Connecting external SATA drives to the workstations

Each workstation features a SATA enclosure (a small black box with a slot in it), usually located to the left of the workstation. The enclosure is connected to the machine with the SATA cable, which provides fast access to the disk - in fact, as fast as access to the machine's internal hard drives. If needed, the enclosure can also be connected to the computer via the USB cable (however, access to the device will then be much slower). If the USB cable is used, the SATA cable should be first unplugged from the enclosure before the enclosure is turned on. The power to the enclosure is turned on and off using a small sliding switch on the back of the enclosure.

The following instructions explain how to work with external SATA drives on the Linux workstations (cbsuwrkst2-4).

Drives formatted under Linux (ext2, ext3 file systems): Due to issues with Linux file ownership and permissions, moving such drives between different machines usually requires administrator's intervention on each of these machines. If you need to work with such a drive on any of the lab linux workstations, contact us for help.

Drives formatted under Windows with FAT32 file systems: We do not recommend using the FAT32 file system due to its multiple limitations. If you have to work with FAT32 drive, follow these steps:

• bring your SATA drive to 625 Rhodes
• log into the machine you reserved and open a terminal window
• insert the drive into the SATA enclosure so that the connectors visible inside the enclosure match those on the disk
• turn the enclosure on; you should hear the disk spinning up
• your disk should mount automatically as a directory under /media (execute cd /media and look for subdirectory named after the name of your disk volume)
• when done using the disk, make sure none of the terminal windows you have open is not using it (e.g., execute the command cd in each such terminal window)
• turn off the power to the SATA enclosure and pull out the disk - it will be automatically unmounted

Drives formatted under Windows with NTFS file systems: NTFS file systems are quite versatile as they may be used on Windows, Linux, and Mac machines, although in the latter two cases, additional driver software needs to provide both read and write access to the disk. Without any additional software, Mac will mount an NTFS drive for reading only, and Linux will not be able to mount an NTFS drive at all.

In order to use an NTFS external SATA drive on any of the Linux workstations, follow these steps:

• bring your SATA drive to 625 Rhodes
• log into the machine you reserved and open a terminal window
• insert the drive into the SATA enclosure so that the connectors visible inside the enclosure match those on the disk
• turn the enclosure on; you should hear the disk spinning up
• in the terminal window, type mount_NTFS_drive; it should produce a message similar to disk /dev/sdd1 is now mounted on /media/NTFS
• in case of any error messages, contact us before proceeding, or
• otherwise, your disk is mounted and ready to use as the directory /media/NTFS
• when done using the disk, you need to unmount it:
  • execute the command cd in each terminal window you have open (or otherwise make sure you are not in the /media/NTFS directory and that your disk is not used by programs)
  • in any terminal window, type unmount_NTFS_drive; this should produce a message NTFS disk has been unmounted
  • turn off power to the SATA enclosure
  • pull out the disk

The following instructions explain how to work with external SATA drives on the Windows workstation (cbsuwrkst1). The windows machine can mount only drives with NTFS or FAT32 file systems. To connect the drive, follow these steps:

• bring your SATA drive to 625 Rhodes
• log into cbsuwrkst1
• insert the drive into the SATA enclosure so that the connectors visible inside the enclosure match those on the disk
• choose the connection (SATA or USB); connect the cable accordingly
• turn the enclosure on; you should hear the disk spinning up
• your drive will be mounted automatically - look for it in the File Explorer
• when done working with the drive, unmount it:
• make sure the drive is not accessed by any programs (e.g., the File Explorer is not set to show files on it)
• if the connection is USB, simply turn off the power to the enclosure and pull out the disk
• if the connection is SATA
  • shut down the machine (ask us for help if you do not know how)
  • then turn off power to the enclosure and pull out the disk
  • start the computer pressing the "on" button; when asked, press "F1" key to accept an empty SATA slot (if unsure about this step, ask us for help)