HighPoint RocketStor 6422AS User Manual

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RocketStor 6422TS

User Manual

Jul 23nd, 2015 Revision 1.01 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

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Copyright © 2015 HighPoint Technologies, Inc. This document contains materials protected by International Copyright Laws. All rights reserved. No part of this 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.

FCC Part 15 Class B Radio Frequency Interference 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 harmful 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. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.  Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.  Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is

connected.

 Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s authority to

operate the equipment under FCC rules. This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

European Union Compliance Statement This Information Technologies Equipment has been tested and found to comply with the following European directives:

 European Standard EN55022 (1998) Class B  European Standard EN55024 (1998)

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Table of Contents

Product Overview ................................................................................................................. 6

Kit Contents............................................................................................................................ 6

Section 1: Hardware Installation ........................................................................................ 8

Preparing the Enclosure .........................................................................................................8

Preparing the HBA (Host Bus Adapter) ...............................................................................8

Connecting the HBA with the Enclosure ............................................................................9

LED Activity ............................................................................................................................ 11

Section 2: Drivers ................................................................................................................ 12

Installing Drivers on an Existing Operating System ..................................................... 12

Checking your Driver Version ............................................................................................ 18

Loading the Drivers onto a Bootable Array .................................................................... 20

Updating the Drivers ............................................................................................................ 20

Uninstalling the Drivers ...................................................................................................... 21

Section 3: Navigating RocketRAID 4522 BIOS Utility (PC only) ............................... 23

System Tab ............................................................................................................................. 24

Disk Tab .................................................................................................................................. 25

Initializing disks ................................................................................................................ 26

Adding disks to spare pool............................................................................................. 26

Unplugging Disks .............................................................................................................. 27

Turn on/off disk write Cache......................................................................................... 27

Array Tab ................................................................................................................................ 27

Creating an Array .............................................................................................................. 28

Verifying your array ......................................................................................................... 30

Setting Boot Array ............................................................................................................. 30

Controller Tab ....................................................................................................................... 30

Window Tab ........................................................................................................................... 32

Section 4: BIOS/Firmware Updates ................................................................................. 32

Using the WebGUI to update BIOS/Firmware ................................................................. 33

Using a Bootable USB to update BIOS/Firmware ........................................................... 33

Section 5: Navigating the HighPoint WebGUI ............................................................... 34

Installing HighPoint WebGUI .............................................................................................. 35

How to Login HighPoint WebGUI ....................................................................................... 37

Global Tab .............................................................................................................................. 40

Viewing HBA Properties ................................................................................................... 40

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Viewing Storage Properties ............................................................................................. 41

Physical Tab ........................................................................................................................... 41

Updating BIOS/Firmware ................................................................................................. 42

Obtaining Physical Device Information ....................................................................... 43

Logical Tab ............................................................................................................................. 44

Creating an Array .............................................................................................................. 45

Adding Spare Disks .......................................................................................................... 50

Obtaining Logical Device Information.......................................................................... 50

Normal Status .................................................................................................................... 51

Critical Status ..................................................................................................................... 52

Disabled Status .................................................................................................................. 53

Expanding an Existing Array .......................................................................................... 53

Setting Tab ............................................................................................................................. 56

System Settings ................................................................................................................. 56

Password Setting ............................................................................................................... 58

Changing your WebGUI password ................................................................................. 58

Recovering your WebGUI password .............................................................................. 58

Email Setting ...................................................................................................................... 58

Recover Tab ............................................................................................................................ 60

How to Backup your Recover List ................................................................................. 60

How to Reload your Backup Recover List .................................................................... 61

Event Tab ................................................................................................................................ 61

Table 1. Event Log Icon Guide ........................................................................................ 61

SHI (Storage Health Inspector) ........................................................................................... 62

How to Enable SMART Monitoring ................................................................................ 62

How to Change HDD Temperature Threshold ........................................................... 63

How to Use the Health Inspector Scheduler ............................................................... 64

How to Create a New Verify Task .................................................................................. 64

Section 6: Formatting the RAID Volumes ...................................................................... 65

Section 7: Troubleshooting ............................................................................................... 69

Handling Critical Arrays ...................................................................................................... 70

Rebuilding Stops Due to Bad Sectors ........................................................................... 70

Critical array becomes disabled when you removed faulty disk ........................... 71

Handling Disabled Arrays ................................................................................................... 71

Your PC hangs when card is installed.............................................................................. 72

Help ........................................................................................................................................ 73

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Table 2. WebGUI Icon Guide ............................................................................................... 74

Table 3. RAID Level Reference Guide ............................................................................... 76

HighPoint Recommended List of Hard Drives ............................................................... 77

Contacting Technical Support ........................................................................................... 77

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Product Overview

Item

Count

NetStor NA341A-R Enclosure

HighPoint RocketRAID 4522

HDD Trays

Mini-SAS (SFF-8088) Cable

Power Cord

NetStor Manual CD-ROM

HDD mounting screws

HDD lock keys

Feature Specifications

RocketStor 6422AS

Form Factor

2U, 8-Bay Rackmount Enclosure

Host Port

2x Mini-SAS

RAID Controller /Bus Interface

RocketRAID 4522 / PCIe 2.0 x8 I/O Storage Processor

RAID-On-Chip Onboard

Onboard Cache

512MB DDR 3 Cache Memory with ECC Protection

The RocketStor 6422AS bundle package includes an enclosure for housing your physical drives and a RAID Controller to manage and create RAID arrays of different levels.

 NetStor 2U 8-Bay SAS/SATA JBOD Enclosure  HighPoint RocketRAID 4522 Controller

Kit Contents

Before getting started, check to see if any items are missing, damaged, or incorrect. For any discrepancy contact your reseller or go to www.highpoint-tech.com for online support.

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RAID Level

0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, JBOD

Max. Capacity

Up to 64 TB

Number Of drives

Up to 8

Drive Interface

SAS, SATA

Drive Form Factor

3.5" & 2.5"

Chassis Material

Heavy-duty cold-rolled steel housing

Dimension

18(D)×19(W)× 3.5(H) inches

Weight

37.43 lbs.

Warranty

2 Years

UPC

643653642212

Advanced RAID Features

Configurable RAID Block Size up to 1MB

Flash ROM for Upgradeable Firmware

DV Mode Technology

Storage Health Inspector

Redundant RAID Configurations

BIOS PnP (plug and play) and BBS (BIOS boot specification) support

Bootable RAID Array

EFI BIOS for Mac Platform

NVRAM for Write Journaling

Battery Backup unit retains data when power outage occurs

Multiple RAID Partitions supported

Online Array Roaming

Online RAID Level Migration (ORLM)

Online Capacity Expansion (OCE)

RAID Initialization Background/Foreground/Quick

Global Hot Spare Disk support

Automatic and configurable RAID Rebuilding Priority

Disk Format compatible: 512, 512e, 4Kn

Larger than 2 TB Drive and RAID Array support

Spin down Massive Arrays of Idle Disks support

Native Command Queuing

Staggered Drive Spin Up

Write Back and Write Through

Storage Monitoring and Management Suite

RAID Management Suites:

BIOS/Firmware configuration tool, Browser-Based management tool CLI (Command Line Interface) - scriptable configuration tool, API package

SMTP

Email Alert notification

Cooling Fan:

Two 60×60× 25 mm

Power Supply

Redundant 400 W 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal

LED Display for Each Tray

White - Power-On Indicator / Blue -Busy (HDD Access) Indicator

LED Display For Enclosure

POWER on LED (white / FAN normal – green; fail – red) / TEMP( normal – green; over 55°C – red)

Alarm Buzzer

Buzzer beeping for Fan Failure or Temperature exceeds 50°C

Operating System Support

Windows

Linux

Linux: RedHat Enterprise, Open SuSE, Fedora Core, Debian, Ubuntu / Linux Driver embedded into Kernel 3.9.4 and later

FreeBSD

Yes

Mac OS X

Mac OS X 10.6 and later (Driver embedded into Mac OS X 10.9 and later)

Windows / Windows Server

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Operating Environment

Temperature

(operating) 5°C – 45°C (non-operating) -40°C – 65°C

Relative Humidity

(operating) 8% – 90% RH (Non-condensing) (non-operating) 5% – 95% RH (Non-condensing)

Certification

CE, FCC, RoHS

Section 1: Hardware Installation

This section covers the following topics:

1. Setting up the Enclosure

2. Setting up the HBA (Host Bus Adapter)

3. LED Activity

Preparing the Enclosure

You can refer to the NetStor 2U 8-Bay Rackmount Quick Installation Guide for details on how to set up the enclosure.

