3ware 8000 Series Users Guide

User Guide

Escalade

®

ATA RAID Controller

Supports the 7000 and 8000 Series
and Release 7.7.x of the 3ware Software

PN 900-0041-00
December, 2003

Copyright

©2003 3ware, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the proper written consent of 3ware, Inc., 455 West Maude Ave., Sunnyvale,
CA 94085.

Trademarks

3ware, Escalade, and 3DM are all registered trademarks of 3ware, Inc. The
3ware logo, StorSwitch, TwinStor, and R5 Fusion are all trademarks of 3ware,
Inc. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owners.

Disclaimer

3ware, Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this docu­ment, nor does 3ware, Inc. make any commitment to update the information
contained herein.

Table of Contents

List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Escalade 7000 Parallel ATA Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Escalade 8000 Serial ATA Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Package Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Escalade 7000 series Parallel ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Escalade 8000 series Serial ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Tools Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Personal Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Protecting Equipment and Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ESD Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mechanical Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Unmatched reliability and performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Escalade Serial ATA Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

RAID increases performance and adds redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

RAID 0 arrays maximize performance and capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

RAID 1 arrays offer fault tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

TwinStorTM Technology adds performance to 3ware’s mirrored disk arrays . . . 9

RAID 10 arrays maximize performance and fault

tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

RAID 5 arrays optimize performance, fault tolerance, high capacity and storage

efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

R5 FusionTM Technology significantly improves RAID 5 write performance . . 11

Configure and manage your disk arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Background media scan and dynamic sector repair enhance data integrity . . . 12

Quick Installation Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3ware Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

To remove an existing Escalade ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Installing a Parallel ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Connect the interface cables to the Escalade ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . 18

Install the Escalade ATA RAID Controller in the computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Connect the drives to the interface cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Installing a Serial ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Connect the interface cables to the Escalade Serial ATA RAID Controller . . . . 21

Connect the drives to the interface cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Installing a Serial ATA RAID Controller with Multi-lane Internal Connectors . . . . 24

Install the Controller with Multi-lane Internal Connectors in Your System . . . . 25

Connect the Interface Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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Install the Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Check your installation and close the case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Check motherboard boot sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3ware Disk Array Configuration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Hot spare and hot swap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

BIOS Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Invoking the 3ware BIOS tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Exiting the 3ware BIOS tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Determining your configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Displaying advanced details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Creating a disk array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Determining your configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Specifying a Hot Spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Changing an existing configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Modifying a disk array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Deleting a disk array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

How to maintain or verify a disk array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Rebuilding a mirrored disk array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Rebuilding a RAID 5 disk array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Windows Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Installing a drive to an existing ATA RAID controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Boot the machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Installing the ATA RAID controller while

installing Windows 2000/XP/2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Create disk arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Installing with the initial operating system build . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Continue with Windows installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Reboot the machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

RAID array initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Install the 3DM disk management utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Installing the ATA RAID controller on systems that boot from a different device . 49

Create disk arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Install the 3ware driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Reboot the machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

RAID array initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Install the 3DM disk management utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Replacing an existing ATA RAID controller with a new version of the controller . 52

Updating the 3ware driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Installing/Upgrading the 3ware driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Remove the existing Escalade ATA RAID Controller

and install the new Escalade ATA RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Reboot the machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Install the 3DM disk management utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Linux Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Red Hat Linux Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Installing the ATA RAID controller while installing Red Hat Linux . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Installing the ATA RAID controller on systems that boot from a different device 64

SuSE Linux Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Installing the ATA RAID controller while installing SuSE Linux with YaST2 . . . 68
Installing the ATA RAID controller on systems that boot from a different device 70

FreeBSD Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Installing the ATA RAID controller while installing FreeBSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Installing the ATA RAID controller on systems that boot from a different device 75

ii 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Compiling the Driver (For experts only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3DM Disk Management

Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Windows Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Installing 3DM for Windows 2000/XP/2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Linux Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Uninstalling 3DM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Checking Array Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

View status using your standard browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Password setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Enable/disable password protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Selecting background task rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Selecting remote access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Selecting cache options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Event notification via e-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Configuration and Array Maintenance

Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Specifying a hot spare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Rebuilding a redundant array with a hot swap drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Scheduling background tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Troubleshooting: Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Hardware installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Software installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Screen display messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

AEN Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Appendix A. Compliance and Conformity Statements . . . . . . . . . . 109

Federal Communications Commission Radio Frequency Interference Statement 109

Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

European Community Conformity Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Appendix B. Warranty, Technical Support and Service . . . . . . . . . . 111

Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Exclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

State Law Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Obtaining Warranty Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

3ware Technical Support and Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Sales and ordering information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Feedback on this manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

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iv 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

