>>>
>>>Can you access the files directly in File Explorer on the server when using FileStream?
>>
>>No but you can access files directly through special Windows API by first using FILESTREAM functions to obtain a logical UNC file system path of a file. After that the OpenSqlFilestream API will give you a file handle. This handle can then be used by Win32 file streaming interfaces, such as ReadFile() and WriteFile().
>
>So are the files encrypted or something? Or are they just stored in a big blob?

No they are stored as files in Windows file system.