HighPoint RocketStor 6618A User Manual
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HighPoint RocketStor 6618A User Manual

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RocketStor 6618A
User Manual
Dec. 7, 2016
Revision 1.00
HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
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Summary of Contents for HighPoint RocketStor 6618A

  • Page 1 RocketStor 6618A User Manual Dec. 7, 2016 Revision 1.00 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
  • Page 2 Backup your important data before using HighPoint's products and use at your own risk. In no event shall HighPoint be liable for any loss of profits, or for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising from any defect or error in HighPoint's products or manuals.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Updating the Drivers ......................13 Uninstalling the Drivers....................... 14 Installing the HighPoint WebGUI Software ..............15 How to Login to the HighPoint WebGUI ................16 Remote Login ......................... 16 Formatting the RAID Volumes ................... 18 Section 3: Setting up the software Mac Platforms ............21 Section 4: Using the HighPoint WebGUI .................
  • Page 4 Your PC hangs when the card is installed ..............55 Help ............................56 Table 1.WebGUI Icon Guide ....................57 Table 2. RAID Level Reference Guide ................59 HighPoint Recommended List of Hard Drives ............... 60 Contacting Technical Support ................... 60...

  • Page 5: Product Overview

    Product Overview The RocketStor 6618A was designed for Professional Media Applications that demand consistent high speed transfers, flexibility and uncompromised reliability. The built-in full-featured hardware RAID controller, management suite, and 8-hot swappable drive bays support both SAS and SATA hard drives or SSD’s, and can be easily configured to deliver maximum performance, capacity or data security.
  • Page 6 Weight 12.9 lbs. Warranty 3 Years Configurable RAID Block Size up to 1MB Flash ROM for Upgradeable Firmware DV Mode Technology Storage Health Inspector Redundant RAID Configurations Bootable RAID Array EFI BIOS for Mac Platform Multiple RAID Partitions supported Online Array Roaming Online RAID Level Migration (ORLM) Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) RAID Initialization Background/Foreground/Quick...

  • Page 7: Section 1: Hardware Installation

    Section 1: Hardware Installation Hardware Overview Panel Layout-Front View Disk Present & Active LED: Solid/Flash Blue - HDD Access Indicator Disk Status LED: Solid/Flash Red - Device Failure / Rebuilding Indicator Power LED: Solid Blue - Power on Indicator Panel Layout-Rear View System Requirement 1.

  • Page 8: Enclosure Setup

    (switch to the “I” position to power on the RocketStor 6618A). 3. RocketStor 6618A is designed to be powered on and powered off simultaneously with the host system, when the RocketStor 6618A is connected to the host system with the Thunderbolt™...

  • Page 9: Section 2: Setting Up The Software Windows Platforms

    Updating to the latest available driver ensures your product benefits from the most recent performance, stability, and compatibility improvements. Drivers are updated regularly at www.highpoint-tech.com 1. Obtain the latest driver software for the RocketStor6618A from our website: http://highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-rs6618A-download.htm 2. Take note of the location you downloaded the driver file to and open Windows Device Manager.
  • Page 10 6. To the right of Devices and Printers, Click Device Manager: 7. Note: Alternatively, you can search for Device Manager in your start menu search bar. 8. Under Other Devices, right click on RAID controller and click Update Driver Software:...
  • Page 11 9. When prompted, select Browse my computer for driver software. 10. Locate the driver files you downloaded and select them. 11. Press next and follow the on screen instructions.

  • Page 12: Checking Your Driver Version

    Checking your Driver Version To check if the driver was installed successfully follow the instructions below. The same procedure can be used to determine your driver version. 1. Click Start 2. Click Control Panel 3. Click Hardware and Sound 4. To the right of Devices and Printers, Click Device Manager 5.

  • Page 13: Updating The Drivers

    Updating the Drivers 1. Obtain the latest driver files for the RocketStor 6618A from http://highpoint- tech.com/USA_new/series-rs6618A-download.htm 2. Open Windows Device Manager 3. Click Start 4. Click Control Panel 5. Click Hardware and Sound 6. Under Devices and Printers, Click Device Manager 7.

  • Page 14: Uninstalling The Drivers

    Uninstalling the Drivers 1. Open Windows Device Manager  Click Start  Click Control Panel  Click Hardware and sound  Under Devices and Printers, Click Device Manager  Note: Alternatively, you can search Device Manager in your start menu search bar.

