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Megadisk NAS Owner’s Manual

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Appendix B: Glossary

ATA 

Acronym for “

AT

 Bus 

A

ttachment” - a standard interface to IDE hard disks. Western Digital’s 

IDE disk interface was standardized by ANSI to form the ATA specification using a 16-bit ISA bus. 

 

Cache 

a fast-access memory bank that serves as an intermediate storage for data that is read from 

or written to secondary storage. Typically, high-speed caches are implemented in RAM, though 
they can also be implemented on disk when speed is not a critical requirement. Caches generally 

improve the efficiency of read operations due to the principles of “spatial and temporal locality 
of data”. They can also improve the efficiency of write operations. 

Common Internet File System (CIFS)

 a network protocol for sharing files, printers, serial ports, 

and other communications between computers. CIFS is based on the widely-used SMB protocol.

Degraded Mode/Status 

All arrays, with the exception of 

RAID

 0, are designed to handle disk 

failures.  However,  there  is  limit  on  the  number  of  hard  disks  that  can  fail  before  the  array  is 
rendered inoperative. For instance, this limit value is 1 for 

RAID

 1, 3, and 5. In the case of 

RAID

 

10 or 50, the upper bound is equal to the number of parity groups.  When the number of disk 
failures occurring in an array are less than or equal to this upper bound, the array is denoted to 
be in a degraded state. The failure of the disks does not impair reading from or writing to the 
array. However, it impairs the efficiency of throughput in all RAID types (with the exception of 

RAID 1) since data requested by read operations may have to be “reconstructed” using parity. In 

the case of RAID 1 the throughput of read operations is cut in half if a drive fails. Operating in 
degraded mode is considered an acceptable alternative only for short durations. Generally this 
duration should span no more time than that required to inform the user of the failures and to 
replace the failed disks with suitable spares.  

Device  Driver 

A  piece  of  software  that  controls  a  hardware  device. Typically  drivers  provide  an 

interface by which applications can use the device in a uniform and hardware-independent manner. 

Dirty  Data 

Dirty  data  is  data  that  has  been  written  to  a  cache  but  has  not  been “flushed,”  or 

written to its final destination, typically some secondary storage device.

Disk Array 

A Disk Array is a logical disk comprised of multiple physical hard disks. The number of 

hard disks in an disk array is dictated by the type of the array and the number of spares that may 
be assigned to it. Furthermore, whether a disk array can be built using part of the space on a disk 
(as opposed to being forced to use the whole disk) depends upon the implementation. Disk Arrays 
are typically used to provide data redundancy and/or enhanced I/O performance.

 

Disk Block 

Data is stored on disks in blocks that are generally of a predefined size. This size 

is typically a value such as 512 bytes, 1 KB, 2 KB, etc. When a record is written to a disk, the 
blocks used for that record are dedicated to storing the data for that record only. In other words 
two records are not permitted to share a block. Consequently, a block may be only partially used. 
For instance, assume a disk has a block size of 1 KB and a user record written to it has a size of 
3148 bytes. This implies that the user record will be written into 4 blocks, with the contents of 
one of the blocks being only partially filled with (3148 – 3072) 76 bytes of data. 

B-Glossary

Summary of Contents for MDN1000

Page 1: ...Owner s Guide www FantomDrives com NAS MegaDisk ...

Page 2: ...s for digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulation of the Canadian Department of Communications Operation in a residential area may cause unacceptable interference to radio and TV reception requiring the owner or operator to take whatever steps are necessary to correct the interference Conformite aux regiements du Department Canadien de Communications Cet equipement n excede pas ...

Page 3: ...orm without prior consent in writing from Fantom Drives Fantom Drives and the Fantom Drives logo are registered trademarks of Fantom Drives Macintosh and the MacOS Logo are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc Microsoft Windows and the Windows Logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Technical Support Policy If you have a ...

Page 4: ...ur computer system Your computer dealer and local user s groups are also good sources of information After you are comfortable with the operation of your computer continue reading this manual which describes hardware installation and operation Thank you again for choosing a Fantom Drives system Please fill out the enclosed registration card and mail it to the address below Mailing the registration...

