Areca ARC-1883 Series User manual

ARC-1883 Series
(PCIe 3.0 to 12Gb/s SAS RAID Controllers)
12Gb/s SAS RAID Cards
Quick Start Guide
Version: 1.4
Issue Date: May, 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 ................................................................ 4
1.1 Overview .........................................................................4
1.2 Features ..........................................................................6
2. Hardware Installation ............................................... 10
2.1 Before You First Installing................................................. 10
2.2 Board Layout.................................................................. 10
2.3 Installation..................................................................... 16
2.4 SAS Cables .................................................................... 25
2.4.1 Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 to 4xSATA Cable ....................... 25
2.4.2 Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 to 4xSFF-8482 Cable.................. 26
2.4.3 Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 Cable ....................................... 26
2.4.4 Mini SAS HD SFF-8644 Cable ...................................... 27
2.5 LED Cables..................................................................... 27
2.6 Hot-plug Drive Replacement ............................................. 31
2.6.1 Recognizing a Drive Failure .......................................... 31
2.6.2 Replacing a Failed Drive .............................................. 31
2.7 Summary of the installation.............................................. 32

INTRODUCTION
4
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

INTRODUCTION
5
drives. Regardless of the drive speed, 12Gb/s SAS RAID controllers
will provide maximum read/write performance improvements for
the most performance-hungry database and IT applications.
The ARC-1883ix includes one 12Gb/s SAS expander that incorpo-
rates the latest enhancements in SAS along with new LSI DataBolt
bandwidth optimizer technology. This is designed to help facilitate
the industry transition to 12Gb/s SAS-enabled systems by allow-
ing users to take advantage of 12Gb/s speeds while utilizing exist-
ing 6Gb/s drives and backplanes. Using DataBolt, the ARC-1883ix
buffers 6Gb/s data and then transfers it out to the host at 12Gb/s
speeds in order to match the bandwidth between faster hosts and
slower SAS or SATA devices
Unsurpassed Data Availability
Designed and leveraged with Areca’s existing high performance
RAID solution, ARC-1883 provides superior levels performance
and enterprise level data protection for the most demanding next-
generation server and storage environments. It supports the hard-
ware RAID 6 engine to allow two HDDs failures without impact the
existing data and performance. It allows users to hot swap drive in
the event of a drive failure with zero downtime. The optional ash-
based backup module provides power to transfer the cache data
from the SDRAM memory to the NAND ash memory if it contains
data not yet written to the drives when power is lost. ARC-1883
also supports traditional Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery backup mod-
ule (BBM) to protect cached data on RAID adapters. Board-level
hardware encryption manages any kinds of drives attached to ARC-
1883 controller cards for higher levels of security. API code sup-
ports for third-party Enterprise Key Management systems to easy
integrate and manage encryption function.
Maximum Interoperability
The 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller support broad operating system
including Windows, 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 products and technology
are based on extensive testing and validation process; leverage

INTRODUCTION
6
ARC-1880/1882 series 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
manager allows local and remote for all storage conguration and
management needs from standard web browser. The ArcSAP quick
manager can scan for multiple RAID units in the local and remote
systems and provide an effective mechanism to congure and
monitor your RAID units.
1.2 Features
Controller Architecture
• Dual core RAID-on-Chip (ROC) 1.2GHz processor
• PCIe 3.0 x8 lane host interface
• 2GB on-board DDR3-1866 SDRAM with ECC (ARC-1883i/LP/x)
• One 240-pin DIMM socket for 2GB(default) DDR3-1866, 1RX8,
ECC module (ARC-1883ix-12/16/24)
- up to 4GB or 8GB DDR3-1866, 1RX8, Unbuffered/Registered
ECC module or
- up to 4GB or 8GB DDR3-1600, 2RX8, Unbuffered/Registered
ECC module
• Write-through or write-back cache support
• Support up to 4/8/12/16/24 internal or 4/8 external 12Gb/s SAS
ports
• Multi-adapter support for large storage requirements
• BIOS boot array support for greater fault tolerance
• Supports up to 256 SATA or SAS devices using SAS expanders
• Boot support for the uEFI host BIOS
• DataBolt™ Bandwidth Optimizer for balance faster host and
slower SAS or SATA devices. (for ARC-1883ix)
• Redundant ash image for controller availability

