Adaptec DuraStor 7220SS User manual

Adaptec Disk Array
Administrator
User’s Guide

ii
Copyright
© 2001 Adaptec, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior written consent of Adaptec, Inc., 691 South Milpitas Blvd., Milpitas, CA 95035.
Trademarks
Adaptec and the Adaptec logo are trademarks of Adaptec, Inc., which may be
registered in some jurisdictions. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, and
Windows 2000 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the US and other
countries, used under license.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Changes
The material in this document is for information only and is subject to change
without notice. While reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this
document to assure its accuracy, Adaptec, Inc. assumes no liability resulting from
errors or omissions in this document, or from the use of the information contained
herein.
Adaptec reserves the right to make changes in the product design without
reservation and without notification to its users.
Disclaimer
IF THIS PRODUCT DIRECTS YOU TO COPY MATERIALS, YOU MUST HAVE
PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OF THE MATERIALS TO
AVOID VIOLATING THE LAW WHICH COULD RESULT IN DAMAGES OR
OTHER REMEDIES.

iii
Contents
1 Getting Started
About This Guide 1-1
Getting Online Help 1-2
Accessing Adaptec Disk Array Administrator 1-2
The Adaptec Disk Array Administrator Screen 1-4
Navigating Adaptec Disk Array Administrator 1-4
Changing the Screen Display 1-5
2 Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
Creating Arrays 2-1
Creating a Single-Partition Array 2-2
Creating a Multiple-Partition Array 2-6
Managing Arrays 2-9
Adding a Partition 2-9
Viewing Array and Disk Drive Status Information 2-11
Stopping the Array Initialization Process 2-13
Verifying an Array 2-13
Reconstructing an Array 2-15
Expanding Array Capacity 2-16
Changing an Array Name 2-18
Changing Array Ownership 2-18
Trusting an Array 2-19
Deleting an Array 2-21
Managing Partitions 2-22
Understanding Partitions 2-22
Viewing Partition Status Information 2-24
Expanding a Partition 2-27
Changing a Partition Name 2-27
Changing a Partition LUN 2-28
Deleting a Partition 2-29

iv
Contents
3 Monitoring System Status
Displaying the Event Log 3-1
Viewing the Most Recent Event 3-3
Viewing One Event at a Time 3-3
Viewing a Whole Screen of Events 3-3
Capturing the Event Log File 3-4
Displaying Hardware and Configuration Information 3-4
Displaying Overall Statistics 3-7
Resetting Overall Statistics 3-9
4 Managing Spares
Managing Dedicated Spares 4-2
Adding a Dedicated Spare 4-2
Deleting a Dedicated Spare 4-3
Enabling Dynamic Spares 4-3
Managing the Spare Pool 4-5
Adding a Spare to the Spare Pool 4-5
Deleting a Spare from the Spare Pool 4-5
Displaying the Spare Pool 4-6
5 Configuring the Controller
Rebooting the Controller 5-2
Changing the Date and Time 5-2
Configuring the Host Channels 5-3
Understanding LUNs and Viewing LUN Information 5-5
Viewing LUN Information 5-6
Configuring the SCSI Channels 5-6
Understanding Operating Modes 5-8
Understanding the Active-Active Configuration 5-8
Active-Active Operation Scenarios 5-10
Changing the Operating Mode 5-10
Managing the Other Controller 5-11
Displaying Information about the Other Controller 5-11
Shutting Down the Other Controller 5-12
Shutting Down Both Controllers 5-12
Killing the Other Controller 5-13
Unkilling the Other Controller 5-13

v
Contents
Disabling SCSI Channel 3 5-14
Changing the Sample Rate 5-15
Understanding the Audible Alarm 5-16
Changing the Alarm Mute Setting 5-16
Locking the Cache 5-17
Configuring the Battery 5-18
Enabling and Disabling the Battery 5-18
Changing the Battery Age/Disabling the Battery Life
Monitor 5-19
Changing the Utility Priority 5-20
Rescanning All Channels 5-21
Pausing I/O 5-22
Restoring Default Settings 5-23
6 Managing Disk Drives and Enclosures
Managing Disk Drives 6-1
Displaying Disk Drive Information 6-1
Clearing Metadata from a Disk Drive 6-3
Enabling and Disabling Write-back Cache 6-3
Displaying Disk Cache Status 6-4
Enabling and Disabling SMART Changes 6-5
Blinking a Disk Drive LED 6-5
Taking Down a Disk Drive 6-6
Testing a Disk Drive 6-7
Managing SAF-TE Enclosures 6-8
Changing the SEP LUN 6-8
Changing the Additional SEP Settings 6-9
7 Troubleshooting
Adaptec Technical Support 7-1
Input Problems 7-2
Terminal Emulator and COM Port Problems 7-2
Array Problems 7-3
Host SCSI Channel Problems 7-4
Device SCSI Channel Problems 7-5
Problems During Bootup 7-6

