Visionman VCM400, VCM200 User Manual
Users Manual
Technical Support
Visionman Computers, Inc.
3200 N. San Marcos Place
Chandler, AZ 85225
Telephone: 1-800-690-6771 extension 2665
Support e-mail:
For additional information, please visit the Visionman Web site:
support@visionman.com
www.visionman.com
Copyright © 2008 Visionman.com.
All Rights Reserved.
Visionman makes no warranty or representations, expressed, implied, or statutory, with respect to its products or the contents or use of this
documentation and all accompanying software, and specifically disclaims its quality, performance, merchantability or fitness for any particular
purpose. Visionman reserves the right to revise or update its products, software, or documentation without obligation to notify any individual or
entity.
GB means 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less.
TB means 1 trillion bytes; actual formatted capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less.
All product names and logos are the property of their respective owners.
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Introduction _____________________________________________________________ 5
Front View __________________________________________________________________ 5
Rear View ___________________________________________________________________ 6
System Setup _____________________________________________________________ 7
Connecting Visionman VCM400/VCM200 to the Network___________________________ 7
Connecting the Ethernet cable and power: ________________________________________________ 7
Connecting a USB drive: _____________________________________________________________ 7
Connecting a USB printer: ____________________________________________________________ 8
Turning the System On_______________________________________________________________ 8
Turning the System Off ______________________________________________________________ 8
Resetting the System ________________________________________________________________ 8
System Configuration______________________________________________________ 9
Logging into the VCM400/VCM200 configuration utility____________________________ 9
Windows, Linux, and Mac ____________________________________________________________ 9
System Configuration ________________________________________________________ 10
General Setup Screen _______________________________________________________________ 12
Alerts Setup ______________________________________________________________________ 13
Change Admin Password ____________________________________________________________ 14
Firmware Update __________________________________________________________________ 15
Printer Management ________________________________________________________________ 16
Configuration Management __________________________________________________________ 17
Advanced Setup ___________________________________________________________________ 19
Network: LAN Setup Screen _________________________________________________________ 21
Network: Services _________________________________________________________________ 23
Workgroup/Domain Setup ___________________________________________________________ 25
Storage Screens _____________________________________________________________ 27
Disk Management Screen____________________________________________________________ 27
Volume Management _______________________________________________________________ 28
Manage RAID ____________________________________________________________________ 30
Share Management _________________________________________________________________ 33
USB Management _________________________________________________________________ 36
USB Backup______________________________________________________________________ 37
Access Control Section _______________________________________________________ 38
User Management _________________________________________________________________ 38
Group Management ________________________________________________________________ 42
Share Access______________________________________________________________________ 47
USB Access ______________________________________________________________________ 49
Using the Media Server _____________________________________________________________ 50
Using the Status Menu _______________________________________________________ 51
Logs ____________________________________________________________________________ 52
Product Support ____________________________________________________________ 56
Troubleshooting ___________________________________________________________________ 56
First Steps Checklist________________________________________________________________ 56
Specific Problems and Corrective Actions_______________________________________________ 56
Technical Specifications ______________________________________________________ 58
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Introduction
The Visionman VCM400/VCM200 storage appliance is a powerful and feature-rich
system designed as a flexible solution for storing and sharing your digital files
across a home or office network or across the Internet.
The VCM400/VCM200 makes remote management a simple task with its Webbased user interface. By using any Web-browser, network and operational
settings, such as monitoring the status of the network, installed disks, storage
space utilization and others; can be configured from any system on the network,
running any operating system.
The VCM400/VCM200’s Web-based & Internet style file sharing, in addition to its
industry standard network file sharing methods, allows you to store all of your
documents, pictures, music, and video files in a central storage location and share
files with other computers on your network, regardless of what software they are
running. No matter what computer system or style of network you are running,
chances are that he VCM400/VCM200 can significantly improve and simplify file
sharing, network storage, and backups for you.
Users Manual
Front View
The functionality of the buttons and LED’s are the same between the VCM400 and the VCM200.
This manual will use examples for the VCM400, and exceptions for the VCM200 will be noted where
necessary.
Power Button: Press the power button to turn the VCM400/VCM200 on. The Green LED
under the button will indicate that the system is powered on. Press and hold the button to
power the system down. If the LED is off, then it indicates that either the system is still initializing
or the system is not powered on. A blinking LED indicates either the system is rebooting or the
RAID is rebuilding, and will be unavailable for file sharing or administration during this time.
Network Activity Indicator: The green LED under or next to this icon indicates a network
connection. The blinking of this LED indicates network traffic. When this LED is off, this
indicates there is no network connection.
HDD Status Indicator: The blinking green LED’s indicates formatting, accessing or
synchronization of the individual drives. The solid green light indicates that the system is
completely synchronized and is ready to use. And amber LED indicates a drive error or an old
HDD has been installed with data on it. When this LED is OFF, it means that the drive is not
installed correctly or has completely failed.
System Identification: This blue LED indicates that system identification is active. When this
LED is off it indicates that system identification is disabled. A blinking LED means there us a
critical condition.
