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Promise Technology PAM User Manual

Promise array management
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  • Page 1 ROMISE RRAY MANAGEMENT ANUAL...
  • Page 2 Promise Technology provides this publication “as is” with out warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Create a New User....................24 Create an Array....................25 Setup Email Alert Notification.................29 Add a User to the Recipient List...............30 Specify Alert Notification Events..............31 CHAPTER 4: PAM USER INTERFACE..............33 Tree View......................34 Tree View and Component Specific Menus ............. 34 Object View ......................35 Information View....................36 Status Bar......................36...
  • Page 4 Enclosure Icon....................44 Array Icon......................44 Users Icon ......................45 User Icon......................45 CHAPTER 5: RAID MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE WITH PAM..47 Message Server....................47 Create a New Message Server................47 Delete a Message Server..................49 Disconnect a Message Server Logout of RAID Server ........49 Reconnect a Message Server ................
  • Page 5 Contents Object View....................... 71 Array Options....................71 APPENDIX........................74 IP A ........................ 74 DDRESS Windows XP ......................74 Earlier Windows Systems...................75 DHCP I ......................76 SSUES ................77 PERAT ING YSTEM UPPORT...

  • Page 7: Chapter 1: Introduction

    Promise Array Management (PAM) is a utility application designed specifically for monitoring and managing Promise Technology RAID products. PAM runs over a local area network and makes possible RAID monitoring and management from any computer on the network and even over Internet.

  • Page 8: How They Work Together

    You can select either one or both. You can also select which events and problems PAM will report. A major benefit of PAM is that it runs over a TCP/IP network. This enables remote monitoring of your RAIDs, including offsite monitoring over an Internet connection.

  • Page 9: Pam Installation Options

    Figure 1-1. LAN and Internet connections. In the example on the facing page, there are three Promise RAID products connected to the company’s LAN. The PAM Message Agent runs on each of the PCs controlling the RAIDs. The PAM Message Server runs on the...
  • Page 10 In the above example, there are three Promise RAID products connected to the company’s LAN, the same as before. But this network has no file server, so the PAM Message Server runs on one of the networked PCs. PAM Monitoring Utility runs on both networked PCs. If this LAN were upgraded with a suitable router and an Internet connection, you could set up offsite monitoring as in Figure 1-1.
  • Page 11 Message Agent Figure 1-3. Locally managed RAID. Not all PAM installations will involve a network. In the figure above, the PC controlling the RAID has no network connection. For this arrangement, all three PAM components are installed on the PC itself.
  • Page 12 Promise Array Management...

  • Page 13: Chapter 2: Installation

    To install Promise Array Management (PAM) is an uncomplicated procedure, once you understand your systems and how you want to use PAM. The purpose of this Chapter is to help you plan and carry out your installation of PAM. By way of review, PAM consists of three components: Monitoring Utility •...
  • Page 14 Monitoring Utility on a laptop or home-based PC for dial-in remote access. Limit your installation to the computers of RAID users and your IT administrator. PAM features password protection to further limit access and provide security of your data. Modem...

  • Page 15: Message Server

    The Message Server installs onto the RAID PC if your installation does not involve a network. If you want run PAM over a network, install the Message Server on one of your networked computers including a file server, a networked PC or the RAID PC.

  • Page 16: Operating System Support

    Table 2-2. Operating system support. Network Requirements If you plan to install PAM on a network be sure all the hosts and servers are connected and running. That is, each of the PCs, RAIDs and Servers must have a working network connection before you install PAM.

