HighPoint 2340 User Manual

RocketRAID 2340

SATAII Host Adapter

User’s Guide

Revision: 1.0

Date: May 2006

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.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Introduction

About this guide ..........................................................................................................

Introducing the RocketRAID 2340 Host Adapter ...................................................

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

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

Chapter 2

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware Description/Installation

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware .......................................................................................

1 - RocketRAID 2340 Adapter Layout ......................................................................

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

3 - Installing the RocketRAID 2340 Host Adapter ..................................................

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

1-1 1-1

1-1

1-2

2-1

2-2 2-3

2-4

Chapter 3

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility ...................................................................................

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

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

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

4 - Updating the BIOS ..................................................................................................

5 - BIOS - Additional Settings .....................................................................................

3-1 3-1 3-2

3-4

3-7

Chapter 4

RocketRAID 2340 Driver and Software Installation

Microsoft Windows (2000, XP, 2003 Server, x64 versions)

Table of Contents

Driver and Software CD ................................................................................................

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

Linux Driver Support

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

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

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

4-1

4-3

4-4

4-5

4-7

4-9

4-11

4-12

4-14

4-18

4-22

5-1

5-5

5-10

Chapter 6

FreeBSD Driver Support

1 - Installing FreeBSD on the RocketRAID 2340 Controller ...................................

2 - Installing the RocketRAID 2340 Driver on an Existing System ........................

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

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

Appendix

Customer Support

Customer Support .........................................................................................................

6-1

6-5

6-8

A-1

Contents of this Chapter:

About this guide

Introducing the RocketRAID 2340 Host Adapter

Product Features

Understanding RAID Concepts and Terminology

Chapter 1

Introduction

About this Guide

The RocketRAID 2340 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 2340 Host Adapter

The HighPoint RocketRAID 2340 is a 4-Port (16 hard disk) Mini-SAS Serial ATA II RAID

controller. It utilizes a PCI-Express x8 interface. The RocketRAID 2340 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

• PCI-Express x8

• 4-Mini-SAS connectors

• Supports up to 16 SATA or SATAII hard disk drives

• RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, 50 and JBOD

• Online Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration (OCE/ORLM)

• Native Command Queuing (NCQ)

• Hot swap and hot spare support

• SAF-TE Enclosure management ready

• Staggered drive spin-up support

• Hard disk activity and failed hard disk LED support

• Write-through and Write-back cache support

• S.M.A.R.T monitoring of hard disk status for reliability

• Automatic RAID rebuild

• BIOS booting support (INT13)

• Online array roaming

• Quick and Background initialization for quick RAID configuration

• Supports 64-bit LBA for over 4TB partition

• Web-based RAID management software

• Command Line Interface (CLI) for Linux and FreeBSD operating systems

• SMTP support for email notification

• Operating systems support for Windows, Linux and FreeBSD

1-1

Introduction

Understanding RAID Concepts and Terminology

The following concepts and terminology is commonly used when describing the

functions of the RocketRAID 2340 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 2340 (see legacy disk below).

Array initialization

A redundant array (RAID 5, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 50) 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 2340 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 and RAID 50 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 or RAID 50 array, however, is not fault-tolerant until

initialization 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.

1-3

Introduction

OCE, ORLM and the RocketRAID 2340

The RocketRAID 2340 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.

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 2340 that contain valid partition tables will be

identified as legacy disks. A legacy disk attached to the RocketRAID 2340 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 2340 Hardware

1 - RocketRAID 2340 Adapter Layout

2 - LED Connections

3 - Installing the RocketRAID 2340 Host Adapter

4 - Verifying Installation

Chapter 2

RocketRAID 2340

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware Description/Installation

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware

1 - RocketRAID 2340 Adapter Layout

Port1 - Port4

These represent the RocketRAID 2340’s 4 Mini-SAS SATA connectors. Each of

these 4 connector’s hosts up to 4 SATA disks, for a total of 16 hard disk drives.

These disks are referred to as “Port” or channels 1-16.

J3, J4, J7, J8, J10-13

LED connectors (disk-activity/disk-failure): Each Mini-SAS port utilizes two of these

connectors. J3, 4, 7, and 8 are for use with hard disk failure LED’s, while J10-13

provides disk activity LED support. LED support is discussed in greater detail in the

LED Connection section (page 2-2), and in a separate document, the RocketRAID

LED guide (which discusses LED installation for specific server chassis, and will be

available in downloadable form from our website).

JP1

SAF-TE connector (connection between chassis and host adapter)

2-1

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware Description/Installation

Speaker (“BEEP1”)

Alarm: the speaker emits an audible alarm in the case of disk/array failure.

JP3

This jumper is used to enable and disable the card’s alarm (BEEP1). The default

position is enabled (1, 2).

2 - LED Connections

The numbered pins represent each SATA channel (1-16). The term “Port” refers to the

RocketRAID 2340’s Mini-SAS connectors.

Connectors J11-13 provide hard disk activity LED support.

Connectors J3, J4, J7 and J8 provide hard disk failure LED support.

2-2

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware Description/Installation

3 - Installing the RocketRAID 2340 Host Adapter

Note: Make sure the system is powered-off before installing the RocketRAID 2340

host adapter.

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

2. Remove the PCI slot cover.

3. Gently insert the RocketRAID 2340 into the PCI-Express slot, and secure the

bracket to the system chassis.

4. After installing the adapter, attach the Mini-SAS connectors to the RocketRAID

2340’s Mini-SAS ports, and to chassis backplane. Each Mini-SAS cable sup-

ports up to 4 hard disk drives. Consult the chassis’s manual for proper installa-

tion procedures.

