LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Table of Contents page 1 Table of Contents 1.Introduction............................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Minimum System Requirements...................................................................................................... 6 1.2. Box Content.................................................................................................................................
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Copyrights Copyright © 2011 LaCie. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of LaCie. Trademarks Apple, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Foreword page 3 Health and Safety Precautions ✦✦ Only qualified persons are authorized to carry out maintenance on this device. ✦✦ Read this User Manual carefully and follow the correct procedure when setting up the device. ✦✦ Do not open a disk drive or attempt to disassemble or modify it. Never insert any metallic object into the drive to avoid any risk of electrical shock, fire, short-circuiting or dangerous emissions.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Foreword page 4 IMPORTANT INFO: Any loss, corruption or destruction of data while using a LaCie drive is the sole responsibility of the user, and under no circumstances will LaCie be held liable for the recovery or restoration of this data.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Introduction page 5 1. Introduction Congratulations on the purchase of your new LaCie 2big Quadra. This high-performance, extremely flexible RAID (Redundant Array of Independent/Inexpensive Disks) subsystem is ideally suited for integration with databases, imaging systems and e-mail and Web servers. RAID technology is one of the best means to protect your data, while providing greater data integrity and availability than standard hard disk storage.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual 1.1. Minimum System Requirements Windows Users ✦✦ Windows 2000*, Windows XP*, or Windows Vista ✦✦ 500MHz Pentium III or higher (or equivalent processor) ✦✦ 512MB RAM or greater ✦✦ Available USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 or eSATA interface port** Mac Users ✦✦ ✦✦ ✦✦ ✦✦ Mac OS X 10.3 or later G4, G5, Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo 512MB RAM or greater Available USB 2.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Introduction page 7 1.2. Box Content Your LaCie 2big package contains the system tower and an accessories box containing the items listed below. 1. LaCie 2big Quadra 1 2. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable 3. FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable 4. FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable 5. eSATA-to-eSATA (3Gbits) cable 6. Power supply kit 7. LaCie Utilities CD-ROM 2 8. Quick Install Guide 3 9.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Introduction page 8 1.3. Views of the Drive Front View The blue button (A) on the front of the LaCie 2big serves as an LED drive status indicator and the LaCie Shortcut Button. See the LaCie Shortcut Button User Manual on the Shortcut Button CD-ROM for more information. A See troubleshooting section 4.1. LED Status Indicators for more information. Fig. 1.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Introduction page 9 Rear View 1. RAID switch 1 2. off/auto/on power switch 3. eSATA 3Gbits port 4. USB 2.0 port 5. FireWire 800 ports 11 6. FireWire 400 port 7. Power input connection 10 safe big mixed fast off auto on 2 8. Drive tray handle 3 9. Drive lock 10. Drive status LED 4 11.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Introduction page 10 1.4. Cables and Connectors USB 2.0 USB is a serial input/output technology for connecting peripheral devices to a computer or to each other. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 is the latest implementation of this standard, and it provides the necessary bandwidth and data transfer rates to support high speed devices such as hard drives, CD/DVD drives and digital cameras. Included USB Cable Your LaCie drive is shipped with a Hi-Speed USB 2.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Introduction page 11 eSATA Your LaCie 2big uses the latest in SATA technology, allowing interface (or bus) transfer rates of up to 3 Gbits/s. SATA technology was originally developed to serve as an internal interface, delivering improved performance to internal connections. Soon after, eSATA, or external SATA was developed, allowing for the use of shielded cables outside the PC. eSATA technology was developed to be rugged and durable.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual 2. Setting Up Your LaCie 2big This section covers the installation and configuration of your LaCie 2big. Follow the steps below to power on and configure your 2big: Step 1: 2.1. Connect the Interface Cable Step 2: 2.2. Turn the Drive On Step 3: 3.4. Formatting – Format the drives to suit your storage needs. For more information about file system formats, see section 3.4.1. File System Formats.