Acer Network Card Series 520 User Manual

HARDWARE  
GUIDE  
®
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
Zero-Channel RAID  
Controller  
S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 2  
®
 
FCC Regulatory Statement  
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the  
following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and  
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that  
may cause undesired operation.  
Warning:  
Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by  
the party responsible for compliance could void the user's author-  
ity to operate the equipment.  
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class  
B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed  
to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential  
installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency  
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may  
cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no  
guarantee that interference will not occur in a specific installation. If this  
equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which  
can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, try to correct the  
interference by one or more of the following measures:  
1. Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.  
2. Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.  
3. Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which  
the receiver is connected.  
4. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.  
Shielded interface cables must be used with this product to ensure compliance  
with the Class B FCC limits.  
Model Number: Series 520  
Disclaimer – LSI LOGIC certifies only that this product will work correctly when  
this product is used with the same jumper settings, the same system  
configuration, the same memory module parts, and the same peripherals that  
were tested by LSI LOGIC with this product. The complete list of tested jumper  
settings, system configurations, peripheral devices, and memory modules are  
documented in the LSI LOGIC Compatibility Report for this product. Call your LSI  
LOGIC sales representative for a copy of the Compatibility Report for this  
product.  
iii  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
iv  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Preface  
This book is the primary reference and Hardware Guide for the LSI Logic  
MegaRAID® SCSI 320-0 Controller. It contains instructions for installing  
the MegaRAID controller and for configuring RAID arrays. It also contains  
background information on RAID.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller supports single-ended and low-  
voltage differential (LVD) SCSI devices on an Ultra320 and Wide SCSI  
channel with data transfer rates up to 320 Mbytes/s.  
Audience  
This document is intended for people who need to install the MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0 Controller in a server and then create and configure RAID  
arrays.  
Organization  
This document has the following chapters and appendixes:  
S
S
S
S
S
Chapter 1, Overview, provides an overview of the MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 and basic SCSI features.  
Chapter 2, Introduction to RAID, introduces important RAID  
concepts.  
Chapter 3, RAID Levels, describes each supported RAID level and  
the factors to consider when choosing a RAID level.  
Chapter 4, Features, explains the features of the MegaRAID® SCSI  
320-0.  
Chapter 5, Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical  
Drives, explains how to configure SCSI physical drives, arrays, and  
logical drives.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
v
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
 
S
S
S
Chapter 6, Hardware Installation, explains how to install the  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller.  
Chapter 7, Troubleshooting, provides troubleshooting information  
for the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller.  
Appendix A, Audible Warnings, explains the meaning of the  
warning tones generated by the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 RAID  
controller.  
Technical Support  
If you need help installing, configuring, or running the MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 Controller, you may be able to find the information you need at the  
MegaRAID support page at http://megaraid.lsilogic.com  
If this does not resolve your problem, you can call your LSI Logic OEM  
Technical Support representative at 678-728-1250. Before you call,  
please complete the MegaRAID Problem Report form.  
MegaRAID Problem Report Form  
Customer Information  
MegaRAID Information  
Name:  
Today’s Date:  
Company:  
Address:  
City/State:  
Country:  
Email Address:  
Phone:  
Date of Purchase:  
Invoice Number:  
Serial Number:  
Cache Memory:  
Firmware Version:  
BIOS Version:  
Fax:  
System Information  
Motherboard:  
BIOS manufacturer:  
BIOS Date:  
Operating System:  
Op. Sys. Ver.:  
Video Adapter:  
vi  
Preface  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
 
MegaRAID Problem Report Form (Cont.)  
MegaRAID  
Driver Ver.:  
CPU Type/Speed:  
Network Card:  
System Memory:  
Other disk controllers  
installed:  
Other adapter cards  
Installed:  
Description of problem:  
Steps necessary to re-create problem:  
1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
Logical Drive Configuration  
Use this form to record the configuration details for your logical drives.  
Logical Drive Configuration  
Logical  
Drive  
RAID  
Level  
Stripe  
Size  
Logical Drive  
Size  
Cache  
Policy  
Read  
Policy  
Write  
Policy  
# of Physical  
Drives  
LD0  
LD1  
LD2  
LD3  
LD4  
LD5  
LD6  
LD7  
LD8  
Preface  
vii  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Logical Drive Configuration (Cont.)  
Logical  
Drive  
RAID  
Level  
Stripe  
Size  
Logical Drive  
Size  
Cache  
Policy  
Read  
Policy  
Write  
Policy  
# of Physical  
Drives  
LD9  
LD10  
LD11  
LD12  
LD13  
LD14  
LD15  
LD16  
LD17  
LD18  
LD19  
LD20  
LD21  
LD22  
LD23  
LD24  
LD25  
LD26  
LD27  
LD28  
LD29  
LD30  
LD31  
LD32  
LD33  
viii  
Preface  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Logical Drive Configuration (Cont.)  
Logical  
Drive  
RAID  
Level  
Stripe  
Size  
Logical Drive  
Size  
Cache  
Policy  
Read  
Policy  
Write  
Policy  
# of Physical  
Drives  
LD34  
LD35  
LD36  
LD37  
LD38  
LD39  
Physical Device Layout  
Use this form to record the physical device layout.  
Physical Device Layout  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Preface  
ix  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Physical Device Layout (Cont.)  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
x
Preface  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Physical Device Layout (Cont.)  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Preface  
xi  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Physical Device Layout (Cont.)  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
xii  
Preface  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Contents  
Chapter 1  
Overview  
1.1  
1.2  
1.3  
1.4  
1.5  
1.6  
1-4  
1-4  
1-4  
SCSI Bus Widths and Maximum Throughput  
Documentation  
1.6.1  
1.6.3  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 ZCR Hardware Guide  
Chapter 2  
Introduction to RAID  
2.1  
2-4  
2-4  
2-4  
2-6  
2-7  
2.1.1  
2.1.2  
2.2  
2.3  
2.2.1  
2.2.2  
2.3.1  
2.3.2  
2.3.3  
2.3.4  
2.3.5  
2.3.6  
2.3.7  
Consistency Check  
Fault Tolerance  
Disk Striping  
Disk Mirroring  
Disk Spanning  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
xiii  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
2.3.8  
2.3.9  
2.3.11 Disk Rebuild  
2-9  
2.3.12 Logical Drive States  
2-10  
Chapter 3  
RAID Levels  
3.1  
3.2  
3.3  
3.5  
3.6  
RAID 0  
3-2  
3-3  
RAID 1  
Chapter 4  
Features  
4.1  
4.2  
4.3  
4.4  
4.5  
4.6  
4.7  
4.8  
4.9  
4-7  
4-8  
4-8  
4-8  
4-8  
4.9.1  
4.9.2  
4.9.3  
4.9.4  
SCSI Firmware  
4.10 RAID Management  
4.10.1 MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility  
4.10.2 WebBIOS Configuration Utility  
4.10.3 Power Console Plus  
xiv  
Contents  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
4.10.4 MegaRAID Manager  
4.11 Compatibility  
4-8  
4-9  
Chapter 5  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
5.1  
5.1.1  
5.1.2  
5.1.3  
5.1.4  
5.2  
5.3  
5.2.1  
5.2.2  
5.3.1  
5.3.2  
Assigning RAID Levels  
5-11  
5-12  
5.4  
5.5  
Configuring Logical Drives  
5.5.1  
Chapter 6  
Hardware Installation  
6.1  
6.2  
6-2  
6-3  
6-6  
6.2.1  
6.2.2  
6.2.3  
6.2.4  
6.2.5  
6.2.6  
Step 1: Unpack  
Step 2: Power Down  
Step 5: Power Up  
Step 6: Run the MegaRAID BIOS Configuration  
Utility  
6-7  
6-7  
6-8  
6.2.7  
Step 7: Install the Operating System Driver  
6.3  
Summary  
Contents  
xv  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Chapter 7  
Troubleshooting  
7.1  
7.3  
7.4  
General Troubleshooting  
Other BIOS Error Messages  
Other Potential Problems  
7-1  
7-4  
7-5  
Appendix A  
Audible Warnings  
Appendix B  
Glossary  
Index  
Customer Feedback  
xvi  
Contents  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Chapter 1  
Overview  
This chapter provides an overview of the MegaRAID® SCSI 320-0 and  
S
S
S
S
S
S
Section 1.1, “Features”  
Section 1.3, “Single-Ended and Differential SCSI Buses”  
Section 1.4, “Maximum Cable Length for SCSI Standards”  
Section 1.5, “SCSI Bus Widths and Maximum Throughput”  
Section 1.6, “Documentation”  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 zero-channel RAID (ZCR) controller is a  
high-performance intelligent PCI-to-SCSI host adapter with RAID control  
capabilities. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is a low-profile card that  
provides reliability, high performance, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem  
management.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 can be installed in a special PCI expansion slot  
in a computer with a motherboard that has the LSI Logic 53C1030 SCSI  
chip. The zero-channel adapter converts a motherboard’s own on-board  
SCSI controller into a powerful PCI SCSI RAID solution, and is targeted  
for 1U and 2U server environments.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is part of the LSI Logic Intel i960RM/RS-  
based MegaRAID controller family, and is an entry-level to mid-range  
RAID controller solution. This controller offers a cost-effective way to  
implement RAID in a server.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports data transfer rates up to 320  
Mbytes/s per channel, and it supports up to fifteen non-Ultra SCSI  
devices. MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 includes MegaRAID features and  
performance.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
1-1  
 
   
1.1 Features  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 features include:  
S
Provides a high performance I/O migration path while preserving  
existing PCI-SCSI software.  
S
S
Performs SCSI data transfers up to 320 Mbytes/s.  
Performs synchronous operation on a wide low-voltage differential  
(LVD) SCSI bus.  
S
S
Allows up to 15 LVD SCSI devices on the wide bus.  
Includes an Intel GC80302 integrated I/O processor that performs  
RAID calculations and routing.  
S
Supports 32 to 128 Mbytes of SDRAM on-board cache memory used  
for read and write-back caching, and RAID 5 parity generation.  
1.2 NVRAM and Flash ROM  
A 32 Kbyte x 8 nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) stores  
RAID system configuration information. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
firmware is stored in flash ROM for easy upgrade.  
1.3 Single-Ended and Differential SCSI Buses  
The SCSI standard defines two electrical buses:  
S
S
Single-ended bus  
Low-voltage differential bus  
1-2  
Overview  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
           
1.4 Maximum Cable Length for SCSI Standards  
Table 1.1 lists the maximum SCSI cable length and number of disk drives  
that you can use, depending on the SCSI speeds.  
Table 1.1  
Maximum Cable Length for SCSI Standards  
Single Ended  
SCSI  
Low-Voltage  
Differential SCSI  
Maximum # of  
Drives  
Standard  
Ultra SCSI  
1.5 m  
3 m  
12 m  
12 m  
12 m  
12 m  
12 m  
25 m  
12 m  
25 m  
12 m  
25 m  
12 m  
25 m  
12 m  
12 m  
20 m  
7
3
Ultra SCSI  
Wide Ultra SCSI  
Wide Ultra SCSI  
Wide Ultra SCSI  
Ultra 2 SCSI  
15  
7
1.5 m  
3 m  
3
1
Ultra 2 SCSI  
7
Wide Ultra 2 SCSI  
Wide Ultra 2 SCSI  
Ultra160 SCSI  
Ultra160 SCSI  
Wide Ultra160 SCSI  
Wide Ultra160 SCSI  
Ultra320  
1
15  
1
7
1
15  
15  
1
Ultra320  
Maximum Cable Length for SCSI Standards  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
1-3  
 
   
1.5 SCSI Bus Widths and Maximum Throughput  
Table 1.2 lists the SCSI bus widths and maximum throughput, based on  
the SCSI speeds.  
Table 1.2  
SCSI Bus Widths and Maximum Throughput  
SCSI Standard  
SCSI Bus Width  
SCSI Throughput  
Fast Wide SCSI  
Wide Ultra SCSI  
Wide Ultra 2 SCSI  
Wide Ultra 160 SCSI  
Ultra 320 SCSI  
16 bits  
16 bits  
16 bits  
16 bits  
16 bits  
20 Mbytes/s  
40 Mbytes/s  
80 Mbytes/s  
160 Mbytes/s  
320 Mbytes/s  
1.6 Documentation  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 documentation set includes:  
S
S
S
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 ZCR Hardware Guide  
The MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide  
The MegaRAID Operating System Driver Installation Guide  
1.6.1 MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 ZCR Hardware Guide  
The Hardware Guide contains the RAID overview, RAID planning, and  
RAID system configuration information you need first. Read this  
document first.  
1.6.2 MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide  
This manual describes the software configuration utilities that you can  
use to configure and modify RAID systems.  
1-4  
Overview  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
             