vi
Contents
Warning and Error Events 7-8
Warnings 7-8
Errors 7-9
Using the Loader Diagnostics Menu 7-10
Using the Loader Utility Menu 7-11
Understanding SCSI Errors 7-11
Disk Errors 7-11
Disk Channel Errors 7-13
Voltage and Temperature Errors and Warnings 7-15
A Storage Concepts
Devices A-1
Controllers A-2
Storage Systems A-2
Channels A-2
Disk Drives A-2
Arrays A-3
Free Space A-4
Partitions A-4
Redundancy A-6
Array Types A-6
Volume Set A-8
Stripe Set (RAID 0) A-8
Mirror Set (RAID 1) A-10
RAID 5 A-11
Stripe Set of Mirror Sets (RAID 0/1) A-13
Stripe Set of RAID 5 Sets (RAID 50) A-14
B SAF-TE Implementation
What Is SAF-TE and What Are SEPs? B-1
Enclosure Considerations B-2
Administrator Utility SEP Configuration Options B-3
Host Communication Methods B-3
Glossary
Index

1-1
1
Getting Started
In This Chapter
Adaptec Disk Array AdministratorTM is a utility that manages the
storage devices connected to your DuraStor RAID controllers. It is
embedded in the firmware of the controller, and can be used with
any Operating System (OS).
You can use Adaptec Disk Array Administrator to create and
reconfigure arrays, initialize disk drives, manage spares, monitor
the status of your storage devices and more. You can also use it to
access newly-created arrays immediately after creating them.
About This Guide
This User’s Guide describes the features available in Adaptec Disk
Array Administrator and how to use them. It assumes that you are
familiar with the basic functions of your OS.
It also assumes that you are familiar with basic computer hardware
and network administration terminology and tasks, and that you
have a working knowledge of Redundant Array of Independent
Disks (RAID) technology.
About This Guide 1-1
Accessing Adaptec Disk Array Administrator 1-2
The Adaptec Disk Array Administrator Screen 1-4
Navigating Adaptec Disk Array Administrator 1-4

1-2
Getting Started
Getting Online Help
Online Help is available at any time from the Help menu. You can
also press F1 or select Help in a dialog box to display Online Help
specific to where you are on-screen.
Accessing Adaptec Disk Array Administrator
You can access Adaptec Disk Array Administrator using the
RS-232 serial port on the DuraStor 6200S RAID appliance. Use the
port associated with the controller you wish to access. Refer to the
DuraStor Installation and User’s Guide for more information.
You must connect a computer with terminal emulator software,
such as HyperTerminal, to the serial port. You must use a straight-
through serial cable. You cannot use a null modem cable.
Note: If you are using HyperTerminal as your terminal
emulator software, you must be using HyperTerminal
Private Edition (HTPE) 6.3 for the up and down arrow
(↑or ↓) keys to work.
If you are not using HTPE 6.3, you can download it for free
at www.hilgraeve.com/htpe/index.html.
Configure the RS-232 port in your terminal emulator software
using the settings in Table 1-1.
Set the communications parameters for the terminal emulator
software as shown in Table 1-2.
Table 1-1 RS-232 Port Configuration Settings
Setting Value
Terminal Emulation VT-100 or ANSI (for color support)
Font Terminal
Translations None
Columns 80

1-3
Getting Started
To access Adaptec Disk Array Administrator
1On the I/O connectivity panel of the DuraStor 6200SR, turn the
switch to EXT.
2On the DuraStor 6200SR Operator Control Panel, use the arrow
buttons to
aChoose Hardware Menu, then press Enter.
bChoose Mode, then press Enter.
cChoose Serial Port:Ext Mode, then press Enter.
3From the computer connected to the controller, start your
terminal emulator software.
Be sure that your terminal emulator software is set to use the
correct COM port on your computer. See Terminal Emulator and
COM Port Problems on page 7-2 for more details on how the
DuraStor 6200S RAID controller can auto-detect the baud rate.
4Press CTRL-R.
The initial Adaptec Disk Array Administrator screen appears.
5Press Enter.
The System Menu screen appears.
You can now perform all of the functions described in the
following chapters. All steps start from the System Menu screen.
If an alarm condition has occurred, you will see a message about
the problem. This message will also be stored in the event log. See
Displaying the Event Log on page 3-1.
Table 1-2 Terminal Emulator Software Communications Parameters
Setting Value
Baud Rate 115,200
Data Bits 8
Stop Bits 1
Parity None
Flow Control Software (XON/XOFF)
Connector COM1 (typically)

