Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product FAST TRAK100TM Promise Technology
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User Manual TM.
Copyright Copyright by Promise Technology, Inc. (“Promise”), 2000. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the expressed, written permission of Promise. Trademarks All trademarks are the property of their respect ive holders.
FastTrak100 User Manual Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................ ............................. 1 W HAT IS THE F AST T RAK 100 RAID C ARD ? ................................ ........................
FastTrak100 User Manual D ISK A RRAY T ERMS ................................................................ ...................... 66 A BOUT RAID L EVELS ................................................................ .................... 67 TROUBLESHOOTING & TI PS .
FastTrak100 User Manual 1 Introduction Thank you for your recent purchase.The PC which you are using either already contains a Promise Technology FastTrak100 RAID card ins talled by a third - party or you have acquired a FastTrak100 retail box for your existing PC and will be installing the card yourself.
FastTrak100 User Manual 2 FastTrak100's boo table BIOS supports individual drives larger than 8.4GB. With FAT32 and NTFS partitioning, the array can be addressed as one large single volume.
FastTrak100 User Manual 3 Keys Features and Benefits The following information offers an overview of the major features of your new Pro mise FastTrak100.
FastTrak100 User Manual 4 Compatibility Fea tures Benefits Complies with PCI v2.1 Local Bus standard Provides highest level of hardware compatibility. Compliant with PCI IDE Bus Master standard. PCI IDE Bus Master support for Windows 98/95, Windows NT 3.
FastTrak100 User Manual 5 NOTES.
FastTrak100 User Manual 6 Getting Started This section is designed to get you started for installation of your FastTrak100. Unpacking Your FastTrak100 When you receive the FastTrak100, the package sho.
FastTrak100 User Manual 7 Installing The Card Installing the FastTrak100 controller card in a system is a simple process. The card fits into any available 32 - bit PCI slot on the system’s motherboard (see figure below). 1. Remove the cover of your s ystem.
FastTrak100 User Manual 8 Installing The Hard Drives WARNING : If you wish to include your current bootable drive using the Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 operating system as part of a bootable Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your FastTrak100, do NOT connect the hard drive to the FastTrak100 controller yet.
FastTrak100 User Manual 9 4. Attach one Ultra ATA cable to each hard drive. Then attach one cable to each of the IDE connectors on the FastTrak100 controller card. The colored edge of the cable(s) indicates pin 1 (see below), and the blue cable connector must be attached to the FastTrak100 or Ultra100 ATA connector.
FastTrak100 User Manual 10 Checking CMOS Settings No changes are necessary in the Mainboard CMOS Setup for resources or drive types. Since FastTrak100 is a PCI Plug - n - Play (PnP) device, the Interrupt and Port address resources are automatically assigned by the Mainboard’s PCI PnP BIOS.
FastTrak100 User Manual 11 Creating Your Disk Array You will now use the onboard FastBuild BIOS utility to create your array using the attached drives.
FastTrak100 User Manual 12 NOTE : If you wish to customize certain settings at a later time, you may do so by manually creating your array (see page 15 Using FastBuild Configuration Utility).
FastTrak100 User Manual 13 Creating an Array for Performa nce NOTE: FastTrak100 allows users to create striped arrays with 1, 2, 3, or 4 drives. To create an array for best performance, follow these steps: 1. Using the Spacebar, choose “Performance” under the Optimize Array for section.
FastTrak100 User Manual 14 Creating a Security Array With A n Existing Data Drive NOTE: FastTrak100 permits only two drives to be used for a single Mirrored array in Auto Setup. If more drives are physically attached to the card, the Mirroring option will not be available.
FastTrak100 User Manual 15 4. Use the arrow keys to choose which drive contains the existing data to be copied. 5. Press [Ctrl - Y] keys to Save selection and start duplication. The following progre ss screen will appear. Start to duplicate the image .
FastTrak100 User Manual 16 NOTES.
FastTrak100 User Manual 17 Using FastBuild™ Configuration Utility The FastBuild TM Configuration Utility offers several menu choices to create and manage the drive array on the Promise FastTrak100 adapter.
FastTrak100 User Manual 18 Navigating the Fast Build™ Setup Menu When using the menus, these are some of the basic navigation tips: Arrow keys highlights through choices; [Space] bar key allows to cycle through options; [Enter] key selects an option; [ESC] key i s used to abort or exit the current menu.
