HP D5970A - NetServer - LCII User manual

Integrated HP NetRAID Controller
Configuration Guide
HP Part Number 5967-5210
Printed in June 1998

ii
Notice
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
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Novell NetWare®is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Windows NT®is a
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Network Server Division
Technical Communications / MS 49EU-FQ
5301 Stevens Creek Boulevard
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© Copyright 1998, Hewlett-Packard Company.
Audience Assumptions
This Configuration Guide is for the person who installs, administers, and
troubleshoots LAN servers. Hewlett-Packard Company assumes you are qualified
in the servicing of computer equipment and trained in recognizing hazards in
products with hazardous energy levels.

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Contents
1 Introduction..................................................................................................1
Integrated HP NetRAID Controller..................................................................1
Features of the Integrated HP NetRAID Controller.........................................1
Channels and Devices...............................................................................1
Controller Hardware...................................................................................2
SCSI Firmware..........................................................................................3
Array Spanning..........................................................................................3
I2O Support................................................................................................3
Physical Disk Roaming..............................................................................3
Multiple Adapters.......................................................................................3
Fault-Tolerance and Management Features...............................................4
Changing Capacity and RAID Levels .........................................................4
About This Guide...........................................................................................5
Other Information Sources.............................................................................5
2 RAID Overview .............................................................................................7
RAID Overview..............................................................................................7
Physical Drives..........................................................................................7
Arrays........................................................................................................7
Hot Spares.................................................................................................8
Logical Drives............................................................................................8
Understanding RAID Levels...........................................................................9
Arrays with No Redundancy: RAID Level 0..............................................10
Non-spanned Arrays with Redundancy: RAID Levels 1, 3, and 5..............11
Spanned Arrays: RAID Levels 10, 30, and 50 ..........................................14
3 Configuration Overview.............................................................................21
4 Planning .....................................................................................................23
Overview.....................................................................................................23
Step A. Plan Your Hardware ........................................................................23
Gather Information...................................................................................23
Sample Worksheet A...............................................................................24
Channels .................................................................................................25
Step B. Plan Arrays and Logical Drives........................................................27
Automatic Configuration...........................................................................27

Contents
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Custom Configuration..............................................................................28
5 Configuration .............................................................................................39
Overview.....................................................................................................39
Step C. Verify Hardware Setup ....................................................................39
Step D. Enable Integrated HP NetRAID Controller.......................................39
Step E. Boot HP NetServer Navigator to Launch HP NetRAID Assistant......41
Boot HP NetServer Navigator CD-ROM...................................................41
Boot Messages ........................................................................................41
Select Configure Disk Array.....................................................................41
Step F. Configure Arrays and Logical Drives................................................41
HP NetRAID Assistant .............................................................................42
Select Adapter to Configure.....................................................................44
Clear Configuration..................................................................................44
Check Rebuild Rate.................................................................................44
Assign Global Hot Spares........................................................................45
Select Wizard..........................................................................................45
Define Physical Arrays and Dedicated Hot Spares...................................47
Define Logical Drives...............................................................................49
Preview Configuration..............................................................................52
Step G. Save Configuration and Initialize.....................................................55
Save to Binary File ..................................................................................55
Print Configuration...................................................................................55
Initialize Logical Drives............................................................................55
Exit HP NetRAID Assistant ......................................................................56
6 HP NetRAID Software.................................................................................57
Overview.....................................................................................................57
Step H. Decide Which HP NetRAID Drivers You Need................................57
Step I. Use the HP NetServer Navigator CD-ROM to Prepare Disks ............58
Check Latest Versions .............................................................................58
Create Drivers Diskette and Instructions ..................................................58
Make NOS-specific Configuration Utility Diskette.....................................59
Print the Network Operating System Instructions......................................60
Step J. Install NOS and HP NetRAID Drivers...............................................60
Install Network Operating System (if necessary)......................................60
Install HP NetRAID Series Driver.............................................................60
Step K. Install NOS-specific Configuration Utility .........................................61
Step L. Run HP NetRAID Express Tools (optional).......................................62

