Areca ARC-1203-2i operation manual

6Gb/s SATA RAID Cards

ARC-1203 - 2 ports

(PCIe 2.0 to 6Gb/s SATA RAID Controllers)

User Manual

Version: 1.1

Issue Date: April, 2019

Copyright and Trademarks

The information regarding products in this manual is subject to change
without prior notice and does not represent a commitment on the part
of the vendor, who assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors
that may appear in this manual. All brands and trademarks are the
properties of their respective owners. This manual contains materials
protected under International Copyright Conventions. All rights
reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without
the written permission of the manufacturer and the author.

FCC Statement

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the lim­its for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against in­terference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses,
and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used
in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interfer­ence will not occur in a particular installation.

Manufacturer’s Declaration for CE Certication

We conrm ARC-1203-2I has been tested and found compliant with

the requirements in the council directive relating to the EMC Directive
2004/108/EC. Regarding to the electromagnetic compatibility, the fol­lowing standards were applied:

EN 55022: 2006, Class B

EN 61000-3-2: 2006
EN 61000-3-3: 1995+A1: 2001+A2: 2005

EN 55024:1998+A1:2001=A2:2003

IEC61000-4-2: 2001

IEC61000-4-3: 2006

IEC61000-4-4: 2004
IEC61000-4-5: 2005
IEC61000-4-6: 2006
IEC61000-4-8: 2001
IEC61000-4-11: 2004

Contents

1. Introduction .............................................................. 10

1.1 Overview ....................................................................... 10

1.2 Features ........................................................................ 12

2. Hardware Installation ............................................... 14

2.1 Before You First Installing................................................. 14

2.2 Board Layout .................................................................. 14

2.3 Installation ..................................................................... 18

2.4 Summary of the installation .............................................. 26

3. McBIOS RAID Manager .............................................. 29

3.1 Starting the McBIOS RAID Manager ................................... 29

3.2 McBIOS RAID manager .................................................... 30

3.3 Conguring Raid Sets and Volume Sets .............................. 31

3.4 Designating Drives as Hot Spares ...................................... 31

3.5 Using Quick Volume /Raid Setup Conguration .................... 32

3.6 Using Raid Set/Volume Set Function Method ....................... 33

3.7 Main Menu .................................................................... 35

3.7.1 Quick Volume/Raid Setup ............................................ 36

3.7.2 Raid Set Function ....................................................... 40

3.7.2.1 Create Raid Set .................................................... 41

3.7.2.2 Delete Raid Set ..................................................... 42

3.7.2.3 Expand Raid Set .................................................... 43

3.7.2.4 Ofine Raid Set ..................................................... 44

3.7.2.5 Activate Incomplete Raid Set ...................................45

3.7.2.6 Create Hot Spare ................................................... 46

3.7.2.7 Delete Hot Spare ................................................... 46

3.7.2.8 Rescue Raid Set ...................................................47

3.7.2.9 Raid Set Information .............................................. 48

3.7.3 Volume Set Function ................................................... 48

3.7.3.1 Create Volume Set (0/1) .........................................49

• Volume Name ................................................................ 51

• Raid Level ..................................................................... 52

• Capacity ....................................................................... 52

• Stripe Size .................................................................... 54

• SCSI ID ........................................................................ 55

• SCSI LUN ...................................................................... 55

• Cache Mode .................................................................. 56

• Write Protect ................................................................. 56

• Tag Queuing .................................................................. 57