  • Page 15: Installing The Highpoint Webgui Software

    Installing the HighPoint WebGUI Software The HighPoint WebGUI is the primary link between you and your RAID array. Using the management utilities and menus offered by the WebGUI, you will be able to access, create, and maintain your RAID arrays.

  • Page 16: How To Login To The Highpoint Webgui

    How to Login to the HighPoint WebGUI You can reach the HighPoint WebGUI log in page either by:  Double clicking on the HighPoint RAID Management icon created on your desktop  Opening your preferred web browser and typing http://localhost:7402in the address bar.
  • Page 17 192.168.1.143 Note: Make sure Restrict to localhost access is disabled in WebGUI Setting (Refer to The HighPoint WebGUI, Setting tab). You can then remotely access the WebGUI using any other computer that is in your local network by opening any web browser and typing http://{IP address of host...

  • Page 18: Formatting The Raid Volumes

    Formatting the RAID Volumes After creating a RAID array, your operating system will recognize that array as a logical disk. However, the array will not be accessible until it is formatted by the operating system. Format the volume when you have finished the following procedures: ...
  • Page 19 4. Once initialized, right click the unallocated disk space for your disk 5. click New Simple Volume 6. Follow the instructions on screen to receive a drive letter...
  • Page 20 7. Once finished, the drive will appear in your OS with the letter you assigned Figure 3. Disk formatted as NTFS and assigned drive letter D:...

  • Page 21: Section 3: Setting Up The Software Mac Platforms

    Your disk may initially appear offline to the operating system, and you may have to bring it online: 1. In Disk Management, right click the disk you wish to bring online. 2. The disk status will change to Not Initialized; right click the disk again to initialize it.
  • Page 22 1) After installation is complete, a WebGUI icon will be displayed on the desktop. 2) Double-click this icon to open the WebGUI. (For more information, refer to the RocketStor 6618A user manual posted online) Warning: Using the WebGUI to create RAID arrays will destroy all pre- existing data on the selected disks.

  • Page 23: Section 4: Using The Highpoint Webgui

    How to Login to the HighPoint WebGUI You can reach the HighPoint WebGUI log in page either by:  Double clicking on the HighPoint RAID Management icon created on your desktop  Opening your preferred web browser and typing http://localhost:7402in the address bar.

  • Page 24: Navigating The Highpoint Webgui

    Navigating the HighPoint WebGUI The HighPoint WebGUI management utility allows you to do several key things: Create and remove arrays  Monitor disk health  Update firmware and BIOS  Change enclosure settings  Troubleshoot faulty drives  View general system overview ...

  • Page 25: Global Tab

    Global Tab The GUI Global view provides an overview of what each HighPoint controller card connected to your computer detects. It is also the first page you see when logging in.  Host Bus Adapter Properties  Storage Properties On the top left of the page is a drop down menu that allows you to select which controller you want to manage (if you have multiple HighPoint controllers connected).

  • Page 26: Viewing Storage Properties

    Viewing Storage Properties 1. Log into the WebGUI 2. Select the controller from drop down menu on the top left Click Global View Storage Properties  Total Capacity: the combined capacity of each physical disk connected to the controller.  Configured Capacity: the amount of space used for creating arrays ...

  • Page 27: Updating Bios/Firmware

    CPU Temperature: Displays computer temperature in Celsius (°C).  Board Temperature: Displays the board temperature in Celsius (°C).  SDRAM Size: SDRAM size of the HighPoint controller card  Battery Installed: Battery Backup Unit  Firmware Version: Firmware version of the HBA ...

  • Page 28: Obtaining Physical Device Information

    Obtaining Physical Device Information 1. Log into the WebGUI 2. Click Physical 3. Click Devices located on the left panel The following properties are part of the Physical Devices Information box under the physical tab.  Model – Model number of the physical drive ...
  • Page 29  Unplug – Safely ejects the selected disk. Other methods of disk removal will trigger the alarm if enabled. * Disk properties that can be adjusted. Read Ahead Enabling disk read ahead will speed up read operations by pre-fetching data and loading it into RAM.