INTRODUCTION
7
• Support ash-based or battery backup module (FBM/BBM) ready
(optional)
• RoHS compliant
RAID Features
• RAID level 0, 1, 10(1E), 3, 5, 6, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk or JBOD
• Multiple RAID 0 and RAID 10(1E) support (RAID 00 and
RAID100)
• Multiple RAID selection
• Congurable stripe size up to 1024KB
• Support HDD rmware update
• Online array roaming
• 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
• Support for native 4K and 512 byte sector SAS and SATA devices
• Multiple pairs SSD/HDD disk clone function
• SSD automatic monitor clone (AMC) support
• Controller level hardware encryption support
• Support intelligent power management to save energy and ex-
tend service life
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)

INTRODUCTION
8
• API library for customer to write manager utility
• Single Admin Portal (ArcSAP) quick manager utility
Out-of-Band Manager
• Firmware-embedded web browser-based McRAID storage man-
ager, SMTP manager, SNMP agent and Telnet function via
Ethernet port
• API library for customer to write manager utility
• Support push button and LCD display panel (optional)
Operating System
• Windows 10/8/Server 2012/7/2008/Vista/XP/2003
• Linux
• FreeBSD
• VMware (Driver 6.x support CLI in-band management utility)
• Solaris 10/11 x86/x86_64
• Mac OS X 10.4.x or higher
(For latest supported OS listing visit http://www.areca.com.tw)
12Gb/s SAS RAID Controllers
Model Name ARC-1883i ARC-1883LP ARC-1883x
I/O Processor Dual Core RAID-on-Chip 1.2GHz
Form Factor (H x L) Low Prole: 64.4 x 169.5 mm
Host Bus Type PCIe 3.0 x 8 Lanes
Driver Connector 2xSFF-8643 1xSFF-8643
1xSFF-8644
2xSFF-8644
Drive Support Up to 256 12Gb/s SAS or 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA HDDs
FBM/BBM Support ARC-1883-CAP / ARC-1883-BAT / ARC-6120BA-T121-12G
RAID Level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6, 10, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk, JBOD
On-Board Cache 2GB on-board DDR3-1866 SDRAM
Management Port In-Band: PCIe
Out-of-Band: BIOS, LCD, LAN Port
Enclosure Ready Individual Activity/Faulty Header, SGPIO, SMP, SES-2

INTRODUCTION
9
12Gb/s SAS RAID Controllers
Model Name ARC-1883ix-12 ARC-1883ix-16 ARC-1883ix-24
I/O Processor Dual Core RAID-on-Chip 1.2GHz
Form Factor (H x L) Full Height: 98.4 x 254 mm
Host Bus Type PCIe 3.0 x 8 Lanes
Driver Connector 3xSFF-8643
1xSFF-8644
4xSFF-8643
1xSFF-8644
6xSFF-8643
1xSFF-8644
Drive Support Up to 256 12Gb/s SAS or 6Gb/s and 3Gb/s SAS/SATA HDDs
FBM/BBM Support ARC-1883-CAP (support cache 2GB)/
ARC-1883-BAT (support cache 2GB, 4GB or 8GB)/
ARC-6120BA-T121-12G
RAID Level 0, 1, 1E, 3, 5, 6, 10, 30, 50, 60, Single Disk, JBOD
On-Board Cache One 240-pin DIMM socket for 2GB(default) DDR3-1866, 1RX8,
ECC module
- up to 4GB or 8GB DDR3-1866, 1RX8, Unbuffered/Registered
ECC module or
- up to 4GB or 8GB DDR3-1600, 2RX8, Unbuffered/Registered
ECC module
Management Port In-Band: PCIe
Out-of-Band: BIOS, LCD, LAN Port
Enclosure Ready Individual Activity/Faulty Header, SGPIO, SMP, SES-2

