High Density RocketRAID Rocket EJ220 Device Board Data RAID Installation Guide

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1 High Density RocketRAID Rocket EJ220 Device Board Data RAID Installation Guide Introduction The HighPoint High Density Storage Solutions hammer down high density storage cost over a single mini- SAS port. Benefits of the high density storage solution include 2400MB/s of connectivity speed, RAID 6 dual protection ready and a comprehensive Storage Management Suite. The RocketRAID Rocket EJ220 are used in this installation guide to illustrate the benefits available in the HighPoint High Density Storage Solution. Overview: This installation guide will provide step by step instruction on how to configure the RocketRAID EJ220 to support Data RAID. This guide also provides troubleshooting tips when problems occur. Part 1 What is a Data RAID Configuration? Part 2 Pre- requisite for Data RAID Configuration. Part 3 Hardware Installation and Verification Part 4 Software Package Installation and Verification Guide Part 5 - Ready for the Experience

2 Part 1 What is a Data RAID? A Data RAID is setting up a RAID array (0, 1, 5, 6, 10 or JBOD) on the RocketRAID 2711 series controller. RAID arrays offers advantages of performance and protection with redundancy. RAID Basics? RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Drives. This means taking multiple matching drives and arranging them together to achieve large storage space, speed, data protection, or any combination of the three. The RocketRAID 2711 series controller supports the following RAID types: RAID 0 Stripe Speed: Data is alternated across two or more drives to gain speed by essentially distributing the workload. Protection: No built- in protection. Capacity: Usable space is the combined capacity of all the drives. RAID 1 Mirror Speed: No speed benefits gained. Protection: One drive can fail and all data will still be accessible. Capacity: One drive worth of usable space out of the two total drives used. JBOD (Independent Drive Modes) Speed: No significant speed gains. Protection: No built- in data protection. Capacity: In JBOD mode, the capacities are combined. When set up as independent drives, each drive presents its stated capacity for use. RAID 5 Stripe & Protection Speed: Data is striped like in a RAID 0, so significant speed gains are seen. Protection: Utilizes mathematical parity to achieve data protection while taking up a minimum of space. One drive can fail and all data will still be accessible. Capacity: All but one drive worth of capacity is usable. Minimum three drives are needed to create a RAID 5 array. In a three drive RAID 5 array, there is two drives worth of usable space. RAID 6 Stripe & Double Protection Speed: Data is striped like in a RAID 0, so significant speed gains are seen. Protection: Utilizes mathematical dual parity to achieve data protection while taking up a minimum of space. Two drives can fail and all data will still be accessible. Capacity: All but two drive worth of capacity is usable. Minimum four drives are needed to create a RAID 6 array. In a four drive RAID 6 array, there is two drives worth of usable space.

3 Combined RAIDs: RAID 10 Speed: Combines multiple RAID 1 or RAID 5 sets by using RAID 0 Striping to gain speed. Protection: There are two RAID 1 Mirrored sets used in order to tolerate 1-2 drives failing depending on which drives they are. Capacity: Usable space is half of the combined capacity of all the drives used

4 Part 2 Pre- requisite for Data RAID Configuration Overview The RocketRAID 2711 series controller support Data RAID configurations include RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 arrays. This document will include the installations steps to configure and setup your hardware to support Data RAID arrays. The high density storage configuration requires the RocketRAID 2711 series controller to be updated to the High Density BIOS. The hardware and software pre- requests are listed below: RocketRAID 2711 series HBA with High Density BIOS RocketRAID 2711 series 32/64- bit Windows RAID drivers Motherboard with PCI- e (1.0 or 2.0) x8 or x16 slot Storage chassis with EJ220 SATA JBOD Board System Requirements PC Hardware: Motherboard with an available PCIe 2.0 or 1.0 slot capable of supporting an x8 (8- lane) or x16 (16- lane) length PCIe card. For optimal performance, use a PCIe 2.0 slot running at x8 or x16 speeds. Before, installing the RocketRAID 2711 series controller make sure the computer is turned off and unplugged from its power source. Take appropriate electrostatic discharge precautions: Your computer is a static- sensitive device. It is susceptible to invisible damage if not protected during installation. We recommend proper grounding by using a grounding strap. Make sure to work in a clean and static- free area, and avoid wearing clothing that retains static charges. RocketRAID 2711 High Density BIOS The RocketRAID 2711 series controller will need to have High Density BIOS updated to the controller before proceeding to the Windows device driver installation. Download the High Density BIOS from the RocketRAID 2711 product page download section and follow the instructions below for updating. Step 1: Install the RocketRAID 2711 Step 2: Boot the system into MS- DOS mode. A USB thumb drive is recommended for booting into MS- DOS. Step 3: Execute the LOAD.exe utility to re- flash the RocketRAID 2711 series controller with the new High Density BIOS. Step 4: Load rr2711.v12 Step 5: Follow the prompts to re- flash the RocketRAID 2711 series controller with the High Density BIOS Step 6: Reboot the system when the RocketRAID 2711 series controller has completed the re- flash.

