G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt User manual

G-RAID® with Thunderbolt™ is a high-performance,
removable dual-drive RAID solution with Thunderbolt,
USB and Enterprise-class hard drives.
Product Manual

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions.......................................................4
Backup Your Data ........................................................5
About Your G-RAID with Thunderbolt
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
G-Technology Assistant Utility............................ 18
G-Technology Assistant Menu ............................ 19
G-RAID with Thunderbolt Cong. Utility ........ 20
Congure the RAID Mode for Mac .................... 21
RAID 1 Degraded Mode for Mac ........................ 25
Congure the RAID Mode for Windows.......... 25
RAID 1 Rebuild for Windows................................ 28
Maintenance for Your Drive
Initialize the Drive for Mac.................................... 30
Restore the Drive Icon ............................................ 34
Reformat with Partitions ....................................... 35
Replace a Failed Drive Module............................ 41
Using Your Drive on Windows
Windows Use.............................................................. 44
Cross Platform Use .................................................. 44
Support & Warranty
Technical Support .................................................... 48
Limited Warranty...................................................... 49
Copyright..................................................................... 51

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

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Safety & General Use
Safety Precautions
G-RAID with Thunderbolt’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 qualied 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 drives contained in your G-RAID with Thunderbolt device are delicate electronic
instruments and are 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 with Thunderbolt
• 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

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About Your G-RAID®with Thunderbolt™
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing G-RAID with Thunderbolt from G-Technology. The G-RAID with
Thunderbolt is a high-speed, low-cost RAID that provides an ideal storage solution for
content creation professionals. With its unique industrial design and all-aluminum housing,
G-RAID with Thunderbolt is the de facto standard for many post-production facilities
worldwide.
G-RAID with Thunderbolt features dual Thunderbolt 2 ports and a USB 3.0 interface. When
connected via the Thunderbolt interface, G-RAID with Thunderbolt provides data transfer
rates up to 440MB/second to support the most demanding professional content creation
applications such as Final Cut Pro®, Avid® Media Composer and Adobe Premiere®.
With its built-in RAID controller, the G-RAID with Thunderbolt 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 congured in RAID 0 (Performance), RAID 1 (Protected) or
JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) mode.
In the RAID 1 or JBOD mode of operation, if a single hard drive failure occurs, your data will still
be safe and accessible (in RAID 1 all your data is safe, whereas in JBOD all your data stored on
the good drive is safe).

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About Your G-RAID®with Thunderbolt™
What’s in the Box
The following items are included in the box:
• G-RAID with Thunderbolt storage solution with two removable disk drives
• Thunderbolt cable (compatible with Thunderbolt 2 & 1 ports)
• USB cable (3.0; backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports)
• 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 with Thunderbolt supports the following operating systems:
• Mac OS® 10.9 +
• Windows® 10, Windows® 8.1 and Windows® 7
The drive has been precongured in RAID 0 (Performance) mode for use with Mac OS® systems,
formatted as“HFS+ with Journaling.”

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About Your G-RAID®with Thunderbolt™
Kensington®
Security Slot
USB 3.0 Port
Thunderbolt Ports DC In
On/O Switch
Overview of the Drive
The following diagram shows the helpful features of your G-RAID with Thunderbolt.
The compact and quiet G-RAID with Thunderbolt features two removable HGST Enterprise-
class 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, dual
Thunderbolt 2 ports (daisy chain up to 5 peripherals), a high-speed USB 3.0 port, a DC power
port and a soft-touch on/o switch. The features combine to provide universal connectivity
and industry-leading performance. All cables are included.
Power/Failure LED

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About Your G-RAID®with Thunderbolt™
Power, Activity and Failure LEDs
G-RAID with Thunderbolt contains LEDs for power, drive activity and drive failure. The “G”LED
on the front panel of the enclosure indicates Power (White) or RAID Failure (Red). There are also
Drive Activity LEDs and Drive Failure LEDs located on the drive modules.
The following table explains the meaning of each combination of LEDs on the drive.
State Power LED
(Front Panel)
Drive Activity
(Drive Module)
Drive Failure
(Front Panel)
Drive Failure
(Drive Module)
System Initialization Flash White On Flash Red Off
System Ready On On Off Off
Disk Activity On Flash Blue Off Off
Disk 1or Disk 2 Failure (RAID 0) Off Off Red On Purple On
Fail Safe Mode (RAID 1) Disk 1 Failure Off Off Red On Red On
Fail Safe Mode (RAID 1) Disk 2 Failure Off Off Red On Red On
The power light will glow when power is applied. The drive activity LED’s on the drive modules
will ash 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 - the red light on the drive module indicates the failed drive. If a drive
failure occurs in RAID 0 mode then the LED in the front panel turns constant RED.
• If congured in protected 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 “G” logo or drive LED is blinking or solid
RED, indicating drive failure.

