LSI SAS2 User Manual

SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution

User Guide

Version 2.0

August 2010

Revision History

Version and Date Description of Changes

Version 2.0, August 2010 Added new models of supported controllers.

Version 1.1, August 2009 Applied extensive general editing improvements.

Version 1.0, July 2009 Initial release of this document.

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This document contains proprietary information of LSI Corporation. The information contained herein is not to be used by or disclosed to third parties without the express written permission of
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Document Number: DB15-000543-02
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All Rights Reserved

SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Integrated RAID Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

1.2 Benefits and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

1.2.1 Host Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

1.2.2 Metadata Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

1.2.3 SMART Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

1.2.4 Fusion-MPT Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

2.2 Integrated Mirroring and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

2.3 Operation of Mirrored Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

2.4 Mirrored Volume Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

2.4.1 Resynchronization with Concurrent Host I/O Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

2.4.2 Hot Swapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

2.4.3 Hot Spare Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

2.4.4 Online Capacity Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

2.4.5 Media Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

2.4.6 Disk Write Caching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

2.4.7 NVSRAM Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

2.4.8 Background Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

2.4.9 Consistency Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

2.4.10 Make Data Consistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Chapter 3: Creating Mirrored Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

3.1 Mirrored Volume Configuration Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

3.2 Creating Mirrored Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

3.2.1 Creating an Integrated Mirroring Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

3.2.2 Creating an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced or Integrated Mirroring + Striping Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

3.2.3 Expanding an Integrated Mirroring Volume with OCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

3.3 Managing Hot Spare Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

3.3.1 Creating Hot Spare Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

3.3.2 Deleting Hot Spare Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

3.4 Other Configuration Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

3.4.1 Viewing Volume Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

3.4.2 Running a Consistency Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

3.4.3 Activating an Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

3.4.4 Deleting an Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

3.4.5 Locating Disk Drives in a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

3.4.6 Selecting a Boot Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Chapter 4: Overview of Integrated Striping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

4.2 Integrated Striping Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

4.3 Integrated Striping Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

LSI Corporation Confidential

| August 2010 Page 3

Table of Contents SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide

Chapter 5: Creating Integrated Striping Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

5.1 Integrated Striping Configuration Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

5.2 Creating Integrated Striping Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

5.3 Other Configuration Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

5.3.1 Viewing Volume Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

5.3.2 Activating an Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

5.3.3 Deleting an Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

5.3.4 Locating Disk Drives in a Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

5.3.5 Selecting a Boot Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Appendix A: Using the SAS2 Integrated RAID Configuration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

A.1 Hardware and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

A.1.1 Controller Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

A.1.2 Operating System and Software Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

A.2 Interface Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

A.3 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

A.3.1 Common Command-Line Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

A.3.2 CREATE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

A.3.3 DELETE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

A.3.4 DISPLAY Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

A.3.5 HOTSPARE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

A.3.6 STATUS Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

A.3.7 LIST Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

A.3.8 MFGPAGE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

A.3.9 CONSTCHK Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

A.3.10 ACTIVATE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

A.3.11 LOCATE Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

A.3.12 LOGIR Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

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| August 2010

SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide Chapter 1: Introduction to the Integrated RAID Solution | Overview

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Integrated RAID Solution

This chapter provides an introduction to the features and benefits of the LSI Integrated
RAID solution for LSI SAS2 controllers.

1.1 Overview The LSI Integrated RAID solution provides cost benefits for the server or workstation

market that requires the extra performance, storage capacity, and/or redundancy of a
RAID configuration. The LSI Integrated RAID solution includes the following RAID
features:

 The Integrated Mirroring solution, which provides features of RAID 1

 The Integrated Mirroring + Striping solution, which provides features of RAID 10

 The Integrated Mirroring Enhanced solution, which provides features of RAID 1

Enhanced (RAID 1E)

 The Integrated Striping solution, which provides features of RAID 0

By simplifying the configuration options and by providing firmware support in its SAS2
host adapters, LSI can offer the Integrated RAID solution at a lower cost than a
hardware RAID implementation.

LSI Fusion-MPT™ firmware supports I ntegrated Mirroring volumes, Integrated Mir roring
+ Striping volumes, Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volumes, and Integrated Striping
volumes. You can create up to two Integrated RAID volumes on each LSI SAS2
controller.

