Areca ARC-1883 Series User manual

ARC-1883 Series
(PCIe 3.0 to 12Gb/s SAS RAID Controllers)
12Gb/s SAS RAID Cards
User Manual
Version: 1.4
Issue Date: July, 2016

Copyright and Trademarks
The information regarding 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 limits
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-1883 has been tested and found compliant with the
requirements in the council directive relating to the EMC Directive
2004/108/EC. Regarding to the electromagnetic compatibility, the fol-
lowing standards were 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..................................................................... 22
2.4 SAS Cables .................................................................... 31
2.4.1 Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 to 4xSATA Cable ....................... 31
2.4.2 Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 to 4xSFF-8482 Cable.................. 32
2.4.3 Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 Cable ....................................... 32
2.4.4 Mini SAS HD SFF-8644 Cable ...................................... 33
2.5 LED Cables..................................................................... 33
2.6 Hot-plug Drive Replacement ............................................. 37
2.6.1 Recognizing a Drive Failure .......................................... 37
2.6.2 Replacing a Failed Drive .............................................. 37
2.7 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
3.7.2.4 Ofine Raid Set ..................................................... 56
3.7.2.5 Activate 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 ID ........................................................................ 67
• Cache Mode .................................................................. 68
• Write Protect ................................................................. 68
• Tag Queuing .................................................................. 69
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 ................................................. 71
3.7.3.5 Check Volume Set.................................................. 73
3.7.3.6 Stop Volume Check................................................ 73
3.7.3.7 Display Volume Set Info. ........................................ 73
3.7.4 Physical Drives........................................................... 74
3.7.4.1 View Drive Information .......................................... 75
3.7.4.2 Create Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 75
3.7.4.3 Modify Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 76
3.7.4.4 Delete Pass-Through Disk ....................................... 76
3.7.4.5 Set Disk To Be Failed.............................................. 76
3.7.4.7 Identify Selected Drive ........................................... 77
3.7.4.6 Activate Failed Disk................................................ 77
3.7.4.8 Identify Enclosure.................................................. 78
3.7.5 Raid System Function ................................................. 78
3.7.5.1 Mute The Alert Beeper............................................ 79
3.7.5.2 Alert Beeper Setting............................................... 79
3.7.5.3 Change Password .................................................. 80
3.7.5.4 JBOD/RAID Function .............................................. 81
3.7.5.5 Background Task Priority ........................................ 82
3.7.5.6 SATA NCQ Support................................................. 82
3.7.5.7 HDD Read Ahead Cache.......................................... 83
3.7.5.8 Volume Data Read Ahead........................................ 84
3.7.5.9 Hdd Queue Depth Setting ....................................... 84
3.7.5.10 Empty HDD Slot LED ............................................ 85
3.7.5.11 Controller Fan Detection ....................................... 86
3.7.5.12 Auto Activate Raid Set .......................................... 86
3.7.5.13 Disk Write Cache Mode ......................................... 87
3.7.5.14 Write Same Support ............................................. 87
3.7.5.15 Capacity Truncation.............................................. 88
3.7.6 More System Functions ............................................... 89
3.7.6.1 Smart Option For HDD............................................ 89
3.7.6.2 Smart Polling Interval............................................. 90

3.7.6.3 Hot Plugged Disk For Rebuilding .............................. 91
3.7.7 HDD Power Management ............................................. 92
3.7.7.1 Stagger Power On.................................................. 92
3.7.7.2 Time to Hdd Low Power Idle ................................... 93
3.7.7.3 Time To Low RPM Mode ......................................... 94
3.7.7.4 Time To Spin Down Idle Hdd .................................. 94
3.7.8 Ethernet Conguration ............................................... 95
3.7.8.1 DHCP Function ...................................................... 95
3.7.8.2 Local IP address .................................................... 96
3.7.8.3 HTTP Port Number ................................................. 97
3.7.8.4 Telnet Port Number ................................................ 97
3.7.8.5 SMTP Port Number................................................. 98
3.7.8.6 Ethernet Address ................................................... 98
3.7.9 Alert By Mail Cong ................................................... 99
3.7.10 View System Events.................................................. 99
3.7.11 Clear Events Buffer ................................................. 100
3.7.12 Hardware Monitor ................................................... 100
3.7.13 System Information ................................................ 101
4. Driver Installation ................................................... 102
4.1 Creating the Driver Diskettes.......................................... 102
4.2 Driver Installation for Windows ....................................... 104
4.2.1 Installing Windows on a RAID Volume ......................... 104
4.2.2 Installing Controller on an Existing Windows ............... 105
4.2.3 Uninstall controller from Windows .............................. 107
4.3 Driver Installation for Linux ............................................ 107
4.4 Driver Installation for FreeBSD........................................ 108
4.5 Driver Installation for Solaris .......................................... 109
4.6 Driver Installation for Mac OS X ...................................... 109
4.6.1 Installation Procedures.............................................. 109
4.6.2 Making Volume Sets Available to Mac OS X .................. 112
5. ArcHTTP Proxy Server Installation .......................... 114
5.1 For Windows................................................................. 115
5.2 For Linux ..................................................................... 116
5.3 For FreeBSD ................................................................. 118
5.4 For Solaris 10 .............................................................. 118
5.5 For Mac OS X................................................................ 119
5.6 ArcHTTP Conguration ................................................... 119
6. Web Browser-based Conguration ......................... 124
6.1 Start-up McRAID Storage Manager ................................. 124
• Start-up from Windows/Mac Local Administration ........ 125
• Start-up from Local Administration ............................. 125

