Acer PROMISE User Manual



TX/LP Series

Ultra ATA/100 RAID Cards

User's Manual

Copyright by Promise Technology, Inc. (“Promise”), 2001. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the expressed, written permission of Promise.

Trademarks

All trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

Important data protection information

You should back up all data before installing any drive controller or storage peripheral. Promise is not responsible for any loss of data resulting from the use, disuse or misuse of this or any other Promise product.

Notice

Although Promise has attempted to ensure the accuracy of the content of this manual, it is possible that this document may contain technical inaccuracies, typographical, or other errors. Promise Technology, Inc. assumes no liability for any error in this publication, and for damages, whether direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or otherwise, that may result from such error, including, but not limited to loss of data or profits.

Promise provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

The published information in the manual is subject to change without notice. Promise reserves the right to make changes in the product design, layout, and driver revisions without notification to its users.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................1

WHAT IS THE FASTTRAK100 TX/LP SERIES RAID CARD?............................................1

KEYS FEATURES AND BENEFITS .................................................................................3

QUICK START ...............................................................................................................5

UNPACKING YOUR FASTTRAK100...............................................................................5

INSTALLING THE CARD ................................................................................................6

INSTALLING THE HARD DRIVES ...................................................................................7

CHECKING CMOS SETTINGS.......................................................................................9

CREATING YOUR DISK ARRAY .................................................................................10

USING FASTBUILD™ CONFIGURATION UTILITY......................................................14

VIEWING FASTTRAK100 BIOS SCREEN ....................................................................14

NAVIGATING THE FASTBUILD ™ SETUP M ENU ...........................................................15

CREATING ARRAYS AUTOMATICALLY .......................................................................16

VIEWING DRIVE ASSIGNMENTS ................................................................................18

M ANUALLY CREATING AN ARRAY .............................................................................19

DELETING AN ARRAY ...............................................................................................26

REBUILDING A MIRRORED ARRAY ...........................................................................27

VIEWING CONTROLLER SETTINGS ............................................................................29

INSTALLING DRIVERS ................................................................................................30

WINDOWS 2000........................................................................................................30

WINDOWS NT4 .........................................................................................................32

WINDOWS ME...........................................................................................................34

WINDOWS 95/98.......................................................................................................36

DOS/WINDOWS 3.1X.................................................................................................39

NETWARE 3.12..........................................................................................................40

NETWARE 4.11..........................................................................................................42

NETWARE 5...............................................................................................................44

NETWARE E RROR AND INFORMATIONAL MESSAGES..................................................45

LINUX........................................................................................................................46

USING THE FASTCHECK™ MONITORING UTILITY...................................................47

INSTALLING FASTCHECK............................................................................................47

RUNNING FASTCHECK ..............................................................................................48

CLOSING FASTCHECK ...............................................................................................48

USING FASTCHECK ARRAY WINDOW .......................................................................49

SYNCHRONIZING AN ARRAY ...................................................................................53

REBUILDING AN ARRAY ...........................................................................................55

USING CONTROLLER WINDOW ..................................................................................58

USING OPTIONS WINDOW .........................................................................................62

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

UNDERSTANDING DISK ARRAY CONCEPTS.............................................................70

ABOUT FASTTRAK100 TX/LP SERIES DISK ARRAY ADAPTER ...................................70

ABOUT ADAPTER BIOS.............................................................................................70

FASTBUILD

™

AUTO M ENU SETUP.............................................................................70

RESERVED SECTOR ..................................................................................................70

DISK ARRAY TERMS .................................................................................................71

ABOUT RAID LEVELS ................................................................................................72

TROUBLESHOOTING & TIPS......................................................................................76

M OTHERBOARD ISSUES.............................................................................................76

SYSTEM CMOS ISSUES .............................................................................................77

DRIVE-RELATED E RRORS..........................................................................................77

OPERATING SYSTEM-RELATED ISSUES......................................................................81

P ERFORMANCE TIPS.................................................................................................83

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .............................................................................86

P RE-INSTALLATION....................................................................................................86

DRIVE ISSUES ...........................................................................................................88

INSTALLATION ISSUES................................................................................................89

P OST-INSTALLATION ..................................................................................................89

CONTACTING PROMISE SUPPORT .........................................................................A-1

LIMITED WARRANTY................................................................................................B-1

RETURNING PRODUCT FOR REPAIR........................................................................C-1

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Introduction

The PC which you are using either already contains a Promise Technology FastTrak100 TX4, TX2, or LP RAID card installed by a third-party or you have acquired a FastTrak100 retail product for your existing PC and will be installing the card yourself.

