Areca ARC-1880 Series User manual

ARC-1880 Series
(PCIe 2.0 to 6Gb/s SAS RAID Controllers)
6Gb/s SAS RAID Cards
USER’S Manual
Version: 1.2
Issue Date: October, 2013

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.
FCC Statement
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the lim-
its for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against in-
terference 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 interfer-
ence will not occur in a particular installation.
Manufacturer’s Declaration for CE Certication
We conrm ARC-1880 series have been tested and found comply with
the requirements set up in the council directive on the approximation
of the low of member state relating to the EMC Directive2004/108/EC.
For the evaluation regarding to the electromag-netic compatibility, the
following standards where applied:
EN 55022: 2006, Class B
EN 61000-3-2: 2006
EN 61000-3-3: 1995+A1: 2001+A2: 2005
EN 55024:1998+A1:2001=A2:2003
IEC61000-4-2: 2001
IEC61000-4-3: 2006
IEC61000-4-4: 2004
IEC61000-4-5: 2005
IEC61000-4-6: 2006
IEC61000-4-8: 2001
IEC61000-4-11: 2004

Contents
1. Introduction .............................................................. 10
1.1 Overview ....................................................................... 10
1.2 Features ........................................................................ 12
2. Hardware Installation ............................................... 16
2.1 Before You First Installing................................................. 16
2.2 Board Layout.................................................................. 16
2.3 Installation..................................................................... 23
2.4 SAS Cables .................................................................... 30
2.4.1 Internal Min SAS 4i to SATA Cable ............................... 30
2.4.2 Internal Min SAS 4i to 4xSFF-8482 Cable....................... 31
2.4.3 Internal Min SAS 4i (SFF-8087) to Internal Min SAS 4i (SFF-
8087) cable ....................................................................... 32
2.4.4 External Min SAS 4i Drive Boxes and Drive Expanders ..... 33
2.5 LED Cables..................................................................... 33
2.5.1 Recognizing a Drive Failure .......................................... 38
2.5.2 Replacing a Failed Drive .............................................. 38
2.6 Summary of the installation.............................................. 38
3. McBIOS RAID Manager .............................................. 41
3.1 Starting the McBIOS RAID Manager ................................... 41
3.2 McBIOS RAID manager .................................................... 42
3.3 Conguring Raid Sets and Volume Sets .............................. 43
3.4 Designating Drives as Hot Spares...................................... 43
3.5 Using Quick Volume /Raid Setup Conguration .................... 44
3.6 Using Raid Set/Volume Set Function Method ....................... 45
3.7 Main Menu .................................................................... 47
3.7.1 Quick Volume/Raid Setup ............................................ 48
3.7.2 Raid Set Function ....................................................... 52
3.7.2.1 Create Raid Set .................................................... 53
3.7.2.2 Delete Raid Set ..................................................... 54
3.7.2.3 Expand Raid Set .................................................... 55
• Migrating ...................................................................... 56
3.7.2.4 Ofine Raid Set ..................................................... 56
3.7.2.5 Activate Incomplete Raid Set................................... 57
3.7.2.6 Create Hot Spare................................................... 58
3.7.2.7 Delete Hot Spare ................................................... 58
3.7.2.8 Rescue Raid Set ................................................... 59
3.7.2.9 Raid Set Information.............................................. 60

