This document contains proprietary information of LSI Logic Corporation. The
information contained herein is not to be used by or disclosed to third parties
without the express written permission of an officer of LSI Logic Corporation.
LSI Logic products are not intended for use in life-support appliances, devices,
or systems. Use of any LSI Logic product in such applications without written
consent of the appropriate LSI Logic officer is prohibited.
Document DB15-000245-00, First Edition (September 2002)
This document describes the initial release of LSI Logic Corporation’s MegaRAID
SCSI 320-1 Controller and will remain the official reference source for all
revisions/releases of this product until rescinded by an update.
LSI Logic Corporation reserves the right to make changes to any products herein
at any time without notice. LSI Logic does not assume any responsibility or
liability arising o ut of the app lication o r use of any p roduct des cribed her ein,
except as expressly agreed to in writing by LSI Logic; nor does the purchase or
use of a product from LSI Logic convey a license under any patent rights,
copyrights, trademark rights, or any other of the intellectual property rights of LSI
Logic or third parties.
LSI Logic, the LSI Logic logo design, and MegaRAID are trademarks or
registered trademarks of LSI Logic Corporation. Intel is a registered trademark of
Intel Corporation. MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and Windows NT are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open
Group. Novell NetWare is a registered trademark of Novell Corporation. ASPI is
a registered trademark of Adaptec, Inc. All other brand and product names may
be trademarks of their respective companies.
CD
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For a current list of our distributors, sales offices, and design resource
centers, view our web page located at
http://www.lsilogic.com/contacts/na_salesoffices.html
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.
Warning:Changes or m odificati ons to this un it not expressly approved by
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 specific installation. If this
equipment does cause harmful interfere nc e to r adi o o r tel evision receptio n, wh ic h
can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, try to correct the
interference by one or more of the following measures:
the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.
1. Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
2. Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver.
3. Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which
the receiver is connected.
4. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Shielded interface cables must be used with this product to ensure compliance
with the Class B FCC limits.
Model Number: Series 520
Disclaimer – LSI LOGIC certifies on ly that this product wi ll w ork c orrec tl y when
this product is used with the same jumper settings, the same system
configuration, the same memory module parts, and the same peripherals that
were tested by LSI LOGIC with this product. The complete list of tested jumper
settings, system configurations, peripheral devices, and memory modules are
documented in the LSI LOGIC Compatibility Report for this product. Call your LSI
LOGIC sales r epresentative for a copy of the Compati bility Repor t for this
product.
This book is the primary reference and Hardware Guide for the LSI Logic
MegaRAID
the MegaRAID controller and for configuring RAID arrays. It also contains
background information on RAID.
The MegaRAID SCSI 3 20-1 controller suppor ts single-en ded and lowvoltage differential (LVD) SCSI devices on an Ultra320 and Wide SCSI
channel with data tran sfer rates up to 320 Mbytes/s.
This document is intende d for people who need to insta ll the MegaRA ID
SCSI 320-1 Controlle r in a server and then cre ate and configure RAID
arrays.
This document ha s the following chapters and appen dixes:
®
SCSI 320-1 Controller. It contains instr uctions for installing
·Chapter 1, Overview, provides an overview of the MegaRAID SCSI
320-1 and basic S CSI features.
·Chapter 2, Introduction to RAID, introduces impor tant RAID
concepts.
·Chapter 3, RAID Levels, describes each sup ported RAID l evel and
the factors to consider when choosing a RAID level.
·Chapter 4, Features, explains the features of the MegaRA ID SCSI
320-1.
·Chapter 5, Configuring Physical Drives, Arrays, and Logical
Drives, explains how to configure SCSI physical drives, arrays, and
·Chapter 6, Hardware Installation, explains how to install the
MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 co ntroller.
·Chapter 7, Troubleshooting, provides troubleshooting informatio n
for the MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 c ontroller.
·Appendix A, SCSI Cables and Connectors, describes the SC SI
cables and connectors used wi th the MegaRAID SCSI 320-1
controller.
·Appendix B, Audible Warnings, explains the meaning of the warning
tones generated by the MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 controller.
·Appendix C, Glossary, d efines many terms us ed in this manual.
If you need help installing, c onfiguring, or r unning the MegaRAID SCSI
320-1 Controller, you may be able to find the information you need at the
MegaRAID suppor t page at http://megaraid.lsilogic.com
If this does not resolve your problem, you can call your LSI Logic OEM
Tec hnical Suppor t representative at 678-728- 1250. Before you call,
please complete the M egaRAID Problem Report for m.
MegaRAID Problem Report Form
Customer InformationMegaRAID Information
Name:Today’s Date:
Company:Date of Purchase:
Address:Invoice Number:
City/State:Serial Number:
Country:
Email Address:Cache Memory:
Phone:Firmware Version:
Fax :BI OS Ver s io n:
Use this form to reco rd the physical device layout.
