American Megatrends MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Manual
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American Megatrends MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Manual

American Megatrends MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Manual

American megatrends, inc. megaraid express 500 hardware guide
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MegaRAID
Express 500
®

Hardware Guide

Preliminary Draft
MAN-475
4/14/2000

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Summary of Contents for American Megatrends MegaRAID Express 500

  • Page 1: Hardware Guide

    MegaRAID Express 500 ® Hardware Guide Preliminary Draft MAN-475 4/14/2000...

  • Page 2: Revision History

    This publication contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. No part of this publication can be reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language or computer language, or transmitted in any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of the publisher, American Megatrends, Inc. American Megatrends, Inc. acknowledges the following trademarks: Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation Sytos 300 is a registered trademark of Sytron Corporation.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Maximum Cable Length for SCSI Standards ...2 Documentation ...3 MegaRAID Express 500 Block Diagram ...4 Introduction to RAID... 5 RAID Benefits...5 In This Chapter...6 MegaRAID Express 500 – Host-Based RAID Solution...7 RAID Overview ...8 Consistency Check ...8 Fault Tolerance ...8 Disk Striping ...9 Disk Spanning ...10 Disk Mirroring ...11...
  • Page 4 SCSI Connectors ...35 SCSI Termination...35 SCSI Firmware...35 RAID Management ...36 Fault-Tolerance Features...37 Compatibility...38 Summary ...38 Configuring MegaRAID Express 500... 39 Configuring SCSI Physical Drives ...39 Current Configuration ...40 Logical Drive Configuration ...40 Physical Device Layout...42 Configuring Arrays...44 Configuration Strategies...45 Assigning RAID Levels ...47 Configuring Logical Drives...47...
  • Page 5 Step 5 Set Jumpers ...56 MegaRAID Express 500 Card Layout ...56 Step 6 Set Termination...59 SCSI Termination...60 Step 7 Install MegaRAID Express 500 ...63 Step 8 Connect SCSI Cables ...64 Step 9 Set Target IDs ...65 Device Identification on MegaRAID Express 500...66 Step 10 Power Up ...67...
  • Page 6 Warranty Registration Card shipped with this product for full warranty details. Limitations of Liability American Megatrends, Inc. shall in no event be held liable for any loss, expenses, or damages of any kind whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential (whether arising from the design or use of this product or the support materials provided with the product).
  • Page 7 Support representative. Before you call, please complete the MegaRAID Problem Report form on the next page. Web Site We invite you to access the American Megatrends world wide web site at: http://www.ami.com. FTP Site The address of the American Megatrends FTP site is: ftp://ftp.megatrends.com...
  • Page 8 MegaRAID Problem Report Form Customer Information Name Company Address City/State Country email address Phone System Information Motherboard: Operating System: Op. Sys. Ver.: MegaRAID Driver Ver.: Network Card: Other disk controllers installed: Description of problem: Steps necessary to re-create problem: Logical Drive Configuration Logical RAID Stripe...
  • Page 9 Logical RAID Stripe Logical Drive Cache Read Write # of Physical Size Drives Drive Level Size Policy Policy Policy LD21 LD22 LD23 LD24 LD25 LD26 LD27 LD28 LD29 LD30 LD31 LD32 LD33 LD34 LD35 LD36 LD37 LD38 LD39 LD40 Preface...

  • Page 10: Physical Device Layout

    Physical Device Layout Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type...
  • Page 11 Channel 1 Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level...
  • Page 12 (even if American Megatrends has been advised of the possibility of such damages). Any questions or comments regarding this document or its contents should be addressed to American Megatrends at the address shown on the cover.
  • Page 13 Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. Shielded interface cables must be used with this product to ensure compliance with the Class B FCC limits. American Megatrends MegaRAID Express 500 PCI RAID Controller Model Number: Series 475 FCC ID Number:...
  • Page 14 MegaRAID Express500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 15: Overview

    The MegaRAID Express 500 is an entry level-to mid-range RAID controller solution. MegaRAID Express 500 offers a cost-effective way to implement RAID in a server. The MegaRAID Express 500 has a 160 M Ultra and Wide SCSI channel supporting data transfer rates up to 160 Megabytes per second (MB/s) per channel.

