Dell PowerVault MD3000 User manual

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Dell™ PowerVault™ MD3000
RAID Enclosure
Hardware Owner’s Manual

Notes, Notices, and Cautions
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.
NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the
problem.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2006 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, PowerEdge, and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc.; Microsoft, Windows, and
MS-DOSare registeredtrademarksofMicrosoft Corporation; RedHat is a registeredtrademark of Red Hat Inc.; UNIX is a registeredtrademark
of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products.
Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
Model AMP01
September 2006 Rev. A00

Contents 3
Contents
1 About Your System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Enclosure Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Modular Disk Storage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Other Information You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Hardware Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Indicators on the Enclosure Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Front-Panel Indicators and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Back-Panel Indicators and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cache Functions and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2 Cabling Your RAID Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
About the Enclosure Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Cabling the Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Redundancy vs. Nonredundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Redundant Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Nonredundant Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Cluster Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3 Using Your RAID Enclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Physical Disks, Virtual Disks, and Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Physical Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Physical Disk States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) . . . . . . 28
Virtual Disks and Disk Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Supported RAID Levels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
RAID 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
RAID 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4Contents
RAID 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
RAID 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
RAID Level Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Segment Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Hot Spares and Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Global Hot Spares. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Hot Spare Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Media Errors and Unreadable Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
RAID Operations and Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Virtual Disk Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Disk Group Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
RAID Background Operations Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Virtual Disk Migration and Disk Roaming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Advanced Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Storage Partitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Host Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Snapshot Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Snapshot Repository Virtual Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Virtual Disk Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Using Snapshot and Disk Copy Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Hardware Redundancy and Failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Redundancy and Non-Redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Multi-Path Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Host Bus Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Host Cabling for Redundancy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
When a RAID Controller Module Is Replaced or Removed . . . . . . . . 44
RAID Controller Failover Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
RAID Enclosure Thermal Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Updating Enclosure Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
RAID Controller Module Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Physical Disk Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Contents 5
4 Installing Enclosure Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Recommended Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Removing and Replacing the Front Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Removing and Installing Physical Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Removing Physical Disks from the Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Installing SAS Physical Disks in the Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Removing and Installing a RAID Controller Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Removing a RAID Controller Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Installing a RAID Controller Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Removing and Installing a RAID Controller Module Backup
Battery Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Removing and Installing the Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . 54
Removing a Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Installing a Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Removing and Installing the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Removing the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Installing the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Removing and Installing the Midplane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
5 Troubleshooting Your Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Safety First—For You and Your Enclosure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Start-Up Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Troubleshooting External Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Troubleshooting a Wet Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Troubleshooting a Damaged Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Troubleshooting Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Troubleshooting Enclosure Cooling Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Troubleshooting a Fan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Troubleshooting SAS Physical Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Troubleshooting Enclosure Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

6Contents
Hard Controller Failures and Lockdown Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Invalid Enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
ECC Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Critical Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Noncritical Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Obtaining Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Online Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
AutoTech Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Automated Order-Status Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Support Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Dell Enterprise Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Problems With Your Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Product Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Returning Items for Warranty Repair or Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Before You Call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Contacting Dell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

About Your System 7
About Your System
The Dell™ PowerVault™ MD3000 is a 3U rack-mounted external Redundant Array of Independent
Disks (RAID) enclosure capable of accommodating up to 15 3.0-Gbps, Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS)
disks. Connectivity between the RAID enclosure and the host server is provided by Dell SAS 5/E
Host Bus Adapters (HBAs).
Overview
The RAID enclosure is designed for high availability, offering redundant access to data storage. It
features dual active/active RAID controller modules, redundant power supplies, and redundant fans.
The RAID enclosure is designed for high-performance environments: two-node clusters or multi-
host storage access for up to four servers.
Storage management can be either in-band through the SAS connection, or out-of-band using an
Ethernet connection.
NOTE: Dell recommends that you configure your MD3000 to use both in-band and out-of-band management
paths. Establishing all management connections to a RAID enclosure provides additional paths in the case of
a management connection failure.
Enclosure Features
Features include:
• Direct-connect support for fully redundant, two-node Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Clusters
• Support for up to four Windows, SUSE, or Red Hat
®
Linux host servers
• U chassis for rack mounting
• Two redundant, hot-pluggable RAID controller modules in one of two supported configurations:
– Dual RAID controller modules with single SAS In port connectors on each controller
– Dual RAID controller modules with dual SAS In port connectors on each controller
• Two redundant, hot-pluggable power supply/fan modules
• 512 MB of mirrored cache on each RAID controller module
• Battery backup unit in each RAID controller module that protects against cache data loss for up to
72 hours
• Support for up to 15 3.5" SAS physical disks
• Support for up to 255 virtual disks

