Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product SX4300 Promise Technology
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F AST T RAK SX4300, SX8300 U SER M ANUAL Ve r s i o n 1 . 1.
FastTrak SX4300, S X 8300 User Manual ii Copyright © 2006 Promise T echnolo gy , Inc. All Right s Res erved. Copyri ght by Prom ise T echnology , Inc. (Promi se T echnology ). No p art of this manual may be reproduc ed or t ransmitte d in an y form with out the express ed, written permiss ion of Prom ise T echnolog y .
Notices iii Radio Frequency Inte rfere n ce S t atem ent This equ ipmen t has be en teste d and fou nd to compl y with the limit s fo r a Class B digit al devic e, purs uant t o Par t 15 of t he FC C Rule s. The se lim it s are d esi gned t o provi de reas onable protec ti on agai nst har mful int erfere nce in a r es identi al inst allation.
FastTrak SX4300, S X 8300 User Manual iv.
v Content s Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 About Th is Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Product Ove rview . . . . . . . . . . . .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual vi Chapter 4: Install ing Sof tware D rivers, co ntinu ed Windows 2000 Install D river Durin g New OS I nstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 Install D river in an Exis ting Sys tem . . . . . . . . . .
1 Chapter 1: Introductio n • About This Man ual, belo w • Product O verview (p age 2) • Web P AM Mana gement Sof tware (p age 3) Thank y ou for purc hasin g one of Pro mise T echnology ’s F astT rak SX4300 or SX8300 R AID controll ers.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 2 Product Over view FastT rak SX4300 and SX8300 a re Serial A T A RAID co ntrollers. When u sed with Web P AM sof tware, t he FastT rak RAID Control lers of fer a f eature-ri ch, secure and vers atile en terprise -wide A T A RAID solution .
Chapter 1: Introduction 3 WebP AM Management Software he W eb-Bas ed Promi se Array Managem ent (W ebP AM) sof tware o ffe rs local and remote m anage ment and monit oring o f all Fast T rak logical drives th at exi st anywh ere on a n etwork.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 4.
5 Chapter 2: Inst allation • Pac kag e l ists, bel ow • Ins talli ng t he F ast Trak Card (page 6) • Ins talli ng t he Di sk D riv es (page 7) • Create a Logica l Drive (pag e 9) SX4300 When y.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 6 Installi ng the FastTrak Card The FastT rak RAID Cont rol ler card fit s into any av ail abl e 3.3 -vo lt PC I-X s lot . Y ou cannot plug th e FastT rak card into a 5-vo lt PCI sl ot. 1. Remove th e cov er of your syst em.
Chapter 2: Installation 7 3. In st all the Fas tT rak c ard into th e open slot (abo ve). 4. Fa sten t he Fast T rak c ard bracke t to the system case (ab ove). 5. Attach you r sys tem c ase’s 2- o r 4-p in LE D cab le t o th e LED conn ect or on t he FastT rak card (see the Figures b elow).
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 8 2. Att ach one Serial A T A dat a cable t o each di sk dri ve. Then a tta ch the oth er ends of the ca bles to th e connec tors on th e FastT rak card (a bove).
Chapter 2: Installation 9 3. Att ach th e Y -cable p ower splitt ers to eac h of the di sk drive s. Create a Logical Drive Y ou will n ow use the onboard FastBuild BIOS u tility to c reate a lo gical dri ve with the att ache d drives.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 10 3. Pre ss 2 on t he Main M enu scre en to d isplay t he Defin e LD Me nu (below ). 4. Pre ss the a rrow key s to hi ghligh t an logi cal d rive num ber you want to define and pr ess Enter to selec t it. The De fine LD Menu f or the logi cal d rive nu mber you selec ted wil l next appear (b elow).
Chapter 2: Installation 11 6. Pre ss the arr ow keys to move to the next opti on. Optio n choice s dep end on the RAID Level you sele cted. • Initiali ze logic al dri ve, zero t he disk d rives. R AID 1, 5, or 10 o nly . • S tripe Block Size , the d efault 64KB i s best fo r most ap plication s.
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13 Chapter 3: FastBuild™ U tility FastT r ak BIOS This sec tion ex plain s the in formation th at you c an obt ain fro m the Fas tT ra k BIOS. When the FastT rak BIOS loa ds during bootup, it displ ays perti nent inform ation about th e RAID logi cal driv es tha t it finds.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 14 hot sp are d rive, the l ogica l drive w ill rebui ld aut omatical ly . Y ou must i dentify and r eplace th e failed d isk d rive. Offline – The logic al drive is no lon ger ope rationa l and the FastBui ld utility cannot rebuild it.
