Sans Digital TOWERSTOR TS5CT User manual

QUICK INSTALLATION GUIDE v1.0
TOWERSTOR TS5CT

Sans Digital TowerSTOR TS5CT User Manual
Sans Digital TowerSTOR TS5CT User Manual 1
Contents
Preface....................................................................................................................... 2
Before You Begin ....................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1 Introduction.............................................................................................. 4
1.1 Technical Specification............................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Identifying Parts of the RAID Subsystem..................................................................................5
1.2.1 Front View......................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.1.1 Disk Drive Carrier ...................................................................................................... 5
1.2.1.2 LED Indicators ........................................................................................................... 6
1.2.2 Rear View ......................................................................................................................... 6
1.3 RAID Concepts ........................................................................................................................ 7
1.3.1 Definition of RAID Levels .................................................................................................. 7
1.3.2 RAID Levels Summary....................................................................................................10
Chapter 2 Getting Started ...................................................................................... 10
2.1 Installing Hard Drives ............................................................................................................. 10
2.1.1 Installing the Rubber Feet ............................................................................................... 11
2.2 Preparing the Subsystem and Powering On........................................................................... 12
Chapter 3 Configuration Utility ............................................................................... 14
3.1 Installing the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software in Microsoft Windows........................... 15
3.2 Starting the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software in Linux.................................................. 16
3.3 Starting the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software in Mac OS.................................................... 16
3.4 Mini-EPICa Management GUI................................................................................................17
3.4.1 Other Buttons of the mini-EPICa Management GUI ........................................................ 18
Chapter 4 RAID Management ............................................................................... 20
4.1 Basic Mode ............................................................................................................................ 20
4.1.1 RAID and Disk Information..............................................................................................20
4.1.2 Event Log Viewer............................................................................................................ 22
4.1.3 Basic Raid Configuration................................................................................................. 23
4.2 Advanced Mode ..................................................................................................................... 26
4.2.1 Email Notification and Event Settings ............................................................................. 26
4.2.2 Advanced Raid Configuration ......................................................................................... 27
4.2.3 Firmware Information ...................................................................................................... 30
4.2.4 RAID Settings ................................................................................................................. 31
Chapter 5 Additional Information........................................................................... 32
5.1 How to Change the USB/1394 IO Interface Board to eSATA IO Interface Board ................... 32

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Preface
About this manual
his manual provides information regarding the quick installation and hardware
features of the Sans Digital TowerSTOR TS5CT RAID subsystem. This
document also describes how to use the storage management software.
Information contained in the manual has been reviewed for accuracy, but not
for product warranty because of the various environment/OS/settings.
Information and specifications will be changed without further notice.
This manual uses section numbering for every topic being discussed for easy and
convenient way of finding information in accordance with the user’s needs.
Copyright
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent.
Trademarks
All products and trade names used in this document are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective holders.
Changes
The material in this document is for information only and is subject to change without
notice.

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Before You Begin
efore going through with this manual, you should read and focus on the
following safety guidelines. Notes about the TS5CT’s controller configuration
and the product packaging and delivery are also included. To provide
reasonable protection against any harm on the part of the user and to
obtain maximum performance, user is advised to be aware of the
following safety guidelines particularly in handling hardware components:
Upon receiving of the product:
Place the product in its proper location.
It should be handled with care to avoid dropping that may cause damage to the
product. Always use the correct lifting procedures.
Upon installing of the product:
Ambient temperature is very important for the installation site. It must not
exceed 30◦C. Due to seasonal climate changes; regulate the installation site
temperature making it not to exceed the allowed ambient temperature.
Before plugging-in any power cords, cables and connectors, make sure that the
power switches are turned off. Disconnect first any power connection if the power
supply module is being removed from the enclosure.
Outlets must be accessible to the equipment.
All external connections should be made using shielded cables and as much as
possible should not be performed by bare hand. Using anti-static hand gloves is
recommended.
In installing each component, secure all the mounting screws and locks. Make
sure that all screws are fully tightened. Follow correctly all the listed procedures
in this manual for reliable performance.
Controller Configurations
This RAID subsystem supports single controller configuration.
Packaging, Shipment and Delivery
Before removing the subsystem from the shipping carton, you should visually
inspect the physical condition of the shipping carton.
Unpack and verify that the contents of the shipping carton are complete and in
good condition.
Exterior damage to the shipping carton may indicate that the contents of the
carton are damaged.
If any damage is found, do not remove the components; contact the dealer where
you purchased the subsystem for further instructions.
Package Contents
• RAID subsystem unit
• One power cord
• One USB cable
• Two IEEE 1394b cables
• Four (4) Rubber Feet
• Two screw handle
• Installation Reference Guide / CD
• Spare screws.

