3Ware 3WARE 9650SE User manual

3ware® 9650SE
Serial ATA RAID
Controller
PN 720-0147-00
October 2006
Installation Guide

Copyright
©2004-2006 Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC). All
rights reserved. This publication may be copied or reproduced for
reference purposes only. All other purposes require the express
written consent of AMCC, 215 Moffett Park Drive, Sunnyvale, CA
94089. AMCC shall not be responsible or liable for, and shall be
held harmless against, any and all damages, claims, and/or disputes
that arise from the copying or reproduction of this publication.
Trademarks
3ware®, Escalade®, 3DM®, and TwinStor® are all registered
trademarks of AMCC. The 3ware logo, 3BM, StorSwitch, and R5
Fusion are all trademarks of AMCC. PowerPC and the PowerPC
logo are trademarks of International Business Machines
Corporation. Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in
the United States, other countries, or both. Windows® is a
registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and other countries. Firefox® is a registered trademark of the
Mozilla Foundation. PCI Express® is a registered trademark of
PCI-SIG®. All other trademarks herein are property of their
respective owners.
Disclaimer
While every attempt is made to make this document as accurate as
possible, AMCC assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions
in this document, nor does AMCC make any commitment to update
the information contained herein.

www.3ware.com iii
About this Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Chapter 1. Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Contents of this Package. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
9650SE RAID Controller Card Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Safety Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 2. Installing Your 3ware RAID Controller . . . . . . . . . 13
Tools You Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Before You Start. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Step 1 (9650SE-2LP). Connect the Cables to the Controller. . . . . . . . . . 14
Step 1 (Multilane Controllers). Connect the Cables to the Controller . . . 15
Step 2. Install the Controller in the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Step 3 (9650SE-2LP). Connect the Cables to the Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Step 3 (Multilane Controllers). Connect the Cables to the Drives or
Backplane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Step 4. Connecting Drive Activity LED Indicators (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . 20
Step 5. Finishing Up the RAID Controller Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Step 6. Configure Your RAID Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Chapter 3. Installing the Battery Backup Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Tools and equipment required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Installation Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Installation Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Appendix: Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Sales and ordering information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Feedback on this manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table of Contents

iv 3ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
About this Guide
Congratulations on your purchase of the 3ware® 9650SE Serial
ATA RAID Controller. This guide tells you how to install it.
The following additional documentation is available for your 3ware
RAID controller on the CD that came with your controller. It is also
available through the 3ware website:
3ware Serial ATA RAID Controller User Guide
3ware Serial ATA RAID Controller CLI Guide
3ware HTML Bookshelf is an HTML version of the
documentation, combining the User Guide and the CLI Guide.
Online help is also available when you are using 3DM 2 (3ware
Disk Manager).
Additional support information is available in the 3ware
Knowledgebase, at this website: http://www.3ware.com/KB
Chapter Description
1 Getting Started Overview of the 3ware RAID controller and
important safety factors to keep in mind during
installation
2 Installing Your 3ware
RAID Controller How to install your 3ware RAID controller
3 Installing the Battery
Backup Unit How to install a 3ware Battery Backup Unit (BBU) on your 3ware RAID controller

www.3ware.com 1
Chapter 1. Getting
Started
The 3ware® 9650SE RAID controller provides these features:
RAID 6 with simultaneous parity generation to maximize
performance
8th-generation StorSwitch non-blocking switch fabric for
maximum controller output
StreamFusion optimization of RAID 5 and RAID 6 disk
accesses to maximize application performance under heavy
loads
StorSave BBU with write journaling to optimizedata protection
and performance
RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, Single Disk, and JBOD
(RAID 6 and RAID 50 are available only with 3ware RAID
controller models that have 8 or more ports)
PCI Express® x1, x4, and x8 connectivity
Contents of this Package
This document, 3ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller
Installation Guide
3ware CD-ROM with driver, software, and additional
documentation
Appropriate cables for the 3ware 9650SE model
For the 2-port model, two SATA interface cables, one for
each port are provided.
For the 4-port, 8-port, 12-port, and 16-port models,
multilane break-out cables (SFF-8087) are provided, for
use with individual drives. Each of these cables supports up
to four serial ATA drives.

