Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................. 3 Features ......................................................................................................4 Package contents ..........................................................................................4 Product layout.............................................................................................. 5 System requirements ...........................
Introduction The Sitecom MD-253 Home Storage Center makes it easy to share your documents, music and videos across your network or even on to the internet. The device can hold up to two 3”5 SATA drives of any capacity, supporting JBOD, RAID 0 and RAID 1, offering flexibility and security. The MD-253 allows to easily share data over the internet through the built-in FTP server.
Features Two HDD bays for 3”5 SATA Hard drives of any capacity. One USB port for extra storage options. High performance Gigabit LAN. Supports JBOD, RAID 0 and RAID 1. Simplified installation by a step by step utility. Easy automated backup with included backup software. User and folder management. One touch USB backup ITunes server. Built-in FTP server and client. Bit Torrent client. UPnP AV server for streaming music to any compatible media-player.
Product layout Power HDD 1 LAN HDD 2 Power button Ethernet port USB port Backup button Reset Power receptacle
System requirements - Computer with: 1GHz processor/20 MB available space/CD-ROM drive. At least one 3”5 SATA HDD. Windows XP (with Service Pack 2), Vista or Windows 7. Mac OSX 10.4 or higher (You can use the network functionality. The installation and backup software is windows only).
Preparing the home storage center
Easy installation Configuring the Home Storage Center Insert the CD-Rom to your CD-Rom drive. The CD will start and present you an option menu. Select ‘Launch Home Storage Center Utility’ The Sitecom Home Storage Center Installer offers an easy step by step installation flow. This makes it possible for even the least experienced user to have the home storage server up and running in a few clicks. Note: Microsoft .Net framework is required for the installer to run. If .
1. Select your language from the drop down box. Press Start to continue. 2. The installer is now detecting the ‘Home Storage Center’. Wait till the progress bar is completely filled.
3. You may be required to unblock the installer in the windows firewall. Windows will automatically request this action, select Unblock to allow the Sitecom Installer to scan your network for the ‘Home storage center’. Warning: If there are is any additional firewall software installed, such as McAfee, Norton, Panda e.g. you may be required to unblock the Sitecom installer in this software. Please refer to the documentation of your firewall software. 4.
5. The installer now shows the name of the detected hard drive(s), the size and S.M.A.R.T. status. To continue click Format Disk. Note: When 2 hard drives are inserted the installer will automatically format the drives using RAID 1 for data reliability. (See addendum for more information on storage schemes.) To change the ‘Home storage center’ to a different storage scheme, see chapter web configuration->Setup->Disk Settings. 6. Choose a name for your ‘Home storage center’.
7. Now we will create a public share. This folder is for general usage and allows anonymous access. (See Web configuration->User management -> shared folder management.) Note: to change the properties of this folder See Web configuration->User management -> shared folder management. 8. Choose the maximum size for the public folder. Enter ‘0’ for maximum. Click Next to continue.
9. The share can now be mapped to a drive letter. Choose a desired drive letter from the drop down box. This is how the share will appear in ‘My computer’. Click Next to continue. 10. Your ‘Home storage center’ is now ready for use. And the public folder has been created and mapped to a drive letter. Select Finish to stop the installer, or click Next to create a personal folder.
11. Enter a user name and password; these credentials will be required to access the personal folder. Choose a desired drive letter from the drop down box. Click Next to continue. 12. The personal folder has been created and mapped. Click Finish. The backup software installation will now be started.
AutoSave Installation After the Installer is finished, it will automatically start the installation for your free backup software, AutoSave. Autosave will automatically backup your photos, music and documents the Home Storage Center. 1. Click Next to start the installation 2. Select ‘I accept the terms in the license agreement’ and click Next.
3. Fill in an optional name and organization and click Next. 4. Click Next to install AutoSave to the default location on your computer.
5. Click Next to begin the Installation. 6.
Note : AutoSave will backup the files from your computer to your personal share. If you have not configured a personal share, AutoSave will backup to the public share. In this situation AutoSave will warn you and gives you the opportunity to stop the backup process. If you want to change the backup location, files or schedule, please see the AutoSave manual on CD-Rom for detailed instructions.
Web configuration Open your web browser (Firefox, Internet explorer, Chrome or any other web browser). Enter the hostname you have set in the installer software in the previous chapter (default: SitecomNas) in the address bar. You will be prompted for a username and password. Fill in the username and password. The default credentials are: Username : admin Password : admin After logging in you will see the graphical user interface (GUI) of the device.
Status All information regarding the current configuration settings can be found here. The system, event and connection log pages log all latest events allowing good insight in the security and stability of the setup. This page gives an overview of the current network settings and which services are activated.
System/Event/Connection log The logs give an overview of all latest logged system events. If there is not enough internal memory for all events, logs of older events are deleted, but logs of the latest events are retained.
Setup Here you can configure the Home Storage Center. Tip: These settings are also included in the Sitecom installer which offers a much easier installation flow. System settings Device name: Enter a desired name for your Home Storage Center. This will be the name of the device within your network. Workgroup: Choose the name of the Workgroup the Home Storage Center has to be added to. Note: Can only be used if ‘Microsoft Network’ is enabled.
