ioSafe Duo User manual

ioSafe®Duo
Fireproof and Waterproof RAID Storage Device
User Manual

ioSafe Duo User Manual2
Table of Contents
1 General Information 3
1.1 Package Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 ioSafe Duo at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 LED Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Warnings and Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Hardware Setup 7
2.1 Drive Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.1 Tools and Parts for Drive Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.2 SATA Drive Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Connecting the ioSafe Duo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 RAID Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3.1 Introduction to RAID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.3.2 Selecting the RAID Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 Connect Additional USB Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 Usage with Windows and Mac Operating Systems 17
3.1 Usage with Windows Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.1.1 Formatting the ioSafe Duo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.1.2 Accessing or Disconnecting the ioSafe Duo in Windows . . . . . . 19
3.2 Usage with macOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2.1 Formatting the ioSafe Duo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.2.2 Accessing or Disconnecting the ioSafe Duo in macOS . . . . . . . 21
3.2.3 Create a Boot Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4 Securing the ioSafe Duo 22
5 Hardware Maintenance 23
5.1 Verify RAID Creation in Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.2 Replace a Failed Drive in a RAID 1 Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.3 Drive Rotation as Part of a Backup Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.4 Replace System Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
6 Backup Software 26
7 Product Support 27
7.1 Activate Data Recovery Service Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.2 ioSafe No-Hassle Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.3 Data Recovery Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.4 Contact Us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
8 Technical Specifications 29

ioSafe Duo User Manual 3
1 General Information
1.1 Package Contents
Check the package contents to verify that you have received the items below. Please contact ioSafe
if any items are missing or damaged.
1x
1x
1x
9x*
1x
1x
1x**1x
1x
*Only included with unpopulated units
**Power cable is localized to the region you purchased your product for, whether North America, European Union/United Kingdom, or Australia.
European Union and United Kingdom units are packaged with two power cables, one for each region.

ioSafe Duo User Manual4
1.2 ioSafe Duo at a Glance
USB
Type-A
Peripheral Port
Drive
Status
Indictators
Power
Button
Kensington®
Lock Slot
USB
Type-C Port
System Fan
Front
Rear
Power Connector
USB Type-C
Peripheral Port
RAID Configuration
Jumper Pin Cover

ioSafe Duo User Manual
1.3 LED Behavior
LED Name Color State Description
Disk Activity
LEDs #1-2
Green Solid The corresponding drive is ready and idle.
Blinking The corresponding drive is being accessed.
Amber Solid One or both drives’ temperatures is over 131° F/55° C. Ensure the
unit is being stored in a properly ventilated area.
Red Blinking Indicates a drive error for the corresponding drive.
Alternating
Green/
Amber
Blinking The RAID array is being created. Both drives will be unavailable
while this process completes.
Orange Pulsating
The RAID array is being rebuilt. The disk with the orange LED is the
disk that is being overwritten. Both drives will be unavailable while
this process completes.
Power LED
Blue Solid The unit is powered on.
Off The unit is powered off.
Red Solid Indicates a fan failure. Please contact Technical Support to obtain a
replacement fan (see Section 7).
1.4 Warnings and Notices
Please read the following before using the product.
General
• The circuit boards within the product are susceptible to static electricity. Proper grounding
is strongly recommended to prevent electrical damage to the product or other connected
devices, including the computer host. Avoid all dramatic movement, tapping on the unit, and
vibration.
• Avoid placing the drive carrier close to magnetic devices or high voltage devices.
• Before starting any type of hardware installation, please ensure that all power switches
have been turned off and all power cords have been disconnected to prevent personal
injury and damage to the hardware.
• To avoid overheating, the ioSafe Duo should be operated in a well-ventilated area.
RAID
• ioSafe recommends that you use this product as a RAID 1 device. RAID 1 invisibly provides
you an exact copy of all data stored on the Duo and protects you against the loss of a
single drive. If you purchased an ioSafe Duo with pre-installed drives, no additional steps
are necessary to use it in this mode. The Duo works as a RAID 1 device right out of the box.
• RAID level 0 will allow you to use the full combined capacity of the drives and offers the
best data transfer speeds. However, RAID 0 offers no protection for the data. If one drive
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ioSafe Duo User Manual6
fails in a RAID 0, the data on all of the drives is irretrievably lost. Before creating a RAID,
investigate the various RAID types and choose the one that is best for your needs.
• Use only drives that are in perfect condition. Avoid using drives that have ever developed
bad sectors during previous use. This could lead to possible device failure or loss of data.
• The ioSafe Duo supports SATA drives of various specifications and different capacities.
However, we recommend using drives of the same brand and type for optimal performance
that have been qualified by ioSafe. To view a list of qualified drives, please visit iosafe.com.
• If drives of different capacities are used in a RAID 1, the capacity of the smallest drive will
determine how much of each drive is used. The additional capacity on the larger drive will
not be used by the RAID.
• Always back up data before switching RAID types. Switching RAID types will destroy cur-
rent data. You must reformat your drives afterwards.
About USB
• Actual connection performance depends on many factors including: CPU, file system over-
head, number of attached devices and more. Given these and other factors, in day-to-day
use you can expect maximum, sustained transfer rates to be less than the theoretical rates
maximum rates possible with the connection.
• USB 3.2 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB 3.1 host computers.
• The cable supplied with your system has been optimized for performance. Longer cables or
third-party cables may not work or only work intermittently.

ioSafe Duo User Manual
2 Hardware Setup
2.1 Drive Installation
If you purchased an ioSafe Duo with pre-installed drives, skip this section and continue on to Section
2.2.
2.1.1 Tools and Parts for Drive Installation
• Phillips screwdriver
• 3mm hex tool (included)
• At least one 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch SATA hard drive or solid state drive (SSD). Please visit
iosafe.com for a list of qualified drive models.
Using drives with previously existing data on them in a new RAID or SPAN array will cause the
previously existing data to be erased. Please back up your data before beginning this operation.
However, if you are using the ioSafe Duo in JBOD mode, the previously existing data will not be erased.
See Section 2.3 for an introduction to the RAID and non-RAID modes that the ioSafe Duo supports.
2.1.2 SATA Drive Installation
a. Use the included 3mm hex tool to remove the screws on the top and bottom of the front
cover. Then remove the front cover.
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ioSafe Duo User Manual
b. Remove the waterproof drive cover with the 3mm hex tool.
c. Remove the drive trays with the 3mm hex tool.
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ioSafe Duo User Manual
d. If you are removing a previously installed hard drive(s), remove the drive(s) from the drive tray
by removing the four (4) drive screws holding it into the tray with a Phillips screwdriver.
Otherwise, skip this step.
e. Install a compatible drive into each drive tray using the supplied four (4) drive screws and a
Phillips screwdriver. Please visit iosafe.com for a list of qualified drive models.
When setting up a RAID array, it is recommended that all installed drives should be the same size in
order to make the best use of drive capacity.
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ioSafe Duo User Manual
f. Insert each loaded drive tray into an empty drive bay, ensuring that each one is pushed
in all the way. Then tighten the screws using the 3mm hex tool.
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