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Chapter 1 Introduction
The RAID Subsystem
Unsurpassed Value
- Most cost-effective SATA II RAID subsystem.
- Compact Desktop size with stylish design.
Application Flexibility
- Extends useful life by adapting to future IT/SOHO requirements.
Easy Installation & Maintenance
- Provide a fast and easy way to install and manage the storage.
Low Power Consumption
- Cable-less backplane with integrated RAID processor. No more unnecessary
components inside.
Features
- USB 2.0/IEEE 1394b host interface
- Supports RAID over 2TB
- Supports hot spare and automatic hot rebuild
- Local event notification
- Easy management via In-Band data bus
- Transparent data protection for all popular operating systems
RAID Management
- Real time drive activity and status indicators
- Graphical User Interface (GUI) management utility
1.1 Technical Specification
Model TS5CT
Form Factor Compact Tower
RAID Processor Integrated Micro-processor
RAID Levels 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, CLONE, and JBOD
Host Interface USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394b
Number of Host Channel 1
Data Transfer Rate Up to 480Mbit/s (USB 2.0)/800Mbit/s (1394b)

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Disk Interface SATAII (3Gb/s)
Number of Hot-swap Disk Trays Five (5) 3.5-inch Disk trays
Cooling Fans 1
Failed Drive Indicators Yes
Failed Drive Auto Rebuild Yes
Environment Monitor Yes
Auto Spare Support Yes
Power Supply 180W (full range)
Environmental Relative Humidity:
Operating Temperature:
10% ~ 85% Non-condensing
10°C ~ 40°C (50°F ~ 104°F)
Dimension 9"W x 6.4"H x 10.5"D
Weight 13lb (without disks)
Specification is subject to change without notice.
1.2 Identifying Parts of the RAID Subsystem
The illustrations below identify the various parts of the subsystem.
1.2.1 Front View
1.2.1.1 Disk Drive Carrier
HDD Status Indicator

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Part Function
HDD Access LED This LED will blink blue when the hard drive is being accessed.
HDD Fault LED
Green LED means HDD is detected/good.
Red LED indicates hard drive has failed.
No LED light means no hard drive in the slot.
1.2.1.2 LED Indicators
Part Function
Fan Fail LED LED is off means Fan is good.
Red LED means Fan has failed.
Over Temp LED LED is off means Temperature is normal.
Red LED means Temperature exceeded normal range.
Power On LED White LED means RAID subsystem is powered on.
1.2.2 Rear View
USB 2.0 Port
The subsystem has one USB 2.0 port for connecting to Host/Server.
IEEE 1394b Port
The subsystem has one IEEE 1394b port for connecting to Host/Server.
Fan
The fan provides proper ventilation for the RAID subsystem.
Power On/Off Switch
Use the Power On/Off Switch to turn on or off the RAID subsystem.
Power Input Socket
Use the Power Input Socket for connecting the power cable.
NOTE: USB and IEEE 1394 ports use same channel. Only one host connection will work
at a time. You cannot use both USB and IEEE 1394 ports at the same time.

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1.3 RAID Concepts
The basic idea of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is to combine multiple
inexpensive disk drives into an array of disk drives to obtain performance, capacity and
reliability that exceeds that of a single large drive. The array of drives appears to the
host computer as a single logical drive.
The RAID subsystem provides data striping, mirroring, XOR calculation and data
verification. It supports RAID levels 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, LARGE and CLONE. All RAID levels’
capacity can exceed 2 Terabytes. The RAID subsystem behaves as a full 48-bit
addressing RAID drive and is 100% ATA compliance.
From (PC) host controller, each logical device (RAID volume) controlled by the RAID
system acts just the same as single regular hard disk although a RAID system generally
consists of more than one hard disk drives. Therefore, no extra BIOS, driver or software
is needed.
1.3.1 Definition of RAID Levels
Striping (RAID 0) for High Performance
Striping or RAID 0 is the segmentation of logically sequential
data, such as a single file, so that segment can be assigned to
multiple hard disks in a round-robin fashion and thus written
concurrently.
Advantage of RAID 0 is to achieve high performance by
accumulating each individual hard disk performance. However,
if any one hard disk gets defective, information stored in this
RAID 0 will become invalid.
The RAID subsystem will just make use of the same disk
space for each hard disk under RAID 0 condition. For example,
if a RAID 0 consists of 5 different size hard disks, the total
usable space of this RAID 0 will be [capacity of smallest size
hard disk] * [the number of hard disks in this RAID 0].
Mirror (RAID 1) for High Security
Mirror or RAID1 is the replication of data onto separate hard
disk in real time to ensure continuous availability. In a RAID 1
system with two hard disks, the data in one hard disk will be
exactly the same as the data in the other hard disk.
The RAID subsystem will also make use of same size disk
space in each hard disk in RAID 1. That is, the RAID controller
will write data to the same disk space in each hard disk. When
reading data, the RAID controller will read data from a
specified hard disk.
Failure in a hard disk will cause the RAID controller to enter
into degraded mode. The host controller can still read/write
data to the RAID without knowing any hard disk defect. Users
have to replace the hard disk then the RAID controller will
enter in on-line rebuild mode automatically.
Besides, if there is only partial defect in a hard disk, the RAID
controller will read data from the other healthy hard drive.