Chapter 1. Getting Started
23ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
1 cable is provided with the 4-port controller
2 cables are provided with the 8-port controller
3 cables are provided with the 12-port controller
4 cables are provided with the 16-port controller
System Requirements
Motherboard and Slot Requirements
A workstation-class or server-class motherboard with
PCI-Express® slot that supports the specific 9650SE model, as
shown in Table 1. A list of systems that have been tested is
available at http://www.3ware.com/products/compatibility_sata2.asp
Drive Requirements
Depending on the particular model, the 3ware RAID controller may
be connected to two, four, eight, twelve, or sixteen SATA drives
using the supplied interface cables.
Drives must meet SATA-1 (1.5 Gb/s) or SATA-2 (3.0 Gb/s)
standards. Drives may be of any capacity or physical form factor.
A list of tested drives is available at
http://www.3ware.com/products/compatibility_sata2.asp
Note: Double-ended multilane cables, for use with a multilane
backplane, can be purchased separately. For details about these
cables, see “Multilane Cables” on page 5.
Table 1: Required Slots for 3ware RAID Controller Models
Controller Model PCI-E X1 PCI-EX4 PCI-E X8 PCI-E x16
9650SE-2LP Yes Yes Yes Yes
9650SE-4LPML No Yes Yes Yes
9650SE-8LPML No Yes Yes Yes
9650SE-12LPML No No Yes Yes
9650SE-16LPML No No Yes Yes

System Requirements
www.3ware.com 3
Note: Shielded and unshielded interface cables for Serial ATA
controllers may not exceed 1M (39”) in length.
Operating System Requirements
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, both 32-
bit and 64-bit x86
Red Hat Linux, 32-bit and 64-bit x86
SuSE Linux, 32-bit and 64-bit x86
Fedora Core, 32-bit and 64-bit x86
Other versions of Linux, 32-bit and 64-bit x86, using the open
source Linux 2.4 or 2.6 kernel driver
FreeBSD, 32-bit and 64-bit x86
For the latest driver versions for all operating systems, see the
Release Notes.
Other Requirements
Adequate air flow and cooling
Adequate power supply for drives
3DM 2 (3ware Disk Manager), a browser-based application
used to configure and maintain RAID units, requires one of the
following browsers:
Internet Explorer 5.5 and later
Mozilla Firefox 1.2 and later
Netscape 7 and later
In addition:
JavaScript must be enabled
Cookies must be enabled
For best viewing, screen resolution should be 1024 x 768 or
greater, with 16-bit color or greater.

Chapter 1. Getting Started
43ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
9650SE RAID Controller Card Models
Figure 1. 2-Port 3ware 9650SE-2LP Serial ATA RAID Controller
Figure 2. 4-Port 3ware 9650SE-4LPML Serial ATA RAID Controller
Ports:
0 (on top)
1 (on the
bottom)
Heat Sink
LED Connector
Ports:
0 thru 3
I2C connector
BBU connector and hole for postSlots for battery
holder
Heat Sink
LED Connector

9650SE RAID Controller Card Models
www.3ware.com 5
Figure 3. 8-Port 3ware 9650SE-8LPML Serial ATA RAID Controller
Figure 4. 12-Port 3ware 9650SE-12ML Serial ATA RAID Controller
Ports:
4 thru 7
0 thru 3
I2C connector
BBU connector and hole for post
Slots for battery
Heat Sink
LED
Connectors
Ports:
8 thru 11
4 thru 7
0 thru 3
I2C connector
Holes for
battery holder BBU connector and hole for post
Heat sink
LED Connectors

Chapter 1. Getting Started
63ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
Figure 5. 16-Port 3ware 9650SE-16ML Serial ATA RAID Controller
Cables
SATA Cables
The 2-port 9650SE RAID controller uses standard SATA cables.
Multilane Cables
Three types of multilane cables can be used with the 4-port, 8-port,
12-port, and 16-port 3ware 9650SE RAID controllers.
Important: You should only use AMCC/3ware certified cables
with your 3ware RAID controller. Using an incorrect cable can
result in drives that are not detected. The appropriate cables are
included with your controller. If you must replace a cable, see
the list of available cables and associated part numbers at
http://3ware.com/products/cables.asp.
Ports:
12 thru 15
8 thru 11
4 thru 7
0 thru 3
I2C connector
BBU connector and hole for post
Heat sink
LED Connectors
Holes for
battery holder

Cables
www.3ware.com 7
Multilane breakout cables
For use with a backplane that has individual SATA connectors
or individual serial ATA drives, multilane breakout cables have
an SFF-8087 multilane connector on one end and four
individual SATA connectors on the other end.
Note: This is the type of cable that ships with the 3ware
9650SE multilane controllers. Depending on the enclosure you
are using, you may need to purchase a different cable to
connect the 9650SE controller and the enclosure backplane
Figure 6. Multi-lane Serial ATA Break-out Cable (SFF-8087)
Multilane double-ended 4x cables
For use with a multilane-enabled drive backplane that has the
SFF-8087 mini SAS 4i connectors, these double-ended 4x
cables have multilane connectors on each end.
Figure 7. Multilane Cable Serial ATA (SFF-8087)

