Sharkoon 8-BAY RA ID STATION User manual
8-BAY
RAID STATION
Manual
8-bay raid station
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Content
1. Features 3
1.1 Overview 3
1.2 SATA features 3
1.3 USB features 3
2. Specifications 4
3. System requirements 4
4. The device at a glance 4
4.1 Overview 4
4.2 The LED indications 5
5. Package contents 6
6. Getting started 6
6.1 HDD installation 6
6.2 Power on/off 8
6.3 eSATA slot bracket installation 8
7. Configuration 9
7.1 Preparation 9
7.2 Changing the host connection 9
7.3 Disconnecting an USB device 10
7.4 HDD HotPlug 10
8. Setting the RAID mode 10
8.1 CLEAN mode 11
8.2 Other RAID modes 13
9. Rebuilding a redundant drive 15
10. Troubleshooting 17
11. Appendix 18
11.1. CLEAN mode 18
11.2 LARGE mode 19
11.3 R00 mode 20
11.4 R30 mode 22
11.5 R50 mode 24
Dear customer!
Congratulations for purchasing one premium quality SHARKOON product.
For a long life time and to take full advantage of this product we recommend that you read
this manual completely.
Have a good time with our product!
SHARKOON Technologies
8-bay raid station
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1. Features
1.1 Overview
• ExternalRAIDcasewitheightmountingbaysfor2.5"and3.5"SATAHDDs
• Supportedmodes:Clean/Single,LargeandRAID00/30/50
• EasyRAIDmodeconguration
• AutomaticrebuildfunctioninRAID30/50modes
• Internalinterfaces:SATAIandII(compatiblewithSATAIII)
• Externalinterfaces:eSATAandUSB3.0
• FastSwapmechanismforeasyHDDhandling
• Premiumqualitycraftsmanship
• On/offbutton
• LEDindicationsforpower,HDDactivityandrebuildmode
• Pre-installedfan
1.2 SATA features
• PortMultiplierFunctionality
• Auto-negotiationbetweenSATAI(1.5Gbps)andSATAII(3Gbps)
• HotPlugsupportinCLEANmode
• SupportsNativeCommandQueue(NCQ)
• SupportsPortMultiplierAwareandnon-PortMultiplierAwareHostinRAIDmode
• SupportsAsynchronousSignalRecovery
• SupportsSpreadSpectrumClocking
• SupportsBISTandLoopbackMode
• Supports48-bitLBAaddressing
• SupportsAsynchronousNotication
1.3 USB features
• CompatiblewithUSBSuperSpeed,HighSpeedandFullSpeed
• CompatiblewithOHCI/UHCI/EHCIhosts
• SupportsMassStorageClass
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2. Specifications
• Eightmountingbaysfor2.5"and3.5"SATAHDDs
• Metalchassis(SECC)andplasticfrontpanel(ABS)
• Dimensions:340x150x340mm(LxWxH)
• Weight:6.5kg
• 300Wfullrangepowersupply
3. System requirements
• IntelPentium-III500MHzequivalentorfaster
• WindowsXP,WindowsVista,Windows7withthelatestServicePacks
• 64MBofRAM(minimum)
• SuperVGA(800x600)orhigherresolutiondisplaywithatleast256colors
• Mouseorcompatiblepointingdevice
• SATAconnection:IntelICHoroptionalHostBusAdaptercardandassociatedsoftware
driverswithPortMultipliersupport
• USBconnection:USB2.0or3.0directhostconnection
4.The device at a glance
4.1 Overview
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4.2 The LED indications
1. POWER LED
DESCRIPTION ORANGELED
PowerOn On
PowerOff Off
2. SYS LEDs
DESCRIPTION GREENLED
SYS1orSYS2notready/NoPower Off
SYS1orSYS2ready(Idle) On
SYS1orSYS2ready(Active) On
3. HDD LEDs
DESCRIPTION GREENLED REDLED
HDDUnplugged/NoPower Off Off
HDDplugged(Idle) On Off
HDDplugged(Active) Blink(On) Off
ErrorState(OneorMoreBadPartialVolumes) Off On
HDDRebuild(APhysicalPartitionisbeing
Rebuild;i.e.MirroringMode)
Off Blink(On)
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5. Package contents
• 8-BAYRAIDSTATION
• 8xHDDmountingbays
• 1xUSB3.0cable
• 1xeSATAcable
• 1xpowercord
• 32xmountingscrewsfor2.5"HDDs/SSDs
• 32xmountingscrewsfor3.5"HDDs
• 1xSATAtoeSATAcablewithbracket
6. Getting started
6.1 HDD installation
1.Openthefrontdoor,thenunlocktheHDDmountingframelockandremovetheHDD
mountingframefromthe8-BAYRAIDSTATION(g.1).