• Start-up from Ethernet Port (Out-of-Band) .................. 126
6.2 McRAID Storage Manager............................................... 127
6.3 Main Menu .................................................................. 128
6.4 Quick Function.............................................................. 128
6.5.1 Create Raid Set ....................................................... 129
6.5.2 Delete Raid Set ........................................................ 130
6.5.3 Expand Raid Set....................................................... 130
6.5.4 Ofine Raid Set........................................................ 131
6.5.5 Rename Raid Set...................................................... 132
6.5.6 Activate Incomplete Raid Set ..................................... 132
6.5.7 Create Hot Spare ..................................................... 133
6.5.8 Delete Hot Spare...................................................... 134
6.5.9 Rescue Raid Set ....................................................... 134
6.6 Volume Set Functions .................................................... 135
6.6.1 Create Volume Set (0/1/10/3/5/6) ............................. 135
6.6.2 Create Raid30/50/60 (Volume Set 30/50/60) ............... 140
6.6.3 Delete Volume Set.................................................... 141
6.6.4 Modify Volume Set.................................................... 141
6.6.4.1 Volume Growth ................................................... 142
6.6.4.2 Volume Set Migration ........................................... 143
6.6.4.3 Volume Write Protection ....................................... 143
6.6.5 Check Volume Set .................................................... 144
6.6.6 Schedule Volume Check ............................................ 144
6.6.7 Stop Volume Set Check ............................................. 145
6.6.8 Download Volume Key File ......................................... 145
6.7 Physical Drive .............................................................. 146
6.7.1 Create Pass-Through Disk.......................................... 146
6.7.2 Modify Pass-Through Disk.......................................... 146
6.7.3 Delete Pass-Through Disk .......................................... 147
6.7.4 Clone Disk............................................................... 147
6.7.4.1 Clone And Replace ............................................... 148
6.7.4.2 Clone Only ......................................................... 149
6.7.5 Abort Cloning........................................................... 149
6.7.6 Set Disk To Be Failed ................................................ 149
6.7.7 Activate Failed Disk .................................................. 149
6.7.8 Identify Enclosure .................................................... 150
6.7.9 Identify Drive .......................................................... 150
6.8 System Controls ........................................................... 151
6.8.1 System Cong ......................................................... 151
• System Beeper Setting ................................................. 151
• Background Task Priority ............................................... 151

• JBOD/RAID Conguration .............................................. 151
• SATA NCQ Support ....................................................... 152
• HDD Read Ahead Cache ................................................ 152
• Volume Data Read Ahead ............................................. 152
• HDD Queue Depth ....................................................... 152
• Empty HDD Slot LED .................................................... 152
• CPU Fan Detection........................................................ 153
• SES2 Support .............................................................. 153
• Max Command Length .................................................. 153
• Auto Activate Incomplete Raid ....................................... 153
• Disk Write Cache Mode ................................................. 153
• Write Same For Initialization.......................................... 154
• Hot Plugged Disk For Rebuilding..................................... 154
• PCIE Gen3 .................................................................. 154
• Disk Capacity Truncation Mode....................................... 154
• Smart Option For HDD .................................................. 155
• Smart Polling Interval ................................................... 155
6.8.2 Advanced Conguration............................................. 156
6.8.3 HDD Power Management ........................................... 161
6.8.3.1 Stagger Power On Control..................................... 161
6.8.3.2 Time to Hdd Low Power Idle ................................. 162
6.8.3.3 Time To Hdd Low RPM Mode ................................. 162
6.8.3.4 Time To Spin Down Idle HDD................................. 162
6.8.3.5 SATA Power Up In Standby ................................... 162
6.8.4 Ethernet Conguration ............................................. 163
6.8.5 Alert By Mail Conguration ....................................... 164
6.8.6 SNMP Conguration .................................................. 165
6.8.7 NTP Conguration .................................................... 165
6.8.8 View Events/Mute Beeper .......................................... 166
6.8.9 Generate Test Event ................................................. 167
6.8.10 Clear Events Buffer ................................................. 167
6.8.11 Modify Password..................................................... 167
6.8.12 Update Firmware ................................................... 168
6.9 Information.................................................................. 169
6.9.1 Raid Set Hierarchy.................................................... 169
6.9.1.1 Hdd Xfer Speed ................................................... 169
6.9.2 SAS Chip Information ............................................... 170
6.9.3 System Information.................................................. 171
6.9.4 Hardware Monitor..................................................... 171
Appendix A ................................................................. 172
Upgrading Flash ROM Update Process.................................... 172

