HighPoint 2320 User Manual

RocketRAID 2320

SATAII Host Adapter

User’s Guide

Revision: 1.0

Date: August 2005

HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

manual may be reproduced, transmitted or transcribed in any form and for any

purpose without the express written permission of HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

Trademarks

Companies and products mentioned in this manual are for identification purpose only.

Product names or brand names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered

trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners. Backup your important data

before using HighPoint’s products and use at your own risk. In no event shall

HighPoint be liable for any loss of profits, or for direct, indirect, special, incidental or

consequential damages arising from any defect or error in HighPoint’s products or

manuals. Information in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not

represent a commitment on the part of HighPoint.

Notice

Reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is

accurate. HighPoint assumes no liability for technical inaccuracies, typographical, or

other errors contained herein.

Chapter 1

Introduction

Table of Contents

About this Guide ...................................................................................................

Introducing the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter ..........................................

Product Features ....................................................................................................

Understanding RAID Concepts and Terminology ........................................

Chapter 2

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware Description/Installation

ROCKETRAID 2320 HARDWARE ...................................................................

1 - RocketRAID 2320 Adapter Layout ............................................................

2 - LED Connections ............................................................................................

3 - Installing the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter .........................................

4 - Verifying Installation .................................................................... ...................

5 - Single-RAID Cross Adapter ..........................................................................

1-1

1-2

2-1

2-2

2-3

2-4

Chapter 3

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

ROCKETRAID 2320 BIOS UTILITY ...............................................................

1 - BIOS Command Overview ..............................................................................

2 - Creating RAID Arrays ....................................................................................

3 - Adding/Remove Spare Disks ........................................................................

Chapter 4

RocketRAID 2320 Driver and Software Installation

Microsoft Windows (2000, XP, 2003 Server)

DRIVER AND SOFTWARE CD ......................................................................

3-1

3-3

3-5

4-1

Table of Contents

WINDOWS DRIVER INSTALLATION ...........................................................

1 - Installing the RAID Management Console/ Interface Overview ..........

2 - Software Interface - Overview of commands/functions ...........................

3 - Creating an Array .............................................................................................

4 - Deleting an Array .............................................................................................

5 - Configuring Spare Disks ................................................................................

6 - Recovering/Verifying Arrays ..........................................................................

7 - OCE/ORLM ........................................................................................................

8 - Misc. Array/Device Options .........................................................................

9 - Managing Events .............................................................................................

10 - Configuring Remote Systems ......................................................................

11 - Configuring Users and Privileges ..............................................................

Chapter 5

4-4

4-5

4-7

4-8

4-10

4-11

4-12

4-14

4-16

4-21

4-25

Linux Driver Support

Fedora Core 3 Linux installation Overview ....................................................

Red Hat Enterprise 3 Overview ........................................................................

SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) installation Overview .......................

Chapter 6

FreeBSD Driver Support

1 - Installing FreeBSD on the RocketRAID 2320 Controller ........................

2 - Installing RocketRAID 2320 Driver on an Existing System ..................

3 - Updating the Driver ........................................................................................

4 - Uninstalling the Driver ...................................................................................

Appendix Customer Support

5-1

5-5

5-10

6-1

6-5

6-9

CUSTOMER SUPPORT .......................................................................................

A-1

Contents of this Chapter:

About this Guide

Introducing the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter

Product Features

Understanding RAID Concepts and Terminology

Chapter 1

Introduction

About this Guide

The RocketRAID 2320 SATAII Host Adapter’s User’s Guide provides information

about the functions and capabilities of the host adapter, and instructions for

installing, configuring and maintaining RAID arrays hosted by the adapter.

Introducing the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter

The HighPoint RocketRAID 2320 is an 8-channel PCI-Express to Serial ATA II RAID

controller. The RocketRAID 2320 solution is aimed at enterprise storage applications,

NAS storage, workgroup and web servers, video streaming / video editing workstations,

back up, and security systems.

