User guide

OWC MERCURY ELITE PRO Qx2
SYSTEM SETUP
6
matted volume (or individual disks if you selected independent drive mode).
3. Format the new volume. Formatting instructions can be found at:
www.macsales.com/format
2.3.2 RAID Modes
IMPORTANT NOTE: Drives of identical model and capacity are required for all RAID types
other than independent drive mode and span mode.
!
!
WARNING: Changing the RAID mode will destroy the
data on the drives. Be sure to back up your data rst! See
section 3.2 for information on proper backup strategies.
Independent Drive Mode (One to Four Drives Installed)
Dial position: 4
Each drive will appear as a single volume. If you intend to use hard drives of differing
capacity and model, this is the mode to use. To swap or replace drives, first unmount all
drives and turn off the Mercury Elite Pro Qx2
Span Mode (Two to Four Drives Installed)
Dial position: 2
Storage Capacity
Data Safety
Performance
The drives show up as one large single volume. The total size will depend on the drives
installed; you can use drives of different capacities. A span is an array (not RAID) in which
the data is written sequentially across the drives. This combines the capacities of the
drives, but it does not provide any performance or redundancy benefits.
RAID 0 “Drive Striping” Mode (Two to Four Drives Installed)
Dial position: 0
Storage Capacity
Data Safety
Performance
The drives show up as one large single volume with a size equal to the combined capaci-
ties of all the drives used in the array. RAID 0 is used when speed is the primary objec-
tive, but it does not have any redundancy for protection. Data is alternated very quickly
across two or more drives to gain speed by distributing the workload. This allows for the
fastest data transfer rates, since data is written without pausing to check parity informa-
tion, but if one drive fails, the whole array can become corrupted and data will be lost.
Always maintain a backup of your data!