Chapter 1. Getting Started
83ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
Multilane converter cables
To connect from a 3ware 9650SE multilane RAID controller to
a chassis that has SFF-8470 connectors on the backplane, use
multilane converter cables, which have a SFF-8087 connector
on one end and an Infini-band SFF8470 connector on the other.
Figure 8. Multilane SFF-8087 to SFF-8470 Serial ATA Converter
Cable
Safety Information
To reduce the risk of bodily injury, electrical shock, fire, and
equipment damage, read this information and observe all warnings
and precautions in this guide before installing or maintaining your
computer.
The 3ware 9650SE RAID controller card should be installed by
technically qualified persons. If you are uncomfortable opening a
computer system and conforming to standard ESD (electrostatic
discharge) practices, you should have a computer technician
perform the installation.
Site Selection
The product is designed to operate as a component to a computer
system.The environment that is provided for the system must be:
Clean, dry, and free of airborne particles (other than normal
room dust).
Well-ventilated and away from sources of heat including direct
sunlight and radiators.

Safety Information
www.3ware.com 9
Away from sources of vibration or physical shock.
Isolated from strong electromagnetic fields produced by
electrical devices.
In regions that are susceptible to electrical storms, we
recommend you plug your system into a surge suppressor and
disconnect telecommunication lines to your modem during an
electrical storm.
Provided with a properly grounded wall outlet.
Provided a product main power disconnect or sufficient space
to access the power supply cord(s), because they serve as the
product's main power disconnect.
Personal Safety When Installing the 9650SE RAID
Controller in Your Computer
Protecting Equipment and Data
Warning! High voltages may be found inside computer
equipment.
Before installing any of the hardware in this package or
removing the protective covers of any computer equipment, turn
off power switches and disconnect power cords. Do not
reconnect the power cords until the hardware is installed and the
system cover is closed.
Heat Sink Warning. Do not replace the factory-installed heat
sink shipped with the 3ware 9650SE RAID controller. Replacing
the heat sink will alter thermal characteristics and cooling
requirements and may cause the controller to fail. Replacing the
factory-installed heat sink will void the warranty.
Back up your data! Creating or deleting disk arrays destroys
existing files on the member drives. If your drives contain
valuable data, back them up and save the data elsewhere
before attaching the drives to the controller.

Chapter 1. Getting Started
10 3ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) Precautions
To avoid damaging computer components and accessories when
installing or removing the 3ware RAID controller, follow standard
electrostatic discharge (ESD) precautions:
When your computer case is open and its internal parts are
exposed, do not touch any internal part unnecessarily.
Always wear a grounded strap or work on an ESD-protective
mat.
Do not remove the 3ware RAID controller from its protective
bag until you are properly grounded.
Handle the 3ware RAID controller by its edges or by the black
rail and metal bracket at its two ends.
Do not touch any pin, contact, lead or component on the 3ware
RAID controller.
Installation Considerations
Air Flow, Cable Length, and Routing Space
Adequate airflow and ventilation are particularly important for
3ware 9650SE RAID controllers. The on-board heat sink collects
heat, and must have adequate airflow in order to disburse it. It is
important that the cables do not obstruct the air flow or prevent
proper ventilation of the system.
Selecting the Slot in Which to Install the Controller
Consider these factors when deciding on the slot in which to insert
the controller:
Cable routing may be easier if you install the 3ware RAID
controller next to an open slot.
3ware 9650SE RAID controllers must be installed in PCI
Express® slots. Table 1 on page 2 shows the type of PCI
Express slot required for each 9650SE model.

Safety Information
www.3ware.com 11
Note: Some low-cost motherboards have a single PCI Express
slot which is reserved for a video card. These slots cannot
accommodate a 9650SE RAID controller or other PCI-E
device.
Warning! Do NOT insert the 9650SE controller into a PCI-X
slot. Doing so could potentially damage the board or the
system, and void the warranty.
Deciding Whether to Use the LED Status Connector
3ware RAID controllers include two types of LED status
connectors:
Overall indicator, which lights when any drive is active.
Individual LED indicators, for each drive. (Not supported on
chassis that have a common ground.)
If you are building a system from scratch, you may want to consider
using a chassis or drive carrier that is compatible with the 3ware
RAID controller activity LEDs, such as the AMCC RDC-400-
SATA drive carrier, available through AMCC. Please check the
3ware web site for the Chassis Reference list (www.3ware.com/
products/compatibility_sata.asp).
Most chassis have a single drive activity cable that you can connect
to the overall activity indicator on the 3ware 9650SE controller. For
the location of the overall drive activity connector, see the figure for
the appropriate controller on page 20 and 22, and refer to Table 2,
“LED Indicator Pin Positions,” on page 23.
Note: If you are using a chassis that includes a Chassis
Control Unit (CCU), follow the instructions that came with the
chassis to connect the I2C cable (Chassis Control Cable) from
the CCU to the I2C connector on the 9650SE.