1.6.3 MegaRAID Operating System Driver Installation Guide  
This manual provides detailed information about installing the MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0 operating system drivers.  
Documentation  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
1-5  
 
 
1-6  
Overview  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Chapter 2  
Introduction to RAID  
This chapter introduces important RAID concepts. It contains the  
following sections:  
S
S
S
Section 2.1, “RAID Benefits”  
Section 2.2, “MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 – Host-Based RAID Solution”  
Section 2.3, “RAID Overview”  
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a data storage method  
in which data, along with parity information, is distributed among two or  
more hard disks (called an array) to improve performance and reliability.  
The RAID array appears to the host computer as a single storage unit or  
as multiple logical units. I/O is expedited because several disks can be  
accessed simultaneously. RAID systems provide improved data storage  
reliability and fault tolerance compared to single-drive computers. If a  
disk drive in a RAID array fails, data can be reconstructed from the data  
and parity information on the remaining disk drives.  
2.1 RAID Benefits  
RAID is widely used because it improves I/O performance and increases  
storage subsystem reliability. RAID provides data security through fault  
tolerance and redundant data storage. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
management software configures and monitors RAID disk arrays.  
2.1.1 Improved I/O  
Although disk drive capabilities have improved drastically, actual  
performance of individual disk drives has been improved only three to  
four times in the last decade. RAID provides a way to achieve much  
better data throughput.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
2-1  
 
             
2.1.2 Increased Reliability  
The electromechanical components of a disk subsystem operate more  
slowly, require more power, and generate more noise and vibration than  
electronic devices. These factors reduce the reliability of data stored on  
disks. RAID provides a way to achieve much better fault tolerance and  
data reliability.  
2.2 MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 – Host-Based RAID Solution  
RAID products are either host-based or external.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller is a host-based RAID solution.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is a PCI adapter card that is installed in a  
PCI expansion slot in a host system with a motherboard that contains the  
LSI Logic 53C1030 SCSI chip.  
2.2.1 Host-Based RAID  
A host-based RAID product puts all of the RAID intelligence on an  
adapter card that is installed in a network server. A host-based RAID  
product provides the best performance. MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is part of  
the file server, so it can transmit data directly across the computer’s  
buses at data transfer speeds up to 132 Mbytes/s.  
The available sequential data transfer rate is determined by the following  
factors:  
S
S
S
S
S
S
The sustained data transfer rate on the motherboard PCI bus  
The sustained data transfer rate on the i960RM PCI to PCI bridge  
The sustained data transfer rate of the SCSI controller  
The sustained data transfer rate of the SCSI devices  
The number of SCSI channels  
The number of SCSI disk drives  
Host-based solutions must provide operating system-specific drivers.  
2-2  
Introduction to RAID  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
         
2.2.2 SCSI-to-SCSI External RAID  
A SCSI-to-SCSI external RAID product puts the RAID intelligence inside  
the RAID chassis and uses a plain SCSI host adapter installed in the  
network server. The data transfer rate is limited to the bandwidth of the  
SCSI channel. A SCSI-to-SCSI external RAID product that has two wide  
SCSI channels operating at speeds up to 320 Mbytes/s must squeeze  
the data into a single wide SCSI (320 Mbytes/s) channel back to the host  
computer.  
In SCSI-to-SCSI external RAID products, the disk drive subsystem uses  
only a single SCSI ID, which allows you to connect multiple drive  
subsystems to a single SCSI controller.  
2.3 RAID Overview  
RAID is a collection of specifications that describes a system for ensuring  
the reliability and stability of data stored on large disk subsystems. A  
RAID system can be implemented in a number of different versions (or  
RAID levels). MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports standard RAID levels 0,  
1, and 5, and RAID levels 10 and 50, special RAID versions supported  
by MegaRAID SCSI 320-0.  
2.3.1 Physical Array  
A RAID array is a collection of physical disk drives governed by the RAID  
management software. A RAID array appears to the host computer as  
one or more logical drives.  
2.3.2 Logical Drive  
A logical drive is a partition in a physical array of disks that is made up  
of contiguous data segments on the physical disks. A logical drive can  
consist of any of the following:  
S
S
S
S
An entire physical array  
More than one entire physical array  
A part of an array  
Parts of more than one array  
RAID Overview  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
2-3  
 
                 
S
A combination of any two of the above conditions  
2.3.3 Consistency Check  
A consistency check verifies the correctness of redundant data in a RAID  
array. For example, in a system with distributed parity, checking  
consistency means computing the parity of the data drives and  
comparing the results to the contents of the parity drives.  
2.3.4 Fault Tolerance  
Fault tolerance is achieved through auto detection of failed drives,  
rebuilds with hot spare drive, the ability to hot swap drives, Configuration  
on Disk capability, and support for self-monitoring analysis and reporting  
technology (SMART). MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 provides hot swapping  
through the hot spare feature. A hot spare drive is an unused online  
available drive that MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 can instantly plug into the  
system when an active drive fails.  
After the hot spare is automatically moved into the RAID subsystem, the  
failed drive is automatically rebuilt. The RAID disk array continues to  
handle request while the rebuild occurs.  
2.3.5 Disk Striping  
Disk striping writes data across multiple disk drives instead of just one  
disk drive, as shown in Figure 2.1.  
2-4  
Introduction to RAID  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
           
Figure 2.1 Disk Striping  
MegaRAID Controller  
Segment 1  
Segment 5  
Segment 9  
Segment 2  
Segment 6  
Segment 10  
Segment 3  
Segment 7  
Segment 11  
Segment 4  
Segment 8  
Segment 12  
Disk striping involves partitioning each disk drive’s storage space into  
stripes that can vary in size from 2 to 128 Kbytes. These stripes are  
interleaved in a repeated, sequential manner. The combined storage  
space is composed of stripes from each drive. MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
supports stripe sizes of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 Kbytes.  
For example, in a four-disk system using only disk striping (as in RAID  
level 0), segment 1 is written to disk 1, segment 2 is written to disk 2,  
and so on. Disk striping enhances performance because multiple drives  
are accessed simultaneously; but disk striping does not provide data  
redundancy.  
2.3.5.1  
Stripe Width  
Stripe width is a measure of the number of disks involved in an array  
where striping is implemented. For example, a four-disk array with disk  
striping has a stripe width of four.  
RAID Overview  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
2-5  
 
   
2.3.5.2  
Stripe Size  
The stripe size is the length of the interleaved data segments that  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 writes across multiple drives. MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 supports stripe sizes of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 Kbytes.  
2.3.6 Disk Mirroring  
With disk mirroring (used in RAID 1), data written to one disk drive is  
simultaneously written to another disk drive, as shown in Figure 2.2.  
Figure 2.2 Disk Mirroring  
MegaRAID Controller  
Segment 1  
Segment 2  
Segment 3  
Segment 4  
Segment 1 Duplicated  
Segment 2 Duplicated  
Segment 3 Duplicated  
Segment 4 Duplicated  
If one disk drive fails, the contents of the other disk drive can be used to  
run the system and reconstruct the failed drive. The primary advantage  
of disk mirroring is that it provides 100% data redundancy. Since the  
contents of the disk drive are completely written to a second drive, it  
does not matter if one of the drives fails. Both drives contain the same  
data at all times. Either drive can act as the operational drive.  
Although disk mirroring provides 100% redundancy, it is expensive  
because each drive in the system must be duplicated.  
2-6  
Introduction to RAID  
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2.3.7 Disk Spanning  
Disk spanning allows multiple disk drives to function like one big drive.  
Spanning overcomes lack of disk space and simplifies storage  
management by combining existing resources or adding relatively  
inexpensive resources. For example, four 60 Gbyte disk drives can be  
combined to appear to the operating system as one single 240 Gbyte  
drive.  
Disk spanning alone does not provide reliability or performance  
enhancements. Spanned logical drives must have the same stripe size  
and must be contiguous. In Figure 2.3, two RAID 1 arrays are turned into  
a RAID 10 array.  
Figure 2.3 Disk Spanning  
MegaRAID Controller  
Data Flow  
RAID 1  
RAID 1  
Disk 1  
Disk 2  
Disk 3  
Disk 4  
Segment 1  
Segment 1  
Segment 2  
Segment 2  
Segment 3  
Segment 5  
Segment 3  
Segment 5  
Segment 4  
Segment 6  
Segment 4  
Segment 6  
RAID 0  
RAID Overview  
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2-7  
 
     
Table 2.1 describes how disk spanning is used for RAID 10 and RAID 50.  
Table 2.1 Spanning for RAID 10 and RAID 50  
Level Description  
10  
50  
Configure RAID 10 by spanning two contiguous RAID 1 logical drives.  
The RAID 1 logical drives must have the same stripe size.  
Configure RAID 50 by spanning two contiguous RAID 5 logical drives.  
The RAID 5 logical drives must have the same stripe size.  
Note:  
Spanning two contiguous RAID 0 logical drives does not  
produce a new RAID level or add fault tolerance. It does  
increase the size of the logical volume and improves  
performance by doubling the number of spindles.  
2.3.8 Parity  
Parity generates a set of redundancy data from two or more parent data  
sets. The redundancy data can be used to reconstruct one of the parent  
data sets. Parity data does not fully duplicate the parent data sets. In  
RAID, this method is applied to entire drives (dedicated parity) or to  
stripes across all disk drives in an array (distributed parity).  
RAID 5 combines distributed parity with disk striping. If a single disk drive  
fails, it can be rebuilt from the parity and the data on the remaining  
drives. Parity provides redundancy for one drive failure without  
duplicating the contents of entire disk drives, but parity generation can  
slow the write process.  
2.3.9 Hot Spares  
A hot spare is an extra, unused disk drive that is part of the disk  
subsystem. It is usually in standby mode, ready for service if a drive fails.  
Hot spares permit you to replace failed drives without system shutdown  
or user intervention.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 implements automatic and transparent rebuilds  
using hot spare drives, providing a high degree of fault tolerance and  
zero downtime. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 RAID Management software  
allows you to specify physical drives as hot spares. When a hot spare is  
needed, the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller assigns the hot spare that  
2-8  
Introduction to RAID  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
                   
