Ciprico 6500 User manual

Ciprico Disk Array . . . . . . . .
6500 Disk Array
User’s Guide
Ciprico Inc.
Publication 21020690 B

©1996 by Ciprico Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmitted
in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical (including
photocopyingandrecording),orbyanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,
without the permission of Ciprico Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
Rimfire is a trademark of Ciprico Inc.

Programmer Reference
Chapter
Page 4

Preface This guide contains all the information needed to successfully install,
operate, and maintain Ciprico’s 6500 Disk Array subsystems in
standard configurations. If you need more technical information for
non-standard applications, refer to the Ciprico 6500 Controller Board
Technical Reference (available from Ciprico).
Thestandard6500arraycontainseightdatadrivesandoneparitydrive.
The array is equipped with a Wide Ultra SCSI interface, providing
transfer rates up to 40MB per second.
Ciprico 6500 arrays readily fit into any standard SCSI platform
environment, including DEC, HP, IBM, Silicon Graphics (SGI), Sun,
and PC.
Note Different model numbers identify 6500 subsystems as
single-ended (Model 6511) or differential (Model 6512).
In this guide, references to 6500 diskarrays applyto both
models unless specifically stated otherwise.
In This Guide Chapter 1 Description
Chapter 2 Installation
Chapter 3 Display/Operation Panel
Chapter 4 Maintenance, Troubleshooting & Hardware
Replacement
Notational
Conventions The following notational conventions are used throughout this guide:
• An uppercase letter “H” following a number indicates that the
number is a hexadecimal value, e.g., 20H and FFH.
• In this guide, a byte is defined as an 8-bit quantity.
•Note is used in the text to indicate emphasized or supplemental
information.
•Caution is used in the text to indicate a condition that could
destroy data or damage equipment.
•Warning is used in the text to indicate a condition that could
cause injury to the operator or technician.

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Page ii Preface
Revision
History
Note The information in this document is subject to change without
notice.
Warning:
Fire and
Shock
Hazards
To prevent the hazards of fire and electrical shock, do not expose this product
to any type of moisture.
Warning:
Power Cord Incaseofemergency,unplugthe powercordfromthebackof theunittoensure
that no power is applied to the unit.
Publication
Number Revision Date Description
21020690 A 09.96 First release
21020690 B 11.96 Updated for production release
Figure 1 Revision History

6500 Disk Array User’s Guide 21020690 B
Preface Page iii
Electro-
magnetic
Compatibility
United States
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of a Class
A computing device in accordance with the specifications set forth in Part 15
of the FCC Rules. If this equipment does cause interference to radio or
television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipmenton and
off, use the equipment in another location and/or utilize an electrical outlet
differentfromthatused bythereceiver.Theusershouldusespecialaccessories,
such as a shielded cable, as recommended in these operating instructions, in
order to continue to meet FCC emission limits and not possibly interfere with
nearby radio and television reception.
Canada
This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise for
digital apparatus setout on the Radio Interference Regulationsofthe Canadian
Department of Communications.
Cet èquipement èlectronique ne dèpasse pas la limite de la classe A pour le
bruit èlectromagnètique dèfinie pour les appareils èlectroniques numèriques
par la règlementation sur les radio interfèrences des Services Canadiens des
tèlècommunications.
Germany
Hiermit wird bescheinigt, dass das Gerät AS6511 und AS6512 Disk Array
subsystems in Übereinstimmung mid den Bestimmungen der Vfg 1046/1984
funkentstört ist.
Der Deutschen Bundespost wurde das Inverkehrbringen dieses Gerätes
angezeigt und die Berechtigung zur Überprüfung der 6500 auf Einhaltung der
Bestimmung eingeräumt.

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Page iv Preface
Safety
Listings and
Certification
This symbol on the nameplate means that the product is “listed” by
Underwriters Laboratory Inc.
Ciprico 6500 Disk Array subsystems have been tested and found to be in
accordance with Paragraph 3 ofthe “Equipment Safety Law” ofJune 24, 1968,
the version that is presently valid.
This symbol on the nameplate means that the product is “listed” by
Underwriters Laboratory Inc. and has been certified to Canadian standards.

