G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt, Product Manual

Page 1: ...G RAID with Thunderbolt is a high performance removable dual drive RAID solution with Thunderbolt USB and Enterprise class hard drives Product Manual ...

Page 2: ...Using RAID Modes Supported RAID Modes 17 G Technology Assistant Utility 18 G Technology Assistant Menu 19 G RAID with Thunderbolt Config Utility 20 Configure the RAID Mode for Mac 21 RAID 1 Degraded Mode for Mac 25 Configure the RAID Mode for Windows 25 RAID 1 Rebuild for Windows 28 Maintenance for Your Drive Initialize the Drive for Mac 30 Restore the Drive Icon 34 Reformat with Partitions 35 Rep...

Page 3: ... Safety Precautions p 4 Backup Your Data p 5 Safety General Use ...

Page 4: ...ay from moisture or liquids To reduce the risk of damage do not expose this drive to rain or moisture Do not use it in damp or wet conditions Never place objects containing liquids on the drive as they may spill into its openings Ventilation Place the device in a vented area The drive should never be placed near or over a radiator or heat source Temperature Do not expose this drive to temperatures...

Page 5: ...y loss corruption or destruction of data while using a G Technology drive is the sole responsibility of the user Make Two Backups To help prevent the loss of your data we highly recommend that you keep TWO copies of your data in separate storage locations Keep one copy on your G Technology drive Keep a second copy on your internal hard drive another G Technology drive or a form of removable storag...

Page 6: ...About Your G RAID with Thunderbolt Introduction p 7 What s in the Box p 8 System Requirements p 8 Overview of the Drive p 9 Activity Failure LED p 10 ...

Page 7: ...e G RAID with Thunderbolt provides data transfer rates up to 440MB second to support the most demanding professional content creation applications such as Final Cut Pro Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere With its built in RAID controller the G RAID with Thunderbolt is not tied to a single workstation and can be easily transported for use in the edit bay or on the road The unit contains an inte...

Page 8: ...le 3 0 backward compatible with USB 2 0 ports External AC power supply and cable If any items are missing please contact G Technology at support g technology com or call 888 426 5214 System Requirements G RAID with Thunderbolt supports the following operating systems Mac OS 10 9 Windows 10 Windows 8 1 and Windows 7 The drive has been preconfigured in RAID 0 Performance mode for use with Mac OS sys...

Page 9: ...two removable HGST Enterprise class 7200 RPM SATA III hard drives It has a uniquely designed all aluminum enclosure with an activity failure LED in the front panel The rear panel features a Kensington security slot dual Thunderbolt 2 ports daisy chain up to 5 peripherals a high speed USB 3 0 port a DC power port and a soft touch on off switch The features combine to provide universal connectivity ...

Page 10: ...Mode RAID 1 Disk 1 Failure Off Off Red On Red On Fail Safe Mode RAID 1 Disk 2 Failure Off Off Red On Red On The power light will glow when power is applied The drive activity LED s on the drive modules will flash as data is transferred to or from the hard drive In the event of a disk drive failure the RED drive failure LED located on the front panel will illuminate In RAID 1 mode the red light on ...

Page 11: ...Using Your Drive on Mac Easy Installation for Mac p 12 Optimize Performance p 12 Use With Time Machine p 13 Disconnect the Drive p 15 ...

Page 12: ...nd hold the power button until the unit turns on The drive will automatically mount on the desktop if you are running Mac OS X Optimize Performance G RAID with Thunderbolt can be connected to any Mac or Windows machine equipped with a Thunderbolt port or a USB 3 0 or USB 2 0 port If you are going to use the drive on a Windows machine read UsingYour Drive on Windows Kensington Security Slot USB 3 0...

Page 13: ...The following steps will quickly set up G RAID with Thunderbolt as a Time Machine backup location When you attach your G RAID with Thunderbolt for the first time the Time Machine dialog box should automatically appear Click the Use as Backup Disk button If the Time Machine dialog box does not launch go to the Apple Menu System Preferences Click on the Time Machine icon The Time Machine Preference ...

Page 14: ...e Use Disk button Make sure the Time Machine switch is set to ON You can set its options by clicking the Options button Do this to choose volumes folders or files you do NOT want to backup G RAID with Thunderbolt will now backup your important files automatically with Time Machine It s really that easy ...

Page 15: ...necting the drive unmount the system by dragging the G RAID with Thunderbolt icon to the trash located in the dock Keyboard shortcut Select the drive icon and hit Command E 2 It is safe to remove the drive from your system when the drive icon is no longer present on your desktop 3 To power off G RAID withThunderbolt press and hold the On Off power button until the unit shuts down Helpful Links To ...

Page 16: ...sistant Utility p 18 G Technology Assistant Menu p 19 G RAID with Thunderbolt Configuration Utility p 20 Configure the RAID Mode for Mac p 21 RAID 1 Degraded Mode and Rebuild for Mac p 25 Configure the RAID Mode for Windows p 25 RAID 1 Rebuild for Windows p 28 ...

