RocketRAID 2700 6Gb/s SAS/SATA Host Adapters User’s Guide Revision: 1.0 Date: December 2009 HighPoint Technologies, Inc.
Copyright Copyright © 2009 HighPoint Technologies, Inc. This document contains materials protected by International Copyright Laws. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted or transcribed in any form and for any purpose without the express written permission of HighPoint Technologies, Inc. Trademarks Companies and products mentioned in this manual are for identification purpose only.
HIGHPOINT TECHNOLOGIES, INC................................................................... 5 HIGHPOINT ROCKETRAID 2700 SERIES – PCI-EXPRESS 2.0 ......................... 6 1 - Features and Specifications ............................................................................................................... 7 Physical Specifications ......................................................................................................................... 8 2 - Kit Contents..........................
- Web GUI - Configuring an Array................................................................................................... 37 Initializing a new hard drive................................................................................................................ 37 Create an Array .................................................................................................................................. 38 5 - Web GUI - Configuring Spare Disks ..........................................
HighPoint Technologies, Inc. HighPoint Technologies, long recognized as a leader in mass storage technologies specializes in the design and manufacturer of HBA (Host Bus Adapters) and HighPoint RAID IP (Intellectual Property). HighPoint provides a broad range of scalable hardware HBA’s that meet the storage requirements from Enterprise to SMB (Small Medium Sized Business) to PC enthusiast.
HighPoint RocketRAID 2700 Series – PCI-Express 2.0 RocketRAID 2710/2720/2722 HOST ADAPTER The RocketRAID 2710/272x host adapters are high-performance SAS RAID solutions, delivering reliability to demanding data-intensive applications such as tiered storage environments (disk-to-disk or disk-to-disk-to-tape backup), security and surveillance, video editing, and digital content creation.
1 - Features and Specifications Host Adapter Architecture PCI-Express x8 (Gen2) Support up to 4/8 SAS/SATA drives 1 Internal MiniSAS Connectors (SFF-8087) (RocketRAID 2710) 2 Internal MiniSAS Connectors (SFF-8087) (RocketRAID 2720) 2 External MiniSAS Connectors (SFF-8088) (RocketRAID 2722) NVRAM for write journaling Hot Swap and hot plug Low Profile RoHS complaint Advanced RAID Features Supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 ,50 and JBOD NCQ (Native Command Queuing) Auto detect of
Operating System Support Windows XP, 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit versions) Linux (Fedora Core, Red Hat Enterprise / CentOS, SuSE, Debian, Ubuntu) FreeBSD Physical Specifications Dimesnsions Size: 96.3mm X 65.0mm(RocketRAID 2710/2720) Size: 120.0mm X 68.
Hardware – Description and Installation 1.1-RocketRAID 2710/272x Host Adapter layout Illustration shows RocketRAID 2720 Port1、Port2 These represent the RocketRAID 2720’s 2 Internal Mini-SAS ports. Each port can directly support up to 4 SATA/SAS hard disks.
J1 This jumper supports SAF-TE interface (I2C). Pin Number PIN description Pin1 SCL Pin2 GND Pin3 SDA 1.2 – RocketRAID 2722 Port2、Port3 These represent the RocketRAID 2722’s External Mini-SAS ports. Each port can directly support up to 4 SATA/SAS hard disks. BEEP1-Speaker Alarm (speaker): the speaker emits and audible alarm in the case of Drive/array failure. J1 This jumper supports the SAF-TE interface (I2C).
2 - Installing the RocketRAID Host Adapter Note: Make sure the system is powered-off before installing the RocketRAID host adapter. The RocketRAID 2700 includes both standard and low-profile brackets. It may be necessary to attach the low-profile bracket in place of the standard bracket, depending upon the chassis design. 1. Open the system chassis and locate an unused PCI-Express x8. 2. Remove the PCI slot/bracket cover. 3.
RocketRAID BIOS Utility The RocketRAID 2700 card will display it's BIOS screen during the system's boot process. Press Control + H when prompted, to access the BIOS settings Menu. 1 - BIOS Settings Overview The RocketRAID 2700 BIOS utility is an interface that provides management commands and controller related settings. Using the BIOS Utility The following keys utilized by the RocketRAID 2700 BIOS utility: Alt – press Alt to highlight the tool bar.
BIOS Commands Create - this command is used to open the RAID Creation menu. Delete - this command will delete the selected RAID array. Add/Remove Spare - this command is used to assign hard disks to function as spare disks. The controller is capable of using spare disks to automatically rebuild broken or faulted RAID arrays.
Creating Arrays: Select Create from the toolbar and press Enter. 1. Use the arrow keys to select the RAID level and press ENTER. 2. Use the arrow keys to highlight the Array Name option and press Enter. The array name dialogue box will appear. Use the keyboard to input a new Array Name, and press the Enter key. Note: the Array Name command is optional – it is not necessary to name the array. The array can be named at a later time, and the name of the array can be changed at any time.
