G-Technology G-RAID Studio User manual

g-technology.com
High-Performance Removable Drive Storage System
PRODUCT MANUAL

p. 2
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions ...........................................................4
Backup Your Data.............................................................5
About Your G-RAID
Introduction .......................................................................7
What’s in the Box .............................................................8
System Requirements.....................................................8
Overview of the Drive ....................................................9
Activity & Failure LED ....................................................10
Using Your Drive on Mac
Easy Installation for Mac ..............................................12
Optimize Performance .................................................12
Use With Time Machine ..............................................13
Disconnect the Drive ....................................................15
Using RAID Modes
Supported RAID Modes ...............................................17
The RAID Configuration Utility for Mac ..................18
Configure the RAID Mode for Mac ...........................19
RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild
for Mac .............................................................................. 22
The RAID Configuration Utility for Windows....... 23
Configure the RAID Mode for Windows.................24
RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild
for Windows .....................................................................27
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize Drive for Mac ................................................. 29
Restore the Drive Icon ..................................................33
Reformat with Partitions..............................................35
Replace a Failed Drive Module ................................. 40
Using Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use .................................................................. 43
Cross Platform Use ....................................................... 43
Support & Warranty
Technical Support ..........................................................47
Limited Warranty........................................................... 48
Copyright ......................................................................... 50

Safety & General Use
•Safety Precautions ........................................ p. 4
• Backup Your Data ......................................... p. 5

p. 4
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions
G-RAID‘s warranty may be void as a result of the failure to respect the precautions listed here. If
you detect a problem with your drive, please contact our Technical Support department.
If the product is returned with damage caused by improper handling, the warranty will be void and
liability will rest with the user. Please read our Limited Warranty.
• Servicing: Your drive contains no user-serviceable parts. If it appears to be malfunctioning,
have it inspected by a qualified Technical Support representative.
• Moisture: Place the device away from moisture or liquids. To reduce the risk of damage, do
not expose this drive to rain or moisture. Do not use it in damp or wet conditions. Never place
objects containing liquids on the drive as they may spill into its openings.
• Ventilation: Place the device in a vented area. The drive should never be placed near or over
a radiator or heat source.
• Temperature: Do not expose this drive to temperatures outside the range of 5°C to 35°C (41°F
to 95°F); or to operational humidity beyond 5-80%, non-condensing, or non-operating humidity
beyond 10-90%, non-condensing. Avoid placing your drive near a source of heat, or exposing
it to sunlight (even through a window), or in an environment that is too cold or humid.
• Physical Damage: Do not place heavy objects on the drive. Never use excessive force
on your drive.

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Safety & General Use
Backup Your Data
The disk drive contained in your G-RAID device is a delicate electronic instrument and is
susceptible to damage due to excessive physical shock. Under no circumstances will
G-Technology be held liable for the recovery or restoration of lost data. Any loss, corruption
or destruction of data while using a G-Technology drive is the sole responsibility of the user.
Make Two Backups
To help prevent the loss of your data, we highly recommend that you keep TWO copies of
your data in separate storage locations. Keep one copy on your G-Technology drive. Keep a
second copy on your internal hard drive, another G-Technology drive or a form of removable
storage media. If possible, it is advisable to keep your data in two physically disparate
locations for added safety.

About Your G-RAID
•Introduction .................................................... p. 7
• What’s in the Box .......................................... p. 8
• System Requirements ................................. p. 8
•Overview of the Drive ................................. p. 9
•Activity & Failure LED .................................. p. 10

p. 7
About Your Drive
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing G-RAID from G-Technology. The G-RAID hard drive is a high-
speed, low-cost RAID that provides an ideal storage solution for content creation profession-
als. With its unique industrial design and all-aluminum housing, G-RAID is the de facto
standard for many post-production facilities worldwide.
G-RAID features eSATA, USB 3.0 and FireWire 800 interfaces. When connected via USB 3.0
or eSATA interfaces, G-RAID provides data transfer rates up to 330MB/second to support
the most demanding professional content creation applications such as Final Cut Pro®,
Avid and Adobe Premiere®.
With its built-in RAID controller, the G-RAID is not tied to a single workstation and can
be easily transported for use in the edit bay or on the road. The unit contains an internal
RAID controller and can be configured in RAID 0 (Performance), RAID 1 (Protected) or
JBOD mode.
In the RAID 1 or JBOD mode of operation, if a single hard drive failure toccurs, your data
will still be safe and accessible (in RAID 1 all your data is safe, whereas in JBOD all your
data in the good drive is safe).

