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ICP GRD RD Series User Manual
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ICP GRD RD Series User Manual

ICP GRD RD Series User Manual

Icp controllers of the gdt rd series pci-wide/ultra2 scsi raid controllers
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Summary of Contents for ICP GRD RD Series

  • Page 6: Important Note

    Important Note Using modern RAID Systems significantly increases data security and availability. Under no circumstances does it relieve you from a careful and daily backup on tape or a similar backup media. This is the only method to protect your valuable data against total loss (e.g., through fire or theft), accidental deletion, or any other destroying impacts.
  • Page 12 After having exposed the installation of the ICP Controller in chapters B and C as well as that of the host-drives, we would now like to give you some hints and pieces of advice on how to install IBM's operating system OS/2 Versions 2.x and Warp. Furthermore, we explain how to install a CD-ROM drive (representatively standing for any other Not Direct Access De- vice) under OS/2.
  • Page 13 BASEDEV=GDTX000.ADD /V and that the driver GDTX000.ADD is either in the OS/2 or the root directory: GDTX000.ADD \OS2\GDTX000.ADD If this line is missing you have to add it to your CONFIG.SYS file. If the GDT driver GDTX000.ADD is not in the OS/2 or root directory, copy it there. If OS/2 has been installed from an OS/2 CD, you may skip this chapter as well as chapters I.4.1 and I.4.2.
  • Page 14 The GDTX000.ADD driver can be configured with the following command line switches. The names of the switches are IBM OS/2 compliant. The descriptions given in brackets ([,]) are optional. The "!" inverts the following function. Verbose (only possible as first parameter) Display logo/error messages on screen.
  • Page 16 After having explained in chapters B and C the installation of the ICP Controller as well as that of the Host Drives, we would now like to give you a few hints regarding the installation of the operating systems SCO UNIX V/386 3.2v4.x, 3.2v5.x (Open Server) For successful installation, it is essential to read the SCO system manuals thoroughly.

  • Page 17: Chapter B, Hardware Installation)

    When using 3.2v4.x or 3.2v5.x, you have the option to link the driver to the kernel before starting the kernel (btld (ADM)). This will allow you to use the ICP Controller as the only controller in the system. Use the GDT BTLD Disk. During the installation, whenever the N1 floppy disk is inserted and the message Boot is displayed, do not press <ENTER>...
  • Page 18 Target-IDs 0 and 1 with LUN 0 to 7 are reserved for "Direct Access Devices" (devices beha- ving like a hard disk or a removable hard and therefore configurable with GDTSETUP). The- re is a correlation between the Host Drive number GDTSETUP assigns (menu Configure Host Drives), and the assigned target-ID and LUN: Host-Drive Number = 8 * Target-ID + LUN The Host Drive number is the number the drive is given in the list of available Host Drives...
  • Page 19 drive (it had previously been selected as boot drive because it has the lowest drive number, that is, 0, and is therefore the first drive to be communicated to the system ). Target ID and LUN of "Not Direct Access Devices" (devices such as streamers, tapes, CD- ROMS, etc., not configurable with GDTSETUP) are determined on the basis of the SCSI-ID and the SCSI channel used by the ICP Controller.
  • Page 20 Whenever the program mkdev hd (ADM) is started, you will be asked for the coordinates of the device you wish to install. The driver does not automatically display all devices connec- ted, so after the installation you will find a tool named GDTSCAN in the directory '/etc'. The scanning can take up to several seconds, especially when there is more than one con- troller in the system.
  • Page 21 Target-ID LUN Device 1 st hard disk, Host Drive no. 0 (boot drive) Streamer CD-ROM hard disk, Host Drive no. 0 hard disk, Host Drive no. 1 hard disk, Host Drive no.2 Important Note: ‘Not Direct Access Devices’ must not be connected to Bus 0, Target-ID 0, LUN 0.
  • Page 24 After having explained the installation of the GDT Host Drive in chapters B and C as well as that of the Host Drives, we would now like to give you a few hints regarding the installation of the operating systems Interactive UNIX V/386 3.2v3 and 3.2v4.
  • Page 25 (GDTSETUP menu option Configure Host Drives). Now you can start the installation procedu- re. During installation, a GDT driver corresponding to the IRQ used by the ICP Controller has to be selected. As discussed in chapter B of this user’s manual, the PCI System BIOS automatically assigns an IRQ to a PCI INT.