3. On the Create menu, use the arrow keys to highlight the Select Devices item and press Enter. A device list will appear, and display all available hard disk drives. 4. Highlight the target disks that you want to use, and press Enter to select them. A numeral will be displayed before each selected disk. This number designates disk order. After all of the disks have been selected and press the ESC key to return to the Create Menu. 5.
7. Sector Size – Also known as “Variable Sector Size”. Use this option if you are using an older 32-bit Windows operating system. This allows older operating systems to support volumes over 2TB in size. Do not use if the operating system already supports large volumes (such as GPT). 8. To complete the creation procedure, use the arrow key to highlight the Start Creation item and press Enter. Press the Y (yes) key to create the array, or N (no) key to cancel the creation process.
4 - Adding/Remove Spare Disks This Add/Remove Spare command is used to assign a hard disk to act as a Spare Disk. Spare Disks are used to automatically rebuild Redundant RAID arrays (RAID 1, 5, 10) in the case of disk failure. As with creating RAID arrays, disks must be initialized before they can be used as spares. To set a hard disk to act as a Spare Disk, use the arrow keys to select the target disk from the list of initialized disks, and press Enter.
HighPoint Software CD Each retail box includes a copy of the HighPoint Products Software CD. This CD can be used to generate driver diskettes, and install the HighPoint RAID Management Utility Suite for a variety of operating systems. Creating a driver diskette Windows XP, 2003 and several distributions of Linux and FreeBSD require driver diskettes when installing the operating system directly to a disk or array hosted by the Rocket RAID host adapter. To create a driver floppy diskette: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Device Driver Installation – Windows Operating Systems We recommend visiting the RocketRAID download pages for the latest Windows Device Driver updates: http://highpoint-tech.com Select BIOS&Driver – this will display a list of our controller card products. Click on the link provided for the corresponding RR27xx host adapter. Drivers are posted in .zip archive format. Most Windows operating systems will recognize this archive format, natively.
RocketRAID 2700 Windows Driver Installation Windows XP, 2003 Installing the RocketRAID driver for an existing Windows system After the operating system has booted, the Hardware Wizard will detected the card and request that the Device Driver be installed. 1. When the “Found New Hardware Wizard” window appears and asks to search online, select “No, not this time”. 2. Select “Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)”, and click Next to continue.
3. Click on the “Include this location in the search” option, and click “Browse”. Browse to the location of the driver and click Next. 4. Windows will display a warning message that states the driver has “not been signed”. Select “Continue Anyway”.
5. Click finish when prompted. When Windows asks to reboot the system, choose Yes. Installing the RocketRAID driver during a fresh Windows installation 1. After booting from the Windows CD or DVD-ROM, when the Windows Setup blue screen appears, look towards the bottom of the screen. Windows will prompt you to press the F6 key if you want to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver. Press the F6 key at this time. 2.
RocketRAID 2700 Windows 7/Vista/Windows 2008 Driver Installation Installing the driver for an existing Windows 7, Vista and 2008 system 1. Install the RocketRAID host adapter into the PC, then boot up Windows Vista. 2. Windows should automatically detect the card, and display the “Found New Hardware” wizard pop-up window. Select “Locate and install driver software”. When Windows asks: “Windows needs your permission to continue”, select “continue”. 3.
4. Select “I don’t have disc, show me other options”. 5. and then select “Browse my computer for driver software”. .
6. Browse to the location of the driver and click “Next”. 7. When asked: “Would you like to install this driver software?”, select “Install”.
8. Reboot the system when prompted. The RocketRAID host adapter will be ready for use after Windows reboots. Installing the driver during a fresh Windows 7, 2008, Vista installation 1. Boot from the Windows Installation DVD. 2. When the screen “where do you want to install Windows” appears, click “Load driver” and browse for the driver location. Windows can install drivers from several media types: floppy diskette, USB flash disk or CD. 3. Select the RocketRAID 2700 controller driver, and click “Next”. 4.
Linux and FreeBSD Device Driver installation Binary and source driver updates are routinely posted for a variety of older Linux operating systems including past versions of Red Hat Enterprise, CentOS, OpenSuSE, and Fedora Core. Drivers are also available for several FreeBSD revisions, and are available from the same support page: Several driver sets are included with the RocketRAID Software CD. Each binary driver and source package includes an installation guide (.pdf format).
HighPoint RAID Management Utilities (HRM) – Web GUI / CLI The HighPoint RAID Management Utility Suite, also known as “HRM”, includes several user interface options. The latest version of the Web Management utility user manual, is available from our website. Windows Operating Systems – Installing the Web GUI From the Software CD. Click on “Install RAID Management Software”. Select the desired software from the drop down menu, and click on the “OK” button.