  • Page 16: Single Ended And Differential Scsi Buses

    Fast SCSI Fast Wide SCSI Ultra SCSI Wide Ultra SCSI Ultra 2 SCSI Wide Ultra 2 SCSI Ultra3 SCSI Wide Ultra3 SCSI MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Maximum Number of Drives 12 m 12 m 12 m 1.5 m 12 m...

  • Page 17: Documentation

    MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide first. MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide This manual describes the software configuration utilities that configure and modify RAID systems. MegaRAID Operating System Drivers Guide This manual provides detailed information about installing the MegaRAID Express 500 operating system drivers. Chapter 1 Overview...

  • Page 18: Megaraid Express 500 Block Diagram

    MegaRAID Express 500 Block Diagram MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 19: Introduction To Raid

    RAID Benefits RAID has gained popularity because it improves I/O performance and increases storage subsystem reliability. RAID provides data security through fault tolerance and redundant data storage. The MegaRAID Express 500 management software configures and monitors RAID disk arrays. Improved I/O Although disk drive capabilities have improved drastically, actual performance has been improved only three to four times in the last decade.

  • Page 20: In This Chapter

    In This Chapter The following topics are discussed: Major Topic Host-based solution RAID overview MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Subtopic turn to page 7 page 8 Consistency check page 8 Fault tolerance page 8 Disk striping page 9 Disk spanning...

  • Page 21: Megaraid Express 500 - Host-Based Raid Solution

    SCSI-to-SCSI The MegaRAID Express 500 controller is a host-based RAID solution. MegaRAID Express 500 is a PCI adapter card that is installed in any available PCI expansion slot in a host system. Host-Based A host-based RAID product puts all of the RAID intelligence on an adapter card that is installed in a network server.

  • Page 22: Raid Overview

    A RAID system can be implemented in a number of different versions (or RAID Levels). The standard RAID levels are 0, 1, 3, and 5. MegaRAID Express 500 supports all standard RAID levels and RAID levels 10, 30, and 50, special RAID versions supported by MegaRAID Express 500.

  • Page 23: Disk Striping

    2 KB to 128 KB. These stripes are interleaved in a repeated sequential manner. The combined storage space is composed of stripes from each drive. MegaRAID Express 500 supports stripe sizes of 2 KB, 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, or 128 KB.

  • Page 24: Disk Spanning

    Spanning two contiguous RAID 0 logical drives does not produce a new RAID level or add fault tolerance. It does increase the size of the logical volume and improves performance by doubling the number of spindles. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Description...

  • Page 25: Disk Mirroring

    Disk Mirroring With mirroring (used in RAID 1), data written to one disk drive is simultaneously written to another disk drive. If one disk drive fails, the contents of the other disk drive can be used to run the system and reconstruct the failed drive.

  • Page 26: Parity

    RAID level 5 combines distributed parity with disk striping. Parity provides redundancy for one drive failure without duplicating the contents of entire disk drives, but parity generation can slow the write process. A dedicated parity scheme during normal read/write operations is shown below: MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Description...

  • Page 27: Hot Spares

    MegaRAID Express 500 implements automatic and transparent rebuilds using hot spare drives, providing a high degree of fault tolerance and zero downtime. The MegaRAID Express 500 RAID Management software allows you to specify physical drives as hot spares. When a hot spare is needed, the MegaRAID Express 500 controller assigns the hot spare that has a capacity closest to and at least as great as that of the failed drive to take the place of the failed drive.

  • Page 28: Disk Rebuild

    A rebuild rate of 100 percent means the system is totally dedicated to rebuilding the failed drive. The MegaRAID Express 500 rebuild rate can be configured between 0% and 100%. At 0%, the rebuild is only done if the system is not doing anything else.

  • Page 29: Logical Drive

    Degraded The drive operating condition is not optimal. One of the configured drives has failed or is offline. Failed The drive has failed. Offline The drive is not available to MegaRAID Express 500. Chapter 2 Introduction to RAID Description Description...

  • Page 30: Disk Array Types

    Bus) but is limited to the bus it is designed for. MegaRAID Express 500 resides on a PCI bus, which can handle data transfer at up to 132 MB/s. With MegaRAID Express 500, the channel can handle data transfer rates up to 160 MB/s per SCSI channel.

