Adaptec 2268300R About the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility, About the Adaptec Flash Utility

Chapter 9: Managing Your Storage Space ● 81

About the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility

The Adaptec RAID Configuration (ARC) utility is a BIOS-based utility that you can use to create and manage controllers, disk drives and other devices, and arrays. The ARC utility comprises these tools:

●Array Configuration Utility (ACU)—For creating and managing arrays, and initializing and rescanning disk drives.

●SerialSelect—For modifying your controller and disk drive settings.

●Disk Utilities—For formatting or verifying disk drives.

The ARC utility is included in your controller’s BIOS. For more information, see Using the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility on page 104.

Note: The ARC utility is primarily intended for preoperating system installation configuration.

About the Adaptec Flash Utility

The Adaptec Flash Utility (AFU) is a text-based DOS utility that you can use to update, save, or verify your RAID controller’s firmware BIOS and Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM).

!Caution: Although the AFU contains safeguards to prevent you from accidentally damaging your RAID controller’s flash contents, it is still important to use the AFU carefully and

correctly to avoid rendering your RAID controller inoperable. We recommend that only advanced users familiar with working in DOS use the AFU. You can also use Adaptec Storage Manager to update the controller firmware/BIOS. See the Adaptec Storage Manager User’s Guide for more information.

Which Utility Should I Use?

To create a bootable array, we recommend that you use the BIOS-based ACU (See Using the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility on page 104).

For subsequent storage management tasks on most supported operating systems, we recommend that you install and use Adaptec Storage Manager (see page 80). As a full-featured software application with a graphical user interface, it is the easiest to use and offers the widest range of management functions.

Note: If your Adaptec RAID controller is connected to a VMware system, your choice of management utilities varies, depending on which version of VMware you are running; see Which Utility Should I Use on VMware? on page 81 for more information.

Which Utility Should I Use on VMware?

VMware storage management options vary, depending on which version of the operating system you are running:

●On VMware ESX 4.1 and VMware ESX 4.0 systems:

●You can install the Adaptec Storage Manager Agent (only) on the VMware ESX system, then from a Windows or Linux machine running the Adaptec Storage Manager GUI, you can connect to the VMware system and configure and manage arrays from the remote ASM GUI.