Debian/Ubuntu Linux Distributions – Installing the Web-based Management Utility For Debian/Ubuntu Linux distributions, you can use alien to convert the rpm packages to a .deb package, then use "dpkg -i" command to install each package. Some script files may be lost during the conversion process from rpm to .deb, so you may need to make manual corrections. . The following files will be installed/configured: /usr/bin/hptsvr - service program /etc/hptcfg - service config file /etc/rc.d/init.
1 - Installing the Web GUI (v1.5) - Windows Operating Systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, Windows 7) 1) After downloading the Web GUI, double-click the zip file to view the contents. Double-click “Setup” to start installation. If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows 7, 2008 or Vista, you may need to right-click the icon, and select “Run as Administrator.
2) The HighPoint Web RAID Management Service install screen will display.
4) Specify the Destination folder and click Next: Confirm the install location, and click Next: 32
5) Select the SAF-TE configuration file for the system’s chassis. If the system does not support SAF-TE, select the default option “Skip and Configure Later”. 6) Specify the listening port. 7402 is the default setting, and recommended for most systems.
7) Choose to enable or disable Remote Access. Remote access allows the card to be managed via a Web browser from a separate system.
2 - Starting the Web GUI 1) Double-click the “HighPoint Web RAID Management” Icon on the the Desktop to start the Web GUI. The system’s default Web Browser will open the following page: 2) Type in the default username and password to start the Web GUI: Username: RAID Password: hpt Note: The password can be changed using the “Settings” menu from the toolbar. 3) Click Login.
3 - Web GUI – Icon Definitions The Rocket RAID Web GUI uses a variety of Icons to represent various states or functions. The following is a list of common icons, and their definitions. 1. ：“Critical-broken” status. Fault-tolerance is disabled. The array requires a replacement disk in order to rebuild parity. 2. ：“Verifying” status. The controller is checking the consistency of RAID data. 3. ：“Rebuilding” status. The controller is rebuilding the array. 4.
4 - Web GUI - Configuring an Array This guide assumes that the hard disks have already been installed into the external chassis, and attached to the card. These hard disks must be initialized before they can be configured as arrays. Initializing a new hard drive Use the Initialize Devices option to prepare hard disks for use (creating arrays, rebuilding arrays, expanding arrays, Spare disks). 1. Open the Web GUI interface, log-on, and select “Manage”, then “Device” from the toolbar: 2.
Create an Array To create an array, select Manage – Array from the Web RAID Management Utility’s toolbar. This will open the Manage Array menu: To create an array: 1) Select the desired RAID level from the Array Type drop down menu: 2) Name the array – enter a name for the array, using the Array Name filed (optional). 3) When creating a Redundant Array (RAID 1, 3, 5, 10, 50), specify an initialization method.
Foreground: The RAID initialization process will be set as high priority. The array cannot be utilized this procedure is complete, but the build process will take considerably less time, as the host adapter will dedicate it’s resources to completing this task. This is most secure option. Background: This option lowers the priority of RAID initialization. This option will start to build parity like the Foreground option, but at a lesser rate of speed. This option allows the array to be accessed immediately.
5 - Web GUI - Configuring Spare Disks The term “Spare Disk” refers to a hard disk, or dedicated disk space, that is used to rebuild a RAID array in the case of hard disk failure. If free ports/channels are available, spare disks are ideal for minimizing g downtime – the administrator does not have to work directly with the storage devices, nor install or remove any additional hardware in order to rebuild parity.
2) Click “OK” when the pop-up window is displayed. This will add the disk to the Spare Pool.
6 - Web GUI - Recovering an Array When a redundant array’s status is ”Critical”, fault tolerance is disabled. The array is can be used in this format, but should be rebuild as soon as possible. If a Spare disk was configured, the RocketRAID 2700 will use this disk to automatically rebuild the array. If a spare is not available, the array can be rebuilt manually. If Auto-Rebuild is enabled, simply install a new disk – the RocketRAID 2700 will initialize the drive, and initiate the rebuild process.
2) Click “Add Disk”. 3) Select the desired drive and click “submit. 4) The Web GUI will initiate the rebuild procedure, and display a progress bar.
7 - Web GUI - Maintaining RAID Arrays Regular scheduled RAID Maintenance is essential to data security. We recommend routine RAID verification sessions to ensure the parity of redundant arrays is properly synchronized. Unsynchronized arrays face an elevated risk of data loss in the event of hardware failure, even if the array itself is left intact. To schedule maintenance sessions, or “Tasks”, select the “Task” option from the utility toolbar.
Removing Tasks 1) From the task List, Check the box before the target Task and click “Delete”.
