FirmTek Seritek /5PM User Manual

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SeriTek

Five Bay Hot-Swap Port Multiplier External Serial ATA Enclosure

User Manual

/5PM

FirmTek, LLC
www.firmtek.com

Copyright

Copyright © 1999-2008 FirmTek, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be
reproduced, translated by any means, photocopied, or transmitted in any form without the prior
written permission of FirmTek.

Trademarks

FirmTek, UltraTek, AV-Tek, SeriTek names and logotypes are trademarks of FirmTek, LLC. Apple,
Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Mac OS 9.XX, OS X, and the Mac logo are registered trademarks of
Apple Computer, Incorporated. The "Built for OS X" graphic is a registered trademark of Apple
Computer, Incorporated, and used under license. Windows, Windows 98/98SE, Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows 2003 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Co rporation in the United
States and other countries. All other manufacturer product names mentioned in this manual are for
identification purposes only and are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.

Changes

FirmTek reserves the right to make any changes to product design, specifications, or details
without notice. Actual product photos or screenshots may look different from those provided.

Notice

The material content of this manual is for informational purposes only. It is possible the content of
this manual may contain technical inaccuracies, typographical, or other errors. FirmTek assumes
no liability for any errors, omissions, or from the use of this manual that may result from such
errors, including, but not limited to loss of data or profits.

Before installing SeriTek/5PM or any other hardware or software, you are responsible for backing
up data contained on any storage devices. After hardware or software installation, you are
responsible for backing up data on any storage devices at frequent intervals. FirmTek, LLC is not
liable for any loss of data or damage to equipment resulting from the use of FirmTek products.

External Shielded Serial ATA Cables

SeriTek/2SE4, SeriTek/2ME4-E, SeriTek/2SE2-E and SeriTek/2SM2-E host bus adapters use
specially shielded external Serial ATA cables to ensure integrity during data transfers. These
cables are not designed for heavy duty use. Use caution and handle the cables carefully. When
inserting and removing the cable, hold the connector at the ends (not the cable) when inserting and
removing the cable from the SeriTek/2SE4, SeriTek/2ME4-E, SeriTek/2SE2-E and SeriTek/2SM2­E and external Serial ATA enclosure.

Note: The SeriTek/2SE4, SeriTek/2ME4-E, SeriTek/2SE2-E and SeriTek/2SM2-E utilize
“Type I” Serial ATA cables and connectors: This is because of a new external SATA
cable/connector specification from the ATA Committee that defines a new “external” SATA
connector, called eSATA. See “Connecting the Shielded Data Cables” section of this
document for more details.

If you will be using the SeriTek/5PM with a Macintosh computer, please note that Macintosh
computers require unique external shielded Serial ATA cables for maximum reliability. FirmTek
Serial ATA cables were specially designed to be compatible with both PC and Macintosh
computers. Please use only FirmTek external shielded Serial ATA cables with the SeriTek/5PM.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction................................................................................................ 1

II. Preparing the SeriTek/5PM...................................................................... 6

Introduction...................................................................................................6

Hard Drive Installation................................................................................. 7

Front Panel Status LEDs...........................................................................11

III. Hot-Swapping Hard Drives.....................................................................12

Introduction.................................................................................................12

General Hot-Swap Guidelines..................................................................12

IV. Sleeping & Wake-UP Procedures:.........................................................13

V. Troubleshooting ...................................................................................... 13

VI. Product Support...................................................................................... 14

VII. Product Warranty and Disclaimers......................................................... 14

VIII. Regulatory Compliance Statements....................................................... 15

I. Introduction

Welcome

Congratulations and thank you for purchasing the SeriTek/5PM Five Bay Hot-Swap Port Multiplier
External Serial ATA Enclosure. This product is yet another innovative solution from the folks at
FirmTek.

About This User Manual

This user manual will introduce you to the SeriTek/5PM enclosure. Please read it carefully to
familiarize yourself with the proper operation of the SeriTek/5PM.

About Serial ATA Technology

An evolutionary replacement for the Parallel ATA storage interface, Serial ATA (Advanced
Technology Architecture) provides greater speed, simpler upgrades and easier configuration.
Serial ATA is fully compliant with the ATA protocol and offers up to 300MB/sec performance
compared to a maximum of 133MB/sec for Parallel ATA. Serial ATA devices can be hot-swapped
(with most operating systems), something that is not normally possible with Parallel ATA devices.
Serial ATA uses insulated cables that are thinner and longer with smaller 7-pin connectors.

About the SeriTek/5PM

The SeriTek/5PM is a rugged, external five-bay Hot-Swap Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive enclosure
with Port Multiplier support. It features FIS (Frame Information Structure)-based switching
technology that allows the Port Multiplier to provide high performance with up to five hard drives
while only using a single SATA data cable.
capabilities with virtually unlimited storage possibilities in a small form-factor package. Built from
the ground-up as a true Serial ATA solution, the SeriTek/5PM features a case made of aluminum
for maximum durability and heat dissipation.