For PC owners wishing to install their Promise Technology FastTrak100 TX4/TX2/LP card, proceed to the Quick Start section (see page 5).

For PCs with a Promise Technology FastTrak100 TX4/TX2/LP card already installed, consult the Troubleshooting section of the manual (see page 76) if you are experiencing any difficulties with the hard drive being recognized by the card. If your operating system has crashed for some reason or you have downloaded updated drivers from the Promise website (www.promise.com), you may wish to reinstall software drivers for the FastTrak100 card. Use the Installing Drivers section (see page 30).

In order to serve you better and provide information updates, please take a moment to register your controller at http://www.promise.com/warranty .

What is the FastTrak100 TX/LP Series RAID Card?

Promise originally designed the FastTrak100 card as a cost-effective, high performance RAID card that adds performance and/or reliability to PC desktops and/or servers using Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, or EIDE drives. The FastTrak100 TX/LP Series models offer some major performance differences as described below.

The Fas tTrak100 TX/LP Series models all support newer motherboards that offer a 66MHz PCI bus (versus the traditional 33MHz bus) and the capability of transferring data across the PCI bus at speeds up to 266MB per second (versus the previous 133MB per second). As Ultra ATA/100 drive performance continues to improve, the use of the Promise ATA RAID card in a 66 MHz PCI slot will allow data transfers to exceed the older 133MB. Of course, the FastTrak100 TX/LP series cards are backward compatible with standard 33MHz PCI slots.

The FastTrak100 TX4 model offers four independent data channels to support a maximum of four Ultra ATA drives. This multiplies the sustained data transfer rate of attached drives that are striped together under RAID 0 or RAID 0+1 (up to 200MB per second). The FastTrak100 TX2 offers two independent data channels to support a maximum of four Ultra ATA drives -- though Promise recommends using just one drive per channel for maximum performance. The FastTrak100 LP offers the same features as the TX2 but in a low profile form factor designed for low profile PCs.

FastTrak100 supports striping (RAID 0), mirroring (RAID 1), striping/mirroring (RAID 0+1), or spanning (JBOD) operation, respectively. With striping, identical drives can read and write data in parallel to increase performance. Mirroring increases read

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

performance through load balancing and elevator sorting while creating a complete backup of your files. Striping with mirroring offers both high read/write performance and fault tolerance. Spanning uses the full capacity of all attached drives without requiring identical drive size, but offers no other RAID functionality.

A FastTrak100 striped array can double (TX2 and LP models using two drives) or quadruple (TX4 model using four drives) the sustained data transfer rate of Ultra ATA/100 drives. FastTrak100 fully supports Ultra ATA/100 specification of up to 100 MB/sec per drive, depending on individual drive specifications.

All FastTrak100 models also offer fault tolerant, data redundancy for entry-level network file servers or simply for desktop PC users wanting to continually protect valuable data on their PC. Each FastTrak100 model offers RAID 1 mirroring (for two drives) and RAID 0+1 mirroring plus striping (for four drives) to protect data. Should a drive that is part of a mirrored array fail, FastTrak100 uses the mirrored drive (which contains identical data) to assume all data handling. When a new replacement drive is later installed, FastTrak100 rebuilds data to the new drive from the mirrored drive to restore fault tolerance.

When attached drives are used with optional Promise SuperSwap(tm) "hot" swap chassises, the FastTrak100 models allow replacing a failed drive without shutting down the PC operation under RAID 1 mirroring. Because of its four independent data channels, the FastTrak100 TX4 also supports "hot" swapping under RAID 0+1 using four drives.

FastTrak100's bootable BIOS supports individual drives larger than 8.4GB. With FAT32 and NTFS partitioning, the array can be addressed as one large single volume.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Keys Features and Benefits

The following information offers an overview of the major features of your new Promise FastTrak100 TX4, TX2 or LP card. The table is divided into two areas: Advanced Hardware Design, and Compatibility.

