Aspire EasyStore FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Author: System Integration Engineering , Stationary Computing BU, ITBG / Vernon Liu Release Date: June 3, 2008 Revision: 1.0 Total: Total: Pages 15
Doc. Description In this note, we list the frequently asked questions of Aspire EasyStore.
Affected Products Affected Aspire EasyStore
Revision History Date June 3, 2008 Revision 1.0 First release the document. Modification

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Acer Confidential

Alert and Notification

1. What kind of alert can Aspire easyStore support? ANSWER: email. Aspire easyStore can be configured to send administrator an e-mail when some critical events happened. 2. What conditions can Asipre EasyStore notify administrator through email? ANSWER: Five different pre-set alert types are provided for notifying administrator: When a volume has reached 75%, 85% or 95% When a HDD drive is failed When administrator password has been changed When firmware has been upgraded When system temperature has exceed 60C 3. Can I specify SMTP server username/password while configure Aspire EasyStore to send an e-mail when some critical event happens? ANSWER: Yes, if you do have your own mail account, you may configure the username/password of your outgoing e-mail server. You can choose to configure Anonymous if you dont have an account to send mail.

BIOS & Firmware

1. How could I know the version of BIOS/firmware of Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: After you login into web UI of Aspire EasyStore: Click Advanced -> System in the left panel Then click Firmware tag, you will see below information
In this example the firmware version is 1.21. 2. Is there any DOS utility to update the BIOS/firmware? ANSWER: No. The firmware update is done through web interface. 3. How to upgrade the BIOS/firmware of Aspire EasyStore?

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ANSWER: After you login into web UI of Aspire EasyStore: a. b. c. d. e. Click Advanced -> System in the left panel Click Firmware tag Click the Brower button to select the firmware you like to upgrade Click Save Setting button to proceed the firmware upgrade After you have successfully upgraded the firmware, click the Restart button to restart your system. This is a must procedure
NOTE Do not power off the system during firmware upgrade. Otherwise, it may lead the system to crash 4. Is there any tool for recovering system due to system BIOS & FW crash? ANSWER: No. If you interrupt the upgrade process due to power loss or other reasons, you will need to send it back for RMA. System recovering requires additional hardware and too complex to be done by end user. 5. How much Flash memory does EasyStore support? ANSWER: 16MB. 6. How do I know the latest version of BIOS/firmware of Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: Please refer to Aspire EasyStore THOL (Tested Hardware & Operating System List). 7. Where can I download the latest version of BIOS/firmware of Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: Please go to Acer GCSD website at: http://csd.acer.com.tw/SI/Download2008.nsf/ServerWeb

Configuration

1. Is it necessarily using EasySearch to access and configure Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: No. By default, Asipre EasyStore will configure itself with a static IP 192.168.1.100 when no DHCP server is found in the network. In that case, you can directly connect to Aspire EasyStore with web browser by typing the IP address in the URL: http://<IP address of Aspire EasyStore> NOTE You may change the default IP through Aspire EasySearch utility or web UI.
1. Which model of CPU is embedded on Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: Marvell CPU, 500 MHz. 2. Is the CPU on Aspire EasyStore upgradeable? ANSWER: No. The CPU is dedicatedly embedded in Aspire EasyStore and not upgradeable.
EasyBackup (eBackup) Utility
1. What is EasyBackup utility and what does it use for? ANSWER: EasyBackup is backup software provided on the product CD to offer an easy way to create daily

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backup of important file regardless of he/she experience level. Basically, EasyBackup consist three major functions: Backup This feature help user to easily select what data to be backup at the File, Directory or Disk level. User may also flexibly search for specific file types user would want to backup. Restore When data are accidentally deleted, user may choose to restore all the data in the Restore selected back profile or choose specific file/folder within the profile to restore Sync EasyBackup also provide a convenient way on which automatically synchronize a dedicated folder on your PC to a removable storage device (for example: USB). 2. My computer is with Windows XP operating system installed, may I also backup the entire system through EasyBackup utility? ANSWER: No. System backup and recovery is not supported by EasyBackup on Aspire easyStore. Instead, it offers a easy way to backup and restore files on your computer. 3. When I install Aspire EasyBackup utility, it wills requests for the product CD keys. Where can I find this product CD key for installing EasyBackup utility?
ANSWER: The product CD key can be found from a label stick at the back of Aspire easyStore.