Fig.1
2.PlacetheHDDintotheHDDmountingframe(g.2).
Fig.2
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3.UsethemountingscrewstosecurelyattachtheHDDtothemountingframe(g.3).
Fig.3
4.SlidetheHDDmountingframebackintothe8-BAYRAIDSTATION(g.4).
Fig.4
5.ClosethefrontdoortocompletetheHDDinstallation(g.5).
Fig.5
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6.2 Power on/off
Pressthepowerbuttontoswitchonthedevice.Pressagaintopoweritoff.
6.3 eSATA slot bracket installation
1.RemovetheanchorscrewoftheslotbezelandtakeitfromtherearsideofyourPC
case(g.6).
Fig.6
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2.InserttheincludedeSATAbracketintotheslotbracketandattachittothecaseusing
theanchorscrew(g.7).
Fig.7
3.ConnecttheSATAcableoftheeSATAbrackettoafreeSATAportofyour
PCmainboard.
7. Configuration
7.1 Preparation
1.SATAhostconnection
Thisinstallationguideassumesthatyouhavealreadyconnectedthe8-BAYRAID
STATIONtoaSATAoreSATAhostcontrollerwithPortMultiplier(PM)support.
Note:
If you use a host controller that does not provide Port Multiplier support (Such as Intel
ICH), the CLEAN mode is not available when configuring the 8-BAY RAID STATION.
Only one disk is available on the host computer.
2.USBhostconnection
Ifyouareconnectingyour8-BAYRAIDSTATIONusinganUSBconnectiontoyourhost,
theUSBportshouldbecompliantwithUSB2.0or3.0.
7.2 Changing the host connection
The8-BAYRAIDSTATIONsupportsbothUSBandeSATAhostconnections,althoughonly
oneconnectioncanbeattachedatthesametime.
IfitbecomesnecessarytoswitchthehostconnectionbetweeneSATAandUSB,thehost
computersystemandthe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONshouldbothbepowereddownpriorto
changingthehostconnection,inordertoavoiddataloss.Afterchangingthehost
connection,bothdevicescanbepowered-onagaintocontinueoperationwiththenew
host connection.
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7.3 Disconnecting an USB device
USB3.0externaldevicesprovidesupportforPlug&Playconnection,sothatyourUSB
storagedevicecanbeconnectedanddisconnectedwhilethecomputerisrunning.
Topreventdatalossorotherfailures,werecommendthefollowingprocedurewhen
disconnectingyourUSB3.0storagedevicefromyourhostcomputersystem:
BeforeyoushutdownyourPCremovethe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONfromyoursystem’s
hardwarecongurationbydouble-clickingthesymbolinthetaskbar.Amenuwill
openup.Selectthe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONtosecurelyremoveit.Switchoffthedeviceand
shutdownyourPC.
7.4 HDD HotPlug
Theharddiskdrivesshouldnotbehot-plugged,butcanbeunpluggedwhilethe
systemisrunning.However,toavoiddatacorruptionorloss,makesurethatthehost
systemisnotcurrentlyusinganydrivethatisabouttobeunplugged.
8. Setting the RAID mode
Todeneastoragemodeforthersttime,makesurethattheharddiskdrivesare
mounted,thenturnoffthepowerbeforesettingtheRAIDmodeswitchesontherear
sideofthe8-BAYRAIDSTATIONtothedesiredmode.
Tochangethestoragemodeafterwards,settheRAIDmodeswitchestothedesired
position.Pressandholdthesetupbutton,thenswitchonthedevicetocreatethenew
virtualvolume(s).
Notes:
Creating new virtual volumes will destroy any existing data saved on the volumes!
Back up your data before reconfiguring the storage mode!
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8.1 CLEAN mode
1.Switchoffthedevice(g.8).