  • Page 31: Raid Levels

    RAID Levels There are six official RAID levels (RAID 0 through RAID 5). MegaRAID Express 500 supports RAID levels 0, 1, 3, and 5. American Megatrends has designed three additional RAID levels (10, 30, and 50) that provide additional benefits. The RAID levels that MegaRAID Express 500 supports are:...

  • Page 32: Selecting A Raid Level

    Disk striping and parity data across all drives. Note: The maximum number of physical drives supported per the Express 500 controller is 15. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Pros Cons Max. Drives High data No fault One to throughput tolerance.

  • Page 33: Raid 0

    RAID 0 RAID 0 provides disk striping across all drives in the RAID subsystem. RAID 0 does not provide any data redundancy, but does offer the best performance of any RAID level. RAID 0 breaks up data into smaller blocks and then writes a block to each drive in the array.

  • Page 34: Raid 1

    RAID 1 In RAID 1, MegaRAID Express 500 duplicates all data from one drive to a second drive. RAID 1 provides complete data redundancy, but at the cost of doubling the required data storage capacity. Uses Use RAID 1 for small databases or any other environment that requires fault tolerance but small capacity.

  • Page 35: Raid 3

    RAID 3 RAID 3 provides disk striping and complete data redundancy though a dedicated parity drive. The stripe size must be 64 KB if RAID 3 is used. RAID 3 handles data at the block level, not the byte level, so it is ideal for networks that often handle very large files, such as graphic images.
  • Page 36 Continued RAID 5 vs RAID 3 You may find that RAID 5 is preferable to RAID 3, even for applications characterized by sequential reads and writes, because MegaRAID Express 500 has very robust caching algorithms. The benefits of RAID 3 disappear if there are many small I/O operations scattered randomly and widely across the disks in the logical drive.

  • Page 37: Raid 5

    Use RAID 5 for transaction processing applications because each drive can read and write independently. If a drive fails, MegaRAID Express 500 uses the parity drive to recreate all missing information. Use also for office automation and online customer service that requires fault tolerance.

  • Page 38: Raid 10

    RAID 10 provides both high data transfer rates and Strong Points complete data redundancy. RAID 10 requires twice as many drives as all other RAID Weak Points levels except RAID 1. Drives 2n, where n is greater than 1. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 39: Raid 30

    RAID 30 RAID 30 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 3. RAID 30 provides high data transfer speeds and high data reliability. RAID 30 is best implemented on two RAID 3 disk arrays with data striped across both disk arrays. RAID 30 breaks up data into smaller blocks, and then stripes the blocks of data to each RAID 3 raid set.

  • Page 40: Raid 50

    RAID 50 provides high data throughput, data redundancy, Strong Points and very good performance. Requires 2 to 4 times as many parity drives as RAID 5. Weak Points Six to 32 Drives MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 41: Features

    Configuration on Disk Configuration on Disk (drive roaming) saves configuration information both in NVRAM on MegaRAID Express 500 and on the disk drives connected to MegaRAID Express 500. If MegaRAID Express 500 is replaced, the new MegaRAID Express 500 controller can detect the actual RAID configuration, maintaining the integrity of the data on each drive, even if the drives have changed channel and/or target ID.

  • Page 42: Hardware Requirements

    Hardware Requirements MegaRAID Express 500 can be installed in an IBM AT®-compatible or EISA computer with a motherboard that has 5 volt/3.3 volt PCI expansion slots. The computer must support PCI version 2.1 or later. The computer should have an Intel Pentium, Pentium Pro, or more powerful CPU, a floppy drive, a color monitor and VGA adapter card, a mouse, and a keyboard.

  • Page 43: Hardware Architecture Features

    Hardware Architecture Features The hardware architecture features include: Specification Processor SCSI Controller Size of Flash ROM Amount of NVRAM Hardware XOR assistance Direct I/O Removable cache memory module SCSI bus termination Double-sided DIMMs Auxiliary TermPWR source Direct I/O bandwidth Array Performance Features The array performance features include: Specification Host data transfer rate...

  • Page 44: Raid Management Features

    The fault tolerance features include: Specification Support for SMART Enclosure management Drive failure detection Drive rebuild using hot spares Parity Generation and checking MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Feature RS232C Not released yet Not released yet Feature SAF-TE compliant Automatic...