Product Features

z 8 Channels PCI-Express to SATAII host adapter z Supports up to 8 SATA/SATAII hard disk drives z Up to 300MB/s per SATAII channel z 64-bit LBA support for drive capacity over 2TB z Supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ) z Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) z Online RAID Level Migration (ORLM) z Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD z Single RAID cross-adapter (up to 16 disks per array) z Staggered drive spin-up support z S.M.A.R.T. monitoring of hard disk status for reliability z SAF-TE Enclosure management z Hot Swap and Hot Spare support z Audible alarm z LED support (disk activity and disk failure status) z Quick and Background initialization for quick RAID configuration z BIOS boot support (INT13) z Command Line Interface for RAID management (CLI) z Graphical RAID Management Software (RAID Management Console) z Web-based RAID Management Software z Automatic RAID rebuild

z SMTP support for email notification

z Windows/Win x64, Linux and FreeBSD support

1-1

Introduction

Understanding RAID Concepts and Terminology

The following concepts and terminology is commonly used when describing the

functions of the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter.

Disk initialization

Initializing a disk writes necessary RAID configuration information to that disk. Disks

must be initialized before configuring them into RAID arrays. The initialization

process will destroy all data on the disk.

Disk Status

New The disk contains no data and has not been initialized.

Initialized The disk has been initialized and can be used for array creation.

Configured The disk has been assigned to one or more arrays, or configured as a

spare disk.

Legacy The disk was used on other controllers before use with the

RocketRAID 2320 (see legacy disk below).

Array initialization

A redundant array (RAID 5, RAID 1, RAID 10) needs to be initialized to ensure full

performance and reliability. Non-redundant arrays (RAID 0, JBOD) do not need to be

initialized.

When you create a redundant array using the RocketRAID 2320 controller’s BIOS

Configuration Utility, it will create the array in un-initialized state. The initialization

process can be completed after installing the driver and management software.

When creating an array using the HighPoint RAID Management Console software,

you can specify an initialization option (Skip initialization, foreground and

background).

1-2

Introduction

Foreground initialization

Foreground initialization will zero-out all data on the array. The array is not accessible

by the operating system until initialization is complete.

Background initialization

Background initialization allows the array to be used immediately. For RAID 1 and

RAID 10 arrays, initialization will results in data being duplicated identically to the

mirror pair. For RAID 5 arrays, initialization will result in parity being generated from

all array members.

Note: An un-initialized RAID 1 or RAID 10 array can still provide redundancy in

case of a disk failure. A RAID 5 array, however, is not fault-tolerant until initializa-

tion is finished.

Online Capacity Expansion (OCE)

This feature allows disks to be added to existing RAID arrays, in order to increase the

array’s capacity, without fear of data loss. Any number of disks can be added to an

array, at any time. Data can be accessed and utilized even while being redistributed.

Online RAID Level Migration

This term describes the ability to change one type of array (RAID level), into a

different type of array (changing a RAID 1 array into a RAID 10 array for example).

Data is still accessible during the migration process, and a base level of security is

still active.

OCE, ORLM and the RocketRAID 2320

The RocketRAID 2320 supports both Online Capacity Expansion (OCE), and Online

RAID Level Migration (ORLM). Both features are supported by a single function - an

array can be transformed from one RAID level to another RAID level while simulta-

neously being resized, even under I/O load.

1-3

Introduction

Spare disk

A spare disk is a single disk that can be used to automatically rebuild a redundant

array in case of drive failure. Spare disks may also be members of a RAID array. Any

available space on these disks may be used to rebuild other broken arrays.

Legacy disk

Disks attached to the RocketRAID 2320 that contain valid partition tables will be

identified as legacy disks. A legacy disk attached to the RocketRAID 2320 can be

accessed by the operating system, but cannot be used to create RAID arrays. A

legacy disk must be initialized before assigning it to an array.