Appendix B .................................................................. 176
Flash-based Backup Module (ARC-1883-BAT/CAP)................... 176
Appendix C .................................................................. 181
Battery Backup Module (ARC-6120BA-T121-12G).................... 181
Appendix D.................................................................. 185
SNMP Operation & Installation.............................................. 185
Appendix E .................................................................. 196
Event Notication Congurations ........................................ 196
A. Device Event.............................................................. 196
B. Volume Event............................................................. 197
C. RAID Set Event .......................................................... 197
D. Hardware Monitor Event .............................................. 198
Appendix F .................................................................. 199
RAID Concept .................................................................... 199
RAID Set ......................................................................... 199
Volume Set...................................................................... 199
Ease of Use Features......................................................... 200
• Foreground Availability/Background Initialization .............. 200
• Online Array Roaming ................................................... 200
• Online Capacity Expansion............................................. 200
• Online Volume Expansion .............................................. 203
High availability.................................................................. 203
• Global/Local Hot Spares .................................................. 203
•Hot-Swap Disk Drive Support........................................... 204
•Auto Declare Hot-Spare ................................................. 204
• Auto Rebuilding ............................................................. 205
•Adjustable Rebuild Priority............................................... 205
High Reliability ................................................................... 206
• Hard Drive Failure Prediction............................................ 206
•Auto Reassign Sector...................................................... 206
•Consistency Check ......................................................... 207
Data Protection .................................................................. 208
• Battery Backup ............................................................. 208
• Recovery ROM ............................................................... 208
Appendix G.................................................................. 209
Understanding RAID .......................................................... 209
RAID 0............................................................................ 209
RAID 1............................................................................ 210
RAID 10(1E) .................................................................... 211
RAID 3............................................................................ 211
RAID 5............................................................................ 212

RAID 6............................................................................ 213
RAID x0 .......................................................................... 213
JBOD .............................................................................. 214
Single Disk (Pass-Through Disk) ......................................... 214

INTRODUCTION
10
1. Introduction
This section presents a brief overview of the 12Gb/s SAS RAID control-
ler, ARC-1883 series. (PCIe 3.0 to 12Gb/s SAS RAID controllers)
1.1 Overview
The 12Gb/s SAS interface supports both 12Gb/s SAS disk drives
for data-intensive applications and 6Gb/s SATA drives for low-cost
bulk storage of reference data. The ARC-1883 family includes 8
ports low prole as well as 12/16/24 internal ports with additional
4 external ports models. The ARC-1883LP/1883i/1883x support
eight 12Gb/s SAS ports via one internal & one external/two inter-
nal/two external Mini SAS HD connector. The ARC-1883ix-12/16/24
attaches directly to SATA/SAS midplanes with 3/4/6 Mini SAS HD
SFF-8643 internal connector or increase capacity using one addi-
tional Mini SAS HD SFF-8644 external connector. When used with
12Gb/s SAS expanders, the controller can provide up to (256) de-
vices through one or more 12Gb/s SAS JBODs, making it an ideal
solution for enterprise-class storage applications that called for
maximum conguration exibility.
ARC-1883i/LP/x 12Gb/s RAID controllers are low-prole PCIe cards,
ideal for 1U and 2U rack-mount systems. These controllers utilize
the same RAID kernel that has been eld-proven in existing exter-
nal RAID controller products, allowing Areca to quickly bring stable
and reliable PCIe 3.0 12Gb/s SAS RAID controllers to the market.
Unparalleled Performance for 12Gb/s SAS
The 12Gb/s SAS RAID controllers raise the standard to higher per-
formance levels with several enhancements including new high per-
formance 1.2 GHz dual core ROC processor, a DDR3-1866 memory
architecture and high performance PCIe 3.0 interface bus intercon-
nection. The low prole controllers by default support on-board 2G
of ECC DDR3-1866 SDRAM memory. ARC-1883ix-12/16/24 RAID
controllers each include one 240-pin DIMM socket with default 2GB
DDR3-1866, single rank, 1Rx8, upgrade to 8GB or 8GB DDR3-
1600, dual rank, 2Rx8, ECC SDRAM. The 12Gb/s SAS is designed
for backward compatibility with 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA hard