  • Page 45: Software Utilities

    SCO UnixWare 2.1x, and SCO Open Server R5.0x The DOS drivers for MegaRAID Express 500 are contained in the firmware on MegaRAID Express 500 except the DOS ASPI and CD-ROM drivers. Call your American Megatrends OEM support representative for information about drivers for other operating systems.

  • Page 46: Megaraid Express 500 Specifications

    Channel SCSI Device Types Supported RAID Levels Supported SCSI Connectors Serial Port MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Specification 5.875" x 4.2" (half length PCI) Intel i960RM™ 32-bit RISC processor @ 100 MHz PCI 2.1 Intel i960RM Up to 132 MB/s...

  • Page 47: Pci Bridge/Cpu

    Cache Memory MegaRAID Express 500 cache memory resides in a memory bank that uses 2 M x 72 (16 MB), 4 M x 72 (32 MB), 8 M x 72 (64 MB) or 16 M x 72 (128 MB) unbuffered 3.3V SDRAM .

  • Page 48: Megaraid Bios

    SCSI Bus MegaRAID Express 500 has a Fast and Wide Ultra 160M SCSI channel that supports both LVD and single-ended devices with active termination. Synchronous and asynchronous devices are supported. MegaRAID Express 500 provides automatic termination disable via cable detection.

  • Page 49: Scsi Connectors

    68-pin external ultra-high-density connector. Both connector types can be used for the SCSI channel. SCSI Termination MegaRAID Express 500 uses active termination on the SCSI bus conforming to Alternative 2 of the SCSI-2 specifications. Termination enable/disable is automatic through cable detection.

  • Page 50: Raid Management

    RAID Management RAID management is provided by software utilities that manage and configure the RAID system and MegaRAID Express 500, create and manage multiple disk arrays, control and monitor multiple RAID servers, provide error statistics logging, and provide online maintenance. They include:...

  • Page 51: Fault-Tolerance Features

    Detect Failed Drive The MegaRAID Express 500 firmware automatically detects and rebuilds failed drives. This can be done transparently with hot spares. Hot Swap MegaRAID Express 500 supports the manual replacement of a disk unit in the RAID subsystem without system shutdown. Chapter 4 Features...

  • Page 52: Compatibility

    SCSI device compatibility, and software compatibility Server Management As an SNMP agent, MegaRAID Express 500 supports all SNMP managers and RedAlert from Storage Dimensions. SCSI Device Compatibility MegaRAID Express 500 supports SCSI hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, tape drives, optical drives, DAT drives and other SCSI peripheral devices.

  • Page 53: Configuring Megaraid Express 500

    RAID level that you select. Your MegaRAID Express 500 adapter has one SCSI channel. Basic Configuration Rules You should observe the following guidelines when connecting and configuring SCSI devices in a RAID array:...

  • Page 54: Current Configuration

    LD10 LD11 LD12 LD13 LD14 LD15 LD16 LD17 LD18 LD19 LD20 LD21 LD22 LD23 LD24 LD25 LD26 LD27 LD28 LD29 MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Termination? SCSI Channel 1 Cache Read Write # of Physical Size Policy Policy Policy Drives...
  • Page 55 Logical RAID Stripe Logical Drive Cache Read Write # of Physical Size Drives Drive Level Size Policy Policy Policy LD30 LD31 LD32 LD33 LD34 LD35 LD36 LD37 LD38 LD39 LD40 Cont’d Chapter 5 Configuring MegaRAID Express 500...

  • Page 56: Physical Device Layout

    Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Channel 1...
  • Page 57 Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Target ID Device Type Logical Drive Number/ Drive Number Manufacturer/Model Number Firmware level Chapter 5 Configuring MegaRAID Express 500...

  • Page 58: Configuring Arrays

    MegaRAID Express 500, formatted, and initialized. Each array can consist of one to eight physical disk drives. MegaRAID Express 500 supports up to eight arrays. The number of drives in a array determines the RAID levels that can be supported.