1. Take out the HDD tray and place your hard drive in the tray as shown below. Then

install the tray back into the enclosure. Repeat for all your hard drives.

2. Optional) Lock your HDD tray with the included disk tray key.

3. Place the enclosure on a server rack or another stable, flat surface.

4. Connect the enclosure to a power source with the AC Power Cord.

5. Connect the enclosure to the included RocketRAID 4522 using the mini-SAS to

mini-SAS cable (SFF-8088).

Preparing the HBA (Host Bus Adapter)

The following instructions describe how to prepare your RocketRAID 4522 HBA for use.

To install your RocketRAID 4522:

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Important: Before installing the RocketRAID 4522 Controller, ensure that your system is powered OFF.

1. Locate a PCIe 2.0 x8 slot (or compatible slot) on your PC motherboard.  Note 1: Refer to your PC manual for instructions on how to access your

motherboard.

 Note 2: Refer to your motherboard manual for instructions on how to locate

your PCI Express slot.

2. Align the RocketRAID 4522 with the PCIe slot and push straight down until card is

fully seated.

3. Tighten the connection by fastening the RocketRAID bracket and enclosure

together.

A PCI-Express 2.0 x8 card is compatible with PCI-Express 2.0 x16 and PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots.

Connecting the HBA with the Enclosure

Figure 1. Enclosure Front Panel

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Key

HDD Power LED

Temperature LED GREEN- normal temperatures RED – over 55°𝐶

HDD Status LED

Power Cord Receptacle

Mute Button : Resets alarm

dual mini-SAS (SFF-8088) Connectors

FAN Status LED: GREEN – normal status RED – FAIL status

DB9 Connector (Connecting SGPIO signal for HDD fail display)

Figure 2. Enclosure Back Panel

Use the mini-SAS (SFF-8088) cables provided to connect the enclosure ports to the RocketRAID ports.

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LED Activity

Present

Active

Failed

Identify

Disk Tray

WHITE

BLUE

N/A

Enclosure LEDs

WHITE

N/A

Fans LEDs

GREEN

RED

N/A

Temperature LEDs

GREEN

RED

N/A

The following information tells you how to interpret LED activity seen on the enclosure and disk trays.

Present – Indicates that the disk is present and available. Active – Indicates the disk is performing disk I/O Failed – Indicates disk failure (Not available for RS6422AS enclosure) Identify – Identify LED is a setting that can be enabled in Physical > devices. This

setting will bring up a RED LED for the drive that is enabled for easy identification. Identify LEDs are not available on the RS6422AS enclosure.

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RocketRAID 4522 Key

PORT1

mini-SAS (SFF-8088) Connection Corresponds to channel 1-4

PORT2

mini-SAS (SFF-8088) Connection Corresponds to channel 5-8

BEEP

Alarm/Beeper

I2C Connector

Battery Backup Unit (BBU) Connector

Section 2: Drivers

This section covers the following topics:

 Installing drivers on your Operating System  Verifying driver installation  Loading drivers on a bootable array  Updating drivers  Uninstalling drivers

Installing Drivers on an Existing Operating System

Drivers provide a way for your operating system to communicate with your new hardware. Updating to the latest drivers ensures your product has the latest performance, stability, and compatibility improvements. Drivers are updated regularly at www.highpoint-tech.com

For Windows Users:

1. Obtain latest driver software for RocketRAID 4522 Controller from our website

www.highpoint-tech.com

2. Take note the location you downloaded the driver file to, then open Windows

Device Manager.

 Click Start  Click Control Panel  Click Hardware and Sound  Under Devices and Printer, Click Device Manager  Note: Alternatively, you can search Device Manager in your start menu search

bar.

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3. Under Other Devices, right click on RAID controller

4. On the drop down menu, click Update Driver Software…

5. When prompted, select Browse my computer for driver software

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6. Locate the driver files you downloaded and select them.

7. Press next and follow the on screen instructions

8. Reboot

For Mac Users:

HighPoint Mac Drivers have file extension .dmg; make sure the file extension for the files you downloaded are the same.

1. Obtain latest driver online at www.hptmac.com

 Navigate to your specific HBA controller page (Refer to How to View HBA

Properties to find model name)

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2. Once downloaded, locate the folder you downloaded the driver to and double click

on the file named “HighPointRR_###.dmg” Note: File name varies, but extension is .dmg.

3. The file will be mounted onto the operating system, click on HighPointRR.pkg

located on the mounted drive.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

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5. Reboot computer

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6. Make sure Driver Installed is Yes

Figure 3. Click Apple Icon > About this Mac... > System Report > PCI

For Linux and FreeBSD users:

Refer to the Driver Installation Guide and README files in each driver package for steps to install.

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The latest drivers can be found at www.highpoint-tech.com

Checking your Driver Version

To check if the driver was installed successfully follow the instructions below. The same procedure can be used to determine your driver version.

For Windows Users:

1. Click Start

2. Click Control Panel

3. Click Hardware and Sound

4. Under Devices and Printer, Click Device Manager

Note: Alternatively, you can search Device Manager in your start menu search bar.

5. Click the Storage controllers tab

 If driver is installed it will show RocketRAID 4522 Controller,  If driver is not installed it will be located in Other devices as RAID Controller  Click Properties, then click the Driver Tab to find out the version installed.

Figure 4. Driver version 1.3.14.0 for a RocketRAID 644LS

For Mac Users:

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1. Click on the Apple Icon (

2. Click About this Mac

3. Click More Info

4. Click System Report

5. Select PCI Cards

Figure 5. Navigate to Apple Icon > About this Mac > System Report > PCI

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Loading the Drivers onto a Bootable Array

Creating an array and then installing Windows OS onto the RAID configuration is a bootable array. Since you cannot use the conventional method of installing drivers, the drive must be loaded during Windows installation.

For Windows Users:

1. On first boot-up, press CTRL + H during the HighPoint RocketRAID splash screen

to enter the BIOS RAID creation utility.

2. Create the array you want to install your Windows Operating System onto

3. With the array created, download the RS6422AS drivers from www.highpoint-

tech.com and load them onto a USB. You will need to locate the files when

prompted to load drivers during Windows Installation

4. Start Windows Installation.

5. When prompted Where do you want to install Windows? Click Load Driver

6. When prompted, click Browse

7. Browse to your connected USB and driver files you downloaded

8. Click OK, and once loaded, you will see a list of drivers detected.

9. Select the HighPoint driver file

10. Click Next, and you should see the RAID arrays you created

11. Select the RAID array and click next

12. Follow the Windows installation instructions to complete your installation

A bootable array differs for Mac users since there is no way to load the HBA drivers during installation. The only way to create a bootable array would be to use 3rd party software, and clone the bootable drive.