Advanced Hardware Design

Features Benefits

Supports 66MHz PCI bus motherboards (automatically backward compatible with 33MHz PCI slots) Supports data striping (RAID 0), mirroring (RAID 1), and striping/mirroring combination (RAID 0+1) Supports Ultra DMA 5/4/3/2/1/0, DMA 2/1/0

Independent data channels Drives can multiply their data transfer

PCI Plug-n-Play, PCI Interrupt sharing and coexists with mainboard IDE controllers Supports concurrent IDE channel operation Supports IDE bus master operation Allows multitasking during disk transfers that

Utilizes FastBuild from the FastTrak100 onboard BIOS

Displays status and error checking messages during bootup

Employs the latest Promise PCI Ultra ATA/100 ASIC technology

Mirroring supports automatic background rebuilds

automenu

Allows maximum data transfers of up to 200MB per second (133 MB/s in 33 MHz slot) over the bus to dramatically reduce the time to save and retrieve large files. Provides dramatic increase in drive performance and/or fault tolerant options. Offers performance customization and data rebuilds from the BIOS menu. Burst data transfer rates up to 100MB/sec from Ultra ATA/100 drives to boost overall system performance.

performance when striped together and each drive uses a separate data channel. Easy to install; support four ATA drives on the FastTrak100 while still supporting 4 devices on motherboard ATA controller. Drive workload is distributed in parallel between members of the array.

increase CPU efficiency. The CPU is free to process tasks during IDE data transfers through the PCI Bus to/from system memory. Offers pre-set application specific settings that can be optimized for Desktop, Server, or A/V Editing. Has "Auto Setup" option for quick and easy array builds. Notifies user of possible errors and allows for recovery of mirrored drive arrays directly from

FastBuild

Fully supports Ultra ATA/100 specifications with 100 MB/sec timing and CRC error-checking at high speeds. Fault tolerance can be restored automatically without rebooting.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Compatibility

Features Benefits

Complies with PCI v2.2 Local Bus standard Compliant with PCI IDE Bus Master standard. PCI IDE Bus Master support for Windows 98/95/ME, Windows NT4/2000, Netware

3.12/4.1x/5.0, RedHat Linux 6.2/7.0 Tested compatibility to coexist with mainboards that have integrated IDE controllers Compatible with Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, EIDE and Fast ATA -2 drives supporting multi-word DMA

Features LBA and Extended Interrupt13 drive translation in controller onboard BIOS

DMI NT compatibility FastTrak will appear as an instrumented

Provides highest level of hardware compatibility.

Provides 32-bit I/O, IDE Bus Master, and Ultra ATA performance for optimal system performance.

Improves system performance of new and existing installations including mainboards with Intel chipsets. Works with newest and current IDE drive specifications. Promise engineers experienced with IDE devices perform verification testing with major drive manufacturers and development partners.

Breaks capacity barriers for support of drives greater than 8.4GB in capacity. Offers flexible storage options for space demanding applications.

component under DMI (Desktop Management Interface)

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Quick Start

This section is designed to quickly get your FastTrak100 TX/LP series controller up and running using the default settings, which will be optimal for most users. If you wish to modify any of the default settings, please refer to page 14, Using FastBuild™ Configuration Utility.

Unpacking Your FastTrak100

When you receive the FastTrak100, the package should contain the items listed below:

• FastTrak100 TX4, TX2, or LP Ultra ATA/100 RAID Card

• FastTrak100 TX/LP Series User’s Manual

• FastTrak100 Driver floppy diskette

• Two (TX2/LP models) or four (TX4) internal 80-wire/40-pin Ultra ATA/100 hard

drive cables (18” length)

If ANY of the contents are missing or appear to be damaged, please contact your dealer or distributor immediately.

WARNING: Before installing the adapter into an existing system, backup any necessary data. Failure to follow this accepted PC practice could result in data loss.

NOTE: FastTrak100, like every other valuable part of your system, is subject to static electricity. Be sure that you’re properly grounded (Promise recommends that you wear an anti-static strap, or touch a grounded object), and that your system is unplugged before installing FastTrak100.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Installing The Card

Installing the FastTrak100 TX/LP Series controller card in a system is a simple process. The card fits into any available 32-bit PCI slot (must be PCI 2.1 or 2.2 compliant), or the 32-bit portion of a 64-bit PCI slot, on the system’s motherboard (see figure below).

