8-BAY RAID STATIONManual

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Content

1. Features 3 1.1 Overview 3 1.2 SATA features 3 1.3 USB features 32. Specifications 43. System requirements 44. The device at a glance 4 4.1 Overview 4 4.2 The LED indications 55. Package contents 66. Getting started 6 6.1 HDD installation 6 6.2 Power on/off 8 6.3 eSATA slot bracket installation 87. Configuration 9 7.1 Preparation 9 7.2 Changing the host connection 9 7.3 Disconnecting an USB device 10 7.4 HDD HotPlug 108. Setting the RAID mode 10 8.1 CLEAN mode 11 8.2 Other RAID modes 139. Rebuilding a redundant drive 1510. Troubleshooting 1711. Appendix 18 11.1. CLEAN mode 18 11.2 LARGE mode 19 11.3 R00 mode 20 11.4 R30 mode 22 11.5 R50 mode 24

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1. Features

1.1 Overview

• ExternalRAIDcasewitheightmountingbaysfor2.5"and3.5"SATAHDDs • Supportedmodes:Clean/Single,LargeandRAID00/30/50 • EasyRAIDmodeconfiguration • AutomaticrebuildfunctioninRAID30/50modes • Internalinterfaces:SATAIandII(compatiblewithSATAIII) • Externalinterfaces:eSATAandUSB3.0 • FastSwapmechanismforeasyHDDhandling • Premiumqualitycraftsmanship • On/offbutton • LEDindicationsforpower,HDDactivityandrebuildmode • Pre-installedfan

1.2 SATA features

• PortMultiplierFunctionality • Auto-negotiationbetweenSATAI(1.5Gbps)andSATAII(3Gbps) • HotPlugsupportinCLEANmode • SupportsNativeCommandQueue(NCQ) • SupportsPortMultiplierAwareandnon-PortMultiplierAwareHostinRAIDmode • SupportsAsynchronousSignalRecovery • SupportsSpreadSpectrumClocking • SupportsBISTandLoopbackMode • Supports48-bitLBAaddressing • SupportsAsynchronousNotification

1.3 USB features

• CompatiblewithUSBSuperSpeed,HighSpeedandFullSpeed • CompatiblewithOHCI/UHCI/EHCIhosts • SupportsMassStorageClass

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2. Specifications

• Eightmountingbaysfor2.5"and3.5"SATAHDDs • Metalchassis(SECC)andplasticfrontpanel(ABS) • Dimensions:340x150x340mm(LxWxH) • Weight:6.5kg • 300Wfullrangepowersupply

3. System requirements

• IntelPentium-III500MHzequivalentorfaster • WindowsXP,WindowsVista,Windows7withthelatestServicePacks • 64MBofRAM(minimum) • SuperVGA(800x600)orhigherresolutiondisplaywithatleast256colors • Mouseorcompatiblepointingdevice • SATAconnection:IntelICHoroptionalHostBusAdaptercardandassociatedsoftware driverswithPortMultipliersupport • USBconnection:USB2.0or3.0directhostconnection

4. The device at a glance

4.1 Overview

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4.2 The LED indications

1. POWER LED

DESCRIPTION ORANGELED

PowerOn On

PowerOff Off

2. SYS LEDs

DESCRIPTION GREENLED

SYS1orSYS2notready/NoPower Off

SYS1orSYS2ready(Idle) On

SYS1orSYS2ready(Active) On

3. HDD LEDs

DESCRIPTION GREENLED REDLED

HDDUnplugged/NoPower Off Off

HDDplugged(Idle) On Off

HDDplugged(Active) Blink(On) Off

ErrorState(OneorMoreBadPartialVolumes) Off On

HDDRebuild(APhysicalPartitionisbeingRebuild;i.e.MirroringMode)

Off Blink(On)

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5. Package contents

• 8-BAYRAIDSTATION • 8xHDDmountingbays • 1xUSB3.0cable • 1xeSATAcable • 1xpowercord • 32xmountingscrewsfor2.5"HDDs/SSDs • 32xmountingscrewsfor3.5"HDDs • 1xSATAtoeSATAcablewithbracket

6. Getting started

6.1 HDD installation

1.Openthefrontdoor,thenunlocktheHDDmountingframelockandremovetheHDD mountingframefromthe8-BAYRAIDSTATION(fig.1).

