Aspire esayStore User's Guide
Copyright © 2007. Acer Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Aspire easyStore User's Guide Original Issue: 10/2007 Changes may be made periodically to the information in this publication without obligation to notify any person of such revisions or changes. Such changes will be incorporated in new editions of this manual or supplementary documents and publications.
Regulations and safety notices FCC notice This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This device 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.
Modem notices Notice for USA This equipment complies with Part 68 of the FCC rules. Located on the modem is a label that contains, among other information, the FCC Registration Number and Ringer Equivalence Number (REN) for this equipment. Upon request, you must provide this information to your telephone company. If your telephone equipment causes harm to the telephone network, the telephone company may discontinue your service temporarily. If possible, they will notify you in advance.
b. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. The equipment shall go on-hook for a period of not less than 30 seconds between the end of one attempt and the beginning of the next call attempt. Some parameters required for compliance with Telecom's Telepermit requirements are dependent on the equipment (PC) associated with this device.
Radio device regulatory notice Note: Below regulatory information is for models with wireless LAN and/or Bluetooth only. General This product complies with the radio frequency and safety standards of any country or region in which it has been approved for wireless use. Depending on configurations, this product may or may not contain wireless radio devices (such as wireless LAN and/or Bluetooth modules). Below information is for products with such devices.
Canada — Low-power license-exempt radio communication devices (RSS-210) a. b. c. Common information Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1. This device may not cause interference, and 2. This device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device. Operation in 2.4 GHz band To prevent radio interference to the licensed service, this device is intended to be operated indoors and installation outdoors is subject to licensing.
Acer Computer (Shanghai) Limited 3F, No. 168 Xizang medium road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China Declaration of Conformity We, Acer Computer (Shanghai) Limited 3F, No. 168 Xizang medium road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China Contact Person: Mr. Easy Lai Tel: 886-2-8691-3089/ Fax: 886-2-8691-3120 E-mail: easy_lai@acer.com.
Federal Communications Comission Declaration of Conformity This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
Aspire easyStore Product overview...................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 Package contents .............................................................................................................. 2 System requirements ..........................................................................
Aspire easyStore Product overview Introduction Thank you for purchasing Aspire easyStore. Aspire easyStore is a data storage and digital media content server for your digital home. Featuring Gigabit Ethernet and IEEE 802.11g wireless LAN, Aspire easyStore can store and share all your important data while simultaneously streaming digital media content to multiple applications including Apple iTunes or any UPnP AV or DLNA compliant appliance.
Aspire easyStore can use. − Advanced network services like FTP and DHCP give you the flexibility to design your own home network. − Upgradeable firmware ensures you can be up-to-date with all the latest features available. Package contents − Aspire easyStore with 1 TB or 2 TB hard disk preinstalled − Wireless antenna − Power adapter, 19 V 7.89 A − Power cord, European standard − CD-ROM with manual and Acer eBackup software − Quick Installation Guide − Ethernet cable, Cat.
Aspire easyStore Hardware overview Front view with front cover in place Power LED This LED will be solid blue when you turn on Aspire easyStore. Status LED This LED will be solid blue when Aspire easyStore is running without any problems. It will flash blue when the system boots up or shuts down. It will turn to solid red when the system fails to detect any hard drives or other components, or the system detects a non-recoverable software error.
Aspire easyStore These LEDs will be solid blue when the drives are connected but inactive. These LEDs will flash when the drives are being accessed, formatted or synchronized. They will turn off if the drives are not installed or have failed. Rear view Power port Connect the 19 V 7.89 A power adapter here. Ethernet port A Gigabit Ethernet port that connects Aspire easyStore to your home network. Wireless antenna connector Connect the included wireless antenna here.
Aspire easyStore Front view with front cover and backplane cage removed Hard drives You can remove any failed hard drive after shutting down Aspire easyStore by pressing the clips on each side of the hard drive and gently sliding out the hard drive. To put in the replacement hard drive, just slide it into an appropriate slot. Backplane board This is the board that connects the hard drives to the system mainboard. You will need to remove this board and its cage before you replace failed hard drive.
Aspire easyStore Installation Hardware setup 1. Remove Aspire easyStore from its packaging. 2. Place Aspire easyStore in a location with hard and solid surface and near a power outlet. 3. Connect the enclosed Ethernet cable to an available Ethernet port on your computer or network hub/switch/router. Connect the other side of the cable to the Ethernet port on the back of Aspire easyStore. Connect this cable first even if you intend to use the wireless interface of Aspire easyStore.