For Mac Users:

1. You must have an existing installation of the Mac operating system installed.

2. Set up the RS6422AS normally by

 Setting up the hardware ()  Installing HighPoint RocketRAID 4522 driver and WebGUI  Creating an Array using the WebGUI

3. Once an array is created, the logical volume can be seen by your operating system

4. Use a 3rd party disk cloning tool to copy your bootable drive onto the logical drive

you just created.

Updating the Drivers

For Windows Users:

1. Obtain the latest driver files for RocketRAID 4522 from www.highpoint-tech.com

2. Open Windows Device Manager

 Click Start  Click Control Panel

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 Click Hardware and Sound  Under Devices and Printer, Click Device Manager  Note: Alternatively, you can search Device Manager in your start menu search

bar.

3. Click the Storage controllers tab

4. Right click RocketRAID 4522 Controller

5. Click Update Driver Software…

6. Click Browse my computer for driver software

7. Select the driver files you downloaded

8. Click next

9. Reboot

Uninstalling the Drivers

For Mac Platform:

1. Double click on “HighPointIOP_Mac_106_####.dmg” Note: File name subject to

change, make sure extension is .dmg.

2. Double click on uninstall.command

3. A terminal window will pop up prompting you to type in your administrator

password. Type in your administrator password to allow uninstall.

4. Reboot

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Note: The file is flagged as an unidentified developer file on OSX. In order to open, hold the Control key + click the file, then click open. A system prompt will appear; read the prompt, then click open.

For Windows Platform:

1. Open Windows Device Manager

bar.

2. Click the Storage controllers tab

3. Right click RocketRAID 4520 SAS Controller

4. Click Uninstall

5. Reboot your PC for changes to take effect

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Section 3: Navigating RocketRAID 4522 BIOS Utility (PC only)

HighPoint RocketRAID BIOS utility allows you to create, manage, and maintain your RAID arrays without the need to install HighPoint WebGUI application.

During boot up, you will see a RocketRAID splash screen prompting you to press CTRL + H to enter the BIOS. The following keys will help you navigate through the menus, find information, and make adjustments to your RAID arrays.

Figure 6. RocketRAID Splash Screen. Press CTRL + H to enter BIOS

Figure 7. Default Screen upon entering BIOS.

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Table 1. Navigating the BIOS

Keyboard Arrow Keys

Navigate the menu bar

F10

Accesses the menu bar

TAB

Switches between windows

Enter

Make a selection

ALT + <highlighted key>

Selects Menu Item (Ex. System can be accessed with ALT + S

Spacebar

Make certain selections (eg. creating arrays)

ESC

Exits a selection menu

System

Exits the BIOS (ALT + X)

Disk

Displays disk Information Initialize disks Add disks to spare pool Unplugs disks

Array

Displays array information Create/delete/unplug arrays Verify array integrity Set boot flag

Controller

Displays RAID controller information Adjust controller settings

Window

View BIOS window panels

Help

www.highpoint-tech.com

Figure 8. Snapshot of menu bar

Table 2. Menu Bar Key

System Tab

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Press ALT + X to exit the BIOS.

Information

Provides physical disk information:

 Device Type: SATA or SAS  Model Number  Serial Number  Firmware Revision  Capacity (in sectors)  Read Ahead (on/off)  Write Cache (on/off)  TCQ  NCQ (on/off)  Spin up mode

Initialize

Initializes selected disks

Toggle Spare

Adds selected disks to spare pool

Disk Tab

Access disk tab by navigating to disk and pressing enter, or press ALT + D.

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Unplug

Ejects selected disks

Turn on/off write cache

toggles disk write cache ability

Rescan

Triggers motherboard? to rescan

Identify Disk

If applicable, will light up identify LED.

Initializing disks

First you must navigate to the disk panel. By default, you start on the disk panel.

1. Press ALT + W to access Window tab

2. Select disk(s)

3. Use keyboard arrow keys to navigate and press enter to select desired disk(s)

4. Press ALT + D to activate disk tab

5. Select Initialize

Figure 9. Four disks are slected and about to be initialized.

6. Press Enter

7. A prompt will warn you that data will be erased

8. Select Yes

9. Once initialized, you can proceed to create an array.

Adding disks to spare pool

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Array Information

Will disk the following information on selected array:

 Array name  RAID type  Cache Policy  Block Size  Sector Size  Disk Members

Create/Delete/Unplug

Selected action will be performed on array

Verify

Initiates verifying array integrity

Start/Stop Task

Starts or stops the verifying/rebuilding process

Set boot

Sets boot flag on array

1. Navigate to the disk panel (Press ALT + W, then press 1)

2. Use keyboard arrow keys to select desired disk

3. Press enter to confirm each selection

4. Press ALT + D to open disk tab

5. Select Toggle Spare

Unplugging Disks

1. Navigate to the disk panel ( Press ALT + W, then press 1)

2. Use the keyboard arrow keys and Enter to select desired disks

3. Press ALT + D to open disk tab

4. Select Unplug

Turn on/off disk write Cache

1. Navigate to the disk panel (Press ALT + W, then press 1)

2. Select desired disks

3. Press ALT + D to open disk tab

4. Select Turn on/off write cache

Rescan

Triggers motherboard to rescan the connection

Identify Disk (If applicable)

Each selected disk will light the identify LED.

Array Tab

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Array Type

Refer to RAID Level Reference Guide for information about different levels.

RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and JBOD

Cache Policy

Write-back - Any data written to the array

will be stored as cache, resulting in better I/O performance at the risk of data failures due to power outages. Data will be stored as cache before it is physically

Creating an Array

1. Navigate to the disk panel (ALT + W, then press 1)

2. Select each disk you wish to include in your array

3. Press ALT + A to open array panel

4. Press Create:

5. Press Spacebar to navigate and make selections (TAB also navigates)

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written to the disk; when a power outage occurs, any data in the cache will be lost.

Write-through - Data written to an array is directly written onto the disk, meaning lower write performance for higher data availability. Without cache acting as a buffer, write performance will be noticeably slower but data loss due to power outages or other failures is significantly minimized.

Init Method

 Quick Init- This option grants

immediate access to the RAID array by skipping the initialization process, but it will delete all data. Note: Skipping initialization is generally not recommended since residual data on disks may interfere with new data in the future.

 Foreground- The array initialization

process will be set at high priority. During this time array will be nonaccessible, but initialization completion time will be shorter.

 Background- The array initialization

process will have a lower priority. During this time array will be accessible, but initialization completion time will be longer.

 Keep Old Data - This option skips the

initialization process and all data on each physical disk of the array will be untouched.

Name

Create array name

Capacity

Designate array capacity

6. Press Create (ALT + E)

7. A prompt about sector size will pop up, select a sector size

8. Array will show up in the array window

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Figure 10. Array RAID0_00 has been created.

Information

Provides certain controller information:

 Product ID  PCI Location  IOP Model  SDRAM Size  Firmware Version  Battery Installed  Battery MB Installed  Serial Number  CPU Temperatures (Celcius)  Board Temperature (Celcius)  Controller voltage levels

Setting…

Configures certain settings:

 Enable audible alarm  Enable Staggered spin up

Verifying your array

1. Navigate to the array panel (Press ALT + W, then press 2)

2. Select desired array to verify (only if you have more than 1 array. If you only have 1

array, verify will automatically start)

3. Press ALT + A to open array tab

4. Select Verify

5. You can Start/Stop the process by selecting start/stop task

Setting Boot Array

1. Navigate to the array panel (Press ALT + W, then press 2)

2. Select desired array

3. Press ALT + A to open array tab

4. Press Set Boot

5. Window will close, reboot to confirm

Controller Tab

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 Spin down idle disk (minutes)  Enable automatic rebuild  Continue Rebuilding on error  INT13 support  Use single BCV entry  Stop on error

Enable Audible Alarm

When a physical disk fails, the controller will emit an audible sound signaling failure. This option enables/disables this sound.