List of Figures

Figure 1. RAID 0 Configuration Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Figure 2. RAID 1 Configuration Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Figure 3. RAID 10 Configuration Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Figure 4. RAID 5 Configuration Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Figure 5. 8-Port Escalade 750x-8 ATA RAID Controller Layout. . . . . . . 18

Figure 6. 12-Port Escalade 850x-12 Serial ATA RAID Controller . . . . . 21

Figure 7. 12-Port Escalade 8506-12MI Serial ATA RAID Controller . . . 24

Figure 8. Multi-lane Cable (InfiniBand 4x, SFF-8470) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Figure 9. 3ware BIOS Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Figure 10. Disk Array Configuration Main Display, RAID 1 Example . . . . 30

Figure 11. Disk Array Advance Details Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Figure 12. Selecting Drives for a Mirrored Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Figure 13. Create Disk Array Display, RAID 0 Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Figure 14. Create Disk Array Display, RAID 5 Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Figure 15. BIOS Initialization Screen for RAID 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Figure 16. Delete Disk Array Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Figure 17. Maintain Disk Array Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Figure 18. Degraded RAID 1 Array Drive When Not in Use. . . . . . . . . . . 39

Figure 19. Degraded RAID 10 Array Drive When Not in Use. . . . . . . . . . 39

Figure 20. Degraded RAID 5 Array Drive When Not in Use. . . . . . . . . . . 40

Figure 21. Continue on Source Error Example. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Figure 22. Select Available Drive to Replace Faulted Drive,

RAID 1 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Figure 23. Rebuild Array Status Display, RAID 1 Example . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Figure 24. Found New Hardware Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Figure 25. 3ware ATA RAID Controller Properties Display . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Figure 26. Upgrade Driver Welcome Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Figure 27. Upgrade/Install Device Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Figure 28. Select a Device Driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Figure 29. Install From Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Figure 30. Select a Device Driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Figure 31. Start Device Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Figure 32. Digital Signature Not Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Figure 33. Final driver installation screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Figure 34. 3DM Remote Monitoring and Security Configuration Display . 80

Figure 35. 3DM E-mail Notification Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Figure 36. 3DM Home Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Figure 37. 3DM Details Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Figure 38. 3DM Monitor Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Figure 39. 3DM Alarms Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

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List of Figures

Figure 40. 3DM Settings Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Figure 41. 3DM Administrator Login Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Figure 42. 3DM User Login Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Figure 43. 3DM Configure Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Figure 44. 3DM Help Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Figure 45. Installation or Removal Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Figure 46. A Warning for All Software Removal Requests. . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Figure 47. Confirmation of Successful Software Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Figure 48. Administrator Privileges Required Warning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Figure 49. Firmware Upgrade Requirement Warning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Figure 50. System Reboot Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

vi 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Before You Begin

Congratulations on selecting the Escalade ATA RAID Controller as your
RAID data storage and management system. This user guide gives simple,
step-by-step instructions for installing and configuring your Escalade ATA
RAID Controller. To ensure your personal safety and protect your equipment
and data, carefully read the information that follows the Features list before
you begin installing.

Features

Escalade 7000 Parallel ATA Family

The Escalade 7000 Parallel ATA family includes 7000-2, 7500-4, 7500-4LP,
7500-8, 7500-12, 7006-2, 7506-4LP, 7506-8, and 7506-12.

The information in this manual also supports the following legacy products:
7410, 7810, 7450 (now 7500-4), 7850 (now 7500-8), and 7210

■ True Hardware RAID. Low CPU Utilization

■ RAID Support. RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD (700x-2 does not support

RAID 5 or RAID 10)

■ Drive Support. Parallel UltraDMA 133, 100

■ Bus Types.

■ 7000-2 is PCI 32 bit / 33 MHz

■ 7006-2 is PCI 32-bit / 66 MHz

■ 7500-4, 7500-4LP, 7500-8, 7500-12, are all PCI 64-bit / 33MHz

■ 7506-4LP, 7506-8, 7506-12, are all PCI 64-bit / 66MHz.

■ Management. 3DM

Interface

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®

Disk Management Utility or 3ware Command Line

Before You Begin

■ BIOS. PC99, PnP, BBS Compliant

■ Windows Support. Windows 2000 with SP3 or newer, Windows XP with

SP1 or newer, and Windows Server 2003

■ Linux Support. Redhat, SuSE. (Drivers available in Open Source.)

■ FreeBSD. Version 4.8

■ Performance. Twinstor, Command Queuing, Elevator Seeking, R5Fusion

(R5 Fusion is not available on 700x-2)

■ Field Upgrades. Field Upgradeable Firmware, BIOS, 3DM and Drivers

■ Data Integrity. ATA Command Readback, S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring,

Dynamic Sector Repair, Rebuild Pacing, Rebuild Scheduling,
Background Media Scan, Hot Swap, Hot Spare, Hardware Health
Monitoring, Scheduled Verify

Escalade 8000 Serial ATA Family

The Escalade 8000 Serial ATA family includes 8006-2LP, 8500-4, 8500-8,
8500-12, 8506-4LP, 8506-8, 8506-12, 8506-8MI, and 8506-12MI.