1. Remove the cover of your system.

2. Remove the inside slot cover of an available 32-bit PCI slot on the motherboard.

3. Install the FastTrak100 controller card into the open slot (see Figure 1 below).

4. Attach your system case’s 2- or 4-pin LED cable to the LED connector on the FastTrak100 controller card (see figure next page). Make sure that pin 1 on the connector is aligned with pin 1 of the cable.

5. Fasten the controller card bracket to the system case (see below).

Figure 1

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Installing The Hard Drives

WARNING: If you wish to include your current bootable drive

using the Windows NT 4.x or Windows 2000 operating system as part of a bootable Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your FastTrak100, do NOT connect the hard drive to the FastTrak100 controller yet.

You MUST install the Windows NT4 or 2000 driver software first (see page 30) to this drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller.

Hard drives must be Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, EIDE and/or Fast ATA-2 compatible to operate with the FastTrak100 RAID Adapter. For optimal performance, install all identical drives of the same model and capacity. The drives’ matched performance allows the array to function better as a single drive.

1. Promise recommends using identical drives as part of a FastTrak100 array. If striping for performance, use up to four new drives. If mirroring for protection, you can use two new drives OR use an existing drive and a new drive (the new drive must be the same size or larger than the existing drive).

a. For TX4 model users, set the jumpers of each hard drive to

"Master" only. Attach 1 drive only to each of the TX4’s data channels (do not use a Master/Slave configuration).

b. For TX2 or LP model users, configure the jumpers of the hard

drive you’re preparing to connect to the FastTrak100 TX2 or LP models using the correct “Master” or “Cable -Select” settings in the positions described in the table below.

NOTE: Sometimes the Master drive with no slave attached is called “Single.” The master slave setting differentiates two drives chained on the same connector.

Jumper Settings

# of Drives IDE Channel 1 IDE Channel 2

1 M ---2 M M 3 M & S M 4 M & S M & S

M = Master, S = Slave

2. Install the hard drives into the hard drive bays of your system, including the power cables.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

WARNING: Use of removable hard drive enclosures other than Promise SuperSwap is not supported and may result in performance loss or other undesired results.

3. Attach one Ultra ATA cable to each hard drive. Then attach one cable to each of the IDE connectors on the FastTrak100 controller card. The colored edge of the cable(s) indicates pin 1 (see below), and the blue cable connector must be attached to the FastTrak100 connector.

NOTE: The TX4 model houses four data channel connectors. Attach only one drive per connector.

IDE 2 IDE 1

NOTE: You must use an 80-wire, 40-pin cable when connecting an Ultra ATA/100 hard drive to the FastTrak100 controller card. The FastTrak100 TX2 and LP package contains two 80-wire, 40pin cables. FastTrak100 TX4 contains four of these cables.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Checking CMOS Settings

No changes are necessary in the Motherboard CMOS Setup for resources or drive types. Since FastTrak100 is a PCI Plug-n-Play (PnP) device, the Interrupt and Port address resources are automatically assigned by the Motherboard's PCI PnP BIOS.

The FastTrak100 system resources including port address, interrupt, and BIOS address are automatically determined by the system PnP BIOS. To customize IRQ settings, enter the Motherboard BIOS's Advanced PCI setup and follow the manufacturer's procedures. If the system has limited IRQ resources, the FastTrak100 card can be set for the same IRQ as other PCI cards if those cards support PCI interrupt sharing.

If you wish to boot from a FastTrak100 drive array AND continue to use hard drives attached to your motherboard's IDE controller, refer to your motherboard manual for the specific BIOS settings to use in order to establish their proper boot order.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Creating Your Disk Array

You will now use the onboard FastBuild BIOS utility to create your array using the attached drives. There are three different scenarios in creating this array. You can create an array for performance, you can create a Security array using new hard drives (recommended), or you can create a Security array using an existing hard drive and a new hard drive.

WARNING: If creating a Security array using an existing hard drive, backup any necessary data. Failure to follow this accepted PC practice could result in data loss.

1. Boot your system. If this is the first time you have booted with the FastTrak100 card and drives installed, the Promise onboard BIOS will display the following screen.

FastTrak100 (tm) BIOS Version 1.xx (Build xxxx)

No array defined . . .

Press <Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility Or press <ESC> key to continue booting the system.