Chapter 3: FastBuild™ Utility 15 V iew Drive Assignments From the Main Menu s creen, pre ss 1 to s ee the Vi ew Drive Assign ments screen (below). This sc reen repo rts disk driv e assig ment s and .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 16 Create a Logical Drive 1. Fr om the M ai n M enu sc ree n, p ress 2 t o di sp lay the Defi ne LD Me nu (bel ow ). 2. Pre ss the a rrow key s to hi ghligh t an logi cal d rive num ber you want to define and pr ess Enter to selec t it.
Chapter 3: FastBuild™ Utility 17 4. Pre ss the arr ow keys to move to the next opti on. Optio n choice s dep end on the RAID Level you sele cted. • Initiali ze logic al dri ve, zero t he disk d rives. R AID 1, 5, or 10 o nly . • S tripe Block Size , the d efault 64KB i s best fo r most ap plication s.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 18 T wo Logical Drives Contin ued from Cr eate Lo gical D rive step 7, above. 1. Pre ss Ctrl- Y to all ocate a po rtion o f the disk drive s to the fi rst lo gical dri ve. 2. En ter the d esired cap acity in MB fo r the first logical drive and press Ente r .
Chapter 3: FastBuild™ Utility 19 4. C hoose th e RAI D level an d optio ns for the secon d logica l driv e. Note th at the dis k drives in Cha nnels 1, 2 and 3 reflect sm aller ca pac ities becaus e a po rtion of their origi nal c apaci ty bel ongs to a dif ferent logical drive .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 20 View Drive Assignments, Split Disk Drives Aft er you cre ate two l ogical d rives from the sam e set of d isk d rives, pre ss 1 on the Mai n Menu s creen to s ee the View Drive As signme nts sc reen (b elow).
Chapter 3: FastBuild™ Utility 21 Delete Logical Dri ve T o del ete a logi cal d riv e: 1. Fr om the M ain M enu screen , pres s 3 t o dis play the D elete LD Menu (below). 2. H ighligh t the lo gical dri ve yo u wish to delete and pre ss the Del key o r Alt-D .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 22 3. Pre ss Ctrl- Y to confirm and com plete log ical driv e del etion. The scr een returns to the Delete LD Menu. Pres s Esc to return to the Main Menu. Controller C onfiguration From the Main Menu s creen, pre ss 4 to d ispla y the Co ntroller C onfigurat ion Option s screen (below).
Chapter 3: FastBuild™ Utility 23 Halt On Error The Ha lt On Error f unction c auses th e FastT rak controlle r to sto p the boot process at the FastT rak BIOS screen when th ere is a p roblem with your l ogica l drive . For exam ple, a di sk dri ve failure causes your log ical d rive to go critical .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 24 When yo u boot your sys tem, the F astT rak BIOS screen i nforms y ou if there is a critica l or of fline logical d rive. I f you ena bled th e Halt On E rror opti on, your system will sto p booti ng at this point .
Chapter 3: FastBuild™ Utility 25 In the D efine LD Menu s creen, co mpare the num ber of dri ves ass igned to th e logica l drive (T otal Drv ) with the disk dri ves lis ted under D rive Ass ignment s. In the ab ove e xample, t hree drive s are ass igned but only two appe ar .
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27 Chapter 4: Inst alling Sof tware Drivers Follow ing are driver inst allation proc edures for the FastT rak SX4300 and SX8300 RAID Co ntro lle r c ards . Dow n loa d th e l ate st d riv ers from th e Pro mi se T echnology websi te at www .promise.c om .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 28 Windows Server 2003 Inst all Dri ver During New OS Inst allation 1. S tart the in sta llation: Boot from th e CD-RO M. Press F 6 af ter the message “Press F6 if you ne ed to i nstal l third p arty SCSI or RAID driver” app ears.
Chapter 4: Installing Software Drivers 29 4. U nder Sele ct the device d river you want to i nstal l, cli ck Have Disk... 5. Un der Inst all from Di sk, type A:wnet wnet and click OK. 6. U nder Sele ct the device d river you want to i nstal l, cli ck Next .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 30 Note: If you need to speci fy any ad dition al devic es to be i nstal led, do so at this tim e. Once all d evice s are spe cifie d, continu e to th e next step. 6. Fr om the Windows Setup sc reen, p ress the En ter .