■ True Hardware RAID. Low CPU utilization

■ RAID Support. RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD (8006-2LP does not support

RAID 5 or RAID 10)

■ Drive Support. Serial ATA 150 (SATA I) drives. Parallel UltraDMA 133

and UltraDMA 100 drives are also supported when using a parallel-to­serial converter.

■ Bus Types.

■ 8006-2LP is 64-bit, 66MHz PCI 2.2 compliant

■ 8500-4, 8500-8 and 8500-12 are all PCI 64-bit / 33MHz.

■ 8506-4LP, 8506-8, 8506-12, 8506-8MI, and 8506-12MI are all PCI

64-bit / 66MHz.

■ Management. 3DM Disk Management Utility or 3ware Command Line

Interface

■ BIOS. PC99, PnP, BBS Compliant

■ Windows Support. Windows 2000 with SP3 or newer, Windows XP with

SP1 or newer, and Windows Server 2003

■ Linux Support. Redhat, SuSE. (Drivers available in Open Source.)

■ FreeBSD. Version 4.8

■ Performance. Twinstor, Command Queuing, Elevator Seeking, R5Fusion

■ Field Upgrades. Field Upgradeable Firmware, BIOS, 3DM and Drivers

2 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Package Contents

■ Data Integrity. CRC protection for command and data transfers,

S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring, Dynamic Sector Repair, Rebuild Pacing, Rebuild
Scheduling, Background Media Scan, Hot Swap, Hot Spare, Hardware
Health Monitoring, Background Verify

Note: The Escalade Serial ATA controller can be used with either

serial or parallel drives. If using the controller with parallel drives a
parallel-to-serial converter must be used in conjunction.

The advantage of using the Escalade Serial ATA Controller with
p a r a l l e l d r i v e s i s t h e s i m p l e r , l o n g e r c a b l e a n d i n c r e a s e d a i r f l o w .

Package Contents

If your retail package is missing any of the items listed below, contact 3ware
before proceeding with installation (disk drives and disk mounting brackets
are not included):

Escalade 7000 series Parallel ATA RAID Controller

■ Escalade Parallel ATA RAID Controller in an ESD-protective bag

■ ATA interface cables (one per port)

■ 3ware installation media with the following: 3DM, Drivers and Escalade

User Guide (.pdf format)

■ 3ware Release Notes

■ 3ware Installation Guide

Escalade 8000 series Serial ATA RAID Controller

■ Escalade Serial ATA RAID Controller in an ESD-protective bag

■ Serial ATA interface cables (one per port)

Exception: Cables are not included with models 8506-8MI and 8506-

12MI, which have multi-lane internal controllers and require different
cables. You will need to purchase cables separately.

site (http://www.3ware.com) or contact [e-mail] for assis­tance.

■ 3ware installation media with the following: 3DM, Drivers and 3ware

Escalade User Guide (.pdf format)

See the 3ware web-

■ 3ware Release Notes

■ 3ware Installation Guide

www.3ware.com 3

Before You Begin

Tools Required

■ An ESD grounding strap or mat

■ Standard hand tools to open your system’s case and install the Escalade

ATA RAID Controller into an available PCI expansion slot.

System Requirements

The Escalade ATA RAID Controller requires a workstation-class or server­class CPU whose bus complies with PCI 2.2 standards, and a PCI slot that
meets the Plug and Play
used in 66 MHz, 100 MHz, or 133 MHz PCI-X slots. The ATA RAID Con­troller may be connected to up to two, four, eight, or twelve IDE/ATA drives
by the supplied interface cables.

Note: For all Escalade 750x and 850x models, and for 7006-2 and

8006-2, install the card in a 64-bit PCI slot for best performance. For
the Escalade 7506 and 8506, install the card in a 66MHz PCI slot.
For the 750x-12, a full-length PCI slot is required. PCI-X slots can
also be used.

and PC99 specifications. The controllers can also be

Drives must meet UltraATA-133 or UltraATA-100 standards, but may be of
any capacity or physical form factor. Length of unshielded interface cables
may not exceed 36” (91.4 cm) for parallel ATA controllers and 1M (39”) for
serial ATA controllers.

Personal Safety

Warning!

High voltages may be found inside computer equipment. Before
installing any of the hardware in this package or removing the pro­tective covers of any computer equipment, turn off power switches
and disconnect power cords. Do not reconnect the power cords
until you have replaced the covers.

Protecting Equipment and Data

Back up your data!

