XL-RAID-SATA2
User Manual
v3.0 (December, 2009)
Index
Check Package Contents and Accessories......................................................... 3
Hardware Introduction......................................................................................... 4
System Requirement & Environment Requirement and Notices......................... 4
Hardware Installation Procedure......................................................................... 5
Connecting XL-RAID-SATA2 to your computer................................................... 6
Setting the Hard Drive Array Mode...................................................................... 6
OS Backup.......................................................................................................... 7
Computer Set Up................................................................................................. 8
Hard Disk status on LCD screen......................................................................... 9
GUI Monitoring Software & FW Updating............................................................ 11
Appendix: Trouble Shooting/Q&A........................................................................ 13
SATA
SATA
Check Package Contents and Accessories
Item
Quantity
XL-RAID-SATA2
1
Removable Carrier
2
45cm SATA Cable
1
Product CD
1
Accessory bag
1
(includes 6#-32 screws x 8 pcs , Key for keylock x 2)
XL-RAID-SATA2 system includes the following:
XL-RAID-SATA2 Removable Carrier
45cm SATA Cable
Note :
Please check above parts are included prior to installation. The accessory bag contains
screws and a plastic key.
Accessory bag Product CD
1
3
5
2
4
6
Hardware Introduction
Front Panel Real Panel
1
2
6
5
3
4
2
4
LCD Panel
Mute Button
HDD Access LED
HDD Tray
Key Lock
Fail LED
1
eSATA Port
3
RAID Mode
Note :
Status Indications of LEDs:
HDD Access LED will flash yellow when the data is accessed from the hard drive.
Fail LED will light red when HD failed, temperature is higher than 60 C or fan fails.
3
2
Power Socket
4
5cm Fan
1
System Requirement & Environment
requirement and notices
Hardware Requirement
1. Computers or servers with SATA I& SATA II
2. Hard drive with SATA I& SATA II
Environment requirement and notices
1. XL-RAID-SATA2’s brilliant design allows the user to simultaneously utilize two hard drives
manu factured by different companies. However, if the user expects better efficiency, we
strongly recommend the users to use hard drives manufactured by the same manufacturer.
2. Since the system uses more stringent factors to determine the disk corruption in the hard
drive, please use noncorrupted hard drive with minimum storage capacity of 20 GB.
3. The XL-RAID-SATA2 had undergone strict hard drive compatibility test. The result shows
that it is compatible with most hard drives on the market such as Maxtor, Western Digital,
Seagate, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and etc. However, due to the new types of hard drives appearing
on the market, if your hard drive is not compatible with the system, please contact us
through the following email: sales@xtendlan.com and we will reply as soon as possible.
Hardware Installation Procedure 5
4. The XL-RAID-SATA2 is equipped with a 5.2 cm ball bearing cooling fan that will provide
effective cooling for the 7200&10000 rpm hard drive. We highly recommend using
computer chassis with effective cooling design to avoid disk array crashing due to
ineffective cooling.
5. XL-RAID-SATA2 supports RAID 0 & RAID 1.
Hardware Installation Procedure
1. Connect the SATA cables on the removable hard drive carrier to the pins of hard drive.
2. Secure the hard drive into the removable hard drive carrier by the screws which provided
in the accessory pack.
SATA
SATA
Connecting XL-RAID-SATA2 to your computer
1. Connect DC12V&5V power cables and SATA cables to XL-RAID-SATA2.
2. Connect SATA cable to SATA port on the motherboard.
1
45cm SATA Cable Power Supply Connector
2
2
1
Power Supply
Real Panel
Motherboard
2
1
SATA Ports
XL-RAID-SATA2
Note :
We do not recommend users to disassemble the machine without proper instructions and
authorization. The manufacture warranty will not cover damage caused by unauthorized
disassembling.
Internal Case
Setting the Hard Drive Array Mode
Please select the RAID mode with the jumper located at the back panel. The original default
is RAID 1, still there are three pins at the back panel for RAID mode selection:
RAID 0 mode by setting the jumper on the left of the two pins.
RAID 1 mode by setting the jumper on the right of the two pins.
1. RAID 0 Mode
1). Place two new hard drives into XL-RAID-SATA2 and strongly suggest you to use two
identical hard drives to get the equal capacity. If the capacity is different, XL-RAIDSATA2 is downward to the small hard drive capacity.
2). Under RAID 0 mode, capacity is add up to a one big volume, also with the feature of
faster read/write performance efficient.
OS Backup
2. RAID 1 Mode
1). Place two new hard drives into XL-RAID-SATA2 and strongly suggest you to use two
identical hard drives to get the equal capacity. If the capacity is different, XL-RAIDSATA2 is downward to the small hard drive capacity.
2). Under RAID 1 mode, two hard drives has the identical information as one to mirror to
the other one, therefore each of the hard drive failed is still able to function normally.
When you replace the failed hard disk to the new one the system automatically
rebuilding the data to the newly place hard disk.
OS Backup
Installing a brand new hard drive and a hard drive with existing data. Internal RAID module
is suggested to be used for OS backup data.