  • Page 17: Installation Procedure

    Installation Procedure Before you start… If you are installing PAM to run over a network, determine the computers and servers onto which you will install PAM. Obtain the IP addresses of all RAID PCs where PAM will be installed. UltraTrak Users The UltraTrak is an external enclosure and must be online during PAM installation.
  • Page 18 Promise Array Management 3. In the RUN dialog box, type in the location of the PAM Setup file (ex. - D:\Utility\PAMSetup) and press [Enter]. The opening screen appears. See below. Figure 2-3. PAM Setup Opening Screen. 4. RAID PC If you are installing PAM onto the RAID PC, that is a PC with a FastTrak or SuperTrak card or an UltraTrak RAID subsystem, select that product from the dropdown menu.
  • Page 19 Installation File Server or Networked PC a. If you are installing PAM onto a file server or PC that does NOT have a FastTrak or SuperTrak card or an UltraTrak RAID subsystem, select Customize from the dropdown menu. Click Next or press [Enter] to continue. The Customize Setup dialog box appears.
  • Page 20 Promise Array Management Figure 2-6.The Setup Summary dialog box. 5. In the Setup Summary dialog box, click the Finish button or press [Enter] to continue. Figure 2-8. The License Agreement.
  • Page 21 Installation 6. When the License Agreement appears, click the Yes button to agree to the terms and continue the installation. If you click No, PAM Setup will exit. Figure 2-9. Choose Destination dialog box. 7. When the Choose Destination dialog box appears, click the Browse button to specify a destination folder other than the default.
  • Page 22 Promise Array Management 8. The Select Program Folder dialog box adds the PAM Remote Monitoring Utility in your Windows Start menu. When it appears, you may accept this folder name or change it. When you are satisfied with the folder name, click Next or press [Enter].
  • Page 23 Installation Figure 2-12. Install Message Server dialog box. 10. When the Install Message Server dialog box appears, type in the IP address of the RAID PC that is a PC with a FastTrak or SuperTrak card or an UltraTrak RAID subsystem. Click Next or press [Enter] to continue.
  • Page 24 PAM. When you are done, click Finish or press [Enter]. Note: If you are only installing the Message Server, the option to launch PAM now does not appear. This completes the PAM installation. Go on to Chapter 3, Initial Setup.

  • Page 25: Chapter 3: Initial Setup

    Monitoring Utility to work with your RAID. Figure 3-1. PAM in the Start Menu. In the Windows Start Menu, launch the PAM Monitoring Utility. The opening screen appears. Note: If you only installed the Message Server, this shortcut does not appear.

  • Page 26: Create A New Message Server

    Promise Array Manager Figure 3-2. The PAM Monitor window has three views. The Monitor window is the user interface for PAM. It has three views: Tree View ? Displays the elements of your RAID system. It works like Windows Explorer with hierarchical menus. You can expand individual items to see their components.
  • Page 27 UltraTrak subsystem. If you are performing this procedure on a networked PC, input the actual IP Address of the RAID PC in this field. 4. Click the Commit button. PAM connects the Message Server and creates a new Message Agent icon...

  • Page 28: Access The Message Agent

    UltraTrak icon and the Controller icon below it in Tree View (right). If you do, your connection is correct. If you set up your UltraTrak with an array before installing PAM on your PC, you will also see the array and drives.
  • Page 29 Initial Setup If you do NOT see the Controller icon below UltraTrak icon (right), click on the UltraTrak icon to select it. 2. In Information View, click the Connect button (See Figure 3-5). The Status should change to Connected. 3. If the Status remains Disconnected, double check your UltraTrak to PC COM port connection and restart both machines.

  • Page 30: Create A New User

    Promise Array Manager Create a New User With the Message Agent accessed, you can add a new user. The Administrator is created by default. You must create additional users manually. 1. Right-click on the Users icon select New > User from the popup menu (right).

  • Page 31: Create An Array

    Initial Setup 3. Type in a type in the Username and Password in their respective fields. Check all the appropriate boxes to set access rights. Click the Commit button when you are done. The new user’s name appears in the Tree View (right).
  • Page 32 Promise Array Manager Figure 3-7. New Array information window. 3. Type in an Array name, RAID level and Block Size. The default Block size is 64KB. Do NOT click the Commit button yet. A new array icon appears in the Tree View. Note: The available RAID selection depends on which Promise product you have and the number of disk drives available.
  • Page 33 Initial Setup 4. Expand the Channels to find the unassigned drives. Unassigned drives display this icon . You cannot add assigned drives to a new array. Figure 3-8. Drag and drop unassigned drive icons onto the array icon. 5. Drag and drop the unassigned drive icons onto the array icon. The drives are assigned to the new array in the order you add them.
  • Page 34 Promise Array Manager Figure 3-9. Options dialog box. 7. Click the Commit button in the Information View. The Options dialog box appears. Check the box to enable: Initialization ? Data on all drives is set to zero, effectively erasing any data on the disks. Gigabyte Boundary ? On the array, a GB will be based on 1000 MB used in networking, rather than the 1024 MB normally used with computers.