Contents
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7 Preparing for Online Capacity Expansion................................................65
Step M. Prepare for Online Capacity Expansion...........................................65
Online Capacity Expansion Under Novell NetWare......................................66
Theory of Operation.................................................................................66
Preparing for Online Capacity Expansion.................................................68
Setting Up Your Array for Capacity Expansion.........................................68
Online Capacity Expansion Under Windows NT...........................................71
Theory of Operation.................................................................................71
Setting Up Your Array for Capacity Expansion.........................................73
8 Managing Servers Over the Network ........................................................77
Adapter Management...................................................................................77
Features .................................................................................................77
NOS Requirements.................................................................................78
Other Requirements................................................................................78
Understanding HP NetRAID Network Utilities...............................................79
Determine Where to Install HP NetRAID Assistant..................................79
Identify the Registration Server/Client.....................................................80
HP NetRAID Network Utilities to Install...................................................80
Make the Installation Disk if Necessary........................................................82
Microsoft Windows NT Client or Server Installation Instructions...................82
Run Setup...............................................................................................83
Edit the regserv.dat and hosts Files........................................................84
Finishing Up............................................................................................85
Novell NetWare Server Installation Instructions ...........................................85
Using HP NetRAID Assistant to Manage Servers.........................................86
Before Starting HP NetRAID Assistant....................................................86
Start HP NetRAID Assistant....................................................................87
Select Another Server-Adapter Pair........................................................88
Exit HP NetRAID Assistant .....................................................................89
9 Configuring a Second Integrated HP NetRAID Channel..........................91
Options for Adding a Second Channel..........................................................92
Option A: Your NOS is Installed on a RAID Logical Drive .......................92
Option B: Your NOS is Installed on a Non-RAID Hard Disk Module.........96
10 Understanding HP NetRAID Utilities........................................................99
HP NetRAID Assistant.................................................................................99
HP NetRAID Assistant Menus...............................................................100

Contents
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HP NetRAID Config ..................................................................................101
HP NetRAID Config Menus...................................................................102
HP NetRAID Express Tools.......................................................................103
HP NetRAID Express Tools Menus.......................................................104
11 Troubleshooting......................................................................................105
Power-up (Boot) Error Messages...............................................................105
Other BIOS Error Messages......................................................................109
Other Troubleshooting ..............................................................................109
Troubleshooting Management Over the Network.......................................111
12 Warranty and Support.............................................................................113
Hardware Warranty...................................................................................113
Obtaining HP Repair and Telephone Support............................................113
A Product Specifications............................................................................115
Integrated HP NetRAID Controller Specifications......................................115
B Worksheets..............................................................................................117
Configuration Worksheets.........................................................................117
Sample Configuration Worksheet..............................................................120
Physical Arrays and Hot Spares............................................................122
Logical Drives.......................................................................................122
Glossary .......................................................................................................123
Disk Array Terms and Technologies..........................................................123
Index.............................................................................................................131

1
1 Introduction
Integrated HP NetRAID Controller
The integrated HP NetRAID controller on the HP NetServer LH 3 and LH 3r
provides an integral disk array storage system. The controller uses the PCI
(Peripheral Component Interconnect) standard to control data transfers on one or
two SCSI channels.
The integrated HP NetRAID controller supports the following network operating
systems:
•Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
•Novell NetWare 3.2, 4.11, 4.11 SMP, and SFTIII 4.11
Features of the Integrated HP NetRAID Controller
The integrated HP NetRAID controller lets you link multiple hard disk drives
together and write data across them as if they were one large drive. You can
configure your linked drives in a RAID (redundant array of independent disks)
subsystem.
Channels and Devices
The integrated HP NetRAID controller supports one or two channels as
configured by the user. Each of the two integrated Symbios SCSI controllers on
the HP NetServer LH 3/LH 3r can be configured as either a RAID or a SCSI
channel. The factory default configuration is:
•SCSI A: integrated HP NetRAID Channel 0
•SCSI B: integrated SCSI
You have complete freedom to change these defaults and to enable both channels
for use with HP NetRAID.

