| Please note, that our english support page is still under construction. Have a look at our german sites and feel invited to ask for any question by email. Best Regards, info [at] intradisk [dot] com 2006/08/30 13:32 |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
General questions about intradisk
Is it possible to turn off the blue status LED by software?
...the LED is too bright at night and irritates me quite a bit when I try to get my beauty sleep.
We really care for you beauty sleep, but we are afraid that such a feature is currently not implemented in intradisk. But since we already plan for a configurable status LED indicating a successful startup, we will take your request into consideration for the next release.
- for now we can only suggest to cover the LED with duct tape
Can I replace my backup server with intradisk?
Yes, intradisk already runs a so-called rsync server, that you can even securely access from remote via SSH. Moreover it allows you to backup your data with WinRsync or any other backup tool via various networking protocols like Windows networking (Samba), NFS or FTP. Using the integrated Rsync demon offers improved speed, because of an extremely effective and specialized caching method that is used for generating the lists of files to synchronize.
Can I dismantle the intradisk harddrive and read it with my regular PC in case of an emergency?
Yes, the highly reliable file system of intradisk (Ext3 journaling file system) is readable in a PC running Linux with the Ext3 driver. Suitable drivers for Windows are available by third party vendors. Please keep in mind that opening the case may void your warranty by breaking the seal. We recommend at least to check the intradisk manual for information on assembling and ESD precautions.
Can the WLAN version operate as a full featured router?
All intradisks with the Root/Admin package can be configured as a full featured router, otherwise intradisk will operate as a WLAN access point or client. The router function is limited to bridge mode, but can be configured to with a fixed IP address. In bridge mode (similar to a switch) you can therefore propagate all request to your DSL router, but without routing between different networks. The bridge will learn the routing tables automatically without the need for manual configuration.
How do I integrate intradisk in my existing network?
Simply plug it in. There is no special software you need to install. When Intradisk is up and running configured to your network, you have multiple options to to access your data:
- by a drive letter mapped to intradisk in your Windows Explorer
- conveniently by ‘My Network Places’ in Windows
- with a file browser via FTP access and login with your user account
- by a network client using the new UPNP protocol
- using NFS (Network File System protocol), with access to all NFS shares
Is intradisk powerful enough to handle HDTV streams?
Yes, PD Dr. Goede of the University of Rostock has been so kind to verify the HDTV streaming capability of intradisk at CeBit. The test was conducted with the realtime transmission of a MPEG2 coded HDTV data stream. The test did prove that intradisk has more than ample performance reserves for HDTV data streams. The relatively low compression ratio of the MPG2 format requires a high performance from the streaming devices, a performance that intradisk was able to provide without problems. We would like to say many thanks to the Institute for Automation Technology and the University Rostock for their support!
What is and what can I do with the developer version?
The developer version is a complete “Profi/Server” device, with the individual root certificate and a pre-installed Linux system. Of course you can purchase the root password and development package for your existing intradisk any time. Please check out our online shop for pricing.
The embedded Linux System allows to install any software package and configure the system to your individual needs. You can also integrate access to custom hardware. It is possible to install commercial or free Linux software on your intradisk to exectue them on the powerful integrated processor. Apache web server, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby script interpreter, email server, firewall, Wiki are available to name just a few software packages. On request we can support you with the installation or even do the full software implementation for you.
Is intradisk compatible to NSLU2 software?
Yes the system is fully compatible to all NSLU2 sources that are compiled as ‘BigEndian’ and are based on the glibc-2.2.5 .
NLSU2 features the same Intel Xscale processor as intradisk. Moreover, Intradisk has the advantage of a huge virtual memory on a dedicated swap partition. This means that it is not necessary to strip down standard applications to run on intradisk. The standby mode of the hard drive also works just fine.
Can I get a comprehensive manual or documentation for this device?
Because of the fast progress in the integrated software, the manual currently includes the start-up guide and basic functionality, and may not always be up to date. A comprehensive documentation is currently under construction here in this Wiki. You will find answers regarding the current development here as well.
Do I need to install software on my PC? How does intradisk fit in my network?
Using intradisk is very easy and you don’t even need to install any software on your PC. You can immediately access the intradisk NAS-drive in your network and configure everything with your web browser.
The requirements are simply to connect intradisk directly to your PC with an ethernet cable. Or that intradisk can find a DHCP server in your network. Alternatively you can also configure the device with fixed network settings.
I can only get 7,200rpm hard drives at my favorite retailer. Can I use these?
Of course you can use these drives with intradisk, as long as you don’t have extreme requirements on the robustness. You can of course run the device permanently, only the hard drive will be automatically shut down for stand-by. See also our notes about the reliability of hard drives, 24/7 contiunuous operation and continuous access.
Can I run intradisk 24/7 continuously?