Enable staggered spin up

Staggered Spin up is implemented for users that need to power up multiple Harddrives. Powering on all hard drives simultaneously draws a large electrical load; staggered spin up will power on each hard drive one at a time resulting in a stable, lower current draw.

Enabling this setting will instruct the card to power up the hard disks sequentially (one disk approximately every 2 seconds). Some disks do not support this feature, and it is not recommended to enable this option if that is the case.

Spin down idle disk (minutes)

When set, physical drives will spindown a certain amount of time after disk activity ceases.

Enable Automatic rebuild

When a physical drive fails, the controller will take the drive offline. Once you re-insert or replace the disk, the controller will not automatically rebuild the array unless this option is enabled.

Continue Rebuild on Error

When enabled, the rebuilding process will ignore bad disk sectors and continue rebuilding until completion. When rebuild is finished, the data may be accessible but data inconsistency due to ignored bad sectors may cause problems in the future. If this option is enabled, HighPoint recommends user to check the event log for bad sectors.

Rebuild Priority

You can specify the amount of system resources you want to dedicate to rebuilding the array. There are 5 levels of priority [Lowest, Low, Medium, High, Highest]

Provide INT13 Support

For booting purposes

Use Single BCV Entry

Single booting control vector. If you have more than one bootable HBA enable this option.

Stop on error

If the HBA BIOS finds an error on your hard drive, it will stop the BIOS operation and hang on BIOS screen.

Table 3. Controller > Settings Information

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Window Tab

Maximize

Makes Selected Panel (Disk or Array) fullscreen. You can press TAB to toggle between disks and array panels.

Restore

Restores default panel configuration

1. Disk

2. Array

Selects the panel you want to work with

Refresh

Refreshes panels

BIOS resource issue

Inefficient BIOS code may cause your boot-up to hang during POST.

Compatibility fixes

Updating firmware may fix issues that occur when using later hardware

Bug fixes

Bugs that are discovered post release are fixed in subsequent updates.

The Window is the default screen you see upon entering the BIOS. The Top panel shows all the physical drives detected, and the bottom panel shows all arrays created.

Section 4: BIOS/Firmware Updates

How to Update RocketRAID BIOS/Firmware

There are two ways to update your RocketRAID BIOS/Firmware

1. Using HighPoint WebGUI Update Firmware

2. Using a bootable USB

A few reasons as to why update BIOS/Firmware

Note: It is recommended to update the BIOS through HighPoint WebGUI. (See Installing HighPoint WebGUI)

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Having the latest BIOS ensures you have the latest firmware stability and performance improvements. Updating the BIOS may fix boot up or system resource issues; make sure to read the README before making any changes.

Using the WebGUI to update BIOS/Firmware

1. Locate the latest firmware on our webpage at www.highpoint-tech.com

2. Example firmware file will be in a zipped package with a naming convention such

as RR4522_v###_xxxx.zip (name of file subject to change)

3. Extract the contents of the file

4. Read the readme (if included) to make sure you have the correct firmware for your

HBA Note: Your HBA name and properties can be found in the WebGUI > Physical

Tab.

5. Locate the proper BIOS file (eg. 4522bios.blf, refer to the README for accuracy)

6. Log in to WebGUI (Default user: RAID pass: hpt)

7. Select your controller in the drop down menu on the top left.

8. Click the Physical tab and update firmware will be on the bottom of the page.

9. Click Choose File and browse to the BIOS file

10. Click Submit

11. Reboot

Using a Bootable USB to update BIOS/Firmware

Create a bootable USB using a utility such as Rufus. Caution: Creating a bootable USB will erase all previous data stored on it.

1. Download the latest BIOS/Firmware file found at www.highpoint-tech.com

2. Extract the file contents onto the bootable USB

3. Read the README for instructions on how to flash the BIOS onto your hardware.

4. Reboot your computer into DOS mode by:

 Setting boot priority to the bootable USB

 Removing all bootable drives (OS, CD Drives) from motherboard and leaving

only the bootable USB and RocketRAID card plugged in

5. Once in DOS mode, you should see a command line interface

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Figure 11. Bootable USB formatted with Rufus Utility, FreeDOS CLI (Command Line Interface)

6. Type in the command you found in the README (ex. load.exe <filename>

7. For RocketRAID 4522, the command is go.bat to update firmware and BIOS of the

card. Note: To flash individual files, use the included flash utility by typing in

flashelf 4522efi.blf

8. Reboot

Section 5: Navigating the HighPoint WebGUI

The HighPoint WebGUI management utility allows you to do several key things:

 Create and remove arrays  Monitor disk health  Update firmware and BIOS  Change enclosure settings  Troubleshoot faulty drives  View general system overview

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Tab Name

Function

Global View

View HBA (Host Bus Adapter) and Storage Properties

Physical

View Additional Controller properties Update BIOS/Firmware View disk properties Adjust selected disk behaviors

Logical

Manage and create RAID arrays

Setting

Adjust WebGUI controls settings

Event

Show WebGUI Event Log

SHI (Storage Health Inspector)

View and schedule S.M.A.R.T monitoring

Recover

Revert to previously created arrays

Logout

Logout of WebGUI

Help

Additional WebGUI documentation Online Web Support

Installing HighPoint WebGUI

The HighPoint WebGUI is the primary link between you and your RAID array. Using the management utilities and menus offered by the WebGUI, you will be able to access, create, and maintain your RAID arrays.

New features are continually added to the interface; update to the latest version at

www.highpoint-tech.com.

For Windows Users:

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1. Locate the HighPoint WebGUI Setup on our website www.highpoint-tech.com and

download the WebGUI package. Extract the contents and double click on HighPoint

RAID Management.exe

Follow the on screen steps to install our software.

2. Log in the WebGUI by double clicking the desktop icon created or by typing

http://localhost:7402 in your preferred browsers address line (it is recommended

to use the latest version of your browser.)

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For Linux Users:

Refer to the installation guide or README included in the driver package for the most accurate and up to date installation steps.

1. Download the Web RAID Management (WebGUI) for Linux online at www.highpoint-

tech.com

2. Extract the .tbz file to the desktop, and browse to the appropriate .rpm file (there

are 32 and 64-bit options).

3. Double click the .rpm file – this should open the operating systems software

installer. Enter the Administrative password when prompted and proceed with

installation.

4. The package can also be installed manually, using a terminal. Log on in as “root”,

open a terminal, and browse to the location of the .rpm file. Run the following

command:

# rpm -i hptsvr-https-1.4-10.i386.rpm (or hptsvr-https-1.4-

10.x86_64.rpm) (filename may vary)

For Debian/Ubuntu Linux distributions, you can use alien to convert the rpm packages to a .deb package, then use "dpkg -i" command to install each package. Some script files may be lost during the conversion process from rpm to .deb, so you may need to make manual corrections. .

The following files will be installed/configured:

/usr/bin/hptsvr - service program /etc/hptcfg - service config file /etc/rc.d/init.d/hptdaemon - service control script /usr/share/hpt/webguiroot - data files

If there is no /etc/hptcfg present, you can add it manually using by using the “echo” command on the driver file name to /etc/hptcfg.

For example:

# echo hptiop.ko>/etc/hptcf

How to Login HighPoint WebGUI

You can reach the HighPoint WebGUI log in page either by:

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 Double clicking on the HighPoint RAID Management icon created on your desktop  Opening your preferred web browser and typing http://localhost:7402 in the

address bar.

