Choosing the Physical Drives | Promise Technology EX4650A, EX8650

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Choosing the Physical Drives

The SuperTrak EX Controller card supports SAS and 1.5-Gb/s or 3.0-Gb/s SATA physical drives. For optimal performance, install physical drives of the same model and capacity. The drives’ matched performance allows the logical drive to function better as a single logical drive.

Level	Number of Drives	Level	Number of Drives

RAID 0	1 or more	RAID 6	4 to 16*

RAID 1	2 only	RAID 10	4 or more**

RAID 1E	3 or more	RAID 50	6 or more

RAID 5	3 to 16*	RAID 60	8 or more

* Requires SAS expansion

** Requires an even number of drives

The table above shows the number of drives required for each RAID level.

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Promise Technology EX4650A, EX8650A user manual Choosing the Physical Drives, Level Number of Drives

Contents

Supertrak Important data protection information CopyrightTrademarks Recommendations Radio Frequency Interference Statement Page Contents Installing Drivers, SuperBuild Utility SuperBuild Utility, Management with WebPAM PRO, Management with WebPAM PRO, Management with WebPAM PRO, Contents Support Appendix a Partition and Format Appendix B UpgradesTechnology Background, 209 Introduction About This Manual Hot-Swapping Product OverviewXOR Microprocessor Browser Support WebPAM PRO Management SoftwareOperating System Support Key Features and Benefits Advanced Hardware Design Features Benefits Compatibility Features Benefits Compatibility SpecificationsFeatures Benefits Installation Unpacking the SuperTrak Installing the SuperTrak Card SuperTrak EX4650 card SuperTrak EX8650 card + R G + + - + SuperTrak SAS Port Enclosure ID Range Drive ID Range SAS Connections and ID NumbersScenario 1 Virtual Enclosure Sgpio Scenario 4 External Enclosures Parallel Scenario 2 Virtual Enclosure Host PCScenario 3 External Enclosures Daisy Chain Scenario 5 SAS Expanders Choosing the Physical Drives Level Number of Drives Creating a Logical Drive Page Installation Page Installation Agent Installing WebPAM PROUtility Server Operating System Support Internet Browser Browser Support Installing WebPAM PRO onto a Windows PC or Server Introduction dialog box License Agreement dialog box Setup Type dialog box Choose Destination Location dialog box SSL Security Options dialog box Ready to Install dialog box Install Complete dialog box Installing WebPAM PRO onto a Linux PC or Server License Agreement dialog box Choose Install Product dialog box Choose Install Folder dialog box WebPAM PRO Agent Configuration dialog box SSL Security Options dialog box WebPAM PRO Utility Server Configuration dialog box Register On-line dialog box Logging in over the Network Logging into WebPAM PROLogging in at the Host PC Regular Connection Login Screen Https//192.168.10.2288443/promise Setting up WebPAM PRO Click the Add Subsystem/Host tab Add Subsystem/Host tab Installing Drivers Driver Diskette for Linux Driver Diskette for WindowsUSB Memory Stick for Windows New OS Installation Windows Vista Confirming Driver Installation Existing System Windows Server Existing System Windows XP Existing System Windows Existing System Red Hat Linux Enterprise 4.4 Type cd umount /mnt/floppy SuSE Linux Enterprise SuperTrak Bios SuperBuild Utility SuperTrak Bios screen SuperTrak Bios screen, logical drive offline Main Menu SuperBuild Main Menu Controller Selection Controller Information Viewing Physical Drive Information Physical Drive ManagementViewing Physical Drives Managing Physical Drive Problems Viewing Disk Array Information Disk Array ManagementViewing Disk Arrays Creating a Disk Array Deleting a Disk Array Changing Disk Array SettingsRebuilding a Disk Array Viewing Logical Drive Information Logical Drive ManagementViewing Logical Drives Creating a Logical Drive Write Cache Policy Choose from Write Back or Write Through Initializing a Logical Drive Changing Logical Drive Settings Deleting a Logical Drive Managing Logical Drive Problems Identifying a Critical Logical Drive No Spare Drive Available Rebuilding the Logical DriveSpare Drive Available Manual Rebuild Finding the Failed Physical Drive Identifying an Offline Logical Drive RAID 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 RAID Viewing Spare Drive Information Spare Drive ManagementViewing Spare Drives Creating a Spare Drive Changing Spare Drive Settings Deleting a Spare Drive Background Activity Viewing Nvram Events Event LogViewing RAM Events Clearing the Event Logs Synchronizing Time with an Embedded Site Setting the Time ZoneTime Sync Sgpio Backplane MiscellaneousSAS Ready LEDs Buzzer Enabling or Disabling the Buzzer Page Management with WebPAM PRO Login Screen Management with WebPAM PRO Accessing the Interface WebPAM PRO interface Using the Header Using Tree View Using Management View WebPAM PRO Tree View Choosing a Display Language Viewing the Event Frame Viewing the Storage Network Saving the Event FrameDeleting the Event Frame Logging out of WebPAM PRO Storage Network appears in Tree View Viewing User Information Making User SettingsManaging Users Changing Your Own Password Making Your Own User SettingsChanging a User’s Password List of User Privileges Creating a UserDeleting a User Management with WebPAM PRO Adding a Subsystem or Host Working with Subsystem/Host ManagementViewing Subsystem/Host Information In-Band versus Out-of-Band Setting