FastTrak100 User Manual 19 Creating Arrays Automatically The Auto Setup <1> selection from the Main Menu can intuitively help create your disk array. It will assign all available drives appropriate for the disk array you are creating. After making all selections, use Ctrl - Y to Save selections.
FastTrak100 User Manual 20 Defining Typical Application Usage Allows the user to choose the type of PC usage that will be performed in order to optimize how FastTrak100 handles data blocks to enhance performance. Your choice will determine the block size used.
FastTrak100 User Manual 21 Viewing Drive Assignments The View Drive Assignments <2> option i n the Main Menu displays whether drives are assigned to a disk arrays or are unassigned. Under the “Assignment” column, drives are labeled with their assigned disk array or shown as “Free” if unassigned.
FastTrak100 User Manual 22 Manually Creating an Array The Define Array <3> option from the Main Menu allows users to begin the process of manually defining the drive elements and RAID levels for one or multiple disk arrays attached to FastTrak100.
FastTrak100 User Manual 23 Selecting Array Type 1. Under the Definition section of this menu, highlight the Array # for which you want to assign a RAID level. 2. Use the [Space] key to cycle through three array types: Performance (RAID 0 Striping), Security (RAID 1 Mirroring, RAID 0+1 Striping/Mirroring (for 4 drives ), or Capacity (Spanning).
FastTrak100 User Manual 24 a) If choosing a Striping, Spanning, or Mirroring/Striping array, the initial Define Array Menu screen will appear with the arrays de fined.
FastTrak100 User Manual 25 1. After assigning the drives to a Mirroring array, press <Ctrl - Y> keys to Save your selection. The window below will appear. Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No) Y - Create and Du plicate N - Create Only 2.
FastTrak100 User Manual 26 7. Once mirroring is complete, the following screen will appear confirming that your Security array has been created. Press any key to reboot the system Array has been created.
FastTrak100 User Manual 27 How FastTrak100 Orders Arrays During startup, the disk arrays on the FastTrak100 are recognized in this order: 1) The array set to bootable in the FastBuild TM Setup, and 2) the Array number (i.e. Array 0, Array 1…). This would be involved in determining which drive letters will be assigned to each disk array.
FastTrak100 User Manual 28 Deleting An Array The Delete Array <4> Menu option allows for deletion of disk array assignments. This is not the same as deletin g data from the drives themselves.
FastTrak100 User Manual 29 Press Ctrl - Y to Delete, others to Abort 4. After deleting the array, you shoul d create a new array using Auto Setup or the Define Array menu from the FastBuild Main Menu.
FastTrak100 User Manual 30 Rebuilding A Mirrored Array The Rebuild Array <5> Menu option is necessary to recover from an error in a mirrored disk array. You will re ceive an error message when booting your system from the FastTrak BIOS. NOTE : Drives MUST be replaced if they contain any physical errors.
FastTrak100 User Manual 31 FastBuild (tm) Utility 1.xx (c) 1995 - 2000 Promise Technology, Inc. [ Rebuild Array Menu ] Array No RAID Mode Total Drv Status Array 2 Mirror 2 Critical Stripe Block: Not Available [ Select Drive for Rebuil d ] Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB) 1 : Slave QUANTUM CR8.
FastTrak100 User Manual 32 Viewing Controller Settings The Controller Configuration <6> menu selection allows you to enable or disable the FastTrak100 BIOS from halting (the default) if it detects an error on boot up. You may also view the system resources (Interrupt and I/O port address) of FastTrak’s data channels.
FastTrak100 User Manual 33 NOTES.
FastTrak100 User Manual 34 Installing Drivers This section details the FastTrak100 driver installation when used with various operating systems. The software includes the driver necessary to identify F astTrak100 to the operating system. • For Windows 2000, see below.
FastTrak100 User Manual 35 Installing Driver in Existing Windows 2000 System WARNING : If you will be moving the boot drive contai ning the existing Windows 2000 operating system to a mirrored RAID 1 .
FastTrak100 User Manual 36 Microsoft Millennium Installing Drivers During M illennium Installation The following details the installation of the FastTrak100 drivers while installing Microsoft’s Millennium (with the FastTrak100 controller card already in place).