EasySearch Utility

1. What is EasySearch utility and what does it use for?

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ANSWER: EasySearch is a tool provided on the product CD to discover the EasyStore on the network and to make needed changes, such as: Search Device This feature help user to locate any Aspire EasyStore on the network and create an easy to access shortcut to the web login page of Aspire EasyStore you selected IP Setting User may change the IP address setting from EasySearch as well. By default, EasyStore is configured with DHCP Client function enabled. However, user may manually assign a static IP to EasyStore. Drive Mapping EasySearch also provide a convenient way on which mapping your favorite shares with a network drive letter inside My Computer 2. How to install and launch EasySearch utilty? ANSWER: It doesnt require any procedure to install EasySearch. You may simply launch EasySearch by inserting the product CD and clicking EasySearch button on the AutoRun menu OR manually navigate to the optical drive and double click on the easysearch.exe

Front Panel

1. There is a LED named RAID in the front panel. What information does this LED try to deliver? ANSWER: This LED is located for the indication on what RAID type currently configured on EasyStore. Each color has represents a specific RAID type on EasyStore as follow: Solid Blue When HDD is configured in RAID 5 mode Solid Green When HDD is configured in RAID 1 mode Solid Amber When HDD is configured in RAID 0 mode Turned OFF When HDD is in JBOD or standard mode
1. Does Asipre EasyStore support web GUI? ANSWER: YES. Aspire EasyStore do support web GUI. 2. Which web browser is supported by Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: Internet Explorer 7.0 Internet Explorer 6.0 (SP1 or later) 3. How do I check the basic system setting on EasyStore like IP address, device name, workgroup, temperature, system HDD drive and RAID information? ANSWER: Basic system setting is summarized into three sections on: a. b. c. Click Advanced -> Status in the left pane Click Advanced -> Status in the left panel Click Device Info tag

These information will be displayed in a summary format as below:

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Can non-Administrator user access the web GUI of Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: No. Only Administrator can access the web GUI of Aspire EasyStore.
1. How many SATA HDD is supported by Aspire EasyStore ? ANSWER: 4 SATA HDD. 2. Does Aspire EasyStore support SAS HDD? ANSWER: No. Aspire EasyStore only supports SATA HDD 3. Does Aspire EasyStore support hot-swap disk cage? ANSWER: No. Aspire EasyStore doesnt support hot-swap disk cage. The HDD on Aspire EasyStore is not hot swappable. To insert/remove HDD, you need to shutdown and power off Aspire EasyStore. 4. How do I check the status of the HDD drives and detail hardware information about the drive? ANSWER: Such information can be reviewed from web UI by: a. Click Advanced -> Status in the left pane

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b. Click Physical Disk Info tag
The HDD drive brands, serial, capacity and RAID level will be displayed in a summary format as below:

Memory

1. How much memory does EasyStore support? ANSWER: 128 MB. 2. Is the memory on Aspire EasyStore upgradeable? ANSWER: No. The memory is dedicatedly bundled with Aspire EasyStore and not upgradeable.

Networking

1. What is the default IP of EasyStore? ANSWER: EasyStore will configure itself with a static IP 192.168.1.100 when no DHCP server is found in the network. 2. Does Aspire EasyStore support Active Directory service? ANSWER: No. This feature is not integrated on Aspire EasyStore. 3. Does Aspire EasyStore support NFS file system? ANSWER: No. Aspire EasyStore doesnt support NFS file system. 4. Does Aspire EasyStore support iSCSI connectivity? ANSWER: No. Aspire EasyStore doesnt support iSCSI.

Network Drive Mapping

1. Apart from using easySeach utility, may I use Map Network Drive to map my favorite shares with a Map Drive network drive letter inside My Computer to the folder on Asipre EasyStore? Drive Computer. ANSWER: Yes. It can be done through Map Network Drive inside My Computer Map a. Double click My Computer icon on the Desktop

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b. c. d. Then click Tool in the tool bar, and select Map Network Drive Drive. A window will pop-up and ask for the drive letter and folder mapping path to Asipre EasyStore. In this case, Z is the choosen drive letter and \\192.168.1.100\test-1 is the folder mapping path to Asipre EasyStore.
NOTE: Please be reminded that 192.168.1.100 is the IP address of Aspire EasyStore and test-1 is the folder created on Asipre EasyStore with user permission assigned to it accordingly. e. f. Press Finish to proceed the disk mapping. A mapped network drive with drive letter Z will be created under network drives category.