Creating or deleting disk arrays destroys existing files on the mem­ber drives. If your drives contain valuable data, back them up and
save data elsewhere before changing your array configuration.

4 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

ESD Precautions

ESD Precautions

Standard electrostatic discharge (ESD) precautions must be followed to avoid
damaging computer components and accessories when installing or removing
the Escalade ATA RAID Controller.

■ When the case of your computer is open and its internal parts are exposed,

don’t touch any internal part unnecessarily.

■ Always wear a grounded strap or work on an ESD-protective mat.

■ Don’t remove the ATA RAID Controller from its protective bag until you

are properly grounded.

■ Handle the ATA RAID Controller by its edges or by the black rail and

metal bracket at its two ends.

■ Don’t touch any pin, contact, lead or component on the ATA RAID

Controller.

Mechanical Concerns

Be careful when installing the Escalade ATA RAID Controller into your sys­tem. Excessive force can damage the board, the cables, your drives or your
system.

■ Be sure the board is aligned with its slot on the motherboard before

installing. Do not flex the board excessively.

■ Interface cable connectors must be mated carefully without bending any

pins. The connectors provided are keyed to prevent you from inserting
them upside-down.

■ Interface cables are fragile and must not be crimped or pinched. Ensure

that they do not impede the flow of cooling air from fans or heat sinks in
the system case.

www.3ware.com 5

Before You Begin

6 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Introduction

Unmatched reliability and performance

The Escalade 7000 and 8000 series of ATA RAID Controllers bring new
levels of reliability to ATA RAID through a patented switched architecture
that exceeds the reliability of SCSI shared-bus storage systems. The shared
bus architecture of SCSI has inherent performance limitations due to
arbitration latency and only one drive may use the bus at any given time.
Further, a single drive failure can bring the entire storage system down. In this
scenario, SCSI RAID features fail to make the data available.

The Escalade 7000 and 8000 series uses a non-blocking switched architecture
to isolate the drives from one another. Any drive failure makes that drive
unavailable and the rest of the storage system remains undisturbed. In
addition, 3ware has implemented Advanced Data Protection (ADP) features
that further protect data from loss. In ADP Level-1, all drive commands are
checked to ensure that no command corruption has taken place over the entire
data path, guaranteeing that the command and data reach the drive correctly.
3ware’s 3DM™, a web-based storage management utility, sends notification
of drive failures via email and audible alerts, providing the system
administrator with local and remote asynchronous event reporting of array
activities. Some of the Escalade features and benefits include:

■ Non-blocking switch technology with RAID 5 parity

■ On-board processor minimizes host CPU overhead

■ SCSI device driver for O/S compatibility and easy installation

■ Browser-based 3ware Disk Manager (3DM) utility with password secu-

rity for network management of 3ware storage arrays

■ Command line interface (CLI) for Windows and Linux (available from

the 3ware website at http://www.3ware.com/support/download.asp, and
described in 3ware Escalade Command Line Interface User Guide)

www.3ware.com 7

Introduction

■ SMTP support for email/pager notification of events

■ Easy-to-configure arrays from BIOS or CLI

■ BIOS supports booting from the array

■ Multiple logical volumes and RAID levels can exist on one card

■ Multiple card support within a system for very large storage requirements

■ Hot swap and hot spare support for data availability

■ Dynamic sector repair for robust data protection

■ S.M.A.R.T. disk drive monitoring for reliability

■ R5 Fusion technology for accelerated RAID 5 writes (only available on

7500, 7506, 8500 and 8506 models)

Escalade Serial ATA Controller

The Escalade 8000 series of Serial ATA RAID cards are the most advanced
controllers available, supporting from 2 to 12 Serial ATA drives. These cards
provide the highest level of RAID 5 performance and scalability, traditionally
seen only with a SCSI array. Based on 3ware's 4th generation network
switched architecture, the 8000 series are the only Serial ATA controllers that
unleash the point-to-point performance benefits of Serial ATA.

Teamed with a mature suite of software and firmware management tools, the
Escalade 8000 series of RAID controllers provide a powerful, affordable
alternative to SCSI.

RAID increases performance and adds redundancy

Escalade ATA RAID Controllers use a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
(RAID) to increase your storage system’s performance and provide fault
tolerance. The ATA RAID Controllers offer RAID 0 variable striped arrays
for performance; RAID 1 mirrored arrays for fault tolerance; variable striped
mirrored RAID 10 arrays for fault tolerance and performance; and RAID 5
arrays for fault tolerance, high capacity and storage efficiency.