6500 Disk Array User’s Guide 21020690 B
Table of Contents
Page v
Table of
Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
In This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Notational Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Warning:
Fire and Shock
Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Warning:
Power Cord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Electro-magnetic
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Canada. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Safety Listings and Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
1 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
In This Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
6500 Disk Array Functions and Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Features and Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
SCSI Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Controller Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Parallel Disk Array Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Parity Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
16-Bit Wide Synchronous Transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Single-Ended or Differential Signals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Primary
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Air Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Controller
Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Display/Operation Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Fans and Temperature Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Power Supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Display/Operation Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
RESET Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
SELECT Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Navigation Switches (Up, Down, Left, Right) . . . . . . . 1-8
Rear Panel Switches and Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
SCSI Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Activity LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Power ON/OFF Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Power Cord Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Table of Contents
Page vi
Power Voltage Selection Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
2 Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
In This Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Installation Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Step 1.
Move Array to Operation Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Step 2.
Mount Enclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Step 3.
Attach SCSI Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Step 4.
Terminate SCSI Bus, if Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Step 5.
Set Array Input Voltage Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Step 6.
Attach Power Cord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Step 7.
Power Up the Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Step 8.
Check Array Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Drive Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Drive Status Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Step 9.
Configure the Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Step 10.
Power Up the Host System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
3 Display/Operation Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
In This Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Controls and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Operation Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Array Power-Up and Built-In Self-Test (BIST) . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Initial Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Tree-Structured Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Changing or Selecting a Menu Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Saving Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
ARRAY OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
ON/OFF LINE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
SCSI ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
PASSWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Clear Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
UNIT ATTENTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
WRITE PROTECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
ALARM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
SET DEFAULTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14

6500 Disk Array User’s Guide 21020690 B
Table of Contents
Page vii
RPT AS RECOVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
TEMP WARNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
TEMP CRITICAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
AUTO MEGOMETER (ON/OFF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
ARRAY NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
ARRAY INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
FIRMWARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
FIRMWARE REV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
TEST CHECKSUMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
DISP CHECKSUMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
TEMP SENSOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15
CAPACITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
INITIATOR INFO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-16
MEGoMETER (DISPLAY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
REBUILD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
REBUILD DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
REBUILD%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
START. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-18
FORMAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
SECTOR SIZE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
DATA FILL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
START. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
DRIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
DRIVE STATUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
ASQ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
XTRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
DISABLE DRIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-20
DRIVE INFO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
DRIVE n MODEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
DRIVE n REV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21
LOG PAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
ERROR COUNTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
DRV n ERR COUNT / RECOVERED. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
DRV n ERR COUNT / MEDIUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
DRIVE ERRORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
ENTRY k / DRIVE n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
ENTRY k / SENSE KEY: yyH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
ENTRY k / ASC: yyH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
ENTRY k / ASQ: yyH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
ENTRY k / LBA 12345678H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
DRIVE FAILURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
ENTRY j / DRIVE n. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
ENABLE LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
RESET LOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
SET THRESHOLDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
SET THRESHOLDS / RECOVERD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
RECOVERED / wwwww ERRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
SET THRESHOLDS / MEDIUM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
RECOVERED / vvvvv ERRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Table of Contents
Page viii
4 Maintenance, Troubleshooting & Hardware Replacement. . . . . . . . 4-1
In This Chapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Periodic Maintenance Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Checking Enclosure Cooling Fan Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Checking Power Supply Cooling Fan Operation. . . . . . . . . 4-3
Cleaning the Enclosure Air Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Failure Detection and Troubleshoot-ing Guidelines . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Failure Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Audible Alarm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Error/Failure Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Built-In Self Test (BIST) Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Drive Test Failures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Disk Drive Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Over-temperature Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Troubleshoot-ing Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Hardware Field-Replaceable Units (FRUs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Field Replacement Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Location of FRUs in the Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Enclosure Top Cover
Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Controller Board Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
Display/Operation Panel Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Replacement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Power Supply Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
Cooling Fan Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
Replacement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
Power Switch
Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Replacement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Drive Failure, Replacement, and Rebuilding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Determining Drive Failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Reporting Drive Failure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21

6500 Disk Array User’s Guide 21020690 B
Table of Contents
Page ix
Drive Failure Indications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
To Turn Off Alarm, Press SELECT Key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
Disabling a Failed Disk Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-23
Disk Drive Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
Disk Drive Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
Drive Setup Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
Types of Rebuilds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
Off-Line Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
Percentage Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
During Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
Completing the Rebuild. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
Initiating a Rebuild. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-26
Drive Error Code During Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27
Formatting the Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-28
Formatting Error Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-29
Correct the Formatting Error. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-29
Updating Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-30
Replacing EEPROMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-30
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i - i

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Table of Contents
Page x

1
Description

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Chapter 1 Description
Page 1 - 2 InThis Chapter
In This Chapter Thischapterdescribesthefunctions,features,options,andprimarycomponents
of Ciprico’s 6500 Disk Array subsystems.
Figure 2 Ciprico 6500 Disk Array

6500 Disk Array User’s Guide 21020690 B
Chapter 1 Description
6500 Disk Array Functions and Application Page 1 - 3
6500DiskArray
Functions and
Application
When high-bandwidth software applications require disk performance rates
faster than those provided by single-disk storage systems, Ciprico’s 6500 Disk
Array can provide economical yet powerful performance, redundancy, and
capacity. The 6500 Disk Array provides transfer rates up to 40MB/second.
Each Ciprico 6500 disk array includes an intelligent SCSI/ATA controller, a
full-function display/operation panel, a lockable enclosure with power supply
and cooling fans, and nine ATA drives—eight for data and one for parity.
Available for operation with either single-ended or differential SCSI signal
types, Ciprico 6500 arrays can be easily striped or daisy-chained together to
provide higher capacities.

