Areca ARC-1200 User manual

ARC-1200
( 2-Port PCIe x1 to SATA RAID Controller )
SATA RAID Cards
Quick Installation Guide
Version: 1.1
Issue Date: November, 2008

Microsoft WHQL Windows Hardware Compatibility Test
Areca is committed to submitting products to the Microsoft Windows Hard-
ware Quality Labs (WHQL), which is required for participation in the Windows
Logo Program. Successful passage of the WHQL tests results in both the “De-
signed for Windows” logo for qualifying Areca PCI-Express SATA RAID control-
lers and a listing on the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
Copyright and Trademarks
The information of the products in this manual is subject to change without
prior notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of the vendor,
who assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors that may appear in
this manual. All brands and trademarks are the properties of their respective
owners. This manual contains materials protected under International
Copyright Conventions. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be
reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, without the written permission of the manufacturer and the
author. All inquiries should be addressed to Areca Technology Corporation.
FCC STATEMENT
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against interference in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may
cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................... 4
1.1 Overview................................................................................. 4
1.2 Package Contents .................................................................... 4
1.3 Features.................................................................................. 4
2. Hardware Installation ............................................................... 6
2.1 Board layout ........................................................................... 6
2.2 Installation ............................................................................. 7
3. Support RAID Levels................................................................. 16
3.1 RAID 0 .................................................................................. 16
3.2 RAID 1 .................................................................................. 16
3.3 JBOD .................................................................................... 16
3.4 Single Disk (Pass Through Disk) ................................................ 17

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Quick Installation Guide
1. Introduction
1.1 Overview
Thank you for purchasing the ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller. Please
take a few minutes to read this quick installation guide before you install
the controller. If you need more detailed information about this SATA
RAID Controller, refer to the related documents on your MCRAID Soft-
ware Suite CD.
1.2 Package Contents
Open the package carefully, and make sure that none of the items listed
below are missing. (disk drives and disk mounting brackets are not
included):
• 1 x PCIe x1 SATA RAID Controller in an ESD-protective bag
• 2 x SATA interface cables (one per port)
• 1 x MCRAID Software Suite CD
• 1 x Quick Installation Guide Manual
If any item is missing or damaged, please contact your local resellers for
service.
1.3 Features
Adapter Architecture
• 400MHz Storage processor
• PCIe x1 bus
• DDR2 400 SDRAM
• Write-through or write-back cache support
• Support up to 2 SATA ll drives
• Multi-adapter support for large storage requirements
• BIOS boot support for greater fault tolerance
• BIOS PnP (plug and play) and BBS (BIOS boot specication)
support
• NVRAM for RAID conguration & transaction log
• Redundant ash image for adapter availability
• RoHS Compliant

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Quick Installation Guide
RAID Features
• Support RAID level 0, 1, JBOD and Single Disk
• Multiple RAID selection
• Array roaming
• Online RAID level/stripe size migration
• Online capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultaneously
• Instant availability
• Automatic drive insertion / removal detection and rebuilding
• Greater than 2TB per volume set (64-bit LBA support)
• SMART disk drive monitoring for reliability
Monitors/Notication
• System status indication through HDD activity/fault connector, and
alarm buzzer
• SMTP support for email notication
• SNMP support for remote Manager
RAID Management
• Field-upgradeable rmware in ash ROM
In-Band Manager
• Web browser-based McRAID Storage manager via Http Proxy Server
for Windows, Linux and FreeBSD system
• Hot key “boot-up” McBIOS RAID manager via BIOS
• Support Command Line Interface (CLI)
• Support controller's API library for customer to write its own AP
• Single Admin Portal (SAP) monitor utility
• HDD Stress Test (HST) utility for production
Operating System
• Windows Vista/Server 2003/XP/2000
• RedHat Linux
• SuSE Linux
• FreeBSD
• Novell Netware 6.5
• Solaris 10 x86/x86_64
• SCO Unixware 7.1.4
• Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 Leopard
(For latest supported OS listing visit http://www.areca.com.tw)