Chapter 1 Introduction
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For each HP NetRAID channel, you can have either one internal, or one external
connection.
•The HP NetServer LH 3/LH 3r hot-swap mass storage cage supports up to
six Ultra2 disk drive modules.
•A second hot-swap mass storage cage can be installed in your
HP NetServer LH 3/LH 3r which supports an additional six Ultra2 disk
drive modules.
•External storage with the HP Storage System/6 supports a maximum of
six Fast/Wide SCSI devices.
•External storage with the HP Rack Storage/8 supports a maximum of
eight Fast/Wide or Ultra/Wide SCSI devices.
If the necessary cables were not supplied with your system, see HP's Order
Assistant for ordering information. Order Assistant is available on the Internet at
http://www.hp.com/go/netserver.
Controller Hardware
IOP: The IOP (I/O Processor) for the integrated HP NetRAID controller is the
32-bit Intel i960RDTM Intelligent I/O RISC processor running at 66 MHz. The
processor directs all functions of the controller, including command processing,
PCI and SCSI bus transfers, RAID processing, drive rebuilding, cache
management, and error recovery.
Cache: Cache memory resides in a 16 MB 50ns EDO (extended data output)
DRAM SIMM.
The integrated HP NetRAID controller supports Direct and Cached I/O and
Write Through or Write Back caching, which can be selected for each logical
drive. To improve performance in sequential disk accesses, the integrated HP
NetRAID controller uses Adaptive Read Ahead caching by default, but it can be
disabled to Normal or set to simple Read Ahead caching.

Chapter 1 Introduction
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SCSI Firmware
The integrated HP NetRAID controller firmware handles all RAID and SCSI
command processing and also supports the following functions:
•Disconnect/Reconnect feature optimizes SCSI Bus seek.
•Tagged Command Queuing allows multiple commands to be sent to the
controller, thus improving random access.
•Scatter/Gather supports multiple address/count pairs.
•Multi-threading supports up to 255 simultaneous commands with elevator
sorting and concatenation of requests per SCSI channel.
•Stripe size for each logical drive can be set from 4 KB to 128 KB.
•Multiple rebuilds and consistency checks have user-definable priority.
Array Spanning
The integrated HP NetRAID controller allows up to four arrays to be spanned
together as one logical drive. For example, the integrated HP NetRAID controller
can support a RAID 10 logical drive with up to eight physical disks. Using both
channels, you can group up to 12 to 16 physical disks in a RAID 30 or RAID 50
logical drive depending on whether you use the internal hot-swap mass storage
cages or an external mass storage system.
I2O Support
The integrated HP NetRAID controller supports I2O (Intelligent Input/Output)
with some operating systems. For a complete list of operating systems for which
HP NetRAID I2O drivers are available, see the HP web site at
http://www.hp.com/go/netserver.
Physical Disk Roaming
The integrated HP NetRAID controller allows physical disk roaming, in which
the controller keeps track of disk modules if they are moved to different slots in
the hot-swap cages.
Multiple Adapters
The integrated HP NetRAID controller can be used with up to two HP
NetRAID-3Si adapters. The integrated HP NetRAID controller allows disk

Chapter 1 Introduction
4
modules to be moved to an HP NetRAID-3Si adapter without losing data
readability.
Be sure to check your system’s PCI I/O slot availability and any slot restrictions
before purchasing another adapter.
Fault-Tolerance and Management Features
Fault-Tolerance features include the following:
•Automatic failed-drive detection with Autorebuild (automatic rebuild with
a hot spare or when a drive is replaced)
•Manual hot-swap replacement
Management features include the following:
•Monitoring of HP NetRAID configuration, data parity consistency, and
SNMP error messages
•Rapid online configuration change and capacity expansion without the
need to first back up all data, reconfigure the array, and reload the data
Changing Capacity and RAID Levels
The integrated HP NetRAID controller can expand capacity and change RAID
levels of logical drives without powering down the server.
•Online Capacity Expansion: You can add a physical drive to a RAID 0,
3, or 5 logical drive. This can be an online operation if you are running
Microsoft Windows NT or Novell NetWare. (Preparations for capacity
expansion must be made, as described in Chapter 6, "Preparing for Online
Capacity Expansion.")
•Online Capacity Reduction: You can remove a physical drive from a
RAID 1, 3, or 5 logical drive as part of an online operation.
•Online Changes to RAID Levels: You can convert a RAID 1, 3, or 5
logical drive to RAID 0.
NOTE You cannot perform online conversions of logical drives that
span arrays (RAID level 10, 30, or 50).