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

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Using Your Drive on Mac®
Easy Installation for Mac
G-RAID with Thunderbolt attaches to your computer via a Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 port.
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 with Thunderbolt can be connected to any Mac or Windows machine equipped with a
Thunderbolt port or a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port.
If you are going to use the drive on a Windows machine, read Using Your Drive on Windows.
Kensington®
Security Slot
USB 3.0 Port
Thunderbolt Ports DC In
On/O Switch

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Using Your Drive on Mac®
Use with Time Machine®
Your G-RAID with Thunderbolt 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 le backup. The following steps will quickly set up G-RAID with Thunderbolt as a
Time Machine backup location.
When you attach your G-RAID with Thunderbolt 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 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 on Mac®
In the subsequent dialog box, select the G-RAID with Thunderbolt. 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 with Thunderbolt will now backup your important les automatically with Time Machine.
It’s really that easy!

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Using Your Drive on Mac®
Disconnect the Drive
A great feature of G-RAID with Thunderbolt 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 with Thunderbolt 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 with Thunderbolt, press and hold the On/O power button until the unit
shuts down.
Helpful Links
• To use G-RAID with Thunderbolt on Windows, go to Windows Use.
• To use G-RAID with Thunderbolt on Mac and Windows together, go to Cross-Platform Use.

Using RAID Modes
• Supported RAID Modes......................................................... p. 17
• G-Technology Assistant Utility ............................................ p. 18
• G-Technology Assistant Menu ............................................ p. 19
• G-RAID with Thunderbolt Conguration Utility............ p. 20
• Congure the RAID Mode for Mac..................................... p. 21
• RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild for Mac................ p. 25
• Congure the RAID Mode for Windows........................... p. 25
• RAID 1 Rebuild for Windows ................................................ p. 28

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Using RAID Modes
Supported RAID Modes
G -RAID with Thunderbolt is precongured in RAID 0 (Performance) mode, for use with Mac
OS systems. The drive can also be congured in RAID 1 (Protected) mode or JBOD (Just a
Bunch of Disks) mode. The following table explains the advantages and disadvantages for
each RAID level.
To change the RAID mode of G-RAID with Thunderbolt, follow the steps in
Congure the RAID Mode.
RAID 0 (Performance)
G-RAID with Thunderbolt ships in RAID 0 (Performance) mode. This RAID mode is ideal for
maximizing your throughput when video editing. In RAID 0 mode, the drives are combined
and data is split between the two drives for increased performance.
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 (Just a Bunch of Disks)
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. Each drive shows
up as it’s own separate volume or storage location.
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.

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Using RAID Modes
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 with Thunderbolt. The utility has two
functions: 1) to provide notications of the G-RAID with Thunderbolt status and the
current drive conguration, and 2) to quickly launch the G-RAID with Thunderbolt 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 with Thunderbolt, 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 with Thunderbolt.
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
questions, please visit www.g-technology.com/support.

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Using RAID Modes
G-Technology Assistant Menu
There are helpful menu items in the G-Technology Assistant (GTA) 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.

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Using RAID Modes
The RAID Conguration Utility
The G-RAID with Thunderbolt RAID Congurator is used to change the RAID level of your
G-RAID with Thunderbolt. You can use any of the two Thunderbolt 2 ports or USB 3.0 port
in your G-RAID with Thunderbolt with the RAID Congurator application. To congure G-
RAID with Thunderbolt, it will need to be the only device connected to your computer.
The RAID Congurator utility is available for download from the G-Technology website at
www.g-technology.com/support. There are both Mac and Windows versions of the utility.
Please download the right utility depending on the host operating system that you
are using.
Once you have downloaded the RAID Congurator, you should launch it directly from the
mounted disk image and complete the installation process.
Once installed, launch the RAID Conguration Utility and the tool shows the current status
and other details of the drive similar to the image below.