2. Press <Ctrl-F> keys to display the FastBuild (tm) Utility Main Menu

3. Press “1” to display the Auto Setup Menu below. This is the fastest and easiest method to creating your first array.

[Auto Setup Options Menu]

Optimize Array for: Performance Typical Application usage: A/V Editing

[ Auto Setup Configuration ]

Mode.................................................Stripe

Drives used in Array................................2

Array Disk Capacity.........................16126

[ Keys Available ]

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

[↑] Up [↓] Down [←, →, Space] Change Option [ESC] Exit [Ctrl-Y] Save

NOTE: If you wish to customize certain settings at a later time, you may do so by manually creating your array (see page 19 in Using FastBuild Configuration Utility).

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Creating an Array for Performance

NOTE: FastTrak100 allows users to create striped arrays with 1, 2, 3, or 4 drives. To create an array for best performance, follow these steps:

1. Using the Spacebar, choose “Performance” under the Optimize Array for section.

2. Select how you will use your PC most under the Typical Application usage section. The choices are A/V Editing, Server, and Desktop (the default).

3. Press <Ctrl-Y> keys to Save and create the array.

4. Reboot your system.

5. Once the array has been created, you will need to FDISK and format the array as if it were a new single hard drive.

6. Proceed to Installing Drivers section of the manual (see page 30).

Creating a Security Array With New Drives

NOTE: Under the Security setting, FastTrak100 permits two drives to be used for a single Mirrored array or four drives to be used for a Mirrored/Striped array in Auto Setup.

NOTE: When creating a Security array with new drives, a feature called Gigabyte Boundary will automatically be set to ON. For a description of the Gigabyte Boundary feature, see page 20.

To create an array for data protection using new hard drives, follow these steps:

1. Using the Spacebar, choose “Security” under the Optimize Array for section.

2. Press <Ctrl-Y> keys to Save your selection.

3. The window below will appear.

Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No) Y - Create and Duplicate N - Create Only

4. Press “N” for the Create Only option.

5. A window will appear almost immediately confirming that your Security array has been created. Press any key to reboot the system.

Array has been created.

6. Proceed with normal FDISK and format procedures as if you had just installed a new hard drive.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

7. Once the arrayed drives have been formatted, proceed to the Installing Driver chapter on page 30 to install your operating system and/or FastTrak100 driver.

Creating a Security Array With An Existing Data Drive

NOTE: Under the Security setting, FastTrak100 permits two drives to be used for a single Mirrored array or four drives to be used for a Mirrored/Striped array in Auto Setup.

You would use this method if you wish to use a drive that already contains data and/or is the bootable system drive in your system. You will need another drive of

identical or larger storage capacity.

WARNING: Backup any necessary data before proceeding. Failure to follow this accepted PC practice could result in data loss.

WARNING: If you wish to include your current bootable drive using the Windows NT 4.x or Windows 2000 operating system as part of a bootable Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your FastTrak100, do NOT connect the hard drive to the FastTrak100 controller yet. You MUST install the Windows NT4 or 2000 driver software first (see page 30) to

this drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller.

Follow these steps:

1. Using the Spacebar, choose “Security” under the Optimize Array for section.

2. Press <Ctrl-Y> keys to Save your selection. The window below will appear.

Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No) Y - Create and Duplicate N - Create Only

3. Press “Y” for the Create and Duplicate option. The window below will

appear asking you to select the Source drive to use. FastBuild will copy all data from the Source drive to the Target drive.

Source Disk

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB)

Target Disk

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB)

[Please Select A Source Disk]

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB)

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

1 :Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 2 :Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063

[↑] Up [↓] [ESC] Exit [Ctrl-Y] Save

4. Use the arrow keys to choose which drive contains the existing data to be copied.

5. Press [Ctrl-Y] keys to Save selection and start duplication. The following progress screen will appear.

Start to duplicate the image . . . Do you want to continue? (Yes/No) Y – Continue N - Abort

6. Select “Y” to continue. If you choose “N”, you will be returned to step 1.

7. Once complete, the following screen will appear confirming that your Security array has been created. Press any key to reboot the system.

Array has been created.