8About Your System
• Up to 2 TB storage on a single virtual disk
• Online firmware updates (without taking the enclosure offline) for the following components:
– RAID controller modules
–NVSRAM
– Physical disks
NOTICE: When updating physical disk firmware, you should stop all I/O to the array to prevent data loss.
• Task-based configuration software
• Optional snapshot virtual disk (premium feature), up to four snapshots per virtual disk and 128
snapshots per array
• Optional virtual disk copy (premium feature), up to 255 virtual disk copies per array
• Continuous background event monitoring for critical problems, such as impending physical disk
failure or failed RAID controller modules
Modular Disk Storage Manager
The Modular Disk (MD) Storage Manager software is a graphic interface with wizard-guided tools and a
task-based management structure designed to reduce the complexity of installation, configuration,
management, and diagnostic tasks. MD Storage Manager can be used on any server attached to the
storage array, as well as on storage management stations connected to the same sub-network as the RAID
enclosure, to create and manage multiple storage arrays.
For more information, see the MD Storage Manager User's Guide.
Other Information You May Need
CAUTION: The Product Information Guide provides important safety and regulatory information. Warranty
information may be included within this document or as a separate document.
• The Rack Installation Guide or Rack Installation Instructions included with your rack solution
describes how to install your
enclosure into a rack.
• The
Getting Started Guide provides an overview of enclosure features, setting up your enclosure , and
technical specifications.
•
Setting Up Your PowerVault MD3000 provides an overview of setting up and cabling your storage array.
• The
PowerVault MD3000 Installation Guide provides installation and configuration instructions for
both software and hardware.
• The
PowerVault MD Storage Manager CLI Guide provides information about using the command line
interface (CLI).
• The Dell PowerVault MD3000
Resource CD provides documentation for configuration and
management tools, as well as the full documentation set included here.

About Your System 9
• Dell PowerEdge Cluster Documentation is available at support.dell.com . A link to clustering
documentation is also included on the
Resource CD under Product Documentation .
• Updates are sometimes included to describe changes to the
enclosure , software, and/or
documentation.
NOTE: Always check for updates on support.dell.com and read the updates first because they often
supersede information in other documents.
• Release notes or readme files are included to provide last-minute updates to the enclosure or
documentation or advanced technical reference material intended for experienced users or
technicians.
Hardware Features
The remainder of this section describes the hardware features available on the RAID enclosure,
including:
• Indicators on the enclosure bezel
• Front-panel and back-panel indicators and features
• Power supply and cooling fan modules
Indicators on the Enclosure Bezel
An optional locking bezel can be installed on the front of the enclosure to limit access. Figure 1-1
illustrates the indicators and components on the bezel. Table 1-1 lists conditions indicated by the lights on
the bezel.
For information on installing and removing the bezel, see "Removing and Replacing the Front
Bezel" on page 47.
Figure 1-1. LEDs on the Front Bezel
1
2
3

10 About Your System
Front-Panel Indicators and Features
Figure 1-2 shows the LED indicators and components on the enclosure ’s front panel (optional locking bezel
not shown). Table 1-2 lists the conditions and functions indicated by each.
Table 1-1. Front Bezel Indicators
Item LED Indicator LED Icon Condition
1 Split mode (green) Since this mode is unused in the system, this LED should
always be unlit.
2 Power (green) When lit, at least one power supply is supplying power to
the enclosure.
3 Enclosure status
(blue/amber)
Steady amber: Power is on and enclosure is in reset state.
Steady blue: Power is on and enclosure status is OK.
Flashing blue: Enclosure LED is being blinked by MD
Storage Manager.
Flashing amber: Enclosure is in fault state.