The LSI Integrated RAID solution supports the following LSI SAS2 controllers and the
host bus adapters based on these controllers:

 LSISAS2004

 LSISAS2008

 LSISAS2108

 LSISAS2208

 LSISAS2304

 LSISAS2308

LSI Integrated RAID firmware uses the same device drivers as the standard LSI
Fusion-MPT-based controllers. This eliminates the need for complex backup software or
expensive RAID hardware. To conserve system resources, the Integrated RAID firmware
operates independently from the operating system. The BIOS-based configuration
utility, documented in Chapter 3 and Chapter 5, makes it easy to configure mirrored
and striped volumes. The Integrated RAID solution is currently available as an optional
component of the Fusion-MPT architecture on LSI SAS2 controllers.

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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Integrated RAID Solution | Benefits and Features SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide

1.2 Benefits and Features The LSI Integrated RAID solution has the following benefits and features:

 Support for up to 10 disks per Integrated RAID volume, with one or two volumes on

each SAS2 controller. Each controller can support can support 14 volume drives,
including one or two hot spare disks.

 Support for two-disk Integrated Mirroring volumes (RAID 1)

 Support for online capacity expansion (OCE) for RAID 1 volumes. OCE allows you to

increase the size of a RAID 1 volume by replacing the disk drives with
higher-capacity drives.

 Low-cost RAID volume creation, which meets the needs of most internal RAID

installations

 Easy installation and configuration

 Support for booting from any kind of Integrated RAID volume

 Ability to operate without special operating system-specific software

 High reliability and data integrity

— Nonvolatile write journaling
— Physical disks in a volume are not visible to the operating system (OS) or to

application software

 Low host CPU and PCI bus utilization

 Processing power provided by Fusion-MPT architecture

— Shared-memory architecture minimizes external memory requests
— Device hardware and firmware contain the functionality

1.2.1 Host Interface The Integrated RAID host interface uses the message-passing interface, as described in

the Fusion-MPT Message Passing Interface Specification. The Fusion-MPT interface gives
the host OS access to the RAID volumes as well as to additional non-RAID physical disks.

1.2.2 Metadata Support The Integrated RAID firmware supports metadata, which describes the logical drive

configuration stored on each member disk of a volume. After initialization, the
firmware queries each member disk to read the metadata and verify the configuration.
The firmware reduces the usable disk space for each member disk when it creates the
the volume, which makes room for the metadata.

1.2.3 SMART Support The Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) monitors disk drives

for signs of future disk failure and generates an alert if it detects such signs. The
Integrated RAID firmware polls each physical disk in the volume at regular intervals. If
the firmware detects a SMART ASC/ASCQ code on a physical disk in the volume, it
processes the SMART data and stores it in a log. The volume does not support SMART
directly because it is only a logical representation of the physical disks in the volume.

1.2.4 Fusion-MPT Support The Integrated RAID BIOS uses the LSI Fusion-MPT interface to communicate to the

SAS2 controller and firmware. This process includes reading the Fusion-MPT
configuration to access the parameters that define behavior between the SAS2
controller and the devices that connect to it. The Fusion-MPT drivers for all supported
operating systems implement the Fusion-MPT interface to communicate with the
controller and firmware.

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SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes | Introduction

Chapter 2

Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes

This chapter provides an overview of the LSI Integrated RAID features that support the
creation of mirrored arrays.

2.1 Introduction As a result of the shift towards network-attached storage (NAS), Internet service

providers need a cost-effective, fault-tolerant solution to protect the operating systems
on small form-factor, high-density, rack-mountable servers. The mirroring features of
the LSI Integrated RAID solution provide data protection for the system boot volume,
which safeguards the operating system and other critical information on servers and
high-performance workstations. The Integrated RAID solution supports the following
types of mirrored arrays:

2.2 Integrated Mirroring and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced Features

 The Integrated Mirroring solution, which provides features of RAID 1

 The Integrated Mirroring + Striping solution, which provides features of RAID 10

 The Integrated Mirroring Enhanced solution, which provides features of RAID 1

Enhanced (RAID 1E)

These three mirroring solutions provide a robust, high-performance, fault-tolerant
solution to data storage needs at a lower cost than a dedicated RAID controller.

Mirrored volumes may have from two-to-ten disks to provide fault-tolerant protection
for critical data. Mirrored volumes also support one or two global hot spare drives, with
a maximum of 14 drives on each LSI SAS2 controller.