has a capacity closest to and at least as great as that of the failed drive  
to take the place of the failed drive.  
Note:  
Hot spares are employed only in arrays with redundancy—  
for example, RAID levels 1, 5, 10, and 50. A hot spare  
connected to a specific MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller  
can be used only to rebuild a drive that is connected to the  
same controller.  
2.3.10 Hot Swapping  
Hot swapping is the manual replacement of a defective physical disk unit  
while the computer is still running. When a new drive has been installed,  
you must issue a command to rebuild the drive.  
2.3.11 Disk Rebuild  
You rebuild a disk drive by recreating the data that had been stored on  
the drive before the drive failed. Rebuilding can be done only in arrays  
with data redundancy such as RAID level 1, 5, 10, and 50.  
Standby (warm spare) rebuild is employed in a mirrored (RAID 1)  
system. If a disk drive fails, an identical drive is immediately available.  
The primary data source disk drive is the original disk drive.  
A hot spare can be used to rebuild disk drives in RAID 1, 5, 10, or 50  
systems. If a hot spare is not available, the failed disk drive must be  
replaced with a new disk drive so that the data on the failed drive can be  
rebuilt.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller automatically and transparently  
rebuilds failed drives with user-definable rebuild rates. If a hot spare is  
available, the rebuild starts automatically when a drive fails. MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0 automatically restarts the system and the rebuild if the  
system goes down during a rebuild.  
2.3.11.1 Rebuild Rate  
The rebuild rate is the fraction of the compute cycles dedicated to  
rebuilding failed drives. A rebuild rate of 100% means the system is  
totally dedicated to rebuilding the failed drive.  
RAID Overview  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
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The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 rebuild rate can be configured between 0%  
and 100%. At 0%, the rebuild is only done if the system is not doing  
anything else. At 100%, the rebuild has a higher priority than any other  
system activity.  
2.3.12 Logical Drive States  
Table 2.2 describes the logical drive states.  
Table 2.2  
Logical Drive States  
Description  
State  
Optimal  
The drive operating condition is good. All configured drives are  
online.  
Degraded  
The drive operating condition is not optimal. One of the  
configured drives has failed or is offline.  
Failed  
Offline  
The drive has failed.  
The drive is not available to MegaRAID SCSI 320-0.  
2.3.13 SCSI Drive States  
A SCSI disk drive can be in one of the states described in Table 2.3.  
Table 2.3  
State  
SCSI Drive States  
Description  
Online  
(ONLIN)  
The drive is functioning normally and is a part of a configured  
logical drive.  
Ready  
(READY)  
The drive is functioning normally but is not part of a configured  
logical drive and is not designated as a hot spare.  
Hot Spare  
(HOTSP)  
The drive is powered up and ready for use as a spare in case an  
online drive fails.  
Fail  
A fault has occurred in the drive, placing it out of service.  
(FAIL)  
Rebuild  
(REB)  
The drive is being rebuilt with data from a failed drive.  
2-10  
Introduction to RAID  
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2.3.14 Disk Array Types  
Table 2.4 describes the RAID disk array types.  
Table 2.4  
Type  
Disk Array Types  
Description  
Software-  
Based  
The array is managed by software running in a host computer  
using the host CPU bandwidth. The disadvantages associated  
with this method are the load on the host CPU and the need  
for different software for each operating system.  
SCSI to SCSI The array controller resides outside of the host computer and  
communicates with the host through a SCSI adapter in the  
host. The array management software runs in the controller. It  
is transparent to the host and independent of the host  
operating system. The disadvantage is the limited data transfer  
rate of the SCSI channel between the SCSI adapter and the  
array controller.  
Bus-Based  
The array controller resides on the bus (for example, a PCI or  
EISA bus) in the host computer and has its own CPU to  
generate the parity and handle other RAID functions. A bus-  
based controller can transfer data at the speed of the host bus  
(PCI, ISA, EISA, VL-Bus) but is limited to the bus it is designed  
for. MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 resides on a PCI bus, which can  
handle data transfer at up to 132 Mbytes/s. With MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0, the channel can handle data transfer rates up to  
320 Mbytes/s per SCSI channel.  
2.3.15 Enclosure Management  
Enclosure management is the intelligent monitoring of the disk  
subsystem by software and/or hardware.  
The disk subsystem can be part of the host computer or can be separate  
from it. Enclosure management helps you stay informed of events in the  
disk subsystem, such as a drive or power supply failure. Enclosure  
management increases the fault tolerance of the disk subsystem.  
RAID Overview  
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2-12  
Introduction to RAID  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Chapter 3  
RAID Levels  
This chapter describes each supported RAID level and the factors to  
consider when choosing a RAID level. It contains the following sections:  
S
S
S
S
S
S
Section 3.1, “Selecting a RAID Level”  
Section 3.2, “RAID 0”  
Section 3.3, “RAID 1”  
Section 3.4, “RAID 5”  
Section 3.5, “RAID 10”  
Section 3.6, “RAID 50”  
3.1 Selecting a RAID Level  
To ensure the best performance, you should select the optimal RAID  
level when you create a system drive. The optimal RAID level for your  
disk array depends on a number of factors:  
S
S
S
S
The number of drives in the disk array  
The capacity of the drives in the array  
The need for data redundancy  
The disk performance requirements  
Note:  
The SCSI 320-0 controller supports a maximum of 15  
physical drives.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
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3-1  
 
       
3.2 RAID 0  
RAID 0 provides disk striping across all drives in the RAID subsystem.  
RAID 0 does not provide any data redundancy, but does offer the best  
performance of any RAID level. RAID 0 breaks up data into smaller  
blocks and then writes a block to each drive in the array. The size of each  
block is determined by the stripe size parameter, set during the creation  
of the RAID set. RAID 0 offers high bandwidth. By breaking up a large  
file into smaller blocks, MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 can use several drives to  
read or write the file faster. RAID 0 involves no parity calculations to  
complicate the write operation. This makes RAID 0 ideal for applications  
that require high bandwidth but do not require fault tolerance.  
Uses  
RAID 0 provides high data throughput, especially for large  
files. Suitable for any environment that does not require  
fault tolerance.  
Strong Points  
Weak Points  
Drives  
Provides increased data throughput for large files. No  
capacity loss penalty for parity.  
Does not provide fault tolerance. All data lost if any drive  
fails.  
1 to 30  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller supports one or two  
SCSI channels, with up to 15 SCSI devices on each  
channel.  
Figure 3.1 shows a RAID 0 array with four disk drives.  
3-2  
RAID Levels  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
   
Figure 3.1 RAID 0 Array  
MegaRAID Controller  
Segment 1  
Segment 5  
Segment 9  
Segment 2  
Segment 6  
Segment 10  
Segment 3  
Segment 7  
Segment 11  
Segment 4  
Segment 8  
Segment 12  
3.3 RAID 1  
In RAID 1, the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 duplicates all data from one drive  
to a second drive. RAID 1 provides complete data redundancy, but at the  
cost of doubling the required data storage capacity.  
Uses  
Use RAID 1 for small databases or any other environment  
that requires fault tolerance but small capacity.  
Strong Points Provides complete data redundancy. RAID 1 is ideal for any  
application that requires fault tolerance and minimal capacity.  
Weak Points  
Drives  
Requires twice as many disk drives. Performance is impaired  
during drive rebuilds.  
2
Figure 3.2 shows a RAID 1 array.  
RAID 1  
3-3  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
     
Figure 3.2 RAID 1 Array  
MegaRAID Controller  
Segment 1  
Segment 2  
Segment 3  
Segment 4  
Segment 1 Duplicated  
Segment 2 Duplicated  
Segment 3 Duplicated  
Segment 4 Duplicated  
3.4 RAID 5  
RAID 5 includes disk striping at the byte level and parity. In RAID 5, the  
parity information is written to several drives. RAID 5 is best suited for  
networks that perform many small I/O transactions simultaneously.  
RAID 5 addresses the bottleneck issue for random I/O operations. Since  
each drive contains both data and parity, numerous writes can take place  
concurrently. In addition, robust caching algorithms and hardware based  
exclusive-or assist make RAID 5 performance exceptional in many  
different environments.  
3-4  
RAID Levels  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
     
Uses  
Provides high data throughput, especially for large files. Use  
RAID 5 for transaction processing applications, because each  
drive can read and write independently. If a drive fails, the  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 uses the parity data to recreate all  
missing information. Use also for office automation and online  
customer service that requires fault tolerance. Use for any  
application that has high read request rates but low write  
request rates.  
Strong Points Provides data redundancy and good performance in most  
environments  
Weak Points  
Disk drive performance is reduced if a drive is being rebuilt.  
Environments with few processes do not perform as well  
because the RAID overhead is not offset by the performance  
gains in handling simultaneous processes.  
Drives  
3 to 30  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller supports one or two  
SCSI channels, with up to 15 SCSI devices on each channel.  
Figure 3.3 shows a RAID 5 array with six disk drives.  
Figure 3.3 RAID 5 Array  
MegaRAID Controller  
Note: Parity is distributed  
across drives in the array.  
Data Flow  
Disk 1  
Disk 2  
Disk 3  
Disk 4  
Disk 5  
Disk 6  
Segment 1  
Segment 7  
Parity (9–12)  
Segment 2  
Segment 8  
Segment 3  
Segment 9  
Parity (5–8)  
Segment 4  
Segment 10  
Segment 5  
Segment 11  
Parity (1–4)  
Segment 6  
Segment 12  
RAID 5  
3-5  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
 
3.5 RAID 10  
RAID 10 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1. RAID 10 has mirrored  
drives. RAID 10 breaks up data into smaller blocks, and then stripes the  
blocks of data to each RAID 1 RAID set. Each RAID 1 RAID set then  
duplicates its data to its other drive. The size of each block is determined  
by the stripe size parameter, which is set during the creation of the RAID  
set. RAID 10 can sustain one to four drive failures while maintaining data  
integrity, if each failed disk is in a different RAID 1 array.  
Uses  
Works best for data storage that must have 100%  
redundancy of mirrored arrays and that also needs the  
enhanced I/O performance of RAID 0 (striped arrays). RAID  
10 works well for medium-sized databases or any  
environment that requires a higher degree of fault tolerance  
and moderate to medium capacity.  
Strong Points  
Weak Points  
Drives  
Provides both high data transfer rates and complete data  
redundancy.  
Requires twice as many drives as all other RAID levels  
except RAID 1.  
4 to 18  
Must be a multiple of two.  
Figure 3.4 shows a RAID 10 array with four disk drives.  
3-6  
RAID Levels  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
   
Figure 3.4 RAID 10 Array  
MegaRAID Controller  
Data Flow  
RAID 1  
RAID 1  
Disk 1  
Disk 2  
Disk 3  
Disk 4  
Segment 1  
Segment 1  
Segment 2  
Segment 2  
Segment 3  
Segment 5  
Segment 3  
Segment 5  
Segment 4  
Segment 6  
Segment 4  
Segment 6  
RAID 0  
3.6 RAID 50  
RAID 50 provides the features of both RAID 0 and RAID 5, including both  
parity and disk striping across multiple drives. RAID 50 is best  
implemented on two RAID 5 disk arrays with data striped across both  
disk arrays. RAID 50 breaks up data into smaller blocks, and then stripes  
the blocks of data to each RAID 5 RAID set. RAID 5 breaks up data into  
smaller blocks, calculates parity by performing an exclusive-or on the  
blocks, and then writes the blocks of data and parity to each drive in the  
array. The size of each block is determined by the stripe size parameter,  
which is set during the creation of the RAID set.  
RAID 50  
3-7  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
     
RAID 50 can sustain one to four drive failures while maintaining data  
integrity, if each failed disk is in a different RAID 5 array.  
Uses  
Works best when used with data that requires high reliability,  
high request rates, high data transfer, and medium to large  
capacity.  
Strong Points Provides high data throughput, data redundancy, and very  
good performance.  
Weak Points  
Drives  
Requires 2 to 4 times as many parity drives as RAID 5.  
6 to 30  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller supports one or two  
SCSI channels, with up to 15 SCSI devices on each channel.  
Figure 3.5 shows a RAID 50 array with six disk drives.  
Figure 3.5 RAID 50 Array  
MegaRAID Controller  
Data Flow  
RAID 5  
RAID 5  
Disk 4  
Disk 5  
Disk 6  
Disk 1  
Disk 2  
Disk 3  
Segment 1  
Segment 6  
Parity (9-10)  
Segment 2  
Parity (5-6)  
Segment 9  
Parity (1-2)  
Segment 5  
Segment 10  
Segment 3  
Segment 8  
Parity (11-12)  
Segment 4  
Parity (7-8)  
Segment 11  
Parity (3-4)  
Segment 7  
Segment 12  
RAID 0  
3-8  
RAID Levels  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
 
Chapter 4  
Features  
This chapter explains the features of the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0. It  
contains the following sections:  
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Section 4.8, “Operating System Software Drivers”  
Section 4.9, “MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Specifications”  
Section 4.10, “RAID Management”  
Section 4.11, “Compatibility”  
MegaRAID is a family of high performance intelligent PCI-to-SCSI host  
adapters with RAID control capabilities. MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports  
Ultra320 and Wide SCSI at data transfer rates up to 320 Mbytes/s, and  
up to 15 Wide devices and up to seven non-Wide devices.  
4.1 SMART Technology  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting  
Technology (SMART) detects up to 70% of all predictable drive failures.  
SMART monitors the internal performance of all motors, heads, and drive  
electronics.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
4-1  
 
