MSI K9ND Master-A4R, K9ND Master-S4R, K9ND Master, MS-9182 User Manual

K9ND Master

MS-9182 (V1.X) Server Board

G52-91821X1

The material in this document is the intellectual property of MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL. We take every care in the preparation of this document, but no

guarantee is given as to the correctness of its contents. Our products are under continual improvement and we reserve the right to make changes without notice.

Trademarks

All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. Intel® and Pentium® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.

AMD, Athlon™, Athlon™ XP, Thoroughbred™, and Duron™ are registered trademarks of AMD Corporation. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DualNet, and nForce are registered trademarks or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. PS/2 and OS®/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Windows® 95/98/2000/NT/XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Netware® is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Award® is a registered trademark of Phoenix Technologies Ltd. AMI® is a registered trademark of American Megatrends Inc.

Revision History

Revision Revision History Date

V1.0 First release December 2006

Technical Support

If a problem arises with your system and no solution can be obtained from the user’s manual, please contact your place of purchase or local distributor. Alternatively, please try the following help resources for further guidance.

Visit the MSI website at http://www.msi.com.tw/program/service/faq/

faq/esc_faq_list.php for FAQ, technical guide, BIOS updates, driver

updates, and other information.

Contact our technical staff at http://support.msi.com.tw/.

Safety Instructions

1. Always read the safety instructions carefully.

2. Keep this User’s Manual for future reference.

3. Keep this equipment away from humidity.

4. Lay this equipment on a reliable flat surface before setting it up.

5. The openings on the enclosure are for air convection hence protects the equipment from overheating. DO NOT COVER THE OPENINGS.

6. Make sure the voltage of the power source and adjust properly 110/220V before connecting the equipment to the power inlet.

7. Place the power cord such a way that people can not step on it. Do not place anything over the power cord.

8. Always Unplug the Power Cord before inserting any add-on card or module.

9. All cautions and warnings on the equipment should be noted.

10. Never pour any liquid into the opening that could damage or cause electrical shock.

11. If any of the following situations arises, get the equipment checked by service personnel:

† The power cord or plug is damaged. † Liquid has penetrated into the equipment. † The equipment has been exposed to moisture. † The equipment does not work well or you can not get it work according to

User’s Manual.

† The equipment has dropped and damaged. † The equipment has obvious sign of breakage.

12. DO NOT LEAVE THIS EQUIPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENT UNCONDITIONED, STORAGE TEMPERATURE ABOVE 600 C (1400F), IT MAY DAMAGE THE EQUIPMENT.

CAUTION: Danger of explosion if battery is incorrectly replaced. Replace only with the same or equivalent type recommended by the manufacturer.

iii

FCC-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 measures listed below.

† 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/television technician for help.

Notice 1

The changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

Notice 2

Shielded interface cables and A.C. power cord, if any, must be used in order to comply with the emission limits.

VOIR LA NOTICE D’ INSTALLATION AVANT DE RACCORDER AU RESEAU.

Micro-Star International

MS-9182

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.

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement

vii

CONTENTS

Copyright Notice..............................................................................................................ii

Trademarks.......................................................................................................................ii

Revision History..............................................................................................................ii

Technical Support...........................................................................................................ii

Safety Instructions.........................................................................................................iii

FCC-B Radio Frequency Interference Statement........................................................iv

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Statement....................................v

Chapter 1 Getting Started.....................................................................................1-1

Mainboard Specifications...................................................................................1-2

Mainboard Layout................................................................................................1-4

Chapter 2 Hardware Setup....................................................................................2-1

Quick Components Guide....................................................................................2-2

CPU (Central Processing Unit)............................................................................2-3

AMD® Opteron CPU in 1207-Pin Package.................................................2-3

Socket 1207 CPU Installation......................................................................2-4

Memory.................................................................................................................2-6

Memory Population Rules............................................................................2-6

Memory Frequency vs. Core Multiplier......................................................2-7

Installing DDRII Modules...............................................................................2-7

Power Supply......................................................................................................2-8

SSI 24-Pin System Power Connector: JPWR2..........................................2-8

SSI 8-Pin CPU Power Connector: JPWR3..................................................2-8

SSI 4-Pin Power Connector: JPWR1..........................................................2-8

Back Panel............................................................................................................2-9

Connectors........................................................................................................2-10

Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: J10................................................2-11

44-Pin IDE Connector: JCD1......................................................................2-11

Serial ATA Connectors: SATA_0 ~ SATA_3............................................2-12

Serial Attached SCSI Connectors: SAS_0 ~ SAS_3..............................2-12

SCSI LED Connector: J6............................................................................2-13

Fan Power Connectors: CPU0_FAN, CPU1_FAN, SYS_FAN1..............2-13

Serial Port Connector: COM 2...................................................................2-14

Front USB Connector: JUSB1...................................................................2-14

Front Panel Connectors: JSSI1, JFP1, JFP2, JFP3..................................2-15

Power Switch Connector: JPBT1............................................................2-17

ICMB/IPMB Connectors: J5, J1..................................................................2-17

OPMA Connector: CN6..............................................................................2-17

viii

NMI Button: JID1.........................................................................................2-18

I2C Bus Connector: CN7...........................................................................2-18

FWH/LPC Debugging Pin Header: J2........................................................2-18

Jumper................................................................................................................2-19

OPMA Share NIC Jumper: J9.....................................................................2-19

BIOS Recovery Jumper: J7......................................................................2-19

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1.....................................................................2-19

Slot......................................................................................................................2-20

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slot........................................2-20

HTX (HyperTransport) Slot.......................................................................2-20

PCI Interrupt Request Routing...................................................................2-21

Chapter 3 BIOS Setup.............................................................................................3-1

Entering Setup.....................................................................................................3-2

Control Keys................................................................................................3-3

Getting Help..................................................................................................3-3

General Help <F1>.......................................................................................3-3

The Menu Bar.......................................................................................................3-4

Main......................................................................................................................3-4

Advanced............................................................................................................3-6

Security..............................................................................................................3-21

Power.................................................................................................................3-23

Boot....................................................................................................................3-25

Exit......................................................................................................................3-25

Appendix A nVIDIA SATA RAID.............................................................................A-1

Introduction..........................................................................................................A-2

System Requirement...................................................................................A-2

RAID Arrays.................................................................................................A-2

Summary of RAID Configurations...............................................................A-2

RAID Configuration..............................................................................................A-2

Basic Configuration Instructions................................................................A-3

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS.......................................................................A-3

Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array)................................A-7

NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation.............................................................................A-8

Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows..............................A-9

Initializing and Using the Disk Array.........................................................A-11

RAID Drives Management..................................................................................A-12

Viewing RAID Array Configurations........................................................A-12

Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk...................................................................A-13

Morphing From One RAID Array to Another............................................A-17

Hot Plug Array............................................................................................A-18

Initializing a RAID Array.............................................................................A-19

Rebuilding a RAID Array............................................................................A-22

Synchronizing a RAID Array.....................................................................A-25

Usind Disk Alert..........................................................................................A-26

Appendix B LSI SAS RAID......................................................................................B-1

1. Introduction to Integrated RAID......................................................................B-2

Integrated RAID Benefits and Features.....................................................B-2

2. Integrated Mirroring Overview.......................................................................B-2

2.1 Introduction...........................................................................................B-3

2.2 IM Features...........................................................................................B-4

2.3 IM/IME Description.................................................................................B-5

2.4 Integrated Mirroring Firmware............................................................B-7

2.5 Fusion-MPT Support.............................................................................B-8

3. Creating Integrated Mirroring Volumes..........................................................B-8

3.1 IM Configuration Overview.................................................................B-9

3.2 Creating IM and IME Volumes..............................................................B-9

3.3 Creating a Second IM or IME Volume.................................................B-12

3.4 Managing Hot Spares..........................................................................B-13

3.5 Other Configuration Tasks..................................................................B-14

4. Integrated Striping Overview.......................................................................B-16

4.1 Introduction.........................................................................................B-16

4.2 IS Features.........................................................................................B-16

4.3 IS Description......................................................................................B-17

4.4 Integrated Striping Firmware..............................................................B-18

4.5 Fusion-MPT Support............................................................................B-18

5. Creating Integrated Striping Volumes..........................................................B-18

5.1 IS Configuration Overview.................................................................B-19

5.2 Creating IS Volumes............................................................................B-19

5.3 Creating a Second IS Volume.............................................................B-21

5.4 Other Configuration Tasks..................................................................B-22

Getting Started

Chapter 1

Getting Started

Thank you for choosing the K9ND Master (MS-9182 v1. X), an excellent SSI server board from MSI.

Based on the innovative nVIDIA MCP55 Pro chipset for optimal system efficiency, the K9ND Master accommodates the latest AMD® Opteron processor in 1207pin package and supports up to 16 Registered ECC DDRII 400/533/667 DIMM slots to provide the maximum of 32GB memory capacity.

In the entry-level and mid-range market segment, the K9ND Master can provide a high-performance solution for today’s front-end and general purpose server/ workstation, as well as in the future.