1-4
Getting Started
The Adaptec Disk Array Administrator Screen
Figure 1-1 shows the System Menu screen. All other menus are
accessed from this screen and have a similar appearance.
Figure 1-1 The System Menu Screen
Navigating Adaptec Disk Array Administrator
Use your computer keyboard to navigate Adaptec Disk Array
Administrator. Table 1-3 describes the primary navigation and
selection methods.
Table 1-3 Adaptec Disk Array Administrator Navigation
To Do this
Select a menu item Press the ↑or ↓key and press Enter, or
press the hot key (the letter that is a
different color or is highlighted in a
menu item).
Return to the previous
menu or window without
saving your changes
Press Esc, CTRL-Z, or ←.
Scroll through the available
choices for a setting Press the ↑or ↓key.
(Place-holder screenshot - awaiting updated file)

1-5
Getting Started
Note: After 4 minutes of inactivity, Adaptec Disk Array
Administrator times out and returns to the System Menu
screen.
Changing the Screen Display
After you have accessed Adaptec Disk Array Administrator, you
can change the screen display using a combination of keystrokes,
as shown on the System Menu. Table 1-4 lists the keystrokes
required to change various screen displays.
Table 1-4 Changing Screen Displays
Selection Function
Ctrl-A Toggles between ANSI and VT100 character
sets (use VT100 for legacy systems).
Ctrl-B Toggles between black and white and color
screen.
Ctrl-E Toggles between the event log, hardware
information, and configuration information
screens.
Ctrl-H Toggles between the Help screen and list of
shortcut keys.
Ctrl-R Refreshes system monitor.
Ctrl-Z, Esc, or ←Escapes or quits menu.

2-1
2
Creating and Managing
Arrays and Partitions
In This Chapter
Creating Arrays
You can create an array at any time. Table 2-1 describes the disk
drive requirements for each RAID level.
Creating Arrays 2-1
Managing Arrays 2-9
Managing Partitions 2-22
Table 2-1 Disk Drive Requirements by RAID Level
RAID Level
Minimum Number of
Disk Drives
Maximum Number of
Disk Drives
Volume Set 1 1
0216
3316
4316
5316
50 6 32
Mirrored 2 16

2-2
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
Note: Before you create more than one array, you must be
sure that your host OS supports multiple Logical Unit
Numbers (LUNs). Most OSs do, or can be enabled to. If
yours does not, the host sees only one array at LUN 0.
Refer to Setting the Host System HBA to Multiple-LUN in the
DuraStor Installation and User’s Guide.
Before you create an array, you must decide whether you want to
partition the array. You can create two types of arrays:
■Single-partition array—an array that stores all data in a single
partition and is accessed by a single LUN. See Creating a Single-
Partition Array on page 2-2.
■Multiple-partition array—an array that can have one or more
partitions, with each partition assigned its own LUN. See
Creating a Multiple-Partition Array on page 2-6.
For more information about partitions, see Understanding Partitions
on page 2-22.
Creating a Single-Partition Array
You can create an array that has just one partition. Once you create
a single-partition array, you can add more partitions later. Single-
partition arrays work well in environments that need one large,
fault-tolerant storage space for data on one server. An example
would be a large database on a single server that is used only for
that application.
To create a single-partition array:
1From the System Menu, select Add an Array and press Enter.
The Enter Array Name window appears.
2Enter a name for the array and press Enter.
You can use up to 35 characters. You can include any characters
in the name, including spaces. If you do not want to name the
array, press Enter. You can add or change the name later.
The system asks if you want to create one partition now for the
entire array.

