Encryption of stored data

[Steerpike58]

Having working in the medical information field for some time, I've finally learned to think 'security' where data is involved.  My laptop hard drives are all encrypted, either using bitlocker at the drive level, or TrueCrypt at the 'container' level.  Looking at the Buffalo LS device, my first thought is - what if someone steals it.  Could they read the data on the device?  I know the device supports an authentication scheme, requiring users to 'log in' to the device to see files, but what could a user see if they removed the hard drive from the case, and plugged it in as an external drive to some other system?

So - is there any facility to encrypt the contents of the drive 'natively'? Do some models support the use of Self-Encrypting Drives (SED, with hardware encryption)? Is there a generally recommended solution to this problem?

I'm currently doing a test where I've created a 10 Gig container on the device using TrueCrypt, and then mounting that container on my laptop remotely, and storing files inside the container. It seems to be working fine, but things go bad if the drive gets disconnected. It would be much better if I could encrypt the storage location itself.

[Texturtle]

LinkStation devices do not have encryption built in, TeraStation devices do.

[Steerpike58]

LinkStation devices do not have encryption built in, TeraStation devices do.

Can you please point me to some article that describes how this works (how it's implemented)? I just read this link: http://www.buffalotech.com/products/terastation-1000-series about the 1000 series, and this link: http://www.buffalotech.com/products/terastation-3000-series for the 3000 series, and can't find any reference to the word encryption.

Thanks
Edit to Add: I just returned my two LinkStation devices, in anticipation of buying something more appropriate for the job, so a pointer to the encryption stuff will be most appreciated!

[Texturtle]

I wasn't able to locate anything outside the user's manuals, but I can tell you that when you select encryption for the drives each drive is formatted using 128 bit AES and keyed to the hardware ID of the specific TeraStation, meaning the drive cannot be decrypted outside that unit.

The TS5000 series also adds the ability to require boot authentication, meaning that the TeraStation will not boot unless it can contact a server running the boot authentication software on the local network OR a key is entered manually in the GUI. The key is only available from the boot authentication server.