Is RAID 1 set up out of the box?

The unit ships with drives installed but you choose the RAID mode during setup. RAID 1 mirrors the two drives, halving usable capacity to about 4 TB, while RAID 0 and JBOD combine them.

Can I upgrade the drives later?

Yes, both 3.5-inch bays are accessible, but Buffalo limits which drives are supported. Check the compatibility list before buying replacements, and expect to rebuild the array.

Does it work as a media server?

It has basic DLNA media serving, but it lacks the transcoding power and app ecosystem of Synology or QNAP NAS units. It suits file storage and backups better than streaming.

How fast are transfers?

The single Gigabit Ethernet port limits throughput to roughly 110 MB/s in ideal conditions, and real-world speeds are lower. That is fine for backups but slow for large video files.

Can I back up phones and computers to it?

Yes. It supports scheduled backups from Windows and Mac computers and has mobile apps for photo backup. You can also plug a USB drive into the USB-A port for a second copy.