3.7.3 Volume Set Function ................................................... 60
3.7.3.1 Create Volume Set (0/1/10/3/5/6) ........................... 61
• Volume Name ................................................................ 63
• Capacity ....................................................................... 64
• Stripe Size .................................................................... 66
• SCSI Channel ................................................................ 66
• SCSI ID ........................................................................ 67
• Cache Mode .................................................................. 68
• Tag Queuing .................................................................. 68
3.7.3.2 Create Raid30/50/60 (Volume Set 30/50/60) ............ 69
3.7.3.3 Delete Volume Set ................................................. 70
3.7.3.4 Modify Volume Set ................................................. 70
3.7.3.5 Check Volume Set.................................................. 72
3.7.3.6 Stop Volume Set Check .......................................... 73
3.7.3.7 Display Volume Set Info. ........................................ 73
3.7.4 Physical Drives........................................................... 74
3.7.4.1 View Drive Information .......................................... 74
3.7.4.2 Create Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 75
3.7.4.3 Modify Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 75
3.7.4.4 Delete Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 75
3.7.4.5 Identify Selected Drive ........................................... 76
3.7.4.6 Identify Enclosure.................................................. 76
3.7.5 Raid System Function ................................................. 77
3.7.5.1 Mute The Alert Beeper............................................ 78
3.7.5.2 Alert Beeper Setting............................................... 78
3.7.5.3 Change Password .................................................. 79
3.7.5.4 JBOD/RAID Function .............................................. 79
3.7.5.5 Background Task Priority ........................................ 80
3.7.5.6 SATA NCQ Support................................................. 81
3.7.5.7 HDD Read Ahead Cache.......................................... 81
3.7.5.8 Volume Data Read Ahead........................................ 82
3.7.5.9 Hdd Queue Depth Setting ....................................... 82
3.7.5.10 Empty HDD Slot LED ............................................ 83
3.7.5.11 Controller Fan Detection ....................................... 84
3.7.5.12 Auto Activate Raid Set .......................................... 84
3.7.5.13 Disk Write Cache Mode ......................................... 85
3.7.5.14 Capacity Truncation.............................................. 85
3.7.6 HDD Power Management ............................................. 86
3.7.6.1 Stagger Power On.................................................. 87
3.7.6.2 Time to Hdd Low Power Idle ................................... 88
3.7.6.3 Time To Low RPM Mode ......................................... 88
3.6.7.4 Time To Spin Down Idle Hdd .................................. 89

3.7.7 Ethernet Conguration ............................................... 90
3.7.7.1 DHCP Function ...................................................... 90
3.7.7.2 Local IP address .................................................... 91
3.7.7.3 HTTP Port Number ................................................. 92
3.7.7.4 Telnet Port Number ................................................ 92
3.7.7.5 SMTP Port Number................................................. 93
3.7.8 View System Events ................................................... 94
3.7.9 Clear Events Buffer..................................................... 94
3.7.10 Hardware Monitor ..................................................... 95
3.7.11 System Information .................................................. 95
4. Driver Installation ..................................................... 96
4.1 Creating the Driver Diskettes............................................ 96
4.2 Driver Installation for Windows ......................................... 98
4.2.1 New Storage Device Drivers in Windows 7/2008/Vista/2003
98
4.2.2 Install Windows 7/2008/Vista/XP/2003 on a 6Gb/s SAS
RAID Volume ..................................................................... 98
4.2.2.1 Installation Procedures ........................................... 98
4.2.2.2 Making Volume Sets Available to Windows System ... 100
4.2.3 Installing controller into an existing Windows 7/2008/Vista/
XP/2003 Installation ......................................................... 100
4.2.3.1 Making Volume Sets Available to Windows System ... 102
4.2.4 Uninstall controller from Windows 7/2008/Vista/2003/XP....
102
4.3 Driver Installation for Linux ............................................ 103
4.4 Driver Installation for FreeBSD........................................ 104
4.5 Driver Installation for Solaris .......................................... 104
4.6 Driver Installation for Mac X ........................................... 104
4.6.1 Installation Procedures.............................................. 105
4.6.2 Making Volume Sets Available to Mac OS X .................. 106
5. ArcHttp Proxy Server Installation............................ 108
5.1 For Windows................................................................. 109
5.2 For Linux ..................................................................... 110
5.3 For FreeBSD ................................................................. 112
5.4 For Solaris 10 X86......................................................... 112
5.5 For Mac OS 10.X ........................................................... 113
5.6 ArcHttp Conguration .................................................... 113
6. Web Browser-based Conguration ......................... 118
6.1 Start-up McRAID Storage Manager ................................. 118
• Start-up McRAID Storage Manager from Windows Local
Administration................................................................ 119