Page 5: ...e Main Configuration Tree 11 1 Quick Setup 12 1 1 Configuration Wizard 12 1 2 Add User Wizard 13 1 3 Add Group Wizard 13 1 4 Add Share Wizard 14 2 The Control Panel 15 2 1 Users and Groups 15 2 2 File and Print 17 2 3 System Controls 19 2 4 Network Services 22 2 5 Maintenance 24 2 6 Log Files 26 2 7 Administrator Account Info 26 2 8 Logout 26 Chapter 4 Connecting Users 27 1 SMB CIFS User Access Co...

Page 6: ...g Ethernet port Windows Client Support UNIX Linux Client Support Apple OS X Client Support Benefits Easy to use for non MIS personnel SATA Serial ATA disk channel interface Networked Storage on Gigabit Ethernet Easy to use GUI Small footprint Centralized Music Server for iTunes Unattended download feature Your MegaDisk NAS warranty can be found on the included documentation CD Please register your...

Page 7: ...uptible power supply is recommended Avoid an electrical outlet controlled by wall switches or automatic timers Accidental disruption of the power source may wipe out data in the memory of your computer or Disk Array Keep the entire system away from potential sources of electromagnetic interference such as loudspeakers cordless telephones etc Caution Avoid direct sunlight excessive heat moisture or...

Page 8: ...first time The MegaDisk NAS comes preconfigured with the LAN port set to DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol The default WINS Windows Internet Naming Service for the MegaDisk NAS is GForceNAS Windows hosts can access the MegaDisk NAS via WINS Mac OS X and nix based workstations may not support WINS and would require your network administrator to provide the newly assigned IP address before ac...

Page 9: ... Remote UPnP device icon should appear Double Click the UPnP icon for the MegaDisk NAS and a browser session will automatically launch Note The UPnP Icon for MegaDisk NAS may blink in the explorer windows This is normal behavior 2 1 4 Other hosts Point your browser to http MegaDisk NAS IP Address 2 2 Logging In The default User ID and password on the MegaDisk NAS are UserID admin Password admin En...

Page 10: ...onfiguration utility is firmware based and its operation is independent of host computer type or operating system At initial login the user will be greeted with the Product Information Screen The administration user interface utilizes a menu desktop motif and is organized as illustrated in the following table 3 Administering the MegaDisk NAS Gforce NAS ...

Page 11: ... Time Setting 3 Turn Off MegaDisk NAS 4 System Info 5 Disk Usage 6 Error Notification Control 4 Network Services 1 DHCP Server Control 2 iTunes Sharing and Bonjour 3 BitTorrent client control 5 System Maintenance 1 Disk Utility 2 RAID Setting 3 Upgrade Firmware 4 Save Configuration 5 Restore Configuration 6 Reset to Factory Default 6 System Logs 1 SAMBA Log 2 FTP Log 3 System Log 4 DHCP Server Log...

Page 12: ...ntinue 1 1 3 Step 3 Set your MegaDisk NAS system name Enter the desired system name in the hostname entry box and click Next to continue 1 1 4 Step 4 IP Protocol Settings Your MegaDisk NAS is preconfigured as a DHCP client for automatic IP address and network setting If your network does not have a DHCP server or you require a fixed configuration you may customize the following IP fields illustrat...

Page 13: ... group assignments select the groups to remove in the Member of box and click the Remove button When group assignment is complete click Next to continue 1 2 3 Step 3 Define Share Permissions When created all available shares will be displayed in the No Access section of this window To add share assignments to the new user click to select the shares to add and click either Read Only to allow read o...

Page 14: ...to continue 1 4 Add Share Wizard The Add Share wizard is a 3 step process that is used to quickly create shares for NAS access It is accessible by navigating to Basic Quick Setup Add Share The following are the steps involved 1 4 1 Step 1 Enter the share name in the Share Name box The MegaDisk NAS will automatically assign a path and you may enter a share description in the Description box Click N...

Page 15: ...resses to remove in the Allowed IP Subnet box and click the Remove button Alternatively you may check the Allowed for All checkbox to make the share public When share assignment is complete click Complete to finalize the wizard 2 The Control Panel The control panel is the central menu for controlling the MegaDisk NAS It is divided into 6 menu options 2 1 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2 1 Users and Groups Cr...