1-1

MS-9182 Server Board

Mainboard Specifications

Processor

- Supports Dual AMD Opteron in the 1207-pin lidded ceramic micro PGA, from 1.4 – 2.8 GHz support

- Supports HyperTransport technology

- Meets thermal requirements

Core Chipsets

- Northbridge: nVIDIA MCP55 Pro

- LPC Super I/O controller W83627EHG

- Hardware Monitor ADT7476*2+ADT7463*1

- VGA controller ATI Radeon-7000M

Memory Support

- Memory controller is integrated into AMD Opteron processor

- Supports 1-DIMM 2GB ECC Register memory

- 16 DDRII DIMM slots (total 32GB memory)

- Supports ECC Registered DDRII 400/533/667 DIMMs (no support for 667MHz on 8 DIMMs)

LAN

- 2 Gigabit LAN ports by nVIDIA MCP55 Pro

- 2 Gigabit LAN ports by Broadcom BCM5715C (optional)

IDE

- 1-channel bus master IDE port

- Supports ATA133/100/66

SATA

- 4 SATAII ports with up to 300MB/s transfer rate

SAS

- 4 SAS ports by LSI Logic SAS1064E Host Controller

- Data transfer rate up to 3Gb/s

1-2

Getting Started

Connectors

Back Panel

- 1 PS/2 mouse port

- 1 PS/2 keyboard port

- 1 x serial port

- 1 x VGA port

- 2 x USB 2.0 ports

- 4 x individual RJ-45 Gigabit LAN ports

- 1 x individual RJ-45 10/100Mbps LAN port (for KVM only)

Slots

- 2 PCI-Express x8 slots

- 1 HTX slot for Infini-band card (with riser card, optional)

Form Factor

- SSI Form Factor: 12” x 13”

Mounting

- 9 mounting holes

For more information on compatible components, please visit

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/server/svr/pro_svr_qvl.php

1-3

MS-9182 Server Board

System Management MSI Server Management IPMI 2.0

MS-95L6 OPMA card (with H8S) and MSI iConsole AP with support for IPMI 2.0

MS-95L6 OPMA Card Specifications l BMC Chip

- H8S 200-pin

- Host hardware interface: LPC interface

- Host software interface: KCS interface

l Memory Size

- 256 X 16 Bits SRAM

l Form Factor

- Add-on Card on OPMA SO-DIMM (200-pin)

l Key Features

- IPMI 2.0 Compliant

- Out-of-band LAN based management using RMCP

- FRU/SEL access

- Remote out-of-band alerts

- Event log

- Ability to update firmware inband unattended

- Remote access security (MD5)

- Out-of-band environmental monitoring and alerting

- Secure remote power control and system reset over Serial or shared NIC (RMCP)

- Supports onboard I2C ADT 7476 x 2, ADT 7463 x 1 to extend Hardware monitor feature

- Supports ASR (Automatic Server Restart)

1-4

l System Management

- Three SMBus 2.0 (I2C)

- One SMBus for MCP55 Pro

- One SMBus for IPMB

- One SMBus for ADT 7476 x 2, ADT 7463 x 1

- CPU Fan speed control dependent on System Temperature

- System Fan speed control dependent on System Temperature

l Sensor Management

- Monitored Voltage: 12V, 5V, 2.5V, Vcore, 1.8V

- Monitored Fan: 4 x Front Fan, 2 x CPU Fan, 1 x rear Fan

- Monitored VID

Mainboard Layout

JBAT1

USB Ports

JLAN0

JLAN1

JLAN2

JPBT1

P0_DIMM8

P0_DIMM7

P0_DIMM6

P0_DIMM4

P0_DIMM2

P0_DIMM5

P0_DIMM3

P0_DIMM1

P1_DIMM1

P1_DIMM3

P1_DIMM5

P1_DIMM2

P1_DIMM4

P1_DIMM6

P1_DIMM7

P1_DIMM8

T: Mouse

B: Keyboard

Winbond

W83627EHG

BROADCOM

LSISAS1064E

J10J9CPU0

CPU1

Getting Started

JFP3

JUSB1

JFP1

BIO

CN6

BCM5715

JSSI1

PCIE1HTX_E1

JID1

JLAN4

JLAN3

SATA_0

SAS_0

SATA_3

PCIE2

SATA_1

SAS_1

JFP2

COM2

U34

RADEON

ATI

COM1

JCD1

SATA_2

SAS_2

SAS_3

JPWR3

CPU0_FAN

CPU1_FAN

BATT

SYS_FAN1

CN7

nVIDIA

MCP55 Pro

JPWR1

JPWR2

K9ND Master (MS-9182 v1.X) SSI Server Board

1-5

MS-9182 Server Board

1-6

Hardware Setup

Chapter 2

Hardware Setup

This chapter provides you with the information about hardware setup procedures. While doing the installation, be careful in holding the components and follow the installation procedures. For some components, if you install in the wrong orientation, the components will not work properly.

Use a grounded wrist strap before handling computer components. Static electricity may damage the components.

2-1

MS-9182 Server Board

Quick Components Guide

HTX Slot, p.2-20

DIMM Slots, p.2-6

CPU, p.2-3

JPWR3, p.2-8

CPU0_FAN, CPU1_FAN,

p.2-13

SYS_FAN1, p.2-13

JFP1,

p.2-16

J5, p.2-17

J10, p.2-11

CN7, p.2-18

J6, p.2-13

JFP3,

p.2-16

BIO

JUSB1, p.2-14

JSSI1, p.2-15

PCI-E Slot,

p.2-20

CN6, p.2-17

JBAT1, p.2-19

J1, p.2-17 COM2, p.2-14

J2, p.2-18

JPBT1, p.2-17

PCI-E Slot,

p.2-20

DIMM Slots, p.2-6

2-2

JPWR1, JPWR2,

p.2-8

J9, p.2-19

J7, p.2-19

JCD1,

p.2-11

JFP2,

p.2-16

SATA_0~3/ SAS_0~3,

p.2-12

Back Panel I/O, p.2-9

Hardware Setup

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

This mainboard supports the latest AMD® Opteron processor in 1207-pin package. When you are installing the CPU, make sure that you install the cooler to prevent the CPU from overheating. If you do not have the CPU cooler, contact your dealer to purchase and install it before turning on the computer.

For the latest information about CPU, please visit http://www.msi.com.tw/program/ products/server/svr/pro_svr_qvl.php.

Important

1. Overheating will seriously damage the CPU and system. Always make sure the cooling fan can work properly to protect the CPU from overheating.

2. Make sure that you apply an even layer of heat sink paste (or thermal tape) between the CPU and the heatsink to enhance heat dissipation.

3. While replacing the CPU, always turn off the ATX power supply or unplug the power supply’s power cord from the grounded outlet first to ensure the safety of CPU.

AMD® Opteron CPU in 1207-Pin Package

The pin-pad side The surface

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Alignment Key

Remember to apply some silicone heat transfer compound on it for better heat dispersion.

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Alignment Key

2-3

MS-9182 Server Board

Socket 1207 CPU Installation

1. Locate the first CPU socket. (The CPU has a plastic cap on it to protect the contact from damage. Before installing the CPU, always cover it to protect the socket pins.)

CPU1

CPU0

2. Remove the plastic cap from the

load plate. The pins of the socket reveal.

4. Open the load plate.

3. Raise the load lever up to its full extent.

2-4

Hardware Setup

5. After confirming the CPU direction for correct mating, put down the CPU in the socket housing frame. Be sure to grasp on the edge of the CPU base. Note that the alignment keys are matched.

6. Visually inspect if the CPU is seated well into the socket. If not, take out the CPU with pure vertical motion and reinstall.

Yellow triangle is the Pin 1 indicator

Alignment Key

7. Cover the load plate onto the package.

8. Press down the load lever lightly onto the load plate and then secure the lever with the hook under the retention tab.

2-5

MS-9182 Server Board

Memory

The mainboard supports up to 16 Registered ECC DDRII 400/533/667 DIMM slots to provide the maximum of 32GB memory capacity.

For more information on compatible components, please visit http://www.msi.com. tw/program/products/server/svr/pro_svr_qvl.php.

DDRII

240-pin, 1.8V

64x2=128 pin 56x2=112 pin

Memory Population Rules

CPU0/CPU1 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit 64-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit

DIMM 1 V V V V V V V

DIMM 2 V V V V

DIMM 3 V V V V V V V

DIMM 4 V V V V

DIMM 5 V V V

DIMM 6 V V V V V V V

DIMM 7 V

DIMM 8 V V V

DDRII DIMM Frequency 400MHz 533MHz 667MHz 800MHz DIMMs Supported by CPU 8 DIMMs 8 DIMMs 4 DIMMs N/A

Important

Please note that each AMD Socket F CPU supports only 4 DDRII 667MHz DIMMs, not 8 DIMMs.

2-6

Hardware Setup

Memory Frequency vs. Core Multiplier

The DDRII DIMM operates different frequency when using different CPU. For example, when using 2.4GHz CPU the DDRII 667MHz DIMM will operate at 600MHz.

Installing DDRII Modules

1. The memory module has only one notch on the center and will only fit in the right

orientation.

2. Insert the memory module vertically into the DIMM slot. Then push it in until the

golden finger on the memory module is deeply inserted in the DIMM slot.

v NOTE: You can barely see the golden finger if the memory module is

properly inserted in the DIMM slot.

3. The plastic clip at each side of the DIMM slot will automatically close.

Volt

Notch

2-7

MS-9182 Server Board

Power Supply

SSI 24-Pin System Power Connector: JPWR2

This connector allows you to connect to an SSI power supply. To connect to the SSI power supply, make sure the plug of the power supply is inserted in the proper orientation and the pins are aligned. Then push down the power supply firmly into the connector.

SSI 8-Pin CPU Power Connector: JPWR3

This connector provides 12V power output to the CPUs.

SSI 4-Pin Power Connector: JPWR1

Make sure that you connect this connector with a 5V/12V power supply to ensure stable operation of the PCI Express/PCI-X/PCI adapters and front panel USB device.

PIN SIGNAL

1 +3.3V 2 +3.3V 3 GND 4 +5V 5 GND 6 +5V 7 GND 8 PWR OK 9 5VSB 10 +12V 11 +12V 12 +3.3V

JPWR2

JPWR2 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

13 +3.3V 14 -12V 15 GND 16 PS-ON# 17 GND 18 GND 19 GND 20 Res 21 +5V 22 +5V 23 +5V 24 GND

JPWR3

12 24

JPWR3 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 GND 2 GND 3 GND 4 GND

JPWR1 Pin Definition

JPWR1

4 85

PIN SIGNAL

5 +12V 6 +12V 7 +12V 8 +12V

PIN SIGNAL

1 5V 2 GND 3 GND 4 12V

Important

1. Make sure that all the connectors are connected to proper SSI power supplies to ensure stable operation of the mainboard.

2. Power supply of 600 watts (and above) is highly recommended for system stability.

3. SSI 12V power connection should be greater than 18A.

2-8

Mouse

Hardware Setup

Back Panel

USB

Keyboard

Mouse/Keyboard Connector

The standard PS/2® mouse/keyboard DIN connector is for a PS/2® mouse/keyboard.

USB Connectors The OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) Universal Serial Bus root is for attaching USB devices such as keyboard, mouse, or other USB-compatible devices.

Serial Port Connector The serial port is a 16550A high speed communications port that sends/ receives 16 bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial mouse or other serial devices directly to the connector.

VGA Connector The DB15-pin female connector is provided for VGA monitors.

LAN (RJ-45) Jack The standard RJ-45 jack is for connection to single Local Area Network (LAN). You can connect a network cable to it.