USB Backup Status Indicator: This green LED lights to indicate that a USB hard drive is
attached, and the system is rebuilding, restoring, or transmitting files to the USB drive. A
blinking LED indicates that the system is backing up the USB hard disk or that the system is
formatting the drive.
Rear View
The functionality of the connections on the back is the same between the VCM400 and the VCM200.
devices like a USB hard drive, a USB flash drive, or a USB printer.
Reset Switch: Press the Reset button to restore the VCM400/VCM200 to factory settings. The
button is recessed and located above the Ethernet port on the VCM400 and between the power
connector and Ethernet port on the VCM200.
Power Connector: Use this port to connect power the VCM400/VCM200. The VCM400 uses a
standard computer type AC power cord, whereas the VCM200 uses an AC to DC power adapter.
USB Port: The VCM400 has three USB ports, two in the back and one in the front. The
VCM200 has two USB ports in the back. These ports allow for the connection of USB
Ethernet Port: This port connects the VCM400/VCM200 to the local network.
System Setup
This section gives instructions on how to setup
the Visionman
VCM400/VCM200.
Connecting Visionman VCM400/VCM200 to the Network
Connecting the Ethernet cable and power:
Connect the Ethernet cable to the Ethernet port on the rear of
Connect the other end of the
Connect the power to the power connector on the rear of VCM400/VCM200.
Connect the other end of the power cable or adapter to the nearest power receptacle.
Connecting a USB drive:
Connect the USB cable of your USB hard drive or the USB flash drive to the USB port
the Ethernet port on the VCM400/VCM200.
Connect the other end of the USB cable to the USB drive, if necessary.
Connect the USB drive to power, if necessary.
Ethernet
cable to a switch or router.
Visionman
VCM400/VCM200.
next to
Connecting a USB printer:
Connect the USB cable to the top USB port on the rear of the VCM400/VCM200.
Connect the other end of the USB cable to your USB printer.
Install the printer driver if it is not installed on the computer you are printing from.
Turning the System On
Power the system on after confirming that all the cables have been connected properly.
LED’s will flash and turn different colors.
After 30 seconds, verify LED’s are on and correct. The power button and hard drive LEDs
should be green. Network LED should be green and may flash.
The VCM400/VCM200 and the computers must be on the same subnet, and DHCP/DNS
must be enabled from either the router or a server. If you are uncertain what these terms
mean, contact your network administrator or the manufacturer of your router.
Turning the System Off
To power down the system, press and hold the power button down for about five seconds.
The green LED on the power button and hard drive LED will turn off, indicating the shutdown
is in progress.
The shutdown process will start and take about 10 to 15 seconds to complete.
Resetting the System
The storage solution has a reset button in the back. Pressing and holding the button
down will reset the IP Address, system name and the password for Administrator to factory
settings. After about 15 seconds, the hard drive LED’s will turn amber. This is an
indication that the system has been reset, and you can now release the button.
Factory default settings are as follows:
IP Address – This will reset the IP address to “DHCP Client”. The IP address will now be
received from the DHCP server or the router on the network.
System Name – The system name will now be VCM400 or VCM200, depending upon your
system.
Password – The password for the administrator will now be “admin”.
System Configuration
The storage solution has a web interface for configuration and set up. This section will explain how
to access this configuration interface and what the various settings mean.
Logging into the VCM400/VCM200 configuration utility
Windows, Linux, and Mac
The web access to the configuration utility for Windows, Linux and Mac is the same.
Launch the Internet browser on your PC or Mac.
Type the following:
the future, type
that is assigned by the DHCP server to the storage device.
http://vcm200/ or http://vcm400/, if you change the name of the device in
http://newname/ to access the device. You can also just type the IP address
The above screen will appear on your browser. If the page does not appear, please wait a
few minutes and try again. The default user name and password are: admin and admin
Please note that both the user name and the password are case sensitive.
In some cases it may be necessary to open the configuration file directly. You can do
this by clicking on Start, Run, and then typing in //VCM200 or //VCM400 depending on
which unit you have. You will be prompted for a username and password.
It will be the same as previously mentioned (admin/admin).
Once you have clicked on OK or hit ENTER, you will see the following screen:
Open the configuration folder by double-clicking on that folder’s icon. Once inside this folder, open
the Index file by double-clicking its icon. This will bring you to the configuration login screen in the
same way as typing the IP address or name directly into your browser.
System Configuration
The web screen will now show the display below. This will provide you with a high level status of
the storage system configuration.
On the left side is a list of configuration choices that you can select to change configurations. The
titles are self explanatory in what configuration choices will become available.
On the top right corner are four Icons , that can be selected for some more
detailed configuration choices:
The above is a simplified screen for set up and configuration. The choices are self explanatory for
configuration and setup.
To get to more detailed configuration screens, select
take you to the following configuration screen, with more detailed choices. Clicking it again will
simplify your choices.