•Start-up McRAID Storage Manager Through Ethernet Port
(Out-of-Band) ............................................................... 120
6.2 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller McRAID Storage Manager ......... 121
6.3 Main Menu .................................................................. 122
6.4 Quick Function.............................................................. 122
6.5 Raid Set Functions ........................................................ 123
6.5.1 Create Raid Set ....................................................... 123
6.5.2 Delete Raid Set ........................................................ 124
6.5.3 Expand Raid Set....................................................... 125
6.5.4 Ofine Raid Set........................................................ 126
6.5.5 Activate Incomplete Raid Set ..................................... 126
6.5.6 Create Hot Spare ..................................................... 127
6.5.7 Delete Hot Spare...................................................... 127
6.5.8 Rescue Raid Set ....................................................... 128
6.6 Volume Set Functions .................................................... 128
6.6.1 Create Volume Set (0/1/10/3/5/6) ............................. 129
• Volume Name .............................................................. 129
• Volume Raid Level ....................................................... 130
• Capacity ..................................................................... 130
• Greater Two TB Volume Support..................................... 130
• Initialization Mode ........................................................ 130
• Stripe Size .................................................................. 131
• Cache Mode ................................................................ 131
• Tagged Command Queuing ............................................ 131
• SCSI Channel/SCSI ID/SCSI Lun.................................... 131
6.6.2 Create Raid30/50/60 (Volume Set 30/50/60) ............... 132
6.6.3 Delete Volume Set.................................................... 133
6.6.4 Modify Volume Set.................................................... 133
6.6.4.1 Volume Growth ................................................... 134
6.6.4.2 Volume Set Migration ........................................... 135
4.6.4.3 Volume Write Protection ....................................... 135
6.6.5 Check Volume Set .................................................... 135
6.6.6 Schedule Volume Check ............................................ 136
6.7 Physical Drive .............................................................. 137
6.7.1 Create Pass-Through Disk.......................................... 137
6.7.2 Modify Pass-Through Disk .......................................... 138
6.7.3 Delete Pass-Through Disk .......................................... 139
6.7.4 Identify Enclosure .................................................... 139
6.7.5 Identify Drive .......................................................... 140
6.8 System Controls ........................................................... 140
6.8.1 System Cong ......................................................... 140
• System Beeper Setting ................................................. 141

• Background Task Priority ............................................... 141
• JBOD/RAID Conguration .............................................. 141
• SATA NCQ Support ....................................................... 141
• HDD Read Ahead Cache ................................................ 141
• Volume Data Read Ahead ............................................. 141
• HDD Queue Depth ....................................................... 142
• Empty HDD Slot LED .................................................... 142
• SES2 Support .............................................................. 142
• Max Command Length .................................................. 142
• Auto Activate Incomplete Raid ....................................... 142
• Disk Write Cache Mode ................................................. 142
• Disk Capacity Truncation Mode....................................... 143
6.8.2 Advanced Conguration............................................. 143
6.8.3 HDD Power Management ........................................... 146
6.8.3.1 Stagger Power On Control..................................... 147
6.8.3.2 Time to Hdd Low Power Idle ................................. 147
6.8.3.3 Time To Hdd Low RPM Mode ................................. 148
6.8.3.4 Time To Spin Down Idle HDD ................................ 148
6.8.3.5 SATA Power Up In Standby ................................... 148
6.8.4 Ethernet Conguration ............................................. 148
6.8.5 Alert By Mail Conguration ....................................... 149
6.8.6 SNMP Conguration .................................................. 150
6.8.7 NTP Conguration .................................................... 150
6.8.8 View Events/Mute Beeper .......................................... 151
6.8.9 Generate Test Event ................................................. 152
6.8.10 Clear Events Buffer ................................................. 152
6.8.11 Modify Password..................................................... 153
6.8.12 Update Firmware ................................................... 153
6.9 Information.................................................................. 154
6.9.1 Raid Set Hierarchy.................................................... 154
6.9.2 SAS Chip Information ............................................... 154
6.9.3 System Information.................................................. 155
6.9.4 Hardware Monitor..................................................... 156
Appendix A ................................................................. 157
Upgrading Flash ROM Update Process.................................... 157
Appendix B .................................................................. 161
Battery Backup Module (ARC-6120BA-T113)........................... 161
Appendix C .................................................................. 165
SNMP Operation & Installation.............................................. 165
Appendix D.................................................................. 176
Event Notication Congurations ........................................ 176

