New
#41
Not sure how to answer the direct connect question. It is a device on your network, much like a smart TV or a tablet.
It has its own operating system, not Windows.
The devices can talk and Windows uses it network protocols to communicate with the NAS. I use it for Macrium backups and when Macrium starts up it shows me a lists of Images i can restore from. If I didn't know I could tell if this list of files came from and internal, an external or a NAS.
I don't think there is anything wrong with your drives at the hardware level. Two many drives / sticks showing issues.
I would be inclined to think it is the enclosure but now you are saying you are also having issues with thumb drives.
Are you plugging the thumbdrive into the enclosure or directly to computer?