G-Technology G-RAID Studio User manual

g-technology.com
High-performance Thunderbolt™ 2 storage system with hardware RAID
USER MANUAL

Table of Contents
p.2
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions...........................................................4
Backup Your Data.............................................................5
About Your G-RAID Studio
Introduction.......................................................................7
What’s in the Box .............................................................8
The following items are included in the box: ........8
System Requirements ....................................................8
Overview of the Drive ...................................................9
Activity & Failure LEDs................................................. 10
Daisy Chaining with Thunderbolt Technology... 11
Using Your Drive on Mac
Easy Installation for Mac............................................. 13
Use with Time Machine............................................... 14
Disconnect the Drive .................................................. 16
Using RAID Modes
Supported RAID Modes.............................................. 18
G-Technology Assistant Utility ................................. 19
Recommended Installation....................................... 19
G-Technology Assistant Menu.................................. 20
The RAID Conguration Utility................................. 21
Congure the RAID Mode for Mac.......................... 22
RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild for Mac..... 24
RAID Conguration Utility for Windows............... 26
Congure the RAID Mode for Windows................ 26
RAID 1 Rebuild for Windows..................................... 29
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize Drive for Mac ................................................ 31
Restore the Drive Icon................................................. 34
Reformat with Partitions ............................................ 36
Replace a Failed Drive Module................................. 40
Helpful Tips ..................................................................... 41
Using Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use.................................................................. 43
Cross Platform Use........................................................ 44
Support & Warranty
Technical Support......................................................... 48
Limited Warranty........................................................... 49
Copyright......................................................................... 51
Welcome G-RAID Studio
Table of Contents

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

p.4
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions
Your G-RAID Studio’s warranty may be voided as a result of failing to respect the precautions listed
below. 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 qualied G-Technology 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). Do not expose this drive to operational humidity beyond 5 percent to 80 percent (non-
condensing) or non-operating humidity beyond 10 percent to 90 percent (non-condensing).
Avoid placing your drive near a source of heat, exposing it to sunlight (even through a window), or
setting it 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.

p.5
Safety & General Use
Backup Your Data
The disk drive contained in your G-RAID Studio device is a delicate electronic instrument
and is susceptible to damage from 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 possible data loss, we highly recommend keeping TWO copies of your data
in separate storage locations. Keep one copy on your G-Technology drive. Keep a second
copy on an internal hard drive, another G-Technology drive, or a form of removable and/or
online storage media. If possible, it is advisable to keep your data in two physically disparate
locations for added safety.

About Your G-RAID Studio
• 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
• Daisy Chaining with TB Technology ........p.11

p.7
About Your G-RAID
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the G-Technology G-RAID Studio, featuring 20 Gb/s Thunder-
bolt 2 interface technology.
Since 2011, G-RAID with Thunderbolt has been the go-to storage solution for content
creation professionals needing higher interface speeds and storage capacity. With the
introduction of G-RAID Studio, which comes in a high-quality sleek, black enclosure, con-
tent creators worldwide now have a solution where durability, style, and performance
reach new heights.
Thunderbolt 2 technology enables blazing fast, concurrent data streams, capable of data
transfer rates over 1300 MB/s! This opens up incredible time-saving and multi-stream
possibilities for content creation professionals who use bandwidth-intensive 2K and 4K
media formats.
G-RAID Studio incorporates many of the same features of the standard G-RAID with
Thunderbolt, including a thermo-regulated smart fan and soft-touch electronic power
switch. The drive supports the industry’s most demanding professional content creation
applications, including Final Cut Pro®, Adobe Premiere® and Avid™ Media Composer.

p.8
About Your G-RAID
What’s in the Box
The following items are included in the box:
• G-RAID Studio storage solution with two removable disk modules
• (1) Thunderbolt cable
• External DC power supply and cable
• Quick Start Guide
If any items are missing, please contact G-Technology at
www.g-technology.com/support
System Requirements
G-RAID Studio supports the following operating
systems:
• Mac OS 10.9 +
• Windows® 8.1, 8 and 7 (via reformat)
NOTE: G-RAID Studio has been precongured at the
factory in RAID 0 (Performance) mode and formatted
as “HFS+ with Journaling.”

p.9
About Your G-RAID
Overview of the Drive
The following diagrams show the helpful features of your G-RAID Studio.
The compact and quiet G-RAID Studio features two removable HGST 7200 RPM
SATA III hard drives. G-RAID Studio showcases a sleek, high-quality, black enclosure
with integrated cooling and smart fan technology, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, a DC
power input, and a soft-touch on/o switch on the rear panel. The “G” logo acts as
an LED-lit power/error status indicator.
IMPORTANT: To change G-RAID Studio from its RAID 0 (Performance) factory
default setting to RAID 1 (Protected) or JBOD modes, please refer to this manual’s
Congure the RAID Mode section.