  • Page 59: Configuration Strategies

    RAID 5 and 6 – 32 (Must Striping be a multiple Note: The maximum number of physical drives supported per controller is 15. Chapter 5 Configuring MegaRAID Express 500 Drives Capacity Required 1 – 32 (Number of disks) X capacity of...
  • Page 60 Provides data redundancy and good performance in most environments. Provides data redundancy and excellent performance. Provides data redundancy and good performance in most environments. Provides data redundancy and very good performance. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Fault Tolerance Protection Performance Characteristics...

  • Page 61: Assigning Raid Levels

    The maximum number of physical drives supported per controller is 15. Configuring Logical Drives After you have installed the MegaRAID Express 500 controller in the server and have attached all physical disk drives, perform the following actions to prepare a...

  • Page 62: Optimizing Data Storage

    Will this disk array contain data from an imaging system? You must identify the purpose of the data to be stored in the disk subsystem before you can confidently choose a RAID level and a RAID configuration. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 63: Planning The Array Configuration

    Maximize hard drive performance and throughput How many hot spares? Amount of cache memory installed on MegaRAID Express 500 Are all of the disk drives and the server protected by a UPS? Using the Array Configuration Planner The following table lists the possible RAID levels, fault tolerance, and effective capacity for all possible drive configurations for an array consisting of one to eight drives.

  • Page 64: Array Configuration Planner

    RAID 5 None RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 3 RAID 5 RAID 10 RAID 30 RAID 50 None RAID 0 RAID 3 RAID 5 MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Relative Fault Effective Performance Tolerance Capacity Excellent 100% Excellent 100% Excellent 100%...

  • Page 65: Hardware Installation

    Prepare the host system. See the host system technical documentation. Determine the SCSI ID and SCSI termination requirements. Make sure the jumper settings on the MegaRAID Express 500 controller are correct. Install the cache memory. Install the MegaRAID in the server and attach the SCSI cables and terminators as needed.

  • Page 66: Installation Steps

    Installation Steps MegaRAID Express 500 provides extensive customization options. If you need only basic MegaRAID Express 500 features and your computer does not use other adapter cards with resource settings that may conflict with MegaRAID Express 500 settings, even custom installation can be quick and easy.

  • Page 67: Step 1 Unpack

    Step 3 Configure Motherboard Make sure the motherboard is configured correctly for MegaRAID Express 500. MegaRAID Express 500 is essentially a SCSI Controller. Each MegaRAID Express 500 card you install will require an available PCI IRQ; make sure an IRQ is available for each controller you install.

  • Page 68: Step 4 Install Cache Memory

    Use 72-bit 3.3V unbuffered SDRAM only. The maximum memory bandwidth is 528 MB/s with an SDRAM DIMM. A minimum of 8 MB of cache memory is required. The cache memory must be installed before MegaRAID Express 500 is operational. SDRAM SDRAM specifications are specified below.
  • Page 69 You must use an approved DIMM only. Call American Megatrends technical support at 770-246-8600 for the latest list of approved memory vendors. Install cache memory on the MegaRAID Express 500 card in the DIMM socket. This socket accepts a 168-pin DIMM.

  • Page 70: Step 5 Set Jumpers

    Step 5 Set Jumpers Make sure the jumper settings on the MegaRAID Express 500 card are correct. The jumpers and connectors are: Connector SCSI bus termination enable control CPLD programming NVRAM clear Serial EPROM Serial port Write Pending BIOS enable...
  • Page 71 Step 5 Set Jumpers, Continued J1 Termination Enable J1 is a three-pin header that specifies hardware or software control of SCSI termination. Type of SCSI Termination Software control of SCSI termination via drive detection. Permanently disable all onboard SCSI termination. Permanently enable all onboard SCSI termination.
  • Page 72 J12, J13 Rub1 Slot Interrupt Steering J12 and J13 are 3-pin jumpers. You can short them for a one-channel or two-channel motherboard. Short… Pins 1-2 on both jumpers Pins 2-3 on both jumpers MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Description VCC through pullup SCSI Activity Signal SCSI Activity Signal VCC through pullup For…...

  • Page 73: Step 6 Set Termination

    An easy way to do this is to connect the MegaRAID Express 500 card to one end of the SCSI cable and to connect an external terminator module at the other end of the cable. The connectors between the two ends can connect SCSI devices.