SHI – Storage Health Inspector The Storage Health Inspector section provides real-time device related information including temperature readings, bad sector counts, and access to SMART data. Click “SMART” besides each disk to see its SMART attribute status. SMART attributes vary based on the disk model and manufacturer. This information is reported by the drives themselves – SHI simply displays and organizes this data.
8 - Web GUI - Safeguarding your Array The RocketRAID Host Adapter provides a number of innovative maintenance and notification features designed to help streamline the administration of critical data storage, and minimize downtime in the case of a major hardware failure.
Enable Audible Alarm – enable or disable the card’s alarm. The alarm will sound if the a disk or array stops responding. Event Log Path – Use this to select the location of the Web GUI’s event log. Enable Continue to Rebuild on Error – this setting is disabled by default. We do not recommend using unless replacement disks are unavailable, or if recommended by a Customer Support technician. Set Rebuild Priority – The default setting is Medium.
9 - Web GUI - Event Notification The RocketRAID 2700 host adapters will record Administrator activity or RAID related errors to the Web GUI’s Event Log. Data recorded to the event log is classified as an “event”. From the toolbar, click “Event”. The Event Log records and presents three types of “Events”: Information: Information data includes all general user/administrator activity (creating/deleting arrays, configuring spares, rebuilding arrays, configuring event notification and maintenance tasks, etc.
Configuring SMTP (E-mail) Notification The Web GUI provides an SMTP notification system – this feature can be used to instruct the Web GUI to send Event data to an Email address. This feature is useful for remote maintenance sessions. To configure E-mail notification, select Settings – Email from the utility toolbar: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Enable event notification – click on the box provided before “Enable Event Notification”. Enter the E-mail Server Address. Specify the E-mail “From” address.
10 - Web GUI - Advanced RAID Functions (Windows VSS, OCE/ORLM) VSS – Variable Sector Size Variable Sector size allows you specify the sector size when creating a RAID array. This feature allows older, 32-bit versions of Windows 2000 and XP to support volumes over 2TB. This feature is limited to data volumes – boot volumes are still limited to 2TB in size.
2. After selecting the block size, the Web GUI will display a warning message: Select OK to continue. Click the “Create” button once more to create the array. 3. The Web GUI will notify you that the array has been successfully created. Click OK to confirm. 4. After creating the array, access the Windows Disk Management utility. Click the “Start” button and select “Control Panel”.
5. Double-click “Administrative Tools”. 6. Double-Click “Computer Management”. 7. Under “Storage”, click on the folder icon labeled “Disk Management”. Disk Management should open the Disk Wizard. Click “Next” to initialize the new volume.
Disk Management 8.
9. Click “Finish” to continue. 10. Right-click the “Unallocated” box and select “New Partition”. 11. Partition and format the array as desired.
Online Capacity Expansion and RAID Level Migration (OCE/ORLM) OCE/ORLM allows you to add hard disks to an existing RAID array, and/or convert the array to another RAID level. Data stored on the array is not lost during this procedure. The procedure described below documents the expansion of a 3-disk 2TB RAID 5 array to a 4-disk, 3TB RAID 5 array. 1. Start the Web GUI and logon. Click “Maintenance” to the right of the target array. 2.
a) Target Name – The GUI will ask that you enter a “new” name for reference (the previous RAID configuration will be displayed until the procedure is complete). The name can be changed after the array has been fully expanded/migrated. b) Specify the Cache policy (Write Back is default). c) Specify the block size (note: not available for all controller models – check the product documentation). d) Select the existing RAID disks, and the disks you wish to add to the array. e) Specify the capacity.
4. The Web GUI will notify you when the process starts. A progress bar will be displayed under the Status column of the Manage-Array menu. 5. After the expansion/migration process is complete, Disk Management should recognize the additional capacity. You are free to create a second partition, or expand the existing partition. Notes: Bootable volumes should not be expanded beyond 2TB – Windows will not recognize the additional capacity.
Customer Support If you encounter any problems while utilizing the RocketRAID host adapter, or have any questions about about this or any other HighPoint Technologies, Inc. product, feel free to contact our Customer Support Department. Troubleshooting Checklist Before contacting our Customer Support department: Make sure the latest BIOS, driver and HighPoint RAID Management software has beein installed for the host adapter. The latest updates are available from our website.
Thank You Thank you for purchasing the RocketRAID 2700 SATAII RAID Host adapter. We appreciate your support, and welcome any questions, comments or product suggestions you may have. Contact Us HighPoint Corporate Headquaters USA Address 1161 Cadillac Ct. Milpitas, CA, 95035 Website: http://www.highpoint-tech.com Phone: 1-408-942-5800 (9 am ~ 6 pm PST, M-F) Fax: 1-408-942-5801 E-mail: sales@highpoint-tech.com Support: support@highpoint-tech.com Web Support: http://www.highpoint-tech.
FCC Part 15 Class B Radio Frequency Interference statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