Fig.1

2.PlacetheHDDintotheHDDmountingframe(fig.2).

Fig.2

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3.UsethemountingscrewstosecurelyattachtheHDDtothemountingframe(fig.3).

Fig.3

4.SlidetheHDDmountingframebackintothe8-BAYRAIDSTATION(fig.4).

Fig.4

5.ClosethefrontdoortocompletetheHDDinstallation(fig.5).

Fig.5

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6.2 Power on/off

Pressthepowerbuttontoswitchonthedevice.Pressagaintopoweritoff.

6.3 eSATA slot bracket installation

1.RemovetheanchorscrewoftheslotbezelandtakeitfromtherearsideofyourPC case(fig.6).

Fig.6

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2.InserttheincludedeSATAbracketintotheslotbracketandattachittothecaseusing theanchorscrew(fig.7).

Fig.7

3.ConnecttheSATAcableoftheeSATAbrackettoafreeSATAportofyour PCmainboard.

7. Configuration

7.1 Preparation

1.SATAhostconnection Thisinstallationguideassumesthatyouhavealreadyconnectedthe8-BAYRAID STATIONtoaSATAoreSATAhostcontrollerwithPortMultiplier(PM)support.

Note: If you use a host controller that does not provide Port Multiplier support (Such as Intel ICH), the CLEAN mode is not available when configuring the 8-BAY RAID STATION. Only one disk is available on the host computer.

2.USBhostconnection Ifyouareconnectingyour8-BAYRAIDSTATIONusinganUSBconnectiontoyourhost, theUSBportshouldbecompliantwithUSB2.0or3.0.

7.2 Changing the host connection

The8-BAYRAIDSTATIONsupportsbothUSBandeSATAhostconnections,althoughonly oneconnectioncanbeattachedatthesametime. IfitbecomesnecessarytoswitchthehostconnectionbetweeneSATAandUSB,thehost computersystemandthe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONshouldbothbepowereddownpriorto changingthehostconnection,inordertoavoiddataloss.Afterchangingthehost connection,bothdevicescanbepowered-onagaintocontinueoperationwiththenew host connection.

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7.3 Disconnecting an USB device

USB3.0externaldevicesprovidesupportforPlug&Playconnection,sothatyourUSB storagedevicecanbeconnectedanddisconnectedwhilethecomputerisrunning. Topreventdatalossorotherfailures,werecommendthefollowingprocedurewhen disconnectingyourUSB3.0storagedevicefromyourhostcomputersystem:

BeforeyoushutdownyourPCremovethe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONfromyoursystem’s hardwareconfigurationbydouble-clickingthesymbolinthetaskbar.Amenuwill openup.Selectthe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONtosecurelyremoveit.Switchoffthedeviceand shutdownyourPC.

7.4 HDD HotPlug

Theharddiskdrivesshouldnotbehot-plugged,butcanbeunpluggedwhilethe systemisrunning.However,toavoiddatacorruptionorloss,makesurethatthehost systemisnotcurrentlyusinganydrivethatisabouttobeunplugged.

8. Setting the RAID mode

Todefineastoragemodeforthefirsttime,makesurethattheharddiskdrivesare mounted,thenturnoffthepowerbeforesettingtheRAIDmodeswitchesontherear sideofthe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONtothedesiredmode. Tochangethestoragemodeafterwards,settheRAIDmodeswitchestothedesired position.Pressandholdthesetupbutton,thenswitchonthedevicetocreatethenew virtualvolume(s).