1. We highly recommend using the same brand of hard drives with the same or larger stor
age capacity when installing hard drives to XL-RAID-SATA2. The user can use the auto
rebuilding function to automatically format the new drive and subsequently to back up the
data into the new hard drive.
2. Place the hard drive with existing data into slot 1 or 2 in the XL-RAID-SATA2.
3. Since one of the slots is empty, the buzzer will alarm user about the empty slot when the
computer is turned on. To shut off the buzzer alarm, just push the bottom located in the
front display screen.
4. After turning on the operation system, please check whether the current XL-RAID-SATA2
setting
is the same prior to hard drive installation. Then place the new hard drive in the removable
hard drive carrier into another slot. Note: the storage capacity of the newly installed hard
drive must be larger than or equal to the old hard drive.
5. The XL-RAID-SATA2 will start the auto rebuilding function shortly after.
6. Please press the Buzzer bottom after auto rebuilding to reset the buzzer alarm and to
return the system operation normally.
7. If you use this install method and backup OS at the same time, please make sure that the
system is installed normally, in case of error or OS backup failure.
8 Computer Set Up
Computer Set Up
When the hardware setup for XL-RAID-SATA2 is complete, you are now ready to turn the
machine on.
1. After the hardware installation is complete, the XL-RAID-SATA2 will be treated as one
single hard drive. Set the hard drive to AUTO in the computer’s BIOS. When the
computer is turned on, the system will retrieve the following information:
2. In XL-RAID-SATA2, the installed hard drive can be detected by the Device Manager of
Computer
Management for Windows.
3. Customers can choose to format the hard drive by using the Disk Management tool of the
operating system before using the XL-RAID-SATA2
At this point, the installation process is completely finished. The user can freely retrieve and
save data to XL-RAID-SATA2 just like retrieving and saving data to a regular hard drive. If
the user experiences any abnormality during the operation, please refer to the trouble
shooting Q&A section in Appendix.
Hard Disk status on LCD screen 9
Hard Disk status on LCD screen
Left Hard Drive (Primary Hard Drive) Fail
1. Right Hard Drive (Secondary Hard Drive) Normal
2. Primary hard drive storage capacity larger than secondary hard drive
3. Secondary hard drive storage capacity larger than primary hard drive
Hot Swap & Auto Rebuilding
The hard drive Hot Swap and Auto Rebuilding functions are available.
(The Hot Swap & Auto Rebuilding functions are applicable in)
1. Off-line Back up
When the data is stored within XL-RAID-SATA2, the user can remove one of the hard
drives from XL-RAID-SATA2 as back up drive for data such as system operation file,
secured files, seldom modified files or image and music files. The user can periodically
insert the hard drive back into XL-RAID-SATA2 to execute automatic backup to protect
the system from being hit by computer virus or to avoid risk of having both hard drives
failing at the same time.
2. During the Hard drive Failure
When one of the two hard drives fails in the XL-RAID-SATA2 system, the system will
alarm the hard drive failure message both on the LCD display screen and in the
monitoring software. The user can remove the failed hard drive from the system while
the system
is still in operation without shutting down the machine. If the failed hard drive is replaced
shortly, the system will automatically execute the Auto Rebuilding function without
affecting the system operation and without any operation command from the user.
3. The LCD Display Message During Hot Swap and Auto Rebuilding
When the XL-RAID-SATA2 detects a hard drive missing or a hard drive failure, the
Buzzer will go off and the LCD display screen will display the following messages:
Hard Disk status on LCD screen
4. After removing the failed hard drive and replacing with a new hard drive, if the hard drive
is properly installed, the LCD display screen will display the following messages:
5. After few seconds of installing the new hard drive, the LCD display screen will display the
data rebuilding progress:
Pri->Sec represents that the data in the original hard drive (primary hard drive) is copied
to the new hard drive (secondary hard drive). XXX % represents the rebuilding completion
percentage.
6. When the rebuilding is fully completed, the LCD display screen will again display the
following messages:
7. When XL-RAID-SATA2 is overheating, “T” will be displayed on the lower right-hand
corner of screen (As shown in illustration)
8. When cooling fan module is not functional, “F” will be displayed on the upper right-hand
corner of screen. (As shown in illustration)
GUI Monitoring Software & FW updating 11
GUI Monitoring Software & FW Updating
You can install GUI software to monitor RAID status. This can be done by installing RAID_
GUI. exe software from CD-ROM.
1. RAID information
You can install GUI software to monitor RAID status. This can be done by installing
RAID_GUI. exe software from CD-ROM.
2. Firmware updating
1). You may update FW through GUI by clicking “Load Firmware” to select the firmware
you want.
GUI Monitoring Software & FW updating
2). After selecting, click “Start Upgrade” to start updating.
3). After updating, it will show a successful message and will start using the new firmware
after you reboot your computer.
Attention :
Updating firmware may cause your system unable to operate normally. If your system runs
normally, we suggest that you do not update firmware. Should you have any doubts on
firmware updating, please contact the technical service staff of XtendLan or email us at:
sales@xtendlan.com.
