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Understanding Disk Arry Concepts
6.
Understanding Disk Array Concepts
6-1 About RAID Function Disk Array Adapter
RAID Function is a high performance Ultra ATA RAID controller that features
parallel data channel operation and an onboard BIOS. The two channels on the RAID
Function support parallel operation that allows for overlapped I/O under multi-
tasking operating systems and sharing the workload between multiple drives.
6-2 About Adapter BIOS
The RAID Function contains a BIOS code that extends the standard disk service
routine provided through Int13. The BIOS is bootable for DOS and other operating
systems that rely on the system BIOS for drive operation. RAID Function can
support drives and disk arrays with capacities exceeding 128 GB(For 20276 chipset)
using Extended Interrupt13 support. When the RAID Function BIOS appears during
bootup, users can press <F2> to enter the FastBuild TM setup to select from menu
settings.
6-3 FastBuild ™ Auto Menu Setup
This setup utility is used to build and manage RAID Function disk arrays. The utility
is menu driven and features the <1> Auto Setup option that uses a simple, interactive
setup process. Once the array is built, all the array members store the configuration
information in the drive's reserved area. See Chapter 4 that provides descriptions of
individual functions.
6-4 Reserved Sector
Array configuration data about the drive member and other members in the disk array
are saved on a special location on the disk drives called the reserved sector. If any
member of the array becomes corrupt or lost, the redundant configuration data on the
other members can be used for rebuilds.
Disk array members do not have a "memory" of their drive positions. This allows
drives to be placed on different RAID Function connectors within the system without
reconfiguring or rebuilding..
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