Vantec NST-400MX-53, NST-400MX-53R, NexStar MX NST-400MX-53, NexStar MX NST-400MX-53R User Manual

USER’S MANUAL

NST-400MX-S3
NST-400MX-S3R

USB 3.0 Interface
USB 3.0&eSATA Interface

www.vantecusa.com

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1 NexStar MX

2 USB 3.0 Cable

3 Power Adapter

4 User’s Manual

5 Enclosure Stand

6 Installation Screws

1 NexStar MX

2 USB 3.0 & eSATA Cable

3 Power Adapter

4 User’s Manual

5 Enclosure Stand

6 Installation Screws

Package Contents:

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TRADEMARKS

MS-DOS, Microsoft, Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/7/8 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Apple, Macintosh and Mac are trademarks of Apple Computer.

NexStar is a registered trademark of Vantec Thermal Technologies.

*All other third-party brands and names are the property of their respective owners.

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NST-400MX-S3

Dual 3.5” SATA to USB 3.0 with JBOD
External Hard Drive Enclosure

NST-400MX-S3R

Dual 3.5” RAID Enclosure w/Fan
USB 3.0 & eSATA Interface

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Table of Contents:

Table of Contents

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Introduction

Specications/Features

System Requirements

Parts Layout

Installation

LED Indicator

Mode Conguration

Disconnecting the NexStar MX

Hardware Formatting Guide

Warranty

Contact

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05

06

09

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Introduction

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1.Introduction:

Vantec NexStar® MX Dual Bay External HDD
Enclosure now in USB 3.0 only or USB 3.0 plus
eSATA interface is a quick and simple way to
expand storage capacity to your computer.
It comes without the hassle of diving inside
the PC and messing with all those wires,
cables and connections. It provides maximum
storage with the increased capacity of two
spanning hard drives for your precious family
photos, music, video, and games. For 400MX­S3, it will support Individual and JBOD modes;
and for 400MX-S3R, it will support Individual,
JBOD, RAID 0 and RAID 1 modes for eective
storage management. The sturdy drive cage
protects your hard drive while the aluminum
case eectively draws away the heat; the
front vents and the rear fan keep your hard
drive(s) cool and improve performance. The
Vantec NexStar® MX is a high performance,
high capacity, and durable portable storage
solution and lets you store your personal data
in an enclosure with style!

Specications/Features

3

2.Specications/Features:

Dual 3/5” RAID Enclosure w/FAN USB 3.0 (S3) or USB3 & eSATA (S3R) interface

Features:

• Aluminum Casing Cools Down Your Hard Drive

• 40mm Rear Heat Exhaust Fan

• Easily Add Storage to Any System with USB 2.0, 3.0 or eSATA (for 400MX-S3R only)

• Hot-Swappable: Plug & Play Without Rebooting

• Attractive LED Indicates Power & HDD Activity

• Support Individual, JBOD (for 400MX-S3); Individual, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1 (for 400MX-S3R)

Specications:

• Model: NST-400MX-S3

• Device Support: SATA I/II/III Hard Drives

• Device Size: 3.5”

• Internal Interface: SATA

• External Interface: USB 3.0

• HDD Capacity: Up To 8TB*

• Power Supply: AC Adapter

• Fan: 40mm

• Material: Aluminum & Plastic

• Dimension: 197 x 123 x 72 mm

*Check our website www.vantecusa.com for any updates

Specications:

• Model: NST-400MX-S3R

• Device Support: SATA I/II/III Hard Drives

• Device Size: 3.5”

• Internal Interface: SATA

• External Interface: USB 3.0 & eSATA

• HDD Capacity: Up To 8TB*

• Power Supply: AC Adapter

• Fan: 40mm

• Material: Aluminum & Plastic

• Dimension: 197 x 123 x 72 mm

*Check our website www.vantecusa.com for any updates

eSATA Cable

USB 3.0 Cable

USB 3.0 Cable

Power Adapter

Power Adapter

Syetem Requirements

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3.System Requirements:

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8

1. For USB 2.0 speeds, the system must

support USB 2.0 specications

2. For USB 3.0 speeds, the system must

support USB 3.0 specications

3. For eSATA Speeds, the System Must

Support eSATA Specications

4. Port Multiplier Is Required For eSATA

Mac OS 10.4 & greater

1. For USB 2.0 speeds, the system must

support USB 2.0 specications

2. For USB 3.0 speeds, the system must

support USB 3.0 specications

3. For eSATA Speeds, the System Must

Support eSATA Specications

4. Port Multiplier Is Required For eSATA

Parts Layout

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4.Parts Layout:

Power ON/OFF Switch

eSATA Port

USB 3.0 Port

Power Jack

1

2

3

4

Power ON/OFF Switch

USB 3.0 Port

Power Jack

1

2

3

NST-400MX-S3

NST-400MX-S3R

Installation

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5.Installation:

Dual 3/5” RAID Enclosure w/FAN USB 3.0 (S3) or USB3 & eSATA (S3R) interface

5.1.Hardware Installation:

Installing the hard drive:

(1) Release the four screws then

pull out the rear panel and tray
of the NexStar MX.