Yes, inradisk was especially designed for this kind or operation! The integrated hard drive will be switched to stand by after an idle time of about 20 minutes, it will stop spinning to save power. External USB drives can not do this!
As backup, media server or data archive, that will access and spin the drive for only about 2,400h per year, there is no limitation. The mentioned 2,400h per year actually conforms to the average operating time of a standard PC.
It is possible to run intradisk without hard drive stand by?
Yes, intradisk is one of the few devices available on the market with an optimized cooling concept, that even without a fan allows continuous operation with a hard drive active 24/7 for several years. This make intradisk perfectly suitable for applications like video observation with ring buffering, web server or data logger.
A requirement for reliability and data integrity is the use of a power efficient hard drive and an additional cooling pad. Placing the device in a vented location will of course also improve the reliability.
How is the reliability and data integrity measured?
We are using only the most reliable and silent hard drives we know for intradisk. The drives have a MTBF of 600,000h according to manufacturer information, calculated with 2,400h operation time per year.
This means we have a high possibility that after 5 years of continuous operation in 25 degree Celsius, 95% of the drives will still be working fine. We did avoid any fans because they are noisy and unreliable. A typical fan has an MTBF of only 15,000h, resulting in a mere 2 year continuous operation! After that most fans would be broken and not cooling the device any more.
How can I improve the reliability and data integrity even more?
For this we recommend an additional jelly pad, that works as a flexible heat conductor from the harddrive to the metal housing.
The pad cools the harddrive cover to the environment temperature of the enclosure, reducing the surface temperature of the drive about 12�C degrees Celsius and therefore enhancing the reliability.
Interresting link for the topic of data storage and reliability: http://www.digit-life.com/articles/storagereliability/
How can I reset my intradisk to default settings?
You can reset intradisk to factory settings by several means:
via USB cable
- connect with USB cable → “INTRADISK’ will appear as a ‘Removable Disk’ in ‘My Computer’
- edit file “Bootdflt” by changing ‘false’ to ‘true’ and save the file
- intradisk will erase all saved changes ad reboot. Not deleted are user folders in /home, but user list and passwords are lost. As well all other data will remain untouched on the hard drive.
by reset button
planned...
on the FTP command interface
For experts only!
Do I need to do manual configuration under Linux?
No, most applications, like the Twonkyvision media server or WebGet, should be configured with the integrated web interface. However, there are some newer or special applications still without web interface, like NFS.
==== Is it possible to configure the device by shell with the same extend? Yes, but we do not yet have special shell configuration tool. Another option would be the configuration via FTP. All configuration files and user settings are stored in /etc/cfg_usr/. The individual parameters are referenced on the web interface. The command interface is located in /etc/cfg_usr/setup/block_*. To execute a command, you need to delete the two semaphore files at the same time. Example:
save settings in flash memory
- cd /etc/cfg_user/setup
- rm block_allcmds block_write2flash
- cd ..
- ls ./setup (repeat a couple of times)
When the command is executed, it will completely delete the the folder /etc/cfg_user/setup and create it again when finished.
Can I write huge data files?
The file system does not restrict the size of a file and can process all file sizes. As well NFS is capable of handling huge files on the network. FTP and Samba protocol are currently still limited to a 4GB file size.
How good is the performance of a single intradisk?
I would like to give two actual examples from our experience:
- One of our customers did the following:
- He connected a Siemens box and two Dream boxes to one intradisk.
- The Siemens box records a video broadcast
- 15 minutes later the Siemens box plays the same video
- The first Dream box plays an old video form the intradisk
- The second Dream box records a second video broadcast.
Our intradisk did not have any problems with this scenario, because of the powerful CPU and the optimal tuning of the 250GB hard drive.
- A performance test did a backup with simultaneous playing a DVD.
- the backup upstream rate was measured at approx. 7MByte/s in this test
- at the same time we did run a a high quality DVD video down stream on the LAN cable.
The video of this test did play without any flickering or frame drop-outs.
with the current version of the firmware I occasionally experience occasional drop-outs (freezer)
Freezer, that is short frozen images has the following cause that is related to the settings of a hard drive parameter with the name Block Readahead There is no fixed rule for setting this parameter, except that you set higher values for video streaming and smaller values for for optimized transport and copying of smaller files.
Expansion options - How can I enhance my intradisk?
The intradisk motherboard is prepared for one MiniPCI socket and one Bluetooth module socket. A highspeed RS232 interface allows to add external devices like a modem, bluetooth module, fieldbus or proprietary interfaces.
Usually the MiniPCI socket is populated with for example a WLAN module, but in principle this can be replaced by any other MiniPCI module. Because the MiniPCI socket is located on the bottom side, replacing the board will void the warranty.
The Bluetooth connector is easy accessible, so it is generally possible to add the bluetooth module at a later time. It is also possible to use this asynchronous highspeed interface for other purposes or communication modules.