About Your System 11
Figure 1-2. Front-Panel Features
1 enclosure status LED 2 power LED 3 split mode LED (unused)
4 enclosure mode switch
(unused)
5 physical disks (15)
Table 1-2. Front-Panel Components
Component Icon Condition
Enclosure status LED
(blue/amber)
Steady amber: Power is on and enclosure is in reset state.
Steady blue: Power is on and enclosure status is OK.
Flashing blue: Host server is identifying the enclosure.
Flashing amber: Enclosure is in fault state.
Power LED (green) When lit, at least one power supply is supplying power to
the enclosure.
Split mode LED (green) Since this mode is unused in the system, this LED should
always be unlit.
1
2
3
4
5

12 About Your System
NOTE: This system does not support user-customizable operating modes. Therefore, the split mode LED and
enclosure mode switch are not functional.
Physical Disk Carrier LED Indicators
Each physical disk carrier in your enclosure has two LEDs: an activity LED (green) and a bicolor
(green/amber) status LED (see Figure 1-3). The activity LED flashes whenever the physical disk is
accessed. Table 1-3 lists the flash patterns for the status LED.
Figure 1-3. Physical Disk Carrier LED Indicators
Enclosure mode switch Unused in this system.
1 activity LED 2 status LED
Table 1-3. Physical Disk Carrier Status LEDs
Status LED Description
Off Physical disk not yet discovered by server or an
unsupported disk is present
Steady green Physical disk is online
Green flashing (250 milliseconds
[ms])
Physical disk is being identified
Table 1-2. Front-Panel Components (continued)
Component Icon Condition
12

About Your System 13
Back-Panel Indicators and Features
Figure 1-4 shows the back-panel features of the enclosure. Two RAID controller modules and two power
supply/cooling fan modules must be installed for the enclosure to operate properly. However, the
enclosure can run temporarily on one power supply/cooling fan module. For more information, see
"Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features" on page 17.
Figure 1-4. Back-Panel Features
Green flashing
On 400 ms
Off 100 ms
Physical disk rebuilding
Amber flashing (125 ms) Physical disk failed
Flashing green, amber, and off Physical disk failure predicted (SMART)
Green 3 seconds, amber
3 seconds, and off 3 seconds
Physical disk rebuild aborted
1 RAID controller module 2 RAID controller module 3 power supply/cooling fan
modules (2)
Table 1-3. Physical Disk Carrier Status LEDs (continued)
Status LED Description
1 2
3

14 About Your System
RAID Controller Module Connectors and Features
Figure 1-5 shows a single RAID controller module as it appears from the rear of the enclosure. RAID
controller module
connectors and components shown include:
• Up to two SAS In port connectors (second SAS In port is optional)
• Ethernet connector
NOTE: The RAID controller module network configuration can be assigned using a DHCP server (the default
setting). If a DHCP server is not available (time-out is 10 seconds) then the RAID controller modules uses the
static IP addresses of 192.168.128.101 for controller 0 and 192.168.128.102 for controller 1.
• Nine LEDs (three SAS link, two Ethernet link/speed, Battery Fault, Cache Active, Controller Fault,
and Controller Power)
• One SAS Out port connector (not used)
• Debug port (Dell support only)
For a description of each component on the front panel of the RAID controller module, see Table 1-4.
For an explanation of how to connect the enclosure using the
RAID controller module ports, see "Cabling
Your RAID Enclosure" on page 19.
Figure 1-5. RAID Controller Module External Panel (front view)
Table 1-4. RAID Controller Module Component Functions
Item Component Icon Function
1 SAS In Port 0 In-0 Provide host-to-controller SAS connection.
2 SAS LED
(each SAS port)
Green: All links in port connected.
Amber: Between one and four links disconnected.
Off: All links in port disconnected or cable
disconnected.
3 SAS In Port 1
(if available)
In-1 Provide host-to-controller SAS connection.
134 5 6 7 911 12
810
2