(3) Place the second HDD onto the
drive caddy then insert the HDD
into the SATA connector.

(2) Place the rst HDD onto the

drive caddy then insert the HDD
into the SATA connector.

( gure 5.1-A )

( gure 5.1-C )

( gure 5.1-B )

( gure 5.1-A )

( gure 5.1-C )

( gure 5.1-B )

Installation

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(5) Choose the Mode Conguration

for the NexStar MX. Connect the
power adapter and power on the
unit. Press the reset button and
hold for 10-15 seconds.

*Please note, changing mode will
erase all data on the drives in this
400MX enclosure. Please backup
any important data before you
continue. For Mode Conguration
details, see page 10.

(4) Secure the hard drive onto

the drive caddy with the
provided screws.

(6) Insert the drive caddy back into

the aluminum housing. Be sure to
align and secure with the provided
screws.

( gure 5.1-E )

( gure 5.1-D )

( gure 5.1-F )

( gure 5.1-E)

( gure 5.1-D)

( gure 5.1-F)

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NOTE:

For new hard drives, you will need to initialize and

partition your hard drive before it will appear in
Windows Explorer or on your Mac desktop. Please
refer to your hard drive manufacturer’s documentation

or read the”Creating a New Partition” section of this

manual.

NOTE:

If you can see the USB icon in the system tray, but there
is no any disk appear in your computer, please conrm
your hard disk is partitioned.

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Installation

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Connecting the NexStar to your computer:

USB 3.0(S3 and S3R)

eSATA (S3R)

Connect the type (B) USB connector to the

NexStar and the type (A) USB connector to an

available USB port on your system.

Connect the power cable to the NexStar and

plug the cable into an available outlet.

Turn on the NexStar via the power switch.

Your operating system should detect

the NexStar and automatically install the

necessary drivers. Once your operating system

nishes setting up the NexStar , it will mount

your hard drive. On Mac OS systems, the

new volume should appear on desktop. On

a Windows PC, the new volume will appear

under My Computer.

Your NexStar External Hard Drive is now ready

for use.

USB3.0 Cable

eSATA Cable

or

Connect the eSATA to the NexStar and to an

available eSATA port on your system.

Connect the power cable to the NexStar and

plug the cable into an available outlet.

Turn on the NexStar via the power switch.

Your operating system should detect

the NexStar and automatically install the

necessary drivers. Once your operating system

nishes setting up the NexStar, it will mount

your hard drive. On Mac OS systems, the

new volume should appear on desktop. On

a Windows PC, the new volume will appear

under My Computer.

Your NexStar External Hard Drive is now ready

for use.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

NOTE:

1. RAID Rebuild Mode: RAID1

2. Rebuild speed around 250GB/HR

3. LED blinking consistently (3 ashes per second) indicates HDD failure

LED Indicator

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LED Activity Chart: this chart describe LED activity under RAID rebuild process

Constant On

Blinks Randomly

Online: USB (or eSATA) is connected to PC.

Oine: USB (or eSATA) doesn’t connect to PC.

6.LED Indicator:

Dual 3/5” RAID Enclosure w/FAN USB 3.0 (S3) or USB3 & eSATA (S3R) interface

General Operation:

RAID Rebuild LED for 400MX-S3R

Power LED

HDD 1 LED

HDD 2 LED

Green

Blue

Blue

ON : Power on
OFF: Power o

ON : HDD inserted
Flash Randomly: Accessing (Read/Write/Rebuild)

Flash Consistently (3 ashes per second): HDD error

OFF: HDD not installed/Removed/sleep mode

ON : HDD inserted
Flash Randomly: Accessing (Read/Write/Rebuild)

Flash Consistently (3 ashes per second): HDD error

OFF: HDD not installed/Removed/sleep mode

Operations HDD1 LED HDD2 LED Power LED FAN

ON

ON

ON

OFF

Online

Oine

In progress

Complete

In progress

Complete

Mode Conguration

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7.Mode Conguration:

Individual Drive Mode:

This mode enables each Hard Drive to be seen
as separate single drives with separate Hard
Drive capacities.

