OWC Mercury Pro User manual
User Guide &
Owners Manual
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
1.1.1 Mac Requirements
1.1.2 PC Requirements
1.1.3 Supported Drives
1.2 PACKAGE CONTENTS
1.3 ABOUT THIS MANUAL
1.4 FRONT VIEW
1.4.1 Buttons
1.4.2 LED Drive Bay Indicators
1.5 REAR VIEW
1.5.1 Connections
1.5.2 Fan Alarm Mute Button
1.5.3 RAID Selector Switches
1.6 RAID SETTINGS
1.6.1 Changing the RAID mode
1.6.2 RAID Modes
2 SYSTEM SETUP
5 APPENDIX
6 CUSTOMER SERVICE
6.1 BEFORE CONTACTING CUSTOMER SERVICE
6.2 CUSTOMER SERVICE HOURS OF OPERATION
2.1 DRIVE INSTALLATION
2.2 REPLACING DRIVES
2.3 CONNECTIONS TO COMPUTER
2.4 CONVERTING TO DESKTOP UNIT
3 FORMATTING
3.1 MACINTOSH FORMATTING
3.2 REMOVING AN EXISTING GUID PARTITION (PRECONFIGURED SOLUTIONS)
3.3 WINDOWS FORMATTING
4 TROUBLESHOOTING & TIPS
4.1 TROUBLESHOOTING
4.2 USAGE TIPS
5.1 FAQ
5.2 ABOUT DATA BACKUP
1.1 System Requirements
1.1.1 Mac Requirements
• Minimum PowerPC G4 CPU, 128MB RAM
• eSATA interface, Mac OS X 10.3 or later (OR)
• FireWire interface, Mac OS X 10.2 or later (OR)
• USB 3.0 interface (backwards compatible to USB 2.0), Mac OS X 10.2 or later
1.1.2 PC Requirements
• Minimum 500MHz Intel Pentium 3 CPU, 128MB RAM
• eSATA interface, Windows XP / Vista (OR)
• FireWire interface, Windows 2000 / XP / Vista (OR)
• USB 3.0 interface (backwards compatible to USB 2.0), Windows 2000 / XP / Vista /
Windows 7
1.1.3 Supported Drives
• Up to four 3.5” SATA drives (1.5Gb/s, 3.0Gb/s, or 6.0Gb/s)
• Drives of identical capacity / model are recommended for RAID congurations
See Section 1.6 for more infomation about RAID congurations and compatibility.
1.2 Package Contents
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 1 - Introduction
1 INTRODUCTION
Item
➀eSATA cable
➁ FireWire 400 (1394A) cable
➂ USB 3.0 (A-B) cable
➃ FireWire 800 (1394B) cable
➄Power cable
➅ Rack Mounting Handles
➆Desktop Mounting Feet
➇ Screws for Rack / Desktop Conversion
➈Software CD Bundle (solutions only)
➉ User Guide & Owner’s Manual
➂ ➃
➀ ➁ ➄
➅
➇
➉
➆➈
1.3 About This Manual
Firmware, images, and descriptions may vary slightly between this manual and the
unit shipped. Functions and features may change depending on the rmware version.
Please visit the product webpage for the most recent specications.
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 1 - Introduction
Cable Connections:
➀ Verify the voltage switch is set properly, to 115V or 230V.*
➁Plug the power cable into the wall and into the OWC Mercury Rack Pro.
➂ Connect the eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 3.0 cable - appropriate for the
interface that your computer supports - into the drive and computer. (eSATA or USB 3.0
interfaces are recommended for maximum performance)
1.4 Front View
1.5 Rear View
Each drive bay has a multicolor LED indicator.
Power:
• O = Power o
• Blue = Power on (all 4 drive bays)
Access:
• Flashing Purple = Drive being accessed
Rebuild:
• Slow Blinking red = Rebuilding RAID array
• Solid Red = Faulty drive
Power On/O and SET/MUTE button are
inside the front door on the left side.
The SET/MUTE button is used for setting
the RAID modes (covered in section 1.6
RAID Settings) and disabling the audible
alarm when there is a drive failure.
* The majority of North America uses 115V. If you are outside of North America or have adapted the
power plug in any way, confirm which voltage is appropriate for your use before powering on.
If sold as a precongured solution, your OWC Mercury Rack Pro is preset as a RAID 5,
using the “Mac OS Extended” format and is ready to use. If you want to change this
conguration, please follow the instructions in Chapter 3 to do so.
1.4.1 Buttons
1.4.2 LED Drive Bay Indicators
Power Input
Voltage Switch*
eSATA
USB 3.0
FW400 FW800
1.5.1 Connections
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 1 - Introduction
1.5.2 Fan Alarm Mute Button
To adjust your RAID settings, there are 3 switches on the back of the OWC Mercury
Rack Pro.
Use the silkscreened settings as a guide when adjusting the switches to the desired
RAID setting. Proceed to section “1.6 RAID Settings” for instructions on changing the
RAID levels on the OWC Mercury Rack Pro.