8. Proceed to the Installing Driver chapter on page 30 to install the

FastTrak100 driver and/or operating system.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Using FastBuild™ Configuration Utility

The FastBuildTM Configuration Utility offers several menu choices to create and manage the drive array on the Promise FastTrak100 adapter. For purposes of this manual, it is assumed you have already created an array in the previous chapter and now wish to make a change to the array or view other options.

Viewing FastTrak100 BIOS Screen

When you boot your system with the FastTrak100 card and drives installed, the Promise onboard BIOS will detect the drives attached and show the following screen.

FastTrak100 (tm) BIOS Version 1.xx (Build xxxx)

Scanning IDE drives . . . . .

If an array exists already, the BIOS will display the following screen showing the card’s BIOS version and status of the array.

FastTrak100 (tm) BIOS Version 1.xx (Build xxxx)

ID MODE SIZE TRACK-MAPPING STATUS

1 * 2+0 Stripe 16126M 611/128/32 Functional

Press <Ctrl-F> to enter FastBuild (tm) Utility....

The array status consists of three possible conditions: Functional, Critical, Offline.

Functional - The array is operational. Critical - A mirrored array contains a drive that has failed or disconnected. The

remaining drive member in the array is functional. However, the array has temporarily lost its ability to provide fault tolerance. The user should identify the failed drive through the FastBuild Setup utility, and then replace the problem drive.

Offline - A mirrored array has 2 drives that have failed/disconnected or a striped array has 1 drive that has failed or been disconnected. When the array condition is “offline,” the user must replace the failed drive(s), and then restore data from a backup source.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Navigating the FastBuild™ Setup Menu

When using the menus, these are some of the basic navigation tips: Arrow keys highlights through choices; [Space] bar key allows to cycle through options; [Enter] key selects an option; [ESC] key is used to abort or exit the current menu.

Using the Main Menu

This is the first option screen when entering the FastBuildTM Setup.

[ Main Menu ]

Auto Setup.......................................................[ 1 ]

View Drive Assignments.................................[ 2 ]

Define Array ....................................................[ 3 ]

Delete Array.....................................................[ 4 ]

Rebuild Array...................................................[ 5 ]

Controller Configuration...................................[ 6 ]

[ Keys Available ]

Press 1...6 to Select Option [ESC] Exit

To create a new array automatically, follow the steps under “Creating Arrays Automatically” on page 16. Promise recommends this option for most users.

To manually create an array or define an array as bootable, follow the steps under “Manually Creating Arrays” on pa ge 19. You will need to manually create an array if you wish to modify block size.

To view drives assigned to arrays, see “Viewing Drive Assignments” on page 18. To delete an array (but not delete the data contained on the array), select “Deleting

An Array” on page 26. To rebuild a mirrored array, see “Rebuilding an Array” on page 27. To view controller settings, see “Viewing Controller Configuration” on page 29.

NOTE: After installing the FastTrak100 card and configuring an array using FastBuild, you should FDISK and format the arrayed drive(s) if you are using new, blank drives

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Creating Arrays Automatically

The Auto Setup <1> selection from the Main Menu can intuitively help create your disk array. It will assign all available drives appropriate for the disk array you are creating. After making all selections, use Ctrl-Y to Save selections. FastBuild will automatically build the array.

[Auto Setup Options Menu]

Optimize Array for: Performance Typical Application usage: A/V Editing

[ Auto Setup Configuration ]

Mode.................................................Stripe

Spare Drive Count....................................1

Drives used in Array................................2

Array Disk Capacity (size in MB).....16126

[ Keys Available ]

[↑] Up [↓] Down [←, →, Space] Change Option [ESC] Exit [Ctrl-Y] Save

Optimize Array For

Select whether you want Performance (RAID 0), Security (RAID 1 or RAID 0+1), or Capacity (Spanning) under the “Optimize Array for” setting.

Performance (RAID 0 Striping)

Supports the maximum performance. The storage capacity equals the number of drives times the capacity of the smallest drive in the disk array.

NOTE: FastTrak100 permits striped arrays using 1, 2, 3, or 4 drives attached in Auto Setup mode.

Security (RAID 1 Mirroring, or RAID 0+1 Striping/Mirroring)

Creates a mirrored (or fault tolerant) array for data security.