5 Part 3 - Hardware Installation and Verification RocketRAID 2711 Installation Make sure computer is turned off and unplugged from its power source Take appropriate electrostatic discharge precautions:. Remove the PCIe slot cover. Gently insert the RocketRAID 2711 series controller into the PCIe slot and secure the bracket to the computer chassis according to your chassis specifications. Rocket EJ220 Installation The Rocket EJ220 SATA Device Board is designed for use with storage chassis and enclosures that accommodate standardized centronics mounting brackets. The front panel of the Rocket EJ220 mounting bracket houses the single SFF connector and Status/Activity LED s. The Rocket EJ220 supports up to 8 SATA hard drives. Rocket EJ220 SATA JBOD Board

6 Dimensions and Chassis Mounting Requirements The Rocket EJ220 Series Device Boards comply with industry standard form factors. Mounting Requirements: 2x 3M chassis screws (3mm diameter) Step 1: The following procedure depicts the installation of the Rocket EJ220 into a storage chassis. Rocket EJ220 Boards can be installed into standardized chassis expansion ports. Locate a free expansion slot on the target chassis (center- bottom slot depicted in image 1) Step 2: Fasten the Rocket EJ220 to the chassis using the face plate of the mounting bracket. Requirements: 2x 3M chassis screws (3mm diameter) Align the face plate s mounting- holes with the indentation on either side of the expansion slot, and secure it in place using two 3M screws. Do not fully tighten the screws (see step 3).

7 Step 3: Make sure the Rocket EJ220 board is properly aligned by checking the interior of the storage chassis. The Rocket EJ220 should be level and positioned parallel to the floor of the chassis, with consistent clearance between the chassis base and underside of the mounting bracket. Cable Connections to EJ220 1) Power Connector 4 pin power connector powers the EJ220 2) Fans Up to three fans are supported with 3 pin fan connectors 3) SFF Two SFF connectors connect to chassis backplanes. Each SFF connector support up to 4 hard disk drives. 4) Install all of the hard drives and connect SFF cables to the chassis backplane. Step 4: Once aligned, fully tighten the screws and complete the installation procedure. Step 5: After installing the RocketRAID EJ220, restart your computer.

8 RocketRAID EJ220 Verification Once the host adapter and hard drives have been installed into the chassis, boot- up the system to verify that the hardware is properly recognized. 1. Power on the system. If the system detects the presence of the adapter, the RocketRAID 2711 BIOS will be displayed during boot up. 2. Install the RocketRAID 2711 Windows drivers and management web GUI. 3. Connect to the management web GUI and verify that all storage devices are detected. 4. If all of the storage devices are detected then your High Density storage is setup correctly.

9 Part 4 Software Package Installation and Verification Guide Windows RAID Device Driver Installation Note: The following Windows versions are supported (2003 Server, Vista, 7 and 2008 Server) 32 and 64- bit versions. After the operating system has booted, the Hardware Wizard will detected the card and request that the Device Driver be installed. 1. When the Found New Hardware Wizard window appears and asks to search online, select No, not this time.

10 2. Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced), and click Next to continue. 3. Click on the Include this location in the search option, and click Browse. Browse to the location of the driver and click Next.

11 4. Windows will display a warning message that states the driver has not been signed. Select Continue Anyway. Once the Windows driver install is complete proceed to install the RAID Management Web GUI. Download the RAID Management web GUI package and run install program.

12 Part 5 - Ready for the Experience Log into the RAID management web GUI to manage and maintain your storage. URL: User Name: RAID Password: hpt Complete Storage Overview in a Single Screen Storage Overview Total Available Capacity Total Configured Capacity Total Free Capacity

13 Easily Identify HBA Attributes in a Single Screen HBA Attributes HBA Model BIOS Version PCI Bus Information BIOS Update in OS

14 Complete HDD Attributes in a Single Screen HDD Attributes Port and Location Model and S/N# Firmware Cache Settings (ReadAhead and Write) NCQ Toggle Identify LED (locate HDD with blinking LED) Unplug

15 RAID for Performance and Protection RAID Support RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and JBOD Write Back / Write Through Options Quick, Foreground, Background and Save Old Data Initialization Methods

16 Spare Pool for Automatic RAID Rebuild without User Intervention Spare Pool Global HDD spare pool for auto rebuilding RAID array without user intervention.

17 Maintain Storage Accessibility with Environmental Monitoring Monitor Environmental Conditions Fan speed monitoring and status Internal Board and chipset temperature monitoring Voltage status and monitoring

18 Storage Maintenance Storage Maintenance Auto Rebuild when new disk is inserted, no action needed from user Continue Rebuilding on Error when encountering bad HDD s Set Spindown Idle Disk extends lifespan of HDD Set Rebuild Priority allocates system resources to rebuild RAID arrays

19 SMTP notification for all storage events and activity SMTP ( Notification) Alter user with any storage activity (Information, Warning and Error)

20 Event Viewer for tracing all storage related activities Event Viewer Trace all storage events from the event logs for troubleshooting purpose