VGA PortSerial Port

JLAN0

JLAN1

JLAN2

JLAN3

JLAN4

Activity Indicator

Link Indicator

RJ-45 LAN Jack

2-9

MS-9182 Server Board

v LAN LEDs

LED Color State Description

RJ45 NIC 0 Linkage (Left Side)

RJ45 NIC 0 Mode (Right Side)

RJ45 NIC 1 Linkage (Left Side)

RJ45 NIC 1 Mode (Right Side)

RJ45 NIC 3 Linkage (Left Side)

RJ45 NIC 3 Mode (Right Side)

Green ON LAN Link / no Access Green BLINK LAN Access

Yellow ON 1Gbps connection

Green ON 100Mbps connection

- OFF 10Mbps connection Green ON LAN Link / no Access

Green BLINK LAN Access

Yellow ON 1Gbps connection

Green ON 100Mbps connection

- OFF 10Mbps connection Green ON LAN Link / no Access

Green BLINK LAN Access

Yellow ON 1Gbps connection

Green ON 100Mbps connection

- OFF 10Mbps connection

OFF Idle

2-10

RJ45 NIC 4 Linkage (Left Side)

RJ45 NIC 4 Mode (Right Side)

Green ON LAN Link / no Access Green BLINK LAN Access

Yellow ON 1Gbps connection

Green ON 100Mbps connection

- OFF 10Mbps connection

OFF Idle

Hardware Setup

Connectors

Chassis Intrusion Switch Connector: J10

This connector connects to a 2-pin chassis switch. If the chassis is opened, the switch will be short. The system will record this status and show a warning message on the screen. To clear the warning, you must enter the BIOS utility and clear the record.

44-Pin IDE Connector: JCD1

This 44-pin IDE connector connects to an optional converter that enables connection to one 44-pin IDE device and one 40-pin IDE device, such as hard disk drives, CDROM and other IDE devices.

C I

N T

R U

J10

G N D

Connect to 44-pin IDE device

JCD1

Connect to JCD1

Connect to 40-pin IDE device

Important

If you install two hard disks on cable, you must configure the second drive to Slave mode by setting its jumper. Refer to the hard disk documentation supplied by hard disk vendors for jumper setting instructions.

2-11

MS-9182 Server Board

Serial ATA Connectors: SATA_0 ~ SATA_3

SATA_0 ~ SATA_3 are high-speed SATA II interface ports and support SATA II data rates of 300MB/s. Each SATA II connector can connect to 1 hard disk device and is fully compliant with Serial ATA 2.0 specifications.

Serial Attached SCSI Connectors: SAS_0 ~ SAS_3

The SAS connector is a new generation serial communication protocol for devices designed to allow for much higher speed data transfers. It supports data transfer speeds up to 3 Gbit/s. SAS uses serial communication instead of the parallel method found in traditional SCSI devices but still uses SCSI commands for interacting with SAS devices. Each SAS connector can connect to 1 disk drive.

SATA_0

SAS_0

SATA_1

SAS_1

SATA_2

SAS_2

SAS_3SATA_3

Important

Please do not fold the SATA/SAS accessory cable into 90-degree angle. Otherwise, data loss may occur during transmission.

2-12

Hardware Setup

SCSI LED Connector: J6

Connect the J6 to the LED connector on the add-on SCSI adaptor and the HDD LED will blink when add-on SCSI device is active.

PIN SIGNAL

1 +5V 2 SCSI LED 3 HDD LED 4 +5V

Fan Power Connectors: CPU0_FAN, CPU1_FAN, SYS_FAN1

The fan power connectors support system cooling fan with +12V. When connecting the wire to the connectors, always take note that the red wire is the positive and should be connected to the +12V, the black wire is Ground and should be connected to GND. If the mainboard has a System Hardware Monitor chipset onboard, you must use a specially designed fan with speed sensor to take advantage of the CPU fan control.

Pin Definition

CPU1_FAN

GND +12V

SENSOR CONTROL

CPU0_FAN

CONTROL

SENSOR

+12V

GND

SYS_FAN1

Important

Please refer to the recommended CPU fans at AMD® official website or consult the vendors for proper CPU cooling fan.

2-13

MS-9182 Server Board

Serial Port Connector: COM 2

The mainboard provides one 9-pin header as serial port COM 2. The port is a 16550A high speed communication port that sends/receives 16 bytes FIFOs. You can attach a serial mouse or other serial devices directly to it.

Pin Definition

COM2

PIN SIGNAL DESCRIPTION

1 DCD Data Carry Detect 2 SIN Serial In or Receive Data 3 SOUT Serial Out or Transmit Data 4 DTR Data Terminal Ready 5 GND Ground 6 DSR Data Set Ready 7 RTS Request To Send 8 CTS Clear To Send 9 RI Ring Indicate

Front USB Connector: JUSB1

The mainboard provides one USB 2.0 pinheader (optional USB 2.0 bracket available) that is compliant with Intel® I/O Connectivity Design Guide. USB 2.0 technology increases data transfer rate up to a maximum throughput of 480Mbps, which is 40 times faster than USB 1.1, and is ideal for connecting high-speed USB interface peripherals such as USB HDD, digital cameras, MP3 players, printers, mo-

dems and the like.

JUSB1

Important

Note that the pins of VCC and GND must be connected correctly to avoid possible damage.

2-14

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

1 VCC 2 VCC 3 USB0- 4 USB15 USB0+ 6 USB1+ 7 GND 8 GND 9 Key (no pin) 10 USBOC

Hardware Setup

Front Panel Connectors: JSSI1, JFP1, JFP2, JFP3

The mainboard provides 4 front panel connectors for electrical connection to the front panel/back plane switches and LEDs. The JSSI1 & JFP1 connect the front panel and the back plane; the JFP2 connects the SAS signal; the JFP3 connects the LAN LED and system LED signal.

ID Button

33 34

NMI Button

ID LED

LAN2 Act LED

Reset Switch

SMBus

Power Switch

LAN1 Act LED

System Fault LED

HDD LED

Power LED

JSSI1

+5V Standby

JSSI1 Pin Definition

Pin Description Pin Description

1 Power LED + 2 5Vs/b 3 Key 4 NC

5 Power LED - 6 NC 7 HDD Activity LED + 8 System Status LED + 9 HDD Activity LED - 10 System Status LED 11 Power Switch+ 12 NIC Activity LED + 13 Power Switch- (GND) 14 NIC Activity LED 15 Reset Switch+ 16 SMBus SDA 17 Reset Switch- (GND) 18 SMBus SCL 19 NC 20 NC 21 NC 22 NIC#2 Activity LED + 23 NMI to CPU Switch 24 NIC#2 Activity LED 25 Key 26 Key 27 ID LED+ 28 NC 29 ID LED- 30 NC 31 ID# 32 NC 33 GND 34 NC

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MS-9182 Server Board

Pin Description Pin Description

1 SFAN4_SENS 2 CFAN1_PWM 3 CFAN1_SENS 4 CFAN2_PWM

5 SFAN1_SENS 6 SFAN1_PWM 7 SFAN7_SENS 8 SFAN2_PWM 9 CFAN2_SENS 10 SFAN3_PWM 11 SFAN2_SENS 12 SFAN4_PWM 13 CFAN3_SENS 14 FAN_LED1 15 SFAN8_SENS 16 ID# 17 SFAN3_SENS 18 PWR_BT# 19 SFAN6_SENS 20 Key 21 CFAN4_SENS 22 NMI_BT_N 23 SFAN5_SENS 24 RST_SSIJ 25 GND 26 FAIL# 27 POWRE_LED_N 28 ACCESS HDD LED A 29 POWER_LED_P 30 FAN_LED2 31 FAN_LED3 32 GND 33 ID_LED_C 34 GND 35 ID_LED_A 36 NC 37 COM2_DCDJ 38 C_PIN2 39 C_PIN3 40 C_PIN4 41 C_PIN7 42 C_PIN6 43 C_PIN9 44 C_PIN8

JFP1

JFP1 Pin Definition

44 43

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JFP2 Pin Definition

JFP2

2 1

Pin Description Pin Description

1 SIO_IN 2 SIO_CLK 3 SIO_OUT 4 NC

5 GND 6 NC 7 GND 8 NC 9 SIO_LOAD 10 Key

JFP3 Pin Definition

JFP3

2 1

Pin Description Pin Description

1 LAN A_ACT_C 2 LAN B_ACT_C 3 LAN A_ACT_A 4 LAN B_ACT_A

5 STATE_LED_1 6 STATE_LED_2 7 GND 8 GND 9 NC 10 Key

Hardware Setup

Power Switch Connector: JPBT1

This connector is designed to connect the system power switch.

JPBT1

ICMB/IPMB Connectors: J5, J1

The J5 is used to connect the ICMB SMBus and the J1 is for the IPMB SMBus.

1 3

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 SMB Data 2 GND 3 SMB Clock

OPMA Connector: CN6

OPMA (Open Platform Management Architecture) is an open standard for server management subsystems. Users may connect MSI’s proprietary MS-95L6 OPMA card or other BMC (Baseboard Management Controller) card to this connector.

CN6

MS-95L6 OPMA Card

Firmware update connector

Power LED

2 1

Reset switch

SW1

LED1

Boot Mode Normal Mode

Pin Signal Description

1 ETCK Test clock input

2 GND GND 3 ETRST# Test reset input signal 4 GND GND 5 ETDO Serial data output 6 GND GND 7 H2C_RES# 8 VCC VCC 9 ETMS Test mode select input 10 GND GND 11 ETDI Serial data input 12 E10A_SENSE# 13 H8_RESET# H8S reset 14 GND GND

Data transmit connector (Boot Mode)

Pin Signal Description

1 BOOT_TXD1 Boot mode transmit 2 BOOT_RXD1 Boot mode receive 3 GND GND

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MS-9182 Server Board

NMI Button: JID1

When the Operating System suffers from critical errors and consequently hangs, users may press this NMI (Non Maskable Interrupt) button to log system errors.

JID1

I2C Bus Connector: CN7

The mainboard provides one I2C (also known as I2C) Bus connector for users to connect System Management Bus (SMBus) interface.

CN7

Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL

1 +3.3V 2 SMB_CLK 3 SMB_DATA 4 GND

FWH/LPC Debugging Pin Header: J2

The pin header is for internal debugging only.

J2 Pin Definition

PIN SIGNAL PIN SIGNAL

202

191

2-18

1 +3.3V 2 +3.3V 3 GND 4 LPC_RSTJ 5 GND 6 LPC_CLK 7 GND 8 LPC_AD3 9 GND 10 LPC_AD2 11 GND 12 LPC_AD1 13 GND 14 LPC_AD0 15 GND 16 LPC_FRAME# 17 GND 18 LPC_OPMAJ 19 GND 20 LPC_SIOJ

Hardware Setup

Jumper

OPMA Share NIC Jumper: J9

This jumper works as a switch for OPMA to share different network interface cards (NIC).