Aspire easyStore 4. Connect the enclosed power cord to the power adapter. 5. Connect the power adapter to the power port on the back of Aspire easyStore. 6. Connect the power cord to a power outlet.
Aspire easyStore 1. Insert the enclosed Aspire easyStore Document and Software CD-ROM into the CD/DVD drive in your computer. 2. The autorun menu should be launched on your computer's display. If not, double-click the CD/DVD Drive icon for the drive containing the Document and Software CD-ROM in My Computer. Find Setup.exe and double-click it. 3. Click the easySearch utility on the menu and wait for a few seconds to let it complete searching your network for Aspire easyStore.
Aspire easyStore Note: If you would like to configure Aspire easyStore for advanced functions and services, you can change Aspire easyStore settings by opening the easySearch utility and then clicking the Configure button. It will launch your web browser automatically and open the Aspire easyStore login page.
Aspire easyStore Getting started with your Aspire easyStore When you power on the Aspire easyStore for the first time, by default, the Aspire easyStore will look for a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server in your home network and will try to get an IP address from it. Your Internet Gateway/Router is usually the DHCP server inside your home network. If the Aspire easyStore fails to find a DHCP server, it will configure itself with the static IP address of 192.168.1.100.
Aspire easyStore Search Device On this page, you can use the easySearch utility to find your Aspire easyStore and create an easy-to-access shortcut to your desktop. IP Address Settings On this page, you can change the IP address settings of your Aspire easyStore. Drive Mapping On this page, the easySearch utility will help you to map your favorite shares with a drive letter inside My Computer.
Aspire easyStore Search Device Network Storage Device The easySearch utility will display any Aspire easyStore device it found on the network with its device name, current IP address and subnet mask here. Search Device You can click this button and the easySearch utility will search the network again for Aspire easyStore devices. Configure Select any found Aspire easyStore and click this button to launch your web browser and bring you to the web login page of the Aspire easyStore you selected.
Aspire easyStore IP Settings To use this page, you will need to select any Aspire easyStore found by this utility on the Search Device page first. DHCP Client By default, the Aspire easyStore device is configured with the DHCP client function enabled. It means the Aspire easyStore will automatically look for any DHCP server and request the server to assign an IP address to it when booting up.
Aspire easyStore will be lost. Drive Mapping To use this page, you will need to select any Aspire easyStore found by this utility on the Search Device page first. Share Names All available shared folders on the Aspire easyStore you selected on the Search Device page will be displayed here. Available Drive Letters easySearch list all available drive letters on your computer here.
Aspire easyStore Storing your first data to Aspire easyStore 1. Ensure all cables are firmly attached, as described in previous chapter. 2. Power on Aspire easyStore. The power switch is located at the back of the device. 3. Launch the easySearch utility.
Aspire easyStore 4. If the easySearch utility does not find any Aspire easyStore device, please check: i. If the Power, Status and LAN LEDs are all in solid BLUE. ii. Check your Windows Firewall setting to ensure it is not blocking this utility.
Aspire easyStore iii. If you do not have a DHCP server on your network, you may need to change your computer’s IP address to an IP in the 192.168.1.xx subnet. For example, 192.168.1.99. Do not set your computer IP address to 192.168.1.100, since Aspire easyStore will use this IP address if it does not find any DHCP server. 5. If the easySearch utility finds your Aspire easyStore device, please select the device first and go to the Drive Mapping page.
Aspire easyStore 6. You should see a shared folder called Volume_1 in Share Names. Select the shared folder Volume_1 and click Map Drive. 7. Now there are two ways to start to storing your data to Aspire easyStore. i. When easySearch utility found your Aspire easyStore device, it already created a shortcut on your desktop. You can click the shortcut with an Aspire easyStore icon and it will open the root folder of your Aspire easyStore with a folder called Volume_1.
Aspire easyStore easyStore. Using the web user interface When the easySearch utility finds any Aspire easyStore devices, you can select the Aspire easyStore device found and click Log In. It will automatically bring you to the login page of the selected Aspire easyStore. The default password of the Aspire easyStore web UI is “admin”.
Aspire easyStore Login button to go to the web configuration page of Aspire easyStore. When you log in to Aspire easyStore for the first time or immediately after a factory reset, Aspire easyStore will launch the device setup wizard automatically. Follow these steps to configure Aspire easyStore from the web UI: 1. Change the web user interface login password. You can enter any password you like between 5 to 16 characters.
