Configuring the RAID Controller
The system comes with a three channel SecuRAID 530 Redundant Array of Inexpensive Devices (RAID) Controller board. The board gives your system the added security of fault tolerance. The system is
If you are adding the RAID controller to an existing system, the RAID Configuration Utility allows you to configure your disk array before installing your network operating system.
Table 3-8. RAID Configurations
Number of | RAID Level | Hard Drives in | Description |
Hard Drives | Configured | Array |
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1 | JBOD | 1 | JBOD (Mylex RAID 7) JBOD is an acronym for Just |
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| a Bunch Of Disks. Each drive can operate |
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| independently as with a common host bus adapter; or |
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| multiple drives may be spanned and seen as a single |
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| very large drive. No redundancy is provided. |
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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|
The RAID Configuration Utility utility is included with the RAID controller. The SecuRAID 530 controller supports 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 configuration utility prior to installing your Network Operating System. For an explanation of this utility, refer to the RAID Configuration Utility Utilities Installation Guide and User Manual that was shipped with the controller. Chapter 2 of the manual (Configuration Strategies) describes RAID technology and provides tips on making your array perform well in your specific application. Chapter 3 (Preparing the Array) covers array hardware preparation, configuration, and initialization. After completing the steps in chapter 3, you can install your Network Operating System.
