Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Intel SS4000-E NAS Firmware Update 1.4

We are in the process of updating the firmware on a client's SS4400-E NAS device.

The newest firmware gives us a number of enhanced features, with the essential one being the ability to plug in 1TB drives.

The firmware update cannot be run from within the standard Web interface on the NAS though. One must go through a particular procedure to follow through on it:
  1. Download the 1.4 firmware file from the SS4000-E Download Page .
  2. Extract the files from the downloaded file and save them to your hard drive on your laptop, desktop, server, etc.
  3. Backup the data on the SS4000-E to another system. (Important to note that data on the array(s) will be destroyed during this process!)
  4. Shutdown the Intel® Entry Storage System SS4000-E system
  5. Unplug all hard disks installed in the Intel® Entry Storage System SS4000-E system.
  6. Boot up the Intel® Entry Storage System SS4000-E system
  7. Login to the system by browsing the main web page:
    1. http://Intel Entry Storage System SS4000-E system’s IP Address/ (Ours defaulted back to 192.168.0.101 - so we set the workstation's IP to static .102)
    2. NOTE: this will display the system initialization screen, not the login screen. DO NOT insert the hard drives.
  8. Enter the following url to display the firmware upgrade page:
    1. https://Intel Entry Storage System SS4000-E system’s IP Address/system_init_vendorF.cgi
  9. Select the v1.4 software package file (fs-bc-v1.4-b709.pkg) to update the flash firmware. (We put it on the desktop of the system we were on for simplicity)
  10. After the previous step completes, the system should be rebooted but without the disks inserted. After the system completes the boot sequence, the disks can be inserted (one at a time while the system is running and wait for the disk LED to illuminate) and scanned for (scan for each disk after the LED illuminates) and the firmware reinstalled. If the firmware package is installed and the disks are reinserted prior to rebooting the system, the system will boot off the drives and not properly complete a clean install. The drives must be inserted while the system is running for this process to complete properly.
    Note that the firmware update process takes a quite a while.

    Also, once one logs in at the Management Web page, the NAS will have picked up a set of IP addresses from the internal DHCP server again. So, make sure to reset the workstation's IP back to DHCP after step 7.

    All in all, the process went very smooth.

    We will also now be utilizing the Active Directory integration on this particular NAS unit to manage user access. This feature simplifies data and folder permissions leaps and bounds over the built in Samba share structure.

    Philip Elder
    MPECS Inc.
    Microsoft Small Business Specialists

    *All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
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    8 comments:

    1. Anonymous07 September, 2008 12:41

      Hi Philip, thanks for the tip. My box reset to default IP settings but DHCP and not static IP. Simeon

      ReplyDelete
    2. Anonymous06 November, 2008 01:12

      This was a hole lot better than Intel's own support.
      The part with defaulting to dhcp or .0.101 was the great part.

      Thanks.
      Regards

      ReplyDelete
    3. cenxanane21 October, 2009 09:02

      hi philip,

      we have ss4000-3 with firmware version 13b524,

      I couldn't update the firmware, I unplug all the HDDs and then reboot the NAS,

      after it boots, system status LED turns to continuous yellow and I cannot reach the web console,

      in order to to update, what can I do?

      thanks

      ReplyDelete
    4. Anonymous30 December, 2009 08:38

      Hi Philip,

      I just try to use SS4000 with Vista or W7 "Network File available Offline" functionality. But I can't get any files synchronized "files are used by another process" or something like that. Any idea what's going wrong? Sambe release or Oplocks settings?
      Any help is appreciated.

      Regards,
      Christophh

      ReplyDelete
    5. Philip Elder Cluster MVP30 December, 2009 08:49

      Christophh,

      I have not tried to synchronize anything live with the SS4000. We use it primarily as a backup image destination for archival purposes at any of our client locations.

      More specifically, The Storage Team blog has Using Offline Files with Samba/EMC Servers, & NAS Devices.

      I think the Samba implementation on the SS4000-E is not compatible given its age.

      Philip

      ReplyDelete
    6. Anonymous09 May, 2013 09:12

      Phillip;

      I have an opportunity to purchase one of these units off eBay but I am reading allot of bad reviews.

      Can you comment on your satisfaction (or not)?

      Thanks
      JR

      ReplyDelete
    7. Philip Elder Cluster MVP09 May, 2013 09:49

      We still have one here in the shop.

      They did the job at a reasonable level.

      Might look into an inexpensive Synology to meet current storage and throughput needs.

      Philip

      ReplyDelete
    8. Anonymous09 May, 2013 10:11

      Thanks for the response!

      It's for home use so I am not too worried about throughput.
      I plan to use it as a file share/mapped drive.

      What I read was that the drive mapping would disappear and there would be data loss.

      Thanks
      -JR

      ReplyDelete

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