Supero AOC-USAS-L8i User Manual

Rev. 1.0b

AOC-USAS-L8i

USER'S GUIDE

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ii

Add-on Card User's Guide

The information in this User’s Manual has been carefully reviewed and is believed to be accurate.
The vendor assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be contained in this document,
makes no commitment to update or to keep current the information in this manual, or to notify any
person or organization of the updates.

Please Note: For the most up-to-date version of

this manual, please see our web site at www.supermicro.com.

SUPERMICRO COMPUTER reserves the right to make changes to the product described in this
manual at any time and without notice. This product, including software, if any, and documenta

­tion may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any
medium or machine without prior written consent.

IN NO EVENT WILL SUPERMICRO COMPUTER BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, SPECULATIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE
OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT OR DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN PARTICULAR, THE VENDOR SHALL NOT HAVE
LIABILITY FOR ANY HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA STORED OR USED WITH THE
PRODUCT, INCLUDING THE COSTS OF REPAIRING, REPLACING, INTEGRATING, INSTALLING
OR RECOVERING SUCH HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, OR DATA.

Any disputes arising between manufacturer and customer shall be governed by the laws of Santa
Clara County in the State of California, USA. The State of California, County of Santa Clara shall
be the exclusive venue for the resolution of any such disputes. Supermicro's total liability for all
claims will not exceed the price paid for the hardware product.

Manual Revision 1.0b

Release Date: October 17, 2007

Unless you request and receive written permission from SUPER MICRO COMPUTER, you may not
copy or otherwise reproduce/distribute any part of this document.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Other products and companies
referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark
holders.

Copyright © 2007 by SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC.
All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

iii

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overview ........................................................................................................... vii

Product Features ............................................................................................... vi

i

Operating Systems Supported .......................................................................... vi

i

An Important Note to Users .............................................................................. vi

i

Contacting SuperMicro ..................................................................................... vii

i

Chapter 1 Safety Guidelines

1-1 ESD Safety Guidelines ........................................................................................ 1-1

1-

2 General Safety Guidelines ................................................................................... 1-1

1-

3 An Important Note to Users ................................................................................. 1-1

Chapter 2 LED Indicators and Connectors

2-1 Front Connectors and Jumpers ........................................................................... 2-1

Front Connectors ............................................................................................ 2-

1

2-2 Front Connector and Pin Definitions .................................................................... 2-2

2-3

Front Jumper Locations and Pin Definitions ........................................................ 2-3

LED INDICATORS .......................................................................................... 2-

4

Front Pane LED

s ............................................................................................ 2-4

RAID Minimum Drive Requirements ............................................................... 2-

5

Chapter 3 Driver Installation

3-1 Performing a Quick Configuration ........................................................................ 3-1

3-2 Configuring Arrays and Logic Drives .................................................................. 3-

2

Starting the MegaRAID BIOS CU ................................................................... 3-

2

Using Easy Configuration ............................................................................... 3-

3

Using New Configuration and View/Add Configuration .................................. 3-

4

Creating a Global Hotspare Drive ................................................................... 3-

6

Initializing Logical Drives ................................................................................. 3-

7

3-3 Setting the Hard Disk Write Cache and Read Ahead Policies ............................ 3-

9

3-4 Rebuilding a Drive ............................................................................................. 3-1

0

3-5 Hot Plug Support ................................................................................................3-1

1

3-6 Checking Data Consistency ............................................................................... 3-1

2

3-7 Viewing and Changing Device Properties ......................................................... 3-1

3

Viewing and Changing Adapter Properties ................................................... 3-1

4

Viewing and Changing Logical Drive Properties .......................................... 3-1

5

Viewing Physical Drive Properties ................................................................ 3-1

5

iv

Add-on Card User's Guide

3-8 Forcing Drives Online or Offline ........................................................................ 3-15

3-9 Configuring a Bootable Logical Drive ................................................................ 3-1

6

3-10 Deleting a Logical Drive ................................................................................... 3-1

6

3-11 Clearing a Storage Configuration ..................................................................... 3-1

6

Chapter 4 MegaRAID Storage Manager SoftwareOverview and
Installation

4-1 Overview .............................................................................................................. 4-1