A. Device Event.............................................................. 176
B. Volume Event............................................................. 177
C. RAID Set Event .......................................................... 178
D. Hardware Monitor Event .............................................. 178
Appendix E .................................................................. 180
RAID Concept .................................................................... 180
RAID Set ......................................................................... 180
Volume Set...................................................................... 180
Ease of Use Features......................................................... 181
• Foreground Availability/Background Initialization .............. 181
• Online Array Roaming ................................................... 181
•Online Capacity Expansion............................................. 181
•Online Volume Expansion .............................................. 184
High availability.................................................................. 184
• Global/Local Hot Spares .................................................. 184
•Hot-Swap Disk Drive Support........................................... 185
•Auto Declare Hot-Spare ................................................. 185
• Auto Rebuilding ............................................................ 186
•Adjustable Rebuild Priority............................................... 186
High Reliability ................................................................... 187
• Hard Drive Failure Prediction............................................ 187
•Auto Reassign Sector...................................................... 187
•Consistency Check ......................................................... 188
Data Protection .................................................................. 188
•Battery Backup ............................................................. 188
• Recovery ROM ............................................................... 189
Appendix F .................................................................. 190
Understanding RAID .......................................................... 190
RAID 0............................................................................ 190
RAID 1............................................................................ 191
RAID 10(1E) .................................................................... 192
RAID 3............................................................................ 192
RAID 5............................................................................ 193
RAID 6............................................................................ 194
RAID x0 .......................................................................... 194
Single Disk (Pass-Through Disk) ......................................... 195

INTRODUCTION
10
1. Introduction
This section presents a brief overview of the 6Gb/s SAS RAID control-
ler, ARC-1880 series. (PCIe 2.0 to 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers)
1.1 Overview
SAS 2.0 is designed for much higher speed data transfer than pre-
vious available and backward compatibility with SAS 1.0. The
6Gb/s SAS interface supports both 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/
SATA disk drives for data-intensive applications and 6Gb/s or
3Gb/s SATA drives for low-cost bulk storage of reference data.
The ARC-1880 family includes 8-port external model as well as
12/16/24 internal ports with additional 4 external ports. The ARC-
1880LP/1880i/1880x support eight 6Gb/s SAS ports via one inter-
nal & one external/two internal/two external min SAS connector.
The ARC-1880ix-12/16/24 or ARC-1880ixl-12 attaches directly to
SATA/SAS midplanes with 3/4/6 SFF-8087 internal connector or in-
crease capacity using one additional SFF-8088 external connector.
When used with 6Gb/s SAS expanders, the controller can provide
up to (128) devices through one or more 6Gb/s SAS JBODs, mak-
ing it an ideal solution for enterprise-class storage applications that
called for maximum conguration exibility.
ARC-1880LP/1880i/1880x/1880ixl-8/1880ixl-12 6Gb/s RAID con-
trollers are low-prole PCI cards, ideal for 1U and 2U rack-mount
systems. These controllers utilize the same RAID kernel that has
been eld-proven in existing external RAID controller products,
allowing Areca to quickly bring stable and reliable PCIe 2.0 6Gb/s
SAS RAID controllers to the market.
Unparalleled Performance
The 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers raise the standard to higher per-
formance levels with several enhancements including new high
performance ROC Processor, a DDR2-800 memory architecture and
high performance PCIe 2.0 x8 lane host interface bus interconnec-
tion. The low prole controllers by default support on-board 512MB
of ECC DDR2-800 SDRAM memory. The ARC-1880ix-12/16/24
controllers each include one 240-pin DIMM socket with default 1GB