Notes: Creating new virtual volumes will destroy any existing data saved on the volumes! Back up your data before reconfiguring the storage mode!

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8.1 CLEAN mode

1.Switchoffthedevice(fig.8).

Fig.8

2.ToggletheRAIDmodeswitchtotheCleanmodeaccordingtothefollowingchart(fig.9):

Fig.9

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3.Removetheleftsidepanelfromthecasebylooseningthethumbscrewsontherear side(fig.10aandb).

Fig.10a Fig.10b

4.ToggletheCleanmodejumperinsidethedevicetothe“On”position(fig.11).

Fig.11

Warning: Except for the Clean mode the Clean mode jumper must be toggled to the “Off” position!

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5.SwitchonthedevicetocompletetheRAIDmodesetting(fig.12).

Fig.12

8.2 Other RAID modes

1.Switchoffthedevice(fig.13).

Fig.13

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2.ToggletheRAIDmodeswitchestothedesiredRAIDmodeaccordingtothefollowing chart(fig.14):

Fig.14

3.Pressandholdthesetupbutton(fig.15).

Fig.15

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5.SwitchonthedeviceandthenreleasethesetupbuttontocompletetheRAIDmode configuration(fig.16).

Fig.16

9. Rebuilding a redundant drive

The8-BAYRAIDSTATIONduplicatesalldatatoseparatedrivesinordertoprotectagainst datalossduetodrivefailureinR30andR50mode.Thefollowingexampleillustrates theprocedureofrebuildingaredundantdrive.

1.Ifdrive2fails,pleaseremoveitfromthedevice(fig.17).

Fig.17

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2.Switchoffthedevice(fig.18).

Fig.18

3.ReplacethedefectiveHDDwithaharddiskdriveofthesamecapacityorbigger (fig.19).

Fig.19

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4.Switchonthedevice(fig.20).

Fig.20

5.The8-BAYRAIDSTATIONwillstartrebuildingthevirtualvolumeautomatically (rebuildspeed:approximately200GB/hour).

10. Troubleshooting

1. Device is not recognized Makesureallcableshavebeenproperlyconnected. FortheUSB3.0controllerthelatestdriversandthenewestfirmwaremustbeinstalled.

2. Cannot operate in O/S Makesurethedeviceissupportedbyyouroperatingsystem.

3. Transfer speed is slow IfthedeviceisconnectedviatheUSB2.0interface,thespeedwillbearound30MB/sec only.

4. When formatting under Windows XP/ Vista/ 7, the dialog box “Unfinished formatting” is displayed WindowsXP/Vista/7cannotformatHDDswithcapacitiesabove32GBintoFAT32, pleasechooseNTFSasdataformat.

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5. When the system is damaged in LARGE mode, is it still possible to read the data? No.ThesystemisdifferentfromaRAID;theentirediskcannotberead.

11. Appendix

11.1. CLEAN mode

Function:InCLEANmodeeachharddriveisdisplayedseparatelyasonedrive.

Notes: When using a SATA host controller, CLEAN mode should only be used if the SATA host controller provides Port Multiplier (PM) support. If a host is not PM-aware, only a single drive is displayed (drive 1). The CLEAN mode will not delete the drives partition if the drives were used as single drive before.

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11.2 LARGE mode

Function: TheLARGEmodeconcatenatesaseriesofphysicalharddrivesintoasinglelarge volume,creatingaseamlessexpansionofvirtualvolumesbeyondthephysicallimitations of singularly connected hard drives.

Notes: The hard drives 1 to 8 are concatenated into a single virtual volume in the Figure above with a storage capacity that is equal to the sum of each of the physical hard drives 1 to 8. It is also possible to create a LARGE volume using only a single hard disk drive connected to Port 1. However, it is not possible to expand an existing LARGE volume by adding another hard disk drive and still preserve any existing data on that volume.

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11.3 R00 mode

Function: InR00modethedataisspreadacrossallharddisks.