3.7.3.2 Delete Volume Set .................................................57

3.7.3.3 Modify Volume Set ................................................. 58

3.7.3.3.1 Volume Growth ................................................. 58

3.7.3.3.2 Volume Set Migration ........................................ 59

3.7.3.4 Check Volume Set ..................................................60

3.7.3.5 Stop Volume Set Check ..........................................60

3.7.3.6 Display Volume Set Info. ........................................ 61

3.7.4 Physical Drives ........................................................... 61

3.7.4.1 View Drive Information .......................................... 62

3.7.4.2 Create Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 62

3.7.4.3 Modify Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 63

3.7.4.4 Delete Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 63

3.7.4.5 Set Disk To Be Failed .............................................. 64

3.7.4.6 Activate Failed Disk ................................................ 64

3.7.4.7 Identify Selected Drive ........................................... 65

3.7.4.8 Identify Enclosure .................................................. 65

3.7.5 Raid System Function .................................................66

3.7.5.1 Mute The Alert Beeper ............................................ 66

3.7.5.2 Alert Beeper Setting ............................................... 67

3.7.5.3 Change Password .................................................. 67

3.7.5.4 JBOD/RAID Function .............................................. 68

3.7.5.5 Background Task Priority ........................................ 68

3.7.5.6 Maximum SATA Mode ............................................. 69

3.7.5.7 HDD Read Ahead Cache .......................................... 70

3.7.5.8 Volume Data Read Ahead ........................................ 70

3.7.5.9 Empty HDD Slot LED .............................................. 71

3.7.5.10 Auto Activate Raid Set .......................................... 72

3.7.5.11 Disk Write Cache Mode ......................................... 72

3.7.5.12 Write Same Support ............................................. 73

3.7.5.13 Capacity Truncation .............................................. 73

3.7.6 More System Functions ............................................... 74

3.7.6.1 Smart Option For HDD............................................ 75

3.7.6.2 Smart Polling Interval.............................................75

3.7.6.3 Hot Plugged Disk For Rebuilding ..............................76

3.7.7 HDD Power Management ............................................. 77

3.7.7.1 Stagger Power On .................................................. 78

3.7.7.2 Time To Hdd Low Power Idle ................................... 79

3.7.7.3 Time To Low RPM Mode ......................................... 79

3.7.7.4 Time To Spin Down Idle Hdd .................................. 80

3.7.8 Alert By Mail Cong ................................................... 80

3.7.9 View System Events ................................................... 81

3.7.10 Clear Events Buffer ................................................... 81

3.7.11 Hardware Monitor ..................................................... 82

3.7.12 System Information .................................................. 82

4. Driver Installation ..................................................... 83

4.1 Creating the Driver Disk ................................................... 83

4.2 Driver Installation for Windows ......................................... 84

4.2.1 Installing Windows on a RAID Volume ...........................84

4.2.2 Installing Controller on an Existing Windows .................. 86

4.2.3 Uninstall controller from Windows ................................. 87

4.3 Driver Installation for Linux .............................................. 88

4.4 Driver Installation for FreeBSD .......................................... 88

4.5 Driver Installation for Solaris ............................................ 89

4.6 Driver Installation for Mac X ............................................. 89

4.6.1 Installation Procedures ................................................ 90

4.6.2 Making Volume Sets Available to Mac OS X .................... 92

5. ArcHTTP Proxy Server Installation ............................ 94

5.1 For Windows................................................................... 95

5.2 For Linux ..................................................................... 100

5.3 For FreeBSD ................................................................. 102

5.4 For Solaris 10 ............................................................... 102

5.5 For Mac OS X ................................................................ 102

5.6 ArcHTTP Conguration ................................................... 103

6. Web Browser-based Conguration ......................... 108

6.1 Start-up McRAID Storage Manager ................................. 108

• Start-up from Windows/Mac Local Administration .............. 109

• Start-up McRAID Storage Manager from Linux/

FreeBSD/Solaris Local Administration .............................. 109

6.2 McRAID Storage Manager ............................................... 110

6.3 Main Menu .................................................................. 111

6.4 Quick Function .............................................................. 111

6.5 Raid Set Functions ........................................................ 112

6.5.1 Create Raid Set ....................................................... 112

6.5.2 Delete Raid Set ........................................................ 113

6.5.3 Expand Raid Set ....................................................... 113

6.5.4 Ofine Raid Set ........................................................ 114

6.5.5 Rename Raid Set ...................................................... 115

6.5.6 Activate Incomplete Raid Set ..................................... 115

6.5.7 Create Hot Spare ..................................................... 116

6.5.8 Delete Hot Spare ...................................................... 117

6.5.9 Rescue Raid Set ....................................................... 117

6.6 Volume Set Functions .................................................... 118

6.6.1 Create Volume Set (0/1) .......................................... 118

6.6.2 Delete Volume Set .................................................... 121

6.6.3 Modify Volume Set .................................................... 122

6.6.3.1 Volume Growth ................................................... 122

6.6.3.2 Volume Set Migration ........................................... 123

6.6.4 Check Volume Set .................................................... 124

6.6.5 Stop Volume Set Check ............................................. 124

6.7 Security Function .......................................................... 125

6.7.1 Create SED RAID Set ............................................... 125

6.7.2 Delete SED RAID Set ............................................... 126

6.7.3 Delete ISE RAID Set ................................................ 126

6.7.4 Security Key Setup ................................................... 127

6.7.4.1 SED Key Management-Creation ............................. 127

6.7.4.2 SED Key Management-Modication ........................ 128

6.7.5 Import Security Key .................................................. 129

6.7.6 Erase Failed Disk ...................................................... 130

6.7.7 RevertSP ................................................................. 130

6.8 Physical Drive .............................................................. 131

6.8.1 Create Pass-Through Disk .......................................... 131

6.8.2 Modify Pass-Through Disk .......................................... 131

6.8.3 Delete Pass-Through Disk .......................................... 132

6.8.4 Clone Disk ............................................................... 133

6.8.4.1 Clone And Replace ............................................... 134

6.8.4.2 Clone Only ......................................................... 134

6.8.5 Abort Cloning ........................................................... 134

6.8.6 Set Disk To Be Failed ................................................ 134

6.8.7 Activate Failed Disk .................................................. 135

6.8.8 Identify Enclosure .................................................... 135

6.8.9 Identify Drive .......................................................... 136

6.9 System Controls ........................................................... 137

6.9.1 System Cong ......................................................... 137

• System Beeper Setting ................................................. 137

• JBOD/RAID Conguration .............................................. 137

• Max SATA Mode Supported ............................................ 138

• HDD Read Ahead Cache ................................................ 138

• Volume Data Read Ahead ............................................. 138

• Empty HDD Slot LED .................................................... 138

• Max Command Length .................................................. 139

• Auto Activate Incomplete Raid ....................................... 139

• Disk Write Cache Mode ................................................. 139

• Write Same For Initialization .......................................... 139

• Hot Plugged Disk For Rebuilding ..................................... 139

• Disk Capacity Truncation Mode ....................................... 140

• Smart Option For HDD .................................................. 140

• Smart Polling Interval ................................................... 141

6.9.2 Advanced Conguration ............................................. 141

• TLER Setting ............................................................... 142