INTRODUCTION
11
of ECC DDR2-800 registered SDRAM, upgrade to 4GB. The optional
battery backup module provides power to the cache if it contains
data not yet written to the drives when power is lost. The test
result is against overall performance compared to other 6Gb/s SAS
RAID controllers. The powerful new ROC processors integrated 8
6Gb/s SAS ports on chip delivers high performance for servers and
workstations.
Unsurpassed Data Availability
As storage capacities continue to rapidly increase, users need
greater level of disk drive fault tolerance, which can be implement-
ed without doubling the investment in disk drives. The RAID
6 can offer fault tolerance greater that RAID 1 or RAID 5 but only
consumes the capacity of 2 disk drives for distributed parity data.
The 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers with extreme performance RAID
6 engine installed provide the highest RAID 6 feature to meet this
requirement. The controller can concurrently compute two parity
blocks and get very similar RAID 5 performance.
The 6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers can also provide RAID levels 0, 1,
1E, 3, 5, 6, 10, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk or JBOD for maximum con-
guration exibility. Its high data availability and protection derives
from the following capabilities: Online RAID Capacity Expansion,
Array Roaming, Online RAID Level / Stripe Size Migration, Global
Online Spare, Automatic Drive Failure Detection, Automatic Failed
Drive Rebuilding, Disk Hot-Swap, Online Background Rebuilding,
Instant Availability/Background Initialization, Auto Reassign Sec-
tor, Redundant Flash Image and Battery Backup Module. Greater
than Two TB Support allows for very large volume set application
in 64-bit environment such as data-mining and managing large
databases.
Maximum Interoperability
The 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller support broad operating system
including Windows 7/2008/Vista/XP/2003, Linux (Open Source),
FreeBSD (Open Source), Solaris (Open Source), Mac, VMware and
more, along with key system monitoring features such as enclosure
management (SES-2, SMP, & SGPIO) and SNMP function. Our prod-

INTRODUCTION
12
ucts and technology are based on extensive testing and validation
process; leverage Areca SAS or SATA RAID controller eld-proven
compatibility with operating systems, motherboards, applications
and device drivers.
Easy RAID Management
The controllers contain an embedded McBIOS RAID manager that
can access via hot key at M/B BIOS boot-up screen. This pre-boot
McBIOS RAID manager can use to simplify the setup and manage-
ment of RAID controller. The controller rmware also contains a
browser-based McRAID storage manager which can be accessed
through the Ethernet port or ArcHttp proxy server in Windows,
Linux, FreeBSD and more environments. The McRAID storage man-
ager allows local and remote to create and modify RAID set, vol-
ume set, and monitor RAID status from standard web browser. The
Single Admin Portal (SAP) monitor utility can support one applica-
tion to scan multiple RAID units in the network.
1.2 Features
Controller Architecture
• 800MHz RAID-on-Chip (ROC) processor
• PCIe 2.0 x8 lane host interface
• 512MB on-board DDR2-800 SDRAM with ECC (ARC-1880LP/
1880i/1880x/1880ixl-8/1880ixl-12)
• One 240-pin DIMM socket for DDR2-800 ECC registered
SDRAM module using x8 or x16 chip organization, upgrade
from 1GB (default) to 4GB (ARC-1880ix-12/16/24)
• Write-through or write-back cache support
• Support up to 4/8/12/16/24 internal and/or 4/8 external 6Gb/s
SAS ports
• 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
• Support EFI BIOS for Mac Pro
• NVRAM for RAID event & transaction log
• Redundant ash image for controller availability
• Battery Backup Module (BBM) ready (Option)
• RoHS compliant