Creating Storage Configurations ..................................................................... 4-

1

Monitoring Storage Devices ............................................................................ 4-

2

Maintaining Storage Configurations ................................................................ 4-

2

4-2 Hardware and Software Requirements ................................................................ 4-2

4-3 Installation ............................................................................................................ 4-3

Installing MegaRAID Storage Manager Software for Linux ............................ 4-

6

Linux Error Messages ..................................................................................... 4-

7

Chapter 5 MegaRAID Storage Manager Window and Menus

5-1 Starting MegaRAID Storage Manager Software .................................................. 5-1

5-2 MegaRAID Storage Manager Window ................................................................. 5-4

Physical/Logical View Panel ........................................................................... 5-

5

Properties/Operations/Graphical View Panel .................................................. 5-

6

Event Log Panel .............................................................................................. 5-

6

Menu Bar ......................................................................................................... 5-

7

File Menu .................................................................................................... 5-

7

Operations Menu ........................................................................................ 5-

7

Group Operations Menu ............................................................................. 5-

7

Log Menu ................................................................................................... 5-

8

Help Menu .................................................................................................. 5-

8

Chapter 6 Configuration

6-1 Creating a New Storage Configuration ................................................................ 6-1

Understanding Virtual Disk Parameters .......................................................... 6-

3

Using Auto Configuration ................................................................................ 6-

4

Using Guided Configuration ............................................................................ 6-

5

Using Manual Configuration: RAID 0 .............................................................. 6-

8

Using Manual Configuration: RAID 1 ............................................................ 6-1

0

Using Manual Configuration: RAID 10 .......................................................... 6-1

2

6-2 Adding Hotspare Disks ...................................................................................... 6-1

3

6-3 Changing Adjustable Task Rates ....................................................................... 6-14

6-4 Changing Virtual Disk Properties ....................................................................... 6-15

6-5 Deleting a Virtual Disk ....................................................................................... 6-15

v

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

6-6 Saving a Storage Configuration to Disk ............................................................ 6-16

6-7 Clearing a Storage Configuration from a Controller .......................................... 6-1

6

6-8 Adding a Saved Storage Configuration ............................................................. 6-1

7

vi

Add-on Card User's Guide

Notes

vii

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

Introduction

Overview

This manual is written for system integrators, PC technicians and knowledgeable

PC users who intend to integrate SuperMicro's AOC-USAS-L8i add-on card to

their system.

Product Features

The AOC-USAS-L8i add-on card offers the following features:

• UIO Form Factor.

• Dual Internal "ipass" cable ports.

• Multiple LED Activity/Failure indicators.

Operating Systems Supported

The AOC-USAS-L8i add-on card supports the following Operating Systems (OS):

• Windows 2000/Windows XP/Windows 2003

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux/SUSE Linux

An Important Note to Users

All images and layouts shown in this user's guide are based upon the latest PCB

Revision available at the time of publishing. The card you have received may or

may not look exactly the same as the graphics shown in this manual.

viii

Add-on Card User's Guide

Contacting SuperMicro

Headquarters

Address: SuperMicro Computer, Inc.

980 Rock Ave.

San Jose, CA 95131 U.S.A.

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail] (General Information)

[e-mail] (Technical Support)

Web Site: www.supermicro.com

Europe

Address: SuperMicro Computer B.V.

Het Sterrenbeeld 28, 5215 ML

's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Email: [e-mail] (General Information)

[e-mail] (Technical Support)

[e-mail] (Customer Support)

Asia-Pacific

Address: SuperMicro, Taiwan

4F, No. 232-1, Liancheng Rd.

Chung-Ho 235, Taipei County

Taiwan, R.O.C.

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

Web Site: www.supermicro.com.tw

Technical Support:

Email: [e-mail]

Tel: [phone], ext.132 or 139

1-1

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

Chapter 1

Safety Guidelines

To avoid personal injury and property damage, carefully follow all the safety steps

listed below when accessing your system or handling the components.

1-1 ESD Safety Guidelines

Electric Static Discharge (ESD) can damage electronic components. To prevent dam-

age to your system, it is important to handle it very carefully. The following measures

are generally sufficient to protect your equipment from ESD.

• Use a grounded wrist strap designed to prevent static discharge.

