Addonics CDC4HESU User Manual

ADDONICS TECHNOLOGIES

Model: CDC4HESU

IMPORTANT

There is no back door for the Cipher tower encrypted hard
drives if the Cipher keys are lost or stolen.

Cipher key

Check to make sure you have the
correct version of the Cipher key. A
sample key is shown

Black label AES-256 stands for
Cipher 256-bit key.

To ensure there is a spare key, your Cipher tower comes with
4 pairs of Cipher keys. These cipher keys have all identical
encryption code unless you requested then to be coded
differently. One of these keys should be kept in a safe and
secure location and can be sent back to Addonics for duplicating
additional keys. If you are down to the last key, be sure to make
a back up of all the data stored inside your Cipher tower prior to
sending the last key to Addonics. Addonics is not responsible for
key lost in the mail or retrieval of the data inside the encrypted
hard drive.

Keeping track of the hard drive
If you are using the Cipher tower to encrypt multiple hard drives,

it is important to label your hard drive if you are taking the drive
out of the Cipher tower. The hard drive from the Cipher tower
that is encrypted will look like a brand new drive when attach
directly to the SATA controller of a computer. There will be no
partition or any hint to indicate that the drive contains encrypted
data. When the drive is partitioned, all the encrypted data will be
lost.

The same holds true if a hard drive already has data on it is
installed into the Cipher tower. The computer detects the hard
drive as a brand new drive or a drive that is unallocated. Once
you proceed to partition the drive, the data that was on the hard
drive will be erased and cannot be recovered.

I. Installing drives into the Cipher Tower

Refer to Diamond Cipher enclosure hard drive installation guide

Slide the enclosure into the drive bay.
Using the key provided, insert it to the
lock mechanism and turn it to the
“LOCK” position. This will secure the
enclosure and provide power to the
drive.

Note: It is recommended to fill up the tower with SATA drives
from top to bottom. This is to help in identifying which drives
connects to which ports for easier troubleshooting.

II. Connecting the power cable and Cipher Tower to the

mputer

co

a. Connect the power cord provided from the wall outlet to the

back of the Cipher Tower.

b. A power switch is located on the front of the tower. Make

sure the power is off on the switch (power LED light should
be off)

c.

Connect the provided eSATA or USB2.0 cable from the back
of the Cipher tower to the eSATA or USB2.0 on the
computer. We recommend connecting the eSATA port for
best performance if this port is available on your computer.

Power Switch

Pow

er LED

(LED 1) HPM Health

eSATA Status

(LED 2)
(LED 3) USB Status

LED Information:
Power LED: When power switch is turned on, the green

LED lights up.

HPM Health LED: When the RAID volume fails, the LED

blinks.

eSATA status LED: When eSATA port is used to connect to a

system, the LED lights up.

USB status LED: When USB port is used to connect to a

system, the LED lights up.

er Switch

Pow

Power Connector

RAID confi
rotary switch

AID

R
setting
button

g

eSATA port

USB por

t

ADDONICS TECHNOLOGIES

Model: CDC4HESU

III. Initial RAID setup of the Cipher tower:

keyhole on the Diamond Cipher enclosures located at the
front of the Cipher tower.

Cipher

wer LED

po

b. Set the Rotary switch to the RAID configuration required.
c. Push the RAID Setting button wit h a ba llpoint pen tip while

the Cipher tower is turned off.

d. While holding the RAID setting button, turn on the Cipher

tower and continue to hold for at least 5 seconds to confirm
RAID mode setting.

e. Observed that the green Cipher power LEDs at the front of

the Cipher tower are on. If they did not, reinsert the cipher
keys and re-power the Cipher tower while holding the RAID
setting button.

Note: The Cipher tower LED's for the eSATA status and USB

f.

Go to the operating system’s management utility to verify
raid volume detection. Partition, format and mount the
encrypted drives.

IV. How to operate the Cipher tower after initial setup

Insert the 4 AES 256-bit cipher keys into each cipher

1.
keyhole on the Diamond Cipher enclosures located at the
front of the Cipher tower.

2.

Push the power switch of the Cipher tower to turn it on.
Observed that the green Cipher power LEDs at the front of
the Cipher tower are on. If they did not, reinsert the cipher
keys and re-power the Cipher tower.

3.

Use the system’s File Explorer to access the files on the
encrypted drive.
For security purposes, remove the cipher keys from the

4.
Cipher tower after the drives are detected by the system. All
the files being transferred into the drives are still encrypted
even if the cipher key is removed.

5.

When the Cipher tower is restarted, the 4 cipher keys must
be inserted again in order to gain access to the drives.

Cipher keyhole

status will start blinking while holding down the raid
setting button. Once the raid setting button is released,
the HPM Health LED will blink 4-6 times.

If the HPM Health LED stops blinking, the raid set is set
correctly. If the HPM Health LED lights up as solid
green, it is a bad setup. You need to repeat setting up
the raid again.

a. Insert the 4 AES 256-bit cipher keys into each cipher

V. Instruction for Special RAID Modes:
BIG 2 - 2 Drives Spanned

o Note: Do not c

hardware port multiplier. Doing so will hang the system when
you configure the raid.

o

For SATA drives with different capacities, the hardware port
multiplier will use the smallest drive capacity of the 2 drives
connected to create the total partition size.

ST 2 - 2 Drives Striped

FA

o Note: Do not connect more than 2 SATA drives to the

hardware port multiplier. Doing so will hang the system when
you configure the raid.

VI. Verify RAID Setting on the Cipher tower
Note: Disconnect the Cipher tower from computer when verifying

the RAID setting.
It is assumed that you have already connected the SATA drives

and set up the raid mode when verifying the raid setting.

1. Turn on the power for Cipher tower.

2. Push the RAID setting button with a ballpoint pen. Using
the table
selected LEDs will light up for 2 seconds followed by a
blink and cycles back.

RAID Mode LEDs BIG 2 LEDs 1, 2 & 3 all OFF

BIG 4 3 ON, 2 & 1 OFF
FAST 2 2 ON, 3 & 1 OFF
FAST 4 1 ON, 3 & 2 OFF
SAFE FAST 3 & 2 ON, 1 OFF
SAFE 2 3 & 1 ON, 2 OFF
RAID 5 2 & 1 ON, 3 OFF
RAID 5 + S 3, 2 & 1 all ON

ference:

LED re

LED 1 - HPM Healt
LED 2 - eSATA Status
LED 3 - USB Status

Best Pr

Create a l
Cipher key used.

TECHNIC

Phone: [phone]
Hours: 8:30 am - 6:00 pm PST
Email: http://www.addonics.com/support/query/

actice:

abel to identify the SATA hard drive and the associated

AL SUPPORT

onnect more than 2 SATA drives to the

below, verify if the LEDs are lighting up. The

h