RAID 0 arrays maximize performance and capacity

When drives are configured in a striped disk array (see Figure 1), the Escalade
ATA RAID Controller distributes large files across the multiple disks using
RAID 0 techniques. Striped disk arrays achieve high transfer rates because
they can read or write data on more than one drive simultaneously. Striped
disk arrays give exceptional performance, particularly for data intensive
applications such as video editing, computer aided design and geographical
information systems. Striping your disk array concatenates each drive’s
capacity into one large volume. The stripe size is user configurable at 64K,
128K, 256K, 512K or 1M.

8 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Unlike other RAID levels, RAID 0 is not redundant, so loss of any disk drive
results in loss of all user data.

Figure 1. RAID 0 Configuration Example

RAID 1 arrays offer fault tolerance

Mirrored disk arrays write data to two drives using RAID 1 algorithms (see
Figure 2). This gives your system fault tolerance by preserving the data on
one drive if the other drive fails. Fault tolerance is a basic requirement for
mission critical systems like web and database servers.

Figure 2. RAID 1 Configuration Example

TwinStor

TM

Technology adds performance to 3ware’s

mirrored disk arrays

Traditional mirroring techniques do little to improve performance. The
adaptive algorithms found in 3ware’s TwinStor technology boost performance
by distinguishing between random and sequential read requests. For the
sequential requests generated when accessing large files, both drives are used,
with the heads simultaneously reading alternating sections of the file. For the
smaller random transactions, the data is read from a single optimal drive head.

RAID 10 arrays maximize performance and fault tolerance

When drives are configured as a striped mirrored array, the disks are
configured using both RAID 0 and RAID 1 techniques, thus the name RAID
10 (see Figure 3). A minimum of four drives are required to use this
technique. The first two drives are mirrored as a fault tolerant array using
RAID 1. The third and fourth drives are mirrored as a second fault tolerant

www.3ware.com 9

Introduction

array using RAID 1. The two mirrored arrays are then grouped as a striped
RAID 0 array using a two tier structure. Higher data transfer rates are
achieved by leveraging
TwinStor and striping (64K, 128K, 256K, 512K or 1M) the arrays. RAID 10
is available on the four, eight, and twelve port Escalade ATA RAID
Controllers

Figure 3. RAID 10 Configuration Example

RAID 5 arrays optimize performance, fault tolerance, high capacity and storage efficiency

The RAID 5 configuration features the data striping of RAID 0 combined
with the parity of RAID 4. Using a simple parity (exclusive OR) function,
RAID 5 can tolerate the loss of one drive. Parity information is distributed
across all drives rather than being concentrated on a single disk (see Figure 4).
This avoids throughput loss due to contention for the parity drive. You can use
hot spares to rebuild a failed drive “on-the-fly”.

RAID 5 capacity = size of smallest drive
the array’s storage efficiency increases with the number of disks; from 66.7%
for 3 drives to 87.5% for 8 drives: storage efficiency = (number of drives -1)
(number of drives).

Unlike all other RAID configurations that offer data striping, except for RAID
1, RAID 5 stripe size is limited to 64k.

Note: BIOS will reject the creation of a RAID 5 array having less

than 3 drives.

× (number of drives - 1). In addition,

÷

10 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

RAID 5

A Blocks

Figure 4. RAID 5 Configuration Example

R5 Fusion

TM

Technology significantly improves RAID 5

write performance

3ware’s R5 Fusion significantly improves RAID 5 write performance for both
large sequential and small random transactions. This advanced block caching
firmware technology is combined with StorSwitch to deliver extremely high
performance for RAID 5 write operations. This performance improvement is
applicable to only the first RAID 5 array on the RAID controller. Additional
RAID 5 arrays on the RAID controller will not benefit from the R5 Fusion
technology.

Note: R5 Fusion is available only with Escalade 750x and 8508

ATA RAID Controllers.

0 parity

A1

A2

A3

A4

B0

1 parity

B2

B3

B4

B Blocks C Blocks D Blocks

C0

C1

2 parity

C3

C4

D0

D1

D2

3 parity

D4

E0

E1

E2

E3

4 parity

E Blocks

Configure and manage your disk arrays

The 3ware Disk Array Configuration Utility is a BIOS level tool for
creating, deleting, maintaining disk arrays and rebuilding mirrored arrays.
From the 3DM Disk Array Configuration Utility, you can also specify hot
spares from available drives to be dynamically substituted for a failed drive in
a mirrored array. Refer to the 3ware Disk Array Configuration Utility chapter.

S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting
Technology) adds monitoring and troubleshooting functionality by
automatically checking a disk drive's health and reporting potential problems.
It allows you to take proactive steps to prevent impending disk crashes.
SMART data is checked on all disk drives (array members, JBOD and Hot
Spares). Three SMART commands are issued: SMART RETURN STATUS
(B0h with a Feature register value of DAh), SMART READ LOG (B0h with
the content of the Features register equal to D5h), and SMART READ DATA
(B0h with the content of the Features register equal to D0h).