NOTE: Fourteen drives is the theoretical upper limit for a single LSI SAS2 controller,
although the controller itself may support fewer than 14 drives. You can also configure
one mirrored volume and one Integrated Striping volume on the same LSI SAS
controller.

Each SAS2 controller can have two global hot spare disks available to automatically
replace a failed disk in the one or two mirrored volumes configured on the controller.
The hot spares make the mirrored volumes even more fault-tolerant.

Integrated Mirroring, Integrated Mirroring + Striping, and Integrated Mirroring
Enhanced volumes support the following features:

 Configurations of one or two mirrored volumes on each LSI SAS2 controller. Each

volume can consist of two mirrored disks for an Integrated Mirroring volume;
three-to-ten mirrored disks for an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volume; or four,
six, eight, or ten mirrored disks for an Integrated Mirroring + Striping volume.

 (Optional) Two global hot spare disks per LSI SAS2 controller to automatically

replace failed disks in mirrored volumes.

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Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes | Operation of Mirrored Volumes SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide

 Ability of mirrored volumes to run in optimal mode or in degraded mode if one

mirrored disk in an Integrated Mirroring volume fails or if one or more mirrored
disks fail in an Integrated Mirroring + Striping volume or Integrated Mirroring
Enhanced volume.

 Support for hot swapping.

 Support for online capacity expansion (OCE) for RAID 1 volumes. OCE allows you to

increase the size of a RAID 1 volume by replacing the existing disk drives with
higher-capacity disk drives. Data is protected during the expansion process, and the
RAID 1 volume remains online.

 Presentation of a single, virtual drive to the operating system for each

mirrored volume.

 Support for both SAS and SATA disks, although you cannot combine the two types

of disks in the same volume. However, an LSI SAS2 controller can support one
volume with SATA disks and a second volume with SAS disks.

 Automatic background initialization after volume creation.

 Consistency checking.

 Fusion-MPT architecture.

 Menu-driven, BIOS-based configuration utility.

 Error notification, in which the drivers update an OS-specific event log.

 Support for SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) status LED.

 Write journaling, which allows automatic synchronization of potentially

inconsistent data after unexpected powerdown situations.

 Use of metadata to store volume configuration on disks in a mirrored volume.

 Automatic background resynchronization while host I/Os continue.

 Background media verification, which ensures that data on mirrored volumes is

always accessible.

2.3 Operation of Mirrored Volumes

The LSI Integrated RAID solution supports one or two mirrored volumes on each LSI
SAS2 controller (or one mirrored volume and one Integrated Striping volume).
Typically, one of these volumes is the boot volume. Boot support is available through
the firmware of the LSI SAS2 controller that supports the standard Fusion-MPT
interface. The runtime mirroring of the boot disk is transparent to the BIOS, the drivers,
and the operating system. Host-based status software monitors the state of the
mirrored disks and reports any error conditions. The following figure shows an
Integrated Mirroring volume in which the second disk is a mirrored copy of the data on
the first (primary) disk.

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SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Vol umes | Operation of Mirrored Volumes

Primary Mirror

Integrated Mirroring Volume

SAS

LSI

Fusion-MPT

SAS2 Controller

Memory Bus

NVSRAM

(For Write Journaling)

FLASH

(For Configuration)

3_00006-00

3_00007-00

LBA 1

LBA 2

LBA 3

LBA N

LBA 1

LBA 2

LBA 3

LBA N

LBA 1'

LBA 2'

LBA 3'

LBA N’

+

Physical ViewLogical View

Figure 1: Typical Integrated Mirroring Implementation

The following figure shows the logical view and physical view of an Integrated
Mirroring volume. Each logical block address (LBA) is mirrored on the second disk.

LSI Corporation Confidential

Figure 2: Integrated Mirroring Volume

You can configure an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volume with up to 10 mirrored
disks. The following figure shows the logical view and physical view of an Integrated
Mirroring Enhanced volume with three mirrored disks. The firmware writes each
mirrored stripe to a disk and mirrors it to an adjacent disk. RAID 1E is another term for
this type of mirrored configuration.

