Installation and Operation Manual Blackmagic MultiDock Mac OS X™ Windows™ January 2014
Welcome Welcome Blackmagic MultiDock is an extremely fast SSD and HDD docking solution that lets you mount up to 4 x 2.5" drives on your Mac or Windows PC. Using Thunderbolt technology, Blackmagic MultiDock is capable of handling multiple simultaneous commands between drives, and gives you reliable video editing, color grading and transfer of your media. SSDs have no moving parts, so they are very fast and unbelievably robust.
Contents MultiDock 4 6 Getting Started Setting up a RAID for High Speed Performance and Data Security 9 Introducing MultiDock 4 RAID Level 0 for High Speed Performance Connecting to your Computer 5 RAID Level 1 for Data Security 10 Plugging in your Drives 5 Configuring a RAID using Mac OS X and Windows 10 Unplugging your Drives Using Blackmagic MultiDock Identifying Drives 6 Formatting Drives 6 Formatting your Drives on Mac OS X 7 Formatting your Drives on Windows 7 Fas
Getting Started 4 Getting Started Introducing MultiDock Blackmagic MultiDock is an attractive rack mountable docking station that lets you simultaneously mount up to 4 x 2.5" Solid State Drives (SSDs) or Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) to your computer. Blackmagic MultiDock is perfect for video post production tasks such as editing, color grading, or any task that requires large video files to be stored on multiple drives.
Getting Started Connecting to your Computer The first thing you’ll want to do is power your Blackmagic MultiDock and connect to your computer! Plug your power source into Blackmagic MultiDock’s mains power input using a standard IEC cable and connector. The power indicator on the front panel will illuminate when power is supplied. ION! CAUT CTRIC EN! OF ELE T OP RISKCK- DO NO L SHO Fuse T5A 60Hz A 500V 1.
Using Blackmagic MultiDock 6 Using Blackmagic MultiDock Identifying Drives Blackmagic MultiDock has 4 independent drive bays. We recommend naming or renaming your drives so you can easily identify them. You can name your drives when formatting using the Disk Utility application on Mac OS X, or Windows Disk Management on Windows. Renaming your drive is as easy as right clicking on your drive in Finder or Windows Explorer.
Using Blackmagic MultiDock Formatting your Drives on Mac OS X The Disk Utility application included with Mac OS X can format a drive in the HFS+ or exFAT formats. Step 1. Plug your new drive into Blackmagic MultiDock. A window will open asking you to initialize your disk. Click Initialize. Step 2. The Disk Utility application will open. On the left of the window you’ll see a list of icons for your connected drives. Click on the disk icon for your new drive. Step 3.
Using Blackmagic MultiDock Fast SSDs for Video You can use any 2.5" SSD or HDD with Blackmagic MultiDock for every day tasks. When working with Blackmagic cameras, HyperDeck, or Blackmagic capture devices, such as Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K, you will need to use fast SSDs. You can even stripe multiple SSDs as a RAID for fast, reliable handling of Ultra HD and 4K video. In our testing, we have found newer SSDs with larger capacities are generally faster.
Using Blackmagic MultiDock Setting up a RAID for High Speed Performance and Data Security Blackmagic MultiDock supports 2 levels of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). RAID level 0 stripes your drives together so they are recognized by your computer as one single drive to increase performance. RAID level 1 configures two drives so one is always mirrored by the other, which increases data security. Striping your drives as a RAID shares data over a set of drives which requires careful management.
Using Blackmagic MultiDock RAID Level 1 for Data Security Blackmagic MultiDock has 4 drive bays which let you configure 2 pairs of mirrored SSDs or HDDs. A mirrored pair of drives are recognized as one single drive. Using RAID level 1 gives you an immediate back up as you write data to the drive. If one drive fails, the other is instantly available.
Help 11 Help Getting Help The fastest way to obtain help is to go to the Blackmagic Design online support pages and check the latest support material available for your MultiDock. Blackmagic Design Online Support Pages The latest manual, software and support notes can be found at the Blackmagic Support Center at www.blackmagicdesign.com/support.
Warnings 12 Warnings Caution: Risk of Electric Shock On the Blackmagic MultiDock rear panel you will see a yellow warning label marked ‘Caution: Risk of Electric Shock’. This is intended to warn users that there may be the presence of uninsulated “dangerous” voltage within the Blackmagic MultiDock enclosure which may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to the user.
Warranty 13 Warranty 12 Month Limited Warranty Blackmagic Design warrants that this product will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. If a product proves to be defective during this warranty period, Blackmagic Design, at its option, either will repair the defective product without charge for parts and labor, or will provide a replacement in exchange for the defective product.
