MD-253/254 Home Storage Center Manual

Table of contents

Introduction................................................................................................. 3 Features ......................................................................................................4 Package contents ..........................................................................................4 Product layout.............................................................................................. 5 System requirements ....................................................................................6 Preparing the home storage center .............................................................. 7 Easy installation........................................................................................... 8 Configuring the Home Storage Center Windows ................................................8 Packages installation ................................................................................... 15 AutoSave Installation .................................................................................. 16 Using the Home Storage Center.................................................................... 19 Configuring the Home Storage Center Mac ..................................................... 20 Configuring Timemachine............................................................................. 28 Web configuration...................................................................................... 30 Status ....................................................................................................... 31 Setup ........................................................................................................ 33 System settings ...................................................................................... 33 Network settings ..................................................................................... 34 Disk settings ........................................................................................... 35 User settings .............................................................................................. 38 User management ................................................................................... 39 BitTorrent ............................................................................................... 43 ITunes server.......................................................................................... 45 Toolbox ..................................................................................................... 48 Reboot ................................................................................................... 48 Firmware update......................................................................................... 49 Intranet Upgrade..................................................................................... 49 Internet Upgrade..................................................................................... 49 Package management ................................................................................. 50 Configuration and usage........................................................................... 51 USB Backup ............................................................................................... 52 Addendum: Choosing a storage scheme ..................................................... 53

Introduction
The Sitecom MD-253/254 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-253/254 allows to easily share data over the internet through the built-in FTP server. User management makes it possible to share data unrestricted to the internet or to restrict access to certain users which then can be assigned to folders and given read and/or write permissions. Backup your USB storage by means of pressing a button. The home storage center also doubles as a download station as it supports FTP downloading and a Bit Torrent download client. In addition the home storage center can stream music, video or photos to any UPnP AV compatible Media Player. The included CD contains: The Sitecom Installer to easily setup the Home storage center for first time use and map drives to your computer. Sitecom package installer. Backup software to easily set up an automated backup task for your files.

Features
Two HDD bays for 35 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.

Package contents
Home Storage Center CD-ROM with utilities and documentation Quick Installation Guide Power adapter 12V 4A Cat 5e cable

Product layout

Power LAN

HDD 1 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 35 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 Windows
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 .Net framework is not installed on your computer the installation CD will install .Net framework 3.5 now

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. After the detection is finished the installer will show the detected hard drives. Click Next to continue the installation.

If any of the inserted Hard drives is not detected: 5. The installer now shows the name of the detected hard drive(s), the size and Unplug the power receptacle and check the connection of the hard drive. 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. This is how the storage center will be recognized within your network. Press Next to continue.

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.

Note: A personal folder is a secured share, only accessible with a username and password to change personal share is folder See Web configuration->User management -> shared Here a the properties of this created. Enter a folder name for the folder management. personal share.

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.

Packages installation
The package installer allows you to expand the functionalities of your Home Storage Center. Select the packages you wish to install and click Finish to install these packages and continue to autosave.

Note: Twonkymedia will always be installed as this package updates the Twonky server installed already on the Home Storage Center to the latest version.

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. Click finish to end the installation and launch AutoSave

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.

Using the Home Storage Center

After this installation is finished youll have at least a new Public on SitecomNAS network drive in you're my Computer environment. If you have made a personal share youll also find it in the same location.

You can drag and drop files to and from these networks drive just like you would do on your normal C drive.

Configuring the Home Storage Center Mac

When inserting the CD a window appears. Click the Install Home Storage Center packet installer.

Click Continue in the introduction page.

The installer is now detecting the Home Storage Center. Wait till the progress bar is completely filled.

After the detection is finished the installer will show the detected hard drives. Click Continue to continue the installation.

If any of the inserted Hard drives is not detected: Unplug the power receptacle and check the connection of the hard drive.

Click OK to format the disk(s) in the NAS.

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. The disk(s) are being formatted, this could take some time.

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.) The installer will create an alias to the share in your user folder. Click Browse if you want to select an alternative location for the alias. Choose the maximum size for the public folder. Enter 0 for maximum. Click Continue to continue.

In the next step you can create an optional private share. Note: A private share is a secured share, only accessible with a username and password. To change the properties of this folder See Web configuration->User management -> shared folder management.