Page 17: ...ty as the same data is written or mirrored to both drives simultaneously JBOD Just a Bunch of Disks JBOD mode is great for maximum capacity utilization without fear of losing all your data as in the case of RAID 0 but they each operate at the speed of a single drive Each drive shows up as it s own separate volume or storage location RAID Level Description Advantage Disadvantage Ideal For RAID 0 Di...

Page 18: ... support Note that the utility has an auto update feature for your convenience Recommended Installation When you first set up G RAID with Thunderbolt you will want to install the GTA on your computer The utility provides useful notifications and shortcuts to enhance your experience with G RAID with Thunderbolt To install the G Technology Assistant utility follow the on screen instructions Once you...

Page 19: ...ppear in your menu bar By selecting this icon the G Technology Assistant menu will appear Unmount All Volumes Unmounts supported G Technology drives attached to the system You will need to confirm your selection prior to unmounting the drives Disk Utility Opens the Disk Utility application Support Opens your Web browser and takes you to the G Technology support page Preferences Change the preferen...

Page 20: ...ted to your computer The RAID Configurator utility is available for download from the G Technology website at www g technology com support There are both Mac and Windows versions of the utility Please download the right utility depending on the host operating system that you are using Once you have downloaded the RAID Configurator you should launch it directly from the mounted disk image and compl...

Page 21: ...guration Utility click on the Configure button A dialog window will pop up with three options for configuring your disk set as shown below The dialog window will also warn you that when you configure your RAID set all data on the drive will be erased 2 Select your desired configuration with the RAID 0 Performance RAID 1 Protected or JBOD radio buttons Then click the Configure button to continue 3 ...

Page 22: ... close the configuration utility 5 Changing the RAID mode of G RAID with Thunderbolt will require you to re initialize the disk with the Disk Utility application The Disk Insertion dialog below should appear Click the Initialize button to launch Disk Utility if you did not open the Disk Utility from the previous window Follow the simple steps described in the section Initialize Drive for Mac to in...

Page 23: ...e failure occurs or if a member of the RAID 1 set is removed then the active drive will operate in degraded mode What is Degraded Mode In a two drive RAID 1 if one of the drives fails or if one of the drives is removed then the active drive keeps the user data intact but without any fail safe mechanism until the RAID is rebuilt This state of operation is called degraded mode 1 If the G RAID with T...

Page 24: ... will automatically launch allowing you to format the drive If this replacement drive is formatted then you are ready to rebuild the RAID set 4 Once you click on the Rebuild button two warning windows will appear letting you know that the rebuild process will delete the data in the newly inserted drive Click the YES button in both the windows to continue Note While the rebuild is in process please...

Page 25: ...lick on the exe file and follow the simple instructions to install the configuration utility Configure the RAID Mode for Windows You can easily configure G RAID with Thunderbolt s RAID mode with the following steps Important Note Changing the RAID level will erase all data on the drive Be sure all of the data and files you want to save are backed up to separate media 1 In the G RAID with Thunderbo...

Page 26: ...h the RAID 0 Performance RAID 1 Protected or JBOD radio buttons Then click the Configure button to continue 3 Two warning windows will appear both letting you know that the following step will erase all of your data Click the Continue and OK buttons to configure ...

Page 27: ...window will confirm that your G RAID with Thunderbolt is configured in RAID 0 RAID 1 or JBOD mode 5 Changing the RAID mode of G RAID will require you to re initialize the disk For helpful information on initialization of your drive with Windows using the Disk Management please visit www g technology com windows ...

Page 28: ...ve in place of the failed or removed drive Note While replacing the failed drive make sure the G RAID with Thunderbolt is powered off If this new drive is not formatted then the Disk Management function will automatically launch allowing you to format the drive If this replacement drive is formatted then you are ready to rebuild the RAID set 4 Once you click on the Rebuild button two warning windo...

Page 29: ...Maintenance for Your Drive Initialize the Drive for Mac p 30 Restore the Drive Icon p 34 Reformat with Partitions p 36 Replace a Failed Drive Module p 41 ...

Page 30: ... application Disk Utility is located on your hard drive under Applications Utilities Disk Utility The window below will appear Your G RAID with Thunderbolt will be displayed in the left column 2 Select G RAID with Thunderbolt by clicking its drive icon in the left column Information about the drive will be displayed at the bottom of the window 3 Select the Erase tab to view the formatting options ...

Page 31: ... generally formatted drives including Time Machine backup and creating separate bootable Disk Images Mac OS Extended Case sensitive and Encryption options The Case sensitive option treats file names that are the same but with different cases as different while the Encryption option adds an additional layer of security for your personal files ...

Page 32: ...w A dialog box will appear asking if you want to erase the G RAID with Thunderbolt partition WARNING THIS NEXT STEPWILL ERASE ALL DATA ONYOUR DRIVE 6 Click the Erase button to continue A progress bar in the lower right corner of the window will show the progress of the disk s reformatting process ...

Page 33: ... Disk button if you want to use the drive with Time Machine Click the Don t Use or Decide Later buttons if you do not want to use Time Machine at this point 8 Quit the Disk Utility program After you reinitialize the drive the custom icon for G RAID withThunderbolt will be erased You can optionally restore this icon with the steps on the next page ...