OPMA shares MCP55 Pro LAN

System Configure Jumper: J7

This jumper determines which mode the system will enter while powered on. During

Normal Mode, the system will enter the assigned OS as usual. During Configure Mode, the system will directly enter BIOS setup utility. This enables you to modify the

BIOS configurations. During Recovery Mode, you have to insert certain boot disk into the floppy drive before powering on the system. After powered on, the system will read the boot disk and enter DOS. This enables you to update the BIOS with a Flash utility if necessary.

OPMA shares Broadcom LAN

Normal Mode Configure Mode Recovery Mode

Clear CMOS Jumper: JBAT1

There is a CMOS RAM onboard that has a power supply from external battery to keep the data of system configuration. With the CMOS RAM, the system can automatically boot OS every time it is turned on. If you want to clear the system configuration, set the JBAT1 (Clear CMOS Jumper ) to clear data.

JBAT1

1 3

Keep Data

Clear Data

Important

To clear CMOS you should:

1. Short 2-3 pin while the system is off.

2. Short 1-2 pin while the system is off.

3. Restart the PC. Avoid clearing the CMOS while the system is on; it will damage the mainboard.

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MS-9182 Server Board

Slot

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Slot

The PCI-class slots support LAN cards, SCSI cards, USB cards, VGA cards, and other add-on cards that comply with PCI specifications.

PCI Express architecture provides a high performance I/O infrastructure for Desktop Platforms with transfer rates starting at 2.5 Giga transfers per second over a PCI Express x1 lane for Gigabit Ethernet, TV Tuners, 1394 controllers, and general purpose I/O. Also, desktop platforms with PCI Express Architecture will be designed to deliver highest performance in video, graphics, multimedia and other sophisticated applications. Moreover, PCI Express architecture provides a high performance graphics infrastructure for Desktop Platforms doubling the capability of existing AGP 8x designs with transfer rates of 4.0 GB/s over a PCI Express x16 lane for graphics controllers, while PCI Express x1 supports transfer rate of 250 MB/s.

PCI Express x8 Slot

HTX (HyperTransport) Slot

The HTX slot supports InfiniPath InfiniBand HTX Adapters. The HyperTransport HTX Motherboard/Daughtercard specification defines an 8- or 16-bit HyperTransport interface with an up to 1.6 gigatransfer/second data rate (800 MHz clock rate) and includes all of the defined HyperTransport control signals including a synchronous reference clock.

HTX Slot

Important

When adding or removing expansion cards, make sure that you unplug the power supply first. Meanwhile, read the documentation for the expansion card to configure any necessary hardware or software settings for the expansion card, such as jumpers, switches or BIOS configuration.

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Hardware Setup

PCI Interrupt Request Routing

The IRQ, acronym of interrupt request line and pronounced I-R-Q, are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor. The PCI IRQ pins are typically connected to the PCI bus pins as follows:

DEVICE INT Pin IDSEL CLOCK REQ & GNT ATI VGA VGA_INT PCI_AD20 VGA_CLK PCI_REQJ1/GNT J2

Primary IDE Interrupt : R_IDE_IRQ14

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Chapter 3

BIOS Setup

This chapter provides information on the BIOS Setup program and allows you to configure the system for optimum use. You may need to run the Setup program when:

BIOS Setup

² An error message appears on the screen during the

system booting up, and requests you to run SETUP.

² You want to change the default settings for cus-

tomized features.

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Entering Setup

Power on the computer and the system will start POST (Power On Self Test) process. When the message below appears on the screen, press <F2> key to enter Setup.

Press F2 to enter SETUP

If the message disappears before you respond and you still wish to enter Setup, restart the system by turning it OFF and On or pressing the RESET button. You may also restart the system by simultaneously pressing <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Delete> keys.

Important

1.The items under each BIOS category described in this chapter are under continuous update for better system performance. Therefore, the description may be slightly different from the latest BIOS and should be held for reference only.

2.Upon boot-up, the 1st line appearing after the memory count is the BIOS version. It is usually in the format:

P9182NMS V1.0 101506 where:

1st digit refers to BIOS maker as A = AMI, W = AWARD, and P = PHOENIX. 2nd - 5th digit refers to the model number. 6th digit refers to the chipset as I = Intel, N = nVidia, V = VIA, and R = Serverworks. 7th - 8th digit refers to the customer as MS = all standard customers. V1.0 refers to the BIOS version. 101506 refers to the date this BIOS was released.

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Control Keys

BIOS Setup

Key <F1> or <Alt-H> <Esc>

↔ arrow keys

↑ or ↓ arrow keys <Home> or <End> <PgUp> or <PgDn> <F5> or <-> <F6> or <+>or <Space> <F9> <F10> <Enter>

Function General Help window Exit this menu Select a different menu Move cursor up and down Move cursor to top or bottom of window Move cursor to next or previous page Select the previous value for the field Select the next value for the field Load the default configuration values for this menu Save and exit Execute command or enter submenu

Getting Help

After entering the Setup menu, the first menu you will see is the Main Menu.

Main Menu

The main menu lists the setup functions you can make changes to. You can use the arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the item. The on-line description of the highlighted setup function is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Sub-Menu

If you find a right pointer symbol (as shown in the right view) appears to the left of certain fields that means a sub-menu can be launched from this field. A sub-menu contains additional options for a field parameter. You can use arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to highlight the field and press <Enter> to call up the submenu. Then you can use the control keys to enter values and move from field to field within a sub-menu. If you want to return to the main menu, just press the <Esc >.

General Help <F1>

The BIOS setup program provides a General Help screen. You can call up this screen from any menu by simply pressing <F1>. The Help screen lists the appropriate keys to use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. Press <Esc> to exit the Help screen.

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MS-9182 Server BoardB

The Menu Bar

Once you enter PhoenixBIOS Setup Utility, the Main Menu will appear on the screen. On the Main Menu screen, you will see basic BIOS settings including system time & date, and the setup categories the BIOS supplies. Use Arrow keys to move among the items and menus, and make changes to the settings.

Main

Use this menu for basic system configurations, such as time, date etc.

Advanced

Use this menu to set up the items of special enhanced features available on your system’s chipset.

Security

Use this menu to set Supervisor and User Passwords.

Power

Use this menu to specify your settings for power management.

Boot

Use this menu to specify the priority of boot devices.

Exit

This menu allows you to load the BIOS default values or factory default settings into the BIOS and exit the BIOS setup utility with or without changes.

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BIOS Setup

Main

The items inside the Main menu are for basic system information and configuration. Each item includes none, one or more setup items. Use the Up/Down arrow keys or <Tab> to highlight the item or field you want to modify and use the <+> or <-> key to switch to the value you prefer.

System Time

The time format is <HH> <MM> <SS>.

System Date

The date format is <YYYY> <MM> <DD>.

Local Bus IDE Adapter

This setting controls the onboard IDE adapter.

Primary Master, Primary Slave

[Type] Press PgUp/<+> or PgDn/<-> to select

[Manual], [None] or [Auto] type. Note that the specifications of your drive must match with the drive table. The hard disk will not work properly if you enter improper information for this category. If your hard disk drive type is not matched or listed, you can use [Manual] to define your own drive type manually.

[Multi-Sector Transfers] Any selection except Disabled determines

the number of sectors transferred per block

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[LBA Mode Control] Enabling LBA causes Logical Block Ad-

dressing to be used in place of Cylinders, Heads and Sectors

[32-Bit I/O] Enables 32-bit communication between

CPU and IDE card

[Tranfer Mode] Selects the method for transferring the data

between the hard disk and system memory

[Ultra DMA Mode] Indicates the type of Ultra DMA

QuickBoot Mode

Setting the item to [Enabled] allows the system to boot within 5 seconds since it will skip some check items.

Boot-time Diagnostic Screen

Select [Enabled] if you want to view the system diagnostic screen during boot-time.

Summary Screen

Select [Enabled] if you want to view the system summary screen.

Extended Memory Testing

This setting determines which type of tests will be performed on extended memory (above 1M).

System Memory, Extended Memory

These items show the memory status of the system. (Read-only)

BIOS Date, BIOS Version

These items show the information of the system BIOS. (Read-only)

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BIOS Setup

Advanced

Items in the menu are divided into several sub-menus. Each sub-menu provides more settings. To enter the sub-menu, highlight the sub-menu you want to configure and press <Enter>.

Installed O/S

When multiple operating systems are installed in your system, use this setting to select the major operating system that will be used most commonly. Note that an incorrect setting in this field may cause unexpected errors on the operating systems.

Option ROM Placement

This setting determines the Option ROM placement. If the system hangs during boot, please restart the system and enter the BIOS Setup Utility to change this setting.

BIOS Write Protect

This function protects the BIOS from accidental corruption by unauthorized users or computer viruses. When enabled, the BIOS’ data cannot be changed when attempting to update the BIOS with a Flash utility. To successfully update the BIOS, you’ll need to disable this BIOS Write Protect function. You should enable this function at all times. The only time when you need to disable it is when you want to update the BIOS. After updating the BIOS, you should immediately re-enable it to protect it against viruses.

Chassis Intrusion

The field enables or disables the feature of recording the chassis intrusion status and issuing a warning message if the chassis is once opened. To clear the warning message, set the field to [Reset]. The setting of the field will automatically return to [Enabled] later.

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MS-9182 Server BoardB

NumLock

This setting is to set the Num Lock status when the system is powered on. Setting to [On] will turn on the Num Lock key when the system is powered on. Setting to [Off] will allow users to use the arrow keys on the numeric keypad.

PState Configuration

ACPI P-state (Performance) control algorithm’s goal is to optimize the runtime power consumption without significantly impacting performance. The algorithm dynamically adjusts the processor frequency such that it is just high enough to service the SW execution load. Operating point selection is done by the OS power management algorithms (OSPM) based on the CPU load observed over a window of time. Once the target point is set, the CPU is expected to modify its operating voltage and frequency to match the OSPM's request.

Halt On Error

The setting determines whether the system will stop if an error is detected at boot.

Memory Controller Options

DRAM Bank Interleave

Interleaved memory is system memory divided into two or more sections. Setting to [Enabled] allows memory to be accessed faster since each section of memory is capable of being utilized at once.