■ SMART RETURN STATUS - This command is issued 24 hours after the

Escalade controller is powered up. This 24 hour wait period is timed

www.3ware.com 11

Introduction

internally in the 3ware firmware, and is not affected by changes to the
system clock. Every 24 hours, the SMART RETURN STATUS is issued
to attached disk drives. If none of the disk drives have detected a “thresh­old exceeded” condition, then nothing is logged to the 3DM Alarms page.
If any of the disk drives have detected a “threshold exceeded” condition,
then an AEN is logged to the 3DM Alarms page. This is repeated every
24 hours that the Escalade controller is powered up.

■ SMART READ LOG and SMART READ DATA - These commands are

issued independent of the SMART RETURN STATUS command. These
commands are only issued when the 'Download Error Log' button on the
3DM Alarms page is pressed (See page 155). The SMART data is
returned at the bottom of the Error Log, starting after “#SMARTError­LogStart.”

Staggered Spin Up allows drives to be powered-up into the Standby power
management state to minimize inrush current at power-up and to allow the
controller to sequence the spin-up of drives. The standby power management
state is persistent after power-down and power-up. This feature is
automatically utilized on drives that support this power management state.
The disk drive must support staggered spin up and must be configured for
spin up in order to take advantage of it. The Escalade supports the ATA/6
implementation of staggered spinup.

3DM Disk Management Utility runs in the background on the Escalade ATA
RAID Controller’s host and allows you to monitor the controller and maintain
the ATA RAID arrays and drives locally or remotely via a standard web
browser. To remotely access 3DM, you are not required to install any software
on your system but you must have access to the network with the Escalade
ATA RAID Controller. 3DM supports hot spare and hot swap for redundant
arrays. Hot swap allows users to replace a failed drive in a redundant array
while the system remains up. Refer to the 3DM Disk Management Utility
chapter for more details and additional features. (3DM does not work under
FreeBSD.)

To create and delete arrays, you must use the 3ware Disk Array
Configuration Utility. To check array configuration or status, disable write
cache, select a hot spare or rebuild a mirrored array, you can use the 3ware

Disk Array Configuration Utility at BIOS time or 3DM Disk Management
Utility in real time. Hot swap is only available through the 3DM Disk
Management Utility.

Background media scan and dynamic sector repair enhance data integrity

Background Media Scan checks for media errors on any disk drive connected
to the 3ware controller. If the disk drive is part of a redundant array, error
locations that are found and are deemed repairable are rewritten with the
redundant data. This forces the drive firmware to reallocate the error sectors

12 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

accordingly. Background Media Scan is also designed to be minimally
intrusive to the normal controller performance.

Background Media Scan can provide early warning of a disk drive problem or
failure. For example, if the media scan encounters many error locations, this
may be an indication of excessive grown defects on the drive. For redundant
arrays, grown defects can be fixed early to maintain optimal redundancy for
the array.

Many sectors on a drive may not be used or checked for long periods of time.
Bad sectors may not be known until actual user data is written and then read
from these locations. By periodic scanning of the media, the disk drive
firmware is allowed to do corrective actions on problem areas on the disk and
can minimize the occurrence of uncorrectable read errors.

Background Media Scan is scheduled through 3DM. When the media scan is
activated, the controller firmware either starts the scan at the first drive with
the lowest port number or scans from when it was last deactivated. While
scanning, the controller issues normal read commands to the drive in a
sequential manner. When the controller is idle with no host commands, the
rate of the media scan is as fast as the drive can transfer data. When an error
from the drive is encountered, the controller typically will retry the command.
If there are cable CRC errors, there may be multiple retries including
downgrade of the UDMA mode. If the error persists and is repairable (e.g.,
ECC errors), an error notification is issued to indicate the problem. (See
“AEN 026h AEN_DRIVE_ECC_ERROR” on page 105.) If the disk drive is
part of a redundant array that is in a redundant state (not DEGRADED,
REBUILDING), then Dynamic Sector Repair automatically rewrites the
redundant data to the error location to force the drive to reallocate the error
location. A notification of repair is posted. The result is a restoration of drive
and data integrity; the primary and redundant data are again both valid.

After repairs, Background Media Scan continues on the same disk drive until
reaching the maximum logical block address on the drive. It then proceeds
onto the next disk drive available for scanning. When it reaches the last drive
(i.e., drive with the highest port number), it stops until the next scheduled
scan. It will then start from the first drive.

www.3ware.com 13

Quick Installation Guide

Quick Installation Guide

14 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Step 1. Install the Escalade ATA RAID Controller

Install the two, four, eight, or twelve port Escalade ATA RAID Controller in
an available PCI slot. Slots closest to the Accelerated Graphics Port give the
best performance.