• Timeout Setting ........................................................... 142

• Number of Retries ........................................................ 142

• Buffer Threshold .......................................................... 142

• Amount of Read Ahead ................................................. 143

• Read Ahead Count ........................................................ 143

• Read Ahead Requests ................................................... 143

• Number of AV Stream ................................................... 143

• Optimize AV Recording .................................................. 144

• Read Performance Margin .............................................. 144

• Write Performance Margin ............................................. 144

• Read And Discard Parity Data ........................................ 145

• BIOS Selection............................................................. 145

6.9.3 HDD Power Management ........................................... 146

• Stagger Power On Control ............................................. 146

• Time To Hdd Low Power Idle ......................................... 147

• Time To Spin Down Idle HDD ......................................... 147

• SATA Power Up In Standby ........................................... 147

6.9.4 View Events/Mute Beeper .......................................... 147

6.9.5 Generate Test Event ................................................. 148

6.9.6 Clear Events Buffer ................................................... 148

6.9.7 Modify Password ...................................................... 149

6.9.8 Update Firmware ..................................................... 150

6.10 Information ................................................................ 150

6.10.1 Raid Set Hierarchy .................................................. 150

6.10.2 System Information ................................................ 151

6.10.3 Hardware Monitor ................................................... 151

Appendix A ................................................................. 152

Upgrading Flash ROM Update Process .................................... 152

A-1 Overview ................................................................... 152

A-2 Upgrading Firmware Through McRAID Storage Manager ... 153

A-3 Upgrading Firmware Through nash DOS Utility .............. 154

A-4 Upgrading Firmware Through CLI .................................. 155

Appendix B .................................................................. 156

Battery Backup Module (ARC-6120BA-T121-12G) .................... 156

Appendix C .................................................................. 160

SNMP Operation & Installation .............................................. 160

C-1 Overview ................................................................... 160

C-2 SNMP Denition .......................................................... 160

C-3 SNMP Installation ....................................................... 161

C-3-1 Using ArcHTTP ....................................................... 162

C-3-2 Using In-band PCIe + SNMP extension agent Installation

.................................................................................... 163

C-3-3 SNMP Extension Agent Installation .......................... 164

C-3-3-1 Windows .......................................................... 165

C-3-3-2 Linux .............................................................. 168

C-3-3-3 FreeBSD .......................................................... 168

Appendix D .................................................................. 170

Appendix E .................................................................. 174

Self-Encrypting Disk (SED) Encryption ................................. 174

Appendix F .................................................................. 180

RAID Concept .................................................................... 180

RAID Set ......................................................................... 180

Volume Set ...................................................................... 180

Ease of Use Features ......................................................... 181

• Foreground Availability/Background Initialization .............. 181

• Online Array Roaming ................................................... 181

• Online Capacity Expansion ............................................. 181

• Online RAID Level and Stripe Size Migration .................... 183

• Online Volume Expansion .............................................. 184

High Availability ............................................................... 184

• Global/Local Hot Spares ................................................ 184

• Hot-Swap Disk Drive Support ......................................... 185

• Auto Declare Hot-Spare ............................................... 185

• Auto Rebuilding ........................................................... 186

• Adjustable Rebuild Priority ............................................. 186

High Reliability ................................................................. 187

• Hard Drive Failure Prediction .......................................... 187

• Auto Reassign Sector .................................................... 187

Data Protection ................................................................ 188

• Battery Backup ........................................................... 188

• Recovery ROM ............................................................. 189

Appendix G .................................................................. 190

Understanding RAID .......................................................... 190

RAID 0 ............................................................................ 190

RAID 1 ............................................................................ 191

JBOD .............................................................................. 192

Single Disk (Pass-Through Disk) ......................................... 192

Summary of RAID Levels ................................................... 192

INTRODUCTION

1. Introduction

This section presents a brief overview of the 6Gb/s SATA RAID control­ler, ARC-1203-2I. (PCIe 2.0 to 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller)

1.1 Overview

The Areca ARC-1203-2I SATA RAID host adapter is a PCIe 2.0 x1

bus to 6Gb/s SATA disk array host adapter. It provides two SATA lll
ports on a single controller. It is used the same RAID kernel of its

eld-proven 6Gb/s, and 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller and uses the

same drivers and management tools to help keep implementation

and maintenance costs low. When properly congured, the SATA

RAID adapter can provide a high degree of performance and fault

tolerance with data mirroring for maximum protection. The ARC­1203-2I is the industry’s most compelling 2-port 6Gb/s SATA RAID

solution which economically delivers fullfeatured true hardware
RAID to desktop and workstations as well as entry-level servers.