Fig.8
2.ToggletheRAIDmodeswitchtotheCleanmodeaccordingtothefollowingchart(g.9):
Fig.9
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3.Removetheleftsidepanelfromthecasebylooseningthethumbscrewsontherear
side(g.10aandb).
Fig.10a Fig.10b
4.ToggletheCleanmodejumperinsidethedevicetothe“On”position(g.11).
Fig.11
Warning:
Except for the Clean mode the Clean mode jumper must be toggled to the “Off” position!
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5.SwitchonthedevicetocompletetheRAIDmodesetting(g.12).
Fig.12
8.2 Other RAID modes
1.Switchoffthedevice(g.13).
Fig.13
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2.ToggletheRAIDmodeswitchestothedesiredRAIDmodeaccordingtothefollowing
chart(g.14):
Fig.14
3.Pressandholdthesetupbutton(g.15).
Fig.15
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5.SwitchonthedeviceandthenreleasethesetupbuttontocompletetheRAIDmode
conguration(g.16).
Fig.16
9. Rebuilding a redundant drive
The8-BAYRAIDSTATIONduplicatesalldatatoseparatedrivesinordertoprotectagainst
datalossduetodrivefailureinR30andR50mode.Thefollowingexampleillustrates
theprocedureofrebuildingaredundantdrive.
1.Ifdrive2fails,pleaseremoveitfromthedevice(g.17).
Fig.17
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2.Switchoffthedevice(g.18).
Fig.18
3.ReplacethedefectiveHDDwithaharddiskdriveofthesamecapacityorbigger
(g.19).
Fig.19
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4.Switchonthedevice(g.20).
Fig.20
5.The8-BAYRAIDSTATIONwillstartrebuildingthevirtualvolumeautomatically
(rebuildspeed:approximately200GB/hour).
10.Troubleshooting
1. Device is not recognized
Makesureallcableshavebeenproperlyconnected.
FortheUSB3.0controllerthelatestdriversandthenewestrmwaremustbeinstalled.
2. Cannot operate in O/S
Makesurethedeviceissupportedbyyouroperatingsystem.
3. Transfer speed is slow
IfthedeviceisconnectedviatheUSB2.0interface,thespeedwillbearound30MB/sec
only.
4. When formatting under Windows XP/ Vista/ 7, the dialog box “Unfinished formatting”
is displayed
WindowsXP/Vista/7cannotformatHDDswithcapacitiesabove32GBintoFAT32,
pleasechooseNTFSasdataformat.
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5. When the system is damaged in LARGE mode, is it still possible to read the data?
No.ThesystemisdifferentfromaRAID;theentirediskcannotberead.
11. Appendix
11.1. CLEAN mode
Function:InCLEANmodeeachharddriveisdisplayedseparatelyasonedrive.
Notes:
When using a SATA host controller, CLEAN mode should only be used if the SATA host
controller provides Port Multiplier (PM) support. If a host is not PM-aware, only a single
drive is displayed (drive 1).
The CLEAN mode will not delete the drives partition if the drives were used as single
drive before.
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11.2 LARGE mode
Function:
TheLARGEmodeconcatenatesaseriesofphysicalharddrivesintoasinglelarge
volume,creatingaseamlessexpansionofvirtualvolumesbeyondthephysicallimitations
of singularly connected hard drives.
Notes:
The hard drives 1 to 8 are concatenated into a single virtual volume in the Figure above
with a storage capacity that is equal to the sum of each of the physical hard drives 1 to 8.
It is also possible to create a LARGE volume using only a single hard disk drive connected
to Port 1. However, it is not possible to expand an existing LARGE volume by adding
another hard disk drive and still preserve any existing data on that volume.
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11.3 R00 mode
Function:
InR00modethedataisspreadacrossallharddisks.
Example1
Advantage/disadvantage:
R00moderepresentsthebestdataspeedbutnodataredundancy.R00modeaccelerates
harddiskdriveoperatingspeedbyusingmanydiskssimultaneously.
ToimplementtheR00mode,the8-BAYRAIDSTATIONStoragecreatestwosinglevirtual
volumes(SYS1andSYS2)thatarestripedacrossallharddrivesofSYS1andSYS2,with
astoragecapacitythatisfourtimesofthesmallestdrive.SYS1andSYS2arethen
stripedagainacrossbothvirtualvolumes.Thestoragecapacityistwicethecapacity
of the smallest virtual volume.
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