           
4.2 Configuration on Disk  
Configuration on Disk (drive roaming) saves configuration information  
both in nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) on the MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0, and on the disk drives controlled by the MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0. If the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is replaced, the new MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0 controller can detect the actual RAID configuration,  
maintaining the integrity of the data on each drive, even if the drives have  
changed channel and/or target ID.  
4.3 Configuration Features  
Table 4.1 contains the configuration features for the MegaRAID 320-0.  
Table 4.1  
Configuration Features  
Specification  
Feature  
RAID levels  
0, 1, 5, 10, and 50  
SCSI channels  
0 (The MegaRAID 320-0 enables  
RAID capability on one or two SCSI  
channels controlled by the LSI Logic  
53C1030 SCSI chip installed on the  
motherboard.)  
Maximum number of drives per channel 15  
Array interface to host  
Drive interface  
PCI 2.2  
Fast and Wide, Ultra320 single-  
ended and low-voltage differential  
(LVD)  
Upgradeable cache size  
Cache function  
Cache memory onboard  
Write-through, write-back, adaptive  
read-ahead, no read-ahead, read-  
ahead  
Multiple logical drives/arrays per  
controller  
Up to 40 logical drives per controller  
Maximum number of MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 controllers per system  
1
4-2  
Features  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
         
Table 4.1  
Configuration Features (Cont.)  
Feature  
Specification  
Online capacity expansion  
Hot spare support  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Flashable firmware  
Hot swap devices supported  
Non-disk devices supported  
Mixed capacity hard disk drives  
Support for hard disk drives with  
capacities of more than 8 Gbytes.  
Clustering support (Failover control)  
Online RAID level migration  
RAID remapping  
No  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
No reboot necessary after expansion  
More than 200 Qtags per physical drive Yes  
Hardware clustering support on the  
board  
Yes  
User-specified rebuild rate  
Yes  
4.4 Array Performance Features  
Table 4.2 lists the array performance features.  
Table 4.2  
Array Performance Features  
Feature  
Specification  
Host data transfer rate  
Drive data transfer rate  
Stripe sizes  
533 Mbytes/s  
320 Mbytes/s  
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 Kbytes  
Array Performance Features  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
4-3  
 
     
4.5 RAID Management Features  
Table 4.3 lists the RAID management features.  
Table 4.3  
RAID Management Features  
Specification  
Feature  
Support for SNMP  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Performance Monitor provided  
Remote control and monitoring  
Support for concurrent multiple stripe sizes  
Windows NT, 2000, XP, and .NET server support using a GUI  
client utility  
4.6 Fault Tolerance Features  
Table 4.4 lists the fault tolerance features.  
Table 4.4  
Fault Tolerance Features  
Specification  
Feature  
Support for SMART  
Yes  
Enclosure management  
SCSI-accessed fault-tolerant  
enclosure (SAF-TE) compliant  
Drive failure detection  
Automatic  
Manual disk replacement without system Yes, by using hot swap features  
shutdown  
Drive rebuild using hot spares  
Parity generation for RAID  
Automatic  
Hardware  
4-4  
Features  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
               
4.7 Software Utilities  
Table 4.5 lists the software utility features.  
Table 4.5  
Software Utilities  
Specification  
Feature  
Graphical user interface  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
Management utility  
Bootup configuration using MegaRAID Manager  
Online read, write, and cache policy switching  
4.8 Operating System Software Drivers  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 includes a DOS software configuration utility, and  
drivers for:  
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Windows NT 4.0  
Windows 2000  
Windows .NET  
Windows XP  
Novell NetWare 5.1, 6.0  
Red Hat Linux 7.2, 7.3  
DOS version 6.xx or later  
The DOS drivers for MegaRAID are contained in the firmware on  
MegaRAID, except for the DOS ASPI and CD drivers. Call LSI Logic  
Technical Support at 678-728-1250 or access the web site at  
www.lsilogic.com for information about drivers for other operating  
systems.  
Software Utilities  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
4-5  
 
                 
4.9 MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Specifications  
Table 4.6 lists the specifications for the SCSI 320-0.  
Table 4.6  
Parameter  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Specifications  
Specification  
Card size  
2.536 x 6.6 inches (low-profile PCI)  
Intel GC80302 integrated I/O processor  
PCI 2.2  
Processor  
Bus type  
PCI controller  
Intel GC80302  
Bus data transfer rate Up to 132 Mbytes/s  
BIOS  
MegaRAID BIOS  
Cache configuration  
Predefined during manufacturing; ECC through a  
66MHz 72-bit unbuffered 3.3V SDRAM.  
Firmware  
1 MB × 8 flash ROM  
Nonvolatile RAM  
Operating voltage  
32 Kbytes × 8 for storing RAID configuration  
5.00 V ± 0.25 V  
SCSI data transfer rate Up to 320 Mbytes/s  
SCSI device types  
supported  
Synchronous or asynchronous. Disk and non-disk.  
RAID levels supported 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50  
4.9.1 PCI Bridge/CPU  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 uses the Intel i960RM PCI bridge with an  
embedded 80960JX RISC processor running at 66 MHz. The RM bridge  
handles data transfers between the primary (host) PCI bus, the  
secondary PCI bus, cache memory, and the SCSI bus. The DMA  
controller supports chaining and unaligned data transfers. The  
embedded 80960JX CPU directs all controller functions, including  
command processing, SCSI bus transfers, RAID processing, drive  
rebuilding, cache management, and error recovery.  
4-6  
Features  
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4.9.2 Cache Memory  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports 32 to 128 Mbytes of ECC SDRAM  
DIMM on-board cache memory. MegaRAID supports write-through or  
write-back caching, which can be selected for each logical drive. To  
improve performance in sequential disk accesses, MegaRAID does not  
use read-ahead caching for the current logical drive. The default setting  
for the read policy is Normal, meaning no read-ahead caching. You can  
disable read-ahead caching.  
Warning:  
Write caching is not recommended for the physical drives.  
When write cache is enabled, loss of data can occur when  
power is interrupted.  
4.9.3 MegaRAID BIOS  
The BIOS resides on a 1 Mbyte × 8 flash ROM for easy upgrade. The  
MegaRAID BIOS supports INT 13h calls to boot DOS without special  
software or device drivers. The MegaRAID BIOS provides an extensive  
setup utility that can be accessed by pressing <Ctrl><M> at BIOS  
initialization. The MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility is described in  
the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide.  
4.9.4 SCSI Firmware  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 firmware handles all RAID and SCSI  
command processing and also supports the items in Table 4.7.  
Table 4.7  
Feature  
SCSI Firmware  
Description  
Disconnect/  
reconnect  
Optimizes SCSI bus seek.  
Stripe size  
Variable for all logical drives: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128  
Kbytes.  
Rebuild  
Multiple rebuilds and consistency checks with user-  
definable priority.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Specifications  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
4-7  
 
                   
4.10 RAID Management  
RAID management is provided by software utilities that manage and  
configure the RAID system and MegaRAID SCSI 320-0, create and  
manage multiple disk arrays, control and monitor multiple RAID servers,  
provide error statistics logging, and provide online maintenance. They  
include:  
S
S
S
S
MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility  
WebBIOS Configuration Utility  
Power Console Plus  
MegaRAID Manager  
4.10.1 MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility  
BIOS Configuration Utility is used to configure and maintain RAID arrays,  
format hard drives, and manage the RAID system. It is independent of  
any operating system. See the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide  
for additional information.  
4.10.2 WebBIOS Configuration Utility  
The WebBIOS Configuration Utility is an HTML-based utility used to  
configure and maintain RAID arrays, format hard drives, and manage the  
RAID system. See the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide for  
additional information.  
4.10.3 Power Console Plus  
Power Console Plus runs in Windows NT, 2000, XP, and .NET. It  
configures, monitors, and maintains multiple RAID servers from any  
network node or a remote location. See the MegaRAID Configuration  
Software Guide for additional information.  
4.10.4 MegaRAID Manager  
This is a character-based utility that works in DOS, Novell NetWare, and  
Red Hat Linux. See the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide for  
additional information.  
4-8  
Features  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
                   
4.11 Compatibility  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 compatibility issues include:  
S
S
S
Server management  
SCSI device compatibility  
Software compatibility  
4.11.1 Server Management  
As a simple network management protocol (SNMP) agent, MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0 supports all SNMP managers.  
4.11.2 SCSI Device Compatibility  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports SCSI hard drives, CD drives, and tape  
drives.  
4.11.3 Software  
All SCSI backup and utility software should work with MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0. This software is not provided with MegaRAID SCSI 320-0.  
Compatibility  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
4-9  
 
                   
4-10  
Features  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Chapter 5  
Configuring Physical Drives,  
Arrays, and Logical Drives  
This chapter explains how to configure SCSI physical drives, arrays, and  
S
S
S
S
S
Section 5.2, “Configuring Arrays”  
Section 5.3, “Creating Logical Drives”  
Section 5.4, “Configuring Logical Drives”  
Section 5.5, “Planning the Array Configuration”  
5.1 Configuring SCSI Physical Drives  
Physical SCSI drives must be organized into logical drives. The arrays  
and logical drives that you construct must be able to support the RAID  
level that you select. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller does not  
have a SCSI channel; the number of SCSI channels depends on the  
SCSI controller on the motherboard.  
5.1.1 Basic Configuration Rules  
You should observe the following guidelines when connecting and  
configuring SCSI devices in a RAID array:  
S
You can place up to 15 physical drives in an array, depending on the  
RAID level.  
S
S
Include all drives that have the same capacity in the same array.  
Make sure any hot spare has a capacity that is at least as large as  
the largest drive that may be replaced by the hot spare.  
S
When replacing a failed drive, make sure that the replacement drive  
has a capacity that is at least as large as the drive being replaced.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-1  
 
         
Note:  
Be sure to back up your data regularly, even when using  
RAID.  
5.1.2 Current Physical Device Configuration  
Use Table 5.1 to describe the current configuration for your physical  
devices.  
Table 5.1  
Physical Device Configuration  
SCSI ID Device Description  
Termination?  
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
10  
11  
12  
13  
14  
15  
5-2  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
   
5.1.3 Logical Drive Configuration  
Use Table 5.2 to record the configuration for your logical drives.  
Logical Drive Configuration  
Table 5.2  
Logical  
Drive  
RAID  
Level  
Stripe  
Size  
Logical Drive  
Size  
Cache  
Policy  
Read  
Policy  
Write  
Policy  
# of Physical  
Drives  
LD0  
LD1  
LD2  
LD3  
LD4  
LD5  
LD6  
LD7  
LD8  
LD9  
LD10  
LD11  
LD12  
LD13  
LD14  
LD15  
LD16  
LD17  
LD18  
LD19  
LD20  
LD21  
Configuring SCSI Physical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-3  
 
   
Table 5.2  
Logical Drive Configuration (Cont.)  
Logical  
Drive  
RAID  
Level  
Stripe  
Size  
Logical Drive  
Size  
Cache  
Policy  
Read  
Policy  
Write  
Policy  
# of Physical  
Drives  
LD22  
LD23  
LD24  
LD25  
LD26  
LD27  
LD28  
LD29  
LD30  
LD31  
LD32  
LD33  
LD34  
LD35  
LD36  
LD37  
LD38  
LD39  
5-4  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
5.1.4 Physical Device Layout  
Use Table 5.3 to record the physical device layout.  
Table 5.3  
Physical Device Layout  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Configuring SCSI Physical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-5  
 
   
Table 5.3  
Physical Device Layout (Cont.)  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
5-6  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Table 5.3  
Physical Device Layout (Cont.)  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
Configuring SCSI Physical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-7  
 
Table 5.3  
Physical Device Layout (Cont.)  
Channel 0  
Channel 1  
Target ID  
Device type  
Logical drive number/Drive number  
Manufacturer/Model number  
Firmware level  
5.2 Configuring Arrays  
You organize the physical disk drives in arrays after they are connected  
to the SCSI channels controlled by the LSI Logic SCSI chip on the  
motherboard, and after they are formatted. An array can consist of up to  
15 physical disk drives, depending on the RAID level.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports up to eight arrays. The number of  
drives in an array determines the RAID levels that can be supported.  
5.2.1 Arranging Arrays  
You must arrange the arrays to provide additional organization for the  
drive array. You must arrange arrays so that you can create system drives  
that can function as boot devices.  
You can sequentially arrange arrays with an identical number of drives  
so that the drives in the group are spanned. Spanned drives can be  
treated as one large drive. Data can be striped across multiple arrays as  
one logical drive.  
You can create spanned drives by using the MegaRAID BIOS Setup  
utility or the MegaRAID Manager.  
5.2.2 Creating Hot Spares  
Any drive that is present, formatted, and initialized, but is not included in  
a array or logical drive is automatically designated as a hot spare.  
5-8  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
         