Chapter 4: Installing Software Drivers 31 3. Clic k on t he Sy s tem ico n . 4. C hoose th e Hardw are ta b, and t hen cl ick the Device Mana ger button. 5. Cl ick th e + in fron t of SCSI c ontrollers . WinXP Promis e FastT rak SX4300/ 8300 (tm ) Control ler should appea r .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 32 2. In sert the Pro mise Fas tT rak Dri ver diske tte in the A: drive . 3. Under Install Hardware Device Drivers, select Sea rch fo r a s uitab l e dr iver... and cl ick Ne xt . 4. U nder Loc ate Dri ver Fi les, unc heck Flo ppy d isk drives and CD-ROM d rives .
Chapter 4: Installing Software Drivers 33 7. Sc roll down to th e Promise FastT rak SX4300/830 0 (tm) Co ntroller and clic k OK . 8. W hen the Insta ller di splays P romise Fa stT rak SX4300/8300 (tm) Contr oller has bee n foun d, click Done . 9. Cont inu e wi th th e i nstall ati on nor mal ly .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 34 3. W hen the boot: prom pt app ears on th e bottom o f the scre en, typ e acpi=oldb oot into the lower in put box. 4. Pre ss the le ft Al t key and insert th e FastT rak driver diskette into th e floppy drive .
35 Chapter 5: Con cept s • About FastT rak, below • Introduc tion to RAID, b elow • Choos ing a RA ID Level (page 41) • Other Lo gical Drive F eatures (p age 43) About FastTrak FastT rak SX4300 and SX8300 a re high pe rforman ce RAID Con troller card s that featur e concurr ent dat a chan nel op eration an d onbo ard BIOS .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 36 RAID 0 – Stripe When a l ogica l drive is strip ed, the rea d and wr ite blo cks of da ta are interle aved betwee n the sec tors of multiple disk dri ves. Perfo rmanc e is incr eased , since th e worklo ad is ba lanced be tween d rives or “members” t hat form the logi cal dri ve.
Chapter 5: Concept s 37 RAID 1 – Mirror When a l ogica l drive is mirrored, identi cal dat a is w ritten t o a pai r of dis k drives , while reads are perform ed in p aralle l. The read s are p erforme d using e levat or seek an d load bala ncing tec hniques where the wo rkload is distribute d in the most ef fi ci ent m an ner .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 38 RAID 5 – Block Striping with Dis tributed Parity RAID lev el 5 o rganizes dat a across the disk drives o f the lo gical dri ve, and distribu tes p arity i nformation across the disk drives al ong with the dat a blo cks.
Chapter 5: Concept s 39 RAID 10 – Mirror / S tripe Mirror/S tripe combin es both o f the RAID 0 and RAID 1 lo gical driv e types . It can increas e performa nce by re ading an d writing data in p arallel while protec ting dat a with d uplicati on. At leas t four di sk drive s are nee ded for RAID 10 to b e ins talled .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 40 • A/B ind icates wh ich s triped p air the drive bel ongs to. • 1/2 indi cates which p art of stripe dat a.
Chapter 5: Concept s 41 Choosing a RAID Level There are seve ral issue s to cons ider wh en choos ing the RAID Leve l for y our Fast T rak log ical driv e. The followi ng discu ssion s ummariz es so me advan tag es, disadv ant ages and appli cation s for ea ch choi ce.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 42 RAID 5 Recomm ended Applicati ons for RA ID 5 • Fil e an d Ap pl ic a tio n ser ver s • WWW , E-mail, and News se rvers • Int rane t se rver s • Most v.
Chapter 5: Concept s 43 Other Logical Drive Features St ripe Block Siz e The cho ices are 32K, 64K and 12 8K. 64K is t he default . This selectio n will directly affe ct perfo rmance. T here are two issue s to con sider wh en selec ting th e strip e bloc k size.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 44 S pare Dri ves are a utomat ically a dded to an arra y once a disk me mber o f the array ha s been detected as failed .
Chapter 5: Concept s 45 RAID Level Migration To migr at e a logical d rive is to do on e or bot h of the following : • Chang e it s RAID level • Increas e the n umber of d isk driv es (some times ca lled Exp ans ion) The Fas tT rak SX43 00 and SX8300 RAI D Cont roller card s support RAID Le vel Migrati on.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 46 Ranges of Disk Array Exp ansion There are limit ations to how large y ou can ex pand a logi cal dr ive, depe nding on the siz e of your current logical drive. The curre nt SCSI an d Fibre C hannel HBA c ards and PC Operat ing System s support a 10-byt e LBA forma t.
