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AMD M3A78-EMH HDMI User Manual

AMD M3A78-EMH HDMI User Manual

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RAIDX
PERT
U
M
SER
ANUAL
Version 0.9

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Summary of Contents for AMD M3A78-EMH HDMI

  • Page 1 RAIDX PERT ANUAL Version 0.9...
  • Page 2 RAIDXpert User Manual Copyright © 2007 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Copyright by Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD). No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the expressed, written permission of AMD. Trademarks AMD and the AMD are registered in U.S.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ........1 RAIDXpert Components .
  • Page 4 RAIDXpert User Manual Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage ......33 Logging into RAIDXpert ........33 Regular Connection .
  • Page 5 Contents Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage, cont. Logical Drives .........65 Viewing Logical Drives .
  • Page 6 RAIDXpert User Manual Chapter 6: Technology Background ......93 Introduction to RAID ........93 RAID 0 –...

  • Page 7: Chapter 1: Introduction

    Chapter 1: Introduction • RAIDXpert Components (page 2) • About This Manual (page 3) The AMD RAIDXpert software offers local and remote management and monitoring of all AMD SB6xx/SB7xx SATA logical drives that exist anywhere on a network. Figure 1. RAIDXpert in a browser window Its browser-based GUI provides email notification of all major events or alarms, memory cache management, drive event logging, logical drive maintenance, rebuild, and access to all components in the RAID configuration (server,...

  • Page 8: Raidxpert Components

    RAIDXpert User Manual RAIDXpert Components RAIDXpert installation software will install two major components: • RAIDXpert RAID management software • Java Runtime Environment (in a private folder) RAIDXpert Software The RAIDXpert software installs on the PC with the SB6xx/SB7xx SATA RAID Controller (the “Host PC”).

  • Page 9: About This Manual

    Chapter 1: Introduction About This Manual This User Manual describes how to setup, use, and maintain the RAIDXpert software. This manual includes a full table of contents, chapter task lists, and numerous cross-references to help you find the specific information you are looking for. Also included are four levels of notices: Note A Note provides helpful information such as hints or alternative...
  • Page 10 RAIDXpert User Manual...

  • Page 11: Chapter 2: Installation

    Chapter 2: Installation • Utility Server (below) • Operating System Support (page 6) • Installing RAIDXpert (page 7) RAIDXpert installation software will install two major components: • Utility Server – RAIDXpert RAID monitoring and Networking software • Java Runtime Environment Utility Server The Utility Server installs on the PC with the AMD product (the “Host PC”).

  • Page 12: Java Runtime Environment

    RAIDXpert User Manual Java Runtime Environment The RAIDXpert installation program installs a private JRE in folder _jvm under the same directory where RAIDXpert is installed. RAIDXpert uses this private JRE to avoid incompatibility issues with any other JREs that may be present on your system.

  • Page 13: Installing Raidxpert

    Chapter 2: Installation Installing RAIDXpert Windows Follow these steps to install RAIDXpert on your Windows-based PC or Server. Boot the PC or server, launch Windows, and log in as the Administrator. If the computer is already running, exit all programs. If you are not logged in as the Administrator, log out, then log in again as the Administrator.

  • Page 14: Installation Under Windows And Linux, Continued

    RAIDXpert User Manual Installation under Windows and Linux, continued When the first installation screen appears, choose an installer language from the dropdown menu. When the Welcome screen appears, click the Next button.
  • Page 15 Chapter 2: Installation When the License Agreement screen appears, click the “I accept the terms of the license agreement” option to proceed with installation. Then click the Next button to continue. Note: If you leave the “I do not accept the terms of the license” option selected, the installation will quit when you click Next.
  • Page 16 RAIDXpert User Manual When the Choose Install Folder screen appears, make your selection of a folder for the RAIDXpert applications you are installing. For example, the Windows default folder is: C:\Program Files\AMD\RAIDXpert If you want a different folder, type its location or click the Choose... button and select a new location.
  • Page 17 Chapter 2: Installation 10. When the Check HTTP SSL screen appears, you can choose External Security. An explanation follows. External SSL Security – Applies security to all connections involving the Internet or outside your company firewall. Security options are invisible to authorized users. AMD provides a default certificate for the server as well as for internal data communication.
  • Page 18 RAIDXpert User Manual 11. When the Ready to Install screen appears, click the Install button to continue. 12. When the Install Complete screen appears, click the Finish button. This completes the RAIDXpert installation. Go to “Chapter 3: Setup” on page 13.