Power On/Off

1. How do I turn off Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: Just press the power button on the front panel of Aspire EasyStore. After you pressed the power button, Aspire EasyStore will shutdown itself gracefully.

1. How many RAID volume is supported by Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: 1 2. What RAID level can Aspire EasyStore support? ANSWER: RAID 0, 1, and 5. NOTE. Aspire EasyStore does NOT support RAID with 1, 2 or 3 HDD. 3. Whats the maximum capacity the RAID volume can Aspire EasyStore RAID support? ANSWER: With firmware 2.0 (or later), Aspire EasyStore can support maximum capacity of 4TB for RAID volume. 4. Does Aspire EasyStore support hot spare?

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ANSWER: No. Aspire EasyStore doesnt support this feature. 5. How to configure RAID type on Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: It is very simple. After you login into web UI of Aspire EasyStore: a. b. c. Click Advanced -> System in the left panel Then click HDD & RAID tag, and select the RAID level. Click Next button, the system will prompt you a message to confirm you that the system is about to format the hard drive. Press OK to proceed the disk reformation. Restart the system after the hard drives have been successfully reformatted and changed to the dedicated RAID level.
Does Aspire EasySotre support RAID Capacity Expansion? For example, if 3 HDD are initially configured in RAID 5 mode, is it feasible to merge the fourth HDD into this RAID volume for further expansion? ANSWER: NO. Aspire EasyStore doesnt support this feature.
Does Aspire Easystore support flexible mixed capacity drive while creating a RAID volume? ANSWER: NO. The HDD capacity must be identical on Aspire EasyStore.
Does Aspire EasyStore support RAID roaming? For example, after a RAID volume is created and initialed, will the RAID volume still be correctly detected when EasyStore boot with the HDD drives installed in different slot? ANSWER: YES. Aspire EasyStore do support this feature. The RAID volume can be correctly detected regardless of which slot the HDD drives installed at Aspire EasyStore.
How would I know which HDD disk has being failed on Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: The HDD drive status can be checked from HDDx LED in the front panel. The color on each HDDx LED represents a specific status of that HDD disk. Solid Blue When the disk is connected but inactive Flash Blue When the disk is being accessed, formatted or synchronized. Turn OFF When the disk is being failed or not install.

How would I know if there is any HDD disk being failed among the RAID volume created on Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: The STATUS LED in the front panel will turn into solid RED when the system fails to detect the HDD drive that belongs to the member of the RAID volume. The RAID level hard disk status can be reviewed in the STATUS UI page (Click Advanced -> Status -> Physical Disk Info tab). If any disk failed at the RAID level, that disk slot will be marked with a red cross on this page.

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Reset Button
1. How do I reset Aspire EasyStore back to factory default? ANSWER: There are two ways of resetting Aspire EasyStore back to factory default. The first is using the reset button at the back of Aspire EasyStore (see the screenshot below).
And press the reset button with a ballpen head or paper clip and hold for more than 10 seconds. The second way is through the web UI to reset Aspire EasyStore back to factory default. a. b. c. d. Click Advanced -> System in the left panel Click System tag In the Default section, click the Restore button to reset Aspire EasyStore back to factory default A message will be promoted and asking you to confirm reset, click Okay if you like to reset the system.
After the Aspire EasyStore is reset, will the data stored on the HDD be affected? ANSWER: No. Only the system setting will be reset back to the factory default values.
What configurations will be reset to factory default after I pressed reset button on Asipre EasyStore? ANSWER: Apart from RAID configuration, below settings will be reset to factory default.: Administrator password

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User Accounts Share Folder Access List Network Setting

Security

1. What wireless security mode supported by Aspire EasyStore? ANSWER: Please refer to table below for supported security mode on Aspire EasyStore:
Security Mode WEP WPA-PSK WPA WPA2
Encryption Mode 64 Bit Yes Not Required Not Required Not Required 128 Bit Yes Not Required Not Required Not Required TKIP Not Required Yes No No AES Not Required No No No

Troubleshooting

1. I forgot my.Administrator password, how do I recover it back? ANSWER: There is no tool or mechanism of recovering the original admission password back from Aspire EasyStore. In this circumstance, you will have to reset Aspire EasyStore back to factory default, and login with the default password of Aspire EasyStore admin to re-gain the UI access. admin admin 2. My Aspire Easystore is properly connected to the network. But, I still can not find any device from EasySearch utility. ANSWER: While executing EasySearch utility on Windows XP or Windows Vista, Windows Firewall will prompt in asking you on whether to keep blocking this program. Please click Unblock button, otherwise, the EasySearch utility may not function correctly. 3. My desktop is Windows Vista, it is asking to install the drivers for the Aspire EasyStore.