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Quick Installation Guide
Figure 1-1, ARC-1200 (2-port PCIe X1 SATA RAID Controller)
Connector Type Description
1.(J6) Reserved 12-pin Box header
2.(J1) Reserved 12-pin header
3.(J5) Individual Fault LED header 4-pin header
4.(J4) Individual HDD LED header 4-pin header
5.(J2) Reserved 8-pin header
6.(SCN2) SATA Port SATA Connector
7.(SCN1) SATA Port SATA Connector
Table 1-1, ARC-1200 Connectors
2. Hardware Installation
2.1 Board layout

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Quick Installation Guide
Note:
The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller requires a PCIe x1 slot (can
operate in x2, x4, x8 and x16 slot). For more information about
PCIe slot, please refer to your mainboard guide.
Figure 1-2, Insert ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller into a PCIe slot
2.2 Installation
Step 1. Prepare the computer
Turn off the computer and unplug the power cord(s) from the back of
the power supply. Remove the cover from the computer.
Step 2. Install the ARC-1200 SATA RAID Controller
To install the ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller, remove the mounting
screw and existing bracket from the rear panel behind the selected PCIe
slot. Insert the controller in a PCIe slot on a mainbord. Press gently but
rmly down to ensure that controller is properly seated in the slot, as
shown in Figure 1-2. Then screw the bracket into the computer chassis.

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Quick Installation Guide
Note:
The SATA cable connectors must match your HDD cage.
For example: Channel 1 of RAID Card connects to channel 1
of HDD cage, channel 2 of RAID Card connects to channel 2 of
HDD cage, and follow this rule.
Step 3. Mount the Cages or Drives
Remove the front bezel from the computer chassis and install the
cages or SATA drives in the computer chassis. Loading drives to the
drive tray if cages are installed. Be sure that the power is connected to
either the Cage backplane or the individual drives.
Step 4. Connect the SATA cable
The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller has two SATA internal connectors,
use the cables which included in your kit. Connect the controller to the
SATA hard drives. The cable connectors are all identical, so it does not
matter which end you connect to your controller, SATA hard drive, or
cage backplane SATA connector. Refer to Figure1-1 to view connector
locations on the controller.

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Quick Installation Guide
Step 5. Install the LED cable (optional)
The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller provides two kinds of LED status
connectors. The Fault/Activity and Global header intelligent electronics
logic is as below.
The following position layout is for ARC-1200 Individual LED indicator
connector, for each channel and Global LED indicator connector.
If the system uses only a single global indicator, attach the global
indicator cable to the two pins HDD LED connector. Global LED
indicator will light up when any drive is active.
Figure 2-4, ARC-1200 global LED
connection for Computer Case.

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Quick Installation Guide
LED Normal Status Problem Indication
HDD LED When the HDD LED is
illuminated, there is I/O
activity on that disk drive.
When the HDD LED is dark,
there is no activity on that
disk drive.
N/A
Fault LED When the fault LED is solid
illuminated, there is no
disk present and When the
fault LED is off, that disk
is present and status is
normal.
When the "Identify Drive" is
selected, the selected drive
Fault LED will blank.
When the Fault LED is
slow blinking (2 times/
sec), that indicate disk
drive has failed and
should be hot-swapped
immediately.
When the HDD LED is
illuminated and Fault
LED is fast blinking (10
times/sec) that indicate
there is rebuilding
activity on the disk
drive.
The following diagrams is the HDD LED and Fault LED status
description.
Refer to the ARC-1200 SATA RAID Cards User’s Manual on the
MCRAID Software Suite CD for detailed on Installing LED connector.
Step 6. Re-check the SATA HDD LED and Fault LED Cable con-
nections
Be sure that the proper failed drive channel information is displayed by
the Fault and HDD Activity LEDs. An improper connection will tell the
user to ‘‘Hot Swap’’ the wrong drive. This will remove the wrong disk
(one that is functioning properly) from the controller. This can result in
failure and loss of system data.