Step 2. Create arrays

Verify your boot device precedes the Escalade ATA RAID Controller in the
boot sequence, then press Alt-3 to activate the 3ware Disk Array Configura-
tion Utility at boot time. Specify RAID arrays and hot spares.

Step 3. Install system drivers

The Escalade ATA RAID Controller drivers must be installed according to the
type of installation and the operating system. Installations include:

■ Installing the ATA RAID Controller while installing the operating system.

■ Installing the ATA RAID Controller on systems that boot from a different

device.

■ Replacing an existing ATA RAID Controller with a new version of the

controller.

Operating systems supporting the Escalade ATA RAID Controller include:

■ Windows 2000 (SP3 or newer), XP (SP1 or newer), or 2003

■ Red Hat and SuSE Linux

■ FreeBSD

Step 4. Install 3DM

Install 3DM for Windows or Linux from the 3DM installation CD-ROM.

Windows

d(or letter of CD-Rom drive):\3DMsetup from Run... in the Start menu.

Linux

mount /dev/cdrom /mnt
cd /mnt/linux/3dm
./install.3dm

Answer questions concerning e-mail notification and the port number for
WEB monitoring.

cd /
umount /mnt

Note: When specifying multiple e-mail addresses for notification,

separate e-mail addresses using a comma.

www.3ware.com 15

Quick Installation Guide

16 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

3ware Hardware Installation

Warning:

Before proceeding with hardware installation, read the Before You
Begin section that completely describes personal and system pre-

cautions. Failing to do so may result in personal injury or damage
to your computer or the Escalade ATA RAID Controller.

To remove an existing Escalade ATA RAID Controller

1 If the computer is running, shut it down.

2 Turn off power to the computer and disconnect the power cord from the

outlet.

3 Open the computer case according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

4 Disconnect the disks from the existing Escalade ATA RAID Controller

installed in your system.

Tip: If your boot disk is connected to the ATA RAID Control-

ler and you intend to retain it as your boot device, note or mark
which physical disk is connected to port 0 on the controller.
This disk should be reconnected to port 0 on the new ATA
RAID Controller. Preserving the port order of how the other
drives are connected is unimportant, even if the disks are part
of a disk array. However, it is recommended that a plug-to-plug
replacement is followed.

5 Remove the screw in the metal bracket at the end of the old ATA RAID

Controller and set it aside. (Save the screw for installing the new control­ler.)

www.3ware.com 17

3ware Hardware Installation

6 Gently remove the ATA RAID Controller from the PCI slot.

7 Remove the cables from the ATA RAID Controller and discard.

Reusing interface cables is not recommended.

Installing a Parallel ATA RAID Controller

Note: If you are not installing a Parallel ATA RAID Controller,

continue to page 21 “Installing a Serial ATA RAID Controller”.

JP2 LED drive status connector

Note: Pin 1 and 4 are 3.3V
and pin 2 and 3 are ground
Plug cable to either pins 1 and 2
or pins 3 and 4.

Ports:

7

2

3

4

5

6

0

1

0

Serial Number
(on plate)

Figure 5. 8-Port Escalade 750x-8 ATA RAID Controller Layout

Note: The LED drive status connector, if used, will flash for any I/

O activity on any port.

Connect the interface cables to the Escalade ATA RAID Controller

1 Connect the interface cables supplied with the product to the ATA RAID

Controller. See Figure 5.

18 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Installing a Parallel ATA RAID Controller

Note: UltraATA-100 and UltraATA-133 drives require 40­pin, 80-conductor ribbon cables.

These cables have color
coded ends. For optimum performance, the blue end must be
connected to the ATA RAID Controller and the black end must
be connected to the hard drive.

2 One edge of each interface cable should have a colored (usually red) line

denoting the conductor to Pin 1. For 8 and 12 port controllers, align the
ATA RAID Controller so that the colored line is toward the top edge of
the controller. For 2 and 4 port controllers, align the ATA RAID Control­ler cable so that the colored line is toward the front edge (near the bracket)
of the controller card. Mate the connectors carefully without bending any
pins.

3 Install the other connectors in the same manner.

Install the Escalade ATA RAID Controller in the computer

1 If the computer is running, shut it down. Turn off power to the computer

and disconnect the power cord from the outlet.

2 Open the computer case according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

3 Find the PCI or PCI-X slot you want to use for the ATA RAID Controller.

Hint: Cable routing may be easier if you install the ATA RAID

Controller next to an open slot.

4 Remove the metal filler bracket for the slot. Save this screw; it will be

used to secure the ATA RAID Controller after you have seated it in the
slot.

Hint: While the ATA RAID Controller runs properly in any

PCI slot, not all slots give equal performance due to the archi­tecture of the PCI bus. In our laboratories, we have noticed that
the slots closest to the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or in
the 64-bit PCI slot typically give the best performance. Our
card should fit in both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI slots with 5V as
well as with 3.3V.