Node Interleave

AMD Opteron CPU supports a mode called node interleave. When node interleave is disabled, the memory controller maps the local memory of each processor to a single contiguous range of physical addresses. This allows the operating system to map user data to local memory, whenever possible, to allow programs to access data the most rapidly. When node interleave is enabled, physical addresses are partitioned into 4KB blocks, and alternated

3-8

BIOS Setup

among the processors. The operating system is then unable to use NUMA optimizations, and the memory space is treated as if the system were an SMP system.

SW Mem Hole Remapp

This setting enables the software to remap the physical memory to an address higher than 00E0.

IOMMU

AMD64, one of the 64-bit architectures, contains a device called the IOMMU (Input/Output Memory Management Unit). The IOMMU allows 32-bit devices to see all of the (64-bit addressed) main memory although with a 32-bit address bus you can only address a 32-bit address space. It is a MMU that translates DMA virtual addresses to real physical addresses.

Size

This setting specifies the memory size for IOMMU.

ACPI SRAT Table

The Static Resource Affinity Table (SRAT) can be used to describe the physical location of processors and memory in large-scale systems (such as CC-NUMA) to the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system, allowing threads and memory to be grouped in an optimal manner.

ECC Options

ECC Mode

If all memory in the system supports ECC, enabling this will initial scrub DRAM and enable system requests to DRAM to be checked and/or corrected.

ECC Error Checking

This setting enables/disables ECC (Error Correction Code) checking, a method

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MS-9182 Server BoardB

of checking the integrity of data in DRAM. ECC provides more elaborate error detection than parity; ECC can detect multiple-bit errors and can locate and correct single-bit errors.

ECC Error Log

This setting logs the ECC error.

Chipkill

Chipkill is a new Advanced ECC (Error Correction Code) memory technology that protects servers from system downtime caused by memory failures.

ECC Scrub Redirection

This setting enables/disables ECC Scrubber to correct errors detected in DRAM during normal CPU requests (foreground scrubbing).

DRAM ECC Scrub Control

The DRAM ECC Scrub option controls the frequency at which memory read options are corrected while the system is in an idle state.

DCache ECC Scrub Control

The Data Cache ECC Scrub option controls the time allotted for the L1 memory cache to be corrected when in an idle state.

L2 ECC Scrub Control

The L2 ECC Scrub option controls the time allotted for the L2 memory cache to be corrected when in an idle state.

Online Spare

Online Spare Memory mode provides a higher level of memory protection than Standard Memory mode. It protects against single-bit errors and is beneficial to businesses with sites that do not have sufficient IT staff available to service a failure, do not always have replacement memory on hand, or where the server cannot be brought down before a scheduled shutdown.

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BIOS Setup

System Health

These items display the current status of all of the monitored hardware devices/ components such as CPU voltages, temperatures and all fans’ speeds.

CPU and System Voltage

This field shows the CPU and system voltages.

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System Fan Speed

These items display the current fans’ speeds of the system.

Auto Fan Speed Control

This item enables/disables the Smart Fan feature. Smart Fan is an excellent feature which will adjust the CPU/system fan speed automatically depending on the current CPU/system temperature, avoiding system damage caused by overheating.

CPU0 Temp Tmin, CPU1 Temp Tmin, System Temp Tmin

You can select a fan value here. If the current temperature reaches to the minimum threshold you set here, the fan will slow down to keep the temperature stable.

CPU0 THERM Temp Limit, CPU1 THERM Temp Limit, System THERM

Temp Limit

You can select a fan tolerance value here. If the current temperature of the fan reaches to the maximum threshold you set here, the fan will speed up for cooling down.

CPU 0 Temp, CPU 1 Temp, System Temp

These items show the CPU and system temperatures.

3-12

Integrated Devices

USB Control

This setting enables/disables the onboard USB host controller.

BIOS Setup

USB BIOS Legacy Support

Set to [Enabled] if your need to use any USB 1.1/2.0 device in the operating system that does not support or have any USB 1.1/2.0 driver installed, such as DOS and SCO Unix.

MAC LAN, MAC LAN Bridge, MAC 1 LAN, MAC 1 LAN Bridge

These settings allow you to enable/disable the specified device controllers.

SATA0 Controller, SATA1 Controller, SATA2 Controller

These settings allow you to enable/disable the onchip Serial-ATA controllers.

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NV RAID Configuration

This setting enables/disables the nVIDIA software RAID configuration.

Master SATA0/SATA1/SATA2 Primary, Master SATA0/SATA1/SATA2

Secondary

These settings control the specified SATA drives.

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PCI Configuration

MAC LAN, MAC1 LAN, PCI Device SATA, Onboard VGA

BIOS Setup

Option ROM Scan

Use this feature to initialize device expansion ROM.

Enable Master

When set to [Enabled], BIOS will activate the selected device as a PCI bus master.

Latency Timer

This item controls how long each PCI device can hold the bus before another takes over. When set to higher values, every PCI device can conduct transactions for a longer time and thus improve the effective PCI bandwidth. For better PCI performance, you should set the item to higher values.

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PCI Device SAS

Onboard LSI SAS Device

This setting enables/disables the onboard LSI SAS device.

Option ROM Scan

Use this feature to initialize device expansion ROM.

Enable Master

When set to [Enabled], BIOS will activate the selected device as a PCI bus master.

Latency Timer

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Onboard LAN

BIOS Setup

Onboard BCM LAN Device

This setting enables/disables the onboard Broadcom LAN device.

Option ROM Scan

Use this feature to initialize device expansion ROM.

Enable Master

When set to [Enabled], BIOS will activate the selected device as a PCI bus master.

Latency Timer

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I/O Device Configuration

Serial Port A/B

These settings enable/disable the onboard Serial Port A / B.

Base I/O Address

These settings specify the base I/O port addresses of the onboard Serial Port A / B.

Interrupt

These settings specify IRQs for the Serial Port A / B.

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BIOS Setup

Console Redirection

Com Port Address

This setting enables/disables the Com port address for console connection.

Baud Rate

This setting specifies the transfer rate (bits per second) of Console Redirection.

Console Type

This setting specifies the console type.

Flow Control

This feature allows you to enable flow control.

Console Connection

This feature indicates whether the console is connected directly to the system or a modem is used for connection.

Continue C. R. after POST

Selecting [On] will enable Console Redirection after OS has loaded.

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DMI Event Logging

Event Log Capacity/Validity

These items indicate the status of Event log validity and capacity.

View DMI Event Log

Press [Enter] to view the contents of the DMI event log.

Clear All DMI Event Logs

When this setting is set to [Yes], the DMI event log will be cleared at next POST stage. Then, the BIOS will automatically set this option to [No].

Event Logging

This setting disables/enables the BIOS to log DMI (Desktop Management Interface) events.

Mark DMI Events as Readd

Press [Enter] and a screen pops up, asking users to confirm whether or not to clear all DMI event logs immediately. Press [Y] and [Enter], the BIOS will clear all DMI event logs right away.

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Security

BIOS Setup

Supervisor Password Is, User Password Is

These items indicate the status of password settings.

Set Supervisor Password

Supervisor Password controls access to the BIOS Setup utility.

Set User Password

User Password controls access to the system at boot.

Password on Boot

Choosing [Enabled] requires a password on boot. It requires prior setting of the supervisor password. If the supervisor password is set and this option is disabled, BIOS assumes the user is booting.

Fixed Disk Boot Sector

This option allows users to write protect boot sector on hard disk to protect against viruses.

Diskette Access

This setting is used to restrict access to the diskette drive.

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Power

Use this menu to specify your settings for Power Management. Remember that the options available depend upon the hardware installed in your system.

Power Loss Control

This setting specifies whether your system will reboot after a power failure or interrupt occurs. Available settings are:

[Stay Off] Returns the system to an off state. [Power On] Returns the system to an on state. [Last State] Restores the system to the previous status before power

failure or interrupt occurred.

C State Configuration

C-state performance indicates the ability to run the processor in lower power states when the PC is idle. This setting enables/disables the C-State Configuration for power saving purposes.

Enable Multimedia Timer

This setting enables the Multimedia Timer to achieve better resolution for multimedia and other time-sensitive applications.

Wake Up by LAN

Select [Enabled] to wake up the system when incoming signals are detected on the specified LAN devices.

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Resume On Time

Select [On] to wake up the system at predetermined time.

Resume Time

The time format is <HH> <MM> <SS>.

Resume Date

The date format is <MM> <DD> <YYYY>.

BIOS Setup

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Boot

Use this menu to arrange and specify the priority of the devices from which the BIOS will attempt to boot the Operating System.

Boot Priority Order

This setting allows users to set the boot priority of the specified devices. First press <Enter> to enter the sub-menu. Then you may use the arrow keys ( ↑↓ ) to select the desired device, then press <+>, <-> or <PageUp>, <PageDown> key to move it up/ down in the priority list.

Excluded from Boot Order

This setting allows users to exclude the specified devices from the Boot Order list.

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BIOS Setup

Exit

The following sections describe each of the options on this menu. Note that <Esc> does not exit this menu. You must select one of the items from the menu or menu bar to exit.

Exit Saving Changes

When you want to quit the Setup menu, you can select this option to save the changes and quit.

Exit Discarding Changes

When you want to quit the Setup menu, you can select this option to abandon the changes.

Load Setup Defaults

The option allows users to restore all of the BIOS settings to the Optimal Defaults. The Setup Defaults are the default values set by the mainboard manufacturer specifically for the optimized performance of the mainboard.

Discard Changes

The option allows users to restore all of the BIOS settings to previous values.

Save Changes

The option allows users to save the changes without exiting Setup.

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3-26

nVIDIA SATA RAID

Appendix A

nVIDIA SATA RAID

NVIDIA brings Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology—which is used by the world’s leading businesses—to the common PC desktop. This technology uses multiple drives to either increase total disk space or to offer data protection. For all levels, RAID techniques optimize storage solutions by using multiple disks grouped together and treating them as a single storage resource.

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Introduction

System Requirement

Operating System Support

NVRAID supports the following operating systems:

Windows XP Windows 2003 x64 Windows 2003 Windows 2000 Professional Windows 2000

RAID Arrays

NVRAID supports the following types of RAID arrays described in this section: RAID 0: RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write times for many applications. RAID 1: RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data.

Summary of RAID Configurations

Array Uses Advantages Drawbacks # Hard

RAID 0 Non-critical data

requiring high performance.