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About Your Drive
What’s in the Box
The following items are included in the box:
• G-RAID storage solution with two removable disk modules
• USB cable (3.0; backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports)
• eSATA cable
• FireWire 800 to 800 cable
• External AC power supply and cable
If any items are missing, please contact G-Technology at [e-mail]
or call [phone].
System Requirements
G-RAID supports the following operating systems:
• Mac OS® 10.7 +
• Windows® 8.1, 8 and 7 (via reformat)
The drive has been preconfigured at the factory in RAID 0 (Performance) mode for use
with Mac OS® systems, formatted as “HFS+ with Journaling.”

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About Your Drive
Overview of the Drive
The following diagram shows the helpful features of your G-RAID.
The compact and quiet G-RAID features two removable HGST 7200 RPM SATA III hard
drives. It has a uniquely designed all-aluminum enclosure with an activity/failure
LED in the front panel. The rear panel features a Kensington™ security slot, a high-speed
USB 3.0 port, two FireWire 800 ports, an eSATA port, a DC power in slot and a soft-touch
on/off switch. The features combine to provide universal connectivity and industry-lead-
ing performance. All cables are included.
IMPORTANT: G-RAID has been set up at the factory in RAID 0 (Performance) mode.
To change to RAID 1 (Protected) mode or JBOD mod, read Configure the RAID Mode.
Activity LED
Kensington®
Security Slot
eSATA Port
USB 3.0 Port
Dual FireWire®800 Ports
DC In
On/Off Switch

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About Your Drive
Activity and Failure LEDs
G-RAID contains LEDs for drive activity (WHITE) and drive failure (RED) that are next to
each other on the front panel and describe the following operations:
• System initialization
• System ready
• Disk activity
• Disk drive failure
The following table explains the meaning of each combination of LEDs on the drive.
When both LEDs are illuminated, the color turns lighter RED.
The activity light will glow when power is applied. It will flash brighter as data is
transferred to or from the hard drive.
In the event of a disk drive failure, the RED drive failure LED located on the front panel
will illuminate. In RAID 1 mode - If the red light flashes once per second, it indicates that
the top drive has failed; if the red light flashes four times per second, it indicates that the
bottom drive has failed. If a drive failure occurs in RAID 0 mode then the LED in the front
panel turns constant RED.
• If congured in fail-safe RAID 1 mode, all the data stored on the system will be intact.
• If congured in JBOD mode, only the data in the bad drive will be lost; the rest of
the data will be intact.
• If congured in RAID 0 mode, all data will be lost. Please contact Technical Support
for help if the RED LED is constantly lit indicating drive failure.
System Initialization
System ready
Disk Activity
Disk 1 or Disk 2 Failure (RAID 0)
Fail Safe Mode (RAID 1) Disk 1 failure
Fail Safe Mode (RAID 1) Disk 2 failure
Flashing
Off
Off
On (constant RED)
Flashing 1 time/sec
Flashing 4 times/sec
State Activity/Power LED Drive Failure LED
On
On
Flashing
On
On
On

Using Your Drive on Mac
•Easy Installation for Mac .......................... p. 12
• Optimize Performance ............................. p. 12
• Use With Time Machine ............................ p. 13
• Disconnect the Drive ................................ p. 15

p. 12
Using Your Drive
Easy Installation for Mac
G-RAID attaches to your computer via a USB 3.0 high-speed eSATA, or one of two
FireWire 800 ports. Choose the connection appropriate for your system and connect
the drive with the matching cable (supplied).
Connect the power cord to the unit and plug the other end into a surge protector or
wall outlet. Press and hold the power button until the unit turns on. The drive will
automatically mount on the desktop if you are running Mac OS X.
Optimize Performance
G-RAID can be connected to any Mac or Windows machine equipped with a USB 3.0,
USB 2.0, eSATA, FireWire 800 or FireWire 400 port.
For maximum performance, we recommend connecting G-RAID via the USB 3.0 or
eSATA port.
eSATA Port
USB 3.0 Port Dual FireWire®800 ports

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Using Your Drive
Use with Time Machine®
Your G-RAID can be easily used as a backup drive via Time Machine when connected to
a Mac. Time Machine is an application that ships with your Mac and provides automatic
file backup. The following steps will quickly set up G-RAID with Time Machine.
When you attach your G-RAID for the first time, the Time Machine dialog box should
automatically appear. Click the Use as Backup Disk button.
If the Time Machine dialog box does not launch, go to the Apple Menu > System
Preferences. Click on the Time Machine icon. The Time Machine Preference panel
will open. Click the Select Backup Disk button.