  • Page 26 Therefore, the first Host Drive has target-ID 0 / LUN 0 and the second target-ID 0 / LUN 1. The formula for determining target ID and LUN from the existing host-drive numbers yields the following possible combinations for "Direct Access Devices": This conversion is necessary because the single SCSI devices are not declared to the host operating system in the order of their SCSI-IDs, but according to the host-drive numbers of GDTSETUP.
  • Page 27 numbers in GDTSETUP. Target ID and LUN of "Not Direct Access Devices" (devices such as streamers, tapes, CD-ROMS, etc., not configurable with GDTSETUP) must be determined on the basis of the SCSI-ID and the SCSI channel used by the ICP Controller. These devices can only be configured with SCSI-IDs 2 to 6.
  • Page 28 During the installation of the GDT driver, additional tools are copied into the /etc di- rectory. Before you can use them you have to create a special device file named /dev/rgdth by means of "link"; this device file has to be placed on a device of a GDT Host Drive.
  • Page 30 After having exposed the installation of the ICP Controller as well as that of the Host Drives in chapters B and C, we would now like to give you some hints and pieces of advice on how to install the operating system UnixWare version 2.x. The structure of the Host Drives, which have been installed with GDTSETUP (in chapter C), is not known to UNIX.
  • Page 31 We distinguish two cases. a.) No ICP Controller has been configured for UnixWare yet. In this case, the GDT driver must be installed from the GDT UnixWare BTLD-Disk by means of the UnixWare desktop and the options "System Setup", "Application Setup". Alternative- ly, this procedure can be carried out from the UnixWare shell: "pkgadd -d /dev/dsk/f0t"...
  • Page 32 Target-ID LUN Device 1 st hard disk, Host Drive no. 0 (boot drive) Streamer CD-ROM hard disk, Host Drive no. 0 hard disk, Host Drive no. 1 hard disk, Host Drive no.2 During the installation of the GDT driver, additional tools are copied into the /etc direc- tory.
  • Page 34 We refer to firmware as the operating system which controls the ICP Controller with all its functions and capabilities. The firmware exclusively runs on the ICP Controller and is sto- red in the Flash-RAM on the ICP Controller PCB. The controlling function is entirely inde- pendent of the PCI computer and the host operating system installed (for example UNIX), and does not "drain"...
  • Page 35 change the whole ICP Controller and the channels, IDs, without loosing the data and the information on a specific disk array. On this level of hierarchy, the firmware forms the Array Drives. This can be: Single Disks (one hard disk, some vendors call it JBOD - Just A Bunch Of Drives) Chaining Sets (concatenation of several hard disks) RAID 0 Array Drives RAID 1 Array Drives, RAID 1 Array Drives plus hot fix drive...
  • Page 36 The following summary gives you an overview of all Host Drive types you can create with the GDT firmware. The ICP Controller can simultaneously control several Host Drives of most various types. For instance, MS-DOS drive C could be a Host Drive of the type disk (consisting of a single hard disk), MS-DOS drive D is a type RAID 5 Array Drive, MS-DOS drive E is a Host Drive of the type chain, and MS-DOS drive F is a CD-ROM which communicates with MS-DOS through corelSCSI and the GDT ASPI manager.
  • Page 37 GDTSETUP loaded from the ICP Controller's Flash-RAM after switching on the computer GDTSETUP loaded from disk under MS-DOS. The header of the GDTSETUP program indicates with a letter after the version number, whether GDTSETUP was loaded from disk or from Flash-RAM: "R"...
  • Page 38 After selecting Configure Host Drives and Create new Host Drive, GDTSETUP scans the system for ICP Controllers and "free" hard disks (i.e., drives which are not yet logical drives or Host Drives or part of Array Drives).
  • Page 39 Select with the <Space> bar the hard disks you want to integrate into the new Host Drive. Depending on the number of selected drives in the Choose Type windows all possible Host Drive configurations are high-lighted. Press <ENTER> . You may select the desired Host Drive type. In our example select RAID5 and press <ENTER>...
  • Page 40 That's it! As you can see from the next picture, the RAID5 Array Drive has been fully automatically configured. It is in the build state. Press several times <F2> to get detailed information on the Array Drive's configuration and components.
  • Page 41 Press several times <ESC> to leave GDTSETUP. A new screen comes up giving you detailed progress information on the build process. As you can see, there are already 6% of the build process completed. If you press <ESC> GDTSETUP warns you that the array is not yet redundant.
