Asus RS724QA-E6 RS12 User Guide - Page 40

4-4

Overview of Integrated Striping

Version 1.1

Copyright © 2006, 2007 by LSI Logic Corporation. All rights reserved.

4.4

Integrated Striping Firmware

This section describes features of the LSI Integrated RAID firmware.

4.4.1

Metadata Support

The firmware supports metadata, which describes the IS logical drive

configuration stored on each member disk. When the firmware is

initialized, each member disk is queried to read the stored metadata to

verify the configuration. The usable disk space for each IS member disk

is adjusted down when the configuration is created, in order to leave

room for this data.

4.4.2

SMART Support

SMART is a technology that monitors hard disk drives for signs of future

disk failure and generates an alert if such signs are detected. The

firmware polls each physical disk in the volume at regular intervals. If the

firmware detects a SMART ASC/ASCQ code on a physical disk in the IS

volume, it processes the SMART data and stores it in nonvolatile

memory. The IS volume does not support SMART directly, since it is just

a logical representation of the physical disks in the volume.

4.4.3

Disk Write Caching

Disk write caching is enabled by default on all IS volumes.

4.5

Fusion-MPT Support

The BIOS uses the LSI Fusion-MPT interface to communicate to the

SAS controller and firmware to enable IS. This includes reading the

Fusion-MPT configuration to gain access to the parameters that are used

to define behavior between the SAS controller and the devices

connected to it. The Fusion-MPT drivers for all supported operating

systems implement the Fusion-MPT interface to communicate with the

controller and firmware.

Section	Page
Integrated RAID for SAS	1
Chapter1 Introduction to Integrated RAID	13
1.1 Introduction	13
1.2 Integrated RAID Benefits and Features	14
1.3 Using this Manual	15
Chapter2 Overview of Integrated Mirroring and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced	17
2.1 Introduction	17
2.2 IM and IME Features	18
2.3 IM/IME Description	19
2.4 Integrated RAID Firmware	21
2.4.1 Resynchronization with Concurrent Host I/O Operation	21
2.4.2 Metadata Support	21
2.4.3 Hot Swapping	22
2.4.4 SMART Support	22
2.4.5 Hot Spare Disk	22
2.4.6 Media Verification	23
2.4.7 Disk Write Caching	23
2.4.8 NVSRAM Usage	23
2.5 Fusion-MPT Support	23
Chapter3 Creating IM and IME Volumes	25
3.1 IM/IME Configuration Overview	25
3.2 Creating IM and IME Volumes	26
3.2.1 Creating an IM Volume	27
3.2.2 Creating an IME Volume	29
3.3 Creating a Second IM or IME Volume	29
3.4 Managing Hot Spares	30
3.5 Other Configuration Tasks	32
3.5.1 Viewing Volume Properties	32
3.5.2 Synchronizing an Array	32
3.5.3 Activating an Array	33
3.5.4 Deleting an Array	33
3.5.5 Locating a Disk Drive, or Multiple Disk Drives in a Volume	34
3.5.6 Selecting a Boot Disk	34
Chapter4 Overview of IntegratedStriping	37
4.1 Introduction	37
4.2 IS Features	38
4.3 IS Description	38
4.4 Integrated Striping Firmware	40
4.4.1 Metadata Support	40
4.4.2 SMART Support	40
4.4.3 Disk Write Caching	40
4.5 Fusion-MPT Support	40
Chapter5 Creating Integrated Striping Volumes	41
5.1 IS Configuration Overview	41
5.2 Creating IS Volumes	42
5.3 Creating a Second IS Volume	44
5.4 Other Configuration Tasks	45
5.4.1 Viewing IS Volume Properties	45
5.4.2 Activating an Array	45
5.4.3 Deleting an Array	46
5.4.4 Locating a Disk Drive, or Multiple Disk Drives in a Volume	46
5.4.5 Selecting a Boot Disk	47
AppendixA Using the CFGGEN IR Configuration Utility	49
A.1 Hardware and Software Requirements	50
A.2 CFGGEN Interface Description	51
A.3 CFGGEN Commands	51
A.3.1 Common Command Line Parameters	52
A.3.2 CREATE Command	53
A.3.3 DEFAULTS Command	54
A.3.4 DISPLAY Command	55
A.3.5 FORMAT Command	58
A.3.6 HOTSPARE Command	59
A.3.7 STATUS Command	60
A.3.8 SETOFFLINE Command	61
A.3.9 SETONLINE Command	62
A.3.10 AUTO Command (EFI Version Only)	63
A.3.11 DISABLEIR Command (EFI Version Only)	64
A.3.12 ENABLEIR Command (EFI Version Only)	65
A.3.13 LIST Command (EFI Version Only)	66

Asus RS724QA-E6 RS12 User Guide - Page 40

Integrated Striping Firmware, 4.4.1 Metadata Support, 4.4.2 SMART Support

Page 40 highlights