User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 1 USER S GUIDE PENTEK S TALON 27XX SERIES RECORDING SYSTEMS Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Pentek, Inc. One Park Way Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 (201) 818 5900 http://www.pentek.com/ Copyright 2014 Manual Part Number: 800.27xx3 Rev: 1.0 April 17, 2014
Page 2 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Manual Revision History Date Revision Comments 4/17/14 1.0 Initial Release Software License Agreement Pentek grants to you a non exclusive, non transferable license to use the object code, source code, example programs and related documentation in this package ( Licensed Materials ) on a single user computer for development of executable runtime code for Pentek products. All Licensed Materials received under a single ReadyFlow Subscription may not be used on more than one computer at the same time or otherwise network the Licensed Materials. Title of the Licensed Materials is not transferred to you by this license. Any sub license, assignment, or other transfer of the Licensed Materials or the rights or obligations of this agreement without prior consent of Pentek is prohibited. Executable runtime code generated through the proper use of the Licensed Materials for execution on Pentek products is not subject to, or restricted by this agreement. Software Limitations Pentek does not warrant that this software will be free from error or meet your specific requirements. You assume complete responsibility for decisions made or actions taken based on information obtained using the programs. Any statements made concerning the utility of the programs are not to be construed as expressed or implied warranties. Pentek makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, regarding the programs and makes the programs available solely on an AS IS basis. Pentek shall not be responsible for incidental or consequential damages. Copyright Copyright 2014, Pentek, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission. Trademarks Pentek, SystemFlow, and Talon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Pentek, Inc. Adaptec is a registered trademark of PMC Sierra, Inc. Microsoft, MS DOS, Visual Studio, Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Printed in the United States of America.
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 3 Table of Contents Page Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller...5 Configuring the RAID Array...5 Figure 1: Press Control+A...5 Figure 2: Select RAID Controller...5 Figure 3: List of Options...6 Figure 4: Select and Initialize Drives...7 Figure 5: Create Array...7 Figure 6: Select Drives...8 Figure 7: Select the RAID Level...8 Figure 8: Enter an Array Label and the Array Size...9 Figure 9: Set the Stripe Size...10 Figure 10: Set Read Caching...11 Figure 11: Set Write Caching...12 Figure 12: Select Yes Enable Write Cache Always?...12 Figure 13: Select Yes Use Write Cache Without Battery Backup?...13 Figure 14: Select Quick Init...13 Figure 1: SSD Drives Popup Warning...14 Mounting the RAID Array in Windows 7...15 Figure 16: My Computer Manage...15 Figure 17: Select Disk Management...15 Figure 18: Disk Management Tab...16 Figure 19: Select Partition Style...17 Figure 20: Select New Simple Volume...17 Figure 21: New Simple Volume Wizard...18 Figure 22: Two Physical RAID Arrays...19 Figure 23: Select GPT Partition Style...20 Figure 24: Select New Striped Volume...21 Figure 25: New Striped Volume Wizard...22 Figure 26: Specify Volume Size...23 Figure 27: Select the Drive Volume Letter...24 Figure 28: Format Partition...25 Choosing the RAID Level...27 Rev.: 1.0
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User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 5 Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller To configure PMC s Adaptec RAID controller for use with Pentek s Talon 27xx series of recording systems, you must perform the following two procedures: Configuring the RAID Array (page 5) Mounting the RAID Array in Windows 7 (page 15) Configuring the RAID Array To configure the RAID array using the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility, follow this procedure: 1) Power on the Talon recorder and press Control+A when prompted as shown in Figure 1. This will force the Talon recorder into the RAID controller BIOS configuration screen. Figure 1: Press Control+A 2) If multiple RAID controllers are installed in your system, each RAID controller must be configured. Select one of these RAID controllers as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: Select RAID Controller
Page 6 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Configuring the RAID Array (continued) A list of options will appear, as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: List of Options 3) Select Initialize Drives.
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 7 Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 4) By pressing the Spacebar, select all the drives that the array will consist of and press Enter to initialize them. See Figure 4. Figure 4: Select and Initialize Drives 5) Select Create Array. See Figure 5. Figure 5: Create Array
Page 8 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 6) Select all of the hard drives that the array will consist of (see Figure 6). Figure 6: Select Drives 7) Select the RAID level (see Figure 7). NOTE: For information about how to choose the RAID level, see Choosing the RAID Level on page 27. Figure 7: Select the RAID Level
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 9 Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 8) Enter an Array Label. See Figure 8. NOTE: The Array Label can be any name you choose. Figure 8: Enter an Array Label and the Array Size 9) Enter the Array Size. NOTE: size is automatically set and should be left unmodified for most configurations.
Page 10 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 10) Set the Stripe Size to the maximum allowable setting. See Figure 9. NOTE: A larger stripe size will result in more efficient data streaming to disk. The maximum stripe size of 1024 KB will provide the most efficient streaming. Figure 9: Set the Stripe Size
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 11 Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 11) Set the Read Caching to Enable. See Figure 10. Figure 10: Set Read Caching
Page 12 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 12) Set the Write Caching to Enable always. See Figure 11. Figure 11: Set Write Caching 13) When prompted, select Yes to acknowledge the risks associated with caching. See Figure 12. array Figure 12: Select Yes Enable Write Cache Always?