You can designate drives as hot spares using the MegaRAID BIOS  
Configuration Utility, the MegaRAID Manager, or Power Console Plus.  
5.3 Creating Logical Drives  
Logical drives are arrays or spanned arrays that are presented to the  
operating system. You must create one or more logical drives.  
The logical drive capacity can include all or any portion of an array. The  
logical drive capacity can also be larger than an array by using spanning.  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports up to 40 logical drives.  
5.3.1 Configuration Strategies  
The most important factors in RAID array configuration are: drive  
capacity, drive availability (fault tolerance), and drive performance. You  
cannot configure a logical drive that optimizes all three factors, but it is  
easy to choose a logical drive configuration that maximizes one factor at  
the expense of the other two factors, although needs are seldom that  
simple.  
5.3.1.1  
Maximize Capacity  
RAID 0 achieves maximum drive capacity, but does not provide data  
redundancy. Maximum drive capacity for each RAID level is shown  
below. OEM-level firmware that can span up to 4 logical drives is  
assumed. Table 5.4 describes the RAID levels, including the number of  
drives required, and the capacity.  
Table 5.4  
Capacity for RAID Levels  
RAID  
Drives  
Level Description  
Required  
Capacity  
0
Striping  
without parity  
1 – 30  
(Number of disks) X capacity of  
smallest disk  
1
5
Mirroring  
2
(Capacity of smallest disk) X (1)  
Striping with  
floating parity  
drive  
3 – 30  
(Number of disks) X (capacity of  
smallest disk) - (capacity of 1 disk)  
Creating Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-9  
 
         
Table 5.4  
RAID  
Capacity for RAID Levels (Cont.)  
Drives  
Level Description  
Required  
Capacity  
10  
50  
Mirroring and 4 – 18  
(Number of disks) X (capacity of  
smallest disk) / (2)  
Striping  
(Must be a  
multiple of 2.)  
RAID 5 and  
Striping  
6 – 30 (Must (Number of disks) X (capacity of  
be a multiple smallest disk) – (capacity of 1 disk X  
of arrays.)  
number of Arrays)  
5.3.1.2  
Maximizing Drive Availability  
You can maximize the availability of data on the physical disk drive in the  
logical array by maximizing the level of fault tolerance. Table 5.5  
describes the levels of fault tolerance for the RAID levels.  
Table 5.5  
Fault Tolerance for RAID Levels  
RAID Level Fault Tolerance Protection  
0
1
5
No fault tolerance.  
100% protection through data mirroring.  
100% protection through striping and parity. The data is striped  
and parity data is written across a number of physical disk  
drives.  
10  
50  
100% protection through data mirroring.  
100% protection through data striping and parity. All data is  
striped and parity data is written across all drives in two or  
more arrays.  
5.3.1.3  
Maximizing Drive Performance  
You can configure an array for optimal performance. But optimal drive  
configuration for one type of application will probably not be optimal for  
any other application. A basic guideline of the performance  
characteristics for RAID drive arrays at each RAID level is shown in  
Table 5.6.  
5-10  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
 
Table 5.6  
Performance Characteristics for RAID Levels  
RAID Level Performance Characteristics  
0
Excellent for all types of I/O activity, but provides no data  
security.  
1
5
Provides data redundancy and good performance.  
Provides data redundancy and good performance in most  
environments.  
10  
50  
Provides data redundancy and excellent performance.  
Provides data redundancy and very good performance.  
5.3.2 Assigning RAID Levels  
Only one RAID level can be assigned to each logical drive. Table 5.7  
shows the drives required per RAID level.  
Table 5.7  
Number of Physical Drives for RAID Levels  
RAID  
Level  
Minimum # of Physical Drives Maximum # of Physical Drives  
0
1
1
2
3
4
6
30  
2
5
30  
18  
30  
10  
50  
Note:  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller supports one or two SCSI  
channels, with up to 15 SCSI devices on each channel.  
Creating Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-11  
 
       
5.4 Configuring Logical Drives  
After you have installed the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller in the  
server and have attached all physical disk drives, perform the following  
actions to prepare a RAID array:  
1. Optimize MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller options for your system.  
See Chapter 6 for additional information.  
2. Press <Ctrl><M> to run the BIOS Configuration Utility.  
3. If necessary, perform a low-level format of the SCSI drives that will  
be included in the array and the drives to be used for hot spares.  
4. Customize the RAID array and define and configure one or more  
logical drives by selecting Easy Configuration or New Configuration.  
5. Create and configure one or more system drives (logical drives) by  
selecting the RAID level, cache policy, read policy, and write policy.  
6. Save the configuration.  
7. Initialize the system drives.  
After initialization, you can install the operating system.  
5.4.1 Optimizing Data Storage  
5.4.1.1  
Data Access Requirements  
Each type of data stored in the disk subsystem has a different frequency  
of read and write activity. If you know the data access requirements, you  
can more successfully determine a strategy for optimizing the disk  
subsystem capacity, availability, and performance.  
Servers that support Video on Demand typically read the data often, but  
write data infrequently. Both the read and write operations tend to be  
long. Data stored on a general-purpose file server involves relatively  
short read and write operations with relatively small files.  
5.4.1.2  
Array Functions  
You must first define the major purpose of the disk array. Will this disk  
array increase the system storage capacity for general-purpose file and  
5-12  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
       
print servers? Does this disk array support any software system that  
must be available 24 hours per day? Will the information stored in this  
disk array contain large audio or video files that must be available on  
demand? Will this disk array contain data from an imaging system? You  
must identify the purpose of the data to be stored in the disk subsystem  
before you can confidently choose a RAID level and a RAID  
configuration.  
5.5 Planning the Array Configuration  
Fill out Table 5.8 to help plan this array.  
Table 5.8  
Question  
Factors for Planning the Array Configuration  
Answer  
Number of physical disk drives in the array  
Purpose of this array. Rank the following factors:  
Maximize drive capacity  
Maximize the safety of the data (fault tolerance)  
Maximize hard drive performance and throughput  
Number of hot spares  
Amount of cache memory installed on MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
Are all of the disk drives and the server protected by a UPS?  
5.5.1 Using the Array Configuration Planner  
The following table lists the possible RAID levels, fault tolerance, and  
effective capacity for all possible drive configurations for an array  
consisting of one to eight drives. This table does not take into account  
any hot spare (standby) drives. You should always have a hot spare drive  
in case of drive failure. RAID 1 requires two drives, RAID 10 at least four,  
and RAID 50 at least six.  
Planning the Array Configuration  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-13  
 
     
Use Table 5.9 to plan the array configuration.  
Table 5.9 Array Configuration Planner  
Possible  
Relative  
Fault  
Tolerance  
Effective  
Capacity  
# of Drives RAID Levels Performance  
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
6
6
6
6
6
7
7
7
8
None  
RAID 0  
None  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Good  
No  
No  
No  
No  
Yes  
No  
No  
Yes  
No  
No  
Yes  
Yes  
No  
No  
Yes  
No  
No  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
No  
No  
Yes  
No  
100%  
100%  
100%  
100%  
50%  
RAID 0  
RAID 1  
None  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Good  
100%  
100%  
67%  
RAID 0  
RAID 5  
None  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Good  
100%  
100%  
75%  
RAID 0  
RAID 5  
RAID 10  
None  
Good  
50%  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Good  
100%  
100%  
80%  
RAID 0  
RAID 5  
None  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Good  
100%  
100%  
83%  
RAID 0  
RAID 5  
RAID 10  
RAID 50  
None  
Good  
50%  
Good  
67%  
Excellent  
Excellent  
Good  
100%  
100%  
86%  
RAID 0  
RAID 5  
None  
Excellent  
100%  
5-14  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
   
Table 5.9  
Array Configuration Planner (Cont.)  
Possible  
Relative  
Fault  
Tolerance  
Effective  
Capacity  
# of Drives RAID Levels Performance  
8
8
8
8
RAID 0  
RAID 5  
Excellent  
Good  
No  
Yes  
Yes  
Yes  
100%  
87%  
50%  
75%  
RAID 10  
RAID 50  
Good  
Good  
Planning the Array Configuration  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
5-15  
 
5-16  
Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical Drives  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Chapter 6  
Hardware Installation  
This chapter explains how to install the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller.  
It contains the following sections:  
S
S
S
Section 6.1, “Hardware Requirements”  
Section 6.2, “Installation Steps”  
Section 6.3, “Summary”  
6.1 Hardware Requirements  
You must have the following in order to install the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
controller and create arrays:  
S
A host computer with the following:  
Special ZCR PCI expansion slot  
Installed LSI Logic 53C1030 SCSI chip  
Support for PCI version 2.2 or later  
Intel Pentium, Pentium Pro, or more powerful CPU  
Floppy drive, color monitor, VGA adapter card, mouse, and  
keyboard  
S
S
S
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Installation CD  
An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for the entire system  
Ultra320, Ultra, Fast SCSI 2 or Wide SCSI hard disk drives  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
6-1  
 
       
6.2 Installation Steps  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 provides extensive customization options. If  
you need only basic MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 features and your computer  
does not use other adapter cards with resource settings that may conflict  
with MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 settings, even custom installation can be  
quick and easy.  
Table 6.1 lists the hardware installation steps. Each step is described in  
detail in the following pages.  
Table 6.1  
Hardware Installation Steps  
Step Action  
Additional Information  
1
Unpack the MegaRAID controller and  
inspect for damage. Make sure all items  
are in the package.  
If damaged, call your LSI  
Logic OEM support  
representative.  
2
3
Turn the computer off and remove the  
cover.  
Check the jumper settings on the  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller.  
See page 6-3for the  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
jumper settings.  
4
5
Install the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 card.  
Replace the computer cover and turn the Be sure the SCSI devices  
power on.  
are powered up before or  
at the same time as the  
host computer.  
6
7
Run MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility. Optional.  
Install software drivers for the desired  
operating systems.  
6.2.1 Step 1: Unpack  
Unpack and install the hardware in a static-free environment. Remove  
the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller card from the anti-static bag and  
inspect it for damage. If the card appears damaged, or if any item listed  
below is missing, contact LSI Logic or your MegaRAID OEM support  
representative. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller is shipped with the  
following:  
6-2  
Hardware Installation  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
         
S
The Driver and Documentation CD, which contains these items:  
The MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide  
The MegaRAID Operating System Driver Installation Guide  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 ZCR Hardware Guide  
The software license agreement  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 configuration utilities for DOS  
S
The warranty registration card  
6.2.2 Step 2: Power Down  
Turn off the computer, remove the power cord, then remove the cover.  
Make sure the computer is turned off and disconnected from any  
networks before installing the controller card.  
6.2.3 Step 3: Set Jumpers  
Make sure the jumper settings on the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 card are  
correct. The jumpers are set at the factory and you probably do not need  
to change them. Table 6.2 lists the jumpers (and a connector).  
Table 6.2  
Item  
Jumpers for the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
Description  
Type  
J2  
J3  
J4  
J8  
Dirty cache LED  
BIOS enable  
2-pin header  
2-pin header  
2-pin header  
BBU daughter card connector 40-pin connector  
Figure 6.1 shows the location of these items on the MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 controller.  
Installation Steps  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
6-3  
 
         
Figure 6.1 MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Controller Layout  
J2 J3 J4  
Optional Backup  
Battery Unit  
Connector  
J8  
6.2.3.1  
J2 Dirty Cache LED  
J2 is a two-pin header for the dirty cache LED. This can be connected  
to an LED on the computer enclosure. The LED will be lit when data in  
the cache has not yet been written to the storage device.  
6.2.3.2  
6.2.3.3  
J3 Clear EPROM  
J3 is a two-pin header that clears the erasable progammable read-only  
memory (EPROM) configuration data.  
J4 BIOS Enable  
J4 is a 2-pin header that enables or disables the MegaRAID onboard  
BIOS. The onboard BIOS should be enabled (J4 unjumpered) for normal  
board position. Table 6.3 contains the pinout for J4.  
Table 6.3  
J4 Setting  
Pinout for J4 BIOS Enable  
Onboard BIOS Status  
Unjumpered  
Jumpered  
Enabled  
Disabled  
6-4  
Hardware Installation  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
   