Unparalleled Performance

The SATA RAID controllers raise the standard to higher perfor­mance levels with several enhancements including high-perfor-

mance 1066MHz storage processor, a new DDR3-1066 memory

architecture, and 6Gb/s SATA lll ports in a high performance PCIe

2.0 x1 bus interconnection. The ARC-1203-2I default supports
on-board 512MB DDR3-1066 SDRAM memory. The test result is

against overall performance compared to other standard SATA host
adapter.

Unsurpassed Data Availability

With Areca entry-level RAID controllers incorporate onboard stor­age processors to deliver true hardware RAID. Hardware RAID
cards have their own local RAID processor onboard, plus dedicated

onboard cache for full hardware ofoading of RAID-processing

functions. The ability of hardware RAID controllers to rebuild an
array in the event of a drive failure is superior to what software
RAID controllers offer.

10

INTRODUCTION

The ARC-1203-2I RAID adapters can provide RAID levels 0, 1,
Single Disk and JBOD RAID for maximum conguration exibility.

Its high data availability and protection derives from Areca Technol-

ogy’s advanced features: Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Array
Roaming, Online RAID Level / Stripe Size Migration, Global Online

Spare, Automatic Drive Failure Detection, Automatic Failed Drive
Rebuilding, Disk Hot-Swap, Online Background Rebuilding, Instant

Availability/Background Initialization and Auto Reassign Sector.

During the adapter rmware upgrade ash process, it is possible

for a problem to occur resulting in corruption of the controller

rmware. With our redundant ash image feature the adapter will
revert back to the last known version of rmware and continue op­erating. This reduces the risk of system failure due to rmware

crash. The optional battery backup module provides power to the
cache if it contains data not yet written to the drives when power is
lost.

Maximum Interoperability

The Areca ARC-1203-2I is a half length low prole SATA lll RAID

controller. It supports broad operating system including Windows

10/8/Server 2012(R2)/7/2008(R2)/Vista/Server 2003/XP(64-bit),
RedHat Linux, SuSE Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Mac OS and more,

along with key system monitor-ing features such as SMTP, and
SNMP function.

Easy RAID Management

The BIOS contains an embedded McBIOS RAID manager that can
access via hot key at BIOS boot-up screen. This pre-boot RAID
manager can use to simplify the setup and management of RAID

adapter. The adapter rmware also contains and browser-based

McRAID storage manager that can access through the ArcHTTP

Proxy Server. The McRAID manager allows local and remote to

create and modify RAID set, volume set, and monitor RAID status
from standard web browser. API software components and CLI also
support for the RAID manager. The Single Admin Portal (ArcSAP)
quick manager can support one application to scan multiple RAID

units in the local and remote for easy installation, conguration and

operation.

11

INTRODUCTION

1.2 Features

Controller Architecture

• ARM_based 1066MHz storage I/O processor

• 512MB on-board DDR3-1066 SDRAM with ECC protection

• PCIe 2.0 x1 bus

• Support up to 2 x 6Gb/s SATA HDDs/SSD

• Write-through or write-back cache support

• Multi-adapter support for large storage requirements

• BIOS boot support for greater fault tolerance

• BIOS PnP (plug and play) and BBS (BIOS boot specication)

support

• NVRAM for RAID event & transaction log

• Boot support for the uEFI host BIOS

• Redundant ash image for controller availability

• RoHS compliant

• Battery backup module (BBM) ready (optional)

• Disk activity/fault LED on bracket

RAID Features

• RAID level 0, 1, Single Disk and JBOD

• Congurable stripe size up to 1024KB

• Multiple RAID selection

• Online array roaming

• Online RAID level/stripe size migration

• Online capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultane-

ously

• Instant availability and background initialization

• Automatic drive insertion/removal detection and rebuilding

• Greater than 2TB capacity per disk drive support

• SED (self-encrypting drives) function support

• Support intelligent power management to save energy and ex-

tend service life

• Support for native 4K and 512 byte sector SATA devices

• Support HDD rmware update

Monitors/Notication

• System status indication through global HDD activity/fault con-

nector, individual fault connector, LCD/serial bus connector an d

alarm buzzer

• SMTP support for email notication

• SNMP support for remote manager

12

INTRODUCTION

RAID Management

• Field-upgradeable rmware in ash ROM

In-Band Manager

• Hot key "boot-up" McBIOS RAID manager via M/B BIOS

• Web browser-based McRAID storage manager via ArcHTTP proxy

server for all operating systems

• Support Command Line Interface (CLI)

• API library for customer to write monitor utility

• Single Admin Portal (SAP) monitor utility

Out-of-Band Manager

• Push Button and LCD display panel (optional)

Operating System

• Windows 10/8/2012/7/2008/Vista/XP(64-bit)/2003

• Linux

• FreeBSD

• VMware

• Solaris 10/11 x86/x86_64

• Mac OS X 10.5 / macOS 10.12 or higher

6Gb/s SATA RAID controllers

Model name ARC-1203-2i

I/O Processor ARM_based 1066MHz storage I/O processor

Form Factor (H x L) Low Prole: 64.4 x 134 mm

Host Bus Type PCIe 2.0 x1 bus

Driver Connector 2 x SATA lll

Drive Support Up to 2 x 6Gb/s SATA HDDs/SSD

RAID Level 0,1, Single Disk and JBOD

On-Board Cache 512MB on-board DDR3-1066 SDRAM with ECC protection

Management Port In-Band: PCIe / Out-of-Band: Push Button and LCD

Note:

Low-prole bracket has included on the low prole board

shipping package.