Fill in a folder name, username and password for the share. If the box is checked, the username and password will be stored in your keychain. The installer will create an alias to the share in your user folder. Click Browse if you want to select an alternative location for the alias. Click Continue.

The package installer allows you to expand the functionalities of your Home Storage Center. These packages are installed on the harddrive and consume a little part of your storage capacity Select the packages you wish to install and click Finish to install these packages

When Time Machine support has been selected a warning message will be shown

The selected packages will be installed. NOTE: This could take up to 5 minutes when all packages are selected

The installer will write configuration files to your computer, click Install to continue.

The installation prompts you for the root password of the computer. Fill in the password and username. Click OK to continue.

The installation is finished, click Close.

The aliases to the shares can be found in your home folder or in the folder of your choice.

Configuring Time Machine

Click the Time Machine icon to start the configuration

A message appears to inform you Time Machine has not yet been configured, click Set Up Time Machine.

Click Select Backup Disk

Select the TimeMachine on SitecomNas(Time Machine) and click Use for Backup

Youll be prompted for a username and a password. This is the default username and password of the userinterface of the Sitecom Home Storage Center. By default this is username: Admin and password: Admin

Tima Machine is now ready for use and your Mac computer will now automatically backup to your Sitecom Home Storage Center.

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. Password: Allows you to change the default password of the storage center. Default: Admin Click Apply for any of the changes to take effect.

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. Jumbo Frame: Here you can choose to enable or disable Jumbo frames. Note: enabling Jumbo frames will only have effect when all other peripherals within the network also support Jumbo frames.) Click Apply for any of the changes to take effect.

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 devices 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. Limit upload speed: Enter a maximum upload speed or enter 0 for unlimited. Limit download speed: Enter a maximum download speed or enter 0 for unlimited. Maximum connections: Maximum total simultaneous connections the Home Storage Center can make.

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 information, 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. The username is anonymous and an email address must be entered in the password field. Anonymous Access: Here the permissions can be set for the anonymous user to either 'Read only' or 'Allow Read and Write'.

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 youve selected the new firmware file, click <Apply> to start the upgrade process.

Internet Upgrade
Click Check to check which version is only.

If the online version is newer as the current version, please click download to upgrade to the new version.

Package management (MD-254 only)

Package management allows you to manage additional packages for the Home storage center. These packages can be installed through the Easy installation wizard the Package installation wizard or manually. The Package installation wizard can be started from the CD-Rom by selecting package installation from the Splash screen that is shown when the CD-Rom is inserted or browse the contents of the CD-Rom and Run inspackage.exe To install packages manually, place the package you wish to install in the /Public/Packages folder on the Home storage center. The package you have copied should be visible if you log into the interface of the home storage center and go to Toolbox -> Package Management. To install that package, click on it from the Install package list.

Once the package is installed it becomes visible in the current package list.

From here you can choose to either Start, Stop or Delete the selected package.

Configuration and usage

Print server The printserver package gives your Home storage center support for host based USB-printers, no additional configuration in the home storage center is required. For usage the operating system must be configured for network printing. (for more information about how to set up network printing in Windows 7 please see Addendum : Setting up printing in Windows 7 ) TimeMachine TimeMachine is a backup utility intended for use with Apple OS based computers. Configuration of this service should be done on the system that should be backed up. Twonkymedia The Twonkymedia package upgrades the TwonkyServer from version 4.4.19 to 6.0.32 the Twonky server can be configured by clicking on Services - > UPnP AV server. For more information, see the Twonky manual on CD-Rom. SqueezeCenter SqueezeCenter is server software initially developed to run on a PC. It supports common digital audio formats (.MP3, .FLAC, .Ogg, Vorbis, .WMA, .AAC, .WAV, etc.) and streams them to its players. SqueezeCenter serves your music collections stored on your Home Storage Center without the need to have a PC running 24/7. SqueezeCenter comes with a web-based administration interface where you can install, control, monitor your SqueezeCenter. Click the URL link of the SqueezeCenter from the Current Package list to access the SqueezeCenter interface.

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. Move the content to a private share if you wish to secure it.

Addendum: Choosing a storage scheme

The 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. If one drive fails all data is lost. The smallest drive in the array determines the total capacity, example: HDD1 is 500GB HDD2 is 500GB -------------------------+ Total Capacity 1000GB

Raid 1 (Mirroring)
Advantages: If one drive fails no data will be lost.

Disadvantages: The total storage capacity is equal to the largest hard drive.