BECKHOFF Onboard SATA RAID User Manual

Installation and operating instructions for

Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID

Version: 1.3
Date: 2009-07-24

Table of contents

Table of contents

1.

General notes 2

Notes on the documentation 2
Liability conditions 2
Description of safety symbols 2
Basic safety measures 3

2.

Product description 4

RAID overview 4

RAID level 4
RAID 1 (mirroring) 4
Configuration at delivery state 4

3.

Status information 5

Status information from BIOS 5

Display during normal operation 5
Display after the failure of a hard disk 6
Display after the replacement of a defective hard disk 7

Status information under Windows 8

Display during normal operation 8
Display after the failure of a hard disk 8
Exchanging a defective hard disk 9

4.

Rebuilding the RAID system 10

Requirements for a replacement hard disk 10

Resetting a replacement hard disk for the RAID rebuild 10
Resetting a replacement hard disk with the Configuration Utility 11
Resetting a replacement hard disk with the Storage Console 11

RAID rebuild under BIOS 13

Selecting a hard disk for the RAID rebuild 13

RAID rebuild under Windows 15

Selecting a hard disk (drive) for the RAID rebuild 15
Starting the RAID rebuild in the standard view of the Storage Console 15
Starting the RAID rebuild in the extended view of the Storage Console 17

Rebuild process 19

Storage Console is closed 19
Rebuild process from the Storage Console 19
Extended view of the Storage Console 20

5.

RAID diagnosis under TwinCAT 21

TwinCAT RAID diagnosis 21

Querying the information 21

6.

Beckhoff Support & Service 22

Beckhoff's branch offices and representatives 22
Beckhoff headquarters 22
Beckhoff Support 22
Beckhoff Service 22

7.

Appendix 23

System requirements 23
Approvals 23

FCC: Federal Communications Commission 23
Radio Frequency Interference Statement 23
FCC: Canadian Notice 23

1 Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID

General notes

General notes

Notes on the documentation

This description is only intended for the use of trained specialists in control
and automation technology who are familiar with the applicable national
standards. It is essential that the following notes and explanations are
followed when installing and commissioning these components.

Liability conditions

The responsible staff must ensure that the application or use of the
products described satisfy all the requirements for safety, including all the
relevant laws, regulations, guidelines and standards.

The documentation has been prepared with care. The products described
are, however, constantly under development. For this reason, the
documentation may not always be have been fully checked for consistency
with the performance data, standards or other characteristics described.
None of the statements in this manual represent a guarantee for as set out
in § 443 of the German Civil Code or a statement about the assumed use
according to the contract as set out in § 434 para. 1 clause 1 no. 1 of the
German Civil Code. In the event that it contains technical or editorial errors,
we retain the right to make alterations at any time and without warning. No
claims for the modification of products that have already been supplied
may be made on the basis of the data, diagrams and descriptions in this
documentation.

©

This documentation is protected by copyright. Any reproduction or third
party use of this publication, whether in whole or in part, without the written
permission of Beckhoff Automation GmbH, is forbidden.

Description of safety symbols

i

Warning

Note

The following safety symbols are used in this operating manual. They are
intended to alert the reader to the associated safety instructions.

This symbol is intended to highlight risks for equipment, materials or the
environment.

This symbol indicates information that contributes to better understanding.

2 Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID

General notes

Basic safety measures

Only switch the PC off after
closing the software

Warning

Warning

i

Note

Before the Industrial PC is switched off, software that is running
must be properly closed. Otherwise it is possible that data on the
hard disk is lost.

Switch off all parts of the equipment, then uncouple the fieldbus!

Before opening the PC housing, for example to exchange a hard disk, all
system parts must be switched off first and the Industrial PC must then be
uncoupled from the system.

Pulling out the fieldbus connection plug uncouples the PC (optional).

System components that have been switched off must be secured against
being switched on again.

Do not exchange any parts when under power!

When components are being fitted or removed, the supply voltage must be
switched off.

Fitting work on the Industrial PC can result in damage:

• If metal objects such as screws or tools fall onto operating circuit
boards.

• If connecting cables internal to the PC are removed or inserted
during operation.

• If plug-in cards are removed or inserted when the PC is switched
on.

Hard disks in hard drive caddies can also be exchanged whilst the
Industrial PC is in operation.

Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID 3

Product description

Product description

RAID system
(Redundant Array of
Independent Drives)

i

Note

RAID level

RAID 1

RAID overview

A RAID system (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) serves to
organize several physical hard disks in a computer into one logical drive
(array).

The essential aim of RAID systems is to support error tolerance and to
improve the performance of the memory sub-system.

From the point of view of the user or an application program, there is no
distinction between a logical RAID drive and a single hard disk.

RAID level

The RAID level defines how the data within the volume that encompasses
the hard disks in the array is formatted. The Intel(R) Matrix Storage
Manager supports RAID Level 1 (mirroring) amongst others.

RAID 1 (mirroring)

The RAID 1 level combines two or more hard disks so that all data is
written simultaneously to all array members of the RAID 1 volume. In other
words: the data is mirrored and distributed across the hard disks in the
RAID 1 volume. This creates real-time redundancy of all of the data on the
first drive.

Configuration

Due to the increased protection against failure, RAID 1 is normally used for
storing critical data. Besides complete data redundancy, a further
advantage is the increased reading transmission rate.

Configuration at delivery state

Industrial PCs with the CB1051 motherboard, which are delivered with
more than one hard disk (HDD) are equipped with the SATA RAID system
as standard. Two of the hard disks are then combined logically to make a
RAID 1 drive.

The hard disks can be permanently installed inside the computer or also
accessible from outside via hard drive caddies.

4 Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID

Status information

Status information

RAID status

The configuration of the system can be accomplished both in BIOS and
under Windows. Furthermore it is possible to recall the status of the system
in TwinCAT.

Status information from BIOS

Display during normal operation

The first possibility to obtain information about the RAID status is during
the BIOS boot process. The second boot screen shows a summary of the
RAID status:

Configuration Utility

In this screen, the Configuration Utility can be opened with Ctrl I:

Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID 5

Status information

Display after the failure of a hard disk

Failure of a hard disk

If the computer is restarted following the failure of a hard disk, the second
boot screen may look like this, for example:

The status of the RAID volume is described here as “Degraded”. The
status of the hard disk on Port 0 can be seen to be okay (green).

If more than 2 SATA hard disks are installed inside the PC and one of the
two hard disks in the RAID volume failes or the hard disk configuration
inside the PC was changed because of other reasons, then at the next
start or reboot of the PC it is required to enter the BIOS Setup. Go to
"Advanced BIOS Features" "Hard Disk Boot Priority" and move the "INTEL
VOLUME0" to the top position by using the cursor down and the picture up
key. Otherway the PC will try to boot from hard disk three or four instead of
booting from the RAID volume.

Configuration Utility

The Configuration Utility does not display any further information:

6 Beckhoff onboard SATA-RAID