Q:
At what rate do hard disks experience
a catastrophic disk crash?
A: Google Inc. in 2007 observed the
annualized failure rates (AFR) of commercial
PC hard disks vary from 1.7% for new
drives to over 8.6% for drives in their
3rd year of operation. http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf
Q: How does
the ARAID protect PC data?
A: The ARAID data protection device
maintains identical copies of PC data
on two individual drives at all times.
In the event one of the hard drives
failing, the PC continues to run uninterrupted
on the surviving drive.
Q: How do
you install the ARAID?
A: The ARAID installs easily connecting
directly to your PC disk controller
port. It is about the same complexity
of adding a DVD drive to your PC.
No additional software drivers or
program is required. The ARAID appears
as a single hard drive to the system.
Q: Is a PCI
or PCI-X RAID controller required?
A: No. RAID functionality is built
into the ARAID device and is connected
directly to the drive port.
Q: How is
the ARAID device driver installed?
A: No driver installation is required.
ARAID software is embedded in firmware
on the device. It works with all operating
systems.
Q: Can I use
my current main system disk?
A: Yes. You can remove your current
system PC system disk and put in the
Primary (top) bay of the ARAID. Boot
your system in the ARAID single mode
and then add a second drive in the
Secondary tray. Put in dual mode and
the ARAID automatically builds a RAID
1 disk array.
Q: Does this
mirror data continuously or do I have
to back up during system down time?
A. The ARAID mirrors data continuously
with no performance impact to the
system.
Q: What hard
drives does ARAID support?
A: ARAID has been tested with and
supports all popular commercial PC
hard disks of all capacities.
Q: What operating
systems are supported?
A: ARAID is independent and works
with any operating system. ARAID has
been tested with Windows, Linux, NetWare,
Solaris, FreeBSD, SCO and embedded
real-time operating systems (VxWorks,
QNX, OS-9, Green Hills, etc).
Q: Is there
any limitation on the hard disks that
can be used?
A: We recommend that you use identical
drives in both bays.
Q: Do the
drives have to match exactly?
A: No. However the disk capacity of
the Secondary drive must be equal
to or greater than the disk capacity
of the Primary drive.
Q: Can ARAID
disks be removed and added while the
system is running?
A: Yes. ARAID allows for a drive/tray
assembly to be removed and stored
for archival, off-site backup similar
to magnetic tape.
Q: What happens
to the system when a drive in the
ARAID fails?
A: The system keeps running uninterrupted
on the surviving drive and the ARAID
alerts you of the event.
Q: Must a
system drive be used with the ARAID?
A: No. Additional drives for application
data can be dedicated for secondary
and external ARAIDs.
Q: What is
the capacity of the ARAID?
A: ARAID supports RAID 1 so the disk
capacity is that of the smallest (primary)
drive used.
Q: How do
you expand disk capacity?
A: Upgrade the capacity of drives
used (a documented procedure) or add
additional ARAID units to unused drive
ports.
Q: What management
utilities are include with ARAID?
A: ARAID supports the ARAID Eye management
software and the ARAID SNMP Agent.
Q: What can
the ARAID do better than other RAID
systems?
A: 1. All RAID processing is handled
on the ARAID device controller independent
of the computer’s main processor.
Most onboard RAID and PCI RAID tax
cycles from the motherboard CPU.
2. ARAID creates a RAID 1 array on
the fly from an existing drive, with
no danger of losing data. Contrast
this with typical RAID controllers
that require the user to destroy,
and then create an array from scratch.
This capability probably sells more
ARAIDs than any other feature.
3. Typical RAID 1 solutions are not
considered to be a backup solution.
While data is replicated, it is not
safe from viruses, spyware, etc. An
ARAID is different because you can
remove a drive from the unit and replace
it with another drive within seconds.
The removed drive can be treated as
a backup and taken off-site for secure
storage. The ARAID recognizes the
new drive and immediately begins to
mirror all data to it. Most ARAID
users buy 1 to 7 spare trays and rotate
backups offsite in a similar manner
as tape.
4. No drivers or application software
are needed to implement an ARAID.
It connects to existing SATA, eSATA,
USB, or Firewire controllers.
5. Because no drivers are required,
the same ARAID can be used with Windows,
Mac OS, Linux, Solaris, BSD, or any
RTOS.
6. The front panel LCD constantly
displays drive and unit status. It
warns the user of drive failure, abnormal
temperatures, fan failure, etc. An
audible alarm is standard. A Java-based
monitoring program includes email
notification of ARAID status.
7. Every ARAID has a quiet fan that
draws cool air directly over the drives.
This is a particularly useful feature
for hot-running 10,000 RPM drives.
8. Easy installation – If you
can install a DVD drive, you can install
an ARAID. All BIOS and operating systems
view the ARAID as another drive and
treat it accordingly. No need for
drivers or any other applications.
9. A drive from an ARAID can be carried
to another computer and used without
an ARAID (connected directly to the
disk controller, for example). Drives
created by lesser RAID controllers
can only be used with that specific
RAID controller.
10. ARAIDs will tolerate mixing of
drive models (within reason). Typical
RAID controllers require identical
drives which may not be available
in the future.
11. ARAIDs allow you to very simply
upgrade drive capacities as your data
storage requirements grow. Typical
RAID controllers require identical
drives with a difficult upgrade path.
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