RAID 1 Small databases or any

other small capacity environment requiring fault tolerance.

High data throughput. No fault tolerance. multiple None

100% data redundancy.

Requires 2 drives for the storage space of 1 drive.

Disks

2 Yes

Fault Tolerance

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nVIDIA SATA RAID

RAID Configuration

Basic Configuration Instructions

The following are the basic steps for configuring NVRAID:

Non-Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable the nVidia RAID Function in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS.)

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1) or Striping (RAID 0) and create the desired RAID array.

3. Enter the Windows OS, run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the

RAID software.

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Bootable RAID Array

1. Choose the hard disks that are to be RAID enabled in the system BIOS. (To enable the nVidia RAID Function in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS.)

2. Specify the RAID level, either Mirroring (RAID 1) or Striping (RAID 0),and create the desired RAID array.

3. Boot from the Windows CD, use the floppy disk that has the RAID driver to copy

and install the nForce RAID software.

4. Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks.

Setting Up the NVRAID BIOS

Be sure to enable the nVidia RAID Function in nVidia RAID Setup of Integrated Peripherals in BIOS before configuring the NVRAID BIOS. After that press F10 to

save the configuration and exit. The PC will reboot right away. Then enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted, and follow the procedures described below to set up the NVRAID BIOS. NVRAID BIOS setup lets you choose the RAID array type and which hard drives you want to make part of the array.

Entering the RAID BIOS Setup

1. After rebooting your PC, wait until you see the RAID software prompting you to press F10. The RAID prompt appears as part of the system POST and boot process prior to loading the OS.

2. Press F10, and the NVIDIA RAID Utility --- Define a New Array window will appear. The default RAID Mode is set to Mirroring and Striping Block is set to Optimal.

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Understanding the “Define a New Array ” Window

Use the Define a New Array window to

• Select the RAID Mode

• Set up the Striping Block

• Specify which disks to use for the RAID Array

Depending on the platform used, the system can have one or more channels. In a typical system there is usually one controller and multiple channels, and each channel has a slave and a master. The channel/controller/master/slave status of each hard disk is given in the Loc (location) columns of the Free Disks and Array Disks lists.

In the example above, 1.0.M means the hard drive is attached to Channel 1, Controller 0, and the drive is set to Master. The following is a list of all possible combinations:

Parallel ATA

0.0.M Channel 0, controller 0, Master

0.0.S Channel 0, controller 0, Slave

0.1.M Channel 0, controller 1, Master

0.1.S Channel 0, controller 1, Slave

Serial ATA

1.0.M Channel 1, controller 0, Master

1.1.M Channel 1, controller 1, Master

2.0.M Channel 2, controller 0, Master

2.1.M Channel 2, controller 1, Master

Important

There is no such thing as Slave drive in Serial ATA. All drives are considered to be Master since there is a one to one connection between the drive and the controller.

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Using the Define a New Array Window

If necessary, press the tab key to move from field to field until the appropriate field is highlighted.

• Selecting the RAID Mode

By default, this is set to [Mirroring]. To change to a different RAID mode, press the down arrow key until the mode that you want appears in the RAID Mode box—either [Mirroring], [Striping].

• Selecting the Striping Block Size

Striping Block size is given in kilobytes, and affects how data is arranged on the

disk. It is recommended to leave this value at the default [Optimal], which is 32KB, but the values can be between [4 KB] and [128 KB].

• Assigning the Disks

The disks that you enabled from the RAID Config BIOS setup page appear in the Free Disks block. These are the drives that are available for use as RAID array disks.

To designate a free disk to be used as a RAID array disk,

1. Tab to the Free Disks section. The first disk in the list is selected.

2. Move it from the Free Disks block to the Array Disks block by pressing the right

arrow key (-->). The first disk in the list is moved, and the next disk in the list is selected and ready to be moved.

3. Continue pressing the right-arrow key (<-- ) until all the disks that you want to use

as RAID array disks appear in the Array Disks block.

It shows that two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks in the figure above.

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Completing the RAID BIOS Setup

1.After assigning your RAID array disks, press F7. The Clear disk data prompt appears.

2.Press Y if you want to wipe out all the data from the RAID array, otherwise press N. You must choose Yes if the drives were previously used as RAID drives. The Array List window appears, where you can review the RAID arrays that you have set up.

3. Use the arrow keys to select the array that you want to set up, then press Enter. The Array Detail window appears.

4. If you want to mark this disk as empty and wipe out all its contents then press C.

5. At the prompt, press Y to wipe out all the data, otherwise press N.

6.Press Enter again to go back to the previous window and then press Ctrl+X to exit the RAID setup. Now that the RAID setup has been configured from the RAID BIOS, the next step is to configure and load NVRAID drivers under Windows, as explained in “Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows”.

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Installing the RAID Driver (for bootable RAID Array)

1. After you complete the RAID BIOS setup, boot from the Windows CD, and the

Windows Setup program starts.

2. Press F6 and wait for the Windows Setup screen to appear.

3. Specify the NVIDIA drivers:

(1)Insert the floppy that has the RAID driver, press S, then press Enter. The

Windows Setup screen appears as below:

Important

Please follow the instructions below to make an nVIDIA Serial ATA RAID driver diskette for yourself.

1.Insert the MSI CD into the CD-ROM drive.

2.Click the “Browse CD” on the Setup screen.

3.Copy all the contents in the :

\\nVidia\System\MCP55\IDE\WinXP\sataraid or \\nVidia\System\MCP55\IDE\Win2K\sataraid

to a formatted floppy disk.

4.The driver disk for nVIDIA RAID controller is done.

(2)Select “NVIDIA RAID CLASS DRIVER” and then press Enter. (3)Press S again at the Specify Devices screen, then press Enter. (4)Select “NVIDIA NForce Storage Controller” and then press Enter. The follow-

ing Windows Setup screen appears listing both drivers:

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4.Press Enter to continue with Windows XP Installation. Be sure to leave the floppy disk inserted in the floppy drive until the blue screen portion of Windows XP installation is completed, then take out the floppy.

5.Follow the instructions on how to install Windows XP. After Windows XP is completely installed, it is recommended that you install the the RAID management tool.

Important

Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array, the RAID driver will have to be installed under Windows once for that hard drive. After that, the driver will not have to be installed.

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NVIDIA RAID Utility Installation

Installing the NVIDIA RAID Software Under Windows (for Nonbootable RAID Array)

The existing Windows IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled) must be upgraded to use the NVIDIA IDE Parallel ATA driver (as well as the NV Serial ATA driver if SATA is enabled). This section describes how to run the setup application and install the RAID software which will upgrade the Windows IDE driver and install the RAID software.

1.Start the NVIDIA C19 System Drivers installation program to open the NVIDIA

Windows nForce Drivers page.

2.Select the modules that you want to install. Make sure that the “NVIDIA IDE Driver”

is selected.

Important

You must install the NVIDIA IDE driver in order to enable NVIDIA RAID. If you do not install the NVIDIA IDE driver, NVIDIA RAID will not be

enabled.

3.Click Next and then follow the instructions.

4.After the installation is completed, be sure to reboot the PC.

5.After the reboot, initialize the newly created array.

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Initializing and Using the Disk Array

The RAID array is now ready to be initialized under Windows.

1.Launch Computer Management by clicking “Start” --> “Settings” --> “Control Panel”

then open the “ Administrative Tools” folder and double click on “Computer Management”.

2.Click “Disk Management” (under the “ Storage” section). The Initialize and Convert

Disk Wizards appears.

3.Click Next. The Select Disks to Initialize window appears. The disks listed depend

on how many arrays you have configured.

4.Click Next. The Select Disks to Convert window appears.

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5.Check the disk in the list if you want to make the array a dynamic disk, then click

Next. The Completing the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard window appears.

6.Click Finish. The “Computer Management” window appears.

The actual disks listed will depend on your system, and the unallocated partition is the total combined storage of two hard disks. You must format the unallocated disk space in order to use it.

7. Format the unallocated disk space. Right click “Unallocated space”, select “New

Partition…” and follow the wizard. After the drive has been formatted, it is ready for use.

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RAID Drives Management

There is an application called NVRAIDMAN which helps you perform the following tasks of nVDIA RAID.

• Viewing RAID Array Configurations

View an array configuration (mirrored or striped)

• Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk

• View free and/or dedicated free disks

• Designate a free disk to a particular array

• Creating RAID Arrays

• Deleting a RAID Array

• Morphing From One RAID Array to Another

• Hot Plug Array

• Initializing a RAID Array

• Erase the data on the array by writing all zeros to the sectors of each hard

disk.

• Rebuilding a RAID Mirrored Array

• Rebuild a broken mirrored array

• Watch the progress of rebuilding an array

• Only applies to RAID 1 arrays

• Synchronizing a RAID Array

• Rebuild the redundancy in RAID 1 arrays (copy the data to the

redundant disk—the same operation as rebuilding)

Viewing RAID Array Configurations

To view your RAID configuration from Windows, launch the NVRAID Management utility by double-clicking NvRaidMan.exe (the default location of NvRaidMan.exe is in \\nVidia\System\MCP55\IDE\Win2k or XP\raidtool\ of the setup CD accompanied with your mainboard). The RAID configuration information appears in the right-side pane, as shown below.

Important

The setup screens are for demonstration only and may vary from what is shown in your system.

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Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk

You can designate a hard drive to be used as a spare drive for a RAID 1 array. The spare drive can take over for a failed disk. NVRAID supports two types of spare drives:

• Free Disk

A free disk is a disk that is not part of any RAID array, but can be used by any available RAID 1 array that requires a particular disk when one of its disks crashes or becomes unusable. The process is automatic and doesn’t require any user interaction. For example, if you have a system with four hard disks where one disk is used to boot the OS, two hard drives are set up in a mirrored array, and a fourth hard disk is set up as a free disk, then if one of the mirrored array drives fails, the free disk will be automatically assigned to the mirrored array to be used instead of the failed disk.

• Dedicated Disk

A dedicated free disk is a disk that is assigned to a RAID 1 array and that disk is used by that array only when needed, for example during a system crash where a RAID mirrored drive is broken. The dedicated disk can be used only by the array that it is assigned to and not by any other array, unlike a free disk which can be used by any available RAID 1 array. Note: You must have at least two RAID arrays to use this feature.

Assigning a Free Disk

To mark a disk as free, or not a part of any array,

1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as free is RAID enabled.