• Touch a grounded metal object before removing a component from the anti

-

static bag.

• Handle the RAID card by its edges only; do not touch its components, periph

-

eral chips, memory modules or gold contacts.

• When handling chips or modules, avoid touching their pins.

• Put the card and peripherals back into their antistatic bags when not in use.

1-2 General Safety Guidelines

• Always disconnect power cables before installing or removing any components

from the computer.

• Disconnect the power cable before installing or removing any cables from the

system.

• Make sure that the add-on card is securely and properly installed on the moth

-

erboard to prevent damage to the system due to power shortage.

1-3 An Important Note to Users

• All images and layouts shown in this user's guide are based upon the latest

PCB Revision available at the time of publishing. The card you have received

may or may not look exactly the same as the graphics shown in this manual.

1-2

Add-on Card User's Guide

Notes

2-1

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

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Chapter 2

LED Indicators and Connectors

2-1 Front Connectors and Jumpers

#1. Internal SAS Connectors

#2. Front Panel LED Connector

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Front Connectors

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2-2

Add-on Card User's Guide

2-2 Front Connector and Pin Definitions

2. Active LED Connector

Allows the add-on card to display activity

and status using a standard LED panel.

1. Internal SAS Connectors

The Internal SAS ports connect to the

backplane allowing the motherboard to ac-

cess the hard drives and RAID capabilities.

Each connector supports up to 4 hard drives

allowing the add-on card to support a maxi-

mum of 8. (SAS 0-3 and SAS 4-7).

Use a single port SAS "ipass" cable (Super

Micro order number CBL - 0108L-02).

LED Connector

Pin Definitions

(U-12)

Pin# Definition

1 A - LED+

2 A - LED-

3 B - LED+

4 B - LED-

2-3

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

2-3 Front Jumper Locations and Pin Definitions

Jumper Settings

Jumper Jumper Settings Note

SWR5

1-2: Enabled
3: Disabled

Leave disabled for AOC-USAS-L8i

Explanation of Jumpers

To modify the operation of the backplane,

jumpers can be used to choose between

optional settings. Jumpers create shorts

between two pins to change the function

of the connector. Pin 1 is identified with

a square solder pad on the printed circuit

board. Note: On two pin jumpers, "Closed"

means the jumper is on and "Open" means

the jumper is off the pins.

Connector

Pins

Jumper

Setting

3 2 1

3 2 1

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2-4

Add-on Card User's Guide

Front Pane LEDs

LED STATE SPECIFICATION

LED1 Flashing SAS Port Activity

LED2 Flashing Heartbeat and Fault

LNP0 ON Fault in HDD #0

LNP1 ON Fault in HDD #1

LNP2 ON Fault in HDD #2

LNP3 ON Fault in HDD #3

LNP4 ON Fault in HDD #4

LNP5 ON Fault in HDD #5

LNP6 ON Fault in HDD #6

LNP7 ON Fault in HDD #7

A0 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #0

A1 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #1

A2 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #2

A3 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #3

A4 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #4

A5 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #5

A6 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #6

A7 Flashing Normal Activity in HDD #7

LED INDICATORS

POWER LEDS

LNP0 - LNP7

A0 - A7

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LED2

2-5

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

RAID Minimum Drive Requirements

RAID Minimum Hard Drives

RAID 0 2

RAID 1 2

RAID 10 4 (2 RAID 1 Arrays)

Use the following chart to determine the minimum number of hard drives needed

to set up a RAID environment.

2-6

Add-on Card User's Guide

Notes

3-1

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

Chapter 3

Driver Installation

The MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility (CU) is used to configure disk arrays and

logical drives and to do other configuration tasks in a pre-bootenvironment.

3-1 Performing a Quick Configuration

This section provides high level instructions for quickly configuring arrays and logical

drives with the MegaRAID BIOS CU. These instructions are intended for users that

are familiar with configuration utilities and tools. Refer to Section 3-2, “Configuring

Arrays and Logical Drives,” for detailed configuration instructions. To ensure the best

performance, select the optimal RAID level for the logical drive you create.

Important: It is recommended that you do not use both SAS and SATA drives in the

same array. Using different drive interfaces in this way could cause unpredictable be

-

havior, decreased performance, an increased error count, and decreased MTBF.

