Foxconn RAID 91-187-C51-G0-0E User manual

RAIDUserGuide
Edition
V1.0P/N:91-187-C51-G0-0E
Trademarks
All brandorproductnames mentionedaretrademarksorregistered trade-
marks oftheirrespectiveholders.
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NVIDIARAID........................................................................................1
RAIDArrays...............................................................................................................1
InstallHardDisks....................................................................................................3
BasicConfiguration Instructions...........................................................................3
SettingUptheBIOS.................................................................................................4
EnteringtheRAIDBIOSSetup...............................................................................5
NVIDIARAIDUtilityInstallation...............................................................................9
Initializing and Using theDiskArray...................................................................12
UsingTheNVRAIDMANUtility.............................................................................13
Win2KLimitation withBootableRAID................................................................19
Contents
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1
SummaryofRAIDConfigurations
RAIDArrays
ThissectiondescribesthefollowingtypesofRAIDarrays thatNVIDIARAID
supports:
RAID0
RAID0defines adisk stripingschemethatimprovesthe diskreadandwrite
timesformanyapplications.
RAID1
RAID1defines techniques formirroring data.
RAID0+1(optional)
RAID0+1 combines thetechniques usedinRAID0and RAID1arrays.
RAID5 (optional)
RAID5Provides datastriping atthebyteleveland alsostripeerrorcorrection
information. Thisresultsinexcellentperformanceandgoodfault tolerance. Level
5isoneofthemostpopularimplementationsofRAID.
Array
RAID0
RAID1
RAID
0+1
RAID5
Advantages
Highdatathroughput.
100%data
redundancy.
Optimizedforboth
100%dataredun-
dancyand
performance.Allows
sparedisks.
Faulttoleranceand
betterutilizationof disk
space.
Drawbacks
Nofaulttolerance.
Requirestwodrives
forthestoragespace
of onedrive.
Requirestwodrives
forthestoragespace
ofonedrive—the
sameasRAIDlevel 1.
Decreasedwriteper-
formanceduetoparity
calculations.Requires
atleast threedrives.
#HardDisks
multiple
2
4+
3+
Fault Tolerance
None
Yes
Yes
Yes
NVIDIARAID
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2
NVIDIARAIDoffersthefollowing additionalfeatures:
Free Diskand DedicatedSpare Disk
AFreeDiskor DedicatedDisk canbeautomaticallyusedincaseone drive ofafault-
tolerantarrayfails.NVIDIARAIDdefines afault-tolerantarrayas eitherRAID1or
RAID0+1or RAID5. Afree diskcanbeusedbyanyavailablefault-tolerant array,
whileadedicateddisk canbeused onlybythearraytowhich itisassigned.
BootableRAID
NVIDIARAIDcanbe configured inawaytomakeit bootable. Forexample, twohard
drives canbeconfiguredasabootablemirroredRAIDarray.
RAIDonMultipleDiskControllers
UnlikeotherRAIDsolutions thatlimitstheusertoadedicated RAIDcontroller,
NVIDIARAIDsoftwarecanuseadriveon oneRAIDcontroller and another driveon
asecond RAIDcontroller.
Morphing
Morphing istheabilitytoconvert fromoneRAIDmodetoanotherRAIDmode.This
allowstheuser toupgradetheircurrent diskorarrayfor betterperformance,higher
security,andincreasedcapacity.Moreimportantly,thisisaccomplishedwithout
having togo through multiplesteps.Themorphing featuregives theuseran
upgradeableoptiontomanage storageeasily.
HotPlug Array
Hotplug,withrespect toRAID, isthe abilitytoaddadisk toasystemsafelyand
withoutcausingproblemsfortheRAIDsoftware. Forexample,whenadrive ina
mirroredarrayfails, auser canlaunch the HotPlug ArrayWizardwhichinstructsthe
userastowhenadrivecan beaddedsafelytothesystem.Assoonas thedriveis
added,the usercan then finishrunning theRAIDwizardandthe drivebecomes
useablebythesystem.
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3
Install HardDisks
InstallSATAharddisks:
STEP1: Install oneSATAharddiskintoonedrivebay.
STEP 2:Connect oneendoftheSATAdatacabletothemotherboard’soneof
SATAconnectors.
STEP 3: Connectthe otherend of theSATAdatacabletotheSATA harddisk.
STEP4: Connectthe power cabletotheSATAharddisk.
STEP 5: Followingstep 1/2/3/4toinstallthe otherSATAharddisks.
BasicConfigurationInstructions
Thefollowing arethebasicstepsfor configuring NVIDIARAID:
Non-BootableRAIDArray
1.ChoosetheharddisksthataretobeRAIDenabledinthesystemBIOS.
2.Specifythe RAIDlevel,eitherMirroring(RAID1),Striping(RAID0),Stripe Mirroring
(RAID0+1), orRAID5and createthedesired RAIDarray.
3.Install theoperating systemon one harddisk,thenrebootthecomputer.
4.Run theWindowsnForceSetup application and installtheRAIDdriver.
5.Initialize theNVRAIDArray.