( gure 6-A)

( gure 6-A) ( gure 6-B)

( gure 6-B)

Volume A

NST-400MX-S3R

Drive A

Equal hard drives Unequal hard drives

Drive ADrive B

Drive B

Port 0 Port 0Port 1 Port 1

NST-400MX-S3R

Volume AVolume B Volume BVolume A

NST-400MX-S3

Drive A

Equal hard drives Unequal hard drives

Drive ADrive B

Drive B

Port 0 Port 0Port 1 Port 1

NST-400MX-S3R

Volume AVolume B Volume B

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Individual Mode

NST-400MX-S3 NST-400MX-S3R

Individual Mode

NOTE:

All data previously stored on the hard drive will
be lost! Please back up all data to a separate
storage before continuing.

JBOD Mode:

This mode concatenates a series of physical drives as a single large volume; Hard Drive 1 and 2 are

combined into a storage capacity that is equal to the sum of each of the physical hard drives 1 and 2.

Switching to this mode will prompt to initialize and format the hard disks. If you choose to add a second

hard disk at a later time, you will need to format the entire array of disks again

( gure 6-D)

( gure 6-C) ( gure 6-D)

Mode Conguration

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JBOD JBOD

1000GB500GB

NST-400MX-S3R NST-400MX-S3R

Drive A

250GB 250GB 250GB 750GB

Drive ADrive A Drive A

Port 0 Port 0Port 1 Port 1

Equal hard drives Unequal hard drives

JBOD JBOD

1000GB500GB

NST-400MX-S3 NST-400MX-S3

Drive A

250GB 250GB 250GB 750GB

Drive ADrive A Drive A

Port 0 Port 0Port 1 Port 1

Equal hard drives Unequal hard drives

NST-400MX-S3 NST-400MX-S3R

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2

JBOD Mode

( gure 6-C)

JBOD Mode

NOTE:

All data previously stored on the hard drive will
be lost! Please back up all data to a separate
storage before continuing.

RAID 0 Mode (Striped):

This mode splits data evenly across the two Hard

Drives resulting in capacity that is the sum of

2 times the smaller volume. Data access speed

is increased however at the cost of no data

redundancy.

Two equal hard drives: The capacity is equal to

the sum of both hard drives.

Switching to this mode will prompt to initialize

and format the hard disks.

( gure 6-E)

( gure 6-F)

( gure 6-F)

Mode Conguration

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1

2

( gure 6-E)

RAID 0 Mode

RAID 0 RAID 0

500GB 500GB

NST-400MX-S3R NST-400MX-S3R

Port 0 Port 0Port 1 Port 1

Drive A

250GB 250GB 250GB 750GB

Drive ADrive B Drive A

Equal hard drives

Striping across

Unequal hard drives

Striping across

NST-400MX-S3R

NOTE:

NOTE:

All data previously stored on the hard drive will
be lost! Please back up all data to a separate
storage before continuing.

RAID 1 Mode (Mirror):

This mode allows the device automatically to

copy data to both hard drives. It stores all data in

duplicate on separate drives to protect against

data loss due to drive failure. It provides the

highest level of data protection for critical data

that you cannot aord to lose if a hard drive fails.

The capacity is equal to the smaller of the two

hard drives. Switching to this mode will prompt

to initialize and format the hard disks. This will

not work to create a mirror set from existing hard

drives.

If one drive fails, the SAFE volume is still usable, but it is in a vulnerable state because its mirrored hard

drive is inaccessible. When the oine drive comes back online, the appliance begins a rebuild process

immediately to restore data redundancy. Although the volume remains available during the rebuild

process, the volume is susceptible to data loss through damage to the remaining drive until redundancy

is restored at the end of the rebuild and verication process. Host access takes precedence over the

rebuild process. If you continue to use the SAFE volume during the rebuild, the rebuild process will take

a longer time to complete, and the host data transfer performance will also be aected.

( gure 6-E)

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1

2

( gure 6-E)

RAID 1 Mode

Mode Conguration

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NST-400MX-S3R

WARING:

NEVER remove the NexStar MX while the hard drive is in
use. Doing so may corrupt the data on the hard drive or
damage the hard drive, NexStar MX and the computer.