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Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes | Operation of Mirrored Volumes SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide

3_00008-00

Physical ViewLogical View

Mirrored Stripe 1

Mirrored Stripe 2

Mirrored Stripe 3

Mirrored Stripe 4

Mirrored Stripe N

Mirrored Stripe 1

Mirrored Stripe 2'

Mirrored Stripe 4

Mirrored Stripe 5'

Mirrored Stripe N-1'

+

Mirrored Stripe 1'

Mirrored Stripe 3

Mirrored Stripe 4'

Mirrored Stripe 6

Mirrored Stripe N

+

Mirrored Stripe 2

Mirrored Stripe 3'

Mirrored Stripe 5

Mirrored Stripe 6'

Mirrored Stripe N’

Physical ViewLogical View

Mirrored Stripe 1

Mirrored Stripe 2

Mirrored Stripe 3

Mirrored Stripe 4

Mirrored Stripe N

Mirrored Stripe 1

Mirrored Stripe 3

Mirrored Stripe 5

Mirrored Stripe 7

Mirrored Stripe N-1

+

Mirrored Stripe 1'

Mirrored Stripe 3'

Mirrored Stripe 5'

Mirrored Stripe 7'

Mirrored Stripe N-1'

+

Mirrored Stripe 2

Mirrored Stripe 4

Mirrored Stripe 6

Mirrored Stripe 8

Mirrored Stripe N

3_00009-00

+

Mirrored Stripe 2'

Mirrored Stripe 4'

Mirrored Stripe 6'

Mirrored Stripe 8'

Mirrored Stripe N’

Figure 3: Integrated Mirroring Enhanced with Three Disks

You can configure an Integrated Mirroring + Striping volume with an even number of
disks, ranging from four minimum to ten maximum. The following figure shows the
logical view and physical view of an Integrated Mirroring + Striping volume with four
mirrored disks. The firmware writes each mirrored stripe to a disk and mirrors it to an
adjacent disk. RAID 10 is another term for this type of mirrored/striped configuration.

Figure 4: Integrated Mirroring + Striping with Four Disks

The LSI SAS2 BIOS configuration utility enables you to create mirrored volumes during
initial setup and to reconfigure them in response to hardware failures or changes in
the environment.

CAUTION: The SAS2 BIOS CU deletes all existing data from the disks drives when you
select them to use for a mirrored volume.

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SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes | Mirrored Volume Features

2.4 Mirrored Volume Features This section describes features of Integrated Mirroring, Integrated Mirroring + Striping,

and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volumes. You can configure one or two mirrored
volumes on each LSI SAS2 controller.

2.4.1 Resynchronization with Concurrent Host I/O Operation

The Integrated RAID firmware allows host I/O transactions to continue on a mirrored
volume while it resynchronizes the volume in the background. The firmware
automatically starts resynchronizing data after a disk failure activates a hot spare, or
after a disk in a mirrored volume has been hot swapped.

2.4.2 Hot Swapping The Integrated RAID firmware supports hot swapping, and it automatically

resynchronizes the hot-swapped disk in the background without any host or user
intervention. The firmware detects hot-swap removal and disk insertion.

Following a hot-swap event, the firmware verifies that the new physical disk has
enough capacity for the mirrored volume. The firmware resynchronizes all replaced
hot-swapped disks, even if the same disk is re-inserted. In a mirrored volume with an
even number of disks, the firmware marks the hot-swapped disk as a secondary disk
and the other disk with data as the primary disk. The firmware resynchronizes all data
from the primary disk onto the new secondary disk. In a mirrored volume with an odd
number of disks, primary and secondary sets include three disks instead of two.

2.4.3 Hot Spare Disk You can configure two disks as global hot spare disks to protect data on the mirrored

volumes configured on the SAS2 controller. If the Integrated RAID firmware fails one of
the mirrored disks, it automatically replaces the failed disk with a hot spare disk and
then resynchronizes the mirrored data. The firmware automatically receives a
notification when a hot spare replaces the failed disk, and it then designates that disk
as the new hot spare.

2.4.4 Online Capacity Expansion The OCE feature enables you to expand the capacity of an existing two-disk Integrated

Mirroring (RAID 1) volume by replacing the original disk drives with higher-capacity
drives that have the same protocol (SAS or SATA).

NOTE: The new drives must have at least 50 GB more capacity than the original drives
of the volume.

After you replace the disk drives and run the OCE command, you must use a
commercial tool specific to the operating system to move or increase the size of the
partition on the volume.