1-4

Hardware Description/Installation

Contents of this Chapter:

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware

1 - RocketRAID 2320 Adapter Layout

2 - LED Connections

3 - Installing the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter

4 - Verifying Installation

5 - Single-RAID Cross Adapter

Chapter 2

RocketRAID 2320

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware Description/Installation

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware

1 – RocketRAID 2320 Adapter Layout

Port1- Port8

These represent the RocketRAID 2320’s eight SATAII channels. The SATA port furthest away from the surface of the adapter is always the odd numbered channel (1, 3, 5, 7), while the port closest to the adapter is the even numbered channel (2, 4, 6, 8).

J2, J3, J4, J5

LED connectors (disk-activity/disk-failure): LED support is discussed in greater detail in the LED Connection section, and in a separate document, the RocketRAID 2320 LED guide (which discusses LED installation for server chassis). The LED Guide will be available for download, from our website.

JP3 and JP4

These jumpers enable cross-adapter RAID support. The RocketRAID 2320 includes a cable designed for use with these jumpers. Consult the Single-RAID Cross Adapter section (page 2-4) for more information.

BEEP1 - Speaker

Alarm (speaker): the speaker emits and audible alarm in the case of disk/array failure.

JP5

I²C jumper/SAF-TE support: this support is dependent upon the system chassis.

Not all chassis models support SAF-TE features. Consult the chassis’s manual for more information.

2-1

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware Description/Installation

2 - LED Connections

The RocketRAID 2320 has 4 LED jumpers – J2, J3, J4 and J5. The following diagrams

describe the connector pin definitions for the Disk Activity jumpers (J2, J3), and Disk

Failure connections (J4, J5). The “Ports” refer to the RocketRAID 2320’s eight SATAII

channels.

2-2

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware Description/Installation

RocketRAID 2320 LED Guide

For more information about LED support, and installation guides for various chassis

configurations, consult the RocketRAID 2320 LED Guide (which will be available for

download), or contact our Customer Support Department.

3 - Installing the RocketRAID 2320 Host Adapter

Note: Make sure the system is powered-off before installing the RocketRAID 2320

host adapter.

The RocketRAID 2320 includes both standard and low-profile brackets. It may be

necessary to attach the low-profile bracket in place of the standard bracket, depend-

ing upon the chassis design.

1. Open the system chassis and locate an unused PCI-Express slot.

2. Remove the PCI slot cover.

3. Gently insert the RocketRAID 2320 into the PCI-Express slot, and secure the

bracket to the system chassis.

2-3

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware Description/Installation

4. After installing the adapter, attach hard disks to the RocketRAID 2320 using an

SATA data cable. SATA cables have universal connections – either end can be

attached to the adapter or hard disk. Each RocketRAID 2320 included eight

SATA cables, and supports up to eight separate hard disks drives.

5. Many server-level chassis include hard-disk hot-swap bays. For these system

chassis, cables are attached to the chassis backplane, rather than directly to

each individual hard disk. Consult the chassis’s manual for proper installation

procedures.

6. Close and secure the system chassis.

4 - Verifying Installation

Once the RocketRAID 2320 host adapter and hard disks have been installed into the

chassis, boot-up the system to verify that the hardware is properly recognized.

1. Power on the system. If the system detects the presence of the adapter, the

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility will be displayed during bootup.

2. Press Ctrl+H to access the RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility.

The BIOS Utility will display information about hard disks attached to the adapter.

Make sure all attached disks are detected by this utility. If any of the hard disks are

not detected, power down the system and check the power and SATA cable

connections.

5 - Single-RAID Cross Adapter

The RocketRAID 2320 is capable of supporting RAID arrays created between hard

disks attached to multiple host adapters. Up to sixteen hard disks can be assigned to

a single RAID array. This feature is referred to as “Single-RAID Cross Adapter”

support.

Each RocketRAID 2320 provides two jumpers dedicated to this feature (JP3 and JP4),

and a single cross-adapter cable designed for use with these jumpers. JP3 is a 3-pin

jumper, while JP4 is a 4-pin design.

