The LaCie 4big Quadra drive supports 6 different types of RAID. The drive comes preconfigured in RAID 0 mode, but the device supports redundant modes as well (such as RAID 5) The RAID mode can be changed at any time.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Following the procedure below will ERASE ALL DATA on the drive. Prior to following these directions, verify important data is stored securely on a different storage device.
- Unmount or safely remove the 4Big from the computer, and disconnect the interface cable. Move the power switch to the OFF position.
- Press and hold the large button on the front of the drive, and simultaneously turn on the 4Big. Continue holding the front button for 15 seconds.
- Using the tool included with the drive, Press the + or – buttons to set the desired RAID mode:
0 – RAID 0. Striping.
1 – RAID 10. Creates two mirror sets, then stripes the two sets together.
2 – Concatenation.
3 – RAID 3. Striping with a dedicated parity disk.
4 – RAID 3 + Hot Spare. RAID 3 with a drive set for immediate use in the event of a failure.
5 – RAID 5. Striping with distributed parity.
6 – RAID 5 + Hot Spare. RAID 5 with a drive set for immediate use in the event of a failure.
7 – Unused. - When satisfied with the RAID setting, press and hold the front button for 2 seconds to confirm the changes.
- Wait for the drives to turn on completely, then power down the drive. Finally, power on the drive again. The RAID mode is now changed.
NOTES:
- The disk must be partitioned after all RAID mode changes. Use Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Macintosh) to do this.
- It can take several hours for some RAID modes to be fully-functional.
- The drive is pre-configured in RAID 0. RAID 0 allows access to the whole storage capacity, but does not provide any data security. If a drive fails, all data will be lost. For improved data security, LaCie suggests RAID 10, 3, or 5.
