Configuring the RAID Controller
The RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices) options available for your system are the single channel SecuRAID 110 (Mylex AcceleRAID 150) RAID controller board and the three channel SecuRAID 530 (Mylex eXtremeRAID 1100) RAID controller board, which gives your system the added security of fault tolerance.
If you order a system with a RAID controller, the system is
Table 3-2. RAID Configurations
Number of | RAID Level | Hard Drives in |
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Hard Drives | Configured | Array | Description |
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1 | 7 | 1 | JBOD (RAID 7) Known as Just a Bunch of Drives, |
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| JBOD allows the controller to access the drives |
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| independently. This configuration has no redundancy |
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| and does not use striping. |
2 | 1 | 2 | Mirroring (RAID 1) Drives are paired and mirrored. |
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| All data is 100% duplicated on an equivalent drive |
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| (fully redundant). |
3 | 5 | 3 | Striping with Parity (RAID 5) Data is striped across |
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| several physical drives. Parity protection is used for |
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| data redundancy. |
4 or more | 5 | 4 (one standby Striping with Parity (RAID 5) with a standby drive | |
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| drive) | The array consists of three |
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| STANDBY drive. The standby replacement drive, or |
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| hot spare, is one of the most important features RAID |
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| provides to achieve automatic, |
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| high degree of |
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If you want to change the RAID level or add additional hard disks to the array, use the RAID configuration utility. The RAID configuration utility is included with a RAID controller.
If you are adding the RAID controller to an existing system, the RAID configuration utility allows you to configure your disk array before reinstalling your network operating system. The RAID controllers support various versions of RAID technology (referred to as RAID levels). To use any RAID level, you must configure the RAID controller using the RAID configuration utility prior to installing your Network Operating System. For an explanation of this utility, refer to the documentation on the MYLEX CDROM that was shipped with the RAID controller. It describes RAID technology and provides tips on making your array perform well in your specific application. It also covers array hardware preparation, configuration, and initialization. After completing the steps in the manual, you can install your Network Operating System.