Page 16: ...ocedure click the button 2 1 1 3 To define group assignment select the user from the Existing Users box and click the Groups button In the group assignment box you may add group assignments to the new user by clicking to select the groups in the Not Members box and clicking the Add button To remove group assignments select the groups to remove in the Member of box and click the Remove button When ...

Page 17: ...isting Groups box and click the Delete Group button 2 2 File and Print Controls The controls for managing File sharing services shares and print faculties are accessible by selecting File and Print from the Control Panel 2 2 1 File Server Controls File Server controls are accessible by navigating to Control Panel File and Print File Server In the File Server Management screen illustrated below you...

Page 18: ...ult Port 21 as well as supported file character set language 2 2 1 3 NFS Services Network File System NFS is a network file system protocol originally developed by Sun Microsystems in 1984 allowing a user on a client computer to access files over a network as easily as if the network devices were attached to its local disks It is commonly used by various UNIX and compatible host platforms You may ...

Page 19: ...o add host access to a subnet check Subnet specify the beginning and ending IP address in the entry boxes to the left of the checkbox and click the Add button To remove access select the host addresses to remove in the Allowed IP Subnet box and click the Remove button Alternatively you may check the Allowed for All checkbox to make the share public When share assignment is complete click to comple...

Page 20: ...her the default checkbox or the User Define checkbox There are two default NTP servers provided for default use or you may enter your desired NTP server address in the User Define entry box if checked Click to complete the operation To manually update the time click the button 2 3 3 Turn Off Reboot Server To turn off the MegaDisk NAS navigate to Control Panel System Turn Off Server To turn off the...

Page 21: ...ted below you may select services to monitor and the method and targets to communicate fault When finished configuring the error notification settings click the button to complete 2 3 6 1 2 3 6 2 2 3 6 3 2 3 6 4 2 3 6 1 Select the Services to be monitored Available services are disk usage Windows file server FTP and DHCP 2 3 6 2 Select the check interval for the event monitoring Hourly or Daily 3 ...

Page 22: ...y selecting Network Service menu from the Control Panel In this section you can enable disable the DHCP server iTunes and Bonjour and BitTorrent 2 4 1 DHCP Server DHCP Allows for dynamic IP address assignment on TCP IP networks Your MegaDisk NAS can serve as a DHCP server to your network When enabled it will dynamically assign an available IP address from the range specified To access the DHCP Ser...

Page 23: ...iTunes server control navigate to Control Panel Network Service Bonjour Bonjour is the trade name used by Apple to refer to its implementation of the zero configuration networking protocol http www zeroconf org and is required for iTunes sharing To enable or disable iTunes Server support check or uncheck the checkboxes next to Bonjour Setting Enable and iTunes Enable To access your shared music fr...

Page 24: ...nel Maintenance Disk Utility 2 5 1 1 To check disks for errors click on the button in the Scandisk box of the respective disk to check A confirmation dialog will appear and the disk check will commence Please wait for the scan to complete before attempting any other operation Once complete a dialog will appear informing you of the disk scan results 2 5 1 2 To format or reformat a disk Select the f...

Page 25: ...tem EXT2 or 3 Click to begin the RAID creation process A confirmation dialog will appear and the process will commence Once the RAID creation is complete the MegaDisk NAS will be restarted Please allow approximately 2 minutes for the reboot process to complete Please note that the MegaDisk NAS netbios name will revert to GForceNAS following the RAID creation 2 5 3 Update Firmware Fantom Drives str...

Page 26: ... Settings screen from Control Panel Maintenance Factory Reset Click the Button to reset the unit and confirm the operation in the following confirmation dialog 2 6 Display System Logs The MegaDisk NAS system logs are viewable by navigating to Control Panel Log Files The MegaDisk NAS keeps logs for the SAMBA Windows File Server FTP DHCP Server System Log and Administration Access 2 7 Administrator ...

Page 27: ...s called GForceNAS In workgroup Workgroup by default Double click to see the available shares Alternatively you may use Window s search function to look for computers named GForceNAS You can map share folders on the MegaDisk NAS so you can access them through the My Computer folder in Windows Connect to the shared network folders on the MegaDisk NAS as follows 1 1 1 Double click My Computer 1 1 2 ...