The default username and password to login is

Username : RAID

Password: hpt

Username and Password are Case-Sensitive (Username is not changeable)

Remote Login

A user connected to a local network can remotely access the WebGUI using the IP address of the host device.

To obtain your IP address

For Mac Users:

1. Open a terminal window on the host computer (computer that is connected to the

RS6422AS enclosure)

2. Type ifconfig

3. Look for the connection that has status: active

4. Write the IP address located after inet:

Figure 12. Example: en2 has active status, the IP is 192.168.1.254

For Windows Users:

1. Open a command prompt window on the host computer.

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2. Type ipconfig

3. Look for the section that contains your network adapter information

4. Take Note the IP address

Figure 13. Example: The IPv4 address is under Ethernet adapter Ethernet 4 and is

192.168.1.143

Note: Make sure Restrict to localhost access is disabled in WebGUI Setting (Refer to setting)

You can then remotely access the WebGUI using any other computer that is in your local network by opening any web browser and typing http://{IP address of host computer}:7402 (default port is 7402)

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Global Tab

The GUI Global view provides an overview of what each HighPoint controller card connected to your computer detects. It is also the first page you see when logging in.

 Host Bus Adapter Properties  Storage Properties

On the top left of the page is a drop down menu that allows you to select which controller you want to manage (if you have multiple HighPoint controllers connected).

Viewing HBA Properties

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Select the proper controller from drop down on the top left

3. Click Global View

HBA Properties

 Host Adapter model: the model name of the controller

 Enclosure Count: number of external enclosures detected

 Physical drives: number of drives seen by the controller

 Legacy Disks: number of Legacy disks connected. Legacy disks are physical

drives that have previous partitions stored on them.

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Viewing Storage Properties

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Select the controller from drop down menu on top left

3. Click Global View

Storage Properties

Total capacity: the combined capacity of each physical disk connected to controller

Configured capacity: the amount of space used for creating arrays

Free Capacity: total amount of space unused

Physical Tab

The physical tab shows general and extended information about the controller you are using. Information about the firmware, BIOS, and operating temperatures are all located here. This information is useful for identifying what RAID controller model you have and to make sure you have the most updated version available.

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The physical tab contains the following information:

 Controller Information  Extended Information  Update Firmware  Physical Devices Information

Controller Information:

 Model Name: RocketRAID 4522 SAS Controller (for RS6422AS)  BIOS Version: v1.12 (as of 5/5/2015)  Vendor: HighPoint Technologies, Inc.

Extended Information: Gives you additional information concerning the HBA (Host Bus Adapter) in the enclosure

 IOP Model: IOP chip model number  CPU Temperature: Displays computer temperature in Celcius (°C).  Board Temperature: Displays the board temperature in Celcius (°C).  SDRAM Size: SDRAM size of the HighPoint controller card  Battery Installed: Battery Backup Unit  Firmware Version: Firmware version of the HBA  SAS address: the SAS address

Update Firmware: Allows you to update the controller BIOS through the WebGUI.

Updating BIOS/Firmware

Keeping the firmware up to date ensures that your RAID controller the latest compatibility and performance updates. Firmware files have extension .blf.

1. Locate the latest firmware on our webpage at www.highpoint-tech.com

2. Extract the contents of the file

3. Read the README to ensure you have the correct firmware for your HBA Note:

Your HBA name and properties can be found in the WebGUI > Physical Tab.

4. Locate the proper firmware file (eg. 4520fw.blf, refer to the README for exact

name)

5. Click Choose File and browse to your firmware file

6. Click Submit

7. Reboot

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Obtaining Physical Device Information

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Click Physical

3. Click Devices located on the left panel

The following properties are part of the Physical Devices Information box under the physical tab.

 Model – Model number of the physical drive  Capacity – Total capacity of the physical drive  Revision – HDD device firmware revision number  Read Ahead* - (Enable/Disable) Disk read ahead.  Location – Device location (example: 1/2 states controller 1, slot 2)  Write Cache* – (Enable/Disable) the disk write cache  Max Free – space on disk that is not configured in an array  Status – (Normal, disabled, critical) status of the disk  NCQ* – (Enable/Disable) Native Command Queuing  Serial Number – serial number of the physical disk  Identify LED* – On/Off – toggle the IDENTIFY (RED) on the front panel  Unplug – Safely ejects selected disk. Other methods of disk removal will trigger

alarm if enabled.

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Read Ahead

Enabling disk read ahead will speed up read operations by pre-fetching data and loading it into RAM.

Write Cache

Enabling write cache will speed up write operations.

NCQ (Native Command Queuing)

A setting that allows disks to queue up and reorder I/O commands for maximum efficiency.

Identify LED

The Disk tray LED lights on the front panel can be toggled ON or OFF.

Rescan

Clicking rescan will immediately signal the controller to scan for any changes in the connection. Clicking this button will also stop any alarm if currently ringing.

* Disk properties that can be adjusted.

Logical Tab

The Logical tab is where you are edit, delete, and maintain your RAID configurations, as well as, adding drives to your spare pool. The logical tab has the following settings:

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 Create Array  Spare Pool  Logical Device  Rescan  Beeper Mute

Creating an Array

To create an array:

1. Log into the WebGUI

2. Select the proper controller from the drop down on the top left

3. Click Logical

4. Click Create Array

An array is a collection of physical disks that will be seen as one virtual drive by your Operating System (OS). The RS6422AS has a RocketRAID 4522 controller capable of creating the following array types

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Array Type:

 JBOD – Just a Bunch of Disks  RAID 0 - Striping  RAID 1 - Mirroring  RAID 5 – Rotating Parity bit  RAID 1/0 – Striping of Mirrored Drives  RAID 5/0 – Striping of Distributed Parity  RAID 6 – Double Parity Bit

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Each RAID level has its pros and cons based on the application you use it for (Note: Refer to RAID level Quick Reference)

Array Name: the name that will be displayed in Logical Device Information (Default:

RAID_<level>_<array number>)

Initialization Method: Initialization of a disk sets all data bits to 0, essentially

clearing all the data on the drive. It is important to initialize disks since previous data physically stored on the drive may interfere with new data.

 Keep Old Data: This option skips the initialization process and all data on each

physical disk of the array will be untouched.

 Quick Init: This option grants immediate access to the RAID array by skipping

the initialization process, but it will delete all data. Note: Skipping initialization is generally not recommended since residual data on disks may interfere with new data in the future.

 Foreground: The array initialization process will be set at high priority. During

this time array will be non-accessible, but initialization completion time will be shorter.

 Background: The array initialization process will have a lower priority. During

this time array will be accessible, but initialization completion time will be longer.

Note 1: Initializing takes a significant amount of time (approximately 2 hours per 1 TB).

Background and Foreground Initialization

Fully initializing the array will completely zero out the data on the disks, meaning the disk will be completely wiped and every bit on the disk will be set to 0. Foregoing initialization means the array will still be created, and you can still write new data onto the array. But when your array requires rebuilding, residual data left behind may interfere with the process.

Cache Policy (Default: Write Back)

Write Back – Any data written to the array will be stored as cache, resulting in better

I/O performance at the risk of data failures due to power outages. Data will be stored as cache before it is physically written to the disk; when a power outage occurs, any data in the cache will be lost.

Write Through – Data written to an array is directly written onto the disk, meaning lower write performance for higher data availability. Without cache acting as a buffer, write performance will be noticeably slower but data loss due to power outages or other failures is significantly minimized.