Aspire easyStore 5. Finally, confirm all changes and restart the Aspire easyStore to effect the changes. After the system reboots, you will be brought back to the login page of the Aspire easyStore. Please log in with the new password you set in the first step of the device setup wizard and click Login. On the left side of the screen, there are three options: Wizards The first page after you login.
Aspire easyStore Logout Once you finish configuring Aspire easyStore, you can click on Logout to leave the web UI. Please note, Aspire easyStore will only allow one administrator to log in to the web UI at any given time. If you did not logout by using the Logout function, you may need to wait 10 minutes to allow the current session to time out before you can log in again in another computer.
Aspire easyStore Managing user accounts and shared folders By default, Aspire easyStore allows full read/write permission for everyone on the default shared folder Volume_1. This allows users to start using Aspire easyStore more quickly and easily. However, as data stored on Aspire easyStore increases, you may wish to add more user accounts and shared folders with different permissions to help you manage and organize data.
Aspire easyStore Password Enter the password of the user account you would like to create. The password can have 5 to 16 characters. Confirm Password Re-enter the password again to avoid mistyping. Folder Browse and click the folder you would like to give access to the user account previously created. New Folder If you would like to create a new folder, enter the new folder name here. Permission Set the user account permission to Read Only or Read/Write on the disk directory folder selected or created.
Aspire easyStore Assign selected permission to the selected disk directory folder for the user account previously created. Create Create a new folder under the selected disk directory folder and assign it with selected permission for the user account previously created.
Aspire easyStore User Name Enter the user account name you would like to create. The user name must be unique and should not have more than 16 characters. Password Enter the password of the user account you would like to create. The password can have 5 to 16 characters. Confirm Password Re-enter the password again to avoid mistyping. Add Click this to create a user account based on the information provided. User Lists All user accounts on Aspire easyStore are displayed here.
Aspire easyStore User Quota Setting User quotas are displayed here. Quotas can be edited by clicking on the notepad icon. By default, all user accounts are displayed on the Quota Settings page. The default quota setting is Unlimited. If quota is set on particular user account, it will show the quota setting for the user account and how much space the user account has already consumed.
Aspire easyStore Quota Status Displays the current status of the quota feature. The quota function can be enabled or stopped here. Shared folder access control Every disk directory folder may be assigned as a shared folder. A disk directory folder may contain different permissions for the same user account when accessed from different shared folders.
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Aspire easyStore User Pick the user that you are going to assign permission to. The drop-down menu will list every user account on the Aspire easyStore plus two special accounts. One is All Users, which represents all created user accounts on the Aspire easyStore. The other is Everyone, which represents all user accounts on the Aspire easyStore plus any guest users who do not have user account with Aspire easyStore.
Aspire easyStore Shared Folder Access List Lists all defined shared folders and access rules. Please note: Each disk directory folder can be assigned as a shared folder once. If you assign one disk directory folder as a shared folder \\sample to user account A with Read/Write permission, you can later assign the same disk directory folder as a shared folder to user account B with Read Only permission. The last change you make will overwrite the first shared folder access rule.
Aspire easyStore Advanced services In this chapter, we will explore some exciting services provided on Aspire easyStore. FTP services Aspire easyStore is equipped with a built-in FTP server. The server is easy to configure and allows users access to important data whether they are on the local home network or in the office. The FTP server can be configured to allow user access to specific directories, and will allow up to 10 users to access the Aspire easyStore at a time.
Aspire easyStore Max User Sets the maximum number of users who can connect to the FTP server.
Aspire easyStore Idle Time Sets the amount of time a user can remain idle before being disconnected. Port Sets the FTP port. Default is 21. Flow Control Allows you to limit the bandwidth available for each user. Save settings Click Save settings for the settings to take effect. User Select the user for which the FTP server rule will apply. Folder Browse to and select the folder or directory you are granting FTP access to. Permission Set the user permission to Read Only or Read/Write.
Aspire easyStore FTP Server Status The current settings and status of the Aspire easyStore FTP Server are displayed here. Start FTP Server Click this button to start or stop the FTP server. If you are behind a router, you will need to forward the FTP port from the router to the Aspire easyStore. Additional filtering and firewall settings may need to be modified on your router to allow FTP access to the Aspire easyStore from the Internet.
Aspire easyStore DHCP services Aspire easyStore can also be used as a DHCP Server. As a DHCP server, it can be used to serve IP addresses to devices on your local network; however, this feature should not be enabled if you already have a DHCP server, such as a router on your local network. DHCP Server Enables or disables the Aspire easyStore DHCP Server. Starting IP Address Enter the starting IP address for the range of addresses assigned by the DHCP server.