Page 28: ...or IP address of the MegaDisk NAS and sharename is a specific share being mapped and click the Connect buttton If the share is not public a SMB CIFS File System Authentication window appears Enter an authorized User name and Password and click the OK button Select a share and click OK The selected share will appear on your desktop 2 Adding USB Devices The MegaDisk NAS has two USB ports for attachi...

Page 29: ...server dialog is checked 3 1 3 Obtain and install your printer s driver appropriate to your computer 3 1 4 Begin the Add a Printer wizard accessible from Start Setting Printer and Faxes Add a printer 3 1 5 Select A network printer or printer attached to another computer then Click Next 3 1 6 Select Browse for a printer than Click Next 3 1 7 Navigate to the MegaDisk NAS on your network The printer ...

Page 30: ...etup Utility located in Applications Utilities Printer Setup Utility app 3 2 5 Click the Add button illustrated right 3 2 6 In the Printer Browser that follows click 3 2 7 Select Windows Printing in the sharing type pulldown top and navigate to the correct workgroup in the Network Neighborhood pulldown 2nd from top Select your MegaDisk NAS from the resulting list of available hosts and click You w...

Page 31: ...e MegaDisk NAS to temperatures outside the range of 5 C 41 F to 45 C 104 F Doing so may damage the drive or disfigure its casing Avoid placing your drive near a source of heat or exposing it to sunlight even through a window Never expose your device to rain or use it near water or in damp or wet conditions Doing so increases the risk of electrical shock short circuiting fire or personal injury Alw...

Page 32: ...nd the disk drive is put to sleep when not in use and the drive has to spin up only when accessed If you require the MegaDisk NAS to be more immediately accessible consider setting a longer idle period under power saving control or turn it off altogether Q I bought a 500GB drive but my computer is showing 465GB Where is the missing capacity A Hard drive manufacturers market drives in terms of deci...

Page 33: ... and reseller s name available before contacting the help desk If possible call from a telephone near the system so we can direct you in any necessary system corrections How to contact Fantom Drives Fantom Drives 19260 Van Ness Avenue Torrance CA 90501 http www FantomDrives com 310 320 7272 Sales 310 328 0202 Sales Fax 800 322 8581 Help Desk Customer Service Outside the US 310 320 0772 MicroNet Te...

Page 34: ...e case of RAID 1 the throughput of read operations is cut in half if a drive fails Operating in degraded mode is considered an acceptable alternative only for short durations Generally this duration should span no more time than that required to inform the user of the failures and to replace the failed disks with suitable spares Device Driver A piece of software that controls a hardware device Typ...

Page 35: ...m is a journalled file system that is commonly used by the Linux operating system It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions Stephen Tweedie first revealed that he was working on extending ext2 in a February 1999 kernel mailing list posting and the filesystem was merged with the mainline kernel from 2 4 15 onward File System A file system is a layer between applications and...

Page 36: ...information can be read from or written to the storage In computer storage throughput is usually expressed in terms of megabytes per second or MB s though bit rate may also be used As with latency read rate and write rate may need to be differentiated Throughput is most important when dealing with large sequential data Physical Disk Drive A single tangible drive RAID Abbreviation of Redundant arra...

Page 37: ...orts and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network It also provides an authenticated Inter process communication mechanism SMB and its successor CIFS are the native network protocol used by the Microsoft Windows family and is also used by Apple MacOS X and is available for virtually every UNIX and Linux operating system Span Spanning or Concatenation of disks is a method for combinin...

Page 38: ...main names a central store for information However the stores of information have always been automatically e g at workstation boot dynamically updated so that when a client needs to contact a computer on the network it can get its update normally DHCP allocated address Networks normally have more than one WINS server and each WINS server should be in push pull replication the favoured replication...

Page 39: ...yclopedia Fantom Drives reserves the right to make changes in the product design without reservation and without notification to its users Fantom Drives and the Fantom Drives logo are registered trademarks of Fantom Drives Apple Macintosh Mac OS X and the MacOS Logo are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc Microsoft Windows and the Windows Logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation All ot...

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