13

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2. Hardware Installation

This section describes the procedures for installing the 6Gb/s SATA RAID
controllers.

2.1 Before You First Installing

Thanks for purchasing the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller as your
RAID data storage subsystem. This user manual gives simple step-

by-step instructions for installing and conguring the 6Gb/s SATA

RAID controller. To ensure personal safety and to protect your
equipment and data, reading the following information package list
carefully before you begin installing.

Package Contents

If your package is missing any of the items listed below, con­tact your local dealers before you install. (Disk drives and disk

mounting brackets are not included)

• 1 x ARC-1203-2I RAID controller in an ESD-protective bag

• 1 x Installation CD – containing driver, relative software, an elec-
tronic version of this manual and other related manual

• 2 x SATA interface cables

• 1 x Quick start guide

• 1 x Low-prole bracket

2.2 Board Layout

The RAID controllers can support a family SATA interface included 2
internal ports with 6Gb/s capability. This section provides the board
layout and connector/jumper for the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller.

14

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Front Side

Back Side

Figure 2-1, ARC-1203-2i 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller

Connector Type Description

1. (J1) Battery Backup Module Connector 14-pin wafer connector

2. (J2) Global Fault/Activity LED Header 4-pin header

3. (J3) Individual Fault/Activity LED Header 4-pin header

4. (J4) I2C/LCD Connector 7-pin header

5. (J5) Manufacture Purpose Port 14-pin header

6. (SCN1) SATA Port 1 (CH2) SATA III

7. (SCN2) SATA Port 0 (CH1) SATA III

8. (D3) Fault/Activity LED (for CH1) Bi-color DIP

9. (D4) Fault/Activity LED (for CH2) Bi-color DIP

Table 2-1, ARC-1203-2i connectors

15

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Tools Required

An ESD grounding strap or mat is required. Also required are stan-

dard hand tools to open your system’s case.

System Requirement

The 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller can be installed in an universal
PCIe slot and requires a motherboard that:

ARC-1203-2i 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller requires:

• Comply with the PCIe 2.0 x1 lane

• Backward-compatibe with PCIe 1.0

The SATA RAID controller may be connected to up to 2 cables.
Optional cables are required to connect any drive activity LEDs and
fault LEDs on the enclosure to the SATA RAID controller.

Installation Tools

The following items may be needed to assist with installing the 6Gb/s

SATA RAID controller into an available PCIe expansion slot.

• Small screwdriver

• Host system hardware manuals and manuals for the disk or enclo-

sure being installed.

Personal Safety Instructions

Use the following safety instructions to help you protect your

computer system from potential damage and to ensure your own
personal safety.

• Always wear a grounding strap or work on an ESD-protective

mat.

• Before opening the system cover, turn off power switches and

unplug the power cords. Do not reconnect the power cords until
you have replaced the covers.

16

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Electrostatic Discharge

Static electricity can cause serious damage to the electronic com­ponents on this 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller. To avoid damage
caused by electrostatic discharge, observe the following precau­tions:

• Do not remove the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller from its anti-stat­ic packaging until you are ready to install it into a computer case.

• Handle the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller by its edges or by the
metal mounting brackets at its each end.

• Before you handle the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller in any way,
touch a grounded, anti-static surface, such as an unpainted por­tion of the system chassis, for a few seconds to discharge any
built-up static electricity.

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.

17

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

2.3 Installation

Use the following instructions below to install a PCIe 2.0 6Gb/s

SATA RAID controller.

Step 1. Unpack

Unpack and remove the PCIe 2.0 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller from

the package. Inspect it carefully, if anything is missing or damaged,
contact your local dealer.

Step 2. Power PC/Server Off

Turn off computer and remove the AC power cord. Remove the sys-

tem’s cover. For the instructions, please see the computer system

documentation.

Step 3. Install the PCIe 6Gb/s SATA RAID Cards

To install the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller, remove the mounting

screw and existing bracket from the rear panel behind the selected
PCIe 2.0 slot. Align the gold-ngered edge on the card with the
selected PCIe 2.0 slot. Press down gently but rmly to ensure that

the card is properly seated in the slot, as shown on Figure 2-2.
Then, screw the bracket into the computer chassis.

18

Figure 2-2, Insert into a
PCIe slot

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Step 4. Mount the Drives

You can connect the SATA drives to the controller through direct
cable. In the direct connection, SATA drives are directly connected
to 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller port with SATA cables. The 6Gb/s
SATA RAID controller can support up to 2 ports. Remove the front

bezel from the computer chassis and install the cages or SATA

drives in the computer chassis. Loading drives to the drive tray
if cages are installed. Be sure that the power is connected to the
individual drives.