Physical Device Layout
Logical Drive
Size
Cache
Policy
Read
Policy
Channel 0
Write
Policy
# of Physical
Drives
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Channel 0
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Channel 0
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
Target ID
Device type
Channel 0
Logical drive number/Drive number
Manufacturer/M odel number
Firmware level
6.2.10Step 10: Install the Operating System Driver6-17
6.3Summary6-18
Chapter 7
Troubleshooting
7.1General Troubleshooting7-1
7.2BIOS Boot Error Messages7-3
7.3Other BIOS Error Messages7-4
7.4Other Potential Problems7-5
Appendix A
SCSI Cables and Connectors
A.168-P in High-Density SCSI Int ernal ConnectorA-1
A.1.1Cable Assembly for Internal W ide SCSI DevicesA-2
A.1.2Connecting Inter nal and Exter nal Wide DevicesA-3
A.1.3Converting Inter nal Wide to Intern al Non-Wide
A.1.4Converting Inter nal Wide to Intern al Non-Wide
A.1.5Converting from Inter nal Wide to Inter nal Non-Wide
A.2SCSI Ca ble and Connector VendorsA -6
A.3Hig h-Density 68-Pin Conne ctor Pinout for SE SCSIA-7
A.468-P in Connector Pinout for LVD SCSIA-9
This chapter provides an overview of the MegaRAID® SCSI 320-1 and
basic SCSI features. It contains the following sections:
·Section 1.1, “Features”
·Section 1.2, “SCSI Cha nnel”
·Section 1.3, “NVRA M and Flash ROM”
·Section 1.4, “SCSI Con nectors”
·Section 1.5, “Sin gle-Ended and Differential SCSI Buses”
·Section 1.6, “Maximum Cable Length for SCSI Standards”
·Section 1.7, “SCSI B us Widths and Maximum Thro ughput”
·Section 1.8, “Docume ntation”
RAID controller is a high -performance, intelligent PCI- to-SCSI host
adapter with RAID co ntrol capabilities. The Mega RAID SCSI 320-1
provides reliability, high performance, and fault-tolerant disk subs ystem
management.
The MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 is part of the LSI Logic Intel GC80302-based
MegaRAID controller family. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 is an entr y
level- to mid-range RAID controller solut ion. MegaRAID SCSI 320- 1
offers a cost-effective way to implement RAID in a server.
The MegaRAID SCSI 3 20-1 has an Ultra320 and Wide S CSI channel
supporting data transfer rates up to 320 Mbytes/s per channel. The SCSI
channel suppor ts up to fifteen non-Ultra SCSI devices. The MegaRAI D
SCSI 320-1 includes Me gaRAID features and performance.
·A high-performance input/output (I/O) migration pat h while
preserving existin g PCI-SCSI software
·SCSI data transfers up to 320 Mbytes/s
·Synchronous operation on a Wide low-voltage differential (L VD) SCSI
bus
·Suppor t for up to 15 LVD SCSI devices on the Wide bus
·An Intel GC30302 chip th at performs RAID calculation s and routing
·Support for 32 or 64 Mbytes of SDRAM on-board cac he memory,
used for read and write-back caching a nd for RAID 5 parity
generation
1.2SCSI Ch annel
The MegaRAID SCSI 3 20-1 upgrade card includes one Ultra3 SCSI
channel. The channe l is powered by an LSI Logic 53C1020 Ul tra320
SCSI processor.
1.3NVRAM and Flash ROM
A 32 KB x 8 NVRAM stores RAID syste m configurat ion informat ion. The
MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 firmware is stored in flash ROM for easy
upgrade.
1.4SCSI Connectors
The MegaRAID SCSI 3 20-1 has one very high-den sity 68-pin external
connector for external storage sub system, and one high-de nsity 68-pin
internal conn ector.
This chapter introdu ces importan t RAID concepts. It contains th e
following sections:
·Section 2.1, “R AID Benefits”
·Section 2.2, “MegaRAI D SCSI 320-1 – Host-Ba sed RAID Solution”
·Section 2.3, “RAID Overview”
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Di sks) is a dat a storage meth od
in which data, along with par ity information, is distr ibuted among two or
more hard disks (called an array) to improve performance and reliability.
The RAID array appears to the host computer as a single storage unit or
as multiple logical u nits. I/O is expedited because several disks can be
accessed simultan eously. RAID system s provide improved data s torage
reliability and fault tolerance compared to single-dr ive computers. If a
disk drive in a RAID a rray fails, data can be recons tructe d from th e data
and parity inform ation on the remaining disk drives.
2.1RAID Benefits
RAID is widely used be ca us e it im pr oves I/O performanc e a nd i nc reas es
storage subsystem r eliability. RAID provides data se curity through fault
tolerance and redundant dat a storage. The MegaRAID SCSI 320-1
management software co nfigures and monitors RAID d isk arrays.
2.1.1Improved I/O
Although disk dr ive capabilities have improved drastically, actual
performance of individ ual disk drives has been i mproved only three to
four times in the last decade. RAI D provides a way to achieve much
better data throughput.
The electromechan ical components of a d isk subsystem operate mor e
slowly, require more power, and generate more noise and vibra tion than
electronic devices. These factors reduce the reliab ility of data stored on
disks. RAID provides a way to achieve much better fault tolerance and
data reliability.