NOTE: Under the Security setting, FastTrak100 permits two drives to be used for a single Mirrored array or four drives to be used for a Mirrored/Striped array in Auto Setup.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Capacity (Spanning)

Achieves the maximum amount of capacity by adding the sum of all attached drives. The Stripe Block option does not apply.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Defining Typical Application Usage

Allows the user to choose the type of PC usage that will be performed in order to optimize how FastTrak100 handles data blocks to enhance performance. Your choice will determine the block size used. You may choose from: A/V Editing (for audio/video applications, or any similar application that requires large file transfers), Server (for numerous small file transfers), or Desktop (a combination of large and small file sizes).

Using a “Hot” Spare Drive

If a third drive is attached and is not assigned to a mirrored two-drive disk array (one optimized for “Security”), it will be recognized as a Spare Drive. Such a drive is immediately used as a “standby” replacement. It is automatically added to an array once a disk member of the array has been detected as “failed.” To restore fault tolerance as quickly as possible, FastTrak100 begins to perform an automatic data rebuild on the “spare” drive in the background without t he need to restart the system. At a later time, the failed drive can be physically removed from the FastTrak100 card and an extra drive added in its place to function as the “spare” drive.

NOTE: Due to IDE limitations when drives are in a Master/Slave configuration, if the drive that fails is on the same channel as the “spare” drive, there is a possibility that the “spare” drive will fail to be recognized by the system. For this reason Promise recommends using “spare” drives only on the FastTrak100 TX4.

NOTE: The hot spare drive must have a capacity that is equal to or larger than the smallest array member.

Creating Multiple Disk Arrays

1. If you plan to create multiple arrays, attach only the drives necessary to create the first disk array and complete the <1> Auto Setup.

2. Install the additional drives needed for the second array and again use the <1> Auto Setup.

NOTE: If you wish to customize the settings of individual disk arrays (such as block size), you must manually create disk arrays with the Define Array <3> option from the Main Menu.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Viewing Drive Assignments

The View Drive Assignments <2> option in the Main Menu displays whether drives are assigned to a disk array or are unassigned.

Under the “Assignment” column, drives are labeled with their assigned disk array or shown as “Free” if unassigned. Such “Free” drives can be used for a future array or used as a spare drive when a drive fails in a mirrored array, provided the free drive’s capacity is equal to or larger than the smallest array member. Unassigned drives are not accessible by the OS. The menu also displays the data transfer mode that relates to speed used by each drive (U5 refers to 100MB/sec transfers, U4 refers to 66MB/sec transfers, etc...)

[ View Drive Assignments ]

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity(MB) Assignment Mode 1 : Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Array 1 U5 1 : Slave QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Free U5 2 : Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Array 1 U5

[ Keys Available ]

[↑] Up [↓] Down [ESC] Exit Mode (U=UDMA, P=PIO, D=DMA)

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Manually Creating an Array

The Define Array <3> option from the Main Menu allows users to begin the process of manually defining the drive elements and RAID levels for one or multiple disk arrays attached to FastTrak100. Users will commonly create one or two drive arrays with FastTrak100, though the card will support a maximum of four arrays1.

NOTE: For most installations, Promise recommends the <1> Auto Setup for easy disk array creation.

[Define Array Menu]

Array No RAID Mode Total Drv Capacity(MB) Status Array 1 Stripe 2 16126 Functional Array 2 —— —— —— —— Array 3 —— —— —— —— Array 4 —— —— —— ——

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Note: * — Bootable Array

[↑] Up [↓] Down [ESC] Exit [Enter] Select [Space] Change Boot Drive

1. To manually create an array from the Define Array Menu, use the arrow keys to highlight the array number you wish to define, and press [Enter] to select.

2. The Define Array Definition Menu will next appear that allows drive assignments to the disk array (see next page).

A user may use a single drive in either striping or spanning mode with FastTrak100.

In this rare scenario, the card will create an individual array ID but will offer conventional controller performance depending on the drive type. At a later time, a second drive can be added to the array and the array re-created to support RAID 1 mirroring.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Selecting Array Type

1. Under the Definition section of this menu, highlight the Array # for which you want to assign a RAID level.

2. Use the [Space] key to cycle through three array types: Performance (RAID 0 Striping), Security (RAID 1 Mirroring, RAID 0+1 Striping/Mirroring (for 4 drives), or Capacity (Spanning)). See page 70 about RAID levels.