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 13 Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 14) When prompted, select Yes to use the write cache without a battery backup. See Figure 13. array Figure 13: Select Yes Use Write Cache Without Battery Backup? 15) Select Quick Init. See Figure 14. Figure 14: Select Quick Init
Page 14 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Configuring the RAID Array (continued) 16) Select No when prompted to disable all cache settings by the popup message shown below in Figure 1. Figure 1: SSD Drives Popup Warning 17) If multiple RAID controllers are installed on your system, repeat the above steps for each RAID controller, starting with Step 2.
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 15 Mounting the RAID Array in Windows 7 1) Within Windows 7, right click My Computer and navigate to Manage. See Figure 16. Figure 16: My Computer Manage 2) Select Disk Management on the left side of the screen. See Figure 17. Figure 17: Select Disk Management
Page 16 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) Depending on the number of physical RAID controllers installed in your Talon recorder, there are several ways to configure your data drives: In the case of a single physical RAID controller that provides a single data drive volume, perform Step 3 through Step 6. In the case of multiple physical RAID controllers that provide a single data drive volume, skip to Step 7 and perform Step 7 through Step 10. 3) After you select Disk Management, a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 18 will appear. Figure 18: Disk Management Tab
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 17 Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 4) A popup like the one shown in Figure 19 will appear, asking you which partition style you would like to use. Select the GPT partition style. Figure 19: Select Partition Style 5) Right click on the unallocated space that was created from the RAID controller and select New Simple Volume. See Figure 20. Figure 20: Select New Simple Volume
Page 18 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 6) Follow the on screen wizard (Figure 21) to create a new drive volume. Figure 21: New Simple Volume Wizard Skip to Step 11 to complete building the single RAID controller data drive.
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 19 Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 7) If you are using two physical RAID arrays, a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 22 will appear after you select Disk Management. Figure 22: Two Physical RAID Arrays
Page 20 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 8) A popup, like the one shown in Figure 23, will appear asking you which partition style you would like to use. Select the GPT partition style. Figure 23: Select GPT Partition Style
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 21 Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 9) Right click on the unallocated space that was created from the RAID controller and select New Striped Volume. See Figure 24. Figure 24: Select New Striped Volume
Page 22 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 10) Follow the on screen wizard (Figure 25) to create a new drive volume. Figure 25: New Striped Volume Wizard
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 23 Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 11) Leave the default volume size and click Next. See Figure 26. Figure 26: Specify Volume Size
Page 24 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 12) Select the drive volume letter. See Figure 27. NOTE: For a single drive volume, the driver letter should be E:\. When building multiple drive volumes, the first drive should start at E:\ and should then continue in alphabetical order. Figure 27: Select the Drive Volume Letter
User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 25 Mounting the Array in Windows 7 (continued) 13) Leave the default settings for formatting the drive volume, including Perform a quick format. See Figure 28. Figure 28: Format Partition 14) Complete the process by clicking Finish on the final Wizard screen.
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User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Page 27 Choosing the RAID Level This section provides a brief overview of the RAID levels supported by your Adaptec RAID controller, including the minimum and maximum number of disk drives required by each. RAID 0 (Non Redundant Array) Stripes data across multiple disk drives. This level offers improved performance but no redundancy. RAID 1 Array Created from two disk drives where one disk drive is a mirror of the other (the same data is stored on each disk drive). This level provides redundancy, but reduced capacity. RAID 1E Array Similar to a RAID 1 array except that data is mirrored and striped, and more disk drives can be included. RAID 5 Array Stripes data for improved performance and uses parity data to provide redundancy. RAID 10 Array Built from two or more equal sized RAID 1 arrays. Stripes and mirrors data across multiple disk drives. This level provides redundancy and improved performance. RAID 50 Array Built from multiple disk drives configured as two or more RAID 5 arrays. Stripes stored data and parity data across all disk drives. RAID 6 Array Similar to a RAID 5 array except that it includes two independent sets of parity data instead of one. RAID 60 Array Similar to a RAID 50 array except that it includes four independent sets of parity data instead of two. Additional information, which is from PMC s Adaptec documentation, is provided in the table on the next page.
Page 28 User s Guide Configuring PMC s Adaptec RAID Controller Choosing the RAID Level (continued) RAID Level Redundancy Disk Drive Usage Read Performance Write Performance RAID 0 No 100% *** *** 2 RAID 1 Yes 50% ** ** 2 RAID IE Yes 50% ** ** 3 RAID 10 Yes 50% ** ** 4 RAID 5 Yes 67 94% *** * 3 RAID 5EE Yes 50 88% *** * 4 RAID 50 Yes 67 94% *** * 6 RAID 6 Yes 50 88% ** * 4 RAID 60 Yes 50 88% ** * 8 Minimum Disk Drives Use the above table to select the RAID levels that are most appropriate for the logical drives on your storage space, based on the number of available disk drives and your requirements for performance and reliability Disk drive usage, read performance, and write performance depend on the number of drives in the logical drive. In general, the more drives, the better the performance.