p.10
About Your G-RAID
Activity & Failure LEDs
G-RAID Studio contains a drive activity LED integrated into each removable disk under the
top lid and an illuminated G logo on the front panel to indicate the following operations
and enclosure statuses:
• System initialization
• System ready – HDD Idle
• Disk activity – HDD Read/Write
• Disk drive failure
This table explains the meaning of each combination of LEDs on the drive:
In the event of a disk drive failure, the front panel’s G logo will glow RED. At the same
time, the LED located near the faulty drive will turn from BLUE to RED. To replace the
faulty drive, please refer to the section Replace a Failed Drive Module.
• If congured in fail-safe RAID 1 (Protected) mode, data stored on the G-RAID Studio
will still be intact.
• If congured in JBOD mode, only the data on the faulty drive will be lost, but the
remaining data on the working drive will be intact.
• If congured in RAID 0 (Performance) mode, all data is at risk of being lost. Please
contact our Technical Support for help if the drive failure LED indicator is lit.
RAID Status HDD1 Drive LED HDD2 Drive LED G-LOGO
System Initialization Blue - Blink once Blue - Blink once White - blink until system ready
HDD Idle Blue – On Blue - On White - On
HDD Read/Write Blue - Blink Blue - Blink White - On
HDD Failure (Raid 0) Red – On Red – On Red - On
HDD Failure (Raid 1) Red – On (if HDD1 fails);
Blue – On (if HDD2 fails)
Red – On (if HDD2 fails);
Blue – On (if HDD1 fails) Red - On
Raid 1 Rebuild Blue – Blink Blue – Blink White - Blink

p.11
About Your G-RAID
Daisy Chaining with Thunderbolt Technology
As with rst-generation Thunderbolt technology, Thunderbolt 2 supports daisy chaining
up to 6 compatible devices. This provides the ability to achieve bi-directional, dual-chan-
nel data transfer. First-generation Thunderbolt supported a maximum speed of 10 Gb/s
through each channel whereas Thunderbolt 2 leaps to 20 Gb/s. However, taking full advan-
tage of Thunderbolt 2 technology requires you to connect with a computer equipped with
at least one enabled Thunderbolt 2 port.
You may attach up to six Thunderbolt devices in the chain including your G-RAID Studio.
With 20 Gb/s performance, your computer can take advantage of Thunderbolt 2’s tremen-
dous throughput potential for your G-Technology storage solutions. The daisy chain can
also include up to two compatible displays along with up to four G-RAID Studios.
Important Note: Starting from your computer all the way downstream in your daisy chain,
if one of the devices is capable of handling only 10 Gb/s maximum allowable speed — i.e.,
if the device is rst-generation Thunderbolt-enabled — then from that point on in the
chain, the maximum per-channel downstream speed will be restricted to 10 Gb/s.
How to daisy chain multiple devices: To daisy chain your G-RAID Studio, connect the
Thunderbolt 2 port of your G-RAID Studio to the host computer’s Thunderbolt 2 port with
the included Thunderbolt cable. You can
connect up to six Thunderbolt devices in
a chain, including the G-RAID Studio, one
after another as shown in the diagram
below using the second Thunderbolt port
of each drive. Connect all drives with their
provided AC power adapters to a surge
protector or wall outlet(s) and power on
each drive. Your Thunderbolt devices are
now daisy chained and available to work
in tandem through the same host.

Using Your Drive on Mac
• Easy Installation for Mac ........................... p.13
• Use with Time Machine ............................... p.14
• Disconnect the Drive .................................. p.16

p.13
Using Your Drive on Mac
Easy Installation for Mac
G-RAID Studio includes the Thunderbolt cable
to attach to your computer via one of the enclo-
sure’s two Thunderbolt 2 ports. Thunderbolt 2 is
backward compatible and easily connects to older
Thunderbolt-enabled MacBook, iMac, and select
PC systems.
Connect the power cord to your G-RAID Studio
and plug the other end into a surge protector or
wall outlet. Press and hold down the power but-
ton until the unit turns on. The drive will auto-
matically mount on the desktop if you are running
Mac OS 10.9 or above.
Important Note: If you connect your G-RAID Studio to a computer that only supports
previous-generation, 10 Gb/s Thunderbolt technology, then your G-RAID Studio will be
restricted to a maximum data transfer speed of 10 Gb/s. To understand how you can use
G-RAID Studio for daisy chaining more than one peripheral device, please refer to the
previous section Daisy Chaining with Thunderbolt Technology.