Network settings Here the local network settings are configured. Type: Select either Dynamic IP to automatically acquire network setting from a DHCP server within the network (i.e. router) or choose Static to set the network parameters manually. IP address: Enter the desired IP address for this device. Subnet mask: Specify the subnet mask for the IP address. Default gateway: Specify the IP address of the upstream router. Primary/Secondary DNS: Specify the IP address of the DNS server.
Disk settings RAID function: Choose JBOD, RAID 0 or RAID 1. Note: for more information about these data storage schemes please see Addendum. Scan Disk: Scan the connected hard drives for errors. Format: Formats the disk drive. Warning: this will delete all data from the drive. Refresh: This will reload the page.
Date and time settings Time zone: Select your time zone from the drop-down list. Manual setting: Select the corresponding radio button to manually set current date and time. Click to manually select the correct date.
NTP time server: Place a check in the corresponding radio button and select a time server if you would like to synchronize the device’s clock to a Network Time Server over the internet. Manage NTP time servers: Add or delete a NTP timeserver address from the list. Click ‘Apply’ for any of the changes to take effect.
User settings In the User settings menu, access to the storage center and users are managed. In the User management section you can create, delete or modify users and assign quotas to these users. Shared folder management allows configuring all folders on the storage center. Set permissions, limitations and assign users to the folders.
User management Create a user Username: Enter a desired username. Password: Enter a password for the username. Quota settings: Enter a value to restrict the user to a maximum capacity or enter 0 for unlimited. Click ‘Apply’ for any of the changes to take effect.
Modify a user Click ‘Delete’ to remove the user. Click on the username to modify the user. Enter the desired settings and click ‘apply’.
Shared folder management Service status: Enable or Disable Samba. (Note: disabling Samba will disable local sharing) Security mode: ‘Guest’ will allow restricted access for anonymous users. ‘User’ will only allow access to users created in user management. Click ‘Apply’ for any of the changes to take effect.
Create a user folder: Click ‘add’. A popup window will appear. Fill in a Folder Name and Security Mode. If ‘Personal’ is chosen, users have to be added to the folder in the next step. Highlight the new folder. If it is an ‘Anonymous’ folder the table below will show the Anonymous settings which always allows login and write access. If the selected folder is a Personal folder the table below will show the User settings for this folder for all users you have created.
Services BitTorrent The downloaded files are stored in the BitTorrent folder, which by default is not mapped to your computer. You can access it via Network -> [Home Storage Center Name] -> Bittorrent on any Windows computer. Service status: Enable or disable the BitTorrent server. Port number: Enter a port number for BitTorrent. Note: Depending on your network it may be required to open the port in your router. Please refer to the documentation of your router.
Add a BitTorrent: Click browse and select a .torrent file to upload. Once confirmed with ‘Apply’ the download progress is shown in current downloads. Click ‘Apply’ for any of the changes to take effect. Current downloads: Here current progress of the torrents is shown. To Delete, Start or Stop a download, click the corresponding radiobutton and select an action. Click on the Torrent name for more details.
ITunes server The iTunes server makes it easy to share your music files with other iTunes applications within your network. Service status: Enable or disable the iTunes server. If enable is chosen a music folder must be selected. Music folder: To select and share a music folder. Select a folder using the corresponding check box and click apply. Click ‘Apply’ for any of the changes to take effect. Note: If the service is enabled you will see a shared server within your iTunes application.
UPnP AV server The Twonky media server turns your ‘Home storage center’ into a DLNA certified multimedia server. Easily watch your pictures or stream music and video over other devices such as media players, PS3 and many other DLNA compatible devices. Twonky will automatically serve the files stored in the ‘Media’ folder, located in the Public Share on the Home Storage Center, to any UPnP AV/DLNA certified device to play. For more features, see the Twonky manual on CD-Rom.
FTP server The FTP server makes it possible to easily share files on the internet. On this page FTP access can be managed and the server parameters configured. Service status: Enable or disable the FTP server. PASV Mode Port Range: Enter the port range you would like to use for passive FTP server mode. Allow anonymous login: Choose here to allow anonymous users to access the storage center by FTP. Note: if you want to login to the FTP server as an anonymous user.
Toolbox Reboot When the storage center shows abnormal behavior it may be required to restart the device. Click ‘Reboot’ to restart the device. To undo all current settings click ‘Restore’. Note: This will erase all current settings.
Firmware update This tool allows you to upgrade the firmware. Intranet Upgrade To upgrade the firmware, you need to download the firmware file to your local hard disk, and enter that file name and path in the appropriate field on this page. You can also use the Browse button to find the firmware file on your PC. Once you’ve selected the new firmware file, click to start the upgrade process. Internet Upgrade Click ‘Check’ to check which version is only.
USB Backup You can use the USB port on the back of the Home Storage Center to make a complete backup of the content on any USB Mass Storage device, such as a removable hard drive or USB stick. USB port Backup button Insert the USB device into the USB port, and press the Backup button for 5 seconds. The complete content of the USB device will be copied into a folder on the Public share. Note: The content will be publicly available on your network.
Addendum: Choosing a storage scheme The MD-253 Home Storage Center supports 3 different storage schemes. The following will outline the benefits and disadvantages of each of these schemes. JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) Advantages: Minimum of 1 hard drive is allowed. Total storage capacity is total of all hard drives together. Disadvantages: If a hard drive fails all data on that drive is lost. Raid 0 (Striping) Advantages: Faster read and write speeds. Disadvantages: Minimum of 2 hard drives.