User PrivilegeDeleting a Subsystem or Host Page Changing Web Server Settings Managing Software ServicesViewing Service Status Windows Setting up Email ServiceRestarting the Tomcat Server Linux Sending a Test Email Message Setting up Extended SmtpSetting Event Frame Refresh Time Changing CIM Client Settings Changing CIM Server Settings Viewing Host Information Setting User RightsManaging the Host Refreshing the WebPAM PRO Screen Clearing Statistical Data Managing the SubsystemViewing Subsystem Information Click the Clear Statistics link Setting an Alias for the SubsystemUpdating the Firmware Saving the Runtime Event Log Checking Subsystem HealthViewing the Runtime Event Log Severity Definitions Clearing the Runtime Event Log Viewing the Nvram Event Log Viewing Current Background Activities Saving the Nvram Event LogClearing the Nvram Event Log Making Background Activity Settings Running PDM Running Background ActivitiesRunning Media Patrol Viewing Scheduled Activities Scheduling an Activity 112 Viewing System Configuration Deleting a Scheduled Activity 114 Viewing Controller Information Managing the ControllerViewing Controllers Information 116 Making Controller Settings Viewing Controller Statistics Viewing Battery Information Clearing an Orphan Watermark Silencing the Buzzer Making Buzzer SettingsTesting the Buzzer Viewing Buzzer Information Managing Enclosures Viewing Enclosure Information Locating a Physical Drive Managing Physical DrivesViewing a List of Physical Drives Virtual or Third Party Enclosures Sata Drives SAS Drives Making Global Physical Drive SettingsPromise Enclosures Viewing Physical Drive Statistics Making Physical Drive SettingsAdjustable Items Forcing a Physical Drive Offline or Online Clearing Stale and PFA Conditions 126 Managing Disk Arrays Locating a Disk Array 128 Creating a Disk Array Automatic Configuration Creating a Disk Array Express Configuration 131 Logical Drive Creation Creating a Disk Array Advanced ConfigurationDisk Array Creation Summary Disk Array Operational Status Making Disk Array Settings Physical Drive Status 136 137 Migrating a Disk Array Rebuilding Automatically Rebuilding Manually Running Media Patrol on a Disk Array Running PDM on a Disk Array Transitioning a Disk Array Preparing a Disk Array for Transport 142 Logical Drive Status Managing Logical DrivesViewing Information for All Logical Drives Locating a Logical Drive Logical Drive Synchronization Viewing Logical Drive Statistics 146 Running Redundancy Check Viewing the Logical Drive Check Table 148 Managing Spare Drives Viewing a List of Spare Drives 150 Making Spare Drive Settings Deleting Spare Drive Running Spare Check Viewing Individual Logical Drive Information Working with the Logical Drive SummaryViewing a List of All Logical Drives 154 Technology Background Introduction to RAID RAID 0 Stripe RAID 0 Striping interleaves data across multiple drives RAID 1 Mirror RAID 1 Mirrors identical data to two drives RAID 1E Enhanced Mirror Enhanced Data Mirrors Physical Drives RAID 5 Block Striping with Distributed Parity RAID 5 stripes all drives with data and parity information RAID 6 Block and Double Parity Stripe RAID 6 stripes all drives with data and dual parity RAID 10 Mirror / Stripe Data Stripe Mirror Physical Drives RAID 50 Striped Distributed Parity Component Minimum Maximum RAID 50 Axles 3,3,3 RAID 60 Striping of Double Parity RAID 60 is a combination of RAID 6 and RAID RAID 60 Axles 5,5 10,10 4,4,4 167 Choosing a RAID Level Advantages Disadvantages RAID 1E 170 High Read data transaction rate Choosing Stripe Block Size Choosing Sector Size Logical Drive Size Sector Size Choosing Cache PolicyTB Limitation Write Cache Policy Capacity CoercionRead Cache Policy Initialization Hot Spare Drives Partition and Format the Logical Drive RAID Level Migration Target Requirements None Add physical drives maximum RAID 10 must have less than 16 physical drives Physical drives maximum Ranges of Disk Array Expansion PDM Delete and Recreate Current LD Size Maximum LD Sector Size Expansion Size PDM Triggers Media PatrolPredictive Data Migration PDM Transition Drive Failure and Automatic Rebuild 186 Automatic Transition Manual Transition 188 When a Physical Drive Fails Critical & Offline Logical Drives 190 Rebuild Operation With a Hot Spare DriveWithout a Hot Spare Drive 192 How can I change the resources that the SuperTrak uses? Frequently Asked QuestionsPre-Installation Speed, Device Types, Capacity, Cabling Will Acpi work with HDDs on the SuperTrak EX Series? Drive IssuesCan I use Atapi devices on the SuperTrak EX Series? Support Why can’t I make a dedicated spare drive in WebPAM PRO? Installation Issues Capacity, BootingPost-Installation Contacting Technical Support Technical Support ServicesWhy can’t I run WebPAM PRO in Konqueror? United States Italy NetherlandsGermany China Limited WarrantyTaiwan Disclaimer of other warranties Returning the Product For Repair Your Responsibilities Or retailer Appendix a Partition and Format Click the Next button to start the Wizard Appendix a Partition and Format 206 Updating SuperTrak Bios and Firmware Downloading Bios and Firmware File Updating WebPAM PRO Downloading the WebPAM PRO Update FileInstalling the WebPAM PRO Update File Logging into WebPAM PRO Appendix C Battery Backup Unit Installing the BBU SuperTrak EX Controller 212 Index Numerics 214 146 Axles 66 Capacity 18, 65, 132 List 59 150 List 73 Logical drive 65, 67, 133