  • Page 30: Logical Tab

    Logical Tab The Logical tab is where you can edit, delete, and maintain your RAID configurations, as well as add drives to your spare pool. The logical tab has the following functions:  Create Array  Spare Pool  Logical Device ...
  • Page 31 Array Type:  JBOD – Just a Bunch of Disks  RAID 0 - Striping  RAID 1 - Mirroring  RAID 5 – Rotating Parity bit  RAID 1/0 – Striping of Mirrored Drives  RAID 5/0 – Striping of Distributed Parity ...
  • Page 32 Array Name: the name that will be displayed in Logical Device Information (Default: RAID_<level>_<array number>) Initialization Method : Initialization of a disk sets all data bits to 0, essentially clearing all the data on the drive. It is important to initialize disks as previous data physically stored on the drive may interfere with new data.
  • Page 33 In a typical RAID configuration, data of the virtual drive is striped (or spread across) the physical drives. Having a smaller array block size will increase the likelihood of accessing all physical drives when processing large I/O requests. Multiple physical drives working in parallel increases the throughput, meaning better performance.
  • Page 34 DV Mode This mode is specifically designed for video applications. The default firmware cache policy provides balanced performance for standard applications such as workstations, file servers, and web servers. But for DV mode, a special cache firmware is implemented specifically for the sequential writing of large files (large I/O requests such as video files).

  • Page 35: Adding Spare Disks

    Adding Spare Disks Spare disks are physical disks that will immediately replace critical disks in an array. To add spare disks: 1. Log into the WebGUI 2. Click Logical 3. Click Spare Pool: 4. Check the box for the disk you want as a spare under Available Disks 5.

  • Page 36: Obtaining Logical Device Information

    6. The disk has now been assigned as a spare. Click OK to confirm: Disks added to the spare pool will be displayed under Spare Pool and can be removed by checking the box before the target drive, then clicking the Remove Spare button. Physical drives marked as a spare will automatically be added to an array whenever there is a disk failure.

  • Page 37: Array Information &Maintenance Options: Normal Status

    Array Information &Maintenance Options: Normal Status Arrays with the Normal status are healthy and functioning properly. Arrays with the Normal status will have the following options: Delete – deletes the selected RAID array Unplug – powers off the selected RAID array – once powered off, the physical disks can be safely removed from the RAID controller Verify –...

  • Page 38: Array Information & Maintenance Options: Critical Status

    Array Information & Maintenance Options: Critical Status Arrays in the Critical status can be accessed and utilized, but are no longer fault tolerant. A Critical array should be rebuilt as soon as possible to restore redundancy. A critical status array has all the normal status options except the following: ...

  • Page 39: Array Information & Maintenance Options: Disabled Status

    Array Information & Maintenance Options: Disabled Status An array with the Disabled status means that the RAID level does not have enough disks to function.  Your data will be inaccessible  Rebuilding will not trigger, since the RAID array does not have enough parity data to rebuild.

  • Page 40: Expanding An Existing Array

    Expanding an Existing Array Important: It is recommended that the array be Verified/Rebuilt before Expanding or Migrating. Once you start an OCE/ORLM procedure, you can stop the process, but it must be resumed until completion. To add more capacity to your current configuration follows these steps: 1.

  • Page 41: Physical Device Information

    Physical Device Information  Location – which controller and port the drive is located in  Model – model number of the drive connected  Capacity – total capacity of the drive  Max Free – total capacity that is not configured Rescan Clicking rescan will force the drivers to report the array status.

  • Page 42: Setting Tab

    Setting Tab Using this tab, you can change the following:  Enable auto-rebuilding  Enable rebuilding on error  Turn audible alarm on/off  Set spindown time for idle disks  Restrict to localhost  Set rebuild priority  Change port number ...
  • Page 43 You can specify the amount of system resources you want to dedicate to rebuilding the array. There are 5 levels of priority [Lowest, Low, Medium, High, Highest] Port Number (default: 7402) The default port that the HighPoint WebGUI listens on is 7402. You may change it to any open port.

  • Page 44: Password Settings

    Password Settings Changing your WebGUI password Under Password Setting, type your new password, confirm it, then click Submit Recovering your WebGUI password If you wish to revert to the default password: hpt, delete the file hptuser.dat. For Mac Users: 1. We recommend uninstalling the WebGUI, then reinstalling –this will remove the password requirement and allow you create a new one under the Setting tab.
  • Page 45 To set up email alerts: 1. Check the Enable Event Notification box. 2. Enter the ISP server address name or SMTP name 3. Type in the email address of the sender (email account that is going to send the alert) 4.

  • Page 46: Recover Tab

    Recover Tab Previously created arrays will be stored under this tab. Recovering an array from here will attempt to recover a ‘Disabled’ array and make it ‘Normal’. The Recover List will list all your previous and current arrays. Each entry includes the following properties: ...