FastTrak100 User Manual 37 Installing Drivers with Existing Millennium System The following section details the installation of FastTrak100 drivers on a system that has Millennium already inst alled and running.
FastTrak100 User Manual 38 Windows 95/98 Installing Drivers During Windows 95/98 Installation The following three sections detail the installation of the FastTrak100 dri vers while installing Windows 95/98 (with the FastTrak100 controller card already in place).
FastTrak100 User Manual 39 7. In the hierarchical display under “Other Devices” is a listing for “PCI Mass Storage Controller.” Choose it and then press the “Properties” button. 8. Choose the “Driver” tab in the “P roperties” window, and then press the “Update Driver” button.
FastTrak100 User Manual 40 Installing Drivers with Existing Windows 95/ 98 The following three sections detail the installation of FastTrak100 drivers on a system that has Windows 95/98 already installed.
FastTrak100 User Manual 41 Confirming Driver Installation in Windows 98/95 To confirm that the driver has been properly loaded in Win 95/98, perform the following steps: 1. Choose “Settings” from the “Start” menu. 2. Choos e “Control Panel,” and then double - click on the “System” icon.
FastTrak100 User Manual 42 Windows NT4.0 Installing Drivers During Windo ws NT 4.0 Installation 1. Start the system installation by booting from the Windows NT disk: a) Floppy install: boot the system with the Windows NT installation diskettes. b) Floppyless install: boot from floppy and type “WINNT /B”.
FastTrak100 User Manual 43 Installing Driver with Existing Windows NT 4.0 WARNING : If you plan to move your boot drive to a mirrored RAID 1 FastTrak array, hard drives should NOT be connected to the FastTrak100 controller card before performing the following procedure.
FastTrak100 User Manual 44 Using The FastCheck™ Monitoring Utility You can monitor the operating status of all arrays and drives configured on the FastTrak100 using the supplied FastCheck monitoring utility for Windows - based operating systems.
FastTrak100 User Manual 45 Running FastCheck As described in the Installation section, the def ault option for FastCheck is to load during startup of Win95/98/NT/2000. It appears minimized on the taskbar under Win 95/98/NT4.0/2000/Millennium (see below).
FastTrak100 User Manual 46 Using FastC heck Array Window Once FastCheck is selected, the FastCheck Monitoring Utility window will appear. The main pane has three information window tabs: Array, Controller, and Options. The user can switch screens b y clicking on the tab.
FastTrak100 User Manual 47 Status: (Fun ctional, Critical, Offline) Functional : Means the array is providing full functionality Critical : Used only in reference to a Mirroring array (RAID 1 or RAID 0+1). A problem has been detected in one of the drives of the array and the drive has been taken “offline.
FastTrak100 User Manual 48 Offline : Drives that are NOT identified as “bad” may be taken offline if part of a Striping or Spanning array containing a “bad” drive.
FastTrak100 User Manual 49.
FastTrak100 User Manual 50 Synchronizing An Array Synchronization is a periodic maintenance procedure for Mirroring (R AID 1, RAID 0+1) arrays to maintain data consistency on all mirrored drives. In operation, array synchronization compares data on the mirrored drives for any differences.
FastTrak100 User Manual 51 4. Once Synchronization is confirmed, the following information screen appears. Click OK button or close the window to proceed. NO TE : During Array Synchronization, users may continue to access the working array and perform normal PC functions.
FastTrak100 User Manual 52 Rebuilding An Array This command effectively copies or overwrites data from an existing data drive in the array on to a blank drive. The operation will be typically used when a failed drive has been replaced with a new drive as part of a mirrored array.
FastTrak100 User Manual 53 4. Rebuild Wizard Step 2 confirms the Target or “Rebuild” disk by Array # and drive ID. 5. Click Finish button to initiate physical Rebuild, Back button to review Step 2, or Cancel button to Stop. A final confirmation windo w appears as below: 6.
FastTrak100 User Manual 54 6. On ce Array Rebuild has begun, users are returned to the FastCheck Monitoring window. A progress bar showing the rebuild progress in percentage will appear at the bottom of the FastCheck Monitoring window.
FastTrak100 User Manual 55 Using Controller Window Clicking on the Controller tab, will reveal the Controller Window. This displays physical information about th e location of FastTrak100, data channels on the card, and the attached drives.