  • Page 35: Setup Email Alert Notification

    Initial Setup Setup Email Alert Notification PAM alerts you to the problems and processes happening to your RAID through email and popup messages. These steps describe how to setup the email function. 1. Click on the Message Agent icon from which you wish to receive email alert messages.

  • Page 36: Add A User To The Recipient List

    Promise Array Manager Figure 3-11. Email Sender and Recipients. 5. Scroll down to the Email Sender and Recipients box. 6. In the Email ID of Alert Sender field, type in the email address of this computer. This address will appear in the From field of the email alerts. Recipients may reply to this address, if it is valid.

  • Page 37: Specify Alert Notification Events

    4. Repeat Step 2 until all addresses have been added. Specify Alert Notification Events PAM can be configured to report a variety of alerts, by email, popup message or both. This section describes how to tell PAM what to report and which method to use.
  • Page 38 Promise Array Manager 4. Right click on the Email column. Select Yes or No from the popup menu. 5. Right click on the Popup column. Select Yes or No from the popup menu. Selecting Yes adds that item to the Email or Popup list. Selecting No deletes the item.

  • Page 39: Chapter 4: Pam User Interface

    Chapter 4: PAM User Interface This chapter describes PAM’s Graphic User Interface (GUI). You should understand that PAM is software running on top of the Promise RAID BIOS and other applications that came with your Promise RAID product. PAM adds a graphic user interface to make RAID management functions easier to understand and perform.

  • Page 40: Tree View

    Promise Array Manager Tree View The Monitor window is the user interface for PAM. It has three views: Tree View, Object View and Information View which were introduced in Chapter 3. The Tree View displays all of the elements of your RAID system. Use it to navigate to specific components.

  • Page 41: Object View

    User Interface Figure 4-3. Each item in Tree View has its own dropdown menu in the menu bar. Rather than access the menu bar, you can right click on the icon of the component you are working with. The menu bar and popup menus for Tree View items are identical.

  • Page 42: Information View

    Figure 4-5. Information View showing part of the setup for an Array. Status Bar The PAM Status Bar is the same as other Windows applications. It indicates such things as the selected RAID is rebuilding, and the current user is the Administrator (shown below).

  • Page 43: Pulldown Menus

    (right-click) menus are the same. Main When no item in Tree View is selected, the left-most menu item is Main. Figure 4-7. Main Menu. Its only function is Exit, which quits the PAM application. View The View menu displays or hides three items: Toolbar •...

  • Page 44: Preference

    • Figure 4-10. The Preference Menu. Fonts and colors are a matter of individual preference. PAM will display any font properly loaded on your PC. PAM uses the Windows color palette, allowing you to select any color your monitor can display.

  • Page 45: Help

    About page with PAM information • Figure 4-11. Help Menu. PAM’s online help follows the standard three-panel interface with Contents, Index and Find. Figure 4-12. Online Help panels: (L to R) Contents, Index, Find. The table of keyboard shortcuts lists effort saving ways to perform certain...

  • Page 46: Toolbar

    Promise Array Manager Figure 4-13. Keyboard shortcuts. The Auto Demo display provides a level-by-level display of each screen in the PAM interface. There are keyboard shortcuts for controlling the Auto Demo. The about page provides information about the PAM software. This information may be of use should you find the need to contact Promise Technical Support.
  • Page 47 Pause. Available when you are rebuilding an Array. Temporarily interrupts the rebuild process. Stop. Available when you are rebuilding an Array. Permanently halts the rebuild process. About. Always available. Provides information about the PAM interface. Help. Always available. Brings up the Online Help.

  • Page 48: Popup Menus

    Promise Array Manager Popup Menus In addition to the commands in the dropdown menus, there is a corresponding set of commands you can access via popup menus. In a popup menu, you can use any of the commands that are in black. You will notice that some functions are grayed out, meaning that you cannot use them.

  • Page 49: Message Agent Icon

    User Interface Message Agent Icon Right-click on the Message Agent icon access the following commands (right): Login to / Logout from this Message Agent • Rename this Message Agent • This menu matches the RAIDMachine pulldown menu. Device Icon The Device icon represents the FastTrak or SuperTrak PCI card or the UltraTrak subsystem (right).

  • Page 50: Disk Icon

    Promise Array Manager Disk Icon Right-click on the Disk icon an unassigned drive to add it to a new array. If you right-click on the Disk icon of an assigned drive, this command will be grayed out. This menu matches the Disk pulldown menu.