Appendix: Trouble Shooting / Q&A 13
Appendix: Trouble Shooting / Q&A
Unstable system after connecting XL-RAID-SATA2
Q: After installing XL-RAID-SATA2, we are unable to start the computer or the
computer can not locate XL-RAID-SATA2 upon startup.
A: 1. Please check whether the readings on the XL-RAID-SATA2 LCD display screen appear
normal.
2. Please check whether the SATA Cable connection cables are properly connected to the
computer system and whether SATA drives are functioning normally.
3. If everything is functioning properly but the user still can not start the computer system,
then the problem might be the system incompatibility. If such incompatibility takes place,
please contact our technical support department.
Q: When the XL-RAID-SATA2 is in use, the computer system is functioning normally but the
XL-RAID-SATA2 access speed is abnormal.
A: Please first check whether the XL-RAID-SATA2 is in the progress of executing data autorebuild.
1. Please examine if the length of the connection cables, SATA cable that connect the
drives to the computer system is too long and whether the specification these cables
complies with the requirements.
2. If both the lengths and specification of the cables are checked out ok, please turn off
XL-RAID-SATA2 and remove the hard drive from XL-RAID-SATA2. Test the hard
drive directly with the computer system since it might be the bad sectors in the hard
drive that are causing the longer than normal system down time.
Hard Drive Failure
Q: Under the mirror mode (RAID 1), what will be the system’s total storage capacity when
adding a brand new hard drive?
A: 1. The total storage capacity for XL-RAID-SATA2 is determined by the storage
capacity of the primary hard drive installed during the initial usage.
2. The storage capacity will not increase after initial installation even when place a brand
new hard drive with larger storage capacity.
Q: Why does the error message appear when I installed the second hard drive?
A: 1. The storage capacity of the second hard drive must be larger than the first hard drive.
Otherwise, XL-RAID-SATA2 can not rebuild the new hard drive and the LCD display
screen will display “Wrong Capacity”.
2. The LCD display screen might display rebuilding error messages such as
Pri(s)->Sec(s)or Sec(s)->Pri(s). The term (s) signifies that both hard drives are treated
as original hard drive. The user must determine which hard drive will be the original
hard drive prior installing the hard drives into XL-RAID-SATA2. Once the original hard
drive is designated and installed in XL-RAID-SATA2, the user can place in the second
hard drive by taking advantage of XL-RAID-SATA2’s Auto Rebuilding function.
Q: My hard drive is obviously operating properly but why is it shown as failed in the XL-
RAID-SATA2 display?
A: XL-RAID-SATA2 uses more strict requirements and standards to examine the bad
sectors in the hard drive. The user can first overwrite the bad sector on a PC before
placing the hard drive into XL-RAID-SATA2.
14 Copyright declaration
About Auto Rebuilding Function
Q: What will happen if we turn off the computer’s power while XL-RAID-SATA2 is still
executing data auto rebuilding?
A: Under the mirror mode (RAID 1), if the power is out of the auto rebuilding process, the
controller will remember when completion percentage of the auto rebuilding process and
resume the rebuilding process when the power is back on.
Q: Is it possible to lose any part of the data during the data auto rebuilding?
A: The data auto rebuilding function will copy data from one sector to another sector.
Technically speaking, the data will not be lost during the auto rebuilding process.
However, if the original hard drive is detected with bad sectors during the rebuilding
process, XL-RAID-SATA2 will make hypothetical duplication instead of treat the bad
sectors as hard drive failure. Therefore, the data stored in the bad sectors could
potentially be lost during rebuilding.
Q: Under the mirror mode (RAID 1), why does the computer slows down during the data
rebuilding process? Or why does the data rebuilding process slows down when the data
is being processed?
A: If the XL-RAID-SATA2 system is executing data rebuilding simultaneously while the
computer system is saving the data, the auto rebuilding process and the saving process
will take longer than normal time. This is because the XL-RAID-SATA2 must divide it’s
resource between the normal system operation and the data rebuilding process. However,
the priority for the XL-RAID-SATA2 is to maintain the proper system operations. Therefore,
the data rebuilding speed will be extremely slow until the system finished with the data
saving operations.
Other Possible Situations
Q: The Buzzer will not stop when the XL-RAID-SATA2 is in operation.
A: Please check whether the readings on the LCD display are normal or if there is a hard
drive failure. Please also pay attention to any other symbols displayed in the LCD display.
For example, if the “F” symbol is displayed, this means that there is a cooling fan failure.
If the “T” symbol is displayed, this means that the system is overheated.
Q: How to turn on and off the Buzzer?
A: 1. The manufacture default setting for the Buzzer in XL-RAID-SATA2 is Buzzer On.
2. The user can use any pointed materials to push the bottom on the front dash board to
turn on and off the Buzzer.
NOTE:
XtendLan provides both technical support and service to our global distributor and as for the end users
or do not buy products directly from us, please contact where your purchase from or local distributor for
prompt and better responses service. However, if you do not know the local distributor’s location, please
contact sales@xtendlan.com for reference.
All the product information contained in this manual is the property of
XtendLan All rights reserved.
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