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ADDONICS TECHNOLOGIES
Model: CRTM4HES
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
Open the front panel of the Cipher
tower.
Slide the 3.5” SATA hard drive into
the drive bay.
Note: It is recommended to fill up the tower with SATA drives
from top to bottom. This is to help in identifying which drives
connect 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 cable from the back of the
Cipher tower to the eSATA port on the computer.
Power
Switch
(LED 4)
HPM
Health
LED Information:
wer LED: When power switch is turned on, the green
Po
HPM Health LED: When the RAID volume fails, the LED
eSATA status LED: When eSATA port is used to connect to a
USB status LED: When USB port is used to connect to a
(LED 2)
USB
Status
Pow
LED
er
(LED 3)
HPM
Pow
er
(LED 1)
eSATA
Status
RAID confi
rotary switch
R
setting
button
LED lights up.
blinks.
system, the LED lights up.
system, the LED lights up.
g
AID
Cipher
keyhole
eSATA port
Cipher
pow
er
LED
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ADDONICS TECHNOLOGIES
Model: CRTM4HES
III. Initial RAID setup of the Cipher tower:
a. Insert the AES 256-bit cipher key into cipher keyhole located
at the back of the Cipher tower.
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
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.
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
1. Insert the AES 256-bit cipher key into cipher keyhole located
at the back 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.
4. For security purposes, remove the cipher keys from the
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 cipher key must be
inserted again in order to gain access to the drives.
V. Instruction for Special RAID Modes:
BIG 2 - 2 Drives Spanned
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.
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.
FAST 2 - 2 Drives Striped
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 below, verify if the LEDs are lighting up. The
selected LEDs will light up for 2 seconds followed by a
blink and cycles back.
RAID Mode LEDs BIG 2 LEDs 1, 2 & 4 all OFF
BIG 4 4 ON, 2 & 1 OFF
FAST 2 2 ON, 4 & 1 OFF
FAST 4 1 ON, 4 & 2 OFF
SAFE FAST 4 & 2 ON, 1 OFF
SAFE 2 4 & 1 ON, 2 OFF
RAID 3 + S 2 & 1 ON, 4 OFF
RAID 5 + S 4, 2 & 1 all ON
LED reference:
LED 1 - eSATA Status
LED 2 - USB Status
LED 4 - HPM Health
Best Practice:
Create a label to identify the SATA hard drive and the associated
Cipher key used.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Phone: 408-453-6212
Hours: 8:30 am - 6:00 pm PST
Email: http://www.addonics.com/support/query/
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