INTRODUCTION
13
RAID Features
• RAID level 0, 1, 10(1E), 3, 5, 6, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk or JBOD
• Multiple RAID selection
• Online array roaming
• Ofine RAID set
• Online RAID level/stripe size migration
• Online capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultane-
ously
• Online volume set growth
• Instant availability and background initialization
• Support global and dedicated hot spare
• Automatic drive insertion/removal detection and rebuilding
• Greater than 2TB capacity per disk drive support
• Greater than 2TB per volume set (64-bit LBA support)
• Support intelligent power management to save energy and
extend service life
• Support NTP protocol synchronize RAID controller clock over the
on board Ethernet port
Monitors/Notication
• System status indication through global HDD activity/fault con-
nector, individual activity/fault connector, LCD/I2C connector and
alarm buzzer
• SMTP support for email notication
• SNMP support for remote manager
• Enclosure management (SES-2, SMP and SGPIO) ready
RAID Management
• Field-upgradeable rmware in ash ROM
In-Band Manager
• Hot key "boot-up" McBIOS RAID manager via M/B BIOS
• Web browser-based McRAID storage manager via ArcHttp proxy
server for all operating systems
• Support Command Line Interface (CLI)
• API library for customer to write monitor utility
• Single Admin Portal (SAP) monitor utility
Out-of-Band Manager
• Firmware-embedded web browser-based McRAID storage man-
ager, SMTP manager, SNMP agent and Telnet function via
Ethernet port

INTRODUCTION
14
• API library for customer to write monitor utility
• Support push button and LCD display panel (option)
Operating System
• Windows 7/2008/Vista/XP/2003
• Linux
• FreeBSD
• VMware
• Solaris 10/11 x86/x86_64
• Mac OS 10.4.x/10.5.x/10.6.x
(For latest supported OS listing visit http://www.areca.com.tw)
6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers
Model name ARC-1880ix-12 ARC-1880ix-16 ARC-1880ix-24
I/O Processor RAID-on-Chip 800MHz
Form Factor(H x L) Full Height: 98.4 x 250 mm
Host Bus Type PCIe 2.0 x8 Lanes
Driver Connector 3xSFF-8087
1xSFF-8088
4xSFF-8087
1xSFF-8088
6xSFF-8087
1xSFF-8088
Drive Support Up to 128 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA HDDs
RAID Level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6, 10, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk, JBOD
On-Board Cache One DDR2-800 DIMM Socket with Default 1GB ECC registered SDRAM
module, upgrade to 4GB
Management
Port
In-Band: PCIe
Out-of-Band: BIOS, LCD, LAN Port
Enclosure
Ready
Individual Activity/Faulty Header, SGPIO, SMP,
SES-2 (For External Port)
Important:
Be sure to update the ArcMSR.kext driver shipping with Mac
OS X to V1.3.7 or later from the software CD or from the
Areca website.