  • Page 51: Users Icon

    User Interface Users Icon Right-click on the Users icon to create a new User account (right). This menu matches the User Account pulldown menu. User Icon Right-click the User icon to delete or rename this user. This menu matches the User pulldown menu.
  • Page 52 Promise Array Manager...

  • Page 53: Chapter 5: Raid Monitoring And Maintenance With Pam

    Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance with PAM This chapter describes using PAM to monitor and manage your RAID system. The chapter is divided into sections for major PAM components: Message Server • Message Agent • Controller • • Channel Enclosure •...
  • Page 54 If you are performing this procedure on a networked PC, input the actual IP Address of the RAID PC in this field. See the Appendix for help in finding a PC’s IP address. 4. Click the Commit button. PAM connects the Message Server and creates a new Message Agent icon...

  • Page 55: Delete A Message Server

    When you are about to perform maintenance or repair on a RAID server, use this procedure. This action will preserve your connection settings. PAM will still see the Message Server and show a disconnected status. Note: This is the only correct way to log out a RAID Server from the system.

  • Page 56: Message Server Address Change

    Promise Array Manager Message Server Address Change Occasionally, the IP address of a RAID server may change. This happens when: A RAID PC is physically moved to a different location • The RAID PC gets a new static IP address •...

  • Page 57: Message Agent

    Monitoring and Maintenance Message Agent The Message Agent resides on the RAID PC. It manages user access, reports events as directed and synchronizes array synchronization. Login / User Name and Password 1. In the Tree View, right-click on the Message Agent icon and select Login from the popup menu (right).
  • Page 58 Promise Array Manager Figure 5-4. User Information View. The User Information View displays a request for new user identification and access rights. 3. Type the Username and Password in their respective fields. Check all the appropriate boxes to set access rights. Click the Commit button when you are done.

  • Page 59: Delete A User

    User you wish to delete and select Delete from the popup menu (right). 2. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK. Note: PAM will always keep one user account with access rights, typically the Administrator. This action protects you from being locked out of the system.

  • Page 60: Alert Notification

    Promise Array Manager Alert Notification PAM alerts you to the problems and processes happening to your RAID through email and popup messages. These steps describe how to setup the email function. 1. Click on the Message Agent icon from which you wish to receive email alert messages.

  • Page 61: Add A User To The Recipient List

    Monitoring and Maintenance Figure 5-7. Email Sender and Recipients. 5. Scroll down to the Email Sender and Recipients box. 6. In the Email ID of Alert Sender field, type in the email address of this computer. This address will appear in the From field of the email alerts. Recipients may reply to this address, if it is valid.

  • Page 62: Delete A User From The Recipient List

    Promise Array Manager Figure 5-8. Current Email Alert Recipients 4. Repeat Step 2 until all addresses have been added. Delete a User from the Recipient List To remove a recipient from the Email Address List, do the following: 1. Click on the Message Agent icon from which you wish to delete an email alert message recipient.

  • Page 63: Specify Alert Notification Events

    Monitoring and Maintenance Specify Alert Notification Events PAM can be configured to report a variety of alerts, by email, popup message or both. This section describes how to tell PAM what to report and which method to use. 1. Click on the Message Agent icon whose alert notification events you wish to modify.
  • Page 64 Promise Array Manager Figure 5-11. A Controller in the Device Object View (top) and Information View (bottom).

  • Page 65: Controller

    Monitoring and Maintenance Controller The Controller deals with creating new Arrays, reading events from the memory buffer, setting cache and performance options. Array creation is covered in the Arrays section of this chapter. Memory Buffer Events The Controller’s Memory Buffer records all the events that happen on the RAID, classified as Errors, Warnings and Information.

  • Page 66: Controller Options

    Promise Array Manager Controller Options The Controller has system information and settings for disk cache and performance features. Click on the Controller icon in Tree View to see the Options in Information View. SuperTrak Options Figure 5-13. Controller Options for SuperTrak.
  • Page 67 Monitoring and Maintenance Rebuild Setting High priority (box checked) assigns most of the system resources to rebuilding. Rebuilding goes faster, restoring redundancy sooner but read/write requests are handled slower. Low priority assigns most of the system resources to handling read/write requests.
  • Page 68 Promise Array Manager FastTrak Options Figure 5-14. Controller Options for FastTrak. Disk Parameters: Enable Hard Disk’s Write Cache Speeds hard disk performance by writing data to the cache first and later to the disk. Note that you can lose data if a power failure occurs while data is still in the drive’s cache.
  • Page 69 Monitoring and Maintenance Rebuild Options: Disable Hot Spare/Auto Rebuild For mirrored arrays (RAID 1 and 0+1), this option turns off the hot spare drive and automatic rebuilding. The default is unchecked, hot spare and automatic rebuilding enabled. Rebuild Options: Rebuild Rate A High setting assigns most of the system resources to rebuilding.