FastTrak100 User Manual 56 Viewing IDE Channel Information Left - clicking on a given Channel icon or # in the left pane, will show the Base IO addresse s of the channel in the right pane (used for troubleshooting).
FastTrak100 User Manual 57 Viewing Drive Information Left - clicking on a given Drive icon or ID in the left pane, will show similar information categories as the Array Window Drive Information in the right pane. Status (also shown under the Array Window) can be Functional, Critical, or Offline.
FastTrak100 User Manual 58 Timing : Shows selection of drive timing (directly related to burst speed) based on type of drive and cable used. Using Options Window Clicking on the Options tab reveals the Options Window.
FastTrak100 User Manual 59 Selecting Notification Options This section of the Options windows allows users to select how they are notif ied of a system event.
FastTrak100 User Manual 60 Fix : in most cases, FastTrak100 automatically can correct errors. The method of correction varies depending on the type of erro r. Ignore : FastTrak100 will log the event error and continue the rebuild or synchronization process.
FastTrak100 User Manual 61 Ignore : F astTrak100 will log the event error and continue the synchronization process. (Warning: this may result in mismatched drives under RAID 1 or 0+1). Use this setting if you want to detect the presence of errors, but do not want to fix these errors at the tim e.
FastTrak100 User Manual 62 Setting PCI Bus Utilization Option NOTE : In most cases, a user does not need to change this setting since FastTrak100’s data handling ra rely conflicts with another PCI device.
FastTrak100 User Manual 63 Setting Screen Preferences This section controls how the FastCheck utility screen is displayed and sets the security password to protect the administrative settings. Start Minimized checkbox allows user to have FastChec k appear on the toolbar only on startup.
FastTrak100 User Manual 64 Creating Password 1. To cr eate a password, check the Enable Password checkbox in the Preferences section.The “Set Password” window will appear. 2. Type the password you want to use. Press the Tab key or click to retype the same password in the “Confirm New Password” section.
FastTrak100 User Manual 65 Understanding Disk Array Concepts About FastTrak100 Disk Array Adapter FastTrak100 is a high performance Ultra ATA/EIDE RAID controller card that features parallel data channel operation and an onboard BIOS.
FastTrak100 User Manual 66 Disk Array Terms Disk Array Description A “d isk array” is formed from a group of 2 or more disk drives which appear to the system as a single drive. The advantage of an array is to provide better throughput performance and/or data fault tolerance.
FastTrak100 User Manual 67 About RAID Levels Striping (RAID 0) Reads and writes sectors of data interlea ved between multiple drives. When any d isk member fails, it affects the entire array. Performance is better than a single drive since the workload is balanced between the array members.
FastTrak100 User Manual 68 Mirroring (RAID 1) Writes duplicate data on to a pair of drives while reads are performe d in parallel. ATA RAID 1 is fault tolerant because each drive of a mirrored pair is installed on separate IDE channels. If one of the mirrored drives suffers a mechanical failure (e.
FastTrak100 User Manual 69 Striping/Mirror (RAID 0+1) A comb ination of both above array types. It can increase performance by reading and writing data in parallel while protecting data with duplicat ion. A minimum of four drives needs to be installed.
FastTrak100 User Manual 70 Under RAID 0+1, the array maintains data integrity if any 1, 2 combination survives. Event Failed Drives Array Status Why? 1 A1/A2 Working B1/B2 retain array integrity 2 B2/.
FastTrak100 User Manual 71 Troubleshooting & Tips This section is used to assist with troubleshooting conflicts and FastTrak100 installation problems. Also refer to the “README.TXT” file on the FastTrak100 driver and util ity diskette for more recent inform ation as well as the PromiseOnline TM services listed in Appendix A.
FastTrak100 User Manual 72 Intermittent data problems Do not exceed the 100Mhz PCI Bus speed. Pentiums set to higher than default settings or AMD K6 and Cyrix CPUs can exceed these limitations and cause intermittent boot and data problems.
FastTrak100 User Manual 73 Possible Master/Slave problems Master/slave problems may exist between two ATA or IDE drives of different brands attached to a single cable. For both compatibility and better performance, choose drives of the same model/brand and install them on separate cables.
