External Storage Device

The NAS supports external USB and eSATA storage devices* for storage expansion. Connect the external storage device to a USB or an eSATA interface of the NAS, when the device is successfully detected, the details will be shown on this page.

*The number of USB and eSATA interfaces supported varies by models. Please refer to http://www.qnap.com for details.

It may take tens of seconds for the NAS server to detect the external USB or eSATA device successfully. Please wait patiently.

The external storage device can be formatted as FAT32, NTFS, EXT3, or HFS+ (Mac only) file system. Select the option from the drop-down menu next to “Format As”.

Advanced format options:

The NAS supports external drive encryption. To encrypt an external storage device, click “Advanced format options”. Select the encryption method: AES 128-, 192- or 256-bit and enter the password (8-16 characters). Select “Save encryption key” to save the password in a hidden location on a hard drive of the NAS. The NAS will unlock the encrypted external storage device automatically every time the device is connected.

Click “Format Now”. All the data will be cleared. The device will be “Ready” after disk initialization.

Encryption management

If an external storage device is encrypted by the NAS, the button “Encryption Management” will appear. Click this button to manage the encryption password/key, or lock or unlock the device.

Lock the device

Note: The external storage device cannot be locked if a real-time or scheduled backup job is running on the device. To disable the backup job, go to “Backup” > “External Drive”.

1.	To lock an encrypted external storage device, click “Encryption Management”.

2.	Select “Lock this device” and click “Next”.

3.	Click “Finish” to lock the device.

Unlock the device

1.	To unlock an encrypted external storage device, click “Encryption Management”.

2.	Select “Unlock this device”. Click “Next”.

3.	Enter the encryption password or upload the key file. Select “Save encryption key” to save the password in a hidden location on a hard drive of the NAS. The NAS will unlock the encrypted external storage device automatically every time the device is connected. Click “Finish”.

Manage the encryption key

1.	To change an encryption password or download an encryption key file, click “Encryption Management”.

2.	Select “Manage encryption key”. Click “Next”.

3.	Select to change the encryption password or download the encryption key file to the local PC. Click “Finish”.

Disk usage settings for 1-drive models

Select one of the following settings for an external storage device connected to a 1-drive NAS:

•	Data sharing: Use the external drive for storage expansion of the NAS.

•	Q-RAID 1: Configure the external drive and a local hard drive on the NAS as Q-RAID 1. Q-RAID 1 enables one-way data synchronization from the NAS to the external storage device but does not offer any RAID redundancy. Note that the external drive will be formatted when Q-RAID 1 is executed.

After Q-RAID 1 has been executed once, the NAS data will be automatically copied to the external storage device whenever it is connected to the NAS.

Note:

•	Only one external hard disk can be set as Q-RAID 1 at one time.

•	It is recommended to use an external storage device of the same capacity as the internal hard drive of the NAS. If the storage capacity of the external storage device is too small to synchronize with the internal hard drive, the device can only be used for data sharing.

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External Storage Device					External_Storage_Device Dear Support Staff,
External Storage Device