We are always open for your custom requests and can implement your wishes in a cooperation or as a project. Feel free to contact us to discuss your ideas!
Customizations or enhancements are especially interesting for
- Customers who are looking for larger quantities with a custom configuration, for example a GSM modem, gigabit ethernet, etc.
- Customers who value the integration of a modem, for example to receive and process faxes
- Customers who prefer to get two notebook hard drives in a raid system to get an extremely shock resistant security package or to save even more power.
- If you want to connect an additional DVD recorder or a flash drive
- Customers who are interested in the chassis only to integrate in their system
- for user who don’t care about the voided warranty and want to have fun playing (e.g. implementing a sat receiver card)
- and more, applications that are to many and diverse to be listed here all. Be creative and think about the PCI card you are deploying today and all the interesting possibilities for a symbiosis with intradisk.
How do I login to intradisk with ssh?
In order to login to intradisk with ssh, you need first to have the OpenSSH plugin. Usually, OpenSSH is automatically installed with a firmware update. Additionally please note the following:
- the public key is automatically generated with the next boot. Generating the key will take about 3 minutes. After that, the intradisk keys are located in /etc/cfg_user/ssh_host_*_key.*
- Only after that can you save the key with “Make Changes Permanent”. Otherwise the key will be generated again with every reboot.
- You need to generate a valid DSA or RSA2 pair of keys and save them in the Putty folder. Insecure RSA1 keys are not accepted.
- To establish the connection with SSH, starting Putty and enter the network addres or the network name “nasdrive”.
How can I make my intradisk internet server more secure and protect it from unauthorized access?
There are a couple of methods to protect your files from unauthorized access. The procedures will drastically improve the security of your date, but like with any network and internet access, will not give you a full 100% protection. Keep this always in mind and you will run into the least errors.
- the simplest case is to configure your probably already existing internet firewall in a way that it by default blocks anything that is not explicitly allowed. The manufacturer settings of most firewalls will allow everything by default that is not explicitly blocked. They do that basically to reduce their support effort.
- deactivate access on your (DSL) firewall for all protocols that do not use encryption for transmitting passwords, if you don”t need these protocols, like FTP and Telnet.
- Don’t use your regular passwords for insecure protocols like FTP, Telnet or HTTP. Create different passwords instead.
- form the outside world, use secure connections to login to your intradisk, for example using SSH (SecureSHell) or SFTP. Or use a VPN gateway like the precompiled software package OpenVPN (VPN: Virtual Private Networking)
- Plan on what kind of data you will to store on your your intradisk. Don’t a storage with direct internet connection to store sensitive data. Or at least use a secure encryption like SSH.
- install a secure server like Apache in a ‘chroot’ environment and provide with only restricted access rights, to prevent that intruders could get ‘root’ access.
- run regular backups , for example with CIBS
How can I install a firewall on my Intradisk?
You will need the admin.root package to install your firewall of choice on the Intradisk hard drive partition. This will allow you to quickly install security updates any time, without the need to wait for third party updates.
The procedure to install a firewall is identical to the description in the Linux documentation of your firewall.
How secure are my data on Intradisk if I have it permanently attached to the internet?
Do I need to be concerned about security when I got all my backups including passwords, etc. on Intradisk?
Yes, you should definitely be concerned about security, always and everywhere. Intradisk is a highly integrated and compact embedded system. Even with highest diligence in software development and all efforts to close known security gaps, does the integrated software not comply to hard security standards or network security.
And there is the unwritten law of network security, that says:
- Never keep important data on a computer that is connected to the internet.
Also you should pay attention to the following:
- If you want to operate the device on the internet, always connect it through a firewall. Of course you can integrate a firewall in the same device.
- Only open ports on your firewall that are absolutely necessary.
- Always assume that someone can break into your system from the outside,
- that the hardware can fail completely. Electronics are subject to statistic failures, always and everywhere.
- Assume that everyone can read all data at any time.
- Never activate protocols that use insecure password authentication (telnet, FTP, ...) or in this case do not use valuable passwords.
- Always keep backups of data on a public web server up to date, to be prepared in case of emergencies.
- If you have a admin/root license, install a firewall if required and always install the latest security patches.
Does Intradisk support wake-on-LAN?
The answer is a definite maybe. On one hand side it is not possible to set the intradisk in a sleep mode where it would make sense to wake it up on LAN events. The already very economical standby mode (about 4 Watt), allows automatic and direct access to the device and wake it up immediately. The harddrive will of course start up and resume operation.
A second option that will be implemented in near future is to wake up other servers or a PC using wake-on-LAN. The advantage is the enormous electricity cost savings at the server, that can pay for the Intradisk practically in just one year. The implementation of this is relatively simple and should be realized like an authorized push button on the web interface.
