IBM-AUSTRIA - PC-HW-Support    30 Aug 1999

Using the ServeRAID DOS Configuration Program

To start the ServeRAID Configuration Utility program:

1.  Insert the IBM ServeRAID Configuration Utility  Diskette into the primary diskette drive and turn on the system. If the system  is already turned on, shut down and restart the system.

    Each time the system starts, the ServeRAID II Adapter performs a power-on  self-test (POST). The POST checks the configuration information for the  ServeRAID II adapter and for the configured hard disk drives.

   1.  If POST does not detect changes in the adapter  configuration or any adapter hardware problems, continue with step b.
   2.  If you have multiple ServeRAID adapters  installed in your system, you will see a screen with multiple adapters. The  screen may not look exactly like this one.

     +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
     |     IBM PC ServeRAID Adapter Disk Array Configuration Utility Ver. X.XX        |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |          +--------------------------------------+                              |
     |          |            Select Adapter            |                              |
     |          +--------------------------------------+                              |
     |          |1. Help                               |                              |
     |          |2. ServeRAID Adapter 1                |                              |
     |          |3. ServeRAID Adapter 2                |                              |
     |          |4. Exit                               |                              |
     |          +--------------------------------------+                              |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |Multiple IBM ServeRAID Adapter found in the system. Select a choice using the Up|
     |Arrow (  ) and Down Arrow (  ) keys and press Enter.                              |
     +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    

   Note:  In the upper-right corner of the screen, you see Ver. x.xx. On your screen,  the x.xx is replaced with the version number of the configuration program.

2.  You can install multiple ServeRAID adapters in your  server, but you must configure each adapter separately. Refer to the  documentation that comes with your server to determine the maximum number of PCI  adapters you can install in the server.

    Use the Up Arrow (  ) or Down Arrow (  ) key to highlight your choice, then, press Enter. The Main Menu appears.

3.  If you have only one ServeRAID adapter installed in  your server, the Main Menu appears, as shown in the following figure.

     +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
     |         IBM PC ServeRAID Adapter Disk Array Configuration Ver. X.XX            |
     |           Adapter Number: 1 Bus Number: 0 Host ID = Null Config                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |          +--------------------------------------+                              |
     |          |              Main Menu               |                              |
     |          +--------------------------------------+                              |
     |          |1. Help                               |                              |
     |          |2. View Configuration                 |                              |
     |          |3. EZ-RAID Configuration              |                              |
     |          |4. Create/Delete/Copy Log Drive       |                              |
     |          |5. Initialize/Synchronize Log Drive   |                              |
     |          |6. Rebuild/Device Management          |                              |
     |          |7. Advanced Functions                 |                              |
     |          |8. Exit                               |                              |
     |          +--------------------------------------+                              |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |                                                                                |
     |Multiple IBM ServeRAID Adapter found in the system. Select a choice using the Up|
     |Arrow (  ) and Down Arrow (  ) keys and press Enter.                              |
     +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    

4.  To choose an option from the Main Menu, type the  highlighted number of the menu item, or use the Up Arrow (  ) key or Down Arrow  (  ) key to highlight your choice, then, press Enter. You also can  press Esc to  return to the previous menu, the previous work area of a screen, or to the  beginning of the Main Menu.

To change write policies of logical drives:

1.  From the Main Menu, select Advanced Functions.
2.  Select Logical Drive Params Management.

This option lets you enable the NVRAM (Battery-Backup Cache) write cache feature if the Non-Volatile Write Cache Feature Card is installed on the IBM ServeRAID II Adapter.

The Change Write Policy command configures a local drive in an array to work in either write-through mode or write-back mode. In write-through mode, completion status is sent after the data is written to the drives. In write-back mode, completion status is sent before the data is actually written to the drives. The write-back mode usually provides higher performance, but with increased risk of data loss in the event of a power failure.

When you enable write-back mode, you enable the NVRAM (Battery-Backup Cache) write cache feature for a logical drive, which provides a backup of the data being written to a logical drive in the NVRAM (Battery-Backup Cache) cache on the Non-Volatile Write Cache Feature card.

To 'fine tune' the ServeRAID II subsystem for optimal performance:

1.  From the Main Menu, select Advanced Functions.
2.  Select Change ServeRAID Parameters.

You can control the following parameters:

•  Stripe unit size - defines the stripe unit size of the  data close to the size of the system I/O requirements. The default setting is 8K  bytes.
  Note: Once a stripe unit is chosen and data is stored on the logical drives, the  stripe unit cannot be changed without destroying data on the logical drives.
•  Rebuild priority - sets the priority of the execution  order of the rebuild I/O requests with respect to system I/O requests. You can  change the Rebuild Priority without affecting data in the logical drives. The  default setting is High .
•  Unattended mode - enables/disables the ServeRAID  II Adapter or controller to resolve configuration-related conflicts without user  intervention. The default setting is Off .
•  Read ahead - enables/disables the cache read ahead  up to the end of the stripe unit. You can change the Read Ahead without  destroying data in the logical drives. The default setting is On .

To set a basic configuration:

1.  From the Main Menu, select Advanced Functions.
2.  Select Init/View/Synchronize Config.

When you choose Initialize Configuration:.

•  All defined logical drives and arrays are deleted
•  Configuration is reset to factory parameters
•  All attached drives are reset to Ready
•  The configuration Host ID changes to 'Null Configuration.'
•  'Start Device' is issued to all drives.

The ServeRAID II Adapter/Controller stores its ServeRAID configuration in its NVRAM (Battery-Backup Cache), FLASH (EEPROM), and on all physical hard disk drives that are part of a logical drive. An option is provided to view the configuration from all of these sources. You must import the configuration from the hard drive.

To display the ServeRAID II Adapter/Controller status or to write a new adapter configuration Host ID:

1.  From the Main Menu, select Advanced Functions.
2.  Select Display/Change Adapter Params.

You can also change the ServeRAID II Adapter/Controller SCSI channel ID and speed.

To define or delete a merge group ID for a shared or non-shared logical drive:

1.  From the Main Menu, select Advanced Functions.
2.  Select Merge Group Management.

    Merge group IDs are valid only in a High Availability environment. A High  Availability environment is a setup in which two servers have access to the same  physical disk drives via a shared SCSI bus. The ServeRAID configuration is set  up in such a way as to allow the operational server to assume the logical drives  of the failing server. This minimizes the downtime to clients of the failed  server.

   Create Shared Logical Drive ID enables you to define a merge group ID for a  logical drive. The logical drive's physical disk(s) are assumed to be shared by  another server via the SCSI bus. The merge group ID must be in the range of 1-8.  Merge group IDs 1-4 are allocated for use on one of the servers in the cluster  and IDs 5-8 are to be allocated for the other partner server.

   Create Non-Shared Logical Drive ID enables you to create a merge group ID for  non-shared logical drives. The merge group ID must be in the range of 200-215.

   Delete Logical Drive Merge ID enables you to delete shared and non-shared merge  group IDs.

   Merge/Unmerge Logical Drive enables you to merge/unmerge partner logical drives.  It also lets you merge/unmerge a host system's own shared logical drives. You  may also merge/unmerge a host system's own non-shared logical drives.

Note: The High Availability feature is supported only for the IBM ServeRAID II and IBM ServeRAID 3H Adapters.

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