Example1

Advantage/disadvantage: R00moderepresentsthebestdataspeedbutnodataredundancy.R00modeaccelerates harddiskdriveoperatingspeedbyusingmanydiskssimultaneously. ToimplementtheR00mode,the8-BAYRAIDSTATIONStoragecreatestwosinglevirtual volumes(SYS1andSYS2)thatarestripedacrossallharddrivesofSYS1andSYS2,with astoragecapacitythatisfourtimesofthesmallestdrive.SYS1andSYS2arethen stripedagainacrossbothvirtualvolumes.Thestoragecapacityistwicethecapacity of the smallest virtual volume.

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TheR00modecanalsobeimplementedusingasingledisk: Example2

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11.4 R30 mode

Function: TheR30modeaddsfaulttolerancetodrivestripingbyaddingparityinformationtothe data.R30modededicatestheequivalentoftwodrives(SYS1andSYS2)forstoring parityinformationandtostripetheseagain.Thedataandparityinformationisarranged onthedrivearraysothatparityiswrittentotwodrives.Thefollowingexampleillustrates how the parity is rotated from drive to drive.

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Advantage/disadvantage: TheR30modeuseslesscapacityforprotectionandisthepreferredmethodtoreduce thecostpermegabyteforlargerinstallations. Inexchangeforlowoverheadnecessarytoimplementprotection,theR30mode degradesperformanceforallwriteoperations.TheparitycalculationsforR30modemay result in write performance that is somewhat slower than the write performance to a single drive. TheresultingstoragecapacityofthevirtualR30volumewillbe“nminus2”-times (n=numberofdisks)ofthesmallestdrive.

Ifonedrivefails,thevirtualR30volumeisstillusable.Whentheofflinedrivecomesback online,theappliancebeginsarebuildprocessimmediatelytorestoredataredundancy. DuringthisproceduretheLEDindicationswillnotifyyouthatarebuildisinprogress.

Notes: Although the volume remains available during the rebuild process, the volume is susceptible to data loss through damage to the remaining drive until redundancy is restored at the end of the rebuild and verification process. Host access takes precedence over the rebuild process. If you continue to use the virtual R3 volume during the rebuild, the rebuild process will take a longer time to complete, and the host data transfer performance will also be affected.

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TheR30modecanalsobeimplementedusingasingledisk:

11.5 R50 mode

Function: TheR50modeaddsfaulttolerancetodrivestripingbyincludingparityinformationwith thedata.R50modededicatestheequivalentofonedriveforstoringparitystripes.The data and parity information is arranged on the drive array so that parity is written to all drives(SYS1and2).Thefollowingexampleillustrateshowtheparityisrotatedfrom drive to drive.

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Advantage/disadvantage: TheR50modeuseslesscapacityforprotectionandisthepreferredmethodtoreduce thecostpermegabyteforlargerinstallations. Inexchangeforlowoverheadnecessarytoimplementprotection,theR50modedegrades performanceforallwriteoperations.TheparitycalculationsforR50modemayresultin write performance that is somewhat slower. TheresultingstoragecapacityofthevirtualR50volumewillbe“nminus2”-times (n=numberofdisks)ofthesmallestdrivecapacity.

Ifonedrivefails,thevirtualR50volumeisstillusable,butitisinavulnerablestate becauseitsmirroredharddriveisinaccessible.Whentheofflinedrivecomesbackonline, theappliancebeginsarebuildprocessimmediatelytorestoredataredundancy.During thisproceduretheLEDindicationswillnotifyyouthatarebuildisinprogress.

Notes: Although the volume remains available during the rebuild process, the volume is susceptible to data loss through damage to the remaining drive until redundancy is restored at the end of the rebuild and verification process. Host access takes precedence over the rebuild process. If you continue to use the virtual R5 volume during the rebuild, the rebuild process will take a longer time to complete, and the host data transfer performance will also be affected.

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TheR50modecanalsobeimplementedusingasingledisk:

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