2-4

RocketRAID 2320 Hardware Description/Installation

Each cross-adapter cable has a 3-pin and 4-pin connector, designed for insertion into

JP3 and JP4 respectively.

Example installation:

For a 16-hard disk, 2-card cross-adapter RAID configuration, install a second card

into the next available PCI-Express slot. Insert one end of the cross-adapter cable into

the appropriate jumper on the first adapter (3-pin connector to JP3, 4-pin connector to

JP4), and the remaining connector into the appropriate jumper on the second adapter.

There is no particular connector-to-jumper requirement. Any given connector can be

inserted into the corresponding jumper on either card.

2-5

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

Contents of this Chapter:

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

1 - BIOS Command Overview

2 - Creating RAID Arrays

3 - Adding/Removing Spare Disks

Chapter 3

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

The RocketRAID 2320’s BIOS Utility can be accessed using the “Ctrl+H” command.

This command should be displayed automatically when the RocketRAID 2320’s BIOS

screen appears during the system’s boot up procedure.

1 - BIOS Command Overview

The RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility provides a wide selection of RAID related

commands. These commands are displayed towards the top of the utility’s interface.

Use the

arrows to browse through the corresponding command menus. Use the ENTER key

to execute the selected command.

The ESC button can be used to cancel the selected command, or return to the previ-

ous command menu.

← →← →

← → arrow keys to scroll through the various commands, and the

← →← →

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↑ ↓

↑ ↓↑ ↓

Create - this command is used to create RAID arrays. Section 2 discusses this

command in detail.

Delete - this command will delete the selected RAID array.

Warning: This command may result in permanent data loss - it should only be used

if data stored on the target array is no longer relevant, or has been backed up to an

alternate storage device.

3-1

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

Add/Remove Spare - this command is used to assign hard disks to function as

spare disks. The controller is capable of using spare disks to automatically rebuild

broken or faulted RAID arrays.

Section 3 discusses this command in detail.

Settings

Set Boot Mark

to function as the RocketRAID 2320’s boot device.

Note: This setting is only relevant if the motherboard’s BIOS has set the

RocketRAID 2320 to function as the system’s primary boot device.

- this function is used to designate a particular disk or RAID array

Staggered drive spin up - This function is used to enable (or disable) staggered

drive spin up support This setting, by default, is disabled. Enabling staggered drive

spin up will power up the hard disks one at a time, approximately every two seconds.

View - this command is used to select between two views. Press the ENTER key to

change the view.

Devices - displays information about hard disks attached to the RocketRAID 2320.

Use the

the information.

↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

↑ ↓ arrow keys to highlight the target hard disk, and press ENTER to view

↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

RAID Arrays – displays information about RAID arrays attached to the RocketRAID

2320. Use the

the information.

↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

↑ ↓ arrow keys to highlight the target array, and press ENTER to view

↑ ↓ ↑ ↓

Initialize - this function is used to prepare disks for use with RAID arrays.

Note: Arrays cannot be created between disks that have not been initialized.

The following section discusses this command in detail.

3-2

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

2 - Creating RAID Arrays

Initializing Disks:

Before creating a RAID array, the disks must be initialized.

Initialization writes necessary RAID configuration information to the hard disk.

Use the

← →← →

← → arrow keys to select the Initialize command, and press ENTER.

← →← →

Warning: Initialization will destroy all pre- existing data on the selected hard

disks.

Use the

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↑ ↓ arrow keys to highlight the target hard disk(s) and press ENTER. Next,

↑ ↓↑ ↓

press the Y (yes) key to initialize the selected disk(s), or N (no) key to cancel the

initialization process.

Once initialized, these disks can be utilized to create RAID arrays.

To create an array:

1. Use the

open the Create Menu.

2. Use the

3. Next, use the

← →← →

← → arrow keys to highlight the Create command, and press ENTER to

← →← →

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↑ ↓ arrow keys to select the appropriate RAID level, then press ENTER.

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↓↓

↓ arrow key to highlight the Array Name option and press ENTER.