  • Page 74: Scsi Termination

    You complete the SCSI bus by setting termination at both ends. You can let MegaRAID Express 500 automatically provide SCSI termination at one end of the SCSI bus. You can terminate the other end of the SCSI bus by...
  • Page 75 Terminating Internal and External Disk Arrays You can use both internal and external drives with MegaRAID Express 500. You still must make sure that the proper SCSI termination and termination power is preserved, as shown below: Chapter 6 Hardware Installation...
  • Page 76 Since all non-disk SCSI devices are single ended, it is not advisable to attach a non-disk device to a MegaRAID Express 500 RAID controller if LVD disk drives are also attached because the SCSI bus will then operate in single ended mode. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Warning...

  • Page 77: Step 7 Install Megaraid Express 500

    Step 7 Install MegaRAID Express 500 Choose a 3.3 V or 5 V PCI slot and align the MegaRAID Express 500 controller card bus connector to the slot. Press down gently but firmly to make sure that the card is properly seated in the slot. The bottom edge of the controller card should be flush with the slot.

  • Page 78: Step 8 Connect Scsi Cables

    Step 8 Connect SCSI Cables Connect SCSI cables to SCSI devices. MegaRAID Express 500 provides two SCSI connectors: J11, the SCSI channel internal high-density 68-pin connector for Wide (16-bit) SCSI and J13, the SCSI channel external ultra high-density 68- pin connector for Wide (16-bit) SCSI.

  • Page 79: Step 9 Set Target Ids

    SCSI IDs regardless of the channel where they are connected. See the documentation for each SCSI device to set the TIDs. The MegaRAID Express 500 controller automatically occupies TID 7 in the SCSI channel. Eight-bit SCSI devices can only use the TIDs from 0 to 6. 16-bit devices can use the TIDs from 0 to 15.

  • Page 80: Device Identification On Megaraid Express 500

    IDs 1 through 6. The MegaRAID Express 500 is limited to eight logical drives because LUNs are used to present logical drives. The SCSI-2 ANSI specification has a limit of eight LUNs per ID.

  • Page 81: Step 10 Power Up

    SCSI device, the device might not be recognized. During boot, the MegaRAID Express 500 BIOS message appears: MegaRAID Express 500 Disk Array Adapter BIOS Version x.xx date Copyright (c) American Megatrends, Inc. Firmware Initializing... [ Scanning SCSI Device ...(etc.)... ] The firmware takes several seconds to initialize.

  • Page 82: Step 12 Install The Operating System Driver

    INT 13h support is not provided. Verbose mode. All message are displayed on the screen. Physical drive access mode. Permits access to physical drives. Quiet mode. All message except error message are suppressed. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Important Description Cont’d...
  • Page 83 Step 12 Install Operating System Driver, CD-ROM Driver A device driver is provided with MegaRAID Express 500 for CD-ROM drives operating under DOS, Windows 3.x, and Windows 95. The driver filename is AMICDROM.SYS. The MEGASPI.SYS ASPI manager must be added to the CONFIG.SYS file before you can install the CD-ROM device driver.
  • Page 84 Summary This chapter discussed hardware installation. Configure the RAID system via software configuration utilities. See the MegaRAID Configuration Software Guide for all information about MegaRAID Express 500 software utilities. The utility programs for configuring MegaRAID Express 500 are: Configuration Utility...

  • Page 85: Troubleshooting

    Replace the drive cable. Set the drives to spin on command. This will allow MegaRAID Express 500 to spin two devices simultaneously. These utilities require a color monitor. For proper cache memory operation, you must install at least 8 MB of memory in MegaRAID Express 500.
  • Page 86 The channel is automatically terminated at the MegaRAID Express 500 card if only one cable is connected to a channel. Make sure (on a channel basis) only two type of cables are connected at any one time.

  • Page 87: Bios Boot Error Messages

    BIOS Boot Error Messages Message Adapter BIOS Disabled. The MegaRAID BIOS is No Logical Drives disabled. Sometimes the Handled by BIOS BIOS is disabled to prevent booting from the BIOS. Host Adapter at Baseport The BIOS cannot xxxx Not Responding communicate with the adapter firmware.
  • Page 88 The physical drives with are not responding: SCSIO IDs a, b, and c are Channel x:a.b.c not responding on SCSI channel x. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Problem Suggested Solution Make sure all physical drives are properly connected and are powered...