Step 5. Connect the SATA Cable

ARC-1203-2I controller has two SATA internal connectors. If you

have not yet connected your SATA cables, use the cables included
with your kit to connect the controller to the SATA hard drives.
The cable connectors are all identical, so it does not matter which
end you connect to your controller, SATA hard drive, or cage back­plane SATA connector.

Figure 2-3, SATA Cable

Note:

The SATA cable connectors must match your HDD cage.
For example: Channel 1 of RAID controller connects to chan­nel 1 of HDD cage, channel 2 of RAID controller connects to
channel 2 of HDD cage, and follow this rule.

19

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Step 6. Install the LED Cable (Optional)

The 6Gb/s SATA controller provides LED cable header to support
the fault/activity status. The global indicator connector is used by
the server/desktop system global indicator LED.

The following electronics schematic is the 6Gb/s SATA RAID con­troller logical of fault/activity header. The signal from EPLD CTL
output pin is cathode (-) side.

The following diagrams and descriptions describe each type of con­nector.

Note:

A cable for the global indicator comes with your computer
system. Cables for the individual drive LEDs may come with a
drive cage, or you may need to purchase them.

A: Individual Fault LED and Global Activity/Fault Indicator
Connector

The 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller provides the connector for fault/
activity LED . Connect the cables for the fault/activity LEDs and the
respective connector on the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller.

The following table is the fault/activity LED signal behavior.

20

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

LED Normal Status Problem Indication

HDD (Activity)
LED

Fault LED When the fault LED is solid

If the system will use only a single global indicator, attach the LED
to the two pins of the global activity/fault connector. The global
fault pin pair connector is the overall activity/fault signal.

When the activity (HDD)
LED is illuminated, there
is I/O activity on that disk
drive. When the activity
LED is dark, there is no
activity on that disk drive.

illuminated, there is no
disk present and When the
fault LED is off, that disk
is present and status is
normal.

When the "Identify Drive"

is selected, the selected
drive fault LED will blank.

N/A

When the fault LED is slow blink­ing (2 times/sec), that indicate
disk drive has failed and should be
hot-swapped immediately.

When the activity (HDD) LED is
illuminated and fault LED is fast
blinking (10 times/sec) that indi­cate there is rebuilding activity on
the disk drive.

Figure 2-4, ARC-1203-2i individual Fault/Activity LED

for each channel drive and global indicator
connector for computer case.

21

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

B: Areca Serial Bus Connector

The following picture and table is the serial bus signal name de­scription for the LCD/I2C Module Connector (J4).

PIN Description PIN Description

1 Power (+5V) 2 GND

3 LCD Module Interrupt 4 Protect Key

5 LCD Module Serial Data 6 Fault/Activity Clock

7 Fault/Activity Serial Data 8 LCD Module Clock

22

You can use one optional LCD front panel and keypad function
to simply create the RAID volume. The LCD status panel also

informs you the disk array’s current operating status at a glance.
The LCD conguration is described in a separate manual: RAID
Card_LCD manual. The LCD housed in a 5¼-inch half-height or

3.5-inch canister.

Figure 2-5, Connect to LCD Status Panel

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Step 7. Adding a Battery Backup Module (Optional)

Please refer to Appendix B Battery Backup Module (ARC-6120BA-

T121) for installing the BBM in your 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller.

Step 8. Re-check Fault LED Cable Connections (Optional)

Be sure that the proper failed drive channel information is dis­played by the fault LEDs. An improper connection will tell the user

to ‘‘Hot Swap’’ the wrong drive. This can result in removing the

wrong disk (one that is functioning properly) from the controller.
This can result in failure and loss of system data.

Step 9. Power up the System

Throughly check the installation, reinstall the computer cover, and
reconnect the power cord cables. Turn on the power switch at the
rear of the computer (if equipped) and then press the power button
at the front of the host computer.

Step 10. Install the Controller Driver

For a new system:

• Driver installation usually takes places as part of operating sys-

tem installation. Please refer to Chapter 4 “Diver Installation” for
the detailed installation procedure.

For an existing system:

• To install the controller driver into the existing operating system.

For the detailed installation procedure, please refer to the Chap­ter 4, “Driver Installation”.

Step 11. Install ArcHTTP Proxy Server

The ARC-1203-2I rmware has embedded the web-browser
McRAID storage manager. ArcHTTP proxy server will launch the

web-browser McRAID storage manager. It provides all of the cre-

ation, management and monitor ARC-1203-2I RAID controller
status. Please refer to the Chapter 5 for the detail “ArcHTTP Proxy

Server Installation”. For SNMP agent function, please see the

“SNMP Operation & Installation” section in the Appendix C of the

user manual.

23

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Step 12. Congure Volume Set

With Areca series RAID cards, there are 4 methods to manage your
ARC-1203-2I RAID controller. It can be congured by using the
LCD with keypad, McBIOS RAID manager (terminal emulation) or

McRAID storage manager (via ArcHTTP proxy utility).