Block Size (default: 64K)

[16K, 32K, 64K, 128K, 256K, 512K, 1024K are the supported block sizes]

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Adjusting the block size towards your disk usage can give some performance gain.

In a typical RAID configuration, data of the virtual drive is striped (or spread across) the physical drives. Having a smaller array block size will increase the likelihood of accessing all physical drives when processing large I/O requests. Multiple physical drives working in parallel increases the throughput, meaning better performance.

For smaller I/O requests (512 bytes to 4 kilobytes), it is better to have each individual disks handle their own I/O request, improving the IOPS (I/O per second), rather than having one tiny I/O request being handled by multiple disks.

A block size of 64k is recommended because it strikes a balance between the two I/O usage scenarios.

Capacity (Default: Maximum)

The total amount of space you want the RAID array to take up. When creating RAID levels, disk capacities are limited by the smallest disk.

An example of how disk capacities are limited by smallest disk.

 You have 3 drives connected to the enclosure.  First drive is 6 TB, second is 4 TB, and third drive is 2 TB.  After creating a RAID level 5 using all three drives and maximum capacity  The first drive will have 4 TB, the second 2 TB, and the third drive 0 TB free capacity  The free capacity on the first and second drive can be used to create a separate

array.

You may also choose how much space each array will take. You can use the remaining space to create another array (up to 4 arrays are supported)

Sector Size (Default: 512B)

Note: For current operating systems, this option is already implemented so changing it

in the WebGUI is not necessary.

This option will set the sector size of your virtual drive, and physical sector sizes on your physical disks will remain the same. A sector is the smallest physical storage unit on a disk. The default sector size is 512 B since it is the most common sector size in disks today.

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DV Mode

This mode is specifically designed for video applications. The default firmware cache policy provides balanced performance for standard applications such as workstations, file servers, and web servers. But for DV mode, a special cache firmware is implemented specifically for large sequential writing (large I/O requests such as video files). Enabling DV mode will maintain the performance and consistency of transferring and processing video files.

There are several factors concerning DV mode to take note:

 DV mode only available for RAID 0, 5, and 6  Only 1 RAID array you created can enable DV mode

 DV mode only works when array status is normal

Margin

[5% - 25%]

When DV mode is enabled, you have the option to set the margin. This percentage represents the amount of space the designated cache will hold before flushing the data onto the drive. Increasing the margin % will result in more stable performance, but decrease the maximum write performance.

Alternatively, you can change the margin anytime in Logical > Maintenance for DV enabled array.

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Adding Spare Disks

Spare disks are physical disks that will immediately replace critical disks in an array.

To add spare disks:

1. Log in WebGUI

2. Click Logical

3. Click Spare Pool

4. Check the box for the disk you want as a spare from Available Disks

5. Click Add Spare

Disks added to the spare pool will show under Spare Pool and can be removed by checking the disk checkbox from Spare Pool > Click Remove Spare

Physical drives marked as a spare will automatically be added to an array whenever there is a disk failure. Having this feature minimizes the chances of a data loss by reducing the time an array is in critical status.

Obtaining Logical Device Information

Logical device tab is the default page upon clicking the Logical tab of the WebGUI. This page contains information about your RAID arrays and individual disks your system detects.

Logical Device Information

Arrays you create and the properties associated with them will appear here.

Maintenance

Once an array has been created, you have the option maintain it.

Array Information

Clicking on the maintenance button will show you the Array information box. Different array statuses (Normal, critical, disabled) will have different maintenance options.

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Normal Status

A Normal Status Array has the following options:

 Delete  Unplug  Verify  Change Cache Policy  Change Margin  Rename  ORLM

Delete – deletes the selected RAID array Unplug – powers off the selected RAID array Verify – verifies the integrity of the RAID array Change Cache Policy – Toggles between Write through and Write back cache Change Margin – Adjust margin when DV mode is enabled Rename – renames the RAID array OCE/ORLM – Online Capacity Expansion / Online RAID Level Migration

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Critical Status

A critical status array has all the normal status options except the following:

 The Array can no longer be renamed  Add disk replaces the verify disk option

Once array status changes to critical, the faulty disk will be taken offline and you can either:

 Reinsert the same disk  Insert new disk

Reinserting the same disk should trigger rebuilding status, since data on the disk would be recognized.

If you insert a new disk, clicking add disk will give you the option to select that disk and add it to the array.

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Disabled Status

A disabled status array means that your RAID level does not have enough disks to function.

 Your data will be inaccessible  Rebuilding will not trigger, since RAID does not have enough parity data to rebuild

upon

Your options in Maintenance are:

 Delete  Unplug  Recover

Delete – will delete the array Unplug – will take array offline, making it safe to remove Recover – will attempt to recover the array using the list from the recover tab

Expanding an Existing Array

Important: It is recommended to Verify/Rebuild your array before Expanding or Migrating. Once you start an OCE/ORLM procedure, you can stop the process but it must be resumed until completion.

To add more capacity to your current configuration follows these steps:

1. Log in WebGUI

2. Select desired controller from drop down menu on top left

3. Click Logical

4. Click Maintenance for the array you want to change

 Select a different RAID level to Migrate

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 Select the same RAID level to Expand

5. Important: Record all the physical drives currently in array.

6. Click ORLM

7. Select the physical drives you recorded earlier and the drives you want to add

8. Click Submit

Upon submission, you will receive a prompt stating ORLM created successfully.

The Logical Device Information will change status to migrating.

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Physical Device Information

 Location – which controller and port the drive is located in  Model – model number of the drive connected  Capacity – total capacity of the drive  Max Free – total capacity that is not configured

Rescan

Clicking rescan will force drivers to report array status. For any disk(s) you hot plug into the device, do not click rescan until all physical drives are detected and appear under Logical Device Information.

Beeper Mute

The controller emits a beeping sound whenever an

 Array falls into critical status  Array falls into disabled status  You unplug a disk  Your disk fails due to bad sectors  SMART sensors anticipate drive failure

If device is currently beeping, clicking Beeper Mute will mute the sound immediately. Note: This button does not permanently mute the alarm. In order to permanently mute the alarm, go to Setting > Enable audible alarm > Disabled.

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Setting Tab

Enable auto rebuild (default: Enabled)

When a physical drive fails, the controller will take the drive offline. Once you reinsert or replace the disk, the controller will not automatically rebuild the array unless this option is enabled.

Under this tab, users can

 Enable auto-rebuilding  Enable rebuilding on error  Turn audible alarm on/off  Set spindown time for idle disks  Restrict to localhost  Set rebuild priority  Change port number  Change WebGUI password

System Settings

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Enable continue rebuilding on error (default: Enabled)

Enable audible alarm (default: Enabled)

When a physical disk fails, the controller will emit an audible sound signaling failure. This option mutes the alarm.

Set Spindown Idle Disk (minutes) (default: Disabled)

When set, physical drives will spindown a certain amount of time after disk activity ceases. Only 10, 20, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240 minutes setting are available.

Restrict to localhost access (default: Enabled)

Remote access to the controller will be restricted when enabled, other users in your network will be unable to remotely log in to the WebGUI.

Rebuild Priority (default: Medium)

You can specify the amount of system resources you want to dedicate to rebuilding the array. There are 5 levels of priority [Lowest, Low, Medium, High, Highest]

Port Number (default: 7402)

The default port that the HighPoint WebGUI listens on is 7402. You may change it to any open port.

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Password Setting

Changing your WebGUI password

Under Password Setting type your new password and confirm it, then click submit.

Recovering your WebGUI password

If you wish to revert to the default password: hpt, delete the file hptuser.dat.