2. Enter the RAID BIOS and make sure that the drive is not part of any array (if one exists).

3. Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN program. The drive appears under the Free Disk section. The figure below shows an example of the NVRAIDMAN display if you have a mirror array and one free disk.

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Assigning a Dedicated Disk

To mark a disk as dedicated, or reserve it for use by a specific array,

Step 1: Mark the Disk as a Free Disk

1. Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as

free is RAID enabled.

2. Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN program.

If the disk is not part of any RAID array, then it will appear under the Free Disk section of the RAID GUI.

Step 2: Dedicate the Free Disk to an Array

While running NVRAIDMAN, dedicate the free disk to an array by doing the following:

1. Right click one of the two Mirrored arrays as shown below.

2. Select Designate Spare from the menu to launch the Spare Disk Allocation Wizard.

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3. Click Next.

The RAID Array Selection page appears.

4. From the Free Disk Selection page, select one of the two free disks available.

This would be the disk that will be designated to the mirror array.

5. Click Next.

The Completing the NVIDIA Spare Disk Allocation page appears.

6. Click Finish.

As shown in figure below, the ST380011A drive is now a dedicated free disk in the mirrored array. If a system crash occurs that causes any of the two WD360GD drives to fail, the ST380011A hard drive will take over and be used in the newly formed mirrored array.

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Removing a Dedicated Disk

Once a dedicated disk has been assigned to a particular array, it can be removed at any time. To remove the disk, right click on the dedicated disk and select “Remove Disk...” to remove it. In the previous example, simply right click on the ST380011A drive and select “Remove Disk... ”. as shown in the screen shot below:

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Morphing From One RAID Array to Another

In a traditional RAID environment, when a user wants to change the current state of a disk or a current array to a new RAID configuration, the process of reconfiguring the new array involves multiple steps. The user must back up the data, delete the array, re-boot the PC, and then reconfigure the new array. NVIDIA RAID allows the end user to change the current state of the disk or array to another with a one-step process called .Morphing.. This section describes the NVIDIA Morphing process and explains how to use Morphing to convert from one RAID array type to another.

General Morphing Principles

NVIDIA RAID includes extensive support for morphing, a process of converting from one RAID mode to another RAID mode.

General Requirements and Limitations

• The new array capacity must be equal to or greater than the previous array.

For example, it is possible to morph from a RAID 1 array to a RAID 0 array as long as the RAID 0 array is the same size as (or larger than) the RAID 1 array.

• You can’t morph from RAID 1 to RAID 1

Specific Morphing Requirements

The following table lists the disk requirements for a new RAID array for various morphing combinations.

From To New Array Disk Requirements

m > n

RAID 0

RAID 1

RAID 0

RAID 1

Number of disks in the new array must be greater than the original array. m =2, n =1 RAID 1 array must include two disks, converted from a one disk RAID 0 array.

No additional restrictions.

** Not a valid combination **

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Hot Plug Array

With respect to RAID, hot plugging is the ability to add a disk to a system safely and without causing problems for the RAID software. For example, when a drive in a mirrored array fails, the user can launch the Hot Plug Array Wizard which instructs the user as to when a drive can be safely added to the system. As soon as the drive is added, the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes usable by the system. Hot Plug Array allows the user to add or remove an entire array without degrading the array in the process.

NVRAIDMAN can be used to hot plug a RAID disk. To hot plug a disk, simply do the following:

1 Launch NVRAIDMAN and click on “Hot Plug Array” and the following screen shot

will appear:

2 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:

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3 Connect the RAID disk that you want to use with any given RAID array. 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear:

5 Click Finish.

Initializing a RAID Array

Initializing a RAID array erases all the data that is stored on that array, and writes all zeros to the disks. Initialization of newly configured RAID arrays is recommended to ensure consistency and reliable performance on any supported fault tolerant array such as RAID 0. Use this feature only if you are absolutely sure that you want to wipe out all the data on that array. Initialization of a fault tolerant array can only be done when the array is being created. To initialize an array, perform the following steps:

Note: In this example, a mirror array is initialized.

1 From the NVRAIDMAN window, right click on any available free disk and select Create Array as show in Figure below.

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2 The Create Array Wizard opens. Follow the Wizard to create a Mirror array. 3 At the Create Array Wizard Welcome screen, click Next . 4 At the RAID Array Selection page, make sure that RAID Mode is set to “Mirroring” and Stripe Size is set to its default value of 64K, then click Next. 5 At the Free Disk Selection page, select the two drives that you want to Mirror and

click Next.

6 Click Next again and the following screen shot will appear:

7 Check “Intialize Array” and then click Next. The Initialization Warning dialog appears.

8 Click OK. The Clearing System Data screen appears again with the Initialize Array

check box checked as shown below.

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9 Click Next , then click Finish at the Completing the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard

screen. The NVRAIDMAN windows shows the created RAID array as shown below.

The Initialization Process

As you can see from the screen shot above, the initialization process has started and it will be completed in a short period of time. As soon as the Initialization process starts, a popup window similar to the following will appear:

followed by the following pop-up window:

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Rebuilding a RAID Array

Rebuilding is the process of restoring data to a hard drive from other drives in the array. This applies only to fault tolerant arrays such as RAID 1. For example, assuming you have a two disk RAID 1 array, and one of the drives fail, then you need the lost data on the newly added drive.

Rebuilding Instructions

After creating a mirrored array, you can rebuild the array using the following steps: 1 Go to Windows and run the NVIDIA RAID Management utility. The picture below shows an example of a system with one mirrored array and two

free disks.

2. Right-click on Mirroring. The popup menu appears.

3. From the popup menu, click Rebuild Array. The NVIDIA Rebuild Array Wizard

appears.

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4. Click Next. The Disk Selection page appears.

5. Select the drive that you want to rebuild by clicking it from the list, then click Next. The Completing the NVIDIA Rebuild Array page appears.

6. Click Finish. The array rebuilding starts after a few seconds, and a small pop-up message appears towards the bottom right corner of the screen as shown in the figure below.

When the rebuilding process is finished you will see the pop up box shown in Figure below.

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During the rebuilding process, the NVRAID Management utility screen shows the status under the System Tasks and Details sections.

More About Rebuilding Arrays

• Rebuilding Occurs in the Background

The rebuilding process is very slow (it can take up to a day) and occurs in the background so as not to affect the performance of the system.

• Rebuilding Applies Only to RAID 1 Array

Rebuilding an array works only when using RAID 1. Rebuilding does not apply to RAID 0.

• Rebuilding applies to a degraded fault tolerant array

You can rebuild a degraded mirrored array using any available Free Disk or Dedicated Disk. For example, Figure below shows a mirrored array using two 34.48 GB drives while having two Free Disks each 55.90 GB large.

To use one of these available free disks to rebuild your array, follow the same steps as explained in “Rebuilding a RAID Array”, except when prompted to select a disk, choose one of the two available free disks.

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Synchronizing a RAID Array

Synchronizing an array will force a rebuild of redundancy or parity. The operation is applicable to any fault tolerant array such as RAID 1.

• For RAID1, “sync” results in copying the data to the redundancy disk,

To sync an array, do the following (This example assumes you have already created a fault tolerant array such as RAID 1): 1 Right click on “Mirroring” and select Synchronize Array as shown in Figure

below.

2 The Synchronize Array Wizard Welcome screen appears.

3 Click on Next and then click Finish at the Wizard Completion screen. The NVRAIDMAN

window indicates that the array is synchronizing, as shown in Figure below.

As you can see from the screen shot above, the synchronization process has started and it will be completed in a short period of time.

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Usind Disk Alert

The RAID manager application includes a disk alert feature that provides a graphical indication of the status of the hard disks in the system. When the RAID manager application detects a failure condition of an attached drive, a pop-up box appears in the clock area of the Windows system tray. Click the popup box to view the manufacturer-provide bitmap image of the system motherboard. The image shows the hard drive connector ports and provides a visual indication of the location and status of the drives as follows:

• Red rectangle: A red rectangle will flash around the port connector that is attached to the failed drive.

• Green rectangle: Ports that have a drive attached, and are in a healthy state, are indicated with a green rectangle around the port connector.

• Yellow rectangle: Ports that have a drive attached, are members of a failed RAID array, but are not the cause of the failure have a yellow rectangle around the port connector.

Unconnected ports have no visual indication.

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Appendix B

LSI SAS RAID

This appendix explains how to configure and use the components of the LSI Logic Integrated RAID (IR) software with LSI SAS 1064/1064E & 1068/1068E controllers.

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1. Introduction to Integrated RAID

This section provides an overview of the LSI Logic Integrated RAID solution for LSI Logic SAS controllers, its features, and its benefits.

The LSI Logic Integrated RAID solution provides cost benefits for the server or workstation market where the extra performance, storage capacity, and/or redundancy of a RAID configuration are required. The two components of Integrated RAID are:

Integrated Mirroring (IM), which provides features of RAID 1 and RAID 1E

(RAID 1 Enhanced). RAID 1E is also called Integrated Mirroring Enhanced (IME)

Integrated Striping (IS), which provides features of RAID 0

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

Fusion-MPT™ firmware supports IM and IS volumes. You can configure IM and IS volumes together on the same LSI Logic SAS controller.

Integrated RAID Benefits and Features

Low cost RAID volume creation meets the needs of most internal RAID instal-

lations Easy to use - installation and configuration are not complex System can boot from an IM, IME, or IS volume No special OS-specific software required High reliability and data integrity

– Non-volatile write journaling – Physical disks not visible to OS or to application software

Low host CPU and PCI bus utilization Fusion-MPT architecture provides processing power

– Shared memory architecture minimizes external memory requests – Functionality is contained in device hardware and firmware

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2. Integrated Mirroring Overview

This section provides an overview of the LSI Logic Integrated Mirroring (IM) feature.

2.1 Introduction

As a result of the shift towards Network Attached Storage (NAS), ISPs need a cost effective, fault-tolerant solution to protect the operating systems on small form factor, high-density, rack-mountable servers. The LSI Logic Integrated Mirroring (IM) feature—which includes Integrated Mirroring Enhanced (IME)—provide data protection for the system boot volume to safeguard critical information such as the operating system on servers and high performance workstations. The Integrated Mirroring feature gives customers a robust, high-performance, fault-tolerant solution to their storage needs, at a lower cost than a dedicated RAID controller.