[ Define Array Definition Menu ]

Array No RAID Mode Total Drv Capacity(MB) Status Array 1 Stripe 2 16126 Functional

Stripe Block: 64 KB Gigabyte Boundary: ON [ Drive Assignments ]

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB) Assignment 1 : Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Y 1 : Slave QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 N 2 : Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Y

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[↑] Up [↓] Down [ESC] Exit [Space] Select [Ctrl-Y] Save

Selecting Stripe Block

For RAID 0 and RAID 0+1 arrays you may manually select the “stripe block size.” Use the Spacebar to scroll through choices progressing as follows (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 . . .

1024).

The size selected affects how FastTrak100 sends and retrieves data blocks from the drives. You will need to perform your own testing to determine how the data block size is affecting your particular use of the array. In general, a larger block size is better when handling large data transfers (such as in A/V editing or graphics) while a smaller block size is better when handling e-mail and other common server data. The default is 64K.

Gigabyte Boundary

The Gigabyte Boundary feature is designed for mirrored arrays (RAID 1 or RAID 0+1) in which a drive has failed and the user cannot replace the drive with the same capacity or larger. Instead, the Gigabyte Boundary feature permits the installation of a replacement drive that is slightly smaller (within 1 gigabyte) than the remaining working drive (for example, a 20.5 GB drive would be rounded down to 20 GB). This can be helpful in the event that a drive fails and an exact replacement model

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

is no longer available. Without this feature enabled, FastTrak100 will NOT permit the use of a replacement drive that is slightly smaller than the remaining working drive.

For the Gigabyte Boundary feature to work, the Gigabyte Boundary feature must be set to “ON” when the original mirrored array is created. When enabled, the Gigabyte Boundary feature rounds the drive capacity of both drives to the common whole GB drive size. For example, with the Gigabyte Boundary feature enabled, the remaining working drive can be 20.5 GB and the replacement drive can be 20.3, since both are rounded down to 20GB. This permits the smaller drive to be used. Please note that users will lose a small amount of available storage capacity from both drives in order to arrive at a common drive size.

NOTE: The Gigabyte Boundary feature is automatically disabled when creating a mirrored array (RAID 1) from an existing drive (versus using two brand new drives). This protects the existing drive's partition table in order to maintain data integrity.

Assigning Drive(s) to Array

1. Under the [ Drive Assignments ] section, highlight a drive using the [↑] or [↓]

keys.

2. With the [Space] bar key, change the Assignable option to “Y” to add the

drive to the disk array.

3. Press <Ctrl-Y> to save the disk array information. Depending on the array

type selected, the following scenarios will take place:

a) If choosing a Striping, Spanning, or Mirroring/Striping array, the initial

Define Array Menu screen will appear with the arrays defined. From there you may ESC to exit and return to the Main Menu of FastBuild.

b) If you selected a Mirroring array for two drives, there is an additional

window that appears as described in order to create the array. To do this you will use either two brand new drives, or one drive that contains existing data that you wish to mirror.

Creating A Mirrored Array Using New Drives

As described in the Drive Assignments Option section above, if you selected a mirroring array and wish to use two new assigned drives, follow the directions here.

1. After assigning new drives to a Mirroring array and saving the information

with <Ctrl-Y>, the window below will appear.

Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No) Y - Create and Duplicate N - Create Only

2. Press “N” for the Create Only option.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

3. A window will appear almost immediately confirming that your Security

array has been created. Press any key to reboot the system

Array has been created.

FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

Adding Fault Tolerance to an Existing Drive

FastTrak100 will create a mirrored array using an existing system drive with data. You must assign the existing drive and another drive of same or larger capacity to the Mirroring array. The BIOS will send the existing data to the new blank drive.

WARNING: Backup any necessary data before proceeding. Failure to follow this accepted PC practice could result in data loss.

existing hard drive controller.

1. After assigning the drives to a Mirroring array, press <Ctrl-Y> keys to Save your selection. The window below will appear.

Do you want the disk image to be duplicated to another? (Yes/No) Y - Create and Duplicate N - Create Only

2. Press “Y” for the Create and Duplicate option. The window below will appear asking you to select the Source drive to use. FastBuild will copy all data from the Source drive to the Target drive.

Source Disk

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB)

Target Disk

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB)

[Please Select A Source Disk] Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB) 1 :Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 2 :Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063

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FastTrak100 TX/LP™ Series User Manual

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