INTRODUCTION
15
6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers
Model name ARC-1880i ARC-1880LP ARC-1880x
I/O Processor RAID-on-Chip 800MHz
Form Factor(H x L) Low Prole: 64.4 x 169.5 mm
Host Bus Type PCIe 2.0 x8 Lanes
Driver Connector 2xSFF-8087 1xSFF-8087
1xSFF-8088
2xSFF-8088
Drive Support Up to 128 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA HDDs
RAID Level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6, 10, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk, JBOD
On-Board Cache 512MB on-board DDR2-800 SDRAM
Management
Port
In-Band: PCIe
Out-of-Band: BIOS, LCD, LAN Port
Enclosure
Ready
Individual Activity/Faulty Header, SGPIO, SMP,
SES-2
6Gb/s SAS RAID controllers
Model name ARC-1880ixl-8 ARC-1880ixl-12
I/O Processor RAID-on-Chip 800MHz
Form Factor (H x L) Low Prole: 64.4 x 210 mm
Host Bus Type PCIe 2.0 x8 Lanes
Driver Connector 2xSFF-8087
1xSFF-8088
3xSFF-8087
1xSFF-8088
Drive Support Up to 128 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA HDDs
RAID Level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6, 10, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk, JBOD
On-Board Cache 512MB on-board DDR2-800 SDRAM
Management
Port
In-Band: PCIe
Out-of-Band: BIOS, LCD, LAN Port
Enclosure
Ready
Individual Activity/Faulty Header, SGPIO, SMP,
SES-2 (For External Port)
Note:
Low-prole bracket has included on the low prole board ship-
ping package.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
16
2. Hardware Installation
This section describes the procedures for installing the 6Gb/s SAS RAID
controllers.
2.1 Before You First Installing
Thanks for purchasing the 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller as your RAID
data storage subsystem. This user manual gives simple step-by-
step instructions for installing and conguring the 6Gb/s SAS RAID
controller. To ensure personal safety and to protect your equipment
and data, reading the following information package list carefully
before you begin installing.
Package Contents
If your package is missing any of the items listed below, con-
tact your local dealers before you install. (Disk drives and disk
mounting brackets are not included)
• 1 x 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller in an ESD-protective bag
• 1 x Installation CD – containing driver, relative software, an
electronic version of this manual and other related manual
• 1 x User manual
• 1 x Low-prole bracket
2.2 Board Layout
The controller can support a family included 8 ports models as well
as industry-rst 8/12/16/24 internal ports with additional 4 exter-
nal ports. This section provides the board layout and connector/
jumper for the 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
17
Connector Type Description
1. (J3) Battery Backup Module Connector 12-pin box header
2. (J4) RS232 Port for CLI to congure the
expander functions on the RAID control-
ler (*1)
RJ11 connector
3. (CN1) SAS 25-28 Ports (External) SFF-8088
4. (J10) Ethernet Port RJ45
5. (J7) Manufacture Purpose Port 10-pin header
6. (J9) Individaul Fault LED Header 24-pin header
7. (J11) Individual Activity (HDD) LED Header 24-pin header
8. (J1) Global Fault/Activity LED 4-pin header
9. (J2) I2C/LCD Connector 8-pin header
10. (SCN1) SAS 21-24 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
11. (SCN2) SAS 17-20 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
12. (SCN3) SAS 13-16 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
13. (SCN4) SAS 9-12 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
14. (SCN5) SAS 5-8 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
15. (SCN6) SAS 1-4 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
Table 2-1, ARC-1880ix-12/16/24 connectors
Figure 2-1, ARC-1880ix-12/16/24 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller
Note:
*1: You can download the ARC1880ix_1882ix Expander-CLI.
PDF manual from http://www.areca.com.tw/support/main.
htm.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
18
Connector Type Description
1. (J7) Ethernet Port RJ45
2. (J6) Individual Fault LED Header 4-pin header
3. (J5) Individual Activity (HDD) LED Header 4-pin header
4. (J4) Global Fault/Activity LED 4-pin header
5. (J2) Battery Backup Module Connector 12-pin box header
6. (J1) Manufacture Purpose Port 10-pin header
7. (J3) I2C/LCD Connector 8-pin header
8. (SCN1) SAS 1-4 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
9. (SCN2) SAS 5-8 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
Table 2-2, ARC-1880i connectors
Figure 2-2, ARC-1880i 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
19
Figure 2-3, ARC-1880LP 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller
Connector Type Description
1. (J2) Battery Backup Module Connector 12-pin box header
2. (J1) Manufacture Purpose Port 10-pin header
3. (J6) Global Fault/Activity LED 4-pin header
4. (J3) I2C/LCD Connector 8-pin header
5. (J5) Individual Fault/Activity LED Header 8-pin header
6. (SCN1) SAS 1-4 Ports (Internal) SFF-8087
7. (SCN2) SAS 5-8 Ports (External) SFF-8088
8. (J4) Ethernet port RJ45
Table 2-3, ARC-1880LP connectors

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
20
Connector Type Description
1. (J1) Manufacture Purpose Port 10-pin header
2. (J4) Signal for Ethernet Daughterboard 10-pin header
3. (J2) Battery Backup Module Connector 12-pin box header
4. (J3) I2C/LCD Connector 8-pin header
5. (J5) Ethernet Port RJ45
6. (SCN1) SAS 1-4 Ports (External) SFF-8088
7. (SCN2) SAS 5-8 Ports (External) SFF-8088
Table 2-4, ARC-1880x connectors
Figure 2-4, ARC-1880x 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller
LED Status
Link LED
(Green light)
When link LED illuminate that indicates the link LED is
connected.
Activity LED
(Blue light)
The activity LED illuminate that indicates the adapter is
active.
The following describes the ARC-1880 series link/activity LED.