SeriTek/5PM extends Serial ATA’s storage capabilities outside of the computer chassis with
flexibility on par with USB 2.0 or FireWire 800 but with much higher 3.0 Gbps transfer rates. Serial
ATA Hard drives can be swapped in and out of the SeriTek/5PM enclosure within secon ds.

Allowing for true end-to-end Serial ATA capabilities, SeriTek/5PM is compatible with external
PCI/PCI-X and PCIe to Serial ATA host adapters such as the SeriTek/2SE4, SeriTek/2ME4-E,
SeriTek/2SE2-E and SeriTek/2SM2-E (using eSATA to eSATA data cables). The SeriTek/2SE4,
SeriTek/2ME4-E, SeriTek/2SE2-E and SeriTek/2SM2-E, like the SeriTek/5PM enclosure, are
custom designed with shielded Serial ATA ports which meet regulatory requirements for
electrostatic discharge (ESD), electromagnetic interference (EMI) emissions, and susceptibility.
This ensures that a good ground path between the cables and the connectors exists to prevent any
ESD discharge during cable insertion or removal.

In contrast to competing solutions, the SeriTek/5PM is designed with an innovative internal Serial
ATA direct backplane (no data cable inside the enclosure) that makes the installation and removal
of disk drives very easy and provides maximum signal/data transfer quality.

The SeriTek/5PM also provides versatile hot-swap

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Package Contents

One Five-Bay external

drive trays (pre-inserted)

Part number SATA-5PM includes:

Serial ATA chassis

Five removable hard

Two keys

Twenty hard drive

countersink-style
mounting screws

Four clear rubber feet

(Pre-installed)

One external shielded

Serial ATA data cables

eSATA, 1-meter each

One power cord

One CD-ROM containing

the SeriTek/5PM

User’s Manual

Part number SATA-5PM-2SE4 also includes:

One SeriTek/2SE4

4-port PCI-X external

SATA PM host adapter

Part number SATA-5PM-2ME4 also includes:

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One SeriTek/2ME4-E

4-port PCI-Express external

SATA PM host adapter

Part number SATA-5PM-2SE2 also includes:

One SeriTek/2SE2-E

2-port PCI-Express external

SATA PM host adapter

Part number SATA-5PM-2SM2 also includes:

One SeriTek/2SM2-E

2-port SATA PM

ExpressCard/34 for MacBook

Pro and PC Notebooks

SeriTek/5PM Highlights

♦ Attractive, durable design with professional appearance
♦ Integrated with a specially-designed Serial ATA direct backplane, with no need for internal cabling
♦ Expand storage without overloading the computer’s power supply or increasing heat within its chass is
♦ A true native Serial ATA solution, no master/slave settings
♦ Cross-platform, PC and Macintosh compatible, operating system independent
♦ Perfect for both storage-hungry and speed-sensitive applications
♦ Enough performance to handle multiple projects simultaneously
♦ Extruded Aluminum case for maximum durability and heat dissipation
♦ Choice of SATA I/II hard drive brands, any capacities, and drive rotational speed up to 10,000 RPM
♦ Supports up to five hard drives with a single SATA data cable
♦ High Performance FIS-based Port Multiplier-aware hardware
♦ Easy to set up: Only 3 steps to integrate each hard drive
♦ Easy to operate: Simply unlock and move latch to add or remove hard drives
♦ Easy to transport: Compact, portable, sturdy

SeriTek/5PM Applications

♦ Graphic arts
♦ Digital photography
♦ Computer animation
♦ High-performance workstations
♦ File sharing over high-speed networks
♦ Digital audio/music composition, recording, editing, storage and playback
♦ Personal and professional high-definition digital video creation and editing
♦ Supported Video Formats: 10-bit uncompressed HD; 1080/60i, 8-bit; uncompressed SD; DVCPro 25/50;

HDV, DV, DVCAM

SeriTek/5PM Features

♦ Front power switch; Press and hold for 5 second to Turn-Off power
♦ Power and activity LEDs for each hard drive
♦ High-performance storage data transfer up to SATA 3.0Gbps (300MB/sec) per drive
♦ Two built-in quiet exhaust fans with three user-selectable speeds for cool-running hard drives
♦ Fully RAID capable: Compatible with Operating System and host adapter based RAID solutions
♦ Supports up to 20 hard drives using four SeriTek/5PM enclosures and a single 4-port PM card
♦ Can be configured as JBOD or RAID and used with multiple SATA PM enclosures
♦ Five bay, hot-swappable, 3.5” Serial ATA hard drive enclosure with removable trays
♦ Provides physical tray lock and key security for each disk drive
♦ Faster than USB2.0, and FireWire 800
♦ Additional trays are available separately for virtually unlimited storage possibilities
♦ Surpasses rotational vibration and heat dissipation requirements of high RPM drives

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