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
10
2. Hardware Installation
This section describes the procedures for installing the 12Gb/s SAS RAID
controllers.
2.1 Before You First Installing
Thanks for purchasing the 12Gb/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 12Gb/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 12Gb/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
• Adapter convert two 4 pin peripheral power cables into a PCI-E
power cable (ARC-1883ix only)
• 1 x Low-prole bracket
Note:
Low-prole bracket has included on the low prole board
shipping package.
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 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
11
Connector Type Description
1. (J1) Flash-based/Battery Backup Module Connector 14-pin box header
2. (J2) I2C/LCD Connector 7-pin header
3. (J3) Global Fault/Activity LED 4-pin header
4. (J4) PCI-E Power Connector 6-pin header
5. (J5) Manufacture Purpose Port 12-pin header
6. (J6) Ethernet Port RJ45
7. (J7) Individaul Fault LED Header 24-pin header
8. (COM1) RS232 Port for CLI to congure the expander
functions on the RAID controller (*1)
RJ11 connector
9. (CN1) Mini SAS HD 25-28 Ports (External) SFF-8644
10. (SCN1) Mini SAS HD 1-8 Ports (Internal) SFF-8643
11. (SCN2) Mini SAS HD 9-16 Ports (Internal) SFF-8643
12. (SCN3) Mini SAS HD 17-24 Ports (Internal) SFF-8643
Table 2-1, ARC-1883ix-12/16/24 Connectors
Figure 2-1, ARC-1883ix-12/16/24 Top View
Note:
You can download the ARC1882ix_1883ix Expander-CLI.PDF
manual from “http://www.areca.com.tw/support/main.htm” to
view and set expander conguration.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
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Connector Type Description
1. (J1) Manufacture Purpose Port 12-pin header
2. (J2) Flash-based/Battery Backup Module Connector 14-pin box header
3. (J3) I2C/LCD Connector 7-pin header
4. (J4) Global Fault/Activity LED 4-pin header
5. (J5) Individual Activity (HDD) LED Header 4-pin header
6. (J6) Individual Fault LED Header 4-pin header
7. (J7) Ethernet Port RJ45
8. (SCN1) Mini SAS HD 1-4 Ports (Internal) SFF-8643
9. (SCN2) Mini SAS HD 5-8 Ports (Internal) SFF-8643
Table 2-2, ARC-1883i Connectors
Figure 2-2, ARC-1883i Top View

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
13
Figure 2-3, ARC-1883LP Top View
Connector Type Description
1. (J1) Manufacture Purpose Port 12-pin box header
2. (J2) Flash-based/Battery Backup Module Connector 14-pin header
3. (J3) Global Fault/Activity LED 4-pin header
4. (J4) Individual Fault/Activity LED Header 8-pin header
5. (J5) I2C/LCD Connector 7-pin header
6. (SCN1) Mini SAS HD 5-8 Ports (External) SFF-8644
7. (SCN2) Mini SAS HD 1-4 Ports (Internal) SFF-8643
8. (J6) Ethernet Port RJ45
Table 2-3, ARC-1883LP Connectors

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14
LED Status
Link LED
(Green light)
When the link LED is lit that indicates the link LED is connected.
Activity LED
(Blue light)
The activity LED is lit that indicates the adapter is active.
The following table describes the ARC-1883ix external port Mini
SAS HD SFF-8644 link/activity LED behavior.
Figure 2-4, ARC-1883x Top View
Connector Type Description
1. (J1) Manufacture Purpose Port 12-pin header
2. (J2) Flash-based/Battery Backup Module Connector 14-pin box header
3. (J3) I2C/LCD Connector 7-pin header
4. (J4) Ethernet Port RJ45
5. (SCN1) Mini SAS HD 5-8 Ports (External) SFF-8644
6. (SCN2) Mini SAS HD 1-4 Ports (External) SFF-8644
Table 2-4, ARC-1883x Connectors

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
15
Tools Required
An ESD grounding strap or mat is required. Also required are
standard hand tools to open your system’s case.
System Requirement
The 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller can be installed in an universal
PCIe slot and requires a motherboard that:
ARC-1883 series 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller requires:
• Comply with the PCIe 3.0 x8 lanes
It can work on the PCIe 3.0 x1, x4, x8, and x16 signal with x8 or
x16 mechanical slot M/B.
• Backward-compatibe with PCIe 1.0/2.0
Installation Tools
The following items may be needed to assist with installing the
12Gb/s SAS RAID controller into an available PCIe expansion slot.
• Small screwdriver
• Host system hardware manuals and manuals for the disk or
enclosure being installed
Personal Safety Instructions
Use the following safety instructions to help you protect your
computer system from potential damage and to ensure your own
personal safety.
• Always wear a grounding strap or work on an ESD-protective
mat.
• Before opening the system cover, turn off power switches and
unplug the power cords. Do not reconnect the power cords until
you have replaced the covers.
Electrostatic Discharge
Static electricity can cause serious damage to the electronic com-
ponents on this 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller. To avoid damage