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ANSWER: The UPnP driver for Windows Vista can be downloaded from Acer GCSD website. http://csd.acer.com.tw/SI/Download2008.nsf/ServerWeb 4. After I pressed the reset button at the back of the Aspire Easystore, I can not login Aspire easyStore with the default admission password Admin ANSWER: Before you input the default password, please check whether the Caps Lock key on the keyboard is locked-on or not. 5. I configured two HDD as RAID 0 on my Aspire EasyStore. However after the setup, I can not see any RAID volume where I just created from the "Network Access Setting" page.
ANSWER: At current stage, Aspire EasyStore only supports RAID (RAID 0, RAID1 or RAID5) with 4 HDD disks only. The RAID function might not work if the number of HDD is less than 4. Therefore, before you configure Aspire EasyStore in RAID 0, 1 or 5 data protection, please make sure you

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have all 4 HDD disks installed inside the Aspire EasyStore.
UPnP (Universal Plug and Play)
1. On my desktop, is there any additional driver required to access Aspire EasyStore through UPnP? ANSWER: Additional UPnP driver is required for Windows Vista. NOTE. There is no additional UPnP driver required for Windows XP. NOTE. The UPnP driver for Windows Vista can be downloaded from Acer GCSD website: http://csd.acer.com.tw/SI/Download2008.nsf/ServerWeb 2. What format of audio files supported by Aspire EasyStore for streaming audios to UPnP compatible network device? ANSWER: Aspire EasyStore support following audio type of files: MP3 WAV/PCM WMA AC3/AAC OGG AIF/AIFF 3. What format of video files supported by Aspire EasyStore for streaming videos to UPnP compatible network device? ANSWER: Aspire EasyStore support following video type of files: VOB AVI MPEG2/ MPEG4 WMV9 4. What photo type of files supported by Aspire EasyStore for streaming photos to UPnP compatible network device? ANSWER: Aspire EasyStore support following photo type of files: JPG BMP GIF TIF PNG

User Accounts

1. What is the default password of administrator? ANSWER: admin. 2. When a new User is created, I am unable to assign the permission Everyone to a new folder in the Everyone Everyone drop-down menu list User. Thereafter, any Guest User is always prompted for User name/password when accessing the Shared Folder. Why is that happening? ANSWER: There are two types of accounts:

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a. "Everyone which represents all user accounts on the Aspire EasyStore plus any guest users who do Everyone", Everyone not have user account with Aspire EasyStore. This type of account is also referring to the security level SHARE Mode Mode. "All Users All Users",which represents all created user accounts on the Aspire EasyStore. This type of account is also referring to the security level USER Mode Mode.
The default one is SHARE MODE and it is active by default. At this security level, Asipre EasyStore doesn't manage any users, but only Everyone access. Using this security mode is possible to create different Everyone share with everyone access (including the Guest Users). Once a user is created and assigned to a share, the Aspire EasyStore switches to USER MODE and will deletes all the share created and assigned to Everyone. At this point is possible to create share and assign them only to Users or All Users but no more to Everyone Users Everyone. Users All sers, Everyone To go back to the SHARE MODE it is necessary to RESET the Aspire EasyStore. MODE,

Utility

1. What utility does Aspire easyStore support? ANSWER: EasySearch and EasyBackup. These software utility can be found on the CD bundled with Aspire EasyStore. Please refer to the table about the supported OS of EasySearch and EasyBackup:
Operating System Windows 2000 Profession Windows XP Professional Edition Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Windows Vista Windows Vista x64 Edition
Service Pack SP4 SP2 SP2 N/A N/A
Utility EasySearch Yes Yes Tested Yes No EasyBackup Yes Yes Tested Yes No

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Operating System Linux Service Pack N/A Utility EasySearch No EasyBackup No

Wireless

1. Can Aspire EasyStore be the access point? ANSWER: No. 2. What wireless networking standard does Aspire EasyStore support? ANSWER: Aspire EasyStore currently supports below wireless protocol: IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g

NOTICE:

The information in this document, including products and software versions, is current as of the Release Date above. This document is subject to change without notice.

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