  • Page 19: Chapter 3: Setup

    Chapter 3: Setup • Logging into RAIDXpert (below) • Choosing a Language (page 16) • Accessing the Host PC (page 16) • Making the Recommended Initial Settings (page 17) • Creating a New Logical Drive (page 20) • Logging out of RAIDXpert (page 24) •...
  • Page 20 RAIDXpert User Manual Together, your entry looks like this: https://127.0.0.1:8443/amd or https://localhost:8443/amd Note that the IP address shown above applies to a log-in at the Host PC. When you log in over a network, enter the Host PC’s actual IP address or hostname.
  • Page 21 Chapter 3: Setup After sign-in, the RAIDXpert opening screen appears.

  • Page 22: Choosing A Language

    RAIDXpert User Manual Choosing a Language RAIDXpert can display in multiple languages. To choose your language: Click the Language dropdown menu in the RAIDXpert banner. Highlight the language you prefer. The RAIDXpert GUI displays in the language selected. Note To display some of the supported languages, you might have to install additional fonts or other files to your operating system.

  • Page 23: Making The Recommended Initial Settings

    Chapter 3: Setup Making the Recommended Initial Settings These settings are recommended and now is the best time to make them. You can change them later as necessary. Administrator’s Settings To make the Administrator’s password and notification settings: In Tree View, under Administrative Tools, click User Management. In the Management Window, click the admin link.
  • Page 24 RAIDXpert User Manual If you want to change the default password, type the new password into the New Password field. Use up to 8 letters and numbers but no spaces or other characters. Type the same password into the Retype Password field. If you plan to set up Event Notification, type the Administrator’s email address in the Email field.
  • Page 25 Chapter 3: Setup Utility Configuration If you plan to set up Event Notification, you must make these settings. In Tree View, under Administrative Tools, click Utility Configuration. Enter the Sender’s address in the Email Sender field. Be sure the sender has an account in your email system. See your IT administrator.

  • Page 26: Creating A New Logical Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual Creating a New Logical Drive A logical drive is a collection of physical drives in a RAID. To create a new logical drive: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Create tab in Management View. The Select RAID Level screen appears.
  • Page 27 Chapter 3: Setup The Select Drives screen appears. If you want to split the capacity of your physical drives between two logical drives, enter the capacity for the first logical drive in the Logical Drive Size field. Or, to use the maximum capacity of the physical drives, check the Use Maximum Capacity box.
  • Page 28 RAIDXpert User Manual Enter a name for the logical drive in the field provided. 10. Click the Next button. The Final Settings screen appears. 11. RAID 0, 5, and 10. Choose a Stripe Block Size from the dropdown menu. The choices are 64 and 128 KB. For more information, see “Choosing Stripe Block Size”...
  • Page 29 Chapter 3: Setup 14. Click the Finish button. If there are physical drives available, the Select RAID Level screen appears again, where you can create an additional logical drive. Click the Logical Drive in Tree View to see all of the information about your new logical drive.

  • Page 30: Logging Out Of Raidxpert

    RAIDXpert User Manual Before you can use your new logical drive, you must partition and format the logical drive using your PC’s operating system. See “Appendix B: Partition and Format” on page 111 for more information. Logging out of RAIDXpert There are two ways to log out of RAIDXpert: •...

  • Page 31: Connecting To Raidxpert From The Internet

    Chapter 3: Setup Connecting to RAIDXpert from the Internet The above instructions cover connections between the Host PC and other PCs using RAIDXpert over your company network. It is also possible to connect to a Host PC from the Internet. Your MIS Administrator can tell you how to access your network from outside the firewall.
  • Page 32 RAIDXpert User Manual...