Aspire easyStore UPnP AV services Aspire easyStore features a UPnP AV server. This server provides the ability to stream photos, music and videos to UPnP AV-compatible network media players. If the server is enabled, Aspire easyStore will be automatically detected by UPnP AV compatible media players on your local network.
Aspire easyStore Folder Specifies the folder or directory that will be shared by the UPnP AV server. Select root to share the entire volume, or click Browse to select a specific folder. Auto Refresh Select the interval for Aspire easyStore to re-index all media files stored on its hard disk. Please note that large amounts of media files may need longer time to re-index. Do not set the time interval too short if you have large amount of media files stored.
Aspire easyStore Apple iTunes server Aspire easyStore features an iTunes server. This server provides the ability to share music and videos to computers on the local network running the Apple iTunes application. If the server is enabled, the Aspire easyStore will be automatically detected in iTunes and the music and videos contained in the specified directory will be available to stream over the network. iTunes Server Enables or disables the Aspire easyStore iTunes server.
Aspire easyStore Save settings Click Save settings for the settings to take effect. Refresh Click Refresh after adding new files to be used with iTunes.
Aspire easyStore Advanced system configuration and monitoring In this chapter, we will discuss some tasks that you may need to perform to configure the Aspire easyStore system. Most of these tasks are detailed system configurations — you do not need to change them normally. Assigning a new device name to Aspire easyStore There may be times when you would like to give your Aspire easyStore a new device name and description, like if you purchased a second Aspire easyStore for your family.
Aspire easyStore Putting Aspire easyStore in a different network workgroup The workgroup is a conceptual collective of computers on a network. In Microsoft Windows systems, when you click on the Network Neighborhood icon in the Start menu or desktop, you will see computers with the same workgroup names. The default workgroup name is mshome for Aspire easyStore and Windows XP Home Edition systems. For Windows XP Professional Edition and Windows Vista®, the default workgroup name is workgroup.
Aspire easyStore Changing the IP address of Aspire easyStore The IP address is the essential and most critical information that you may need to use the Aspire easyStore. You can configure Aspire easyStore in two modes: -DHCP Client -Static IP If you have a DHCP server in your network (besides Aspire easyStore itself), you can configure Aspire easyStore to get the IP address information from the DHCP server. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> System 3. Click the LAN tab. 4.
Aspire easyStore After you click Save settings, you will be forced to log out. The system will bring you automatically to the login page of the Aspire easyStore with the new IP address.
Aspire easyStore Configuring the wireless interface of Aspire easyStore One of the exciting features of the Aspire easyStore is that it comes with standard IEEE 802.11g interface that can be used with your wireless home network. To configure the wireless interface of Aspire easyStore: 1. Connect Aspire easyStore to a wired network for configuration. 2. Configure Aspire easyStore with the correct IP address. 3. Log in to the web UI. 4. Click Advanced -> System.
Aspire easyStore 5. Click the Wireless tab. 6. Select the Wireless: Enable option to turn on the embedded wireless interface card. 7. After enabling your wireless interface card, if you know all the configuration information of your wireless home network, you may enter them manually into each respective column. 8. If you do not know which wireless network you are connecting to, you may click the Site Survey button on the right of SSID. 9.
Aspire easyStore 12. For access points with WEP or WPA encryption, you will still need to key in the respective keys manually. 13. Click the Save settings button on the lower-right corner 14. If everything is configured correctly, a message window appears with the message Connected Successfully.
Aspire easyStore 15. You may remove the Ethernet cable from Aspire easyStore. 16. Switch off Aspire easyStore using the power switch at the back of the device. 17. Power on the Aspire easyStore the using the power switch at the back of the device. After you have successfully configured the wireless interface, be sure to remove the Ethernet cable from the Aspire easyStore. Keeping both connections on may cause unpredictable results.
Aspire easyStore Reformatting the hard drives or changing to a different RAID level Aspire easyStore is shipped with disks configured in RAID5 data protection. If you would like to reformat the hard drives or change to different data protection levels (RAID levels), please follow the steps in this section. Before you proceed, please note that you will lost all your data stored on Aspire easyStore during the process. Please be sure that you understand how different data protection level works.
Aspire easyStore 4. Select the RAID type you would like to use. 5. Click the Next button on the lower-right corner. 6. Aspire easyStore will displays a message telling you that you are about to reformat the hard drives. If you are sure that you would like to reformat the hard drive, please click OK. Otherwise, please click Cancel and no changes will be made on your data. 7. Restart Aspire easyStore after it has successfully reformatted the hard drives.