Chapter 1 Introduction
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About This Guide
This Integrated HP NetRAID Controller Configuration Guide helps you plan and
configure your HP NetRAID system. It guides you through power-up, launching
the HP NetServer Navigator software, configuring the HP NetRAID system, and
installing a NOS-specific configuration utility. It contains a glossary, and an
appendix contains worksheets to use in planning the configuration of physical
and logical drives.
Fill in the worksheets in Appendix B as you read this guide and make your
configuration decisions. The worksheets contain the information you need to
enter into the HP NetRAID Assistant configuration utility launched by the
HP NetServer Navigator CD-ROM. The pencil icon in the margin is a reminder
to log your configuration choices on the worksheets.
The Integrated HP NetRAID Controller Configuration Guide is intended to be
used in conjunction with your HP NetServer documentation. Refer to your system
documentation for details such as cable product numbers and I/O slot boot order.
If you are setting up your HP NetServer for the first time, begin with the
HP NetServer Installation Road Map that came with your system. Return to this
guide when the roadmap instructs you to configure the mass storage subsystem.
Other Information Sources
Disk array administration and management are beyond the scope of this
document. Refer to the HP NetRAID Series User Guide in Information Assistant
on the HP NetServer Online Documentation CD-ROM. Access it, and other
material in Information Assistant, either by booting your system from the HP
NetServer Online Documentation CD-ROM, or by installing Information
Assistant onto any Microsoft Windows-based PC.
You should also consult the following HP NetServer documentation:
•Readme file for your HP NetServer on the HP NetServer Navigator
CD-ROM
•Your HP NetServer Installation Road Map
•Your HP NetServer System User Guide
•Technical Reference Cards or labels on the HP NetServer system chassis
(for cables and SCSI ID switch settings)
•Internet site: http://www.hp.com/go/netserver
!

7
2 RAID Overview
This chapter summarizes concepts and terminology used to describe RAID
systems. It describes the different RAID levels available with the integrated HP
NetRAID controller. For definitions of terms not introduced here, see the
Glossary.
RAID Overview
The integrated HP NetRAID controller lets you link multiple hard disk drives
together and write data across them as if they were one large drive. With the
integrated HP NetRAID controller, you can configure your linked drives into a
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) subsystem.
Physical Drives
The term "physical drive" refers to a single hard disk module.
Figure 2-1. Physical Drive
Arrays
The integrated HP NetRAID controller can combine up to eight physical drives
into one array. It is recommended that all drives in an array have the same
capacity. If you use drives with different capacities in an array, all the drives in
the array are treated as though they have the capacity of the smallest drive.
Figure 2-2. Array of Physical Drives

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
8
Arrays can combine disk drives that are all on one channel, or they can combine
disk drives from one or two different channels.
Hot Spares
A hot spare is a powered-on, stand-by disk drive that is ready for use should
another disk drive fail. When a disk fails, the HP NetRAID firmware can
automatically rebuild the data from the failed disk onto the hot spare. The system
administrator can then replace the failed disk and designate the replacement as
the new hot spare disk. Until a rebuild occurs, a hot spare does not contain user
data.
There are two types of hot spares:
•A global hot spare is used if a disk in any array fails.
•A dedicated hot spare is reserved for use by a single array.
Logical Drives
The term "logical drive" refers to a virtual drive which is assigned some portion
of the total capacity of an array. For example, if you have an array of disk drives
with a total capacity of 80 GB, you can create a logical drive with a total capacity
of 20 GB within that array.
Logical drives can take three forms:
•A logical drive can use all of the storage capacity of one array. In Figure
2-3, Logical Drive LD0 uses all storage capacity in Array A0.
•A logical drive can use less than the available storage capacity of one
array. In Figure 2-3, Logical Drive LD1 occupies only a part of Array A1.
•A logical drive can span arrays by spreading across two, three, or four
different arrays. In Figure 2-3, Logical Drive LD2 spans Arrays
A1 and A2.