About Your System 15
The RAID controller module connects to the enclosure midplane via the two midplane connectors on its
internal (rear) panel. The RAID controller module is shown in Figure 1-6.
4 Battery Fault LED
(amber)
Amber: Battery backup unit or battery has failed.
Amber flashing: Battery is charging or is in startup
self test.
Off: Battery backup unit and battery is operating
normally.
5 Cache Active LED
(green)
Green: On-board controller memory contains data.
Off: On-board controller memory is empty.
6 Controller Fault
LED (amber)
Amber: Controller fault detected.
Off: Controller is operating normally.
7 Controller Power
LED (green)
Green: Controller power is on.
Off: Controller is not powered.
8 Ethernet Link LED
(green)
Green: Ethernet connection is active.
Off: Ethernet connection is not active.
9 Ethernet Connector Provide a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet connection for
out-of-band management of the enclosure.
10 Ethernet Speed
LED (green)
Green: Ethernet connection is operating at
100BASE-T.
Off: Ethernet connection is operating at 10BASE-T
or is not active.
11 Debug Port Dell support only.
12 SAS Out Port Out Not used.
Table 1-4. RAID Controller Module Component Functions (continued)
Item Component Icon Function

16 About Your System
Figure 1-6. RAID Controller Module
Battery Backup Unit
Each RAID controller contains a three-cell lithium-ion battery backup unit (BBU) that powers the
controller’s cache memory and preserves the cache contents in the event of a power outage of up to
72 hours. The RAID controller firmware performs a test of the BBU at startup and will illuminate the
battery fault LED if the battery is not operating within specified ranges, or if the battery is missing. For a
description of the battery fault LED, see Table 1-5. For information on removing and installing the BBU,
see "Removing and Installing a RAID Controller Module Backup Battery Unit" on page 52.
NOTE: For virtual disks, the RAID controller firmware changes the data cache setting based on the state of the
battery. If the battery is missing or does not have sufficient charge, the controller flushes the cache and sets the
write cache attribute to Write Through for all virtual disks. When the battery is replaced, Write Back is reenabled.
The RAID controller module logs the age of the battery and issues a replacement reminder message
approximately six weeks before expiration. After replacing the battery, you must use MD Storage
Manager to reset the battery age.
Cache Functions and Features
Cache Mirroring
The cache mirroring function copies accepted host-write data from the primary controller to the partner
controller. This action ensures that host-write data is safely mirrored to the partner controller before
successful completion status is returned to the host. If a controller fails, the surviving controller safely
retains all mirrored data. Cache mirroring is enabled by default.
1 battery backup unit (BBU) tray 2 midplane connector (2)
2
1