  • Page 70: Arrays

    Promise Array Manager Arrays Create a New Array 1. Select a Controller icon which you want to create an array. 2. Right-click on the icon. Select New > Array from the popup menu (right). OR Click the New Array button in the Toolbar.
  • Page 71 Monitoring and Maintenance Note: The available RAID selection depends on the number of disk drives available. See the RAID chart in the Appendix for more information. A new array icon appears in the Tree View. 4. Expand the Channels to find the unassigned drives. Unassigned drives display this icon .
  • Page 72 Promise Array Manager Figure 5-17. Options dialog box. 7. Click the Commit button in the Information View. The Options dialog box appears. Check the box to enable: Initialization ? Data on all drives is set to zero, erasing the disks. Gigabyte Boundary ? On the array, a GB will be based on 1000 MB used with networking, rather than the 1024 MB normally used with computers.

  • Page 73: Scheduled Array Synchronization

    Monitoring and Maintenance Scheduled Array Synchronization Promise uses the term synchronization to mean an automated process of checking and correcting data and parity. It applies to RAIDs 1, 0+1, 3 and 5. Synchronizing takes place when an array is first created and then, optionally, on a regularly scheduled basis to maintain content integrity.

  • Page 74: Rebuild An Array

    Promise Array Manager 1. In Tree View, right-click on the icon of the array you want to synchronize. 2. Select Synchronize from the popup menu. OR click the Synchronize Array button in the Toolbar. While the Array is synchronizing, it is still available to read and write data. If the beeper is enabled, it will beep slowly during this process.
  • Page 75 Monitoring and Maintenance Figure 5-13. An Array in Critical condition (left) and restored to Functional condition (right). Normally, the rebuild process begins automatically when you repair or replace the faulty disk drive. The Array recognizes the drive and begins the process a few moments later.
  • Page 76 Promise Array Manager Tree View and Information View display the progress. Figure 5-21. Rebuilding in Progress (left) and completed (right). When the rebuild is complete Tree View returns to normal and Information View displays Functional. The following popup appears: Figure 5-22. Rebuild Successful. Stop, Pause, Continue Promise recommends that you let your synchronization or rebuild run to completion.

  • Page 77: Object View

    Monitoring and Maintenance To resume after a pause: 3. Right-click on the Array icon 4. Select Continue from the popup menu. OR Click the Continue button on the Toolbar. Object View Select the Array icon in Tree View to see a display of individual disk drives in Object View.
  • Page 78 Promise Array Manager There are two options you can specify for an Array: Automatic Sequential / Random Access Detection (NOTE: This option is only available for SuperTrak SX6000). When enabled (checked) the read-ahead cache determines if a sequential or random input/output event is occurring and optimizes itself accordingly.
  • Page 79 Monitoring and Maintenance...

  • Page 80: Appendix

    Appendix IP Address In order for PAM to be configured over a network, you must know the IP (network) address of every component. The Message Server uses IP addresses to communicate with the Message Agent on the RAID PCs and the Monitoring Utility on the network PCs.

  • Page 81: Earlier Windows Systems

    Figure A-2. Use the Command Prompt to find your PC’s IP address. Locate and record the IP addresses of all PCs and Servers on your network that will work with PAM. This document will help you recall individual PCs when it is time to specify their connections.

  • Page 82: Dhcp Issues

    Promise Array Manager DHCP Issues Referring to Figure A-1 above, note that it says Address Type: Assigned by DHCP. This means that a DHCP server gave this IP address to this PC when the PC connected to the network. DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and refers to software that allows a file server to assign IP addresses to computers on the network.

  • Page 83: Operating System Support

    Appendix Operating System Support Promise Technology recommends Windows NT 4.0, 2000 and XP Professional to take full advantage of all the features of PAM. The table below shows which versions of Windows work with specific Promise products and PAM components.

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