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Quick Installation Guide
Note:
You can view the supported operating systems and download
the latest drivers for SATA RAID Cards on the Areca web site at:
http://www.areca.com.tw/support/main.htm.
Step 7. Power up the System
Check the installation throughly, reinstall the computer cover, and
reconnect the power cords. Turn on the power switch at the rear of the
computer (if equipped) and then press the power button at the front of
the host computer.
Step 8. Congure volume set
The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller congures RAID functionality
through the McBIOS RAID manager. The McBIOS RAID manager is
designed to be user-friendly. It is a menu-driven program, residing in
the rmware, which allows you to scroll through various menus and
submenus and select among the predetermined conguration options.
When starting a system with an SATA RAID controller installed, it will
display the following message on the monitor during the startup se-
quence (after the system bios startup screen but before the operating
system boots):
I/O-Port=F3000000h, IRQ=11, BIOS ROM mapped at D000:0h
No BIOS disk Found, RAID Controller BIOS not installed!
Press <Tab/F6> to enter SETUP menu. 9 second(s) left <ESC to Skip>..
ARC-1xxx RAID Ctrl - DRAM: 128(MB) / #Channels: 8
BIOS: V1.00 / Date: 2004-5-13 - F/W: V1.31 / Date: 2004-5-31
The McBIOS RAID manager message remains on your screen for
about nine seconds, giving you time to start the congure menu by
pressing Tab or F6. If you do not wish to enter conguration menu,
press <ESC> to skip conguration immediately. When activated, the
McBIOS RAID manager appears showing a selection dialog box listing
the SATA RAID controllers that are installed in the system. The legend
at the bottom of the screen shows you what keys are enabled for the
windows.

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Quick Installation Guide
Areca Technology Corporation RAID Controller Setup V1.5, 2007/04/14
ArrowKey Or AZ:Move Cursor, Enter: Select, ** Select & Press F10(Tab) to Reboot**
Select An Adapter To Congure
( 005/0/ 0)I/O=FD700000h, IRQ = 11
I/O Port Addr:FD700000h, F2 (Tab): Select Controller, F10: Reset System
ArrowKey Or AZ:Move Cursor, Enter: Select, ESC: Escape, L:Line Draw, X: Redraw
Areca Technology Corporation RAID Controller
Main Menu
Raid Set Function
Volume Set Function
Physical Drives
Raid System Function
View System Events
Clear Event Buffer
Hardware Monitor
System information
Quick Volume/Raid Setup
Verify Password
Note:
The manufacture default password is set to 0000; this password
can be modied by selecting Change Password in the Raid
System Function section.
Use the “Up” and “Down’ arrow keys to select the adapter you want to
congure. While the desired adapter is highlighted, press the <Enter>
key to enter the Main Menu of the McBIOS RAID manager.

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Quick Installation Guide
For more detailed conguration about McBIOS RAID manager, refer to
chapter 3 of ARC-1200 SATA RAID Cards User’s Manual on the MCRAID
Software Suite CD. The controller can also be congured through the
McRAID storage manager software utility with ArcHttp proxy server
installed. The McRAID storage manager current conguration screen
displays the current conguration of your SATA RAID controller. It
displays the Raid Set List, Volume Set List, and Physical Disk List. The
RAID set information, volume set information, and drive information
can also be viewed by clicking on the “Raid Set Hierarchy” screen.
The current conguration can also be viewed by clicking on “Raid Set
Hierarchy” in the menu.
To display RAID set information, move the mouse cursor to the desired
raid set number, then click it. The RAID set information will be dis-
played. To display volume set information, move the mouse cursor to
the desired Volume Set number, then click it. The volume set informa-
tion will display. To display drive information, move the mouse cursor
to the desired physical drive number, then click it. The drive Informa-
tion will be displayed. For this option, refer to the Chapter 6 of ARC-
1200 SATA RAID Cards User’s Manual on the MCRAID Software Suite
CD.
Step 9. Install the operating system driver
For installing a new operation system or installing driver in an exist-
ing system, refer to Chapter 4 of ARC-1200 SATA RAID Cards User’s
Manual on the MCRAID Software Suite CD.
Step 10. Install the ArcHttp proxy Server
The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller rmware has embedded the
web-browser RAID manager. ArcHttp proxy driver will enable it. The