FastTrak100 User Manual 74 10. After rebooting, use FastBuild to re - create the array. For mirrored arrays, rebuild the mirrored array. For striped arrays, use FDISK and F ORMAT after setting up the array.
FastTrak100 User Manual 75 e rrors, but do not want to fix these errors at the time. You may then decide what to do about the error(s) detected. ECC Error Reported on Synchronize The following screen .
FastTrak100 User Manual 76 Operating System - Related Errors Different drive lettering under Windows NT This may happen when using a SCSI card in addition to the Promise card. Windows NT does not necessa rily load the driver for the boot device controller first.
FastTrak100 User Manual 77 “No Hard Drives Found” Message Appears During CD - ROM Install of Windows NT or Windows 2000 The "F6" key was not p ressed at the appropriate time.
FastTrak100 User Manual 78 Performance Tips Here are some tips that may optimize performance in a RAID 0 striped array. If you are using an audio/video editing card, we also recommend to review your card’s documentation for additional information.
FastTrak100 User Manual 79 Change Setting of PCI Bus Utilization Certain brands of video capture cards can produce a “glitch” on play back of .AVI files.
FastTrak100 User Manual 80 NOTES.
FastTrak100 User Manual 81 Frequently Asked Questions This section lists frequently asked questions i nvolving pre - installation, drive issues, installation, and post - installation.
FastTrak100 User Manual 82 Q: How does the FastTrak100 RAID controller provide storage and/or data protection with their arr ays? A: FastTrak100 implements three different types of RAID levels as follows: RAID 0 (stripe) For capacity -- The FastTrak100 array will be as big as the smallest HDD in the array times however many HDDs are in the array.
FastTrak100 User Manual 83 Drive Issues Q: Can I add a drive to a FastTrak100 RAID array via hot - swap and dynamically ad just the array size/configuration? A: No. The FastTrak100 system does not support dynamically adjustable RAID size/configurations.
FastTrak100 User Manual 84 Q: What system BIOS CMOS settings do I use for the drives on the FastTrak 100 controller? A: None. The drives on the FastTrak100 controller are supported by the FastTrak100 BIOS and/or an O/S drivers, not by your system BIOS.
FastTrak100 User Manual 85 on the PCI slots so that the boot device is in the highest priority sl ot number (see previous question). If you do not require the FastTrak100 BIOS to boot from an array and it is only to be used through a driver under the O/S.
FastTrak100 User Manual 86 NOTES.
Appendix A A 1 Contacting Promise Support Promise Technical Support provides several support options for Promise users to access information and updates. We encourage you to use one of our electronic services, which provide product information updates for the most efficient service and support.
Appendix A A 2 European Tech Support E - mail Support support@promise.nl Fax Technical Support +31 (0) 40 256 94 63 Attention: Technical Support Phone Technical Support +31 (0) 40 256 94 61 8:30 - 5:00pm The Netherlands Time If you wish to write us for support: Promise Technology Europe B.
Appendix B B 1 Limited Warranty Promise Technology, Inc. (“Promise”) warrants that for two(2) years from the time of the delivery of the product to the original end user: a) the product will conform to Promise’s specifications; b) the product will be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service.
Appendix B B 2 Promise shall not be liable for the cost of procuring substitute goods, services, lost profits, unrealized savings, equipment damage, cos ts of recovering, reprogramming, or reproducing.
Appendix C C 1 Returning Product For Repair If you suspect a product is not working properly, or if you have any questions about your product, contact our Technical Support Staff th rough one of our T.
Appendix C C 2 Your Responsibilities You are responsible for determining whether the product is appropriate for your use and will interface with your eq uipment without malfunction or damage. You are also responsible for backing up your data before installing any product and for regularly backing up your data after installing the product.
INDEX A Alarms Setting, 54, 55 APM Usage, 77 Arrays "Hot" Spare, 64 Concepts, 61 Creating multiple, 18 Critical, 15, 43 Defining , 20 Definitions, 62 Deleting, 26 Drive members, 62 Drive sta.
INDEX P PCI Bus speed, 77 Q QEMM Stealth, 81 R Reserved Sectors, 61 S System resources, 77 T Troubleshooting Can't form array, 67 CMOS Booting, 67 Co - exist with IDE, 67 Critical error on boot, .
INDEX P/N: C6101F100000000 - 1.
An important point after buying a device Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