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Setup page 13 2.1. Connect the Interface Cable 1. Plug one end of the interface cable (USB, FireWire or eSATA) into the corresponding port on your host computer. 2. Connect the other end of the cable to the matching port on the 2big. TECHNICAL NOTE: If two interfaces are connected at the same time, the first one connected remains active and the second will not work. eSATA USB 2.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Setup page 14 2.2. Turn the Drive On The power supply kit is composed of two cables: one cable (A) connects to the LaCie drive; and the other cable (B) connects to a power outlet, such as a wall outlet or a surge protector. 1. Connect Cable A to the 2big. 2. Connect Cable B to the power supply brick (C). safe big mixed fast off auto on 3. Connect Cable B to a surge protector or wall outlet. B 4.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 15 3. RAID 3.1. About RAID Modes This section will help you decide which RAID mode is right for your application. RAID Mode Capacity Fast (RAID 0) 100% Big (Concatenation) 100% Safe (RAID 1) 50% Mixed (RAID 0 and RAID 1) 75% Protection Speed 3.1.1. Fast (RAID 0) The 2big Quadra is pre-configured in RAID 0, the fastest RAID mode. Requiring at least 2 drives, RAID 0 stripes data onto each disk.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 16 3.1.2. Big (Concatenation) When disks are concatenated, their capacities are combined and data is written to the primary disk in the array until is it full, and then to successive disks. Concatenation provides no performance advantage or added measure of data safety. It is simply a method of combining more than one physical disk into one volume for greater overall capacity.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 17 3.1.3. Safe (RAID 1) In Safe mode (RAID 1), the two physical disks are mirrored together so that one single logical volume mounts on the desktop. All data is saved simultaneously on each disk (the available capacity cannot exceed the available capacity of the lowestcapacity single disk). If one physical disk fails, the data is available immediately on the second disk. No data is lost if one disk fails.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 18 3.2. Changing the RAID Mode Before you change the RAID mode of the LaCie 2big, familiarize yourself with the 2big’s RAID modes. See section 3.1. About RAID Modes. Push and hold for 2 seconds IMPORTANT INFO: Changing the RAID mode destroys data stored on the LaCie 2big. If you have saved data on the drives, back up data to another medium before following these steps.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 19 3.3. Removing and Installing Drives In the event that an individual hard disk fails in the LaCie 2big, please contact your LaCie reseller or LaCie Customer Support. Please replace a defective hard drive only with a new drive provided by LaCie. For drive removal and replacement process, please follow the steps below. CAUTION: After continuous use of the LaCie 2big, drives may be hot. Use caution when removing.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Setup page 20 3.4. Formatting The 2big Quadra comes pre-formatted in HFS+ (optimized for Mac OS X). Please read the following information on file system formats for Windows and Mac operating systems to determine if you need to reformat the 2big’s disks. See sections 3.4.2 and 3.4.3 for formatting instructions. 3.4.1. File System Formats Windows Users The 2big Quadra comes pre-formatted in HFS+ (optimized for Mac OS X).
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Windows XP and Windows Vista without resorting to help from third-party products. The LaCie 2big Quadra comes preformatted in HFS+ for optimum performance with Mac OS X. Mac OS X Users: You may customize the drive by reformatting and/or partitioning the drive with separate file system formats. For optimal performance in Mac OS environments, format and partition the drive as one large Mac OS Extended volume.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Setup page 22 3.4.2. Formatting for Windows Users The process of formatting a drive on a computer running Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista consists of two steps: (1) installing a signature on the drive, and (2) formatting the drive. These steps will erase anything that is on the disk. CAUTION: Following these steps will erase everything from the 2big.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Setup page 23 8. On the first page of the “New Partition Wizard,” click Next. See Fig. 3.4.2-B (screens may differ slightly depending on the system). Figure 3.4.2-B 9. Click Next. 10. Click Next. 11. Click Next. 12. Click Next. 13. On the Format Partition window, select Quick Format. Click Next. TECHNICAL NOTE: If the 2big is in Mixed mode, format each partition separately. Figure 3.4.2-C 14. Click Finish to begin the formatting process. 15.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual 3.4.3. Formatting for Mac Users 1. Connect the drive to the computer and turn on the drive. 