Chapter 1. Getting Started
12 3ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
Drive Installation Considerations
Selecting an enclosure. If you are planning to use RAID 1, 5,
6, 10, or 50, you may want to consider installing drives into
hot-swappable enclosures, so that they can be easily removed in
the event of a drive failure. For a discussion of RAID levels,
see the 3ware Serial ATA RAID Controller User Guide.
When to install the drives. If the drives are not already
installed in your computer, you can choose to install them
either before or after installing the 9650SE controller. In either
case, be sure to connect the SATA cable from the drive to the
controller and connect the drive to power before turning on the
system or you will not be able to see or configure the drives.
Things to Watch Out For During Installation of the RAID
Controller
Be careful when installing the 3ware RAID controller into your
system. Excessive force can damage the board or your system.
Be sure to follow the installation instructions in “Chapter 2.
Installing Your 3ware RAID Controller” on page 13.

www.3ware.com 13
Chapter 2. Installing
Your 3ware RAID
Controller
Tools You Need
You will need the following tools during installation:
An ESD grounding strap or mat
A Phillips screwdriver
Before You Start
3ware 9650SE RAID controllers can be installed in a standard
enclosure or in an enclosure with a backplane.
1Be sure to read “Safety Information” on page 8 in Chapter 1.
2If you have a Battery Backup Unit (BBU), install it on the
controller before proceeding. For details, see “Chapter 3.
Installing the Battery Backup Unit”.

Chapter 2. Installing Your 3ware RAID Controller
14 3ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
Step 1 (9650SE-2LP). Connect the
Cables to the Controller
1 For the 9650SE-2LP, take out the SATA cables provided with
the controller. (For other 9650SE models, turn to the next
page.)
One edge of each SATA cable connector is keyed so that it can
only be inserted in one direction. This helps to ensure proper
orientation and installation
2 Decide to which port you want to connect the first cable.
3 Align the cable connector with the connector on the controller,
matching the slotted key and carefully mate the connectors.
Figure 9. SATA Cables Being Inserted Into Port
4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the second SATA cable. (You connect
one cable for each hard drive you will attach.)
Note: The connectors on the end of the serial controller and
the drive are susceptible to damage from excessive bending.
Be careful not to insert or remove the SATA cable connector
at an angle.
Port 0 is on top.
Port 1 is on the bottom

Step 1 (Multilane Controllers). Connect the Cables to the Controller
www.3ware.com 15
Step 1 (Multilane Controllers). Connect
the Cables to the Controller
The 9650SE-4LPML, 9650SE-8LPML, 9650SE-12ML, and
9650SE-16ML models are all multilane controllers. (For the
9650SE-2LP, turn to the previous page.)
1Take out the multilane cables provided with your controller.
2Connect each multilane cable to a multilane connector on the
controller.
When the cable is inserted correctly, you will feel it click into
place.
Figure 10. Connecting a Multilane Cable with an SFF-8087
Connector to the 9650SE-16ML Controller
Depending on the which model of the 9650SE you have, and
the number of drives you will be connecting, you will connect
between one and four multilane cables.

Chapter 2. Installing Your 3ware RAID Controller
16 3ware 9650SE Serial ATA RAID Controller Installation Guide
Step 2. Install the Controller in the
Computer
1 If the computer is running, shut it down. Turn off power to the
computer and disconnect the power cord from the outlet.
2 Make sure you are properly grounded. (For details about safety
precautions, see page 8.)
3 Open the computer case according to the manufacturer’s
instructions.
4 Find the PCI Express slot you want to use for the 3ware
9650SE RAID controller.
For a discussion of which slot to use, see “Selecting the Slot in
Which to Install the Controller” on page 10.
5 Remove the metal filler bracket for the slot.
Save this screw; it will be used to secure the 3ware RAID
controller after you have seated it in the slot.
6 Position the card in the PCI Express slot so that the contacts
will mate with the grooves in the slot, and all pins make proper
contact with the PCI Express slot pins when pushed into place.
Only the 3ware 9650SE-2LP RAID controller will fit in a one
lane (x1) PCI Express slot. The 4-port and 8-port cards will
work in the x4, x8, or x16 PCI Express slots, while the 12-port
and 16-port cards will work in the x8 or x16 PCI Express slots.
Warning! Make sure you select a PCI Express slot, not a
PCI or PCI-X slot. Inserting a 9650SE into a PCI or PCI-X slot
could potentially damage the board or system, and void the
warranty of either the 9650SE or the motherboard. If you are
uncertain about which slot to use, see the documentation for
your system’s motherboard.