6.2.3.4  
J8 Connector for Optional BBU Daughter Card  
J8 is 40-pin connector that is used to mount an optional battery backup  
unit that is on a daughtercard.  
6.2.4 Step 4: Install MegaRAID SCSI 320-0  
Select the ZCR 3.3 V or 5 V PCI slot and align the MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 controller bus connector with the slot. Figure 6.2 shows the  
differences between the 3.3 V and 5 V slots.  
Figure 6.2 3.3 V and 5V Slots  
Note:  
The slot must be a specific ZCR slot on a motherboard that  
has an installed LSI Logic 53C1030 SCSI chip; see your  
motherboard manual for this information.  
Insert the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 card in the ZCR PCI slot, as shown in  
Figure 6.3. Press down gently but firmly to make sure that the card is  
properly seated in the slot. The bottom edge of the controller card should  
be flush with the slot. Attach the bracket to the computer frame with the  
bracket screw.  
Installation Steps  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
6-5  
 
     
Figure 6.3 Installing the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Controller  
Bracket Screw  
32-Bit Slots  
(3.3 V)  
64-Bit Slots  
(5 V)  
6.2.5 Step 5: Power Up  
Replace the computer cover and reconnect the AC power cords. Turn  
power on to the host computer. Set up the power supplies so that the  
SCSI devices are powered up at the same time as or before the host  
computer. If the computer is powered up before a SCSI device, the  
device might not be recognized.  
During boot, the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 BIOS message appears:  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Disk Array Adapter BIOS Version x.xx  
date  
Copyright (c) LSI Logic Corporation  
Firmware Initializing... [ Scanning SCSI Device ...(etc.)... ]  
6-6  
Hardware Installation  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
     
The firmware takes several seconds to initialize. During this time the  
adapter will scan the SCSI channel(s). When ready, the following  
appears:  
Host Adapter-1 Firmware Version x.xx DRAM Size 16 MB  
0 Logical Drives found on the Host Adapter  
0 Logical Drives handled by BIOS  
Press <Ctrl><M> to run MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 BIOS  
Configuration Utility  
The <Ctrl><M> utility prompt times out after several seconds. The  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 host adapter (controller) number, firmware  
version, and cache DRAM size are displayed in the second portion of the  
BIOS message. The numbering of the controllers follows the PCI slot  
scanning order used by the host motherboard.  
6.2.6 Step 6: Run the MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility  
Press <Ctrl><M> to run the MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility. See  
the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide for information about  
running this utility.  
6.2.7 Step 7: Install the Operating System Driver  
MegaRAID can operate under MS-DOS or any DOS-compatible  
operating system using the standard AT BIOS INT 13h Hard Disk Drive  
interface. To operate with other operating systems, you must install  
software drivers. MegaRAID provides software drivers on the Driver and  
Documentation CD for the following operating systems:  
S
S
MS-DOS version 6.xx or later  
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows  
.NET  
S
S
Novell NetWare 5.1, 6.0  
Red Hat Linux 7.2, 7.3  
Note:  
Refer to the MegaRAID Driver Installation Guide for the  
procedures used to install operating system drivers.  
Important: When booting the system from a drive connected to a  
MegaRAID controller and using EMM386.EXE,  
MEGASPI.SYS must be loaded in CONFIG.SYS before  
Installation Steps  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
6-7  
 
                     
EMM386.EXE is loaded. If you do not do this, you cannot  
access the boot drive after EMM386 is loaded.  
6.3 Summary  
This chapter discussed hardware installation. Configure the RAID system  
using software configuration utilities. See the MegaRAID Configuration  
Software Guide for all information about MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 software  
utilities. The utility programs for configuring MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 are  
shown in Table 6.4.  
Table 6.4  
Configuration Utilities and Operating Systems  
Configuration Utility  
Operating System  
MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility  
WebBIOS Configuration Utility  
MegaRAID Manager  
Independent of the operating system  
Independent of the operating system  
DOS  
Red Hat Linux 7.2, 7.3  
Novell NetWare 5.1, 6.0  
Power Console Plus  
Microsoft Windows NT  
Windows 2000  
Windows XP  
Windows .NET  
6-8  
Hardware Installation  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
   
Chapter 7  
Troubleshooting  
S
S
S
S
Section 7.1, “General Troubleshooting”  
Section 7.2, “BIOS Boot Error Messages”  
Section 7.3, “Other BIOS Error Messages”  
Section 7.4, “Other Potential Problems”  
7.1 General Troubleshooting  
This section lists the general problems that can occur, along with  
suggested solutions. Table 7.1 describes general problems you might  
encounter, along with suggested solutions.  
Table 7.1  
Problem  
General Problems and Suggested Solutions  
Suggested Solution  
The system hangs during the boot  
process after installation.  
Make sure the SCSI BIOS on the motherboard has been  
disabled.  
Make sure the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 adapter card is  
installed in the proper PCI expansion slot. It must be  
installed in the RAID Upgrade PCI slot.  
Some operating systems do not load in Check the system BIOS configuration for PCI interrupt  
a computer with a MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 adapter.  
assignments. Make sure some Interrupts are assigned for  
PCI.  
Initialize the logical drive before installing the operating  
system.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
7-1  
 
         
Table 7.1  
Problem  
General Problems and Suggested Solutions (Cont.)  
Suggested Solution  
One of the hard drives in the array fails Check the drive error counts using Power Console Plus. See  
often.  
the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide for more  
information.  
Format the drive.  
Rebuild the drive  
If the drive continues to fail, replace the drive with another  
drive with the same capacity.  
Pressed <Ctrl><M>. Ran  
Check the drives IDs on each channel to make sure each  
Megaconf.exe and tried to make a new device has a different ID.  
configuration. The system hangs when  
scanning devices.  
Check the termination. The device at the end of the channel  
must be terminated.  
Replace the drive cable.  
Multiple drives using the same power  
Set the drives to spin on command. This will allow  
supply. There is a problem spinning the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 to spin two devices simultaneously.  
drives all at once.  
Pressing <Ctrl><M> or running  
megaconf.exe does not display the  
Management Menu.  
These utilities require a color monitor.  
Cannot flash or update the EEPROM. You may need a new EEPROM.  
Make sure that TERMPWR is being properly provided to  
each peripheral device populated channel.  
Firmware Initializing...  
appears and remains on the screen.  
Make sure that each end of the channel chain is properly  
terminated using the recommended terminator type for the  
peripheral device.  
Make sure (on a channel basis) only two types of cables are  
connected at any one time.  
Make sure that the MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 controller is  
properly seated in the ZCR PCI slot.  
What SCSI IDs can a non-hard disk  
device have and what is maximum  
number allowed per adapter?  
Non-hard disk devices can accommodate only SCSI IDs 1,  
2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, regardless of the channel used. A maximum  
of six non-hard disk devices are supported per MegaRAID  
SCSI 320-0 adapter.  
7-2  
Troubleshooting  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
7.2 BIOS Boot Error Messages  
Table 7.2 describes error messages that can display when you boot the  
system, and suggested solutions.  
Table 7.2  
Message  
BIOS Boot Error Messages  
Problem  
Suggested Solution  
Adapter BIOS Disabled. The MegaRAID BIOS is Enable the BIOS using the MegaRAID BIOS  
No Logical Drives  
Handled by BIOS  
disabled. Sometimes the Configuration Utility.  
BIOS is disabled to  
prevent booting from the  
BIOS.  
Host Adapter at  
Baseport xxxx Not  
Responding  
The BIOS cannot  
communicate with the  
adapter firmware.  
Make sure MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is properly  
installed.  
No MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 Adapter  
The BIOS cannot  
communicate with the  
adapter firmware.  
Make sure MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 is properly  
installed.  
Configuration of  
nonvolatile RAM  
(NVRAM) and drives  
mismatch.  
The configuration stored 1. Press a key to run MegaRAID Manager.  
in the MegaRAID SCSI  
320-0 adapter does not  
match the configuration  
stored in the drives.  
2. Select View/Add Configuration from the  
Configure menu.  
3. Use View/Add Configuration to examine  
both the configuration in NVRAM and the  
configuration stored on the disk drives.  
Run View/Add  
Configuration option of  
Configuration Utility.  
Press any key to run the  
Configuration Utility.  
4. Resolve the problem by selecting one of the  
configurations.  
1 Logical Drive Failed  
A logical drive failed to  
sign on.  
Make sure all physical drives are properly  
connected and are powered on.  
Run MegaRAID Manager to find out if any  
physical drives are not responding. Reconnect,  
replace, or rebuild any drive that is not  
responding.  
X Logical Drives  
Degraded  
x number of logical  
drives signed on in a  
degraded state.  
Make sure all physical drives are properly  
connected and are powered on.  
Run MegaRAID Manager to find if any physical  
drives are not responding. Reconnect, replace,  
or rebuild any drive that is not responding.  
BIOS Boot Error Messages  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
7-3  
 
     
Table 7.2  
Message  
BIOS Boot Error Messages (Cont.)  
Problem  
Suggested Solution  
1 Logical Drive  
Degraded  
A logical drive signed on Make sure all physical drives are properly  
in a degraded state.  
connected and are powered on.  
Run MegaRAID Manager to find out if any  
physical drives are not responding. Reconnect,  
replace, or rebuild any drive that is not  
responding.  
The following SCSI IDs The physical drives with Make sure the physical drives are properly  
are not responding:  
Channel x:a.b.c  
SCSI IDs a, b, and c are connected and are powered on.  
not responding on SCSI  
channel x.  
7.3 Other BIOS Error Messages  
Table 7.3 describes other BIOS error messages, their meaning, and  
suggested solutions.  
Table 7.3  
Message  
Other BIOS Error Messages  
Problem  
Suggested Solution  
Following SCSI disk  
not found and no  
empty slot available  
for mapping it  
The physical disk roaming  
feature did not find the  
physical disk with the  
displayed SCSI ID. No slot is  
available to map the physical  
drive. MegaRAID cannot  
resolve the physical drives  
into the current configuration.  
Reconfigure the array.  
Following SCSI IDs  
have the same data y, feature found the same data  
The physical drive roaming  
Remove the drive or drives that should not  
be used.  
z
on two or more physical drive  
on channel x with SCSI IDs a,  
b, and c. MegaRAID cannot  
determine the drive that has  
the duplicate information.  
Channel x: a, b, c  
7-4  
Troubleshooting  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
     
Table 7.3  
Message  
Other BIOS Error Messages (Cont.)  
Problem  
Suggested Solution  
Unresolved  
configuration  
mismatch between  
disks and NVRAM on on the drives.  
the adapter  
The configuration stored in the 1. Press a key to run MegaRAID Manager.  
MegaRAID NVRAM does not  
match the configuration stored  
2. Select View/Add Configuration from the  
Configure menu.  
3. Use View/Add Configuration to examine  
both the configuration in NVRAM and the  
configuration stored on the disk drives.  
4. Resolve the problem by selecting one of  
the configurations.  
7.4 Other Potential Problems  
Table 7.4 describes other potential problems.  
Other Potential Problems  
Table 7.4  
Topic  
Information  
DOS ASPI  
MEGASPI.SYS, the MegaRAID DOS ASPI manager, uses 6 Kbytes of system  
memory once it is loaded.  
CD drives under  
DOS  
At this time, copied CDs are not accessible from DOS even after loading  
MEGASPI.SYS and MEGACDR.SYS.  
Physical drive errors To display the MegaRAID Manager Media Error and Other Error options, select  
the Objects menu, then Physical Drive. Select a physical drive and press <F2>.  
The windows displays the number of errors.  
A Media Error is an error that occurred while actually transferring data. An  
Other Error is an error that occurs at the hardware level because of a device  
failure, poor cabling, bad termination, signal loss, etc.  
Virtual sizing  
The virtual sizing option enables RAID expansion. Virtual sizing must be  
enabled to increase the size of a logical drive or add a physical drive to an  
existing logical drive.  
Run the BIOS Configuration Utility by pressing <Ctrl><M> to enable virtual  
sizing. Select Objects, then Logical Drive. Next, select View/Update  
Parameters, then set virtual sizing to Enabled.  
BSD Unix  
We do not provide a driver for BSDI Unix. MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 does not  
support BSDI Unix.  
Multiple LUNs  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 supports one logical unit number (LUN) per each target  
ID. No multiple LUN devices are supported.  
Other Potential Problems  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
7-5  
 