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
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The nine physical drives are in three arrays (A0, A1, and A2)
with one global hot spare.
Figure 2-3. Sample Configuration with Three Arrays and
Three Logical Drives
Understanding RAID Levels
During installation, you configure your logical drives by running a disk array
configuration utility. Each of the logical drives you define must have an assigned
RAID level. Each RAID level has different advantages in terms of performance,
redundancy, and capacity. The integrated HP NetRAID controller supports both
non-spanned array and spanned array configurations.
•Non-spanned arrays have logical drives that are contained entirely within
the array. Non-spanned array configurations use RAID levels 0, 1, 3, or 5.
•Spanned arrays have logical drives that are spread across multiple arrays.
This permits the physical drives on two, three, or four arrays to function
as one large logical drive. Spanned array configurations use RAID levels
10, 30, and 50.

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
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Arrays with No Redundancy: RAID Level 0
RAID 0: Striping
In RAID 0 configurations, data is distributed among hard disks in the array via
an algorithm called striping. Data written to a logical drive is divided into pieces
called blocks. RAID 0 provides no data redundancy. If one hard disk fails, the
data is lost from the entire logical drive and must be retrieved from a backup
copy. If you have five physical drives configured as one RAID 0 logical drive,
data blocks are written as follows:
Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Disk 5
Stripe 1 Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 Block 5
Stripe 2 Block 6 Block 7 Block 8 Block 9 Block 10
The RAID 0 algorithm allows data to be accessed on multiple disks
simultaneously. Read and write performance on a multidisk RAID 0 system is
significantly faster than on a single drive system.
RAID 0 Advantages
Provides maximum data capacity, because all disk space is used for data.
Costs are low, because no disk space is allocated for redundancy.
Access time is fast for both reads and writes.
RAID 0 Disadvantages
RAID 0 provides no redundancy so if a hard drive fails, data must be restored
from backup.
Hot spares cannot be used with RAID 0 configurations.
RAID 0 Summary
Choose RAID 0 if redundancy is not required, and you need fast performance and
low costs.

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
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Non-spanned Arrays with Redundancy: RAID Levels 1, 3, and 5
RAID 1: Mirroring
In RAID 1 configurations, data on one disk is completely duplicated on another
disk. This is called mirroring. RAID 1 must be configured on a two-disk array.
(The array cannot contain more than two disk drives.) With this algorithm, if
either of the two disks fail, data is available from the duplicate disk. Data is
written as follows:
Disk 1 Disk 2
Stripe 1 Block 1 Block 1
Stripe 2 Block 2 Block 2
Stripe 3 Block 3 Block 3
RAID 1 Advantages
There is no data loss or system interruption due to disk failure, because if one
disk fails, the other is available.
Read performance is fast, because data is available from either disk.
RAID 1 Disadvantages
Costs are high, because 50% of all disk space is allocated for data protection.
Actual data capacity is only 50% of physical capacity.
RAID 1 Summary
Choose RAID 1 if high availability and performance are important, but cost is
not a major concern.