About Your System 17
Write-Back Cache
Write-back cache is a caching strategy whereby write operations result in a completion signal being sent
to the host operating system as soon as the cache receives the data to be written. The target physical disk
will receive the data at a more appropriate time in order to increase controller performance. In dual-
active controller configurations with write-back caching enabled, the write data is always copied to the
cache of the second controller before completion status is issued to the host initiator. Write Back is
enabled by default.
Write-Through Cache
Write-through cache is a caching strategy whereby data is written to the physical disk before completion
status is returned to the host operating system. Write-through cache is considered more secure than
write-back cache, since a power failure is less likely to cause loss of data. The RAID controller
automatically switches to write-through if cache mirroring is disabled or if the battery is missing or has a
fault condition. Write-through cache results in lower performance.
NOTE: Cache mirroring and write cache settings are not user-configurable.
Power Supply and Cooling Fan Features
Your RAID enclosure supports two integrated, hot-pluggable power supply/cooling fan modules. Both
modules must be installed to ensure proper cooling. Each module contains two separate cooling fans.
The enclosure requires at least three of the cooling fans to operate to avoid overheating.
CAUTION: A power supply/cooling fan module can be removed from a powered-on enclosure for a maximum
period of no more than 5 minutes. Beyond that time, the enclosure may automatically shut down to prevent
damage to the enclosure and/or enclosure components.
A power supply/cooling fan module can be replaced without powering down the enclosure. For
information on removing and replacing the modules, see "Removing and Installing the Power
Supply/Cooling Fan Module" on page 54.
Figure 1-7 shows the power supply/cooling fan module features and LED indicators. Table 1-5 lists the
LED indicator descriptions.

18 About Your System
Figure 1-7. Power Supply and Cooling Fan Module LED Features and Indicators
1 DC power LED 2 Power supply/cooling fan fault
LED
3 AC power LED
4 cooling fans (2) 5 on/off switch 6 AC power connector
Table 1-5. Power Supply/Cooling Fan Module LED Indicators
Type Color Icon Function
DC power Green On: DC output voltages are within specifications.
Off: No power or voltages not within specifications.
Power
supply/cooling fan
fault
Amber On: DC output voltages are not within specifications or
one (or both) fans are in fault.
Off: No fault condition is present.
AC power Green On: AC input voltage is within specifications.
Off: No power or voltages not within specifications.
14
5
6
2 3

Cabling Your RAID Enclosure 19
Cabling Your RAID Enclosure
This section provides the following information:
• Procedures for connecting your RAID enclosure to a host system
• A description of redundant, nonredundant, and clustering configurations, including cabling
diagrams for each
Before You Begin
Before connecting your RAID enclosure, ensure that the following are available:
• The components that shipped with your RAID enclosure , including:
– Power cords (2)
– SAS interconnect cables
–
MD3000 Resource CD
–Railkit
• Any relevant documentation, including:
– Getting Started Guide
– Rack Installation Guide or Rack Installation Instructions
– Product Information Guide (for important safety, regulatory, and warranty information)
– Readme files
• #2 Phillips screwdriver
About the Enclosure Connections
The RAID array enclosure is connected to a host via two hot-pluggable RAID controller modules.
The RAID controller modules are identified as RAID controller module 0 and RAID controller
module 1 (see Figure 1-4).
Each RAID controller module has at least one SAS In port connector which provides the direct
connection to the host or node. A second SAS In port connector is available on the optional dual-
port RAID controller. SAS In port connectors are labeled In-0 and, if using the optional controller,
In-1(see Figure 1-5).

20 Cabling Your RAID Enclosure
Cabling the Enclosure
You can cable your enclosure to up to four hosts. The configuration that you choose depends on the
number of hosts you have, whether you are connecting to a standalone host or a cluster node, and the
level of data redundancy that you need.
Redundancy vs. Nonredundancy
Non-redundant configurations, configurations that provide only a single data path from a host to the
RAID enclosure, are recommended only for non-critical data storage. Path failure from a failed or
removed cable, a failed host bus adapter, or a failed or removed RAID controller module results in loss of
host access to storage on the RAID enclosure.
Redundancy is established by installing separate data paths between the host and the storage array, in
which each path is to different RAID controller modules. Redundancy protects the host from losing
access to data in the event of path failure, because both RAID controllers can access all the disks in the
storage array.
Figure 2-1 through Figure 2-8 show supported redundant and nonredundant cabling configurations.
Redundant Configurations
Figure 2-1 and Figure 2-2 show redundant, high-availability cabling configurations for one and two hosts.
If any one path fails, at least one HBA is still connected to one RAID controller.