2-3
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
If you want to create a multiple-partition array, see Creating a
Multiple-Partition Array on page 2-6.
3Select Yes to create a single-partition array and press Enter.
The LUN prompt appears.
4Type the LUN for the array and press Enter.
The LUN that appears is the suggested default LUN assignment.
If the letters OV appear before a LUN, it indicates that the
selection overlaps with a soft LUN, probably the controller or
SAF-TE Environmental Processor (SEP) LUN. You can create an
array at an overlapped LUN, but it is not visible to the host
system until you reboot the controller.
Note: Most Unix, Linux, and Macintosh OSs require that the
controller LUN be a higher value than all partition LUNs.
Before creating your first partition, change the controller
LUN to a higher value or select None (best choice) if you
are not using CAPI (Configuration Application
Programming Interface) to manage the controller. This
allows your first partition to be seen at LUN 0.
The system warns you about the LUN for Unix and Macintosh,
as above, the first time you create an array. Press Enter and the
system asks if you want to be warned again. Select No to avoid
receiving this warning again; otherwise, select Yes to be warned
the next time you create an array.
The RAID Type menu appears.
5Select a RAID type and press Enter.
Note: A RAID 10 array is automatically created when there
are more than two disk drives in a mirrored array. See
Appendix A, Storage Concepts, for more information.
If you selected RAID 50 as the array type, the Select RAID 50
Array Size menu appears with all possible configurations for
array and disk drive combinations. Select the configuration you
want, press Enter, and skip to Step 7.

2-4
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
If you selected any array type other than RAID 50, the Number
of Drives prompt appears.
6Type the number of disk drives (excluding spares) you want in
the array and press Enter.
The Select Drive(s) menu appears.
If you are using active-active mode, the Select Drive(s) menu
includes all available disk drives (those that are not members of
an array and are not assigned as dedicated or pool spares) on
both controllers. It displays the following information for each
disk drive, in this order, left to right:
– Channel number
– SCSI ID number
– Disk drive capacity, in MB
– Disk drive manufacturer
– Disk drive model number
– Disk drive firmware revision
– Disk drive status
7Select a disk drive to use in the array and press Enter. Repeat
until all the disk drives you want are selected. When you are
done, the system automatically goes to the next window.
If the array is a mirrored, RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5, or RAID 50
array and you have one or more disk drives left, the Number of
Spares prompt appears.
If you are creating a different type of array, skip to Step 11.
8Type the number of spares you want to add and press Enter.
This creates dedicated spares that can only be used by this array.
A dedicated spare drive is not available for any other use. For
more information, see Chapter 4, Managing Spares.
If you do not want a spare, type 0.
The Select Drive(s) menu appears.

2-5
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
9Select a disk drive to use as a dedicated spare and press Enter.
Only available disk drives (those that are not members of an
array and are not assigned as dedicated or pool spares) display.
You can delete a dedicated spare from the array at any time. For
more information, see Deleting a Dedicated Spare on page 4-3.
If the array you are creating is a RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5, or
RAID 50, the Chunk Size menu appears. If you are creating a
different type of array, skip to Step 11.
10 Select the chunk size and press Enter.
Chunk size is the amount of contiguous data that is written to an
array member. To determine the appropriate chunk size, refer to
your OS documentation. For example, the default chunk size for
Windows NT®and many other OSs is 64 KB. If you are using
the array for a database with very small records, you may want
to use a smaller chunk size.
The system confirms that you want to create the array.
11 Select Yes and press Enter.
A message notifies you that the array is being created and shows
the progress of the initialization process. The array initialization
process takes from several minutes to more than an hour
depending on the array type (volume, RAID 0, and RAID 1 are
the fastest), array size, disk drive speed, and other processes
running on the controller.
Press Esc to return to the System Menu and perform other
functions while the initialization continues.
Checking the Progress of Array Initialization
You can check the progress of array initialization at any time.
1From the System Menu, select Array Menu.
The status of the initialization appears in the list of arrays.
If you need to change the disk drives or some other array
configuration, you can stop the array initialization process. See
Stopping the Array Initialization Process on page 2-13.