Disconnecting the NexStar MX

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8.Disconnecting the NexStar MX:

Dual 3.5” RAID Enclosure w/Fan USB 3.0 & eSATA Interface

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8 :

Make sure all operations using the hard
drive within the NexStar MX has ceased.

Close any windows and programs
pertaining to the NexStar MX

Double click the green “Safely Remove

Hardware” icon in the system tray and

select [Safely Remove USB Mass Storage
Device]. Select the device you wish to
remove and click on [Stop]. The system
should prompt, “It is now safe to remove

the USB device.” If not, wait for any

programs still using the device to nish and
try again.

You may now safely turn o and disconnect

the NexStar MX.

Mac OS:

Make sure all operations using the hard
drive within the NexStar MX has ceased.

Close any windows and programs
pertaining to the NexStar MX

From the Desktop, drag the NexStar MX
hard drive to the trash.

You may now safely turn o and disconnect

the NexStar MX.

Hard Drive Formatting Guide

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9.Hard Drive Formatting Guide

Dual 3/5” RAID Enclosure w/FAN USB 3.0 (S3) or USB3 & eSATA (S3R) interface

Please make sure your External Enclosure is turned on and connected to the PC

before formatting the Hard Drive.

In order to use a disk volume larger than 2 TB’s, you will need an operating system that supports

GUID Partitioning Table. Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP 64bit, Mac 10.4, and Mac 10.5 all

have this capability through the GPT. The GUID partitioning scheme has the ability to partition both

internal and external drives far beyond 2 TB’s in size.

STEP1: Right-click “My Computer” and select “Manage”.

For PC Users:

STEP2: Select “Disk Management” and you will see your Hard Drive shown as “Unallocated”

(Disk number may vary)

Hard Drive Formatting Guide

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STEP3: Right-click on the “Unallocated” box and select “New Partition”.

(Disk number may vary)

STEP4: The “New Partition Wizard” will appear. Please follow the “New Partition Wizard”

step by step instructions to complete the Hard Drive formatting procedure

Hard Drive Formatting Guide

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STEP5: Once the Hard Drive formatting procedure is completed, the Hard Drive will be

recognized as a “New Volume” (New Volume drive letter may vary i.e. “New Volume
(Z:)” )

STEP6: Double-click “My Computer”. You will see “New Volume” appear on your PC (Drive
letter may vary i.e. “New Volume (Z:)”)

Hard Drive Formatting Guide

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For Mac Users:

STEP1: When you connect the NexStar MX
Dual to a Mac with a new hard drive,

the dialog “Disk Insertion” will appear.
Please select “Initialize”. (A formatted

HDD will not display this dialog)

STEP2: Select which HDD you want to erase.

Individual Mode :

This mode can show each hard disk
as individual device.

JBOD Mode :

JBOD MODE can integrate two
dierent brands of hard drives with
dierent capacity to a larger format
hard drive.

WARING:

All data will be erased after the format

Hard Drive Formatting Guide

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RAID 0 Mode :

Raid 0 Mode can integrate two
dierent brands of hard drives with
dierent capacity to a larger format
hard drive.
>Two hard drives of the same
capacity: the total capacity is the
sum of the two hard drives.
>Two hard drives of the dierent
capacity: the total capacity is the
twice volume of the smaller hard
drive.

STEP3: Click “Erase” at the upper right side.

Select which kind of format from
Volume Format. Please input the
name you wish to name your new

Volume. Click “Erase” at lower right

side.

STEP4: After you hit “Enter”, the dialog “Erase
Disk” will appear. Please click “Erase” to

begin formatting your hard drive.

Hard Drive Formatting Guide

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Select how you want to use your

new Volume or click “Cancel” if you

want to use default settings.

This will conclude the Hard Drive Formatting guide.

Warranty/Contact

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10.Warranty:

11.Contact:

The NexStar MX comes with a 1 year limited

warranty ( 90 day parts ) . If your unit should

become defective within that time frame, please

go to www.vantecusa.com for information on

how to receive warranty exchange or repair.

Cosmetic defects and missing parts are not

covered under this warranty. Please check the

contents of the unit to make sure you received

all parts. Also, check for any cosmetic aws. If

any parts are missing or if there are cosmetic

defects, please contact the retailer from which

you purchased the unit immediately and ask for

a replacement.

Vantec Thermal Technologies

www.vantecusa.com

Copyright © 2013 Vantec Thermal Technologies. All Right Reserved.

All Registered Trademarks Belong To Their Respective Companies.