Aspire easyStore Configuring Aspire easyStore to notify you of critical events Aspire easyStore may be configured to send you an e-mail when some critical events happen. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> System. 3. Click the Alerts tab. 4. Fill in your outgoing email configuration. If you don’t need an account to send mail, you can choose Anonymous. Otherwise, you will need to provide the user name and passwords of your outgoing e-mail server. 5.
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Aspire easyStore Calibrating the internal clock of Aspire easyStore There are three ways to set the internal clock of Aspire easyStore. 1. Read the time settings from your computer. i. Log in to the web UI. ii. Click Advanced -> System. iii. Click the Time tab. iv. Click the Set Time button on the lower-right corner of the From My Computer section. 2. Have the Aspire easyStore synchronized with a public NTP server. An NTP server is a server running NTP (Network Time Protocol) on the Internet.
Aspire easyStore these servers are extremely accurate. You can synchronize the Aspire easyStore internal clock with it. i. Log in to the web UI. ii. Click Advanced -> System. iii. Click the Time tab. iv. Select the correct time zone in the Time Zone Settings section. v. Enter the NTP server IP address or domain name of your choice in the NTP Server section. There are many public NTP servers available on the Internet. An example is pool.ntp.org. vi.
Aspire easyStore iv. Adjust each field of the Set the Date and Time Manually section to the correct value. v. Click the Set Time button on the lower-right corner of the Set the Date and Time Manually section.
Aspire easyStore Upgrading the Aspire easyStore firmware A new firmware upgrade may be available for your Aspire easyStore. It is recommended that you keep your Aspire easyStore firmware up-to-date to maintain and improve the functionality and performance of your storage device. 1. Go to the local support page of the Acer website and download the latest Aspire easyStore firmware. 2. Log in to the web UI. 3. Click Advanced -> System. 4. Click the Firmware tab. 5.
Aspire easyStore Restarting Aspire easyStore There are two ways to restart Aspire easyStore. The first is using the power switch at the back of Aspire easyStore. Press the power switch to switch off the Aspire easyStore. After the Power LED is turned off, wait for another 15 seconds, then press the power switch again to power on the Aspire easyStore. You can also use the web UI to restart Aspire easyStore. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> System. 3. Click the System tab. 4.
Aspire easyStore Resetting Aspire easyStore to factory default settings There are two ways to reset Aspire easyStore back to factory default. The first is using the reset button at the back of Aspire easyStore. You can press the reset button with a paper clip or ballpen head. Press and hold it for over 10 seconds. During power-on, Aspire easyStore will initialize the reset to factory default function. After the Status LED stops blinking, the Aspire easyStore settings are back to factory default.
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Aspire easyStore Backing up the current Aspire easyStore configuration After you have configured the Aspire easyStore, you may want to back up the configuration file. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> System. 3. Click the System tab. 4. Click the Save button in the Configuration Settings section. 5. Select a folder in your computer to save the configuration file.
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Aspire easyStore Restore the Aspire easyStore configuration using a saved configuration file 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> System. 3. Click the System tab. 4. Click the Browse button in the Configuration Settings section to find your configuration file. 5. Click the Load button to load the configuration file. After you load the configuration file, the Aspire easyStore will restart the system automatically.
Aspire easyStore Controlling the duration of the administrator session timeout 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> System. 3. Click the System tab. 4. Change the value of the Inactivity Timer. The default value is 10 minutes. 5. Click the Save settings button in the Idle Time section for the changes to take effect.
Aspire easyStore Monitoring the current Aspire easyStore system status You can review the basic system settings like current IP address, device name, description and workgroup; current system temperature and current system hard drive and RAID information on the Device Info page. To view this page: 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> Status.
Aspire easyStore Finding out what happened to the Aspire easyStore Aspire easyStore takes note of every important event that happens on its system. You can review all the past 50 events on the System Log page. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> Status. 3. Click the System Log tab.
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Aspire easyStore Backing up the Aspire easyStore system log Aspire easyStore takes note of every important event that happens on its system. You may want to save these logs for future use. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> Status. 3. Click the System Log tab. 4. Click the Backup System Log button. 5. Select a folder in your computer to save the log file.
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Aspire easyStore Checking the hard disk status of Aspire easyStore Aspire easyStore provides a hard disk status page to allow you review the hard disk brands, serial, size and RAID level. If any disk failed, it will be marked as Failed on this page. 1. Log in to the web UI. 2. Click Advanced -> Status. 3. Click the Physical Disk Info tab.