1.6 RAID Settings
1.6.1 Changing the RAID Mode
IMPORTANT NOTE: Drives of identical model are required for all RAID types other
than Clear & JBOD (Independent Drive) Mode and JBOD (SPAN) “Combine” Mode.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Changing the RAID setup will require you to reformat the drives.
Reformatting deletes all of the existing data on the drives!
Make sure that you have backed up your data before proceeding!
To switch or clear RAID modes, follow these steps:
In the event one of the fans within the OWC Mercury Rack Pro fails, an alarm will
sound. The “Fan Alarm Mute” button located on the rear panel of the unit, will mute
the alarm. It is recommended to replace the failed fan as soon as possible in order to
adequately cool the unit, prevent damage to components, and avoid data loss.
1.5.3 RAID Selector Switches
!
➀ With the OWC Mercury Rack Pro turned OFF, adjust the switches on the back of the
unit to the desired setting (either to “Clear RAID” mode or to a RAID level).
➁ While holding down the SET button, power ON the OWC Mercury Rack Pro. Keep
holding the SET button until you hear a full beep (you may hear shorter chirps or
beeps while the unit is setting itself into the RAID mode). The lights on the Rack Pro
will also ash during this process and will stop ashing when complete.
➂ The OWC Mercury Rack Pro is now set to the newly selected mode. If the Rack Pro
has just been set to “Clear RAID” mode, you can now repeat steps ➀and ➁to apply a
RAID setting. If the Rack Pro has just been set to a RAID mode, it is now ready to be
formatted. Instructions for formatting can be found in Chapter 3 of this manual.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Changing the RAID settings requires you to set the
Rack Pro to“Clear RAID” mode between each mode change.
!
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 1 - Introduction
1.6.2 RAID Modes
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Drives of identical size and model are required for all RAID types
other than Clear & JBOD (Independent Drive) Mode and JBOD
(SPAN) “Combine” Mode.
Changing the RAID mode will require you to reformat the drives.
Be sure to back up your data first!
Clear & JBOD (Independent Drive) Mode
Switch setting: DOWN-DOWN-DOWN
Each drive will appear as a single volume. If you wish to use a mixed variety of capac-
ity and model drives, this is the mode to use. To swap or replace drives, dismount all
drives and power the OWC Mercury Rack Pro o.
JBOD (SPAN) “Combine” Mode
Switch setting: UP-DOWN-UP
The drives show up as one large single volume. The total size will depend on the
drives installed, you can use drives of dierent capacities. JBOD (SPAN) is an array (not
RAID) in which the data is written across drives sequentially. This is done to combine
the capacities of the drives, but it does not provide any performance or redundancy
benets.
RAID 0 “Drive Striping” Mode
Switch setting: UP-UP-UP
The drives show up as one large single volume. RAID 0 is used when speed is the pri-
mary objective, but does not have any redundancy for protection. Data is alternated
very quickly across two or more drives to gain speed by essentially distributing the
workload. Since data is written without parity data-checking, it allows for the fastest
data transfer rates, but if one drive fails, the whole array can become corrupted and
data will be lost. Always maintain a backup of your data!
Storage Capacity Data Safety Performance
Storage Capacity Data Safety Performance
! !
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 1 - Introduction
RAID 1 “Drive Mirroring” Mode (2 drives installed only)
Switch setting: UP-UP-DOWN
The drives show up as one volume, but only 50% of the total capacity can be used. It is
highly recommended to use identical drives for this RAID method. However, while you
can utilize drives of dierent capacity, the RAID size will be based on the smallest ca-
pacity total of the drives used in the RAID set. RAID 1 creates an exact copy (or “mirror”)
of a set of data on the second drive. This is useful when reliability and backup are more
important than capacity. When one drive fails, it can be replaced and the data rebuilt.
RAID 10 “Drive Mirroring with Striping” Mode
Switch setting: UP-UP-DOWN
The drives show up as one volume, but only 50% of the total capacity can be used,
depending on the drive with the smallest capacity. RAID 10 creates an exact copy (or
“mirror”) of a set of data but also uses a RAID 0 Stripe for speed. When one drive fails, it
can be replaced and the data rebuilt automatically.
RAID 3 “Drive Striping with Dedicated Parity” Mode
Switch setting: UP-DOWN-DOWN
The drives show up as one volume, but the total capacity, depending on the drive with
the smallest capacity, is the combined size minus the size of one drive. RAID 3 uses
byte level striping with parity data located on 1 drive. Very fast performance can be
achieved with RAID 3 while also maintaining fault protection, so if one drive fails, it can
be replaced and the data rebuilt automatically.
RAID 5 “Drive Striping with Distributed Parity” Mode
Switch setting: DOWN-UP-DOWN
The drives show up as one volume, but the total capacity, depending on the drive with
the smallest capacity, is the combined size minus the size of one drive. RAID 5 uses
block level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks and therefore
provides the perfect balance between high performance and data integrity. When one
drive fails, it can be replaced and the data rebuilt automatically.
