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LaCie 4big Quadra 

• D

esign

 

by

 N

eil

 P

oulton

 

RAID

User Manual 

page 19

3.2.  Changing the RAID Mode

The  4big  comes  preconfigured  in  RAID  0  mode.    Before  you 
change  the  RAID  mode  of  the  LaCie  4big,  familiarize  your-
self with the 4big’s RAID modes. See section 

3.1. About RAID 

Modes

.

IMPORTANT INFO:

 Changing the RAID mode destroys data 

stored on the LaCie 4big. If you have saved data on the drives, 
back up data before following these steps.

To change the RAID mode:

1.  Unmount or safely remove the 4big Quadra volumes from 

your  computer,  disconnect  the  interface  cable  and  switch 

off the 4big.

2.  To  enter  RAID  modification  mode,  turn  ON  the  4big  (do 

not select “AUTO”) and simultaneously press the front LED 

button for 15 seconds. The front LED will blink blue and red.

3.  Push the + or - buttons on the RAID mode selector until the 

desired RAID number appears. See Fig. 3.2.

NOTE:

 0=RAID 0, 1=RAID 10, 2=Concatenation, 3=RAID 

3, 4=RAID 3+Spare, 5=RAID 5, 6=RAID 5+Spare, 7=N/A.

NOTE:

 Although the number 7 appears in the RAID selector, 

no RAID changes will take effect if 7 is selected. 

4.  Validate  the  mode  by  pushing  the  front  LED  button.  The 

4big will start.

5.  Connect the 4big’s interface cable. The device is ready to 

be reformatted.

6.  Partition the disks. See section

 3.4. Formatting

.

IMPORTANT INFO:

 You must partition the disk drives after 

changing the storage policy configuration. See section 

3.5. Par-

titioning the Disks

.

CAUTION:

 Your LaCie 4big comes preconfigured in RAID 0 

(Fast) mode. RAID 0 allows access to the whole storage capac-
ity but does not provide any security. If a drive fails, all data 
will  be  lost.  If  you  are  concerned  about  data  security,  LaCie 
highly recommends a RAID 10, 3, 3+SPARE, 5, or 5+SPARE 
configuration.  See  section 

3.1.  About  RAID  Modes

,  for  more 

information.

Fig. 3.2

off

on

auto

off

on

auto

Summary of Contents for 4big Spare Drive

Page 1: ...10 16 3 1 3 Concatenation 16 3 1 4 RAID 3 and RAID 3 Spare 17 3 1 5 RAID 5 and RAID 5 Spare 18 3 2 Changing the RAID Mode 19 3 3 Removing and Installing Drives 20 3 4 Formatting 21 3 4 1 File System...

Page 2: ...his equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However the...

Page 3: ...ity beyond 10 90 non condensing Doing so may damage the LaCie 4big or disfigure its casing Avoid placing your LaCie 4big near a source of heat or exposing it to sunlight even through a window Inverse...

Page 4: ...highly recommends that you keep TWO copies of your data one copy on your external hard disk for instance and a second copy either on your internal hard disk another external hard disk or some other fo...

Page 5: ...he ability to provide single error detection and redundant information to recover the original if a disk fails a RAID system is an ideal means to safe guard valu able data while also stream lining per...

Page 6: ...PCI Express card to be able to connect your LaCie 4big via FireWire 800 interface LaCie offers a wide selection of PCI cards Visit the LaCie website at www lacie com accessories Windows Users Windows...

Page 7: ...5 eSATA cable 6 External power supply 7 LaCie Utilities CD ROM 8 Quick Install Guide 9 2 in 1 RAID mode change and drive removal tool IMPORTANT INFO Please save your packaging In the event that the dr...

Page 8: ...ive Front View The blue button on the front of the LaCie 4big serves as a LED drive status indicator and the LaCie Shortcut Button See the LaCie Shortcut Button User Manual on the Shortcut But ton CD...

Page 9: ...switch 8 Drive tray handle 9 Drive lock 10 Drive status LED CAUTION To avoid overheating the LaCie 4big should be installed in a well ventilated area and in such a way as to main tain sufficient airf...

Page 10: ...gh speed serial input output technology for connecting peripheral devices to a computer or to each other and FireWire 800 is the implementa tion of the new IEEE 1394b standard FireWire 800 offers incr...

Page 11: ...ATA connectors do not have the L shaped design of other SATA connectors In addition the guide features are vertically offset and reduced in size to prevent the use of unshielded inter nal cables in ex...

Page 12: ...ur LaCie 4big Follow the steps below to power on and configure your LaCie 4big Step 1 2 1 Connect the Interface Cable Step 2 2 2 Turn the 4big On Step 3 3 4 Formatting Format the drives to suit your s...

Page 13: ...able USB FireWire or eSA TA into the corresponding port on your host computer 2 Connect the other end of the cable to the matching port on the 4big TECHNICAL NOTE If two interfaces are connected at th...