• Method 1: Internal PCIe Connection (McBIOS RAID Manager)
The ARC-1203-2I RAID controller can be congured via a BIOS
start up McBIOS manager. The McBIOS RAID manager is rm­ware-based and is used to congure RAID sets and volume sets.
Because the utility resides in the ARC-1203-2I RAID controller
rmware, operation is independent of any operating systems

on your computer. For additional information on using the BIOS

on-screen to congure the RAID subsystem see the Chapter 3 of
“BIOS Conguration” of the user manual.

• Method 2: Internal PCIe Connection (McRAID Storage Manager)
You’re now ready to use the McRAID storage manager to set up
RAID volumes. Your ARC-1203-2I RAID controller can be cong-

ured by using McRAID storage manager (launched by ArcHTTP

proxy server). ARC-1203-2I RAID controller has embedded the
TCP/IP & web browser-based RAID manager in the rmware.
User can use the standard web browsers to manage the RAID
controller using ArcHTTP proxy server installed. For additional
information on using the McRAID storage manager to congure

the RAID controller see the Chapter 6 of “Web Browser-Based

Conguration” of the user manual.

• Method 3: Front LCD Panel with Keypad (Optional)

You can use LCD front panel and keypad function to simply create
the RAID volume. The LCD status panel also informs you of the

disk array’s current operating status at a glance. For additional
information on using the LCD to congure the RAID controller see
the ARC1000_LCD manual on the shipping CD. The LCD provides

a system of screens with areas for information, status indication,
or menus. The LCD screen displays up to two lines at a time of
menu items or other information.

24

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Step 13. Format, Partition and Mount the ARC-1203-2I RAID

Controller Volumes

After the volume set is ready for system accesses, it needs to be
partitioned, formatted, and mounted by the operating system.
There are various steps, depending on what operating system you

are using (Windows, Linux, FreeBSD or Mac, etc.). Detailed steps

for each operating system are provided on their disk utility. After

that, the ARC-1203-2I RAID controller can be fully used.

Step 14. Determining the Boot Sequences

The ARC-1203-2I RAID controller is a bootable device. You can use

it as primary boot drive or secondary storage drive. If your sys­tem already contains a bootable device with an installed operating
system, you can set up your system to boot a second operating

system from the new ARC-1203-2I RAID controller volume.

For PC system:

To add a second bootable controller, you may need to enter setup
of motherboard BIOS and change the device boot sequence so that

the new ARC-1203-2I RAID controller volume heads the list. If the

system BIOS setup does not allow this change, your system may

be not congurable to allow the new ARC-1203-2I RAID controller

volume to act as a second boot device.

For Apple Mac Pro system:

Areca controller has supported the EFI BIOS on the PCIe 2.0 6Gb/s
SATA RAID controller. You have other alternatively to add volumes
on the Intel-based Mac bootable device listing. You can follow the
following procedures to add 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller on the Mac
bootable device listing.

1. Set the BIOS selection in System Controls: Advance Congura-

tion to “EFI” option for Intel-based MacPro boot.

2. Download OS X Mavericks and DiskMaker X. Follow the Disk-

Maker X to make a bootable OS X Mavericks USB install drive.

3. Restart your Mac and after you hear the chime sound, press

the Option (Alt) key until you see the option to choose the

ash drive to boot from.

25

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

4. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete Areca Volume

Upgrade and Clean Install of OS X Mavericks. Power up the

Intel-based Mac and Areca volume will be added in the
bootable device automatically.

2.4 Summary of the installation

The ow chart below describes the installation procedures for 6Gb/s
SATA RAID controllers.

These procedures includes hardware installation, the creation and
conguration of a RAID volume through the McBIOS/McRAID man­ager, OS installation and installation of 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller
software.

The software components congure and monitor the 6Gb/s SATA

RAID controllers as following table.

Conguration Utility Operating System Supported

McBIOS RAID Manager OS-Independent

McRAID Storage Manager

(Via ArcHTTP proxy server)

SAP Monitor (Single Admin Portal to
scan for multiple RAID units in the net-

work, via ArcHTTP proxy server)

SNMP Manager Console Integration Windows 10/8/2012/7/2008/Vista/

Windows 10/8/2012/7/2008/Vista/
XP(64-bit)/2003, Linux, FreeBSD, So-

laris and Mac

Windows 10/8/2012/7/2008/Vista/
XP(64-bit)/2003

XP(64-bit)/2003, Linux and FreeBSD

26

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

McRAID Storage Manager

Before launching the rmware-embedded web browser, McRAID
storage manager through the PCIe bus, you need rst to install the
ArcHTTP proxy server on your server system. If you need additional

information about installation and start-up of this function, see the
McRAID Storage Manager section in Chapter 6 of the user manual.

ArcHTTP Proxy Server

ArcHTTP has to be installed for GUI RAID console (MRAID storage

manager) to run. It is used to launch the web browser McRAID
storage manager. It also runs as a service or daemon in the back­ground that allows capturing of events for mail and SNMP traps no-

tication. If you need additional information about installation and
start-up of this function, see the ArcHTTP Proxy Server Installation

section in Chapter 5 of the user manual.