Storage Capacity Data Safety Performance
Storage Capacity Data Safety Performance
Storage Capacity Data Safety Performance
Storage Capacity Data Safety Performance
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 2 - System Setup
2.1 Drive Installation
NOTE: If you purchased a precongured solution with drives included, each drive has a
dierent colored dot on it. Use these 4 dierent colored dots to match the drive to the
appropriate drive bay.
To install your own drive mechanisms:
➀Open the front door on the
OWC Mercury Rack Pro.
➁Install the drive as shown to
the left, with the SATA connector
facing away from you.
➂Slide the drive all the way into
the drive bay. It will t ush with
the aluminum frame.
➃Repeat the previous steps for
each drive you are installing.
NOTE: Be careful to not damage any components, and do not force the drives into
place. If they don’t slide in easily, make sure there are no obstructions.
IMPORTANT - ADDING DRIVES TO AN EXISTING RAID SET:
It is not possible to add more drives to an existing RAID array or change the RAID
conguration without reformatting. To add additional drives at a later point, with the
OWC Mercury Rack Pro turned OFF, adjust the switches on the back of the unit to the
Clear RAID setting (down-down-down). Power the OWC Mercury Rack Pro ON while
holding down the SET button right next to it. This will clear the existing RAID settings
out. Once the unit has beeped and the drive access lights stop ashing, you can
release the buttons and press the power button again to turn the enclosure o. You are
now able to change the switches to whichever RAID setting you wish to use.
IMPORTANT - ADDING DRIVES TO AN INDEPENDENT (CLEAR RAID) SET:
You can remove any drive from a Clear RAID set and replace it with another drive by
powering the OWC Mercury Rack Pro o, and replacing the drive. NOTE: To avoid
corruption it is essential to eject (unmount) all drives and power the unit o.
2 SYSTEM SETUP
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 2 - System Setup
2.2 Replacing Drives
When one of the drives
fails, the corresponding
activity LED will light up
solid red and the alarm
will sound. To disable
the alarm, press the SET
button once. If only one
drive is defective and the
RAID mode is set to RAID
1, RAID 3, RAID 5, or RAID
10, the data can still be
accessed, but we strongly
suggest that you replace
the faulty drive mecha-
nism immediately with an identical model / capacity drive to assure continued backup
and data safety. To remove the drive from the enclosure, simply use the ip lever
located above the drive to eject the drive mechanism.
If more than one drive fails at the same time, or if one drive fails and the RAID mode
is set to RAID 0 or Combine/Span, the data is lost (in Combine mode, only on that one
drive) and the system cannot be accessed again until the drive(s) are replaced and a
new array is built.
➀ Check the HDD LED and replace the faulty drive. The red LED indicates the defective
drive. You do NOT need to power the enclosure o to do this.
➁ For RAID 1, RAID 3 RAID 5, and RAID 10, the RAID array will be rebuilt automatically.
During the rebuild process, the drive LED will ash red. Rebuilding the RAID array will
take several hours to days, depending on drive capacity. Once the rebuild is complete,
the LED will turn o, or ash red with activity. Power cycle the rack enclosure to return
to normal LED operation.
➂ For RAID 0 and Combine/Span, mode, the corresponding LED will turn blue show-
ing that the defective drive is replaced and a good drive is inserted into the bay. You
will need to clear and reset your RAID. See section 1.6.1 for details on how to do that.
NOTE: Combined drives or independent drives can have the data from the good drives
recovered in most cases.
NOTE: We recommend not turning the power o during the rebuild process but if it is
interrupted, it will continue rebuilding the data as soon as the power is restored. The
OWC Mercury Rack Pro does NOT need to be connected to a computer for the rebuild
process to complete.
2.3 Connections to Computer
Power Input
Voltage Switch
eSATA
USB 3.0
FW400
FW800
Cable Connections:
➀Plug the power cable into the wall and into the OWC Mercury Rack Pro.
➁ Connect the eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, or USB 3.0 cable - appropriate for the
interface your computer supports - into the drive and computer. (eSATA recommended
for maximum performance)
If sold as a precongured solution, your OWC Mercury Rack Pro is preset as a RAID 5,
using the “Mac OS Extended” format and is ready to use. If you want to change this
conguration, please follow the instructions in Chapter 3 to do so.
A few precautions and notes when using your external storage device:
• Do not expose the product to water or humid conditions.
• Do not cover the enclosure’s ventilation holes.
• Only one interface (eSATA, FW800, FW400, USB 3.0) at a time can be used.
• When more than one interface cable is connected, the fastest interface has
priority. To use a dierent interface, dismount the drive from the computer via the
operating system, then disconnect the interface cable you are changing from rst
before connecting the new interface cable.
• Before connecting the device to your computer, install the drives, and set your
preferred RAID mode.
• For the safe removal of your drive and to assure that no data is lost, always eject or
unmount the drive from your operating system before powering o. See section
4.2 for that procedure.
• In order for the computer to access volumes larger than 2TB, the Operating
System need to support large volumes (e.g.: Windows Vista 32bit/64bit or Mac OS
X 10.4 and above).
OWC Mercury Rack Pro Chapter 2 - System Setup
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