  • Page 89: Other Bios Error Messages

    Other BIOS Error Messages Message Following SCSI The physical disk roaming disk not found feature did not find the physical and no empty disk with the displayed SCSI slot available for ID. No slot is available to map mapping it the physical drive.

  • Page 90: Dos Aspi Driver Error Messages

    'ERROR: VDS support is *INACTIVE* for MegaRAID Express logical drives MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Corrective Action The ASPI manager is not loaded. One of the failure codes listed below is displayed next. Correct the condition that caused the failure. The failure...

  • Page 91: Other Potential Problems

    We do not provide a driver for BSDI Unix. MegaRAID Express 500 does not support BSDI Unix. Multiple LUNs MegaRAID Express 500 supports one LUN per each target ID. No multiple LUN devices are supported. MegaRAID Express The Maximum MegaRAID Express 500 power Power Requirements requirements are 15 watts at 5V and 3 Amps.
  • Page 92 Select Other from the bottom of the list. Insert the Drivers Disk you made when prompted to do so and select MegaRAID Express 500 from this list. In some cases, Windows NT Setup repeatedly prompts to swap disks. Windows NT will now recognize any devices attached to this adapter.

  • Page 93: Ascsi Cables And Connectors

    68-pin ultra high density external connector. 68-Pin High Density SCSI Internal Connector The SCSI channel on the MegaRAID Express 500 Controller has a 68-pin high density 0.050 inch pitch unshielded connector. This connector provides all signals needed to connect MegaRAID Express 500 to wide SCSI devices.
  • Page 94 SCSI devices is shown below: pin 1 pin 1 pin 1 Connectors: 68 position plug (male) AMP - 786090-7 Cable: Flat Ribbon or Twisted-Pair Flat Cable 68 Conductor 0.025 Centerline 3 0 A W G MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Continued Cont’d...
  • Page 95 68-Pin High Density Connectors, Connecting Internal and External Wide Devices The cable assembly for connecting internal wide and external wide SCSI devices is shown below: pin 1 pin 1 pin 1 Connector A: 68 position panel mount receptacle with 4-40 holes (female) AMP - 786096-7 NOTE: To convert to 2-56 holes, use screwlock kit 749087-1, 749087-2, or 750644-1...
  • Page 96 OPEN OPEN OPEN TABLE 1: CONNECTOR CONTACT CONNECTION FOR WIDE TO NON-WIDE CONVERSION MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Continued p i n 1 p i n 1 p i n 1 Connector A: 68 position plug (male) AMP - 749925-5...
  • Page 97 68-Pin High Density Connectors, Converting Internal Wide to Internal Non-Wide (Type 30) The cable assembly for connecting internal wide SCSI devices to internal non-wide SCSI devices is shown below: pin 1 pin 1 Connector A: 68 position plug (male) AMP - 749925-5 Connector B:50 position plug (male) AMP - 749925-3 Wire:...

  • Page 98: Pin 1

    System Connection Technical Cable Concepts SCSI Connector Vendors Manufacturer Connector Part Number Fujitsu FCN-237R050-G/F Honda PCS-XE50MA MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Continued Telephone Number Voice: 800-826-7904 Fax: 800-331-2841 Voice: 800-877-1985 Voice: 714-835-1081 Voice: 818-579-0888 Back Shell Part Number 749111-4 749193-1...

  • Page 99: High-Density 68-Pin Scsi Connector Pinout

    High-Density 68-Pin SCSI Connector Pinout Signal Connector Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground TERMPWR TERMPWR Reserved Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Ground Appendix A SCSI Cables and Connectors Cable...
  • Page 100 Lines labeled RESERVED should be connected to Ground in the bus terminator assemblies or in the end devices on the RESERVED lines should be open in the other SCSI devices, but can be connected to Ground. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Continued Caution SCSI cable.