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Using Your Drive
In the subsequent dialog box, select the G-RAID. Click the Use Disk button.
Make sure the Time Machine switch is set to ON. You can set its options by clicking the
Options button. Do this to choose volumes, folders, or files you do NOT want to backup.
G-RAID will now back up your important files automatically with Time Machine. It’s really
that easy!

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Using Your Drive
Disconnect the Drive
A great feature of G-RAID is its ability to connect and disconnect while your computer is
running. To prevent failures and/or data loss, it is important to follow the steps below when
disconnecting or “unmounting” the drive from your computer.
1. Before powering down and disconnecting the drive, unmount the system by dragging
the G-RAID icon to the trash located in the dock. Keyboard shortcut: Select the drive
icon and hit Command+E.
2. It is safe to remove the drive from your system when the drive icon is no longer present
on your desktop.
3. To power off G-RAID, press and hold the on/off power button until the unit shuts down.
Helpful links
• To use G-RAID on Windows, go to Windows Use.
• To use G-RAID on Mac and Windows together, go to Cross-Platform Use.

Using RAID Modes
•Supported RAID Modes ........................... p. 17
• The RAID Conguration Utility
for Mac .......................................................... p. 18
• Congure the RAID Mode for Mac....... p. 19
• RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild
for Mac........................................................... p. 22
• The RAID Conguration Utility
for Windows................................................. p. 23
• Congure the RAID Mode
for Windows................................................. p. 24
• RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild
for Windows................................................. p. 27

p. 17
Using Your Drive
Supported RAID Modes
G -RAID is preconfigured in RAID 0 (Performance) mode, for use with Mac OS systems.
The drive can also be configured in RAID 1 (Protected) mode or JBOD mode. The following
table explains the advantages and disadvantages for each RAID level.
To change the RAID mode of G-RAID, follow the steps in Configure the RAID Mode.
RAID 0 (Performance)
G-RAID ships in RAID 0 (Performance) mode. This RAID mode has 100 percent storage ca-
pacity and is ideal for video editing. In RAID 0 mode, the drives are combined and data
is split between the two drives for increased performance.
RAID 0
RAID 1
JBOD
Highest read/write
performance.
Storage capacity is
100% utilized.
Complete data
protection in case of
a single drive failure.
Storage capacity is
100% utilized. Partial
data protection if a
single drive fails.
RAID Level Advantage
Disk
Striping
Disk
mirroring
Disks not
RAIDed
Description Disadvantage Ideal For
No fault tolerance.
Single drive failure
will result in
complete data loss.
Read/write
performance is
reduced to half of
RAID 0 performance.
Read/write
performance is
reduced to half of
RAID 0 performance.
Highest storage
capacity utilization and
highest performance.
Sensitive data,
which requires
constant backing up.
High performance
not required.
Highest storage capacity
utilization when partial
data loss is acceptable.

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Using Your Drive
RAID 1 (Protected)
RAID 1 is great for protecting and securing data, making it ideal for sensitive data, but it
operates at the speed of a single drive. In RAID 1, the array will be at 50 percent of its total
capacity as the same data is written or mirrored to both drives simultaneously.
JBOD
JBOD mode is great for maximum capacity utilization without fear of losing all your data,
as in the case of RAID 0, but they each operate at the speed of a single drive.
The RAID Conguration Utility for Mac
The G-Technology RAID Configurator is used to change the RAID level of your G-RAID.
You can use USB 3.0, eSATA or FireWire 800 with the RAID Configurator. To configure G-
RAID, it will need to be the only device connected to your computer.
The RAID Configurator utility is available for download from the G-Technology website
at g-technology.com/support.
Once you have downloaded the RAID Configurator, you should launch it directly from
the mounted disk image.

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Using Your Drive
Congure the RAID Mode for Mac
You can easily configure G-RAID Studio’s RAID mode with the following steps.
Important Note: Changing the RAID level will erase all data on the drive. Be sure
all of the data and les you want to save are backed up to separate media.
1. Launch the G-Technology RAID Configuration utility. A dialog window will ask you to
disconnect all other external hard disks from your computer. This is important to ensure
that the configurator does not affect other eSATA, FireWire or USB devices on your system.
2. Click the Continue button. A window will appear telling you that the utility is searching
for G-RAID.

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Using Your Drive
3. Once the utility finds your G-RAID, the following window will appear. Select your desired
configuration: RAID 1 (Protected), RAID 0 (Performance) or JBOD. Then click the Configure
button to continue.
4. Two warning windows will appear, letting you know that the following step will erase
all your data. Click the Yes buttons to continue.