  • Page 33: Chapter 4: Raidxpert User Interface

    Chapter 4: RAIDXpert User Interface • Banner (page 28) • Tree View (page 28) • Management Window (page 30) • Event Frame (page 31) This chapter describes RAIDXpert’s Graphic User Interface (GUI). You should understand that RAIDXpert is software running on your Internet Browser. RAIDXpert adds a graphic user interface to make RAID management functions easier to understand and perform.

  • Page 34: Banner

    RAIDXpert User Manual Banner The RAIDXpert banner appears at the top of your browser window when you are running RAIDXpert. Figure 2. The RAIDXpert Banner The RAIDXpert banner enables you to do the following actions: • Select the language in which RAIDXpert displays from the dropdown menu. •...
  • Page 35 Chapter 4: RAIDXpert User Interface A Host PC’s RAID system is made up of: • Administrative Tools – User and Host Management, and Utility Configuration • User Management – Create and Delete Users, Passwords, and Permissions • Host Management – Information on Host PCs •...

  • Page 36: Management Window

    RAIDXpert User Manual Management Window The purpose of the Management Window is to monitor and manage your RAID system. The Management Window appears in the right frame of the browser window. What appears in the Management Window depends on which item you click in Tree View.

  • Page 37: Event Frame

    Chapter 4: RAIDXpert User Interface A full discussion of these and other RAID monitoring and management functions is included in “Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage” on page 33. Event Frame The purpose of the Event Frame is to maintain a log of all events related to your RAID system.
  • Page 38 RAIDXpert User Manual On the Event Frame, you can also: • Clear the events • Save the events an text file • Display events by severity • Display events by date and time • Filter the events...

  • Page 39: Chapter 5: Monitor And Manage

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage • Logging into RAIDXpert (below) • Controller (page 51) • Choosing a Language (page 36) • Physical Drives (page 56) • User Management (page 37) • Logical Drives (page 65) • Host Management (page 47) •...
  • Page 40 RAIDXpert User Manual Note that the IP address shown above applies to a log-in at the Host PC. When you log in over a network, enter the Host PC’s actual IP address or hostname. Press the Enter key. When the login screen appears, type admin in the Login ID field. Type admin again in the Password field.
  • Page 41 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage...

  • Page 42: Choosing A Language

    RAIDXpert User Manual Choosing a Language RAIDXpert can display in multiple languages. To choose your language: Click the Language dropdown menu in the RAIDXpert banner. Highlight the language you prefer. The RAIDXpert GUI displays in the language selected. Note To display some of the supported languages, you might have to install additional fonts or other files to your operating system.

  • Page 43: User Management

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage User Management • Adding a User (below) • Changing a User’s Password (page 42) • Setting up Event Notification • Changing a User’s Email Address (page 38) (page 44) • Deleting a User (page 42) •...

  • Page 44: Setting Up Event Notification

    RAIDXpert User Manual Under Host User Rights, check the boxes to select rights for this user. Right Meaning Creation Permission to create a logical drive and a spare drive Deletion Permission to delete a logical drive and a spare drive Maintenance Permission to migrate, rebuild, and synchronize a logical drive;...
  • Page 45 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage The image above was shortened to fit on the page. Check the boxes of the notification events that you want to have reported to you via email and popup messages. To select events by their severity, check one of the four Select Events boxes at the top of the window.

  • Page 46: Event Notification Severity Levels

    RAIDXpert User Manual Event Notification Severity Levels Warning Events Error Events Disk Unplugged Array Offline Disk Timeout Background Initialization Aborted with Task Error Error Disk Media Patrol Aborted with Error Synchronization Aborted with Error Bad Block Remapped Redundancy Check Aborted with Error Disk Pre Fail Redundancy Check Inconsistency Array Critical...

  • Page 47: Event Notification Severity Levels, Continued

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Event Notification Severity Levels, continued Information Events Information Events Rebuild Started Disk Plugged In Rebuild Completed Disk BSL Update Rebuild Paused Disk BSL Cleared Rebuild Resumed Disk Error Fixed Rebuild Aborted Disk BSL Accessed Rebuild Restarted Disk Patrol Progress Rebuild Progress Disk Media Patrol Started...

  • Page 48: Deleting A User

    RAIDXpert User Manual Deleting a User Log into RAIDXpert as the Administrator. Click User Management in Tree View. Click the Delete tab in Management View. Check the box to the left of the user you want to delete. Click the Delete button. In the Confirmation box, click the OK button.
  • Page 49 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Click the Settings tab. Type the current password in the Old Password field. Type a new password in the New Password field. Retype the new password in the Retype Password field. Click the Submit button. Important If a user forgets his or her password, the Administrator must delete that User account and create a new one, as described...

  • Page 50: Changing A User's Email Address

    RAIDXpert User Manual Changing a User’s Email Address In RAIDXpert, each user can change his or her own email address or the Administrator can do it. To change your email address: Log into RAIDXpert under your User name. Click User Management in Tree View. Click your User ID link in Management View.

  • Page 51: Changing A User's Access Rights

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Changing a User’s Access Rights In RAIDXpert, the Administrator can change a user’s access rights. To change a user’s access rights: Log in as the Administrator. Click User Management in Tree View. The user list displays in Management View. Click the User ID link for the user whose access rights will change.
  • Page 52 RAIDXpert User Manual Right Meaning Creation Permission to create a logical drive and a spare drive Deletion Permission to delete a logical drive and a spare drive Maintenance Permission to migrate, rebuild, and synchronize a logical drive; to run Media Patrol on a physical drive; make controller and physical drive settings Notification Permission to receive notification of events affecting the...

  • Page 53: Host Management

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Host Management This function provides information only. There are no user settings. To access Host Management: Click Host Management in Tree View. Host information displays in Management View. Under Host List, click the IP Address link to the host you want to see. The Information tab displays with information about the Host PC.

  • Page 54: Utility Configuration

    RAIDXpert User Manual Utility Configuration • Making Utility Configuration Settings (page 48) • Choosing Utility Configuration Options (page 49) Making Utility Configuration Settings Use this function to make email settings for RAIDXpert and also to set the refresh interval for the Event Frame. To make Utility Configuration settings: Click Utility Configuration in Tree View.

  • Page 55: Choosing Utility Configuration Options

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Choosing Utility Configuration Options Backup Prompt This feature makes a copy of your RAID Ready logical drive onto a separate disk drive. Because a RAID Ready consists of only one physical drive, there is no redundancy to protect against drive failure.

  • Page 56: System Event Notification

    RAIDXpert User Manual System Event Notification An example of a System Event Notification message. These messages display on the top right corner of the Host PC’s desktop, whether or not RAIDXpert is running at the time. This feature makes it easy to monitor your RAID system without having to keep a browser window open and dedicated to the RAID.

  • Page 57: Controller

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Controller • Viewing Controller Information (below) • Making Controller Settings (page 51) • Viewing Controller Scheduled Activities (page 53) • Locking the Controller (page 54) The term Controller refers to the device that controls your RAID. Viewing Controller Information To view controller information, click Controller in Tree View.
  • Page 58 RAIDXpert User Manual Click the Enable or Disable options for each feature. • Rates – Allocates system resources between the background activity such as Rebuild, Media Patrol, Migration/Expansion, Initialization, and Synchronization, and the data read/write activity. A High setting assigns most of the system resources to background processes.

  • Page 59: Viewing Controller Scheduled Activities

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage • S.M.A.R.T. Status – SMART, an acronym for Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology, is a feature of the physical drive software. When enabled, the SATA controller polls the physical drives for SMART information and reports it to you. •...

  • Page 60: Deleting A Scheduled Activity

    RAIDXpert User Manual Deleting a Scheduled Activity To delete a scheduled background activity: Click Controller in Tree View. Click the Schedule tab in Management View. Check the box to the left of the process you want to delete. Click the Delete button. In the Confirmation box, click the OK button.
  • Page 61 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage To release the lock before the scheduled time, click the Unlock button.

  • Page 62: Physical Drives

    RAIDXpert User Manual Physical Drives • Viewing Physical Drives (below) • Running Media Patrol – One Physical Drive (page 60) • Merging a Physical Drive (page 57) • Viewing the Physical Drive Bad • Scheduling Media Patrol – All Sector Log (page 62) Physical Drives (page 57) •...

  • Page 63: Merging A Physical Drive

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Merging a Physical Drive A physical drive is logically split when its capacity is divided between two assignments, such as two different logical drives. When the logical drives are deleted, the split remains. The action of merging a physical drive reunites the two portions of a split drive back into a single physical drive.

  • Page 64: Canceling A Schedule

    RAIDXpert User Manual Click the Enable option. Click the by Day, by Week or by Month option. From the dropdown menus, select a start time and a day of the Week or Month, if applicable. Start time is based on a 24-hour clock. Click the Schedule button.
  • Page 65 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage The Information tab displays the following information: • Drive Model – The physical drive manufacturer’s model name or number. • Serial Number – The serial number of this physical drive. • Firmware Version – The version number of the firmware on this physical drive.

  • Page 66: Making Physical Drive Settings

    RAIDXpert User Manual feature is supported, the drive will pass SMART information to the SATA controller when it polls the physical drives. • Write Cache Status – Indicates whether the physical drive’s write cache is Enabled or Disabled. You can change this status under the Settings tab (see below).

  • Page 67: On Demand

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage On Demand To start Media Patrol immediately: Click Physical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Physical Drive on which you want to run Media Patrol. Click the Media Patrol tab in Management View. Click the Start Now button. Scheduled To schedule Media Patrol to run at a later time: Click Physical Drive View in Tree View.

  • Page 68: Canceling A Schedule

    RAIDXpert User Manual Canceling a Schedule To cancel the scheduled Media Patrol operation: Click Physical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Physical Drive whose schedule you want to cancel. Click the Media Patrol tab in Management View. Click the Disable option. Viewing the Physical Drive Bad Sector Log On occasion, an error can arise with the media on a physical drive.

  • Page 69: Deleting Physical Drive Backup Information

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage If any bad sectors are found, they are listed here. RAIDXpert informs you by popup and email messages when a bad sector error is logged (see page 38). After 10 bad sectors have been discovered on a physical drive, RAIDXpert issues a warning to replace the drive.
  • Page 70 RAIDXpert User Manual To delete backup information from a physical drive: Click Physical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Physical Drive marked as a backup drive. Click the Backup Information tab in Management View. Click the Delete button. In the Confirmation box, click the OK button. The backup information is removed and the physical drive is ready for use in a logical drive or as a spare drive.

  • Page 71: Logical Drives

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Logical Drives • Viewing Logical Drives (below) • Rebuilding a Logical Drive (page 77) • Creating a Logical Drive (page 65) • Synchronizing All Logical Drives • Deleting a Logical Drive (page 70) (page 80) •...
  • Page 72 RAIDXpert User Manual In the Select Drive Type screen, click the option for one of the following: • Free Drives – Select all Free (unassigned) physical drives • Logical Drive – Select the Free portion of physical drives whose other portion is assigned to a Logical Drive The available choices depend on the RAID level you selected and the physical drives available.
  • Page 73 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Or, to use the maximum capacity of the physical drives, check the Use Maximum Capacity box. For RAID Ready and JBOD, the system will check the Use Maximum Capacity Box automatically. Click the physical drives to select them. Available drives have a white frame.
  • Page 74 RAIDXpert User Manual 10. Click the Next button. The Final Settings screen appears. 11. RAID 0, 5, and 10. Choose a Stripe Block Size from the dropdown menu. The choices are 64 and 128 KB. For more information, see “Choosing Stripe Block Size”...
  • Page 75 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage 14. Click the Finish button. If there are physical drives available, the Select RAID Level screen appears again, where you can create an additional logical drive. Click the Logical Drive in Tree View to see all of the information about your new logical drive.

  • Page 76: Deleting A Logical Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual Before you can use your new logical drive, you must partition and format the logical drive using your PC’s operating system. See “Appendix B: Partition and Format” on page 111 for more information. Deleting a Logical Drive Warning When you delete a logical drive, you delete all data on the logical drive.

  • Page 77: Making Logical Drive Settings

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage apply to this logical drive have green tabs. Features that do not apply have blackened tabs. Making Logical Drive Settings Logical Drive Settings enables you to change the name of a logical drive. To access logical drive settings: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View.

  • Page 78: Set Up By Selecting A Physical Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual Click the Yes button to make a backup of your RAID Ready logical drive to the physical drive that you just plugged into your system. Set up by Selecting a Physical Drive This option requires one unassigned physical drive connected to the AMD Controller.

  • Page 79: Backup Drive Features

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Backup Drive Features There is no pause or resume button for the backup. However, if you reboot your system with the backup drive still attached, the backup function will continue automatically after the reboot is completed. When the backup is finished, the backup drive is an exact duplicate of your RAID Ready logical drive.

  • Page 80: On Demand

    RAIDXpert User Manual From Result RAID 0: 2 drives RAID 5: 3 or 4 drives* Increased performance and capacity, adds RAID 10: 4 drives redundancy RAID 0: 3 drives RAID 5: 4 drives* Increased performance and capacity, adds redundancy RAID 1: 2 drives RAID 5: 3 or 4 drives* Increased performance and capacity...
  • Page 81 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage You can monitor Migration progress on the Logical Drive Migration tab. Click the respective buttons to pause and resume the Migration.

  • Page 82: Scheduled

    RAIDXpert User Manual Scheduled To schedule a Migration: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Logical Drive you want to migrate. Click the Migration tab in Management View. From the Migrate RAID Level to dropdown menu, choose the target RAID level for your logical drive.

  • Page 83: Canceling A Schedule

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Canceling a Schedule If you want to cancel the scheduled Migration, do the following: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Logical Drive whose schedule you want to cancel. Click the Migration tab in Management View. Click the Disable option.

  • Page 84: Scheduled

    RAIDXpert User Manual You can monitor Rebuild progress on the Logical Drive Rebuild tab. Click the respective buttons to pause and resume the Rebuild. Scheduled To schedule a Rebuild: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Logical Drive you want to rebuild. Click the Rebuild tab in Management View.

  • Page 85: Canceling A Schedule

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage From the dropdown menus, select a start time. Start time is based on a 24-hour clock. Click in Start At field to display a popup calendar. Click the start date in the calendar or enter a date manually. Click the Schedule button.

  • Page 86: Synchronizing All Logical Drives

    RAIDXpert User Manual • Automatic Rebuild Status is enabled in the Controller Settings. See “Making Controller Settings” on page 51. If the three above conditions are met, a logical drive will replace a faulty physical drive and rebuild itself automatically. RAIDXpert will report the critical logical drive and automatic rebuild in its user interface as well as via popup messages.

  • Page 87: Canceling A Schedule

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Canceling a Schedule If you want to cancel the scheduled Synchronization, do the following: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Synchronization Schedule tab in Management View. Click the Disable option. Synchronizing a Logical Drive The Logical Drive Synchronization tab enables you to synchronize an individual logical drive.

  • Page 88: On Demand

    RAIDXpert User Manual On Demand To Synchronize or Redundancy Check a logical drive: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Logical Drive you want to synchronize. Click the Synchronization tab in Management View. In the Policy dropdown menu, choose: •...

  • Page 89: Scheduled

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Scheduled To schedule a Synchronization or Redundancy Check: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View. Click the Logical Drive you want to synchronize. Click the Synchronization tab in Management View. In the Policy dropdown menu, choose: •...

  • Page 90: Initializing A Logical Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual Click the Disable option. Initializing a Logical Drive When logical drive is first created, you can select one of three choices for initialization: • Fast Initialization – Erases the reserve and master boot sectors of the physical drives being added to the logical drive. •...
  • Page 91 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Activation changes the logical drive status from Offline to Critical. You can then access the data on the logical drive and rebuild the logical drive using a spare or unassigned physical drive. To activate an offline RAID 1 logical drive: Click Logical Drive View in Tree View.

  • Page 92: Managing A Critical Or Offline Logical Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual Managing a Critical or Offline Logical Drive A fault-tolerant logical drive—RAID 1, 5, or 10—goes Critical when a physical drive is removed or fails. Due to the fault tolerance of the logical drive, the data is still available and online. However, once the logical drive goes critical, it has lost its fault tolerance and performance may be adversely affected.

  • Page 93: When A Physical Drive Fails

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage When a Physical Drive Fails The following will occur when a physical drive fails or goes offline: • The Controller’s audible alarm, if enabled, will sound • RAIDXpert reports the condition in Tree View, with popup messages and, if Event Notification is set up, email messages •...

  • Page 94: Identify The Failed Physical Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual Identify the Failed Physical Drive Click Physical Drive View in Tree View. Look for a missing physical drive. A physical drive that used to be present but is suddenly absent is the failed physical drive. No drive on Port 3 Port 1 Port 2...
  • Page 95 Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage You can monitor Rebuild progress on the Rebuild tab. Click the respective buttons to pause and resume the Rebuild. When the Rebuild is finished, your logical drive will be Functional again.

  • Page 96: Spare Drives

    RAIDXpert User Manual Spare Drives • Viewing Spare Drives (below) • Creating a Spare Drive (page 90) • Deleting a Spare Drive (page 91) A spare drive is a physical drive designated to function as a hot spare drive. A hot spare drive automatically replaces a failed physical drive.

  • Page 97: Deleting A Spare Drive

    Chapter 5: Monitor and Manage Click a physical drive to select it. Available drives have a white frame. Selected drives have a red frame. Drives with a blue frame are assigned to a logical drive. You cannot select for a spare drive a split physical drive, where part of the physical drive currently supports a logical drive.
  • Page 98 RAIDXpert User Manual In the Confirmation box, click the OK button. The selected spare drive is deleted.

  • Page 99: Chapter 6: Technology Background

    Chapter 6: Technology Background • Introduction to RAID (below) • Choosing a RAID Level (page 100) • RAID Ready – Single Drive (page 98) • Choosing Stripe Block Size (page 103) • Gigabyte Boundary (page 103) • Initialization (page 103) •...

  • Page 100: Raid 0 - Stripe

    RAIDXpert User Manual RAID 0 – Stripe When a logical drive is striped, the read and write blocks of data are interleaved between the sectors of multiple physical drives. Performance is increased, since the workload is balanced between drives or “members” that form the logical drive. Identical drives are recommended for performance as well as data storage efficiency.

  • Page 101: Raid 1 - Mirror

    Chapter 6: Technology Background RAID 1 – Mirror When a logical drive is mirrored, identical data is written to a pair of physical drives, while reads are performed in parallel. The reads are performed using elevator seek and load balancing techniques where the workload is distributed in the most efficient manner.

  • Page 102: Raid 5 - Block Striping With Distributed Parity

    RAIDXpert User Manual RAID 5 – Block Striping with Distributed Parity RAID 5 stripes data and distributes parity information across the physical drives along with the data blocks. This organization increases performance by accessing multiple physical drives simultaneously for each operation, as well as fault tolerance by providing parity data.

  • Page 103: Raid 10 - Mirror/Stripe

    Chapter 6: Technology Background RAID 10 – Mirror/Stripe RAID 10 combines the properties of RAID 0 and RAID 1 logical drives. RAID 10 increases performance by reading and writing data in parallel while protecting data with duplication. Four physical drives are required for RAID 10. One drive pair is mirrored together then striped over a second drive pair.

  • Page 104: Raid Ready - Single Drive

    RAIDXpert User Manual RAID Ready – Single Drive RAID Ready arranges individual physical drives the same as if they were attached to the PC’s motherboard controller. The advantage is that the AMD SB6xx/SB7xx Controller can accommodate up to four physical drives, more than most PC motherboards.

  • Page 105: Jbod - Concatenation

    Chapter 6: Technology Background JBOD – Concatenation JBOD stands for “Just a Bunch of Disks” and normally refers to one or more physical drives working independently. The AMD SB6xx and SB7xx Controllers offer the added feature of concatenation, where the capacity of multiple drives is added together.

  • Page 106: Choosing A Raid Level

    RAIDXpert User Manual Choosing a RAID Level There are several issues to consider when choosing the RAID Level for your logical drive. The following discussion summarizes some advantages, disadvantages, and applications for each choice. RAID 0 Advantages Disadvantages Data is broken down into blocks and Not a true RAID because it is not fault- each block is written to a separate tolerant...

  • Page 107: Raid 5

    Chapter 6: Technology Background RAID 5 Advantages Disadvantages High Read data transaction rate Disk failure has a medium impact on throughput Medium Write data transaction rate Good aggregate transfer rate Recommended Applications for RAID 5: • File and Application servers •...

  • Page 108: Jbod

    RAIDXpert User Manual JBOD Advantages Disadvantages Enables you to manage multiple The failure of just one drive will result in physical drives from a single controller all data in all drives being lost Not suitable for mission critical environments Recommended Applications for JBOD: •...

  • Page 109: Choosing Stripe Block Size

    Chapter 6: Technology Background Choosing Stripe Block Size For RAID 0, 5 and 10 logical drives, the stripe block size value can be set to 64 KB or 128 KB. 64 KB is the default. Your choice will directly affect performance.

  • Page 110: Hot Spare Drive(S)

    RAIDXpert User Manual If any of the physical drives in your logical drive were previously used in other logical drives, or you are not sure, choose Full Initialization Hot Spare Drive(s) A hot spare is a physical drive that is connected to the logical drive system but is not assigned as a member of the logical drive.
  • Page 111 Chapter 6: Technology Background You can change the RAID level of a logical drive with certain combinations of RAID level and number of physical drives, as described in the table below. From Result RAID Ready: 1 drive RAID 0: 2, 3, or 4 drives Increased capacity RAID 1: 2 drives Adds redundancy RAID 5: 3 or 4 drives*...

  • Page 112: Ranges Of Logical Drive Migration

    RAIDXpert User Manual Important • The Target logical drive may require more physical drives than the Source logical drive • If the Target logical drive requires an EVEN number of physical drives but the Source logical drive has an ODD number, ADD a physical drive as part of the migration process •...

  • Page 113: Media Patrol

    Chapter 6: Technology Background See the chart below. Maximum LD Current LD Size Sector Size Migration Size 8 to 16 TB 16 TB 4096 bytes 4 to 8 TB 8 TB 2048 bytes 2 to 4 TB 4 TB 1024 bytes 0 to 2 TB 2 TB 512 bytes...
  • Page 114 RAIDXpert User Manual...

  • Page 115: Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions

    Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions I tried to log into RAIDXpert but my browser showed the message “cannot be displayed.” What is the problem? The browser decided prematurely that RAIDXpert was not responding. Click the Refresh button. This action usually brings up the login screen. I can access the Host PC over my company’s intranet.
  • Page 116 RAIDXpert User Manual Why do the Rebuild, Synchronize, and Migrate operations take so long compared to moving data? When data is moved, the operation consists of reading, writing, and checking one or more files. Rebuild, Synchronize, and Migrate involve reading, writing, and checking all the logical block addresses or individual data blocks on each physical drive.

  • Page 117: Appendix B: Partition And Format

    Appendix B: Partition and Format In order for your operating system to recognize and work with the physical drives attached to your AMD SB6xx/SB7xx Controller, the drives must be partitioned and formatted. • If your drives were previously partitioned and formatted they are ready to use and you can skip this procedure •...
  • Page 118 RAIDXpert User Manual Click the Next button to start the Wizard. In the following windows, choose Disk 1 to Initialize. Do not choose any disks to Convert. Click the Finish button to Initialize the logical drive. Right-click the Unallocated portion of Disk 1 and choose New Partition... from the popup menu.
  • Page 119 Appendix A: Partition and Format Click the Next button to start the wizard. In the following windows, do the following actions. • Choose Primary Partition • Specify the maximum available partition size in MB • Assign the available drive letter of your choice •...
  • Page 120 RAIDXpert User Manual When formatting is complete, your logical drive will appear as a hard disk drive in the Disk Management window (above) and the My Computer window (below).

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