5. Close and secure the system chassis.

2-3

RocketRAID 2340 Hardware Description/Installation

4 - Verifying Installation

Once the RocketRAID 2340 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 2340 BIOS will be displayed.

2. Press Ctrl+H to access the RocketRAID 2340 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 Mini-SAS cable

connections. Make sure the hard disk in question is securely installed into the

corresponding removable drive tray.

2-4

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

Contents of this Chapter:

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

1 - BIOS Command Overview

2 - Creating RAID Arrays

3 - Adding/Removing Spare Disks

4 - Updating the BIOS

5 - BIOS – Additional Settings

Chapter 3

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

The RocketRAID 2340’s BIOS Utility can be accessed using the “Ctrl+H” command.

This command should be displayed automatically when the RocketRAID 2340’s BIOS

screen appears during the system’s boot up procedure.

1 - BIOS Command Overview

The RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility provides a wide selection of RAID related

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

Use the

keys 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

← →← →

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↑ ↓ arrow

↑ ↓↑ ↓

Create - this command is used to create RAID arrays. Page 3-2 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 2340 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.

Page 3-4 discusses this command in detail.

Settings

Set Boot Mark

to function as the RocketRAID 2340’s boot device.

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

RocketRAID 2340 to function as the system’s primary boot device.

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

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

spin up support. Staggered drive spin up, by default, is disabled. When enabled, the

RocketRAID 2340 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 2340.

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 2340. Use the

ENTER to view the information.

↑ ↓↑ ↓

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

↑ ↓↑ ↓

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.

2 - Creating RAID Arrays

Initializing Disks:

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

3-2

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

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

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

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.

6. Next, Use the

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 or set as a spare disk.

← →← →

← → 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.

↓↓

↓ arrow key to highlight the Select Devices item and

↓↓

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

↓↓

3-3

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

8. To complete the creation procedure, use the

Creation item and press ENTER.

↓↓

↓ arrow key to highlight the Start

↓↓

3 - Adding/Removing 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,

50) 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).

↑ ↓↑ ↓

↑ ↓

↑ ↓↑ ↓

4 - Updating the BIOS

BIOS updates are released periodically, and posted on our website for download.

There are several ways to flash the RocketRAID 2340 BIOS.

For Windows based operating systems:

1) Download the desired BIOS update from the Support section provided for

the RocketRAID 2340 host adapter. Extract the download to the directory of

your choice.

3-4

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

2) Insert the Driver and Software CD included with the RocketRAID 2340 retail

box into the system’s CD-ROM or DVD drive.

3) The CD should autorun, and display the following screen:

4) Select the “Browse the CD” option, and access the directory provided for

the RocketRAID 2340 host adapter.

5) Open the “BIOS” directory, and double click the “hptflash.exe” icon. This

will start the BIOS flash utility:

6) Select the RocketRAID 2340 from the drop down menu labeled “Controller”,

and press the “Open” button – this will allow you to browse to the extracted

BIOS download (step 1).

3-5

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

7) Highlight the image file, and click the “Flash!” button. The utility will

update the card, then verify the update.

8) Once complete, click on the “Exit” button to close the utility. Shutdown and

reboot the system.

Note: the “Backup” button will save a copy of the card’s current BIOS to the direc-

tory of your choice.

For other operating systems:

In order to update the BIOS, the system must be booted into DOS mode, using a

DOS-boot diskette or CD image.

1) Copy the load.exe and the bios image file to the bootable floppy diskette

(you may need to use a different floppy depending upon how much space is

available on the boot diskette - this can vary).

2) If you are booting from a CD image, you will need to add these files to the

CD.

Insert the boot image media into the appropriate drive, and boot the system.

Once the A:\> prompt has appeared, insert the media that contains the

required BIOS files, and type the following command:

load xxx.xxx

Then, press enter.

Note: xxx.xxx = the name of the BIOS image file (type it exactly as it appears).

3) The utility will scan for the controller, and ask if you want to backup the

BIOS (save a copy of the current BIOS to a floppy diskette). This is optional

- you can answer No, and continue.

Note: This option will not function if the system was booted from CD.

4) The utility will then ask if you want to flash the controller (upgrade the

BIOS). Select Y for yes.

5) The utility will display a progress bar during the flash procedure, then will

attempt verify the update.

Once complete, the system can be rebooted.

3-6

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

5 - BIOS – Additional Settings

The RocketRAID 2340 BIOS utility has several other configurable settings that can be

accessed when flashing the BIOS.

Using the hptflash.exe utility (from within a Windows operating system):

Click on the “Configure” button from the main interface window.

The following window will appear:

Use the drop down menus to enable or disable controller functions.

3-7

RocketRAID 2340 BIOS Utility

Using the DOS mode utility (load.exe):

Load xxx.xxx –c

Note: “xxx.xxx” refers to the BIOS image file.

A BIOS menu similar to the BIOS setup utility will be displayed.

This sub-menu allows the administrator to enable/disable various controller

functions.

Several of the more common functions are described below:

Stop on Error – disabling this option will prompt the card to automatically skip error

messages during bootup (broken array warnings), if the administrator does not input

the “Ctrl + H” command to access the BIOS menu.

Reallocate EBDA – this function refers to “Extended BIOS Data Area”.

Disabling this feature may remedy boot problems associated with motherboards that

halt after the RocketRAID 2340 BIOS screen is displayed.

INT13 – This option is required for booting from the controller. Disabling this feature

removes the card’s ability to boot the system. This may be useful for systems that

utilize multiple bootable controllers – some motherboards may not be able to load the

BIOS of each device during bootup, which may impair the system’s ability to boot

from a specific device.

Time waiting for Ctrl+H – The time period the BIOS will wait for a “Ctrl + H” key

command, before it starts hard disk scanning/detection. This may be useful for hard

disks that require a longer spin up time.

3-8

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