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Stripe + Mirror (RAID 10) for High
Performance and High Security
RAID subsystem could be configured to
support Stripe and Mirror at the same
time, i.e. RAID 10. Take four hard
drives in RAID 10 as an example. Hard
drive 0 and hard drive 1 could act as
Mirror 1. Hard drive 2 and hard drive 3
act as Mirror 1 too. The RAID controller
then configures these two Mirrors as
Stripe.
At least two drives (either one in each
Mirror) can be allowed to fail without
any impact to RAID data access. If two
drives from the same Mirror are failed,
the RAID data is not accessible and
becomes invalid.
CLONE
Clone’s action is similar to RAID 1. However,
all of the hard disks will be the mirrors. For
example, in a four hard drives Clone
environment, data in each hard drive will be
the same. This mode is useful especially when
users would like to copy data from a hard
drive to several hard drives at the same time.
The number of allowed failed drives is the total
number of drives in the RAID minus one.
Concatenating (Large)
This mode is also named “Large”. In this mode,
the RAID controller will concatenate all of the hard
drives into a single hard drive with larger capacity.
For example, if three 500GB hard disks are
connected to the RAID subsystem in Large Mode,
user will get a single hard disk with capacity of
1,500GB.
If any one hard disk gets defective, information
stored in this LARGE RAID will become invalid.

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Parity Protection (RAID 3 and RAID 5)
The XOR engine in the RAID controller
generates parity block. In RAID 3 mode,
parity block will be stored in the same hard
disk drive. In RAID 5 mode, parity block will
be spread over all of the different hard
drives.
The RAID controller will also make use of
the same size disk space in each hard disk
under RAID 3 / RAID 5 condition.
Failure in a hard disk will cause the RAID
controller to enter into degraded mode. Host
controller still could rear/write data thru the
RAID normally without knowing any defects.
Users have to replace the defective hard
disk. The RAID controller will then enter into
online-auto-rebuild mode automatically.

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1.3.2 RAID Levels Summary
RAID
Level
No. of
Allowed
Failed
Drives
Description Min. # of
Drives
0 None
Block striping is provided and yields higher
performance than with individual drives. There
is no redundancy.
2
1 (10) 1 (2)
Drives are paired and mirrored. All data is
100% duplicated on an equivalent drive. Fully
redundant. RAID 1 if use 2 drives; RAID 10 if
use 4 drives.
2
LARGE None
Large is similar to RAID 0 in that it
concatenates the capacity of all member drives.
The data is written linearly starting with the
first disk drive. When first disk drive becomes
full, the next disk drive is used. Large can have
2 or more disk drives. There is no data
redundancy.
1
CLONE No. of
drives
minus 1
Clone provides multiple copies of data in a disk
drive. Clone can have 2 or more disk drives. 2
3 1
Data is striped across several physical drives.
Parity protection is used for data redundancy. 3
5 1
Data is striped across several physical drives.
Parity protection is used for data redundancy. 3
Chapter 2 Getting Started
This section describes the physical locations of the hard drives supported by the
subsystem and give instructions on installing a hard drive. The subsystem supports
hot-swapping allowing you to install or replace a hard drive while the subsystem is
running.
This also discusses on how to power-on the subsystem in preparation for operation.
2.1 Installing Hard Drives
a. Push the tray latch to release a disk tray.
b. Then pull out an empty disk tray.