2. Select Utilities from the Go menu in the Finder menu bar. Setup page 24 CAUTION: Following these steps will erase everything from the 2big. If you have information that you want to protect or continue to use, back up this information before performing these steps. 3. In the Utilities folder, double-click Disk Utility. 4. The Disk Utility window will open.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 25 3.5. Partitioning the Disks You must partition the drives after changing the 2big configuration mode (SAFE, FAST, BIG, etc). During this process, you will format the drives. For more information about file system formats, see section 3.4.1. File System Formats. IMPORTANT INFO: The disks shipped with the 2big Quadra are formatted HFS+.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 26 3. Right click the configured disk’s unallocated space and select New Partition. If the New Partition option is not available, select the disk and initialize it first (Fig. 3.5.1-C). Figure 3.5.1-A 4. Click Next to start the Partition Wizard (Fig. 3.5.1-D). Fig. 3.5.1-D 5. Select the Primary or Extended option and click Next (Fig. 3.5.1-E). Fig. 3.5.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 27 6. Specify the partition size. By default, the partition occupies the entire volume. Click Next (Fig. 3.5.1-F). Fig. 3.5.1-F 7. Assign a drive letter or mount path and click Next (Fig. 3.5.1-G). Fig. 3.5.1-G 8. Name and format (Fig. 3.5.1-H). the partition and click Next Fig. 3.5.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 28 9. Review the settings and click Finish to create the logical partition (Fig. 3.5.1-I). Fig. 3.5.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual RAID page 29 3.5.2. Mac Users CAUTION: Following these steps will erase everything from the hard disk. If you have information that you want to protect or continue to use, back up this information before performing these steps. CAUTION: If the 2big is in Mixed mode, the disk is already partitioned. LaCie recommends NOT to partition the disk, but it is possible to partition or initialize each existing partition separately if necessary. 1.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual 4. Troubleshooting In the event that your LaCie 2big is not working correctly, please refer to the following checklist to find out where the problem is coming from. If you have gone through all of the points on the checklist and your drive is still not working correctly, please have a look at the FAQs that are regularly published on our Web site – www.lacie.com. One of these FAQs may provide an answer to your specific question.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Troubleshooting page 31 4.1. LED Status Indicators Use the 2big’s front and rear LEDs and the chart below as a reference to determine the status of your 2big: If the front LED is: And the rear LED is: Solid blue Blinking blue Blinking blue Blinking blue Dimming blue (5s)* Alternating long blue and short red: Blinking blue/red Dimming red (5s)* Then: All The 2big is working properly, only active disks’ LEDs blink.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual If the front LED is: Dimming red (5s)* Off Troubleshooting page 32 And the rear LED is: And the RAID mode is: Off All Temperature critical; LaCie recommends that following this event you leave the 2big in standby for at least an hour before restarting to prevent damage to the disks.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Troubleshooting page 33 4.2. Other Troubleshooting Topics Problem Solutions If there is no icon for the 2big on the desktop (Mac users) or in My Computer (Windows users): The 2big is not recognized by the computer. The 2big is working slowly. Power supply failure. ✦✦ Check the interface cable connection. Check both ends of the FireWire, eSATA or USB cables and make sure that they are fully seated in their respective ports.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Contacting Customer Support page 34 5. Contacting Customer Support Before You Contact Technical Support 1. Read the manuals and review section 4. Troubleshooting. 2. Try to isolate the problem. If possible, make the drive the only external device on the CPU, and make sure that all of the cables are correctly and firmly attached.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Contacting Customer Support page 35 5.1. LaCie Technical Support Contacts LaCie Asia, Singapore, and Hong Kong Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/asia/contact/ LaCie Australia Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/au/contact/ LaCie Belgium Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/be/contact/ (Français) LaCie Canada Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/caen/contact/ (English) LaCie Denmark Contact us at: http://www.lacie.
LaCie 2big Quadra • DESIGN BY NEIL POULTON User Manual Warranty Information page 36 6. Warranty Information LaCie warrants your LaCie 2big against any defect in material and workmanship, under normal use, for the period designated on your warranty certificate. In the event this product is found to be defective within the warranty period, LaCie will, at its option, repair or replace the defective LaCie 2big.