Page 14: ...e a power supply from another LaCie device or another manufacturer Using any other power cable or power supply may cause damage to the device and void your warranty Always remove the AC adapter before...

Page 15: ...ccessible because parts of the data have been written to all disks A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 B2 C2 D2 A3 B3 C3 D3 A4 B4 C4 D4 RAID 0 Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 RAID Number RAID Mode Capacity Protection Speed 0...

Page 16: ...primary disk in the array until is it full and then to successive disks Concatenation provides no perfor mance advantage or added measure of data safety It is simply a method of combining more than on...

Page 17: ...ta can be rebuilt to a replacement drive all data in the array will be lost In RAID 3 Spare one disk in the array is left empty If a drive in the array fails the data from the failed disk is automatic...

Page 18: ...Spare one disk in the array is left empty If a drive in the array fails the data from the failed disk is automatically rebuilt to the empty or spare disk RAID 5 Spare Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Spar...

Page 19: ...selector until the desired RAID number appears See Fig 3 2 NOTE 0 RAID 0 1 RAID 10 2 Concatenation 3 RAID 3 4 RAID 3 Spare 5 RAID 5 6 RAID 5 Spare 7 N A NOTE Although the number 7 appears in the RAID...

Page 20: ...ID 10 3 3 5 or 5 mode you can leave it turned on and continue to step 2 2 Carefully insert the drive tray into an empty drive bay When the drive tray is most of the way in and you feel resistance pres...

Page 21: ...s XP and Windows Vista though volume size is limited to 32GB by the Windows partition utility i e Disk Manager and the individual file size is limited to 4GB NTFS This acronym stands for New Technolog...

Page 22: ...r optimal perfor mance in Mac OS environments format and partition the drive as one large Mac OS Extended volume Mac OS Extended HFS Mac OS Extended refers to the file system used by Mac OS X HFS repr...

Page 23: ...TB in size but the disks must be converted to the GPT file system before partitions greater than 2TB can be created 1 Connect the drive to the computer via the interface port 2 Right click My Computer...

Page 24: ...Click Next 14 Click Finish to begin the formatting process 15 Windows Disk Management will format and partition the disk according to your settings Fig 3 4 2 D and your drive will appear in My Compute...

Page 25: ...Volume Scheme area 7 In the Volume Information section enter a name for each volume partition choose the volume format 8 Once you have finalized the volume options click Parti tion Click Partition aga...

Page 26: ...g Quadra are formatted HFS To use the drives with Windows operating systems or for cross platform use between Mac and PC the drives must be reformatted For more information see section 3 4 1 File Syst...

Page 27: ...unallocated space and se lect New Partition If the New Partition option is not avail able select the disk and initialize it first Fig 3 5 1 C 4 Click Next to start the Partition Wizard Fig 3 5 1 D 5...

Page 28: ...6 Specify the partition size By default the partition occupies the entire volume Click Next Fig 3 5 1 F 7 Assign a drive letter or mount path and click Next Fig 3 5 1 G 8 Name and format the partitio...

Page 29: ...LaCie 4big Quadra Design by Neil Poulton RAID User Manual page 29 Fig 3 5 1 I 9 Review the settings and click Finish to create the logical partition Fig 3 5 1 I...

Page 30: ...enu choose the number of partitions you want to divide the drive into 16 maximum You can adjust the size of each partition using the slide bar between the partitions in the Volume Scheme area 6 In the...

Page 31: ...on You can also visit the drivers pages where the most recent software updates will be available If you need further assistance please contact your LaCie reseller or LaCie Technical Support see sectio...

Page 32: ...and short red Three disks are blinking blue while one disk is blinking 3 blue 1 red RAID 10 RAID is rebuilding RAID 3 RAID 5 RAID 3 5 Solid red failed disks and solid blue functional disks RAID 10 One...

Page 33: ...tional Dimmed LED stays on for 30 minutes Dimming red 5s Off All Temperature critical LaCie recommends that following this event you leave the 4big in standby for at least an hour before restart ing t...

Page 34: ...tem Requirements for more informa tion Make sure the power supply is properly connected see section 2 2 Turn the 4big On that the drive has been turned on by pressing the On Off Auto button the back o...

Page 35: ...in front of your computer and that you have the following information on hand Information Where to Find Information 1 LaCie hard drive serial number Located on a sticker at the back of drive or on the...

Page 36: ...ie com fr contact LaCie Germany Contact us at http www lacie com de contact LaCie Italy Contact us at http www lacie com it contact LaCie Japan Contact us at http www lacie com jp contact LaCie Nether...

Page 37: ...ks have been removed and re placed by any hard disk other than a drive provided by LaCie For drive removal replacement process see section 3 3 Removing and Installing Drives LaCie and its suppliers ac...

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