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c. Place the hard drive in the disk tray. Make sure the holes of the disk tray align
with the holes of the hard drive.
d. Install the mounting screws on the bottom part to secure the drive in the disk
tray.
e. Slide the tray into a slot until it reaches a full stop.
f. Press the lever in until you hear the latch click into place.
2.1.1 Installing the Rubber Feet
Four (4) rubber feet can be attached to the base of the unit to provide stable stand. The
following are the steps in installing the rubber feet:
1. Prepare the four (4) rubber feet.
2. Remove the rubber feet by pulling it outward.

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3. Attach the rubber feet on the base of the unit. The rubber feet can also be pasted
on the unit anywhere the user prefers, but must be evenly spaced so that the unit
will stand firm and stable.
2.2 Preparing the Subsystem and Powering On
Here are the steps to prepare the RAID subsystem for use.
1. Connect the USB cable or IEEE 1394 cable from RAID subsystem to the USB
port or IEEE 1394 port on Host/Server.
NOTE: Only one host connection will work at one time. You cannot use both USB and
IEEE 1394 ports at the same time.
2. Connect the power cable to the power input socket. Plug the other end of
power cord to the power source.

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3. Turn on the Power On/Off Switch.

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Chapter 3 Configuration Utility
The subsystem has a setup configuration utility containing important information
about the configuration as well as settings for various optional functions in the
subsystem. This chapter explains how to use and make changes to the setup utility.
Configuration Method
The RAID subsystem can be configured using the Application Program provided with
the subsystem. There are three versions: Microsoft Windows version, Linux version,
and Mac OS version.
IMPORTANT: The RAID subsystem must be connected to the Host system in
order to configure the RAID subsystem. If the RAID subsystem is not connected
to the Host system, the Application Program will show “No disks or RAID!”
NOTE: At least one disk drive must be inserted in the RAID subsystem. If there
is no disk drive in the RAID subsystem, the Application Program will show “No
disks or RAID!”
IMPORTANT: When hard disks are inserted in the disk slots, the first inserted hard disk
is assigned “Port 0”. Port 0 is the (in-band) channel that will be used by Sans Digital
RAID Monitoring Software to manage the RAID controller. Other hard disks will be
assigned Port1, Port 2, etc. If the first hard disk assigned as Port 0 is removed, the Sans
Digital RAID Monitoring Software cannot access and manage the RAID controller. When a
RAID Set is already created, the first hard disk that was inserted and assigned Port 0
(whether or not it is part of the RAID Set) can then be removed and the Sans Digital
RAID Monitoring Software can still manage the RAID controller.

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3.1 Installing the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software in
Microsoft Windows
1. To install Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software for Windows OS, copy the
installation files to a local directory and open the setup.exe program.
2. Click Install to begin the installation. The setup wizard will start installing.
3. Click Finish to exit the wizard. The application will be launched immediately.
The Sans Digital Application Program main screen will be displayed.

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3.2 Starting the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software in
Linux
To configure the RAID subsystem when connected to Linux system, go to the directory
where the Application Program is saved and open the Application Program.
Another way is to open terminal window, then at the command prompt type
“./miniEPICaRaidSetup”.
After running the Application Program, the Sans Digital main screen will be displayed.
3.3 Starting the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software in Mac
OS
To configure the RAID subsystem when connected to Mac OS X Server, go to the
directory where the Application Program is saved and open the Application Program.

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This example is from Mac OS X Server version 10.5.4.
After running the Application Program, the Sans Digital main screen will be displayed.
3.4 Sans Digital Management GUI
The Sans Digital management GUI contains the following menu options:
Basic Mode:
RAID and Disk Information
Provides information about RAID and disk
drives.
This also have Advanced information which
shows System Information such as
temperature, fan speed and voltage levels.
This can also display SMART information of
disk drives after RAID is created.
Event Log Viewer Shows the RAID controller event log.
Basic Raid Configuration
Provides function for creating basic RAID
configuration. This function will use all
available disk drives.
Advanced Mode:

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Email Notification and Event
Settings
This function provides option to configure
email for sending event notifications when
events happen.
Advanced Raid Configuration
This function provides option to customize
RAID configuration and select disk drive
members.
Firmware Information
Shows information about current firmware
and provides function to upgrade the
firmware version.
RAID Settings Provides settings such as RAID Stand-by
Timer and RAID Rebuild Priority.
3.4.1 Other Buttons of the Sans Digital Management GUI
Minimize Window button – Used to minimize the Sans Digital GUI into taskbar.
Close Windows button – Used to close the Sans Digital GUI.

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Note that the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software is still running in the
background. To exit the Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software, right-click the
Sans Digital icon in the task bar then select Quit from the pop-up menu.
About button – Used to display the current Sans Digital RAID Monitoring Software
version.