  • Page 42 Pressing again <ESC> brings up the following screen, telling you the system needs a reboot to recognize the new Host Drive(s). If there are more GDT RD Series controllers in the PCI computer, Select Controller lets you select the controller where you can apply all of the following GDTSETUP choices to. The currently selected controller is displayed on the lower left side of the screen.
  • Page 43 on the firmware installed. After a cold boot of the PCI computer, the controllers are reco- gnized and initialized in the order of this list. After pressing <ENTER> and <F2> the Advanced Setup allows to select the Configure Controller menu option. Press <ENTER>...
  • Page 44 (To change a setting, move the cursor keys to the field and press <ENTER> . Note: In order to obtain the full performance of your ICP Controller, it is very important that the Delayed Write function is , too. If you find a different setting, we recommend changing it now.
  • Page 45 Function Possible Settings Factory Setting Cache On On, Off Delayed Write On On, Off BIOS Enabled, Disabled Enabled BIOS Warning Level All messages, Fatal errors Fatal errors Supported BIOS drives 2, 7 Memory Test No Test, Standard, Double Scan, Intensive Standard SCSI-ID 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7...
  • Page 46 The update process starts as soon as the desired GDT_RPFW file has been selected. Strictly observe the messages and instructions of GDTSETUP. It is extremely important that the system is not switched off or reset during the update process. It is very likely that this would cause the ICP Controller to become inoperable.
  • Page 47 This menu allows you to prepare hard disks and removable hard disks for use with the ICP Controller (hierarchy level 1). You can scan the SCSI bus and the FCAL port(s) again for a given ID (this may become necessary when another device is being connected during the operating session).
  • Page 48 - the SCSI channel (SCSI) or FCAL port (FCAL) - which a drive has (the entry I/O processor stands for the according I/O channel of the ICP Controller. Its default setting is ID 7 for SCSI and ID 125 for FCAL. - the state of initialization ("i"...
  • Page 49 With SCSI hard disks there are a couple more settings: The SCSI-bus knows two methods of data transfer: asynchronous and synchronous transfer. Each SCSI device must be able to perform the first type of transfer, the second one is op- tional.
  • Page 50 each other have to check if and how (i.e., with which parameters) a synchronous data transfer between them is possible. Therefore, the mere setting does not automatically en- able synchronous data transfer; this mode is only effective if both devices support it and after they have checked their capability of communicating with each other in this mode.
  • Page 51 The warning of the destruction of all data implies different evaluations, depending on the device's current state and the options you selected: 1. First Initialization of the Device In this case, the warning must be taken seriously. If the drive was previously connected to a different controller (e.g.
  • Page 52 This option destroys all data on the hard disk. This option allows the checking of the surfaces of the hard disk media. The GDT RD Series Controller writes and reads certain data patterns and checks them for correctness. After confirming the security request, a progress information is displayed. You can interrupt the Check Surface option by pressing <ESC>.
  • Page 53 This option allows you to check the number of media defects the selected hard disk has. Grown defects. Number of media defects that have occurred in addition to the media de- fects the hard disk already had upon delivery. Primary defects. Number of media defects that the hard disk already had upon delivery.
  • Page 54 Last status: The Last Status gives detailed information on the last failure of a hard disk. The information is only present until the next hard reset of the system and may help for deeper failure analysis or tracing. The following listed messages are part of the SCSI documentation. Format: (???? = additional device specific messages) NO SENSE.
  • Page 55 VENDOR-SPECIFIC. This sense key is available for reporting vendor specific conditions. COPY ABORTED. Indicates a COPY, COMPARE, or COPY AND VERIFY command was aborted due to an error condition on the source device, the destination device, or both. (See 8.2.3.2 for additional information on this sense key.) ABORTED COMMAND.
  • Page 56 The next page shows a block diagram of a SAF-TE subsystem.
  • Page 58 After selecting the SEP press <ENTER> . You can either configure the SAF-TE Slots (i.e., the drive bays in the subsystem), or view the enclosure's status. With the <SPACE>-bar you can assign hard disks to a SAF-TE slot. Once you have finished the assignment press <ENTER>...