2.4.5 Media Verification The Integrated RAID firmware supports a background media verification feature that

runs at regular intervals when the mirrored volume is in the Optimal state. If the
verification command fails for any reason, the firmware reads the other disk’s data for
this segment and writes it to the failing disk in an attempt to refresh the data. The
firmware periodically writes the current media verification logical block address to
nonvolatile memory so that the media verification can continue from where it stopped
prior to a power cycle.

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Chapter 2: Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes | Mirrored Volume Features SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide

2.4.6 Disk Write Caching By default, the Integrated RAID firmware disables disk write caching for mirrored

volumes. It does this to ensure that the write journal entry stored in nonvolatile static
RAM (NVSRAM) is always valid. If you enable disk write caching (not recommended),
you may cause the disk write log to be invalid.

2.4.7 NVSRAM Usage The Integrated RAID firmware requires at least a 32-KB NVSRAM to perform write

journaling for mirrored volumes on LSI SAS2 controllers. The NVSRAM also preserves
configuration information across reboots. The firmware uses write journaling to verify
that the disks in the mirrored volume are synchronized with each other.

2.4.8 Background Initialization Background initialization (BGI) is the process of copying data from primary to

secondary disks in a mirrored volume. The Integrated RAID firmware starts BGI
automatically as a background task when it creates a volume. The volume remains in
the Optimal state while BGI is in progress.

2.4.9 Consistency Check A consistency check is a background process that reads data from primary and

secondary disks in a mirrored volume and compares it to make sure the data is identical
on both disks. You can use the LSI SAS2 BIOS Configuration Utility to run a consistency
check on a mirrored volume.

2.4.10 Make Data Consistent If it is enabled in the Integrated RAID firmware, the make data consistent (MDC) process

starts automatically and runs in the background when you move a redundant volume
from one SAS controller to another SAS controller. MDC compares the data on the
primary and secondary disks. If MDC finds inconsistencies, it copies data from the
primary disk to the secondary disk.

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SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide Chapter 3: Creating Mirrored Volumes | Mirrored Volume Configuration Overview

Chapter 3

Creating Mirrored Volumes

This chapter explains how to create Integrated Mirroring, Integrated Mirroring +
Striping, and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volumes with the LSI SAS2 BIOS
Configuration Utility (SAS2 BIOS CU).

3.1 Mirrored Volume Configuration Overview

The LSI SAS2 BIOS CU is a menu-driven utility program that enables you to easily
configure and manage Integrated RAID volumes. You can use the SAS2 BIOS CU to
create one or two mirrored volumes on each LSI SAS2 controller, with up to two
optional global hot spare disks. You must connect all disks in a mirrored volume to the
same LSI SAS2 controller.

Although you can use disks of different size in mirrored volumes, the smallest disk in
the volume determines the logical size of all disks in the volume. In other words, the
volume does not use the excess space of the higher-capacity member disk(s). For
example, if you create an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volume with two 100-GB disks
and two 120-GB disks, the volume uses only 100 GB on each of the 120-GB disks.

Refer to Chapter 2, Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes, for more information
about the features of Integrated Mirroring, Integrated Mirroring + Striping, and
Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volumes.

3.2 Creating Mirrored Volumes The SAS2 BIOS CU is part of the Fusion-MPT BIOS. When the BIOS loads during the

startup sequence and you see the message about the LSI Configuration Utility, press
Ctrl-C to start the SAS2 BIOS CU. After you do this, the message changes to:

Please wait, invoking SAS Configuration Utility...

After a brief pause, the main menu (Adapter List window) of the SAS2 BIOS CU appears.
On some systems, however, the following message appears next:

LSI Corp Configuration Utility will load following
initialization!

LSI Corporation Confidential

In this case, the SAS2 BIOS CU loads after the system completes its power-on self-test.

You can configure one or two Integrated Mirroring, Integrated Mirroring + Striping, and
Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volumes on each LSI SAS2 controller. You can also
configure one mirrored volume and one Integrated Striping volume on the same
controller, up to a maximum of 14 disk drives for the two volumes. This includes one or
two optional hot spare disks for the mirrored volume(s).

 All physical disks in a volume must be either SATA (with extended command set

support) or SAS (with SMART support). You cannot combine SAS and SATA disks in
the same volume. However, you can create one volume with SAS disks and a second
volume with SATA disks on the same controller.

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