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
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RAID 3: Striping with Dedicated Parity
In RAID 3 configurations, each data stripe generates one parity block to provide
redundancy and data protection. The parity block is encoded information that can
be used to reconstruct the data on that stripe if one of the disks fails. RAID 3
configurations dedicate one disk in the array to store all parity blocks. If you have
five physical drives configured as one RAID 3 logical drive, data blocks are
written as follows:
Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Disk 5
Stripe 1 Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 Parity 1-4
Stripe 2 Block 5 Block 6 Block 7 Block 8 Parity 5-8
Stripe 3 Block 9 Block 10 Block 11 Block 12 Parity 9-12
With RAID 3, data reads are faster than writes, because parity must be calculated
for writes. RAID 3 performs better for long writes than for short ones, because
writes of less than one full stripe involve a parity calculation. RAID 3 works well
for long data transfers, such as CAD files and data logging.
RAID 3 Advantages
There is no data loss or system interruption due to disk failure, because if one
disk fails, data can be rebuilt.
Only one disk in the RAID 3 logical drive is reserved to provide redundancy.
HP NetRAID firmware optimizes RAID 3 data flow for long, serial data transfers
such as video or imaging applications.
RAID 3 Disadvantages
Performance is slower than RAID 0 or RAID 1.
RAID 3 Summary
Choose RAID 3 if cost, availability, and performance are equally important.
RAID 3 performs best when long, serial transfers account for most of the reads
and writes.

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
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RAID 5: Striping with Distributed Parity
RAID 5 is the most common configuration because it provides good overall
performance and data protection with a minimum loss of storage capacity.
RAID 5 distributes the parity blocks equally among all disk drives to achieve
better overall performance than if a dedicated parity disk is used (RAID 3). If you
have five physical drives configured as one RAID 5 logical drive, data blocks are
written as follows:
Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4 Disk 5
Stripe 1 Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4 Parity 1-4
Stripe 2 Block 5 Block 6 Block 7 Parity 5-8 Block 8
Stripe 3 Block 9 Block 10 Parity 9-12 Block 11 Block 12
RAID 5 outperforms RAID 1 for read operations. The write performance,
however, may be slower than RAID 1, especially if most writes are small and
random. For example, to change Block 1 in the diagram above, the integrated HP
NetRAID controller must first read Blocks 2, 3, and 4 before it can calculate
Parity Block 1-4. Once it has calculated the new Parity Block 1-4, it must write
Block 1 and Parity Block 1-4.
RAID 5 Advantages
There is no data loss or system interruption due to disk failure, because if one
disk fails, data can be rebuilt.
Capacity equivalent to only one disk in the RAID 5 logical drive is reserved to
store redundant data.
RAID 5 outperforms RAID 1 for read operations.
RAID 5 gives good performance if you have a high volume of small, random
transfers.
RAID 5 Disadvantages
Write performance is slower than RAID 0 or RAID 1.
RAID 5 Summary
Choose RAID 5 if cost, availability, and performance are equally important.
RAID 5 performs best if you have I/O-intensive, high read/write ratio
applications such as transaction processing.

Chapter 2 RAID Overview
14
Spanned Arrays: RAID Levels 10, 30, and 50
Array spanning allows the capacity of two, three, or four arrays to be combined
into a single storage space. A spanned array configuration must have the same
number of disk drives in each array: each array can have two disks, three disks,
four disks, and so on.
RAID 10: Spanning with Mirrored Arrays
A RAID 10 configuration uses two, three, or four pairs of mirrored disks,
spanning two, three, or four arrays, respectively. (RAID 10 is a RAID 1
configuration with array spanning.) If your RAID 10 logical drive spans two
arrays with two physical drives each, data blocks are written as follows:
Array 1 Array 2
Disk 1 Disk 2 Disk 3 Disk 4
Stripe 1 Block 1 Block 1 Block 2 Block 2
Stripe 2 Block 3 Block 3 Block 4 Block 4
Stripe 3 Block 5 Block 5 Block 6 Block 6
RAID 10 Advantages
There is no data loss or system interruption due to disk failure, because if one
disk fails, its mirror image is available.
Read performance is fast, because data is available from either disk in each pair.
RAID 10 lets you create large logical drives. You can span up to four arrays
containing a maximum of eight physical drives.
RAID 10 Disadvantages
Costs are high, because 50% of all disk space is allocated for redundancy.
Capacity expansion is an offline operation only.
RAID 10 Summary
RAID 10 provides the best performance for most applications where redundancy
and large logical drive size are required, and cost is not a factor.