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Quick Installation Guide
Conguration Utility Operating System supported
McBIOS RAID Manager OS-Independent
McRAID Storage Manager
(Via Archttp proxy server)
Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, Linux,
FreeBSD, NetWare, UnixWare, Solaris
and Mac
SAP Monitor (Single Admin portal to
scan for multiple RAID units in the net-
work, Via ArcHttp proxy server)
Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
SNMP Manager Console Integration Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, Linux
and FreeBSD
browser-based RAID manager provides all of the creation, manage-
ment, and monitor SATA RAID controller status. For more information
about ArcHttp proxy server installation, refer to Chapter 5 of ARC-1200
SATA RAID Cards User’s Manual on the MCRAID Software Suite CD. For
SNMP agent function, please refer to Appendix C of ARC-1200 SATA
RAID Cards User’s Manual on the MCRAID Software Suite CD.
Step 11. Determining the Boot sequences
The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller is a bootable controller. If your
system already contains a bootable device with an installed operating
system, you can set up your system to boot a second operating sys-
tem from the new controller. To add a second bootable controller, you
may need to enter setup and change the device boot sequence, so that
the ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller heads the list congurable to allow
itself to act as a second boot device.
Summary of the installation
The ow chart below describes the installation procedures for ARC-1200
SATA RAID controller. These procedures include hardware installation,
the creation and conguration of a RAID volume through the McBIOS, OS
installation and installation of ARC-1200 SATA RAID controller software.
The software components congure and monitor the ARC-1200 SATA
RAID controller via ArcHttp Proxy Server.

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Quick Installation Guide
McRAID Storage Manager
Before launching the rmware-embedded web server, McRAID storage
manager, you can to install the ArcHttp proxy server on your server
system. If you need additional information about McRAID Storage
Manager, refer to Chapter 6 of ARC-1200 SATA RAID Cards User’s Manual
on the MCRAID Software Suite CD.
SNMP Manager Console Integration
• In-Band-Using PCIe Bus
Before launching the SNMP agent in the sever, you need to enable the
reware-embedded SNMP community conguration rst and install Areca
SNMP extension agent in your server system. If you need additional
information about SNMP Operation and Installation, refer to Appendix C
of ARC-1200 SATA RAID Cards User’s Manual on the MCRAID Software
Suite CD.
Single Admin Portal (SAP) Monitor
This utility can scan for multiple RAID units on the network and monitor
controller set status. It also includes a disk stress test utility to identify
marginal spec disks before putting the RAID unit into a production
environment.
For additional information, refer to Utility-SAP manual in the packaged
CD-ROM or download it from the web site http://www.arec.com.tw

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Quick Installation Guide
3. Support RAID Levels
RAID is an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. It is
an array of multiple independent hard disk drives that provides high
performance and fault tolerance. The ARC-1200 SATA RAID controlller
supports disk arrays using the following RAID levels:
3.1 RAID 0
RAID 0, also referred to as striping, writes stripes of data across
multiple disk drives instead of just one disk drive. RAID 0 does not
provide any data redundancy, but does offer the best high-speed data
throughput. RAID 0 breaks up data into smaller blocks and then writes
a block to each drive in the array. Disk striping enhances performance
because multiple drives are accessed simultaneously; the reliability of
RAID Level 0 is less because the entire array will fail if any one disk
drive fails, due to a lack of redundancy, the reliability of RAID Level 0
is less because the entire array will fail if any one disk drive fails.
3.2 RAID 1
RAID 1 is also known as “disk mirroring”; data written on one disk
drive is simultaneously written to another disk drive. Read performance
will be enhanced if the array controller can, in parallel, access both
members of a mirrored pair. During writes, there will be a minor
performance penalty when compared to writing to a single disk. If one
drive fails, all data (and software applications) are preserved on the
other drive. RAID 1 offers extremely high data reliability, but at the
cost of doubling the required data storage capacity. But at the cost of
doubling the required data storage capacity.
3.3 JBOD
(Just a Bunch Of Disks) A group of hard disks in a RAID controller are
not set up as any type of RAID conguration. All drives are available to
the operating system as an individual disk. JBOD does not provide data
redundancy.

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Quick Installation Guide
3.4 Single Disk (Pass Through Disk)
Pass through disk refers to a drive that is not controlled by the RAID
rmware and thus can not be a part of a RAID volume. The drive is
available to the operating system as an individual disk.