NOTE: If at any time you have questions about any of the screens, when you are
configuring your VCM200/VCM400, you can just click on the
help screen will appear. This can be a source of good information for you and eliminate
the need to contact support in some cases.
icon from the top right corner. This will
button and on online
General Setup Screen
This screen allows you to configure the basic information about the VCM400/VCM200 storage
appliance, such as give a name and brief description for the machine, select the web GUI protocol,
and set the time zone for your storage device. You can also set the date and time or enable
automatic time synchronization via NTP (Network Time Protocol) Service. You have to specify the
IP address of the NTP servers from which you want to synchronize.
If you want to change the name of the Storage System, you can assign a new machine
name for the VCM400/VCM200. The name can contain up to 15 characters, including
alphabetic, numeric, underscore, space, and most special characters. We suggest that
you keep it short and simple, so it is easier to remember. Please note that if you have
more then one storage solution, then they all need to have a unique name.
In the description box, enter the brief description for the storage appliance. The maximum
length of the description must not be more than 256 alphanumeric characters.
The difference between the two HTTP and HTTPS protocols is that HTTPS is secure web
access. You can select the protocol that makes the most sense on your particular network.
In the Time Zone drop-down menu, select the time zone for your location.
In the Date & Time drop-down menu, adjust the date and time manually.
You can set the date and time of the storage solution to automatically synchronize with an
Internet public NTP (Network Time Protocol) server. To set the date and time automatically,
select the Enable checkbox in NTP Service, then enter the IP address of the network time
servers from which you want to synchronize.
Click Submit.
Alerts Setup
In the Alerts setup screen, you can configure the system to automatically send e-mails or pop-up
messages for event notification, to the administrator to monitor the functionality of the storage
device. These messages can be warnings or errors related to Fan, temperature, Hard Drive
functionality, Volume, Network, USB, Users and Groups.
Configuring the email:
Select the Enable checkbox
Enter the SMTP server name or an IP address to be used for sending email.
In the SMTP Port box, enter the port number to be used when connected for SMTP
sending of e-mail. The default port number for standard SMTP is 25, and 465 for
secure SMTP.
In the Email Recipients box, enter the email address of the persons you wish to send
an event email message to. Up to five emails can be on this list.
Select Send Test Mail to send a test alert and confirm your settings are correct.
Select Submit.
Configure the pop-up message alert settings:
Select the Enable checkbox.
Enter the name of the computer you wish to send a pop-up message to, when an
event occurs. Up to five computer names can be added to this list. (This requires that
messenger service is enabled on the computers that you wish to send pop up
messages.)
Select Send Test Pop-up to send a test alert and confirm your settings are correct.
Click Submit.
Change Admin Password
Change the administrator password:
E
nter the old password.
Enter the new password. The maximum length of the password must not be more than
15 alphanumeric characters. Password is case sensitive and should be entered exactly
in the same way each time.
Re-enter the new password.
Click Submit.
Firmware Update
This screen provides information about the current firmware version and allows you to perform a
firmware upgrade. Check on our web site to see if a newer version of the firmware is available.
To upgrade the firmware:
Download a copy of the new firmware from our Website to your computer.
The firmware image filename should have the following format: <firmware version>.IMG;
for example VCM200_V0_1_6.IMG. When you download the firmware image file from
the site, please be sure that the filename is correct, and do not rename the file.
Select Browse to locate the file that you downloaded and select the correct IMG file
(e.g. VCM200_V0_1_6.img).
Select Submit to transfer the firmware file from your computer to the VCM400/VCM200
storage appliance. Do not interrupt the firmware upgrade process. This may
cause the system to become disabled, and unable to function.
The update process might take a few minutes to complete.
After your firmware has been updated, the system will reboot to initialize the new firmware. The Web
GUI will redirect you to the System Information page after the update is completed.
Printer Management
The Printer Management screen allows you to manage the USB printers
connected to the storage device, as well as manage print queues and
print jobs across the network.
Install the printer drivers on the PC’s that will use this printer.
For Windows:
Connect the USB printer to the storage device.
Open My Network Places > Entire Network > Microsoft Windows Network > Workgroup
Name > Machine Name (where Machine Name is the name of the VCM400/VCM200
storage appliance), then right-click on the printer icon and select Connect.
Select your printer model from the list and click OK.
Managing print jobs:
To pause or resume printing of a document, click the Pause/Continue icon.
To cancel printing of a document, click the Cancel icon.
Configuration Management
Configuration Management screen allows administrators to easily perform backup or restore
operation of the storage systems settings or revert system to factory default settings.
To backup your current configuration settings:
On the Configuration Management page, click Configuration Download.
Click Open and specify a file name and location where you want to save the file and
select save.
To restore your configuration settings:
On the Configuration Management page, click Browse.
Select the previously saved system configuration file, and select General Restore or
Full Restore.
Selecting General Restore restores all features except the settings for data volume and
shares to its previously saved settings. While Full Restore erases all data on the
VCM400/VCM200 and revert the data volume and shares to its previously saved
settings.
To restore VCM400/VCM200 to factory defaults:
Performing a factory default reset will erase all settings in VCM400/VCM200. System
settings such as the IP address, machine name, admin user name, password, RAID
reconstructs, and media files stored in VCM400/VCM200 are lost.
On the Configuration Management page, click Factory Default Restore and click OK.
It is important to backup all critical data and files before undertaking any
restore operations.
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