   
Table 7.4  
Topic  
Other Potential Problems (Cont.)  
Information  
MegaRAID power  
requirements  
The maximum MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 power requirements are 15 W at 5 V  
and 3 A.  
SCSI bus  
The ANSI specification dictates the following:  
requirements  
S The maximum signal path length between terminators is 3 meters when  
using up to 4 maximum capacitance (25 pF) devices and 1.5 meters when  
using more than 4 devices.  
S SCSI devices should be uniformly spaced between terminators, with the end  
devices located as close as possible to the terminators.  
S The characteristic impedance of the cable should be 90 +/- 6 ohms for the  
/REQ and /ACK signals and 90 +/- 10 ohms for all other signals.  
S The stub length (the distance from the controller's external connector to the  
mainline SCSI bus) shall not exceed 0.1m (approximately 4 inches).  
S The spacing of devices on the mainline SCSI bus should be at least three  
times the stub length.  
S All signal lines shall be terminated once at both ends of the bus powered  
by the TERMPWR line.  
Windows NT  
Installation  
When Windows NT is installed using a bootable CD, the devices on the  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 will not be recognized until after the initial reboot. The  
Microsoft documented workaround is in SETUP.TXT. SETUP.TXT is on the CD.  
To install drivers when Setup recognizes one of the supported SCSI host  
adapters without making the devices attached to it available for use:  
1. Restart Windows NT Setup.  
2. Press <F6> to prevent Windows NT Setup from performing disk controller  
detection when Windows NT Setup displays the following:  
Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration...,  
This allows you to install the driver from the drivers disk you created. All  
SCSI adapters must be installed manually.  
3. Press <S> to display a list of supported SCSI host adapters when Windows  
NT Setup displays the following:  
Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices  
installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an  
adapter,  
4. Select Other from the bottom of the list.  
5. Insert the drivers disk you made when prompted to do so and select Mega-  
RAID SCSI 320-0 from this list.  
In some cases, Windows NT Setup repeatedly prompts to swap disks.  
Windows NT will recognize any devices attached to this adapter.  
6. Repeat this step for each host adapter not already recognized by Windows  
NT Setup.  
7-6  
Troubleshooting  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Appendix A  
Audible Warnings  
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 RAID controller has an onboard tone  
generator that indicates events and errors.  
Note:  
This is available only if the optional series 502 Battery  
Backup Unit (BBU) is installed.  
Table A.1  
Audible Warnings and Descriptions  
Tone Pattern  
Meaning  
Examples  
Three seconds on  
and one second off offline.  
A logical drive is  
One or more drives in a RAID 0  
configuration failed.  
Two or more drives in a RAID 1,  
or 5 configuration failed.  
One second on and A logical drive is run- One drive in a RAID 5 configura-  
one second off  
ning in degraded  
mode.  
tion failed.  
One second on and An automatically initi- While you were away from the  
three seconds off ated rebuild has been system, a disk drive in a RAID 1,  
completed.  
or 5 configuration failed and was  
rebuilt.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
A-1  
 
     
A-2  
Audible Warnings  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Appendix B  
Glossary  
Array  
A grouping of individual disk drives that combines the storage space on  
the disk drives into a single segment of contiguous storage space.  
MegaRAID can group disk drives on one or more SCSI channels into an  
array.  
Array  
Management  
Software  
Software that provides common control and management for a disk array.  
Array management software most often executes in a disk controller or  
intelligent host bus adapter, but it can also execute in a host computer.  
When array management software executes in a disk controller or  
adapter, it is often called firmware.  
Array Spanning  
Array spanning by a logical drive combines storage space in two arrays  
of disk drives into a single, contiguous storage space in a logical drive.  
MegaRAID logical drives can span consecutively numbered arrays that  
have the same number of disk drives. Array spanning promotes RAID  
levels 1 and 5 to RAID levels 10 and 50, respectively. See also Disk  
Spanning.  
Asynchronous  
Operations  
Operations that bear no relationship to each other in time and can  
overlap. The concept of asynchronous I/O operations is central to  
independent access arrays in throughput-intensive applications.  
Cache I/O  
A small amount of fast memory that holds recently accessed data.  
Caching speeds subsequent access to the same data. It is most often  
applied to processor-memory access, but it can also be used to store a  
copy of data accessible over a network. When data is read from or  
written to main memory, a copy is also saved in cache memory with the  
associated main memory address. The cache memory software monitors  
the addresses of subsequent reads to see if the required data is already  
stored in cache memory. If it is already in cache memory (a cache hit),  
the data is read from cache memory immediately and the main memory  
read is aborted (or not started.) If the data is not cached (a cache miss),  
it is fetched from main memory and saved in cache memory.  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
B-1  
 
             
Channel  
An electrical path for the transfer of data and control information between  
a disk and a disk controller.  
Consistency  
Check  
An examination of the disk system to determine whether all conditions  
are valid for the specified configuration (such as parity.)  
Cold Swap  
A cold swap requires that you turn the power off before replacing a  
defective disk drive in a disk subsystem.  
Data Transfer  
Capacity  
The amount of data per unit time moved through a channel. For disk I/O,  
data transfer capacity (bandwidth) is expressed in megabytes per second  
(Mbytes/s).  
Degraded  
Disk  
Used to describe a disk drive that has become non-functional or has  
decreased in performance.  
A nonvolatile, randomly addressable, rewritable mass storage device,  
including both rotating magnetic and optical disks and solid-state disks,  
or nonvolatile electronic storage elements. It does not include specialized  
devices such as write-once-read-many (WORM) optical disks, nor does  
it include so-called RAM disks implemented using software to control a  
dedicated portion of a host computer volatile random access memory.  
Disk Array  
A collection of disks from one or more disk subsystems combined with  
array management software. The software controls the disks and  
presents them to the array operating environment as one or more virtual  
disks.  
Disk Duplexing  
Disk Mirroring  
A variation on disk mirroring in which a second disk adapter or host  
adapter and redundant disk drives are present.  
Writing duplicate data to more than one (usually two) disk drives to  
protect against data loss in the event of device failure. Disk mirroring is  
a common feature of RAID systems.  
Disk Spanning  
Disk spanning allows multiple disk drives to function like one big drive.  
Spanning overcomes lack of disk space and simplifies storage  
management by combining existing resources or adding relatively  
inexpensive resources. For example, four 36 Gbyte disk drives can be  
combined to appear to the operating system as one single 144 Gbyte  
drive. See also Array Spanning and Spanning.  
Disk Striping  
A type of disk array mapping. Consecutive stripes of data are mapped  
round-robin to consecutive array members. A striped array (RAID 0)  
B-2  
Glossary  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
                     
provides high I/O performance at low cost, but provides lowers data  
reliability than any of its member disks.  
Disk Subsystem A collection of disks and the hardware that connects them to one or more  
host computers. The hardware can include an intelligent controller, or the  
disks can attach directly to a host computer I/O bus adapter.  
Double  
Buffering  
A technique that achieves maximum data transfer bandwidth by  
constantly keeping two I/O requests for adjacent data outstanding. A  
software component begins a double-buffered I/O stream by issuing two  
requests in rapid sequence. Thereafter, each time an I/O request  
completes, another is immediately issued. If the disk subsystem is  
capable of processing requests fast enough, double buffering allows data  
to be transferred at the full-volume transfer rate.  
Failed Drive  
Fast SCSI  
A drive that has ceased to function or consistently functions improperly.  
A variant on the SCSI-2 standard. It uses the same 8-bit bus as the  
original SCSI-1, but runs at up to 10 Mbytes (double the speed of SCSI-  
1.)  
Firmware  
Software stored in read-only memory (ROM) or Programmable ROM  
(PROM). Firmware often controls the behavior of a system when it is first  
turned on. A typical example would be a monitor program in a computer  
that loads the full operating system from disk or from a network and then  
passes control to the operating system.  
FlexRAID Power The FlexRAID Power Fail option allows a reconstruction to restart if a  
Fail Option  
power failure occurs. This is the advantage of this option. The  
disadvantage is, once the reconstruction is active, the performance is  
slower because an additional activity is added.  
Format  
The process of writing zeros to all data fields in a physical drive (disk  
drive) to map out unreadable or bad sectors. Because most disk drives  
are factory formatted, formatting is usually only done if a hard disk  
generates many media errors.  
GByte  
Gigabyte. Shorthand for 1,000,000,000 (10 to the ninth power) bytes.  
One Gbyte is equivalent to 1,000 Mbytes.  
Host-based  
Array  
A disk array with an array management software in its host computer  
rather than in a disk subsystem.  
B-3  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
                 
Host Computer  
Hot Spare  
Any computer to which disks are directly attached. Mainframes, servers,  
workstations, and personal computers can all be considered host  
computers.  
A stand-by disk drive ready for use if a drive in an array fails. A hot spare  
does not contain any user data. Up to eight disk drives can be assigned  
as hot spares for an adapter. A hot spare can be dedicated to a single  
redundant array, or it can be part of the global hot-spare pool for all  
arrays controlled by the adapter.  
Hot Swapping  
I/O Driver  
The substitution of a replacement unit in a disk subsystem for a defective  
one, where the substitution can be performed while the subsystem is  
running. Hot swaps are done manually.  
A host computer software component (usually part of the operating  
system) that controls the operation of peripheral controllers or adapters  
attached to the host computer. I/O drivers communicate between  
applications and I/O devices, and in some cases they participate in data  
transfer.  
Initialization  
The process of writing zeros to the data fields of a logical drive and  
generating the corresponding parity to put the logical drive in a Ready  
state. Initializing erases previous data and generates parity so that the  
logical drive will pass a consistency check. Arrays can work without  
initialization, but they can fail a consistency check because the parity  
fields have not been generated.  
Logical Disk  
Logical Drive  
A set of contiguous chunks on a physical disk. Logical disks are used in  
array implementations as constituents of logical volumes or partitions.  
Logical disks are normally transparent to the host environment, except  
when the array containing them is being configured.  
A virtual drive within an array that can consist of more than one physical  
drive. Logical drives divide the contiguous storage space of an array of  
disk drives or a spanned group of arrays of drives. The storage space in  
a logical drive is spread across all the physical drives in the array or  
spanned arrays. Configure at least one logical drive for each array.  
Mapping  
The conversion between multiple data addressing schemes, especially  
conversions between member disk block addresses and block addresses  
of the virtual disks presented to the operating environment by array  
management software.  
B-4  
Glossary  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
               
Mbyte  
(Megabyte) An abbreviation for 1,000,000 (10 to the sixth power) bytes.  
One Mbyte equals 1,000 Kbytes (kilobytes).  
Multi-threaded  
Having multiple concurrent or pseudo-concurrent execution sequences.  
Used to describe processes in computer systems. Multi-threaded  
processes allow throughput-intensive applications to efficiently use a disk  
array to increase I/O performance.  
Operating  
Environment  
The operating environment includes the host computer where the array  
is attached, any I/O buses and adapters, the host operating system, and  
any additional software required to operate the array. For host-based  
arrays, the operating environment includes I/O driver software for the  
member disks, but does not include array management software, which  
is regarded as part of the array itself.  
Parity  
Parity is an extra bit added to a byte or word to reveal errors in storage  
(in RAM or disk) or transmission. Parity is used to generate a set of  
redundancy data from two or more parent data sets. The redundancy  
data can be used to reconstruct one of the parent data sets, although it  
does not fully duplicate the parent data sets. In RAID, this method is  
applied to entire drives or stripes across all disk drives in an array. Parity  
data is distributed among all the drives in the system. If a single disk  
drive fails, the drive can be rebuilt from the parity of the respective data  
on the remaining drives.  
Partition  
An array virtual disk made up of logical disks rather than physical ones.  
Also known as logical volume.  
Physical Disk  
A hard disk drive that stores data. A hard disk drive consists of one or  
more rigid magnetic discs rotating about a central axle with associated  
read/write heads and electronics.  
Physical Disk  
Roaming  
The ability of some adapters to detect when disk drives have been  
moved to a different slot in the computer—for example, after a hot swap.  
Protocol  
A set of formal rules describing how to transmit data, especially across  
a network. Low level protocols define the electrical and physical  
standards to be observed, bit- and byte- ordering, and the transmission  
and error detection and correction of the bit stream. High level protocols  
deal with the data formatting, including the message syntax, the terminal-  
to-computer dialogue, character sets, and sequencing of messages.  
B-5  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
               