For Mac Users:

1. Open Terminal

2. Type or navigate to cd /usr/share/hpt

3. Type rm hptuser.dat, to remove the file

4. Reboot

For Windows Users:

1. Open file explorer

2. Navigate to C:/Windows/

3. Delete hptuser.dat

4. Reboot

Email Setting

The following topics are covered under email:

 SMTP Setting  Adding Recipients

You can set the controller to send an email out to recipients of your choosing when certain events (refer to Event Tab) trigger.

SMTP settings

To set up email alerts:

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1. Check the Enable Event Notification box.

2. Enter the ISP server address name or SMTP name

3. Type in the email address of the sender (email account that is going to send the

alert)

4. Type in the account name and password of the sender

5. Type in the SMTP port (default: 25)

6. Check support SSL box if SSL is supported by your ISP (port value will change to

465).

Note: After you click ‘Change Setting’ the password box will become blank.

How to Add Recipients

You can add multiple email addresses as receivers of a notice.

1. Type the email of the recipient in the E-mail text box

2. Type the name of the recipient in the Name text box

3. Check which type(s) of events will trigger an email in the respective Event Level

check boxes

4. (Optional) Click test to confirm settings are correct by sending out a test email

5. Click add to add the recipient to recipient list

6. The added recipient will display in under Recipients

The email will send to your recipients the output recorded in the event log. Example email message:

Figure 14. Example event log email

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Recover Tab

Previously created arrays will be stored under this tab. Recovering an array from here will attempt to recover a ‘disabled’ array and make it ‘normal’.

The Recover List will list all your previous and current created arrays. Each entry will list the following properties:

 Array name  RAID level  Array Capacity  Time created ( YYYY/MM/DD, HH/MM/SS, 24 hr clock format)  Location of physical drives  Model of physical drives

Important: When recovering an array it is important to note the location and model of each physical drive because you can only recover using those exact positions and drive model.

How to Backup your Recover List

The recover list is a record of your previously created arrays containing the model and location information of your physical drives. Recovering from the list could help bring a disabled array back to normal status for emergency data retrieval.

To backup your recover list:

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Click Recover Tab

3. Click Backup to File

Note: The file will be saved as hptrec.rec

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How to Reload your Backup Recover List

Icon

Name

Definition

Information

Includes general administrative tasks:

 Create/delete arrays  Configuring spares  Rebuilding arrays  Configuring event

notifications

 Configuring

maintenance

In the case that you cleared the recover list or it does not appear for any reason, you can recover it if you saved the list beforehand.

To reload your recover list

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Click Recover Tab

3. Under Update Recover List click Browse…

4. Locate your previously saved hptrec.rec file and select it

Note: loading a back up recover list will completely replace the current recover list.

5. Click Submit

Event Tab

In the event tab, you can see log entries associated with the HighPoint device. The event log provides useful information when troubleshooting your set up.

In the event tab, there are four options available:

 Download – Save the log file on your computer  Clear – Clears all log entries

 Prev – View previous log page  Next – View next log page

Table 4. Event Log Icon Guide

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Warning

Alerts issued by the Host Adapter:

 High temperatures  Sector errors  Communication

errors

 Verification errors

Error

Hardware related problems

 Hard disk failure  Broken errors  Memory failure

The event view is a basic error logging tool built into the HighPoint WebGUI.

SHI (Storage Health Inspector)

 S.M.A.R.T Attributes  HDD Temperature Threshold  Storage Health Inspector Scheduling

The SHI outputs information collected using SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) Hard Drive Technology. The data provided on this tab helps you to anticipate any disk failures based on a variety of monitored hard disk properties.

How to Enable SMART Monitoring

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To access SMART attributes of an individual disk:

1. Log in to WebGUI (default user: RAID password: hpt)

2. Select the proper controller using the drop down menu on the top left

3. Click the SHI tab

4. Click SMART on the desired disk

5. Click Enable to enable SMART monitoring

Disabling SMART monitoring

You have the option the disable SMART monitoring on each individual disk. To disable:

1. Select the proper controller using the drop down menu on the top left

2. Click the SHI tab

3. Click SMART on desired disk

4. Click Disable

Note: Disabling SMART will prompt the Storage Health Inspector to change the disk status to ‘Failed’. The alarm will not alert you when this setting is changed. And any potential warnings due to S.M.A.R.T attribute technology will not

How to Change HDD Temperature Threshold

To ensure hard disk temperatures remain cool, enable SMART to monitor disk temperatures. In SHI, you can set a threshold so that the WebGUI or controller alarm (if enabled) can warn you when physical disks get too hot.

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Select the controller from the drop down on the top left

3. Click SHI

4. Type the desired harddisk temperature threshold (°𝐹)

5. Click Set

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How to Use the Health Inspector Scheduler

The Health Inspector Scheduler (HIS) enables you to schedule disk/array checkups to ensure disks/array are functioning optimally.

How to Create a New Verify Task

All arrays will appear under New Verify Task

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Select the proper controller from the top left drop down

3. Click SHI

4. Click Schedule

5. Select the array you want to schedule the verify task

6. Type the name in Task Name entry box

7. Choose whether you want to schedule

 One time verify task on specific date (YYYY-MM-DD) at (HH:MM:SS, 24-hr clock)

 Or a specific schedule you can adjust based on Daily, Weekly, or Monthly

options

8. Click Submit

9. Your entry will appear under Tasks List

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Note: New Verify Task box only appears if you have normal status arrays. If you have a critical array, New Rebuild Task will replace New Verify Task.

Section 6: Formatting the RAID Volumes

After creating a RAID array (see page 43), your operating system will recognize that array as a logical disk. But it will not be accessible until it is formatted by the operating system.

Format the volume when you have finished the following procedures:

 Set up the Enclosure  Set up the RAID Controller  Installed Drivers  Created an Array

For Windows Users:

1. Use Windows Search Box and search Disk Management. (Search results may show

Create and format hard disk partitions)

2. Alternatively, Go to Control Panel

3. Under Administrative Tools, click Create and format hard disk partitions

 If you just created the array, a prompt will appear after clicking disk

management asking you to initialize the disk

 MBR partition table is mainly for bootable drives and has a 2 TB limit. If your PC

motherboard uses legacy BIOS, you will most likely need to use MBR for bootable drives.

 GPT partition table has no capacity limit, but cannot be bootable unless your PC

motherboard contains UEFI firmware.

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4. Once initialized, right click the unallocated disk space for your disk

5. click New Simple Volume

6. Follow the instructions on screen to receive a drive letter

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7. Once finished, the drive will appear in your OS with the letter you assigned

Figure 15. Disk formatted as NTFS and assigned drive letter D:

Your disk may initially appear offline to the operating system, and you may have to bring it online:

1. In Disk Management, right click the disk you wish to bring online.

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2. The disk status will change to Not Initialized; right click the disk again to

initialize it.

For Mac Users:

1. After creating an array using the WebGUI, you will be prompted to initialize.

2. Click Initialize (this will simply open Disk Utility)

3. Select your newly created array

4. Click Erase

5. Select a Format (recommended Mac OS Extended (Journaled))

6. Choose a name for your RAID volume

7. Click Erase…

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8. The Volume will appear on your desktop

Section 7: Troubleshooting

This section provides guidelines to some problems you may encounter:

 Handling Critical Arrays

 Handling Disabled Arrays

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 PC hangs when card is installed.

Common scenarios for critical status

 Unplugging disk that is part of an

array

 Bad sector detected on a disk part of

the array

 Unrecoverable data during rebuilding  Defective port or cable interrupts

rebuilding process

Handling Critical Arrays

When your disk status turns critical, that means your array as a whole is still accessible, but a disk or two is faulty (depending on your RAID level) is in danger of failing.