Page 34: ...nce on the computer desktop look cleaner and more accurate 1 To get the G Technology icon package go to www g technology com support and navigate to your product There will be a link to download the icons on the product support page 2 Once downloaded the G Technology icons folder shown below should load automatically If not double click the zip file to open Next double click the DMG file to open t...

Page 35: ... I This opens the Get Info window below left 5 Select the default icon in the Get Info window below left 6 PressCommand VtopastethecustomG RAIDwithThunderbolticonintotheGetInfowindow belowright The icon for your G RAID with Thunderbolt has been restored and you can close the Get Info window Your drive is now ready for use ...

Page 36: ...tance you can segment user data from backup data set up a multi boot environment with different operating systems or create a dedicated capture scratch disk for programs such as Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere The following steps will guide you through the simple process of partitioning your drive In this example we will partition a 6TB G RAID with Thunderbolt connected via Thunderbolt The steps ...

Page 37: ...p 37 Maintenance for Your Drive 2 Select your drive icon not the indented drive icon by clicking it in the left column 3 Click on the Partition button in the main window ...

Page 38: ...p 38 Maintenance for Your Drive 4 Select the number of partitions you would like from the Partition Layout menu Below we have selected 2 Partitions to create two partitions ...

Page 39: ...recommended to use Mac OS Extended Journaled For details about formats go here In the Size field type in a size for the partition Alternately you can drag the bar between each partition in the Partition Layout area to quickly change the size 6 Repeat this process for each partition you have created 7 Click the Apply button in the lower right corner of the window A dialog box will appear asking if ...

Page 40: ... displayed in the left panel of Disk Utility 10 Quit the Disk Utility program After re initializing the drive the custom icon for the G Technology drive has been erased To restore the G RAID with Thunderbolt icon for each partition follow the steps from the Restore the Drive Icon section 11 The multiple partitions of the G Technology drive will be displayed on your desktop Your drive is now set up...

Page 41: ...e and the failed drive should be replaced as soon as possible to avoid data loss Read more in Supported RAID Modes Follow the steps below to identify and replace a failed drive 1 With the unit powered on the flashing RED LED will indicate which drive module failed For more information see Activity and Failure LEDs 2 Remove the failed drive by pressing the module release button and gently sliding t...

Page 42: ...rotecting your valuable data Furthermore the drive LED light will return to a solid white light visually indicating a healthy RAID 1 set Helpful Tips You can continue using G RAID with Thunderbolt even while the drive volume is being rebuilt However it will run at a slower data rate It is good practice to keep at least one spare drive module on hand in case of a drive failure That way you can rebu...

Page 43: ...Using Your Drive on Windows Windows Use p 44 Cross Platform Use p 44 ...

Page 44: ...oth Windows and Mac systems by formatting the drive as ExFAT To do this use the Disk Utility application on the Mac system and format the drive to ExFAT 1 First open the Mac system s Disk Utility program This application is located on your hard drive under Applications Utilities Disk Utility The window below will appear Your G RAID with Thunderbolt will be displayed in the left hand column 2 Selec...

Page 45: ...OTE You may need to rename the drive because ExFAT does not support more than 11 letters in the drive name WARNING THIS NEXT STEPWILL ERASE ALL DATA ONYOUR DRIVE 5 Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the window A dialog box will appear asking if you want to erase the G RAID with Thunderbolt partition ...

Page 46: ...window will show the progress of the disk s reformatting Your drive will be formatted to its full capacity as ExFAT 7 Quit the Disk Utility program You are finished 8 After reinitializing the custom icon for the G RAID with Thunderbolt will be erased With this format you will be able to read write on Windows and on Mac OS machines ...

Page 47: ...Support Warranty Technical Support p 48 Limited Warranty p 49 Copyright p 51 ...

Page 48: ...ter any difficulties while installing or using your G RAID withThunderbolt ourTech Support team members will gladly assist your at www g technology com support Helpful Information for Support When contacting Technical Support it s best to be in front of your computer and have the following information available Your G RAID with Thunderbolt serial number on bottom of unit Operating System and versi...

Page 49: ...measured from the date of sale from HGST to the authorized distributor What does this limited warranty not cover The limited warranty does not cover damage resulting from commercial use misuse accident modification or alteration to hardware or software tampering unsuitable physical or operating environment beyond product specifications improper maintenance or failure caused by a product for which ...

Page 50: ...he carrier at HGST s shipping point You are responsible for importation of the replaced product if applicable HGST will not return the original drive to consumers therefore the consumer is responsible for moving data to another media before returning Data Recovery is not covered under this warranty and is not part of the warranty returns process HGST warrants that the replaced products are covered...

Page 51: ...acity will vary depending on the operating environment and formatting Copyright Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U S and or other countries G Technology and G RAID are trademarks of Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates in the United States and or other countries Apple Mac FireWire MacBook Pro Time Machine and the Mac logo are trademarks of Ap...

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