Chapter 5: Concept s 47 As a res ult, the re are ra nge limi ts imposed upon logi cal d rive exp ansion as shown in the t able above. Fo r exampl e: • Y ou can exp an d a 2.5 TB lo gical drive up to 4 TB • Y ou can onl y exp and a 1 .9 TB lo gical dri ve up to 2 TB See the t abl e below .
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49 Chapter 6: T roublesh ooting & Tip s This se ction is us ed to a ssis t with tro ubles hootin g conf lict s and FastT rak SX430 0 or SX8300 inst allation problems .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 50 System loc ks up d uring boot up or w hen Wind ows st art s There ma y be a possibl e IRQ con flict with a n ISA ca rd. Identify what IRQs are used by ISA card s, ent er the Moth erboard PC I Setup, an d reserve the IRQ for use wi th ISA.
Chapter 6: Troubleshooting & Tips 51 Powerin g the system off and on once to re set the drive. Als o confirm th at cables are properl y att ached a nd the drive is receivin g power .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 52 For W ind ow s 20 00, X P an d 2 003 Serv er , Prom is e reco mmen ds a clea n inst all of the Opera ting Syste m. This a ction res tores the MBR and OS boo t record. T his req uires rep artit ioning and forma tting t he drive.
53 Chapter 7: Sup port • Frequ entl y Ask ed Qu es tio ns, below • Con tact T e chni cal Supp ort , page 57 • Limited W arranty , page 59 • Ret urn Pro d uc t f or Repair, page 6 1 Frequently .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 54 How can I change the resou rces that the F astT rak uses? The Fast T rak SX4300 and SX83 00 are f ully Pn P . This me ans all th e resourc es that it uses are given to it by th e PnP BIOS on the m otherboard.
Chapter 7: Support 55 I alrea dy have an array on a n older Fa stT rak controll er . Can I move tha t array to my new Fa stT rak SX4300 or SX8 300 contr oller? Y es. All F astT rak controlle rs read the arrays the sam e way a nd can be moved from one c ontroller t o anoth er .
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 56 How do I p artition/format my FastT rak SX Series RAID log ical drive? The Fast T rak Controll er represen ts the logic al drive as a sin gle disk drive to your sy stem . Therefore, anyth ing that y ou can do to a s ingle dis k drive y ou can do to a Fas tT rak l ogica l drive.
Chapter 7: Support 57 Contact T echni cal Support Promise T echnica l Support provi des seve ral support op tions for Promise users to acces s informa tion and u pdates . We e ncourage you to use one o f our e lectronic servic es, whi ch prov ide p roduct inform ation u pdates for the most ef ficien t serv ice and sup port.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 58 Germany It aly Ta i w a n E-mail Support support-de @p rom ise-e me a.com Fax T echnical Sup port +49 (0) 2 31 56 76 48 - 29 Attn: T echnic al Supp ort Phone T.
Chapter 7: Support 59 China Limited Warranty Promise T echnology , Inc. (“Promise ”) warrants that for th ree (3) yea rs from the time of the del ivery of the produc t to the original end user: a).
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 60 Except a s expres sly set forth ab ove, Promi se DISCLAIMS a ny warra nties, express ed or i mplied, by st atute or otherwis e, rega rding the p roduct , incl uding, withou t limit ation , any wa rranties fo r fitness for any pu rpose, quality , mercha ntabil ity , non-infring ement, or otherwis e.
Chapter 7: Support 61 Return Product For Repair If you s uspect a produc t is not wo rking properly , or if you have any question s about y our prod uct, cont act ou r T echnical Sup port S taff throu.
FastTrak SX4300, S X8300 User M anual 62 Y ou are respo nsible fo r the c ost of ins urance an d shipm ent of the p roduct to Promise . Note that d amage incurred d ue to i mproper tra nsport or p acka ging is not cov ered under the Li mited W arranty .
An important point after buying a device Promise Technology SX4300 (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 SX4300 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 SX4300 - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Promise Technology SX4300 you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Promise Technology SX4300 will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Promise Technology SX4300, 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 SX4300.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Promise Technology SX4300. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Promise Technology SX4300 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