To recover from this situation,

1. Backup your existing data.

2. Identify which disk is faulty.

 You can refer to the LED lights on the enclosure

 Refer to the WebGUI Logical tab and Event tab.

3. Re-insert the faulty disk or replace with a new disk.

 Array will rebuild automatically if your auto-rebuild setting is enabled and you

reseated the faulty disk. Note: Click Rescan if array still does not rebuild automatically.

4. If the new disk is added and it does not automatically start rebuilding, you can

manually add the disk in maintenance.

 Log in to WebGUI

 Click Logical Tab

 Click Maintenance > Add disk > select the appropriate disk

5. Rebuild should now start.

 If rebuild does not start, click ‘Rescan’ on the left hand panel.

Note: Rebuilding an array takes on average 2 hours per 1 Terabyte of disk capacity. The process will scan through the entire disk, even if you have very little used disk space.

Rebuilding Stops Due to Bad Sectors

If rebuilding fails to complete due to bad disk sector errors (check in the Event Log), there is an option to continue rebuilding on error in HighPoint WebGUI.

1. Log in to WebGUI

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2. Click Setting tab

3. Under System Setting, change Enable Continue Rebuilding on Error to Enabled

This option will enable rebuilding to ignore bad sectors and attempt to make your data accessible. It is important to backup immediately after backup is complete and replace or repair the disks with bad sectors.

Critical array becomes disabled when you removed faulty disk

If this is the case, you may have removed the wrong disk. When you remove the wrong disk from a critical array, the array status may become disabled. Data is inaccessible for disabled arrays, follow these steps to restore the previous state.

1. Shut down your PC

2. Shut down the RS6422AS Enclosure

3. Place all disks back to original configuration

4. Boot up PC

Your array should be back to Critical status. Identify the correct disk and rebuild from there.

Handling Disabled Arrays

If two or more disks in your array go offline due to an error or physical disconnection your array will become disabled.

Disabled arrays are difficult to recover, so it is important to fix any critical status as soon as possible.

To recover a disabled array, using the ‘Recover Tab’ will yield the best results. To

utilize the Recover tab, you will need to insert the exact physical drives that are listed under the recover list.

How to recover from a Disabled Array

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Click Maintenance for the array that is disabled

3. Click Recover

Alternatively:

1. Log in to WebGUI

2. Click Maintenance for the array that is disabled

3. Click delete

4. Click Recover Tab

5. Select the RAID configuration you want to recover

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6. Click Recover Array

Your PC hangs when card is installed

The moment you power on your PC the system BIOS will load and your PC will enter POST (Power On Self Test). If you hang at this screen it may be a system resources issue.

There are two methods to fix this problem.

1. Update your motherboard BIOS

2. Update your RAID Controller BIOS

Update your motherboard BIOS

To update your motherboard BIOS, refer to your motherboard manufacturer’s user manual or website.

Update the RocketRAID 4522 BIOS

To update RocketRAID BIOS refer to either of these sections

 Using a Bootable USB to update BIOS  Updating the BIOS through WebGUI Note: Press END to bypass the RocketRAID BIOS

splash screen so you can boot up windows and access WebGUI.

Online Array Roaming

One of the features of all HighPoint RAID controllers is online array roaming. Information about the RAID configuration is stored on the physical drives. So if a card fails or you wish to switch cards, the RAID configuration data can still be read by another HighPoint card.

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Help

 Online Help  Register Product

Online Help redirects you to additional documentation concerning the HighPoint WebGUI. Register Product takes you to HighPoint’s web support. On this page you can create a new customer profile where you can register your product or post an online support ticket.

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Table 5. WebGUI Icon Guide

Critical – missing disk

A disk is missing from the array bringing it to ‘critical’ status. The array is

still accessible but another disk failure could result in data loss.

Verifying

The array is currently running a disk integrity check.

Rebuilding

The array is currently rebuilding meaning you replaced a failed disk or added a new disk to a ‘critical’ state array.

Critical – rebuild required

The array has all disks, but one disk requires rebuilding.

Disabled

The icon represents a disabled array, meaning more than one disk failed and the array is no longer accessible

Initializing

The array is initializing. The two types of initialization is Foreground and Background. (See Initialization)

Uninitialized

The array initialization process has been interrupted, and the process is incomplete.

Not Initialized

Disk is not initialized yet, and needs to be initialized before use

OCE/ORLM

Array is performing a OCE/ORLM operation

OCE/ORLM has stopped

The array expansion process has been stopped.

Legacy

An existing file system has been detected on the disk. These disk are classified as legacy drives.

Spare

The device is a spare drive, it will automatically replace any failed drive part of an array.

Normal

The array status is normal

Initializing

The array is initializing, either foreground or background initialization

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Initialization Stopped

The initialization has been stopped. Current status is uninitialized.

Critical – Inconsistency

Data in the array is inconsistent and needs to be rebuilt.

Critical – missing disk

A disk has been removed or experienced failure, and user needs to reinsert disk or add a new disk.

Rebuilding

The array is currently rebuilding.

Verifying

The array is performing a data consistency check. Array status will show ‘verifying’.

Disabled

The array does not have enough disks to maintain the RAID level. A disabled array is not accessible.

OCE/ORLM

Array is expanding its capacity or migrating to a different raid level. Status will display ‘Expanding/Migrating’

OCE/ORLM stopped

The ‘Expansion/Migrating’ process has been stopped. The status will display ‘Need Expanding/Migrating’

Critical – OCE/ORLM

A disk member is lost during the OCE/ORLM process.

Critical – OCE/ORLM - rebuild

The expanding/migrating array requires a rebuild.

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Table 6. RAID Level Reference Guide

Type

Description

Min.

disks

Usable

space

Advantage

Disadvantage

Application

JBOD

Just a bunch of

disk

100%

Each drive can be accessed as a single volume

No fault tolerance - failure of one drive results in complete data loss

Backup

RAID

Disk Striping

100%

Offers the highest performance

No fault tolerance – failure of one drive in the array results in complete data lose

Temporary file, performance driven application.

RAID

Disk Mirroring

50%

Provides convenient low-cost data redundancy for smaller systems and servers

Useable storage space is 50% of total available capacity. Can handle 1 disk failure.

Operating system, backup, and transaction database.

RAID

Disk Mirroring

followed by

stripe

50%

High read performance and medium write performance with data protection for up to 2drive failures

Useable storage capacity equals total capacity of all drives in the array minus two

Fast database and application servers which need performance and data protection

RAID

Disk Striping

with Rotating

parity

67-94%

High read performance, and medium write performance with data protection with a single drive failure

Not recommended for database applications that require frequent/heavy write sessions. Can handle 1 disk failure.

Data archives, and ideal for application that require data protection

RAID

Disk Striping

with dual

rotating parity

50-88%

High read performance, and medium write performance with data protection in case of up to two drives failure

Not recommended for applications that require frequent/heavy write sessions.

Data archives and ideal for application that requires data protection

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HighPoint Recommended List of Hard Drives

HighPoint maintains a list of tested hard drives suitable for RAID applications. Since not every hard drive in the market can be tested, this list is meant to be a general guideline for selecting hard drives operating in a RAID environment. Regular, desktop grade drives are highly not recommended for RAID use.

http://highpointtech.com/PDF/Compatibility_List/RocketRAID_600_2700_3600_and_4500_Series_RAID _HBA_Hard_Drive_Compatiblity_List.pdf

Contacting Technical Support

For any help and support, submit a support ticket online at http://www.highpoint-

tech.com/websupport/ .

You may also call us during our regular business hours: Monday – Friday (Excluding Holidays), 9 AM to 6 PM Phone: (408) 240-6108