  • Page 59 In this example 1 of the 5 available slots in the subsystem is occupied with a hard disk. The following screen shows you the enclosure's status. Features which are marked with (Not available) are not implemented in the subsystem/SEP. Logical Drives (hierarchy level 2) are installed in this main menu option. Selecting Configure Logical Drives leads you to the screen shown next.
  • Page 60 contains the channel description and the ID after the underscore ("_"). This can serve as a reminder when you install a complex system with many drives (naturally you can change the name). After having selected a Logical Drive, you can carry out various operations. Change Drive Name.
  • Page 61 Unload Drive. Unlock the media of the removable hard disk, which belongs to the Logical Drive. The <F2>-key gives you a list of all the hard disks this Logical Drive consists of. If it is a Lo- gical Drive of the type Disk, it only consists of one single hard disk. If a Logical Drive con- sists of more hard disks, it is of the type Chain (concatenation of several hard disks).
  • Page 62 A security request appears. If you confirm with <Y>, GDTSETUP allows you to limit the size of the Logical Drive. This becomes interesting when you configure later on an Array Drive with several identical Logical Drives and you want to make sure that you get appropriate spare hard disks in the future.
  • Page 63 In some literature Disk Chaining is also called Disk Spanning. You can picture the functio- ning mechanism of a type Chain Logical Drive as follows: all hard disks forming the Logical Drive are linked together one by one in the exact same order in which they have been selec- ted with the <SPACE>-bar.
  • Page 64 After pressing <ENTER> the list appears again, but with a new entry. The <F2>-key shows the hard disk forming the new Logical Drive. This main menu option allows you to configure Array Drives (level of hierarchy 3). Array Drives with the following listed RAID levels can be configured within this menu. RAID 0 pure data striping without redundancy...
  • Page 65 RAID 1 disk mirroring RAID 4 data striping with dedicated parity drive RAID 5 data striping with striped parity RAID 10 RAID 0 combined with RAID 1 The ICP Controller can manage up to 35 Array Drives (with different RAID levels) simulta- neously.
  • Page 66 Move the selection-bar to the second entry and select Logical Drives No. 1, 3 and 4. The "M" means Master. For a striping array (RAID 0, 4, 5, 10), this is the first Logical Drive in the array. For a RAID 1 (mirroring) array this is the Logical Drive which contains the valid data and which should be copied to the second Logical Drive.
  • Page 67 GDTSETUP will ask you for the Stripe Size. This is the size of the stripes into which the data is divided. Valid values are 16KB, 32KB, 64KB or 128KB. The default is 32KB which we leave for this example and therefore press <ENTER>. (Note: 32KB stripe size is suggested be- cause in various performance tests it has proved to be the best value.).
  • Page 68 The Array Drive has entered the build state, i.e., the parity information is currently genera- ted. After completion of the build process, the Array Drive's state is ready, i.e., fault tolerant. If you select the new Array Drive, you are offered various menu option:...
  • Page 69 (1) Use preferably Logical Drives of the type disk to build an Array Drive. Of course, RAID Array Drives can be configured with Logical Drives of the type chain, too, but the aspects of security should be taken into consideration as well. For regular RAID Array Drives, type disk Logical Drives are used.
  • Page 70 (4) States of a RAIDYNE Array Drive An Array Drive under the RAIDYNE operation system can assume seven different operatio- nal modes. An Array Drive is fully operational when in the ready state. All redundant infor- mation is present, that is, a hard disk can fail without impairing the functionality of the Array Drive.
  • Page 71 This command allows you to change the name of an Array Drive. The name serves to iden- tify an Array Drive in GDTSETUP. This can be very helpful for configurations where several Host Drives of various types are operated by a single controller. The Expand Array Drive option, which is also available online within GDTMON, includes two functions: 1.
  • Page 72 GDTSETUP displays a list with Logical Drives which are free and can be added to the exi- sting Array Drive. Here we select the first Logical Drive. We could have also added the first and the second Logical Drive to expand the Array Drive's capacity in one step from 400MB to 800MB.
  • Page 73 After the acknowledgement of the security request, the expansion process starts. After completion of this process the new capacity is displayed. It is added as another Host Drive (see next pages).
  • Page 74 In certain "emergency" cases this is a very powerful and helpful option. This function allows you to add to a Logical Drive which is member of an Array Drive, another Logical Drive as a mirror drive (RAID-1). Example: You have configured an Array Drive with 4 Logical Drives. One Logical Drive has failed and the Array Drive went into the fail state.