RAID  
Redundant Array of Independent Disks. A data storage method in which  
data, along with parity information, is distributed among two or more hard  
disks (called an array) to improve performance and reliability. A RAID  
disk subsystem improves I/O performance on a server using only a single  
drive. The RAID array appears to the host server as a single storage unit.  
I/O is expedited because several disks can be accessed simultaneously.  
RAID Levels  
A style of redundancy applied to a logical drive. It can increase the  
performance of the logical drive and can decrease usable capacity. Each  
logical drive must have a RAID level assigned to it. The RAID level drive  
requirements are: RAID 0 requires one or more physical drives, RAID 1  
requires exactly two physical drives, RAID 5 requires at least three  
physical drives. RAID levels 10 and 50 result when logical drives span  
arrays. RAID 10 results when a RAID 1 logical drive spans arrays. RAID  
50 results when a RAID 5 logical drive spans arrays.  
RAID Migration  
RAID migration is used to move between optimal RAID levels or to  
change from a degraded redundant logical drive to an optimal RAID 0.  
In Novell, the utility used for RAID migration is MEGAMGR; in  
Windows NT, it is Power Console Plus. If a RAID 1 array is being  
converted to a RAID 0 array, instead of performing RAID migration, one  
drive can be removed and the other reconfigured on the controller as a  
RAID 0. This is due to the same data being written to each drive.  
Read-Ahead  
A memory caching capability in some adapters that allows them to read  
sequentially ahead of requested data and store the additional data in  
cache memory, anticipating that the additional data will be needed soon.  
Read-Ahead supplies sequential data faster, but it is not as effective  
when accessing random data.  
Ready State  
Rebuild  
A condition in which a workable disk drive is neither online nor a hot  
spare and is available to add to an array or to designate as a hot spare.  
The regeneration of all data from a failed disk in a RAID level 1, or 5  
array to a replacement disk. A disk rebuild normally occurs without  
interruption of application access to data stored on the array virtual disk.  
Rebuild Rate  
Reconstruct  
The percentage of CPU resources devoted to rebuilding.  
The act of remaking a logical drive after changing RAID levels or adding  
a physical drive to an existing array.  
B-6  
Glossary  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
               
Redundancy  
The provision of multiple interchangeable components to perform a  
single function to cope with failures or errors. Redundancy normally  
applies to hardware; disk mirroring is a common form of hardware  
redundancy.  
Replacement  
Disk  
A disk available to replace a failed member disk in a RAID array.  
Replacement  
Unit  
A component or collection of components in a disk subsystem that is  
always replaced as a unit when any part of the collection fails. Typical  
replacement units in a disk subsystem includes disks, controller logic  
boards, power supplies, and cables. Also called a hot spare.  
SAF-TE  
SCSI  
SCSI-accessed fault-tolerant enclosure. An industry protocol for  
managing RAID enclosures and reporting enclosure environmental  
information.  
(Small computer system interface) A processor-independent standard for  
system-level interfacing between a computer and intelligent devices,  
including hard disks, floppy disks, CD-ROM, printers, scanners, etc.  
Multiple SCSI devices can be connected to a single host adapter on the  
computer's bus. SCSI transfers eight or 16 bits in parallel and can  
operate in either asynchronous or synchronous modes. The synchronous  
transfer rate is up to 320 Mbytes/s (for Ultra320 SCSI). SCSI connections  
normally use single-ended drivers, as opposed to differential drivers.  
SCSI Channel  
MegaRAID controls the disk drives through SCSI-2 buses (channels)  
over which the system transfers data in either Fast and Wide or Ultra  
SCSI mode. Each adapter can control up to three SCSI channels.  
Internal and external disk drives can be mixed on channels 0 and 1, but  
not on channel 2.  
SCSI Drive State A SCSI physical drive can be in one of these states:  
S
S
Online: Powered-on and operational.  
Ready: Functioning normally, but not part of a configured logical  
drive and not designated as a hot spare.  
S
Hot Spare: Powered-on stand-by disk drive, ready for use if an  
online disk fails.  
S
S
Fail: Out of service, due to a fault occurring on the drive.  
Rebuild: Currently being rebuilt with data from a failed drive.  
B-7  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
             
Service  
Provider  
The Service Provider (SP) is a program that resides in the desktop  
system or server and is responsible for all DMI activities. This layer  
collects management information from products (whether system  
hardware, peripherals, or software), stores that information in the DMI  
database, and passes it to management applications as requested.  
SNMP  
Simple Network Management Protocol. The most widely used protocol  
for communicating management information between the managed  
elements of a network and a network manager. SNMP focuses primarily  
on the network backbone. The Internet standard protocol that manages  
nodes on an Internet Protocol (IP) network.  
Spanning  
Array spanning by a logical drive combines storage space in two arrays  
of disk drives into a single, contiguous storage space in a logical drive.  
MegaRAID logical drives can span consecutively numbered arrays that  
each consist of the same number of disk drives. Array spanning  
promotes RAID levels 1 and 5 to RAID levels 10 and 50, respectively.  
See also Disk Spanning.  
Spare  
A disk drive available to back up the data of other drives.  
Stripe Size  
The amount of data contiguously written to each disk. You can specify  
stripe sizes of 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 Kbytes for each logical drive. For  
best performance, choose a stripe size equal to or smaller than the block  
size used by the host computer.  
Stripe Width  
Striping  
The number of disk drives across which the data is striped.  
Segmentation of logically sequential data, such as a single file, so that  
segments can be written to multiple physical devices in a round-robin  
fashion. This technique is useful if the processor can read or write data  
faster than a single disk can supply or accept it. While data is being  
transferred from the first disk, the second disk can locate the next  
segment. Data striping is used in some modern databases and in certain  
RAID devices.  
Terminator  
A resistor connected to a signal wire in a bus or network for impedance  
matching to prevent reflections—for example, a 50 ohm resistor  
connected across the end of an Ethernet cable. SCSI buses and some  
LocalTalk wiring schemes also require terminators.  
B-8  
Glossary  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
               
Ultra320  
A subset of Ultra3 SCSI that allows a maximum throughput of 320  
Mbytes/s, which is twice as fast as Wide Ultra2 SCSI. Ultra320 SCSI  
provides 320 Mbytes/s on a 16-bit connection.  
Virtual Sizing  
FlexRAID virtual sizing is used to create a logical drive up to 80 Gbytes.  
A maximum of 40 logical drives can be configured on a RAID controller,  
and RAID migration is possible for all logical drives except the fortieth.  
Because it is not possible to do migration on the last logical drive, the  
maximum space available for RAID migration is 560 Gbytes.  
Wide SCSI  
A variant on the SCSI-2 interface. Wide SCSI uses a 16-bit bus, double  
the width of the original SCSI-1. Wide SCSI devices cannot be  
connected to a SCSI-1 bus. Like Fast SCSI, Wide SCSI supports transfer  
rates up to 20 Mbytes/s.  
B-9  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
     
B-10  
Glossary  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Index  
Disk Array Types 2-11  
Disk mirroring 2-6, B-2  
Disk rebuild 2-9  
Disk spanning 2-7, B-2  
Disk striping 2-4, B-2  
Disk subsystem B-3  
Documentation 1-4  
DOS 4-5  
A
Array B-1  
Array Configuration Planner 5-14  
Array management software B-1  
Array performance features 4-3  
Array spanning B-1  
Assigning RAID levels 5-11  
Asynchronous operations B-1  
Audible Warnings A-1  
Double buffering B-3  
Drive roaming 4-2  
Drivers 6-7  
Automatic failed drive detection and rebuild 4-4  
B
E
BIOS 4-6  
Enclosure management 2-11  
BIOS Boot Error Messages 7-3  
BIOS Configuration Utility 6-7  
BIOS message 6-6  
Bus data transfer rate 4-6  
Bus type 4-6  
Bus-based 2-11  
C
Features 1-2, 4-1  
Firmware 4-6, B-3  
Cache configuration 4-6  
Cache I/O B-1  
Cache Memory 4-7  
Card size 4-6  
Channel B-2  
FlexRAID Power Fail option B-3  
Cold swap B-2  
Compatibility 4-9  
Configuration on Disk 4-2  
Configuration Strategies 5-9  
Configuring Arrays 5-8  
Configuring Logical Drives 5-12  
Configuring SCSI physical drives 5-1  
Consistency check 2-4, B-2  
CPU 4-6  
G
GB B-3  
Glossary B-1  
Creating hot spares 5-8  
Creating logical drives 5-9  
Hardware Installation 6-1  
Host-based array B-3  
D
Host-based RAID solution 2-2  
Hot spare 2-8, 2-10, B-4  
Using during disk rebuild 2-9  
Hot swap 2-9, 4-4, B-4  
Data redundancy  
Using mirroring 2-6  
Data transfer capacity B-2  
Dedicated parity 2-8  
Degraded 2-10, B-2  
Disconnect/reconnect 4-7  
Disk B-2  
I
I/O driver B-4  
Initialization B-4  
Disk array B-2  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 Hardware Guide  
IX-1  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
 
Install Drivers 6-7  
Installation steps  
Custom 6-2  
R
RAID B-6  
Benefits 2-1  
Introduction to 2-1  
Spanning to configure RAID 10 2-8  
RAID 10 3-6  
Configuring 2-8  
Spanning to make RAID 50 2-8  
Configuring 2-8  
Improved I/O 2-1  
J
Jumpers  
Setting 6-3  
L
Linux  
Red Hat 4-5  
Logical disk B-4  
Logical drive 2-3, B-4  
Logical drive states 2-10  
Increased reliability 2-2  
RAID levels 1-v, 3-1, B-6  
RAID levels supported 4-6  
RAID management 4-8  
RAID management features 4-4  
RAID migration B-6  
RAID overview 2-3  
Read-ahead B-6  
M
Mapping B-4  
MB B-5  
MegaRAID BIOS 4-7  
MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility 4-8  
MegaRAID Manager 4-8  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 card  
Installing 6-5  
MegaRAID SCSI 320-0 card layout 6-3  
Mirroring 2-6  
MS-DOS 6-7  
Ready 2-10  
Rebuild 2-10, 4-7  
Rebuild rate 2-9, B-6  
Rebuilding a disk 2-9  
Reconnect 4-7  
Multi-threaded B-5  
Reconstruct B-6  
Reconstruction B-6  
Red Hat Linux 6-7  
Replacement disk B-7  
Replacement unit B-7  
N
Nonvolatile RAM 4-6  
Novell NetWare 4-5, 6-7  
NVRAM 1-2  
O
Offline 2-10  
Online  
SAF-TE B-7  
SCSI B-7  
SCSI backup and utility software 4-9  
SCSI bus widths and maximum throughput 1-4  
Drive state 2-10  
Operating environment B-5  
Operating system software drivers 4-5  
Operating voltage 4-6  
Optimal 2-10  
Optimizing Data Storage 5-12  
Other BIOS error messages 7-4  
SCSI data transfer rate 4-6  
SCSI device types supported 4-6  
SCSI Drive State B-7  
SCSI firmware 4-7  
P
Parity 2-8, B-5  
SCSI-to-SCSI RAID product 2-3  
Service provider B-8  
SMART Technology 4-1  
SNMP B-8  
Partition B-5  
PCI controller 4-6  
Physical array 2-3  
Physical disk B-5  
Physical disk roaming B-5  
Physical drive 2-3  
Power Console Plus 4-8  
Processor 4-6  
SNMP agent 4-9  
SNMP managers 4-9  
Software utilities 4-5  
Software-based 2-11  
Spanning 2-7, B-8  
Product specifications 4-6  
Protocol B-5  
Spare B-8  
Standby rebuild 2-9  
Stripe size 2-6, 4-7, B-8  
Stripe width 2-5, B-8  
IX-2  
Index  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
Striping B-8  
T
Technical Support 1-vi  
Terminator B-8  
Troubleshooting 7-1  
U
Ultra320 and Wide SCSI 4-1  
Ultra3-SCSI (320M) B-9  
Unpack 6-2  
V
Virtual sizing B-9  
W
WebBIOS Configuration Utility 4-8  
Wide SCSI B-9  
Windows .NET 6-7  
Windows 2000 6-7  
Windows NT 4-5, 6-7  
Windows XP 6-7  
Index  
IX-3  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
IX-4  
Index  
Copyright © 2002 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.  
 
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