CLI Utility

CLI (Command Line Interface) lets you set up and manage RAID
controller through a command line interface. CLI performs many
tasks at the command line. You can download CLI manual from
Areca website or software CD <CDROM>\DOCS directory.

SNMP Manager Console Integration

There are two ways to transport SNMP data on the ARC-1203-2I

RAID controller: in-band PCIe host bus interface or out-of-band
built-in LAN interface. Enter the “SNMP Tarp IP Address” option on
the rmware-embedded SNMP conguration function for user to se­lect the SNMP data agent-side communication from the out-of-band
built-in LAN interface. To use in-band PCIe host bus interface, keep
blank on the “SNMP Tarp IP Address” options.

• In-Band-Using PCIe Host Bus Interface

In-band interface refers to management of the SNMP data of
6Gb/s SATA controllers from a PCIe host bus. In-band interface is
simpler than out-of-band interface for it requires less hardware in

its conguration.Since the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller is already
installed in the host system, no extra connection is necessary.

27

HARDWARE INSTALLATION

Just load the necessary in-band Areca SNMP extension agent

for the controllers. Before launching the SNMP agent in the

sever, you need rst to enable the rmware-embedded SNMP
community conguration and install Areca SNMP extension agent

in your server system. If you need additional information about
installation and start-up the function, see the SNMP Operation &

Installation section in the Appendix C of the user manual.

Single Admin Portal (ArcSAP) Monitor

This utility can scan for multiple RAID units in the local and remote

systems and provide an effective mechanism to congure and

monitor your RAID units. For additional information, see the utility
manual (ArcSAP) in the packaged CD or download it from the web
site http://www.areca.com.tw

28

BIOS CONFIGURATION

3. McBIOS RAID Manager

The system mainboard BIOS automatically congures the following

6Gb/s SATA RAID controller parameters at power-up:

• I/O Port Address

• Interrupt Channel (IRQ)

• Controller ROM Base Address

Use McBIOS RAID manager to further congure the 6Gb/s SATA RAID

controller to suit your server hardware and operating system.

3.1 Starting the McBIOS RAID Manager

This section explains how to use the McBIOS RAID manager to
congure your RAID system. The McBIOS RAID manager is de-

signed to be user-friendly. It is a menu-driven program, residing

in the rmware, which allows you to scroll through various menus
and sub-menus and select among the predetermined conguration

options.

When starting a system with a 6Gb/s SATA RAID controller in­stalled, it will display the following message on the monitor during
the start-up sequence (after the system BIOS startup screen but
before the operating system boots):

ARC-1203-2I PCIEx4/5.0G RAID Controller - DRAM: 1024(MB) / #Channels: 2

BIOS: V1.23 / Date: 2015-12-10 - F/W: V1.52 / Date: 2015-11-10

Bus/Dev/Fun= 8/0/0, I/0-Port=FBEA0000h, IRQ=10, BIOS=CA00 : 0h
ID-LUN=00-0, Vol=”Areca ARC-1203-VOL#000R001”, Size=3.6 (TB)
ID-LUN=00-1, Vol=”Areca ARC-1203-VOL#001R001”, Size=3.6 (TB)
RAID controller BIOS not installed
Press <Tab/F6> to enter SETUP menu. 9 second(s) left <ESC to Skip>..

The McBIOS RAID manager message remains on your screen for

about nine seconds, giving you time to start the conguration

menu by pressing Tab or F6. If you do not wish to enter congu­ration menu, press ESC to skip conguration immediately. When
activated, the McBIOS RAID manager window appears showing a

selection dialog box listing the 6Gb/s SATA RAID controllers that

are installed in the system. The legend at the bottom of the screen
shows you what keys are enabled for the windows.

29

BIOS CONFIGURATION

Areca Technology Corporation RAID Setup <V1.56, 2012/12/24>

Select An Adapter To Congure

( 001/ 0/0) I/O=28000000h, IRQ = 9

ArrowKey Or AZ:Move Cursor, Enter: Select, **** Press F10 (Tab) to Reboot ****

Use the Up and Down arrow keys to select the controller you want
to congure. While the desired controller is highlighted, press the

Enter key to enter the main menu of the McBIOS RAID manager.

I/O Port Addr : 28000000h, F2(Tab): Select Controller, F10: Reboot System

ArrowKey Or AZ:Move Cursor, Enter: Select, ESC: Escape, L:Line Draw, X: Redraw

Areca Technology Corporation RAID Controller

Main Menu

Quick Volume/Raid Setup

Raid Set Function
Volume Set Function
Physical Drives
Raid System Function
More System Functions
Hdd Power Management

Ethernet Conguration
Alert By Mail Cong

View System Events
Clear Event Buffer
Hardware Monitor
System information

Verify Password

Note:

The manufacture
default password is
set to 0000; this
password can be

modied by selecting

Change Password
in the Raid System

Function section.

3.2 McBIOS RAID manager

The McBIOS RAID manager is rmware-based and is used to con­gure RAID sets and volume sets. Because the utility resides in the
6Gb/s SATA RAID controller rmware, operation is independent of

any operating systems on your computer. This utility can be used
to:

• Create RAID sets,

• Expand RAID sets,

30