  • Page 101: 68-Pin Connector Pinout For Lvd Scsi

    68-Pin Connector Pinout for LVD SCSI Signal Connector +DB(12) +DB(13) +DB(14) +DB(15) +DB(P1) +DB(0) +DB(1) +DB(2) +DB(3) +DB(4) +DB(5) +DB(6) +DB(7) +DB(P) Ground DIFFSENS TERMPWR TERMPWR Reserved Ground +ATN Ground +BSY +ACK +RST +MSG +SEL +C/D +REQ +I/O +DB(8) +DB(9) +DB(10) +DB(11) Note:...
  • Page 102 MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 103: B Audible Warnings

    B Audible Warnings The MegaRAID Express 500 RAID controller has an onboard tone generator that indicates events and errors. Tone Pattern Three seconds on A logical drive is and one second offline. One second on A logical drive is and one second running in degraded mode.
  • Page 104 MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 105: Glossary

    Glossary Array A grouping or array of disk drives combines the storage space on the disk drives into a single segment of contiguous storage space. MegaRAID can group disk drives on one or more SCSI channels into an array. A hot spare drive does not participate in an array.
  • Page 106 For example, four 400 MB disk drives can be combined to appear to the operating system as one single 1600 MB drive. See also Array Spanning and Spanning. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Cont’d...
  • Page 107 Glossary, Continued Disk Striping A type of disk array mapping. Consecutive stripes of data are mapped round- robin to consecutive array members. A striped array (RAID Level 0) provides high I/O performance at low cost, but provides lowers data reliability than any of its member disks.
  • Page 108 Arrays can work without initializing, but they can fail a consistency check because the parity fields have not been generated. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Cont’d...
  • Page 109 Glossary, Continued Logical Disk A set of contiguous chunks on a physical disk. Logical disks are used in array implementations as constituents of logical volumes or partitions. Logical disks are normally transparent to the host environment, except when the array containing them is being configured.
  • Page 110 (SLED). A RAID disk subsystem improves I/O performance on a server using only a single drive. The RAID array appears to the host server as a single storage unit. I/O is expedited because several disks can be accessed simultaneously. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Cont’d...
  • Page 111 Glossary, Continued RAID Levels A style of redundancy applied to a logical drive. It can increase the performance of the logical drive and can decrease usable capacity. Each logical drive must have a RAID level assigned to it. The RAID level drive requirements are: RAID 0 requires one or more physical drives, RAID 1 requires exactly two physical drives, RAID 3 requires at least three physical drives, RAID 5 requires at least three physical drives.
  • Page 112 Fast and Wide or Ultra SCSI mode. Each adapter can control up to three SCSI channels. Internal and external disk drives can be mixed on channels 0 and 1, but not on channel 2. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide Cont’d...
  • Page 113 Glossary, Continued SCSI ID A SCSI physical drive can be in one of these states: Online - Powered-on and operational. Hot Spare - Powered-on stand-by disk drive, ready for use if an online disk fails. Rebuild - A disk drive to which one or more logical drives is restoring data.
  • Page 114 A variant on the SCSI-2 interface. Wide SCSI uses a 16-bit bus, double the width of the original SCSI-1. Wide SCSI devices cannot be connected to a SCSI- 1 bus. Wide SCSI supports transfer rates up to 20 MB/s, like Fast SCSI. MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

  • Page 115: Index

    Index 160M and Wide SCSI, 27 68-Pin High Density Connectors, 79 AMICDROM.SYS, 69 AMPLIMITE .050 Series connectors, 86 Array, 91 Array Configuration Planner, 50 Array Management Software, 91 Array Performance Features, 29 Array Spanning, 91 ASPI Driver Error Messages, 76 ASPI Drivers, 68 ASPI manager, 76 Assigning RAID Levels, 47...
  • Page 116 Logical Drive States, 15 Mapping, 95 MB, 95 MegaRAID BIOS, 34 MegaRAID BIOS Setup, 36 MegaRAID Express 500 Card Installing, 63 MegaRAID Express 500 Card Layout, 56 MegaRAID Manager, 36 Mirroring, 11 Motherboard Jumpers, 53 Multi-threaded, 95 Multi-threading, 35 Nonvolatile RAM, 32...
  • Page 117 RAID, 96 Benefits, 5 Introduction to, 5 RAID 0, 19 RAID 1, 20 Spanning to configure RAID 10, 10 RAID 10, 24 Configuring, 10 RAID 3, 21 Parity disk, 12 Spanning to configure RAID 30, 10 RAID 30, 25 Configuring, 10 RAID 5, 23 Spanning to make RAID 50, 10 RAID 50, 26...
  • Page 118 MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide...

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