Voom SuperDuper User Manual

Voom SuperDuper™

User Guide

1-to-8 Hard Drive Duplicating Unit

SuperDuper™ User Guide

SuperDuper is a registered trademark of Voom Technologies, Inc. All other brand names, product names, and company names in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners.

Third Edition

9 July 2013

(Based on the SuperDuper 2-01 release)

NOTICE OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

The equipment described herein including hardware, firmware, and software is manufactured from designs that are the property of Voom Technologies, Inc.

Reproduction or reverse engineering of any part of this equipment without express written permission of Voom Technologies, Inc. is prohibited.

Printed in U.S.A.

SuperDuper is designed, developed, and manufactured in the USA.

VOOM Technologies, Inc.

110 St. Croix Trail South

Lakeland, Minnesota 55043

Telephone 651-998-1618

Fax 651-436-4030

Table of Contents

1 Information.........................................................................................1

1.1 Technical Documentation...........................................................................1

1.2 Data Protection............................................................................................ 1

2 Technical Support.............................................................................1

2.1 Support by Telephone.................................................................................1

2.2 Support by E-Mail........................................................................................ 1

2.3 Technical Support Tips...............................................................................1

3 Preface...............................................................................................2

3.1 Product Contents.........................................................................................2

3.2 Requirements............................................................................................... 2

3.3 Introduction..................................................................................................2

3.3.1 Features......................................................................................................................2

3.3.2 Standard Features......................................................................................................3

3.3.3 User Interface.............................................................................................................3

3.3.4 SHA-256 Hash Algorithm...........................................................................................5

3.3.5 Host Protected Area...................................................................................................5

3.3.6 Device Configuration Overlay...................................................................................5

3.4 Definitions.................................................................................................... 6

4 System Configuration.......................................................................7

4.1 Installing Source Drive................................................................................7

4.2 Installing Target Drives............................................................................... 8

5 Command Description......................................................................9

5.1 System Test Command...............................................................................9

5.2 Clone Drive Command................................................................................9

5.3 Verify Drives Command............................................................................10

5.4 Wipe Drives Command..............................................................................10

5.5 Remove HPA Command............................................................................10

5.6 Remove DCO Command...........................................................................10

6 Button Interface...............................................................................11

6.1 Reset Alarm Procedure.............................................................................12

6.1.1 Alarm Buzzer (Warning)..........................................................................................12

6.1.2 Fast Blinking Light (Error).......................................................................................12

6.1.3 Slow Blinking Light (Error)......................................................................................12

6.1.4 Steady Light (Done).................................................................................................12

6.2 System Test Procedure.............................................................................13

6.3 Clone Drive Procedure..............................................................................13

6.4 Verify Drives Procedure............................................................................14

6.5 Wipe Drives Procedure..............................................................................14

6.6 Remove HPA Procedure............................................................................15

6.7 Remove DCO Procedure...........................................................................16

7 Serial Interface.................................................................................17

7.1 System Test Procedure.............................................................................18

7.2 Clone Drive Procedure..............................................................................18

7.3 Verify Drives Procedure............................................................................19

7.4 Wipe Drives Procedure..............................................................................20

7.5 Remove HPA Procedure............................................................................20

7.6 Remove DCO Procedure...........................................................................21

8 Special Precautions........................................................................22

8.1 Using the Buttons......................................................................................22

8.2 Target Drive Size Limitations.................................................................... 22

9 Troubleshooting..............................................................................23

10 Warranty......................................................................................... 25

10.1 Limited Warranty......................................................................................25

10.1.1 Wearable Parts.......................................................................................................26

10.2 Warranty Return Instructions.................................................................26

11 Specifications................................................................................27

11.1 CE.............................................................................................................. 27

11.2 FCC Exemption........................................................................................ 27

1 Information

1.1 Technical Documentation

Specifications and information contained in this manual are furnished by Voom Technologies, Inc. for informational use only and are subject to change at any time without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Voom Technologies, Inc. Voom Technologies, Inc. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this manual; including the products, firmware and included accessories.

1.2 Data Protection

The user must be aware that an improper system configuration can lead to data corruption. Please read the System Configuration chapter carefully before attempting to operate this device. Voom Technologies, Inc. is not responsible for any loss of data resulting from the use, disuse or misuse of this product.

