Intel RS3FC044 User Guide - Page 11

Intel®

Integrated RAID Solution User Guide

1

1

Introduction to the Integrated

RAID Solution

Overview

The Intel

®

Integrated RAID Solution provides cost benefits for the server or workstation

market that requires the extra performance, storage capacity, and redundancy of a RAID

configuration. The Intel

®

Integrated RAID Solution includes the following RAID

features:

•

The Integrated Mirroring solution, which provides features of RAID 1

•

The Integrated Mirroring + Striping solution, which provides features of RAID 10

•

The Integrated Mirroring Enhanced solution, which provides features of RAID 1

Enhanced (RAID 1E)

•

The Integrated Striping solution, which provides features of RAID 0

By simplifying the configuration options and by providing firmware support in its SAS-3

host adapters, Intel can offer the Integrated RAID solution at a lower cost than a hardware

RAID implementation.

Intel Fusion-MPT

™

firmware supports Integrated Mirroring volumes, Integrated

Mirroring + Striping volumes, Integrated Mirroring Enhanced volumes, and Integrated

Striping volumes. You can create up to two Integrated RAID volumes on each Intel SAS-

3 controller.

The Intel

®

Integrated RAID Solution supports the following Intel SAS-3 controllers and

the host bus adapters based on these 12Gb SAS Controller chips:

•

LSISAS3008

•

LSISAS3004

Intel

®

Integrated RAID firmware uses the same device drivers as the standard Intel

Fusion-MPT-based controllers, thereby eliminating the need for complex backup software

or expensive RAID hardware. To conserve system resources, the Integrated RAID

firmware operates independently from the operating system. The BIOS-based

configuration utility, documented in

Chapter 3

and

Chapter 5

, makes it easy to configure

mirrored and striped

volumes. The Integrated RAID solution is currently available as an

optional component of the Fusion-MPT architecture on Intel SAS-3 controllers.

Note:

In this document, the terms

volume

,

RAID volume

,

array

, and

RAID array

are used

interchangeably.

Volume

and

array

both appear on the screens of the BIOS-based

configuration utility. The term

disk

means both hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state

drive (SSD), and the HDDs or SSDs can support either SAS or SATA protocol.

Section	Page
Preface	3
Audience	3
Organization	3
Related Publication	3
Table of Contents	5
List of Figures	7
List of Tables	9
1 Introduction to the Integrated RAID Solution	11
Overview	11
Benefits and Features	12
Host Interface	12
Metadata Support	13
SMART Support	13
Fusion-MPT Support	13
CacheCade on Host	13
2 Overview of Integrated RAID Mirrored Volumes	15
Overview	15
Integrated Mirroring and Integrated Mirroring Enhanced Features	16
Operation of Mirrored Volumes	17
Mirrored Volume Features	19
Resynchronization with Concurrent Host I/O Operation	19
Hot Swapping	19
Hot Spare Disk	19
Online Capacity Expansion	19
Media Verification	20
Disk Write Caching	20
NVSRAM Usage	20
Background Initialization	20
Consistency Check	20
Make Data Consistent	21
3 Creating Mirrored Volumes	23
Mirrored Volume Configuration Overview	23
Creating Mirrored Volumes	23
Creating an Integrated Mirroring Volume	24
Creating an Integrated Mirroring Enhanced or Integrated Mirroring + Striping Volume	26
Expanding an Integrated Mirroring Volume with OCE	27
Managing Hot Spare Disks	28
Creating Hot Spare Disks	28
Deleting a Hot Spare Disk	30
Other Configuration Tasks	30
Viewing Array Properties	30
Running a Consistency Check	30
Activating an Array	31
Deleting an Array	31
Locating Disk Drives in a Volume	32
Selecting a Boot Disk	33
4 Overview of Integrated Striping	35
Overview	35
Integrated Striping Features	35
Integrated Striping Description	36
5 Creating Integrated Striping Volumes	39
Integrated Striping Configuration Overview	39
Creating Integrated Striping Volumes	39
Other Configuration Tasks	41
Viewing Array Properties	41
Activating an Array	41
Deleting an Array	42
Locating Disk Drives in a Volume	43
Selecting a Boot Disk	43
Appendix A: Using the SAS-3 Integrated RAID Configuration Utility	45
Hardware and Software Requirements	45
Controller Support	45
Operating System and Software Support	46
Interface Description	46
Commands	46
Common Command-Line Parameters	47
CREATE	48
Command Line	49
Parameters	49
Program Return Value	49
DELETE	49
Command Line	49
Parameters	49
Program Return Value	50
DELETEVOLUME	50
Command Line	50
Parameters	50
Program Return Value	50
DISPLAY	50
Command Line	51
Parameters	51
Program Return Value	51
Sample Output	51
HOTSPARE	54
Command Line	54
Parameters	54
Program Return Value	54
STATUS	55
Command Line	55
Parameters	55
Program Return Value	55
Sample Output	55
LIST	56
Command Line	56
Parameters	56
Program Return Value	56
Sample Output	56
CONSTCHK	57
Command Line	57
Parameters	57
Program Return Value	57
ACTIVATE	57
Command Line	57
Parameters	57
Program Return Value	57
LOCATE	58
Command Line	58
Parameters	58
Program Return Value	58
LOGIR	58
Command Line	58
Parameters	58
Program Return Value	59
BOOTIR	59
Command Line	59
Parameters	59
Program Return Value	59
Sample Output	60
BOOTENCL	60
Command Line	60
Parameters	60
Program Return Value	60
Sample Output	61
HELP	61
Command Line	61
Parameters	61

Intel RS3FC044 User Guide - Page 11

Introduction to the Integrated RAID Solution, Overview - drivers

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