Promise Technology TX4, TX8 user manual Appendix B Frequently Asked Questions

Appendix B - Frequently Asked Questions

This section lists frequently asked questions involving pre-installation, drive issues, installation, and post-installation.

Q.What kind of hard drives can I use for an UltraTrak100 array?

A.You can use any Ultra ATA/100, Ultra ATA/33/66, or EIDE hard drive(s) to create arrays on the UltraTrak100. You should use matching drives for multiple-drive arrays to maximize capacity usage as well as performance. Ultra ATA/100 drives are recommended for highest performance.

Q.Can I add a drive to an UltraTrak100 RAID array via hot-swap and dynamically adjust the array size/configuration?

A.No. The UltraTrak100 does not support dynamically adjustable RAID size/configurations.

Q.Can I take a set of drives that make up an array created on one UltraTrak100 and move it to another UltraTrak100?

A.Yes. All UltraTrak100’s read the arrays the same way. Once the drives are all connected, you must restart the system for it to recognize the newly-inserted array configuration.

Q.Can I take a drive used in an UltraTrak100 array and access it directly with a different controller, such as the one integrated on the motherboard?

A.Yes, but only under certain configurations. The following array configurations will allow the drive(s) to be accessed individually on another controller: mirror (RAID 1), or single drive striped (RAID 0). Multiple drives striped will not work.

Q.How can I be sure that write-back cache has flushed before I reboot after partitioning and formatting an array?

A.A cache flush is always triggered immediately following any write from the int 13h BIOS. This level of array support is what FDISK and FORMAT use to access the drive from MSDOS. With no delay in the write operation, there is no cached data waiting to be written. If you are running from Windows NT/2000 or other operating systems, as usual, make sure to shut down Windows properly so that the operating system can trigger and flush the cache as necessary. NOTE: powering off before a proper shutdown is complete may result in the loss of unwritten data in the cache, possibly causing problems in a subsequent boot or access to the data that was unwritten.

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