2 Technical Support

2.1 Support by Telephone

Technical support is available to registered owners of Voom Technologies, Inc. products by telephone Monday through Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm, Central Time Zone at 651-998-1618.

2.2 Support by E-Mail

Voom Technologies, Inc. technical support is available by e-mail at

support@voomtech.com.

2.3 Technical Support Tips

Call from a telephone where you have access to your computer. Please be prepared to provide the following information:

● Name, telephone number, e-mail address

● Serial Number and version of the Voom SuperDuper product

● Make and model of your hard drives

● Symptoms of the problem

3 Preface

3.1 Product Contents

SuperDuper Hard Drive Duplicating Unit 8 inch SATA cables (9 shipped) 8 inch ATA ribbon cables (9 shipped) Molex to SATA power adapters (2 shipped) Molex to Molex Y power cables (4 shipped) Molex to SATA Y power cables (4 shipped) Molex to Molex 6 inch extension cable Molex to SATA 6 inch extension cable Standard serial interface cable AC power cord User Guide

3.2 Requirements

The SuperDuper Hard Drive Duplicating Unit supports parallel ATA and SATA hard drives.

3.3 Introduction

The SuperDuper Hard Drive Duplicating Unit is designed to simultaneously copy information from an external source drive to each of the 8 destination (target) drives attached. It provides physical connections for both parallel and serial drives. The architecture also provides a separate data bus for each drive, 9 in all. This multiple bus architecture allows the hardware to transfer data directly from the source drive to each of the target drives without the need for any software buffering, resulting in the fastest data transfer possible. The primary operations that are supported include the following:

● Clone Drive – Performs a sector-by-sector copy of the entire source drive to each of the target drives.

● Verify Drives – Performs a sector-by-sector verify of the data stored on each of the target drives.

● Wipe Drives – Writes an all zeros data pattern to each of the target drives.

3.3.1 Features

The SuperDuper product is designed to operate with drives (up to 2TB) that support either 28 or 48 bit addressing and both PIO and UDMA data transfer modes. In addition, it automatically detects the drive type (ATA/SATA) and the drive address (Master/Slave) for both the source and each of the 8 target drives.

3.3.2 Standard Features

The SuperDuper product supports the following features:

● Automatically discovers the source drive (ATA/SATA).

● Automatically discovers up to a maximum of 8 target drives (ATA/SATA).

● Automatically configures itself for the smallest size target drive.

● Automatically configures itself for the lowest speed target drive.

● Provides both a Button Control Panel and a Serial Port interface.

● Provides the ability to simultaneous transfer data from the source drive to

each of the 8 target drives with no performance degradation.

● Displays the operating status and drive state to a 4 line LCD display.

● Indicates the current operating status using both a status light and buzzer.

● Deactivates a failing target drive without interrupting the other drives.

● Automatically senses the presence of a HPA/DCO on each of the drives.

● Clones the source drive by doing a sector-by-sector copy of the entire

source drive to each of the target drives simultaneously. In addition, it calculates a SHA-256 hash on the contents of the source drive which can later be used to verify the data on each of the target drives.

● Verifies that the data has been transferred correctly by simultaneously calculating a SHA-256 hash on all drives and comparing the resulting hash value of each target drive with the hash value of the source drive.

● Writes an all zeros data pattern to each of the target drives simultaneously.

3.3.3 User Interface

The user interface for the SuperDuper Hard Drive Duplicating Unit supports both a LCD (4 line x 20 character) and a serial port. Input is taken through either a button control panel or a keyboard via a terminal connected to the serial port. The status information is always displayed to both the LCD and the serial terminal when connected The following is displayed on the LCD:

● The SuperDuper software version

● The operating state (e.g., Initializing, Ready, Busy, etc.)

● The number of bytes that have been written

● A list of drives, both Active and Disabled

The SuperDuper is designed to disable a target drive whenever a write error is encountered. Disabling a failing drive does not effect any of the other target drives and the operation will continue. Whenever a target drive is deactivated, the failing drive is added to the failed drive list (e.g., Drives: 1234568 F: 7 indicates that drive 7 has failed) which is displayed on the LCD. In addition, the buzzer will sound each time the light mounted on the unit blinks, to indicate that a drive has failed. If all of the drives are deactivated, the LCD will indicate that all drives have failed and the status light will blink fast .