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Chapter 1 Description
Page 1 - 4 Featuresand Options
Features and
Options
SCSI
Compatibility • Conforms to SCSI-2 standards.
• 8- or 16-bit data transfers on host interface.
• Single-ended or differential SCSI interface.
• Compatible with industry-standard SCSI adapters and drivers, including
all Ciprico SCSI host bus adapters.
Controller
Board SCSI-2 toATA RAID-3 disk array controller with a16-bithost SCSI interface
and 9 ATA interfaces.
Disk Drives 9 ATA disk drives (8 data, one parity).
Redundancy Continued operation after failure of a single data drive.
Parallel Disk
Array
Architecture
Ciprico’s 6500 parallel disk array communicates with an initiator (or host) via
the SCSI-2 industry standard interface. The array’s design combines current
drive technology with an advanced controller board, where data is “striped”
across eight drives at once. Byte-striping involves partitioning of data into
bytes, with each byte assigned to a particular drive and all bytes written to the
drives simultaneously. Using this method, transfer rates for read/write
functions are significantly faster than a single disk drive having the same
capacity.
Parity Drive Improved reliability and data availability are provided by a dedicated parity
drive. As data is striped to the eight data drives, parity data is generated and
stored on the parity drive. Parity information is used to verify data integrity
when reading from the drives, and to regenerate data if a drive should fail and
is replaced. A single drive failure willnot degrade overall performance. Use of

6500 Disk Array User’s Guide 21020690 B
Chapter 1 Description
Features and Options Page 1 - 5
theparitydrivealsosignificantlyincreasesdataavailability—thelengthoftime
before data is lost due to drive failure.
16-Bit Wide
Synchronous
Transfer
The controller has SCSI-P connectors (perthe SCSI-2 standard) that permit16-
bit wide synchronous data transfers over a single SCSI-P cable on the host
interface. The 6500 is a Wide Ultra SCSI device (SCSI-3), transferringdata at
up to 40 MB/second.
Single-Ended
or Differential
Signals
Two methods can be used for sending signals on a SCSI bus—single-ended
and differential. Both are functionally equivalent and transparent to the
software protocol.
Note Single-ended anddifferentialdevicesmustnot becombined onthe
same SCSI bus.Each 6500 array must beinitially ordered as either
single-ended (Model 6511) or differential (Model 6512).
• Single-Ended Option
The single-ended option permits the use of a single line for each signal.
The line's voltage varies between 0.5 and 3.0 volts DC, with a nominal
switching threshold at about 1.4 VDC. Maximum cumulative length of
single-ended cabling should not exceed 3.0 meters (approximately 10
feet).
• Differential Option
The differential option consists of two lines designated as a +SIGNAL
and a -SIGNAL. A signal is true when the +SIGNAL is more positive
than the -SIGNAL, and false when the -SIGNAL is more positive than
the +SIGNAL. The differential method is more immune to noise than
the single-ended method, and permits the use of much longer cabling—
up to 25 meters (approximately 82 feet).
Enclosure Twohorizontalmountingoptionsareavailable—desktopandrack-mount.(For
information on rack-mounting the unit, see documentation included with the
optional rack-mount kit.)

21020690 B 6500 Disk Array User’s Guide
Chapter 1 Description
Page 1 - 6 PrimaryComponents
Primary
Components The “Primary Components”diagram on page 1-7 illustratesthe 6500disk array
primary components described below.
Enclosure The standard 6500 enclosure consistsofa front cover and an enclosure cabinet,
built in a desktop configuration. (An optional rack-mounting kit is available.)
Air Filter An air filter is located between the disk drives and the front of the enclosure.
It must be periodically cleaned to ensure proper air flow.
Controller
Board Thecontrollerboardisdesignedwithamultiplelocalbusarchitecture.Amaster
microprocessor commands the board's main processor bus and manages its
operations, including command optimization and processing, failed drive
processing, and high-level drive operations. The master processor
communicateswitheach drive viaanATA controllercircuit. Communications
between the master processor and each drive occur on separate but identical
drive channels.
Display/
Operation
Panel
The operator interface includes a two-line 32-character LCD display and six
control switches.
Disk Drives 9 ATA disk drives (8 data, one parity).
Fans and
Temperature
Sensor
Two fans cool the array. A sensor mounted on the array’s controller board
monitors the temperature inside the enclosure, and triggers an audio alarm if
the temperature rises above the normal operating range. If excessive heat is
detected (critical over-temperature), the array will shut down the drives.
Power Supply The array’s power supply is switch-selectable for 115 or 230 VAC operation.
A male connector attaches to the power source.
Caution Do not use female power connector.