p.14
Using Your Drive on Mac
Use with Time Machine
Your G-RAID Studio can be easily used as a backup drive via Time Machine when con-
nected to a Mac. Time Machine is an application that ships with your Mac and provides
automatic le backup. The following steps will quickly set up G-RAID Studio with Time
Machine.
When you attach your G-RAID Studio for the rst 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 Apple Menu > System Preferences.
Click on the Time Machine icon. The Time Machine Preference panel will open. Click the
Select Backup Disk button.

p.15
Using Your Drive on Mac
In the subsequent dialog box, select the G-RAID Studio. 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 les you do NOT want to backup.
G-RAID Studio will now back up your important les automatically with Time Machine.
It’s really that easy!

p.16
Using Your Drive on Mac
Disconnect the Drive
A great feature of G-RAID Studio is the ability to connect and disconnect while your com-
puter 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 simply dragging the G-RAID Studio 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 o G-RAID Studio, press and hold the On/O power button until the unit
shuts down.
Helpful links
• To use G-RAID Studio on Windows, go to Windows Use.
• To use G-RAID Studio on Mac and Windows together, go to Cross Platform Use.

Using RAID Modes
• Supported RAID Modes ................................... p.18
• G-Technology Assistant Utility ..................... p.19
• G-Technology Assistant Menu ...................... p.20
• G-RAID Studio Conguration Utility .......... p.21
• Congure the RAID Mode for Mac ............. p.22
• RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild Mac.. p.24
• Congure the RAID Mode for Windows ...... p.26
• RAID 1 Rebuild for Windows ..........................p.29

Using RAID Modes
p.18
Supported RAID Modes
G-RAID Studio arrives precongured in RAID 0 (Performance) mode and formatted for use
with Mac OS systems. The solution can also be congured in RAID 1 (Protected) mode or JBOD
mode. The following table explains the advantages and disadvantages of each RAID level.
To change the RAID mode of the G-RAID Studio, follow the steps in Congure the RAID Mode.
RAID 0 (Performance)
This default RAID mode features 100 percent storage capacity (for example, two 4TB drives
would provide 8TB of unformatted capacity) and is ideal for video editing. In RAID 0, the
drives combine into a shared capacity pool and data is split (“striped”) between the two
drives for increased performance.
RAID 1 (Protected)
RAID 1 oers additional protection for your data, making it ideal for sensitive les, but it oper-
ates at the speed of a single drive. In RAID 1, the array will be at 50 percent of its total physi-
cal capacity since the same data is written (“mirrored”) to both drives simultaneously.
JBOD
JBOD is great for maximum capacity utilization without the risk of losing an entire data set, as
in the case of RAID 0.
RAID Level Description Advantage Disadvantage Ideal For
RAID 0 Disk Striping
Highest read/write
performance. Storage
capacity is 100%
utilized.
No fault tolerance. Single
drive failure will result in
complete data loss.
Highest storage capacity
utilization and highest
performance.
RAID 1 Disk Mirroring
Complete data
protection in case of a
single drive failure.
Read/write performance is
reduced to half of RAID 0
performance.
Sensitive data which requires
constant backing up. High
performance not required.
JBOD Disk not
RAIDed
Storage capacity is
100% utilized. Partial
data protection if a
single drive fails.
Read/write performance is
reduced to half of RAID 0
performance.
Highest storage capacity
utilization when partial data
loss is acceptable.

Using RAID Modes
p.19
G-Technology Assistant Utility
The G-Technology Assistant (GTA) utility was created to enhance the user experience of
G-Technology storage solutions such as G-RAID Studio. The utility has two functions: 1)
to provide notications of the G-RAID Studio status and the current drive conguration,
and 2) to quickly launch the G-RAID Studio RAID Conguration Utility.
The GTA is available for download from www.g-technology.com/support. Note that the
utility has an auto-update feature for your convenience.
Recommended Installation
When you rst set up G-RAID Studio, you will want to install the GTA on your computer.
The utility provides useful notications and shortcuts to enhance your experience with
G-RAID Studio.
To install the G-Technology Assistant utility, follow the on-screen instructions. Once you
have successfully completed the installation, the utility will be accessible from the Mac
OS menu bar and/or from the Applications folder.
The following is a quick summary of the utility and its functionality. If you have ques-
tions, please visit www.g-technology.com/support.

Using RAID Modes
p.20
G-Technology Assistant Menu
There are helpful menu items in the G-Technology Assistant utility.
Once G-Technology Assistant has been successfully installed, the utility’s “G” icon will appear
in your menu bar. By selecting this icon, the G-Technology Assistant menu will appear.
Unmount All Volumes: Unmounts supported G-Technology drives attached to the system.
You will need to conrm your selection prior to unmounting the drives.
Disk Utility: Opens the Disk Utility application.
Support: Opens your Web browser and takes you to the G-Technology support page.
Preferences: Change the preferences of GTA.