The following table illustrates the status conditions that will be displayed on the LCD following the execution of each command:

LCD Status Description

SuperDuper 2-01 Status: Ready Drives: 12345678

Normal completion status.

All drives are still enabled.

SuperDuper 2-01 Status: Ready Drives: 123678 F:45

Abnormal completion status.

Drives 4 and 5 failed the previous operation.

SuperDuper 2-01 Status: Ready Drives: 12345678 <No Source Drive>

Abnormal completion status.

The Source drive has failed.

SuperDuper 2-01 Status: Ready Drives: F:12345678 <No Target Drive>

Abnormal completion status.

All Target drives have failed.

SuperDuper 2-01 Status: Ready Drives: F:12345678 <No Active Drive>

Abnormal completion status.

All Target drives have failed.

The status indicators are designed to communicate the basic operating status to an operator who is located a distance from the unit. It currently provides the following status information:

System Status Light Buzzer Description

Ready Off Off Unit is accepting commands Executing Heartbeat Off Unit is executing last command Drive Failure (Running)

Heartbeat Beep Unit has disable one or more

target drives and is continuing to

execute the last command Drive Failure (Finished)

Flashing (1/sec)

Off Unit has completed the command

with one or more target drive

failures. All Drives Failed (Finished)

Flashing (2/sec)

Off Unit has terminated execution due

to an unrecoverable error. Either

the Source drive failed or all the

Target drives have failed. Finished On Off Unit has completed the command

successfully.

Note: Refer to the Reset Alarm Procedure section for details on how to reset the alarm buzzer whenever it is beeping.

3.3.4 SHA-256 Hash Algorithm

The SHA-256 is a cryptographic hash function designed by the National Security Agency (NSA). SHA is an abbreviation for Secure Hash Algorithm. Regarding the SuperDuper unit, this hash value can be thought of as a “digital fingerprint” of the data contained on a specific drive. The SHA is used to verify that multiple drives contain identical information.

3.3.5 Host Protected Area

The Host Protected Area (HPA) feature provides a method for hiding data on a disk drive. The SuperDuper Hard Drive Duplicating Unit will recognize the presence of data hidden by a HPA on the source drive and automatically copy both the configuration itself along with the associated data to each of the target drives. It will also recognize the presence of a HPA configuration on each of the target drives and automatically remove it.

Note: Because of the way that the HPA feature works, a power cycle (e.g., Powering off the SuperDuper unit) may be required whenever managing data hidden by a HPA.

3.3.6 Device Configuration Overlay

The Device Configuration Overlay (DCO) feature set provides yet another way to hide data on a disk drive. The SuperDuper Hard Drive Duplicating Unit will recognize the presence of data hidden by a DCO on the source drive and automatically copy both the configuration information itself along with the associated data to each of the target drives. It will also recognize the presence of a DCO configuration on each of the target drives and automatically remove it.

Note: Because of the way that the DCO feature works, an unexpected power interruption (e.g., switching the SuperDuper unit off while executing a data transfer command) will result in the loss of the DCO configuration on the source drive. Therefore, make sure that you always allow the clone to finish or Cancel the clone prior to powering off the SuperDuper unit.

3.4 Definitions

ATA: Advanced Technology Attachment interface. Parallel ATA Drive: An ATA hard drive whose data interface uses a 40 pin (40

or 80 conductor) ribbon cable.

Serial ATA Drive: An ATA hard drive whose data interface uses a 7 pin cable. Source Drive: The hard drive from which the source data is read from during a

copy operation. Target Drive: One of 8 hard drives that the data is written to during either a copy or wipe operation. Clone: The process of performing a sector-by-sector copy operation from the source drive to each of the target drives.

Wipe: The process of writing zeros to every sector of the target drives. SHA Hash: The value that is generated by calculating a SHA-256 hash on every

sector of a drive. Host Protected Area (HPA): A reserved area for data storage outside the normal operating file system. Device Configuration Overlay (DCO): A virtual device configuration for the hard drive which may change the drive size and/or other properties.

Ctrl: The keyboard control key. HD or HDD: Hard Drive, also called the Hard Disk Drive. GB: Gigabyte: 1000000000 bytes. MB: Megabyte: 1000000 bytes. KB: Kilobyte. 1024 bytes.

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Voom SuperDuper User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual