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Creating and Managing Arrays Using the RAID Array Software for the AHA-3980/3985 Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev. A Print Spec Number: 493069-00 Current Date: 3/3/99 User’s Guide Page: Front Cover ECN Date: 3/28/95...
Creating and Managing Arrays Using the RAID Array Software for the AHA-3980/3985 Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev. A Page: i Print Spec Number: 493069-00 Current Date: 3/3/99 ECN Date: 3/28/95...
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Adaptec products and services. The Adaptec Interactive Fax system is available 23 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Fax system is out of service 1 hour each day. You can call this service directly at 408-957-7150.
Number of Disks in an Array 1-3 Mixing Disks from Different Manufacturers or with Different Capacities 1-4 Mixing Disks on Different RAID Adapter Channels 1-4 The Adaptec Array Software 1-4 The Adaptec CI/O Software 1-5 System Requirements 1-5 Using This Guide 1-6...
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Creating and Managing Arrays Formatting the Array 4-2 Canceling Formatting 4-4 5 Monitoring Array Performance Obtaining Array Information 5-1 Displaying Overview Information 5-2 Displaying Performance Statistics 5-3 Changing the Data Sampling Rate 5-3 Resetting the Temporary Statistics to Zero 5-4 Saving the Statistics in the Log File 5-4 Determining Who Receives Messages 5-5 Setting the Repeat Interval for Error Messages 5-7...
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Deleting a Single Array in Multiple-array Systems 7-9 Deleting the Only Array or All Arrays 7-9 8 Working from a Remote Workstation Standard Adaptec CI/O Features 8-1 Adaptec CI/O Features When Working with the Administrator Utility 8-2 Enabling a Remote Workstation to Receive...
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Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev. A Page: vi Print Spec Number: 493069-00 Current Date: 3/3/99 ECN Date: 3/28/95...
Adaptec Arrays An Adaptec array is an array that was set up using Adaptec’s array software (see The Adaptec Array Software on page 1-4). Adaptec’s array software lets you create up to four nonbootable arrays of SCSI disks, offering several array types.
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Creating and Managing Arrays RAID 0 (Striped Disks) In a RAID 0 array, data is distributed, or striped, across the disks in the array. The array appears to the server as one large disk with a cap- acity approximately equal to the combined capacity of the physical disks.
A Source Book for RAID Technology, published by the RAID Advisory Board (Lino Lakes, Minnesota: September 1994). Number of Disks in an Array The following table shows the number of SCSI disks allowed in each type of Adaptec array. Minimum No. RAID Level of Disks...
Mixing Disks on Different RAID Adapter Channels An AHA-3980 RAID adapter has two channels: A and B. An AHA-3985 RAID adapter has three channels: A, B, and C. Each channel acts as an independent RAID controller, implementing a separate SCSI bus (for more information on the AHA-3980 or AHA-3985, see the AHA-3980/3985 User’s Guide).
AHA-3980 and AHA-3985 RAID adapter kits include Adaptec CI/O (the single server version). If you purchased the RAID adapter sepa- rately, you can obtain Adaptec CI/O by calling the sales order line at the number listed on page ii. System Requirements...
A boot disk separate from the array disks. The boot disk may be any hard disk (for example, IDE, EIDE, or SCSI disk). If a SCSI disk, it need not be attached to the AHA-3980 or AHA-3985, although it can be. (For instructions on creating a boot disk, see AHA-3980/3985 User’s Guide.)
It lists error messages alphabetically, explains them, and provides possible solutions to the problem. Those interested in the files included in the Adaptec array software can find a glossary of files in Appendix B. For a quick reference of the menu options in the Administrator utility, see the menu trees in Appendix C.
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Note: Before you start the Administrator utility, make sure the aha3980.dsk driver is installed. See AHA-3980/3985 User’s Guide for instructions. Starting the Administrator Utility To start the Administrator utility, follow these steps: If the server is not running, start it.
Convert RAID Level Change Array Configuration Figure 2-1. The Main menu appears first if you have only one array System Menu Select Adaptec Array #1 Select Adaptec Array #2 Select Adaptec Array #3 Select Adaptec Array #4 Display Array Status Change Array Configuration Figure 2-2.
Who Receives Messages on page 5-5). Change the fre- quency at which messages repeat (see Setting the Repeat Interval for Error Messages on page 5-7). Install the Adaptec array utili- ties in the NetWare sys:system directory (see Installing the Array Utilities in the sys:system Directory on page 3-6).
Creating and Managing Arrays Reactivate Spare: Restore to service a spare disk that has been down. For details, see Reactivating a Spare Disk on page 6-7. Hardware Functions: Perform the following hardware-related tasks: Display the array that uses a specific drive; blink the drive light for a drive (helps you find a specific drive);...
Gray Menu Options Gray menu options are not available to you, usually because they do not apply to the chosen array. If an array has no failed drives, for example, the Reconstruct Functions option on the Main menu is gray, because no drives need to be reconstructed. Similarly, the Convert RAID Level option is always gray for a mirrored array, because you cannot convert a mirrored array to another format.
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Note: If you have not yet installed the NetWare drivers for the AHA-3980/3985, do so before you set up the arrays (see AHA-3980/3985 User’s Guide for instructions). When you install the drivers, you also install the RAID utilities—in the DOS directory containing the server.exe file.
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Array on page 7-1. Before you run the Administrator utility the first time, determine the drives and RAID level you want for each array. Adaptec Arrays on page 1-1 describes the different RAID levels and the disk require- ments for each RAID level. Once you decide the array characteris-...
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Del = Deselect last drive installed Figure 3-2. Drive selection screen If the system has more than one AHA-3980 or AHA-3985, the RAID Boards menu appears, listing the AHA-3980 and AHA-3985 boards. Select the host adapter with the drives you want to use for this array.
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To cancel the last selection, press the Delete key. To cancel an earlier selection, press the Delete key until the disk name no longer appears in the Adaptec Array # box (this cancels all disk selections back to that point, so you must reselect those disks you still want in the array).
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If the array is mirrored or RAID 5 and you have a disk left, a prompt appears, asking whether you want to choose a spare disk: If you do not want a spare: Type n and continue with step 10. To select a spare: Follow these steps: At the prompt, type y.
Creating and Managing Arrays array utilities to that directory. If the sys:system directory does not exist, you must create it later and copy the utilities to it (see Installing the Array Utilities in the sys:system Directory below). When the Administrator utility finishes, it prompts you to press any key to continue.
From the System menu or the Main menu, select Change Array Configuration. Select Install Utility Suite. The Administrator utility copies the array utilities to the sys:system directory. The startup.ncf and autoexec.ncf Files When you define an array, the Administrator utility automatically modifies the startup.ncf file to load the array when the server starts.
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Formatting Arrays Whenever you create an array or redefine disks (other than spares) in an existing array, you must format the array. To do so, you can Perform a low-level format, or Initialize the array with zeroes Both types of formatting accomplish the same things: they erase all existing data on an array, and format the array for the specified array type.
Creating and Managing Arrays Check with your vendor or your drive documentation to learn how your drives handle low-level formatting. If you find the low-level formatting speed is acceptable to you, low-level formatting is the better choice. Choosing the Data Block Size When formatting arrays other than RAID 1 arrays, you must choose the size of the data blocks that will be striped across the array.
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Select Initialize Array to Zero or Low-Level Format. Caution: Remember, formatting or initializing an array erases all data on the array disks. If the array disks contain data you want to keep, be sure to back them up before you format the array! A menu of block sizes appears (this menu does not appear if the array is a mirrored array with only two drives).
Creating and Managing Arrays completed. For low-level formatting, it displays the elapsed format- ting time. To display this information, press Alt-Esc until the Adaptec RAID Format Utility screen appears. You can display this screen even if you exit the Administrator utility. Note: After you format an array, view the status screens for that array to verify the array configuration.
With the Administrator util- ity, you can view these performance statistics at the server console. If you have the Adaptec CI/O software, you can also view the statistics at a remote workstation. The Administrator utility also monitors arrays for problems, such as failed drives.
Creating and Managing Arrays Overview for Array #1 Array Model = AHA-3980 Two Channel RAID Creation date = Tue Oct 4 11:11:57 1994 Array Type = Mirrored Array Physical Capacity = 515MB State = Fault-tolerant Drives = 2 Spare Drive Count = 1 Date of last Verify is Fri Jan 27 18:14.
At the last information screen, press any key to return to the Status menu. Press Esc to return to the System menu or Main menu. Displaying Performance Statistics To display the performance statistics for an array or the disks in an array, follow these steps: If the system has only one array, skip to step 2.
Creating and Managing Arrays you use other programs, you can increase the sampling rate through either of the following methods: Display the Statistics menu for the array (see steps 1 through 3 in Displaying Performance Statistics on page 5-3), and select Set Sampling Rate.
Spare drive # m of n failed Ready test. Message repeat interval changed from n to m minute(s). Drive # n of Adaptec disk array # n went DOWN. Adaptec disk array monitor has lost con- tact with the array driver.
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Creating and Managing Arrays Messages can be broadcast to everybody on the server connection list, to selected persons on the connection list, or to nobody. To choose who will receive messages, follow these steps: From the System menu or the Main menu, select Change Array Configuration.
Note: The locations you select (everyone, no one, or speci- fied locations) apply to all arrays, even if you selected a spe- cific array from the System menu. Setting the Repeat Interval for Error Messages Error messages repeat onscreen every 15 minutes by default. Several beeps call your attention to the message.
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Managing Arrays Use the Administrator utility to routinely verify arrays and test spare disks, and to perform such nonroutine tasks as reconstructing data on replacement disks and reactivating off-line arrays and spare disks. The utility’s Scheduler function lets you schedule most of these tasks to run automatically at a specified time or interval.
Creating and Managing Arrays Verification runs in the background, so you can continue your work while verification is under way. Assigning a Priority You assign verifications a priority on the server. The priority, which can be 0 through 9, determines the proportion of verification I/O operations relative to other system I/O operations.
Configuration for Array #1 Array Type = Mirrored Drives = 2 Utility is 90% complete Member SCSI ID Channel Status Spare0 Figure 6-1. The Configuration screen shows the percentage of verification completed While Verify runs, the logical block addresses (LBAs) of any repaired data blocks appear onscreen.
Creating and Managing Arrays Changing the Priority of a Verification in Progress If a verification is slowing other server operations unacceptably, you can lower the priority of the verification on the server. Conversely, you can speed a verification by increasing its priority. Change the priority at either the Verify menu or at the screen show- ing the Verify status bar: From the Verify menu, select Change Priority.
data is copied from the other disk in the mirrored pair. Data is recon- structed in the background, allowing you to continue working. Note: If your drive box requires that all host adapter activity stop while you replace a drive, use Hot Swap Pause. For details, see Pausing Host Adapter Activity When Replacing Disks on page 6-12.
Creating and Managing Arrays The Reconstruct utility also tracks reconstructions, displaying a sta- tus bar that indicates the percentage completed. To display the sta- tus bar, press Alt-Esc until the status bar appears. Reconstructing the Data at a Scheduled Time Because reconstructing data may slow a system, you may want to schedule this operation for a time when system use is light.
Reactivating an Off-line Array An array goes off-line if the power fails or if someone removes a sec- ond disk when one has already been removed. To reactivate an off- line array, follow these steps: If the system has only one array, skip to step 2. Otherwise, from the System menu select the array you want to reactivate.
Creating and Managing Arrays Scheduling Tasks The Scheduler lets you schedule the following tasks: Verifying mirrored and RAID 5 arrays Testing spare disks Reconstructing data on a replacement disk If you use the Scheduler to schedule verifications, all arrays are veri- fied.
– To enter a day of the week: Type the first three letters of its name and press Enter. To enter Monday, for example, type mon and press Enter. You can use upper or lower case letters. – To enter a time of day: Type the hour and minutes (for exam- ple, 01:30) and press Enter.
Creating and Managing Arrays Using the Hardware Functions The Hardware Functions option provides tools for Identifying the array that uses a specific drive Identifying the location of a selected drive by blinking the light on the front panel of the drive Suspending host adapter activity while you replace drives in an array Identifying the Allocation of Host Adapter Drives...
ADAPTEC AHA-3980 SCSI IDs on Channel Bus #1 QUANTUM LPS34 Channel A CONNER CFA540 Channel B CONNER CFA540 CONNER CFA540 Tab = Select channel Up/Dn Arrow = Select drive Figure 6-2. When you select a drive, the box at the far right shows the array that contains the...
Creating and Managing Arrays Pausing Host Adapter Activity When Replacing Disks Some drive enclosures allow you to remove and replace drives while SCSI bus activity continues; others do not. If your drive enclo- sure does not (check the documentation for the enclosure), use the Hot Swap Pause option before you remove or replace any drives in an array.
Changing Array Configurations After you create the initial arrays on a server, you can later add new arrays and modify or delete existing arrays. This chapter explains how to Add one or more arrays to the server Modify an array by changing the RAID level, the drives in the array, or the number of spares Convert a RAID 0 CVT array to a RAID 5 CVT array and vice versa...
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Creating and Managing Arrays Selection List Adaptec Array #0 Adaptec Array #1 Adaptec Array #2 Adaptec Array #3 Up/Dn Arrow = Select array Enter = Configure array Esc = Done Figure 7-1. Selection List menu. If you highlight an existing array, information on that array appears to the right of the menu.
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SCSI IDs on Channel menu. To deselect a disk, press the Delete key until the disk name no longer appears in the Adaptec Array # box. When you have selected the number of disks you specified in step 6, the next screen appears automatically.
Creating and Managing Arrays If more than one disk is available, a second prompt appears, asking how many spares the array will have. Type the number (1 or 2), and press Enter. To select each spare, follow the directions given in step 7. When you have selected the specified number of spares, the Selection List menu reappears automatically.
Caution: Make sure your data is backed up before you refor- mat the array! If the number of disks in the array is not suitable for the new RAID level, you must reselect disks for the array and then format the array. For instructions on selecting disks, see the next section, Selecting Dif- ferent Disks for the Array.
Insert or Enter key. The names of selected disks appear to the right, in the Adaptec Array # box. Note: Remember, a spare must have at least the capac- ity of the smallest disk in the array.
To use a different disk as the spare disk, you must also redefine the array. When the prompt asks if you want to choose spares, type y (yes); then select the new spare(s). In both cases, you need not reformat the array. Converting between RAID 0 CVT and RAID 5 CVT Formats The RAID 0 CVT and RAID 5 CVT formats are the same as the...
Creating and Managing Arrays To continue, type y; otherwise, type n. If you are converting from RAID 0 CVT to RAID 5 CVT, the Config- uration screen for the array appears. A message on the second line indicates the percentage of the conversion that is complete. If you exit this screen, you can redisplay it by selecting Display Array Status from the System or Main menu, and then selecting Display Array Drive Status.
From the status bar screen, press Esc. From the menu that appears, select Change Priority. When prompted to select a new priority, type a number from 0 through 9, where 0 is the lowest priority. The conversion continues automatically, running at the new prior- ity.
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Creating and Managing Arrays references to the NetWare loadable modules (NLMs). Follow these steps: From the System menu (if you have multiple arrays) or the Main menu (if you have a single array), select Change Array Configuration. Select De-install Array NLMs. A prompt asks you to confirm that you want to remove the NLMs.
Remote Workstation Adaptec CI/O software lets you monitor SCSI subsystems, including arrays, from a remote workstation. You can also use Adaptec CI/O to access the Administrator utility from a remote workstation. The Adaptec CI/O documentation explains the capabilities of Adaptec CI/O and provides instructions for using it.
You can create an Adaptec CI/O submap that displays the fol- lowing array information: RAID level, number of drives, and number of spares. For information on submaps, see the Adaptec CI/O documentation. You can use the SCSI I/O Monitor to display the following...
Creating and Managing Arrays Remotely Accessing the Administrator Utility To access the Administrator utility from within Adaptec CI/O, fol- low these steps: Click on the Remote Console button on the CI/O toolbar. This opens a Novell NetWare RConsole window, which lists the servers.
Error Messages This appendix describes the error messages displayed by the Adaptec array software, explains the probable cause of the error, and suggests remedies. The error messages are listed in alphabetical order. A SCSI Inquiry command failed. A SCSI Mode Select command to a drive in the disk array failed.
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Attempt to obtain Adaptec driver version failed. An array utility tried to obtain the version number of the Adaptec array driver ( ardrvr.dsk ) but was unable to do so—probably because the driver is not loaded. Load ardrvr.dsk and try again.
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7-1). The Administrator utility will automatically enter the cor- rect IDs in the startup.ncf file. Invalid Adaptec disk array model number of n for command m . Call Adaptec Technical Support. Invalid command error received from the Adaptec disk array driver.
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. This should create the file. If the file is corrupted, call Adaptec Technical Support. No device error received from the Adaptec disk array driver. The utility is not working properly. Call Adaptec Technical support.
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Verify that the drive is turned on and check all con- nections. If this does not resolve the problem, replace the disk. This Adaptec utility is incompatible with the Adaptec disk array driver. You either updated the Adaptec array driver ardrvr.dsk without reinstalling (updating) the other Adaptec array files, or updated the utility NLMs without updating the driver.
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Creating and Managing Arrays Unable to obtain Adaptec array state. The utility tried to determine the status of the array, but was unable to do so—most likely because the startup.ncf file does not include a load line for the array (see The startup.ncf and autoexec.ncf Files on page 3-7).
For more information on the load line, see The startup.ncf and autoexec.ncf Files on page 3-7. mcim.dsk The interface between ardrvr.dsk and the AHA-3980 or AHA-3985. This driver loads automatically when ardrvr.dsk loads. Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev.
Creating and Managing Arrays NetWare Loadable Modules aruadmin.nlm The Administrator utility, which allows central control of all array tasks, including the following: Setting up the initial arrays Displaying the status and configuration of arrays Verifying mirrored and RAID 5 arrays Testing spare drives Reactivating an off-line array or spare Reconstructing data on replacement drives...
arumon.nlm The Array Monitor utility, which performs the following functions: Monitors the array driver for error conditions and displays the error messages on the server console. The messages are also broadcast to any client locations selected by the operator. Automatically starts the Reconstruct utility ( arurec.nlm ) if a drive fails in an array that contains a spare.
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Creating and Managing Arrays Scheduling information: The scheduled times for verifications, spare tests, or reconstruction of data on a replacement disk Auto-Correct flag for the Verify function: The default is Y (that is, Auto-Correct is on). For information on the Auto-Correct flag, see Verifying Arrays on page 6-1.
Menu Reference The figures on the following pages show the primary menu options for the Administrator utility. The first figure illustrates the System menu, which is the first menu that appears in systems with multiple arrays. The second figure illustrates the Main menu, which is the first menu in systems with only one array.
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Menu Reference Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev. A Page: C-5 Print Spec Number: 493069-00 Current Date: 3/3/99 ECN Date: 3/28/95...
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2-5 Main menu 2-2 selecting menu options 2-4 starting the utility 2-1 System menu 2-2, 2-4 AHA-3980 or AHA-3985 Menu 3-4 Array Monitor Utility 3-7 Array Types mirrored 1-2 RAID 0 (striped) 1-2 RAID 0 CVT 1-3 Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev.
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Change Array Configuration Option 7-1 Change Broadcast Mode Option 5-6 Change Message Repeat Cycle Option 5-7 CI/O Software See Adaptec CI/O Software Conventions 1-7 Conversion Status Bar 7-8 Convert Menu 7-7 Convert RAID Level Option 7-7 Converting between RAID 0 and RAID 5 7-7–7-9...
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initialization 4-1 low-level formatting 4-1 tracking progress 4-3 Hardware Functions Option 6-10 Help, Getting 2-5 Highlight Bar Problems 2-4 Hot Swap Pause Option 6-12 Initialization advantages and disadvantages as formatting method 4-1 steps for 4-2 Installing the Array Software installing the RAID utilities in sys:system 3-1, 3-5, 3-7 Load Line 3-7 Log Current Data Values Option 5-4...
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Creating and Managing Arrays types of monitoring information 5-1 using Adaptec CI/O 8-1–8-4 Monochrome Monitor 2-4 Off-line Array, Reactivating 6-7 Pausing Host Adapter Activity 6-12 Performance Information 5-3 data sampling rate 5-3 permanent statistics 5-3 saving in the log file 5-4...
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Stopping Host Adapter Activity 6-12 Striped Arrays See RAID 0 Arrays sys:system Directory creating sys:system on an array 3-6 installing the Adaptec utilities in 3-1, 3-5, 3-6–3-7 System Menu 2-2, 2-4 Creating and Managing Arrays Stock Number: 510685-00, Rev. A Print Spec Number: 493069-00...
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