peak usage.
• Cross-platform compatibility: robust support for SMB/CIFS, NFS, and AFP protocols ensures seamless file sharing with Windows, macOS, and Linux environments; centralized user access control simplifies permissions and security management.
• Intuitive management and security features: a web-based setup interface, remote administration, automated backups, and scheduling simplify IT tasks while helping protect critical data from loss or misplacement.

Technical Details of BUFFALO TeraStation 5420

• Product family: BUFFALO TeraStation 5420
• Form factor: Desktop NAS
• Bay count: 4 bays
• Pre-installed drives: 2 × 12 TB HDD (24 TB total)
• Total user-accessible capacity: up to 24 TB (with installed drives)
• RAID support: 0, 1, 5, 6, 10
• Networking: 2 × Gigabit Ethernet ports
• Drive bays: Hot-swappable
• External interfaces: USB 3.0
• Supported protocols: SMB/CIFS, NFS, AFP
• Operating system: Buffalo TeraStation OS
• Security and access: User and group permissions, basic network security features
• Power: Desktop-grade PSU, energy-efficient design

How to Install BUFFALO TeraStation 5420

Getting started with the BUFFALO TeraStation 5420 is straightforward, designed to minimize downtime and complexity for IT teams and office staff alike. Follow these practical steps to deploy storage quickly and securely in your environment.

1) Unbox and verify: Ensure the unit, power adapter, Ethernet cables, and the two pre-installed 12TB drives are present. Place the NAS on a stable surface with proper ventilation to prevent overheating during operation.

2) Connect to the network: Attach the NAS to your network using an Ethernet cable from one of the LAN ports to your switch or router. If you plan to take advantage of network redundancy or higher throughput, you can use both Ethernet ports where your network supports link aggregation.

3) Power up and access the setup interface: Plug in the power supply and power on the device. On a computer connected to the same network, open a web browser and enter the NAS management URL provided by Buffalo (the setup wizard will guide you). The initial setup will prompt you to create administrator credentials, configure language and time settings, and select the region for your deployment.

4) Configure storage and RAID: Access the storage management section to initialize the drives and select your desired RAID level (0/1/5/6/10). The wizard guides you through creating volumes and allocating storage to shares, with status indicators to monitor health and performance.

5) Create shares and user access: Define shared folders tailored to teams, projects, or departments. Establish user accounts and group-based permissions, aligning access with your security policy. If you use a directory service, integrate the NAS with Windows Active Directory or other authentication sources for centralized management.

6) Enable backups and data protection: Set up automatic backup tasks to protect important data. Configure backup destinations such as another NAS, an external USB drive, or supported cloud services where available. Schedule backups during off-peak hours to minimize impact on network performance.

7) Update firmware and apply best practices: Check for the latest firmware and apply updates to improve reliability, security, and performance. Take advantage of built-in health monitoring tools to track drive status, capacity usage, and system temperature.

8) Monitor, optimize, and scale: Use the dashboard to monitor network throughput, read/write performance, and disk health. As data grows, you can expand capacity by adding more drives or upgrading existing ones while preserving your RAID configuration for protection.

With these steps, IT teams and office users can rapidly deploy the BUFFALO TeraStation 5420 while maintaining ongoing management tasks in a single, centralized interface. The result is a resilient storage backbone that supports collaboration, project work, media libraries, backups, and critical business applications with consistent performance and ease of administration.

Frequently asked questions

• Q: How much storage comes with the BUFFALO TeraStation 5420? A: It ships with a total of 24 TB across two pre-installed 12 TB drives in a 4-bay enclosure, ready for configuration with your preferred RAID level.
• Q: Can I upgrade or replace the drives? A: Yes. The drives are hot-swappable, and you can upgrade or replace them individually. Select compatible drives and maintain an appropriate RAID configuration to preserve data protection.
• Q: What RAID levels does it support? A: The TeraStation 5420 supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10, enabling you to choose the right balance of performance and fault tolerance for your workload.
• Q: How do I access files from Windows, macOS, or Linux? A: The NAS supports SMB/CIFS for Windows, AFP for older macOS systems, and NFS for Linux, ensuring seamless cross-platform file sharing and collaboration.
• Q: Is remote access possible? A: Yes. Buffalo provides web-based and mobile-friendly management tools for remote administration, plus backup and access options that suit distributed work environments.
• Q: What maintenance is required? A: Regular firmware updates, proactive drive health monitoring, capacity planning, and scheduled backups help maintain reliability and performance over time.