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
16
caused by electrostatic discharge, observe the following precau-
tions:
• Do not remove the 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller from its anti-
static packaging until you are ready to install it into a computer
case.
• Handle the 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller by its edges or by the
metal mounting brackets at its each end.
• Before you handle the 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller in any way,
touch a grounded, anti-static surface, such as an unpainted
portion of the system chassis, for a few seconds to discharge
any built-up static electricity.
Warning:
High voltages may be found inside computer equipment. Be-
fore installing any of the hardware in this package or remov-
ing the protective covers of any computer equipment, turn off
power switches and disconnect power cords. Do not reconnect
the power cords until you have replaced the covers.
2.3 Installation
Use the instructions below to install a 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller.
Step 1. Unpack
Unpack and remove the 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller from the
package. Inspect it carefully, if anything is missing or damaged,
contact your local dealer.
Step 2. Power PC/Server Off
Turn off computer and remove the AC power cord. Remove the sys-
tem’s cover. For the instructions, please see the computer system
documentation.
Step 3. Check Memory Module (ARC-1883ix only)
Be sure of the cache memory module is present and seated rmly
in the 240-pin DIMM socket for ARC1883ix-12/16/24 models. The

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
17
Figure 2-5, Insert into a PCIe Slot
Step 5. Mount the Drives
You can connect the SAS/SATA drives to the controller through
direct cable and backplane solutions. In the direct connection, SAS/
SATA drives are directly connected to 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller
PHY port with SAS/SATA cables. The 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller
can support up to 28 PHY ports. Remove the front bezel from the
computer chassis and install the cages or SAS/SATA drives in the
computer chassis. Loading drives to the drive tray if cages are
physical memory conguration for ARC-1883ix series is one 240-
pin DIMM socket for 2GB(default) up to 8GB DDR3-1866, 1Rx8,
ECC module or 8GB, DDR3-1600, 2Rx8, ECC module.
Step 4. Install the 12Gb/s SAS RAID Controllers
To install the 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller, remove the mounting
screw and existing bracket from the rear panel behind the selected
PCIe 3.0 slot. Align the gold-ngered edge on the card with the
selected PCIe 3.0 slot. Press down gently but rmly to ensure that
the card is properly seated in the slot, as shown in Figure 2-5.
Then, screw the bracket into the computer chassis. ARC-1883
series controllers require a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot for better performance.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
18
installed. Be sure that the power is connected to either the cage
backplane or the individual drives.
In the backplane solution, SAS/SATA drives are directly connected
to 12Gb/s SAS system backplane or through an expander board.
The number of SAS/SATA drives is limited to the number of slots
available on the backplane. Some backplanes support daisy chain
expansion to the next backplanes. The 12Gb/s SAS RAID controller
can support daisy-chain up to 8 enclosures. The maximum drive
no. is 256 devices through 8 enclosures. The following gure shows
how to connect the external Mini SAS HD SFF-8644 cable from the
12Gb/s SAS RAID controller that has external connectors to the
external drive boxes or drive enclosures.
The following table shows the maximum number of 12Gb/s SAS
RAID controller supported:
Disks/Enclosure Expander Disks/Controller Volume
Max No. 128 12 256 128
Figure 2-6, Connecting to Drive Enclosure
Note:
The maximum no. is 32 disk drives included in a single RAID
set.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
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Figure 2-8, Connecting to Backplane
Figure 2-7, Connecting to HDD
Step 6. Install SAS Cable
This section describes how to cable a controller to the drive or
backplane.

HARDWARE INSTALLATION
20
Step 7. Connect Power to the Controller (ARC-1883ix only)
There is a 6-pin PCI-E connector on the ARC-1883ix labelled J4.
You must plug in a PSU’s PCI-E cable at all times to supply enough
stable power for the controller.
Figure 2-9, Connect Direct from Power Supply
If your power supply doesn’t have a 6 pin PCI-E power cable then
you can use the adapter to convert two 4 pin peripheral power
cables into a PCI-E power cable. If you use an adapter then be sure
to plug the 4 pin peripheral power connectors into separate power
cables coming from the power supply.