5 Line the ATA RAID Controller up so that all pins make proper contact

with the PCI slot pins when pushed into place. The black end rail opposite
the metal bracket may be removed if needed to fit the ATA RAID Con-

www.3ware.com 19

3ware Hardware Installation

troller inside the chassis. The short 4-port or 8-port Escalade ATA RAID
Controller is keyed to ensure proper installation in a full-sized PCI slot.

6 Ensure that the contacts will mate with the grooves in the slot. Press down

gently on the edge of the ATA RAID Controller directly above the slot
until it is fully seated.

7 Check that the ATA RAID Controller’s metal bracket covers the hole in

the case and secure the bracket with the screw that was used to secure the
filler bracket in step 4.

Connect the drives to the interface cables

1 Be sure to use the supplied cables. With the higher speeds of UltraATA-

133 and UltraATA-100, using quality cables is important.

2 Before connecting your drives, check your drives’ jumper setting. The

range of settings provided vary by manufacturer as do the method for
adjusting them. Refer to information provided with your drives for the
method required to set them. To operate properly, the Escalade Parallel
ATA RAID Controller requires that drives be set as Single (if available on
your drive) or Master.

3 If your drives are not already installed in the computer chassis, do so now.

Be sure that the drives are connected to the power supply.

4 For each drive, select the black end of an interface cable not connected to

the ATA RAID Controller and plug it into the drive or drive carrier. The
cable’s colored edge denotes Pin 1 and should be adjacent to the 4-pin
power plug.

Note: Continue to page 26 “Check your installation and close

the case”.

20 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide

Installing a Serial ATA RAID Controller

Installing a Serial ATA RAID Controller

JP2 LED drive status connector

Note: Pin 1 and 4 are 3.3V
and pin 2 and 3 are ground
Plug cable to either pins 1 and 2
or pins 3 and 4.

Ports 8 and 9

Ports 10 and 11

Serial Number
(on plate)

Ports not shown:

1, 3, 5, and 7, located on the
under side of ports 0 through 6

9 and 11, located on the
under side of ports 8 and 10

Ports: 6 and 7

4 and 5

2 and 3

0 and 1

Figure 6. 12-Port Escalade 850x-12 Serial ATA RAID Controller

Note: The LED drive status connector, if used, will flash for any

I/O activity on any port. In most cases, for SATA this will be the
only visual indication of disk drive activity, as SATA disk drives
and RAID cages/carriers do not usually support LED disk drive
activity indicators on a per port basis.

Note: If your serial controller is either a model 8506-8MI or 8506-

12MI, turn to page 24 and follow the instructions in that section.

Connect the interface cables to the Escalade Serial ATA RAID Controller

1 Connect the interface cables supplied with the product to the Serial ATA

RAID Controller. See Figure 6.

2 One edge of each interface cable connector is keyed to ensure proper ori-

entation and installation. Carefully mate the connectors without bending
any pins.

3 Install the other connectors in the same manner.

www.3ware.com 21

3ware Hardware Installation

4 If the computer is running, shut it down. Turn off power to the computer

and disconnect the power cord from the outlet.

5 Open the computer case according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

6 Find the PCI slot you want to use for the serial ATA RAID Controller.

7 Remove the metal filler bracket for the slot. Save this screw; it will be

used to secure the serial ATA RAID Controller after you have seated it in
the slot.

Note: The connectors on the end of the controller are suscepti-

ble to damage from excessive bending.

Hint: Cable routing may be easier if you install the ATA RAID

Controller next to an open slot.

Hint: While the ATA RAID Controller runs properly in any

PCI or PCI-X slot, not all slots give equal performance due to
the architecture of the PCI bus. In our laboratories, we have
noticed that the slots closest to the Accelerated Graphics Port
(AGP) or in the 64-bit PCI slot typically give the best perfor­mance. Our card should fit in both 32-bit and 64-bit PCI slots
with 5V as well as with 3.3V.

8 Line up the ATA RAID Controller so that all pins make proper contact

with the PCI slot pins when pushed into place. The Escalade ATA RAID
Controller is keyed to ensure proper installation into a full-sized PCI slot.

9 Ensure that the contacts will mate with the grooves in the slot. Press down

gently on the edge of the ATA RAID Controller directly above the slot
until it is fully seated.

10 Check that the ATA RAID Controller’s metal bracket covers the hole in

the case and secure the bracket with the screw that was used to secure the
filler bracket in step 4.

Connect the drives to the interface cables

Using native serial ATA drives

1 If your drives are not already installed in the computer chassis, install

them now. Be sure that the drives are connected to the power supply.

22 3ware Escalade ATA RAID Controller User Guide