↓↓

The array name dialogue box will appear. Use the keyboard to input a new Array

Name, and press the Enter key.

Note: the Array Name command is optional – it is not necessary to name the

array. The array can be named at a later time, and the name of the array can be

changed at any time.

4. On the Create menu, use the

↓ ↓

↓ arrow key to highlight the Select Devices item and

↓ ↓

press ENTER. A device list will appear, and display all available hard disk drives.

5. Highlight the target disks that you want to use, and press ENTER to select them.

After all of the disks have been selected, press the ESC key to return to the

Create Menu.

3-3

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

6. Next, use the

↓↓

↓ arrow key to highlight the Capacity (GB) option and press

↓↓

ENTER. The total available capacity will be displayed. Press ENTER if you wish

to use all available space.

7. If you wish to reserve disk space for additional arrays/single disks, use the

keyboard to input the amount of space (in GB) you wish to set aside for this

particular array, and press ENTER.

Note: Multiple arrays can be created using the same set of hard disk drives.

The Capacity option allows you to set aside disk space that be used to create

another array, set as a spare disk, or partitioned to act as a single disk (by the

operating system).

8. To complete the creation procedure, use the

↓↓

↓ arrow key to highlight the Start

↓↓

Creation item and press ENTER. Press the Y (yes) key to create the array, or N

(no) key to cancel the creation process.

Single RAID – Cross Adapter

The term “Single RAID - Cross Adapter” refers to the RocketRAID 2320 ability to

create RAID arrays between drives attached to multiple RocketRAID 2320 Adapters.

Each RAID array can support up to 16 hard disks, and these disks can be attached to

as many as 4 separate RocketRAID 2320 adapters.

Cross - Adapter arrays are created in the same manner as standard arrays. The BIOS

utility menu will display disks attached to each RocketRAID 2320 adapter installed

into the system. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through available

hard disks.

3-4

RocketRAID 2320 BIOS Utility

3 - Adding/Remove Spare Disks

This command is used to assign a hard disk to act as a Spare Disk.

Spare Disks are used to automatically rebuild Redundant RAID arrays (RAID 1, 5, 10)

in the case of disk failure. To set a hard disk to act as a Spare Disk, use the

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↑ ↓ arrow

↑ ↓↑ ↓

keys to select a disk, and press ENTER.

To remove the Spare Disk setting from a hard disk, highlight the spare disk, and press

ENTER.

Generally, single disks are designated to act as spares (disks that are not configured

into RAID arrays).

However, in some instances, disks that are members of RAID arrays may also be

designated to act as a spare. If the disks in question are part of a RAID array that did

not utilize the full available capacity at the time of creation, these disks may be used

as spares.

For example: a RAID 0 array was created between two 200GB hard disks, but only

200GB of space (out of a grand total of 400GB), was assigned to that array. In this

example, 200GB of disk space remains unallocated. This unallocated space would

allow these disks to be set as spares for a separate redundant array that falls into the

same capacity range (200GB).

3-5

RocketRAID 2320 Driver and

Software Installation Microsoft

Windows (2000, XP, 2003 Server)

Contents of this Chapter:

Driver and Software CD

Windows Driver Installation

Chapter 4

RocketRAID 2320 Driver and Software Installation

Driver and Software CD

The RocketRAID 2320 retail box includes a Driver and Software CD.

This CD can be used to generate driver diskettes, and install the RAID Management

software for a variety of operating systems.

To create a driver diskette:

1. Insert the CD into the system’s CD/DVD drive. The program should start

automatically.

2. Insert a blank floppy diskette into the system’s floppy drive.

3. Click on “Create Driver Diskette”.

Click on the “Please Select a Product” drop-down button, and select ‘RocketRAID

2320” from the list.

4-1

RocketRAID 2320 Driver and Software Installation

Click on the “Please Select the Diskette you want to create” drop-down button, and

select the appropriate OS from the list.

Click on the “OK” button to create the driver diskette.

4-2

+ 53 hidden pages