2-6
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
Note: Most OSs, such as Windows NT 4.0, require you to
reboot the host system to see the new array. NetWare v3.12
and later can recognize new devices if you type the
command SCAN FOR NEW DEVICES at the console
prompt. Other OSs might have similar features.
Creating a Multiple-Partition Array
You can create an array that has more than one partition.
Note: Once you create a multiple-partition array, you must
create at least one partition before you can use the array.
See Adding a Partition on page 2-9.
Multiple-partition arrays work well when you have very large disk
drives and you want to make the most efficient use of disk space
for fault tolerance (parity and spares). For more information, see
Understanding Partitions on page 2-22.
To create a multiple-partition array:
1From the System Menu, select Add an Array and press Enter.
The Enter Array Name window appears.
2Type a name for the array and press Enter.
You can use up to 35 characters. You can include any characters
in the name, including spaces. If you do not want to name the
array, press Enter. You can add or change the name later.
The system asks if you want to create one partition now for the
entire array.
If you want to create a single-partition array, see Creating a
Single-Partition Array on page 2-2
3Select No to create a multiple-partition array and press Enter.
The RAID Type menu appears.
4Select the array type and press Enter.

2-7
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
Note: A RAID 10 array is automatically created when there
are more than two disk drives in a mirrored array. See
Appendix A, Storage Concepts, for more information.
– If you selected RAID 50 as the array type, the Select RAID50
Array Size menu appears with all possible configurations for
array and disk drive combinations.
Select the configuration you want, press Enter, and skip to
Step 7.
– If you selected any array type other than RAID 50, the
Number of Drives prompt appears.
5Type the number of disk drives you want in the array (excluding
spares) and press Enter.
The Select Drive(s) menu appears.
If you are using active-active mode, the menu includes all
available disk drives (drives that are not members of an array
and are not assigned as a dedicated or pool spare) on both
controllers. It displays the following information for each disk
drive, in this order, left to right:
– Channel number
– SCSI ID number
– Drive capacity, in MB
– Drive manufacturer
– Drive model number
– Drive firmware revision
–Drivestatus
6Select a disk drive to use in the array and press Enter. Repeat
until all the disk drives you want are selected.
If the array is mirrored, RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5, or RAID 50
array and you have one or more disk drives left, the Number of
Spares prompt appears.
If you are creating a different type of array, skip to Step 10.

2-8
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
7Type the number of spares you want to add and press Enter.
This creates dedicated spares that can only be used by this array.
A dedicated spare disk drive will not be available for any other
use. For more information about spares, see Chapter 4,
Managing Spares.
If you do not want a spare, type 0.
The Select Drive(s) menu appears.
8Select a disk drive to use as a dedicated spare and press Enter.
Repeat if you are using more than one disk drive as a spare.
Only available disk drives (drives that are not members of an
array and are not assigned as a dedicated or pool spares)
display. You can delete a dedicated spare from the array at any
time. For more information, see Deleting a Dedicated Spare on
page 4-3.
If the array you are creating is a RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5, or
RAID 50, the Chunk Size menu appears.
If you are creating a different type of array, skip to Step 10.
9Select the chunk size and press Enter. (See page 2-5 for
information on chunk size.)
The system confirms that you want to create the array.
10 Select Yes and press Enter.
A message notifies you that the array is being created and shows
the progress of the initialization process. The array initialization
process takes from several minutes to more than an hour
depending on the array type (volume, RAID 0, and RAID 1 are
the fastest), array size, disk drive speed, and other processes
running on the controller.
11 Press Esc to return to the System Menu and perform other
functions while the initialization continues.
See Checking the Progress of Array Initialization on page 2-5 for
information on how to do a status check.

2-9
Creating and Managing Arrays and Partitions
If you need to change the disk drives or some other array
configuration, you can stop the array initialization process. See
Stopping the Array Initialization Process on page 2-13
Note: Most OSs, such as Windows NT 4.0, require you to
reboot the host system to see the new array. NetWare v3.12
and later can recognize new devices if you type the
command SCAN FOR NEW DEVICES at the console
prompt. Other OSs might have similar features.
Managing Arrays
Adaptec Disk Array Administrator lets you manage your arrays in
several ways. For more information, see
■Adding a Partition on page 2-9.
■Viewing Array and Disk Drive Status Information on page 2-11.
■Stopping the Array Initialization Process on page 2-13.
■Verifying an Array on page 2-13.
■Reconstructing an Array on page 2-15.
■Expanding Array Capacity on page 2-16.
■Changing an Array Name on page 2-18.
■Changing Array Ownership on page 2-18.
■Trusting an Array on page 2-19.
■If the array does not come back online, too many members may be
offline or the array may have additional failures on the bus or enclosure
that Trust Array Function cannot fix. on page 2-21.
Adding a Partition
If you created a multiple-partition array, you must create at least
one partition on the array before you can use the array. You can
create partitions on a multiple-partition array until you use all of
the free space. For more information about partitions, see
Understanding Partitions on page 2-22.