Intel SRCS14L User Guide - Page 17

Technical Product Specification

17

Intel

®

Integrated RAID Controller SRCS14L

RAID Functionality and Features

4

4.1

Hierarchy

A fundamental purpose of a RAID system is to present a usable (with some level of redundancy)

data storage medium (or drive) to a host operating system. In accomplishing this, the Intel RAID

firmware is based on a four level hierarchal model. Each level has its own drives associated with it.

The basic rule is to build drives on a given level in the hierarchy; the drives of the next lower level

are used as components. So, in order to create a data drive (host drive/RAID volume) and present it

to the host operating system, the RAID firmware typically follows these steps:

1.

One or more physical drives are selected and initialized

2.

A logical drive is created for each physical device

3.

The logical drives are grouped and an array drive is created

4.

The RAID firmware designates the array drive as a host drive and presents it to the host OS

4.1.1

Level 1: Physical Drives

Physical drives

are located on the lowest level of the hierarchy. This includes hard disk drives,

removable hard disks, and some Magneto Optical drives. They are the basic components of all

drive constructions. However, before they can be used by the firmware, these hard drives must be

prepared by a process called initialization. During initialization each hard disk has configuration

information written to its physical medium in non-user accessible redundant areas. This

information allows a univocal identification even if the disk-ID or the controller is changed. For

reasons of data coherency, this information is extremely important for any drive construction

consisting of two or more physical drives.

4.1.2

Level 2: Logical Drives

Logical drives

are constructed to obtain full independence of the physical coordinates of a

physical device. This is important because it allows one to rearrange the disk-IDs and channel

location of the physical drives of a disk array without compromising the integrity of the RAID

array disk. It also is what allows you to interchange disk arrays between compatible controllers.

You can create a logical drive manually by using one or more available physical drives. A logical

drive created manually in this way is presented directly to the host OS as a Host drive (

see host

drives in Level 4

). However, it is not associated with any array drive (

see array drives in Level 3

).

4.1.3

Level 3: Array Drives

Array drives

are located at this level in the hierarchy. Array drives always consist of logical drives

and consist of the following drive types:

•

RAID 0 drives

•

RAID 1 drives

Section	Page
Intel® Integrated RAID Controller SRCS14L	1
Introduction 1	5
1.1 Acronyms	5
Table 1. Common Acronyms (Sheet 1 of 2)	5
1.2 Documentation Conventions	6
1.3 Product Overview	6
1.4 Operating System Support	6
1.5 List of Features	6
Hardware 2	8
2.1 Physical Layout	8
Figure 1. SRCS14L RAID Controller Physical Layout	8
2.2 Major Components	8
2.2.1 Intel® 80303® Intelligent I/O Processor	8
2.2.1.1 Processor Core	9
2.2.1.2 PCI-to-PCI Bridge	9
2.2.1.3 Memory Controller Unit	9
2.2.2 Intel® Smart 3 FlashFile™ Flash Memory	9
2.2.3 SDRAM (Cache)	9
2.2.4 SATA Controllers	9
2.2.5 Audible Alarm	9
2.2.6 SATA Connectors	10
2.2.7 PCI Interface	10
2.2.8 SRCS14L Jumpers	10
Figure 2. Jumper Settings and Pin Numbers	10
Table 2. Controller Jumper Settings	11
2.2.9 Diagnostic Features	11
Figure 3. LED Labels and Colors	11
Table 3. LED Descriptions	11
Table 4. Beep Sequences	12
2.3 Architecture Features (HW)	13
Table 5. Hardware Architecture	13
2.4 Electrical Characteristics	13
Table 6. Electrical Specifications	13
2.5 Environmental Specifications	13
Table 7. Environmental Test Results	13
2.6 Supported Hard Drive Technology	13
Software 3	14
3.1 Software Architecture Overview	14
Figure 4. RAID Software Stack Architecture Block Diagram	14
3.1.1 User Interface	15
3.1.1.1 Storage Console	15
3.1.1.2 Storage Console+	15
3.1.2 System Management	15
3.1.2.1 RAID Mail Utility	15
3.1.2.2 SNMP Extension Agent	15
3.1.3 Common Layers	16
3.1.3.1 PCI BIOS	16
3.1.3.2 IIR API	16
3.1.3.3 Operating System Driver	16
3.1.3.4 RAID Configuration Service	16
3.1.4 RAID Firmware	16
RAID Functionality and Features 4	17
4.1 Hierarchy	17
4.1.1 Level 1: Physical Drives	17
4.1.2 Level 2: Logical Drives	17
4.1.3 Level 3: Array Drives	17
4.1.4 Level 4: Host Drives	18
4.1.5 RAID Host/Array Drive Statuses	19
Table 8. Host Array Drive Statuses	19
4.1.6 Logical Drive Statuses	20
Table 9. Logical Drive Statuses	20
4.1.7 RAID Controller Drive Limitations (Host, Array, Logical, and Physical)	20
Table 10. RAID Controller Drive Maximum Limitations (SRCS14L)	20
4.2 Utilities and Tools	21
Table 11. Utilities And Tools	21
4.3 RAID Features	22
4.3.1 RAID Level Support	22
Table 12. Supported RAID Levels	22
4.3.2 Caching	22
4.3.2.1 Controller Cache Selections	23
4.3.2.2 Physical Disk Cache Selections	23
Table 13. Supported Cache Settings	23
4.3.3 Hot Fix (Spare) Disks	24
Table 14. Example of a 9GB Pooled Hot Fix Drive Selected to Protect Four Raid Array Drives	24
4.3.4 Auto-detection of Hot-Plug Disk Drives in a Non-Intelligent Drive Enclosure	25
4.3.5 Auto-declare Hot Fix (Spare) Drive	25
4.3.6 RAID Array Drive Roaming	25
4.3.7 On-line RAID Array Configurations	25
4.3.7.1 Capacity Expansion Without Reboot	25
4.3.7.2 RAID Level Migration	26
4.3.7.3 Data Strip Size Configurable per RAID Array	26
4.3.8 Background Initialization and Instant Availability	27
4.3.9 PCI Hot Plug	27
Certifications and Supported Technologies 5	28
5.1 OS Certifications	28
Table 15. OS Certification Requirements	28
5.2 Electronic Regulatory Agencies Certifications (Hardware)	29
Table 16. Electronic Equipment Regulatory Certifications	29
5.3 Supported Specifications and Standards	31
Table 17. Supported Standards and Specifications	31
Technical Drawings and Diagrams 6	32
Figure 5. Controller PBA Drawing, Front View	32
Figure 6. Controller PBA Drawing, Back View	32
Appendices 7	33
7.1 Referenced Documentation	33
Table 18. Referenced Documentation	33

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RAID Functionality and Features - manual

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