  • Page 47: How To Reload Your Backup Recover List

    4. Locate your previously saved hptrec.rec file and select it 5. Click Submit Event Tab In the event tab, you can see log entries associated with the HighPoint device. The event log provides useful information when troubleshooting your set up. In the event tab, there are four options available: ...

  • Page 48: Shi (Storage Health Inspector)

     Hard disk failure  Broken errors  Memory failure The event view is a basic error logging tool built into the HighPoint WebGUI. SHI (Storage Health Inspector)  S.M.A.R.T Attributes  HDD Temperature Threshold  Storage Health Inspector Scheduling SHI outputs information collected using SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) Hard Drive Technology.

  • Page 49: How To Change The Hdd Temperature Threshold

    To access SMART attributes of an individual disk: 1. Log in to the WebGUI 2. Select the proper controller using the drop down menu on the top left 3. Click the SHI tab 4. Click SMART on the desired disk 5.

  • Page 50: How To Use The Health Inspector Scheduler

    How to Use the Health Inspector Scheduler The Health Inspector Scheduler (HIS) enables you to schedule disk/array checkups to ensure disks/array are functioning optimally. How to Create a New Verify Task All arrays will appear under New Verify Task 1. Log into the WebGUI 2.
  • Page 51 11. Your entry will appear under Tasks List Note: New Verify Task box only appears if you have normal status arrays. If you have a critical array, New Rebuild Task will replace New Verify Task.

  • Page 52: Section 5: Bios/Firmware Updates

    Bugs that are discovered post release are fixed in subsequent updates. Note: We recommend updating the BIOS using the HighPoint WebGUI. (See Installing HighPoint WebGUI). Having the latest BIOS ensures you have the latest firmware stability and performance improvements. Updating the BIOS may fix boot up or system resource issues;...

  • Page 53: Section 6: Troubleshooting

    Section 6: Troubleshooting This section provides guidelines to some problems you may encounter:  Handling Critical Arrays  Handling Disabled Arrays  PC hangs when card is installed. Handling Critical Arrays When your disk status turns critical, your array as a whole is still accessible, but one or more disks is faulty (depending on your RAID level), and the array is in danger of failing.

  • Page 54: Rebuilding Stops Due To Bad Sectors

    Rebuilding Stops Due to Bad Sectors If rebuilding fails to complete due to bad disk sector errors (check in the Event Log), there is an option to continue rebuilding on error in the HighPoint WebGUI. 1. Log into the WebGUI 2.

  • Page 55: Your Pc Hangs When The Card Is Installed

    BIOS splash screen so you can boot up windows and access the WebGUI. Online Array Roaming One of the features of all HighPoint RAID controllers is online array roaming. Information about the RAID configuration is stored on the physical drives. So if a card fails or you wish to switch cards, the RAID configuration data can still be read by another HighPoint card.

  • Page 56: Help

    Online Help redirects you to additional documentation concerning the HighPoint WebGUI. Register Product takes you to the HighPoint Online Web Support Portal. On this page you can create a new customer profile where you can register your product, or post an...
  • Page 57 Table 1.WebGUI Icon Guide Critical – missing disk A disk is missing from the array bringing it to ‘critical’ status. The array is still accessible but another disk failure could result in data loss. Verifying The array is currently running a disk integrity check. Rebuilding The array is currently rebuilding meaning you replaced a failed disk or added a new disk to a ‘critical’...
  • Page 58 Initialization Stopped The initialization has been stopped. Current status is uninitialized. Critical – Inconsistency Data in the array is inconsistent and needs to be rebuilt. Critical – missing disk A disk has been removed or experienced failure, and user needs to reinsert disk or add a new disk.
  • Page 59 Table 2. RAID Level Reference Guide Type Description Min. Usable Advantage Disadvantage Application disks space Each drive can be No fault tolerance - failure Backup accessed as a single of one drive results in Just a bunch of JBOD 100% volume complete data loss disk...

  • Page 60: Highpoint Recommended List Of Hard Drives

    HighPoint Recommended List of Hard Drives HighPoint maintains a list of tested hard drives suitable for RAID applications. Since not every hard drive in the market can be tested, this list is meant to be a general guideline for selecting hard drives operating in a RAID environment. Regular, desktop grade drives are highly not recommended for RAID use.

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