2.2MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 – Host-Based RAID Solution
RAID products are ei ther host-based or external.
The MegaRAID SCSI 3 20-1 controller is a hos t-based RAID solutio n.
The MegaRAID SCSI 32 0-1 is a P CI adapt er ca rd that is insta lled in any
available PCI expansion slot in a host system.
2.2.1Host-Based RAID
A host-based RAID pr oduct puts all of the RAID in telligence on an
adapter card that is in stalled in a network se rver. A host-based RAID
product provides the best performance. MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 is part of
the file server, so it can transmit dat a directly across th e computer’s
buses at data transfer speeds up to 5 32 Mbytes/s.
The available sequential data transfer rate is de termined by the following
factors:
·The sustained data transfer rate on the mot herboard PCI bus
·The sustained data transfer rate on the GC80302 PCI- to-PCI bridge
·The sustained data transfer rate of the SCSI controller
·The sustained data transfer rate of the SCSI devices
·The number of SCSI chan nels
·The number of SCSI disk d rives
Host-based solu tions must provide operating sy stem-specific dr ivers.
A SCSI-to-SCSI extern al R AID produ ct puts the RA ID inte llige nce ins ide
the RAID chassis and uses a plain SCSI hos t adapter installed in th e
network ser ver. The data transfer rate is limited to the bandwidth of the
SCSI channel. A SCSI-to-S CSI exter nal RAID pr oduct that has two Wide
SCSI channels operati ng at speeds up to 320 Mbytes /s must squeeze
the data into a single Wide SCSI (320 Mbytes/s) channel back to the host
computer.
In SCSI-to-SCSI extern al RAID pr oducts, the di sk dr ive subsystem us es
only a single SCSI ID, which allows you to connect multip le drive
subsystems to a si ngle SCSI controller.
2.3RAID Overview
RAID is a collection of specifications that describes a system for ensuring
the reliability and stability of data stored on large disk subsy stems. A
RAID system can be implemented in a number of different versions (or
RAID levels). MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 supp orts standard RA ID levels 0,
1, and 5, and RAID levels 10 and 50, special RAID versions suppor ted
by MegaRAID SCSI 320-1.
2.3.1Physical Array
A RAID array is a collection of physical disk drives governed by the RAID
management software. A RAID array appears to th e host computer as
one or more logical drives.
2.3.2Logical Drive
A logical drive is a par tition in a physical array of disks that is made up
of contiguous data s egments on the physical disk s. A logical drive can
consist of any of the following:
A consistency check verifies the correctness of redundant data in a RAID
array. For example, in a system with d istributed parity, checking
consistency means c omputing the parit y of the data drives and
comparing the results to the contents of the parity dri ves.
2.3.4Fault Tolerance
Fault tolerance is achieved through cooling fans, power supplies, and the
ability to hot swap drives. MegaRAID SCSI 32 0-1 p rovides hot swapping
through the hot spare feature. A ho t spare drive is an unused onl ine
available drive that MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 in stantly plugs into th e
system when an active dr ive fails.
After the hot sp are is automa tically moved into the RAID subsy stem, the
failed drive is automaticall y rebuilt. The RAID disk array continues to
handle request while the rebuild occurs.
2.3.5Disk Striping
Disk striping writes data across multiple disk drives instead of just one
disk drive, as shown in Figure 2.1.
Disk striping involves partitioning each disk d rive’s storage space into
stripes that can vary in size from 2 to 128 Kbytes. These stripes are
interleaved in a repeated, sequ ential manner. The combined storage
space is composed of s tripes from each dr ive. MegaRAID SCSI 320-1
suppor ts stripe sizes of 2, 4, 8, 1 6, 32, 64, or 128 Kbytes.
For example, in a four-disk system using on ly disk striping (as in RAID
level 0), segment 1 is written to d isk 1, segment 2 is wri tten to disk 2,
and so on. Disk stripi ng enhances p erformance be cause multip le dri ves
are accessed simultane ously; but disk striping does not provide data
redundancy.
2.3.5.1Stripe Width
Stripe width i s a measure of the number of disks involved in an array
where striping is implemented. For example, a four-disk array with disk
striping has a st ripe width of four.
The stripe s ize is the length of the interl eaved data segments that
MegaRAID SCSI 320-1 wr ites across multipl e drives. MegaRAID SCSI
320-1 suppor ts stripe sizes o f 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 K bytes.
2.3.6Disk Mirroring
With disk mirroring (used in RAID 1), data wr itten to one disk dr ive is
simultaneously wr itten to another disk dr ive, as shown in Figure 2.2.
If one disk drive fails, the contents of the other disk dr ive can be used to
run the system and reconstr uct the failed drive. The primary advantage
of disk mirroring i s that it provides 100% data r edundancy. Since the
contents of the disk d rive are completely wr itten to a second dri ve, it
does not matter if o ne of the drives fails. Both drives contain th e same
data at all times. Either drive can act as the operationa l drive.
Although disk mirror ing provides 100% redund ancy, it is expensive
because each dr ive in the system must be duplic ated.