  • Page 75 In this example the Array Drive is ready. Here you can select the RAID-1 Master. This is the Logical Drive which data are mirrored to the new Logical Drive. Logical Drive No. 4 is added as a RAID-1 component to No. 1.
  • Page 76 Press <F2> to get detailed information of the Array Drive. If you think this flexibility through to the end, you could add another RAID-1 Logical Drive to each Logical Drive which is component of a RAID 4/5 Array Drive (double redundancy, but also double cost). If a Logical Drive of an Array Drive without a Hot Fix drive should fail (or is very likely to fail, soon), you should replace the defective hard disk with a new one as soon as possible because the Array Drive is without redundancy.
  • Page 77 Before you replace the failed Logical Drive, you have to power off the computer system. Then, after having installed the replacement hard disk as a new Logical Drive, you can add it to the Array Drive. After selecting the Logical Drive which needs to be exchanged, GDTSETUP offers a list of existing Logical Drives which can be used as replacement units.
  • Page 78 This option corresponds with the Add RAID-1 Component option. It allows you to remove a previously configured RAID-1 combination. Press <F2> to get details. As you can see, all Logical Drives have the type Disk, again.
  • Page 79 This command allows you to remove an existing Array Drive. All the data of the Array Drive will be lost ! Before you confirm the security request with <Y>, you should be sure about this choice. Note: if an Array Drive has been removed, it can only be rebuilt without data loss if it is re- constructed in the exact same order it had been built before, and only if the components of the Array Drive, that is the Host Drives, have not been modified in any kind whatsoever in the meantime.
  • Page 80 This Array Drive has a usable storage capacity of 3300MB. A Hot Fix drive for this array must have at least 1100MB of storage capacity. (Note: in order not to waste va- luable storage capacity, it is strongly recommended that all Logical Drives forming an Array Drive have the same storage capacity.) Example of an Array Drive configuration with a Hot Fix drive (press the <F2>-key to display the following screen).
  • Page 81 What happens after a drive failure ? The controller will substitute a failed Logical Drive with a Hot Fix drive only if the Array Drive was in the ready state before the failure, or, in other words, a Hot Fix drive can only be activated if the corresponding Array Drive had a state of data redundancy at the moment of failure.
  • Page 82 If the parity information of a given Array Drive is defective, this function may be used to recalculate it anew. Whenever an Array Drive is in the build or rebuild state, you can select this option, to get progress information and estimates for the required time.
  • Page 83 This main menu option allows you to configure Host Drives (level of hierarchy 4). As already mentioned before, these are the drives the Host Computer is aware of. Host Drives can consist of a single hard disk, or of many hard disk combined to a RAID 5 Array Drive.
  • Page 84 After selection of a Host Drive press <ENTER>. This command allows you to change the name of a Host Drive. The name serves to identify a Host Drive with GDTSETUP.
  • Page 85 When the PCI computer is switched on, the Host Drives are initialized in the order of the Host Drive list, which means that the operating system is booted from the Host Drive ha- ving the lowest number. For reasons of flexibility, a Host Drive's position in the list can be changed.
  • Page 86 Removing a Host Drive is a serious action. All data will be lost after removal. If you want to remove a Host Drive belonging to an Array Drive for which several Host Drives exist (after capacity expansion, or after splitting), all other Host Drives will also be removed.
  • Page 87 For some purposes it might of interest to split an existing Host Drive into two or several Host Drives. Each Host Drives looks to the operating system just like a single hard disk. Since the new Host Drives have smaller capacities GDTSETUP has to write new header in- formation on the two Host Drives.
  • Page 88 This function reverses the Split Host Drive option. Only such Host Drives can be merged which belong to the same Array Drive or Logical Drive. Since the new Host Drives has a lar- ger capacity GDTSETUP has to write a new header information on the new Host Drives. All data will be lost.
  • Page 89 This option is not available, when loading GDTSETUP from the Flash-RAM of the controller. Before you can partition a new Host Drive it may become necessary to reboot the system, first. The partitioning menu has similar functions as the MS-DOS program FDISK. You can create and delete a partition and also change the active partition.
  • Page 90 This option created a valid and consistent master boor record on the selected Host Drive and should be carried out on any new Host Drive on which Windows NT is installed. This main menu saves all relevant configuration information of the selected controller (controller settings, Physical Drives, Logical Drives, Array Drives, Host Drives, etc.) in an ASCII file.