Perform the following steps to configure arrays and logical drives using the Mega

-

RAID BIOS CU:

1. Boot the system.

2. Start the MegaRAID BIOS CU by pressing Ctrl+H.

3. Select Configure from the Management Menu.

4. Select a configuration method from the Configuration menu (Easy Configuration,

New Configuration, or View/Add Configuration).

5. Create arrays using the available physical drives.

6. Define the logical drive(s) using the space in the arrays.

7. Initialize the new logical drive(s).

3-2

Add-on Card User's Guide

3-2 Configuring Arrays and Logic Drives

This section provides detailed instructions for configuring arrays and logical drives

with the MegaRAID BIOS CU. LSI recommends that you use drives with the same

capacity when you create a storage configuration. If you use drives with different

capacities in one array, the CU limits each drive to the capacity of the smallest

drive.

The number of physical drives in a specific array determines the possible RAID

levels that you can implement with the array.

• RAID 0 requires from one to eight physical drives.

• RAID 1 requires two physical drives.

• RAID 10 requires four, six, or eight physical drives.

Starting the MegaRAID BIOS CU

Follow these steps to start the MegaRAID BIOS CU:

1. During boot-up, wait for the following message to appear on the screen:

Press Ctrl-H to run LSI Logic Software RAID Setup Utility

2. When you see this message, hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the H key.

The main menu for the Configuration Utility appears, as shown in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: Configuration of the Main Utility

3-3

Safety Information and Technical Specifications

Note: When you start the MegaRAID BIOS CU by pressing Ctrl-H the Configuration

Manager Module of the BIOS allocates three segments of memory using either PMM

or conventional memory: these are the Destination Segment, Scratch Segment, and

Read Write Buffer Segment. If the three segments are not available the BIOS hooks

INT19h and loads the CU at the fixed segments 5000:0 (Destination Segment),

6000:0 (Scratch Segment) and 7000:0 (Read Write Buffer Segment) after POST.

Using Easy Configuration

When you select the Easy Configuration option, the CU creates one or more arrays

from the available physical drives and configures each array as a single logical drive.

If logical drives have already been configured, the CU does not change their con-

figuration. Follow these steps to create a logical drive using Easy Configuration:

1. Select Configuration→ Easy Configuration from the Management Menu. A list of

available (READY) physical drives appears.

2. Use the arrow keys to select the physical drives to include in the array.

3. Press the spacebar to add each selected physical drive to the new array.

When you select a physical drive, its status changes from READY to ONLIN

A[array number]-[drive number]. For example, ONLIN A00-01 means array 0,

disk drive 1.

4. To create a global hotspare drive, highlight a READY disk drive and press F4.

Then select Yes from the pop-up menu.

5. To define multiple arrays, select all the drives you want for the first array, then

press Enter to start selecting drives for the second array, and so on.

6. When you have selected drives for all desired arrays, press F10.

7. Press the spacebar to select an array.

The Logical Drive Configuration screen appears, as shown in Figure 3-2. This

screen shows the logical drive number, RAID level, logical drive size, number of

stripes in the physical array, stripe size, and state of the logical drive.

3-4

Add-on Card User's Guide

Figure 3-2: Logical Drive Configuration

8. Highlight RAID and press Enter.

The available RAID levels for the current logical drive are displayed.

9. Select a RAID level for the logical drive and press Enter.

10. (Optional) Change the drive’s default Write Cache and Read Ahead policies (see

Section 3-3, “Setting the Hard Disk Write Cache and Read Ahead Policies”).

11. When you have finished defining the current logical drive, select Accept and

press Enter.

12. Save the configuration when prompted, and press any key to return to the

Management Menu.

13. Initialize the new logical drive(s). (See Section 3 “Initializing Logical Drives,” for

detailed instructions.)

Using New Configuration and View/Add Configuration

When you select the New Configuration menu option, the CU deletes the existing

arrays and logical drives and replaces them with the new configuration that you

specify. The View/Add Configuration menu option lets you view the existing con-

figuration or add to the existing configuration, if possible.

Caution: If you want to keep the existing data on the storage configuration, use

View/Add Configuration instead of New Configuration.