BootableRAIDArray
1.ChoosetheharddisksthataretobeRAIDenabledinthesystemBIOS.
2.Specifythe RAIDlevel, eitherMirroring (RAID1), Striping(RAID0),MirroredStrip-
ing (RAID0+1), orRAID5and createthedesired RAIDarray.
3.BootfromtheWindowsCD,thenpress F6 whentheWindowsSetup appears.
4.Insert theRAIDdriverfloppytoInstall thenForceRAIDdriver.
5.Initialize theNVRAIDArray.
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4
SettingUptheBIOS
1. Start upthecomputer, thenpress Delete toenter theBIOSsetup.Use thearrow
keystoselect Integrated Peripherals,thenpress Enter.
2.Use thearrowkeystoselectthe RAIDConfig/ RAIDConfiguration ,thenpress
Enter.
3.FromtheRAIDConfig/RAIDConfigurationwindow,enabled theRAIDEnable,
theother itemswouldbelight, thenyou canenablethediskthatyou wanttouseas
RAIDdisks.
4.Press F10tosavetheconfiguration and exit.
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5
EnteringtheRAIDBIOSSetup
1. After rebootingyourPC,wait until youseethe RAIDsoftwarepromptingyouto
press F10.TheRAIDpromptappearsaspartofthe systemPOSTandbootprocess
priortoloading OS.
2.Press <N>, andtheNVIDIARAIDUtility--- Define aNewArray windowwill appear.
Thedefault RAIDMode issetto Mirroring andthedefault Striping Block issetto
Optimal.
Understandingthe DefineaNewArray”Window
Use theDefineaNewArraywindowto
SelecttheRAIDMode
Set up theStriping Block
Specifywhichdiskstouse fortheRAIDArray
Depending ontheplatformused,thesystemhaveoneormorechannels.Ina
typicalsystemthereareusuallyonecontrollerandmultiplechannels,andeach
channelhave aslaveandamaster.
Thechannel/controller/master/slavestatusofeach harddisk isgivenintheLoc
(location) columns oftheFreeDisksand ArrayDiskslists.
1.0.M
M: Master
0:Channel
Adapter-adapter1isusedforSATAdrives
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6
Inthe exampleabove,1.0.Mmeanstheharddrive isattached toAdapter1,
Channel0,andthedrive issettoMaster.Thefollowing isalistofall possible
combinations:
SerialATA
1.0.M Adapter1, Channel0,Master
1.1.M Adapter1, Channel1,Master
2.0.M Adapter2, Channel0,Master (optional)
2.1.M Adapter2, Channel1,Master (optional)
Note: Thereisno such thing asSlave drive inSerial ATA.All drives areconsid-
eredtobe Master sincethereisaone toone connection betweenthedriveand
thecontroller.
UsingtheDefineaNewArrayWindow
Ifnecessary, pressthetabkeytomovefromfieldtofielduntiltheappropriatefieldis
highlighted.
•SelectingtheRAIDMode
Bydefault,thisissetto[Mirroring].Change toadifferentRAIDmode,pressthe
downarrowkeysuntilthemodethatyouwantappearsinthe RAIDModebox—
either[Mirroring], [Striping], [RAID5],or[StripeMirroring].
•SelectingtheStripingBlock Size
StripingBlocksizeisgiven inkilobytes,andaffectshowdataisarrangedonthe
disk.Itisrecommendedtoleavethisvalueatthedefault[Optimal], which is32KB,
but thevalues can bebetween[4KB]and[128 KB].
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7
•Assigning the Disks
The disksthatyou enabledfromthe RAIDConfigBIOSsetup page appearinthe
Free Disks block.These arethedrives thatareavailablefor use as RAIDarray.
Todesignateafree disktobeusedas aRAIDarray:
1. Tabtothe Free Disks section. The firstdiskinthelistisselected.
2. Move itfromtheFree Disksblock tothe ArrayDisksblock bypressing theright
arrowkey( ).Thefirstdisk inthelistismoved,andthenextdiskinthelistis
selectedandreadytobemoved.
3. Continuepressing the right-arrowkey( )until all thedisksthatyou wanttouse
as RAIDarrayappearinthe ArrayDisks block.
Completing the RAIDBIOSSetup
1.Afterassigning yourRAIDarraymode,press F7. TheCleardiskdatawindows
promptappears.
Itshowsthattwodiskshavebeenassignedas RAID1arraydisksinthefigure
above.
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8
2. Press Y ifyou want towipe outall thedatafromtheRAIDarray,otherwise press
N. You must choose Yes ifthedriveswerepreviouslyusedasRAIDdrives.
The Array List windowappears,whereyoucan reviewtheRAIDarrays thatyou
havesetup.
3.Usethearrowkeystoselectthearraythatyou want tosetup,thenpress Enter.
The ArrayDetail windowappears.
4.Ifyou wanttomarkthisdiskas emptyand wipeoutall itscontentsthenpress C.
5.Attheprompt, press Y towipeoutall thedata,otherwise press N.
6. Press Enter againtogo back tothepreviouswindowand thenpress [Ctrl+X] to
exit theRAIDsetup.
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