The Integrated Mirroring feature supports simultaneous mirrored volumes with two disks (IM) or three to eight disks (IME), to provide fault-tolerant protection for critical data. (If a hot spare disk is used, the maximum volume size is seven mirrored disks, plus the hot spare disk.) Up to two IM volumes are supported per SAS controller, with up to ten drives total per controller.

v Note: Ten disk drives is the theoretical upper limit, although the SAS controller

itself may support fewer drives.

If a disk in an Integrated Mirroring volume fails, the hot swap capability allows the volume to be easily restored by simply swapping disks. The firmware then automatically re-mirrors the swapped disk. Additionally, each SAS controller can have one global hot spare disk available to automatically replace a failed disk in the one or two IM or IME volumes configured on the controller. The hot spare makes the Integrated Mirroring volume even more fault-tolerant.

v Note: You can configure an Integrated Mirroring volume and an Integrated Striping

volume on the same LSI Logic SAS controller.

The IM feature uses the same device drivers as the standard LSI Logic Fusion-MPT based controllers, providing seamless and transparent fault tolerance. This eliminates the need for complex backup software or expensive RAID hardware. The IM feature operates independently from the operating system, in order to conserve system resources. The BIOSbased configuration utility makes it easy to configure IM and IME volumes.

The Integrated Mirroring feature is currently available as an optional component of the Fusion-MPT architecture on LSI Logic controller products.

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2.2 IM Features

LSI Logic Integrated Mirroring and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced support the following features:

Configurations of one or two IM or IME volumes on the same LSI Logic SAS

controller. Each volume can consist of two mirrored disks (IM) or three to eight

mirrored disks (IME). (Optional) One global hot spare disk per controller. If a global hot spare disk is

defined, the upper limit for an IME volume is seven mirrored disks. Mirrored volumes run in optimal mode or in degraded mode (if one mirrored disk

fails) Hot swap capability Presents a single virtual drive to the OS for each IM/IME volume Supports both SAS and SATA disks, although the two types of disks cannot be

combined on the same LSI Logic SAS controller Fusion-MPT architecture Easy-to-use BIOS-based configuration utility (and DOS-based configuration

utility for manufacturing use only)

Error notification: OS-specific event log updated by drivers and errors dis-

played inside the Fusion-MPT BIOS SES status LED support for Integrated Mirroring disks Write journaling, which allows automatic synchronization of potentially incon-

sistent data after unexpected power-down situations Metadata used to store volume configuration on mirrored disks Automatic background resynchronization while host I/Os continue Background media verification ensures that data on the IM volume is acces-

sible

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2.3 IM/IME Description

The LSI Logic Integrated Mirroring (IM) feature supports one or two mirrored volumes on each LSI Logic SAS controller (or one mirrored volume and one Integrated Striping volume). Typically, one of these volumes is the boot volume, as shown in Figure 2.1. This is accomplished through the firmware of the LSI Logic SAS controller that supports the standard Fusion-MPT interface. The runtime mirroring of the boot disk is transparent to the BIOS, drivers, and operating system.

Host-based status software monitors the state of the mirrored disks and reports any error conditions. In Figure 2.1 the system is configured with a second disk as a mirror of the first (primary) disk.

The advantage of Integrated Mirroring (RAID 1), is that there is always a mirrored copy of the data. The disadvantage is that writes take longer because data must be written twice. On the other hand, performance is actually improved during reads. Figure 2.2 shows the logical view and physical view of an Integrated Mirroring configuration with two disks in the mirrored volume.

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An IME volume can be configured with up to eight mirrored disks, or seven mirrored disks and a global hot spare. Figure 2.3 shows the logical view and physical view of an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced (IME) volume with three mirrored disks. Each mir- rored stripe is written to a disk and mirrored to an adjacent disk. This type of configuration is also called RAID 1E.

LSI Logic provides the BIOS-based configuration utility to enable the user to create IM and IME volumes during initial setup and to reconfigure them in response to hardware failures or changes in the environment.

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2.4 Integrated Mirroring Firmware

This section describes features of the LSI Logic Integrated Mirroring (IM) firmware, which supports up to two IM volumes per LSI Logic SAS controller.

2.4.1 Host Interface

The IM host interface uses the Message Passing Interface, as described in the Fusion-MPT Message Passing Interface Specification. Through the FusionMPT interface, the host OS has access to the IM volume as well as the physical disks.

2.4.2 Resynchronization with Concurrent Host I/O Operation

The IM firmware allows Host I/Os to continue on the IM/IME volume while the volume is being re-synchronized in the background. Resynchronization is attempted after a hot spare is activated due to a physical device failure, or after a hot swap has occurred to a physical disk in the IM or IME volume.

2.4.3 Metadata Support

The firmware supports metadata, which describes the IM/IME logical drive configuration stored on each member disk. When the firmware is initialized, each member disk is queried to read the stored metadata in order to verify the configuration. The usable disk space for each member disk is adjusted down to leave room for this data.

2.4.4 Hot Swapping

The IM firmware supports hot swapping. The hot-swapped disk is automatically resynchronized 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 readies the new physical disk by spinning it up and verifying that it has enough capacity for the mirrored volume. The IM firmware resynchronizes all hot-swapped disks that have been removed, even if the same disk is re-inserted. In a two-disk mirrored volume, the IM firmware marks the hot-swapped disk as the secondary disk and marks the other mirrored disk as the primary disk. The firmware resynchronizes all data from the primary disk onto the new secondary disk.

2.4.5 SMART Support

The IM firmware enables Mode 6 SMART on the member disks in the mirrored volume. Mode 6 SMART requires each physical disk to be polled at regular intervals. If a SMART ASC/ASCQ code is detected on a physical disk in the volume, the firmware processes the SMART data, and the last received SMART ASC/ASCQ is stored in non-volatile memory. The IM/IME volume does not support SMART directly, since it is just a logical representation of the physical disks in the volume.

2.4.6 Hot Spare Disk

One disk can be configured as a global hot spare disk, which protects data on the one or two volumes configured on the controller. If the IM firmware fails one of the mirrored disks, the firmware automatically replaces it with the hot spare

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disk. The IM firmware then resynchronizes the mirrored data. The IM firmware is automatically notified when the failed disk has been replaced, and the firmware then designates that disk as the new hot spare.

2.4.7 Media Verification

The IM firmware supports a background media verification feature that runs at regular intervals when the IM/IME volume is in optimal mode. If the verification command fails for any reason, the other disk’s data for this segment is read and written to the failing disk in an attempt to refresh the data. The current Media Verification Logical Block Address is written to non-volatile memory occasionally to allow Media Verification to continue approximately where it left off prior to a power-cycle.

2.4.8 Disk Write Caching

The IM firmware disables disk write caching by default. This is done to increase data integrity, so that the disk write log stored in NVSRAM is always valid. If disk write caching were enabled (not recommended), the disk write log could be invalid.

2.4.9 NVSRAM Usage

For the LSISAS1064/1064E and LSISAS1068/1068E controllers, the IM firmware requires at least a 32K NVSRAM in order to perform write journaling. Write journaling is used to verify that the mirrored disks in the IM/IME volume are synchronized with each other.

2.5 Fusion-MPT Support

The BIOS uses the LSI Logic Fusion-MPT interface to communicate to the SAS controller and firmware to enable Integrated Mirroring. This includes reading the FusionMPT configuration to gain access to the parameters that are used to define behavior between the SAS controller and the devices connected 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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3. Creating Integrated Mirroring Volumes

This section describes how to create Integrated Mirroring (IM) and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced (IME) volumes using the LSI Logic SAS BIOS Configuration Utility (SAS BIOS CU).

3.1 IM Configuration Overview

You can use the SAS BIOS CU to create one or two IM or IME volumes on each LSI Logic SAS controller, with an optional global hot spare disk. All disks in an IM or IME volume must be connected to the same LSI Logic SAS controller.

Although you can use disks of different size in IM and IME volumes, the smallest disk determines the “logical” size of each disk in the volume. In other words, the excess space of the larger member disk is not used.

Refer to Section 2.2, “IM Features,” for more information about Integrated Mirroring volumes.

3.2 Creating IM and IME Volumes

The SAS BIOS CU is part of the Fusion-MPT BIOS. When the BIOS loads during boot

and you see the message about the LSI Logic Configuration Utility, press Ctrl-C to

start the CU. After you do this, the message changes to:

Please wait, invoking SAS Configuration Utility...

After a brief pause, the main menu of the SAS BIOS CU appears. On some systems, however, the following message appears next:

LSI Logic Configuration Utility will load following initialization!

In this case, the SAS BIOS CU will load after the system has completed its power-on self test.

You can configure one or two IM or IME volumes per Fusion-MPT controller. You can also combine IM, IME, and Integrated Striping volumes on the same controller, up to a maximum of 10 physical disk drives.

The following guidelines also apply when creating an IM or IME volume:

All physical disks in the volumes must be either SATA (with extended command

set support) or SAS (with SMART support). SAS and SATA disks cannot be

combined in the same volume. Disks must have 512-byte blocks and must not have removable media. An IM volume must have two drives, plus an optional global hot spare. An IME

volume. An IME volume can have three to eight drives, or three to seven drives

if you also create a global hot spare.

v Note: If a disk in an IM or IME volume fails, it is rebuilt on the global hot spare if one

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is available. So adding a global hot spare greatly increases the level of data protection. (One global hot spare is allowed for the one or two volumes config ured on a controller.)

3.2.1 Creating an IM Volume

Follow these steps to create an IM volume with the SAS BIOS CU:

1. On the Adapter List screen, use the arrow keys to select an LSI Logic SAS adapter.

2. Press Enter to go to the Adapter Properties screen, shown in Figure 3.1.

3. On the Adapter Properties screen, use the arrow keys to select RAID Proper- ties on the screen and press Enter.

4. When you are prompted to select a volume type, select Create IM Volume. The Create New Array screen shows a list of disks that can be added to a volume.

5. Move the cursor to the “RAID Disk” column and select a disk. To add the disk to the volume, change the “No” to “Yes” by pressing the + key, . key, or space bar. When the first disk is added, the SAS BIOS CU prompts you to either keep existing data or overwrite existing data.

6. Press M to keep the existing data on the first disk or press D to overwrite it. If you keep the existing data, this is called a migration. The first disk will be mirrored onto the second disk, so the data you want to keep must be on the first disk added to the volume. Any data on the second disk is overwritten. As disks are added the Array Size field changes to reflect the size of the new volume.

7. (optional) Add a global hot spare by moving the cursor to the hot spare column and pressing the + key, . key, or space bar.

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