Promise Technology 150TX2 About FastTrak S150 TX2plus, About Adapter Bios, Reserve Sector

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Chapter 5: Disk Array Concepts

About FastTrak S150 TX2plus

FastTrak S150 TX2plus is a high performance Serial ATA/Ultra ATA RAID controller card that features concurrent data channel operation and onboard BIOS. The channels on the FastTrak S150 TX2plus support concurrent operation that allows for overlapped I/O under multi-tasking operating systems and sharing the workload between multiple drives.

About Adapter BIOS

The FastTrak S150 TX2plus card contains a BIOS code that extends the standard disk service routine provided through Int13. The BIOS is bootable for DOS and other operating systems that rely on the system BIOS for drive operation. When the FastTrak S150 TX2plus BIOS appears during bootup, press Ctrl-F to enter the FastBuild setup to select from menu settings.

FastBuild Auto Menu Setup

This setup utility is used to build and manage FastTrak S150 TX2plus disk arrays. The utility is menu driven and features the Auto Setup (1) option that uses a simple, interactive setup process. Once the array is built, all the array members store the configuration information in the drive’s reserved area. See Chapter 3, which provides descriptions of individual functions.

Reserve Sector

Array configuration data about the drive member and other members in the disk array are saved on a special location on the disk drives called the reserve sector. If any member of the array becomes corrupt or lost, the redundant configuration data on the other members can be used for rebuilds.

Disk array members do not have a memory of their drive positions. This allows drives to be placed on different FastTrak S150 TX2plus connectors or cards within the system without reconfiguring or rebuilding.

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Contents Fasttrak S150 TX2PLUS Trademarks CopyrightImportant Data Protection Information Contents Page FastTrak S150 TX2plus IntroductionPromise Array Management Utility PAM Features Benefits Key Features and BenefitsCompatibility Unpacking Your FastTrak Card InstallationInsert the FastTrak card into an open PCI slot Installing the FastTrak CardInstalling the Hard Drives FastTrak S150 TX2plus card Creating Your Disk Array Creating a Performance Array Creating a Security Array with New Drives Page Creating a Security Array with an Existing Data Drive Seagate S380023AS Installation Creating a Security Array with Quick Initialization Installation Page Viewing FastTrak S150 TX2plus Bios Screen Using FastBuild Configuration UtilityUsing the Main Menu Navigating the FastBuild Setup MenuOptimize Array for Creating Arrays AutomaticallyPerformance Security and Performance SecurityUsing a Hot Spare Drive Creating Multiple Arrays Viewing Drive AssignmentsManually Creating an Array Selecting Stripe Block Selecting Array TypeGigabyte Boundary Creating a Striped Array Assigning Drives to ArrayCreating a Mirrored Array Using New Drives Adding Fault Tolerance to an Existing Drive Drive Model Capacity MB Page How FastTrak S150 TX2plus Orders Arrays Creating a Hot Spare Drive for Mirrored ArraysHow FastTrak S150 TX2plus Saves Array Information Deleting an Array Array Stripe 160048 Rebuilding a Mirrored Array 80024 Page Procedure Number Installing Software DriversWindows XP Installation Confirming Windows XP Driver Installation Existing Windows XP InstallationNew Windows 2000 Installation Confirming Windows 2000 Driver Installation Existing Windows 2000 InstallationNew Windows ME Installation Confirming Windows ME Driver Installation Existing Windows ME InstallationNew Windows NT4.0 Installation Removing Driver from Windows NT4.0 Existing Windows NT4.0 InstallationNew Windows 98 Installation Confirming Windows 98 Driver Installation Existing Windows 98 InstallationPage Reserve Sector About Adapter BiosFastBuild Auto Menu Setup About FastTrak S150 TX2plusDisk Array Member RAID Level Performance Fault Capacity No. Tolerance DrivesDisk Array Terms Disk Array DescriptionStriping RAID About RAID LevelsData Mirror Disk Drives Mirroring RAIDDisk Array Concepts Striping / Mirroring RAID 0+1 Freeing additional IRQ resources Motherboard IssuesConfiguring PCI IRQ resources Intermittent data problemsUsing an Onboard IDE Card with FastTrak S150 TX2plus System Cmos IssuesSystem Cmos displays C or D drive failure during Startup Drive-Related ErrorsCritical Array Status Error Reported during Boot Drive cannot be formed into an arrayUnable to Partition or Format Array Cannot Rebuild Mirrored RAID 1 Array Promise Windows driver does not appear in Device Manager Operating System-Related IssuesTroubleshooting & Tips Optimize Array for Performance Performance TipsChange Setting of PCI Bus Utilization Page Pre-Installation Appendix a Frequently Asked QuestionsRAID 1 Mirror RAID 0 StripeRAID 0+1 Stripe + Mirror Drive Issues Page Post-Installation Installation IssuesPage USA Tech Support Center Technical Support ServicesEuropean Tech Support China Office Pacific Rim Sales OfficeDisclaimer of other warranties Limited WarrantyYour Responsibilities Returning Product for Repair