Intel®RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX Quick Installation Guide Intel Order Number: G78583-002
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Preface This is the primary hardware guide for the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX. It contains installation instructions and specifications. Audience The people who benefit from this document are: • Engineers who are designing an Intel® RAID Controller. • Anyone installing an Intel® RAID Controller. Organization This document includes the following chapters and appendices: • Chapter 1 provides a general overview of the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX.
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Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................ iii Audience ............................................................................................................................... iii Organization ......................................................................................................................... iii Related Publication .............................................................
Types of Caching Configurations ...........................................................................39 Nytro Cache Related Options with CmdTool2 ..................................................................... 39 Creating a Nytro Cache Volume ................................................................................. 39 Deleting a Nytro Cache Drive ...................................................................................... 39 Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller DRAM Cache .........
List of Figures Figure 1. Data Flow on a Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX 2 Figure 2. Example of an Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX with Direct-Connect Application........................................................................................................ 4 Figure 3. Installation Flowchart ................................................................................................. 5 Figure 4. Customer Information Window.......................
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List of Tables Table 1. Create a Solid State Cache Drive to Use as Secondary Cache ................................39 Table 2. Delete Nytro Cache Drive ..........................................................................................
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1 Overview of Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX The Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX is a combination of Intel® proven MegaRAID controller technology coupled with built-in Flash modules to be used as data cache devices with the help of Intel® SSD Cache 2.0 software.
AF005946 Figure 1. Data Flow on a Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX This guide describes the steps necessary to install and configure the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX Application Acceleration Card and how to use the configuration utility to monitor and configure your card. Note: Convention of usage of important terms: Nytro Cache: This term refers to the on-board Flash module is used for user data cache, called Nytro Cache.
Configuring the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX You can use the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX in the following scenarios: • Low-end, internal SATA configuration: In this configuration, use the RAID card as a high-end SATA, SATA II, or SATA III compatible card that directly-connects up to four drives or an internal expander. This configuration is mostly for low-end or entry servers. Enclosure management is provided through an out-of-band I2C bus.
The following figure shows a direct-connect configuration. The Inter-IC (I2C) interface communicates with peripherals. The external memory bus provides a 32-bit memory bus, parity checking, and chip select signals for pipelined synchronous burst static random access memory (PSBRAM), non-volatile static random access memory (NVSRAM), and Flash ROM. The card can connect to an internal drive bay that uses an expander. Figure 2.
2 Hardware and Software Installation Overview The following flowchart shows the steps necessary to configure your Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX and RAID system. Figure 3.
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3 Installing the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX Use the following steps to install your Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX. These steps are for experienced computer users or installers. 1. Unpack the card and inspect it for damage. Unpack the card in a static-free environment, and follow good antistatic grounding procedures. Remove the card from the antistatic bag, and carefully inspect the device for damage.
7. Secure the card to the server’s chassis. Install the bracket screw, if applicable, or engage the server retention mechanism to secure the card to the server’s chassis. 8. Connect SAS or SATA devices to the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX. Make sure that the cable you use conforms to all specifications. 9. Perform a safety check. Make sure the cables and card are installed correctly, then close cabinet. 10. Reconnect the AC power cord to the server. 11.
4 Operating Systems Supported The Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX supports the following operating systems: • Microsoft Windows XP-SP2* (64-bit only), Windows Server 2003-SP2*, Windows Vista-SP2*, Windows Server 2008-SP2*, Windows 7-SP1*, and Windows Server 2008 R2-SP1* • Linux* SLES10-SP4, Linux* SLES11 GA, and Linux* SLES11-SP1 • Linux* RHEL 5.6, Linux* RHEL 6.0, Linux* RHEL 6.1, and Linux* RHEL 6.2 • VMware* 4.0 ESX, VMware* 4.0 ESXi, VMware* 4.1 ESX, VMware* 4.
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5 Installing an Operating System Driver Installing the Driver in Windows* Perform the following steps to install the MegaSAS device driver in a Windows* system. 1. The server first starts up. 2. Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller firmware gets initialized. 3. The system starts up OS. After successful log in, the OS finds new hardware, the install driver wizard appears, 'Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard' if not, select My Computer > Manage > Device Manager to start the Hardware Wizard. 4.
Installing from a Driver Update Diskette Perform the following steps to install the MegaSAS device driver in a new Red Hat* Enterprise Linux* OS, create the driver update diskette using the Linux* driver image: 1. Boot the server with the installation CD or DVD. Refer to your system documentation, if needed. 2. Enter the following boot option to load the driver disk during installation: linux dd. 3. Press Enter to continue the install. 4. When prompted, insert the driver diskette.
— Press F6 for SuSE Linux* Enterprise Server 11. 3. Continue the installation procedure and, when prompted, insert the driver diskette. The utility locates and loads the driver for your controller. 4. Press Alt+Ctrl+F4 to verify that the driver is loaded. 5. Press Alt+Ctrl+F1 to return to the installation. 6. Follow the SuSE installation procedure to complete the installation. Note: If you use Service Pack (SP) 1 or SP 2, you need to load the driver.
6. Click Next. A dialog warns that you will lose data if you click Clear Configuration or New Configuration. The WebBIOS Configuration Method window appears. 7. Select Manual Configuration. Manual configuration lets you control all attributes of the new storage configuration as you create drive groups and virtual drives, and set their parameters. 8. Click Next. The Disk Group Definition window appears. You use this window to select drives to create drive groups. 9.
Ahead: Enable read-ahead capability, which permits the controller to read sequentially ahead of requested data and to store the additional data in cache memory, anticipating that the data will be needed soon. This setting speeds up reads for sequential data, but little improvement exists when accessing random data. — Write Policy: Specify the write policy for this virtual drive.
panel on the right. You may specify a smaller size if you want to create other virtual drives on the same drive group. — Update Size: Click Update Size to update the Select size field value for the selected RAID levels. 16. Either click Accept to accept the changes to the virtual drive definition, or click Reclaim to return to the previous settings. 17. Click Next when you are finished defining virtual drives. The Configuration Preview window appears. 18. Check the information in the configuration preview.
6 Installing Intel® RAID Web Console 2 (RWC2) This section explains how to install (or reinstall) the Intel® RAID Web Console 2 on your workstation or on your server for the supported operating systems: Microsoft Windows*. To install the Intel® RAID Web Console 2 on Red Hat* Linux* (except RHEL 3/4), and SUSE Linux*, see the Intel® RAID Software User’s Guide.
Note: StoreLib libraries need the capability to be installed with more than one version. All the storeLib libraries have been moved to a private location. Please do a clean un-installation and only then install the Intel® RAID Web Console 2 to avoid any conflicts.
— If you select the All users radio button, any user with administrative privileges can use this version of the MegaRAID Storage Manager software to view or change storage configurations. — If you select the Only for current user radio button, the MegaRAID Storage Manager software shortcuts and associated icons are available only to the user with this user name. 5. Click Next to continue. 6.
7. Click Next to continue. The Setup Type window appears, as shown in the following figure. Figure 6. Setup Type Window 8. Select one of the setup options. The options are fully explained in the window text. — Select the Complete radio button if you are installing the Intel® RAID Web Console 2 on a server. — Select the Custom Installation radio button if you want to select individual program components. 9. Click Next to continue.
Figure 7. LDAP Logon Information 10. To specify LDAP configuration details, select Yes, and perform the following sub steps, or if you do not want to specify LDAP configuration details, click No and click Next. a. Enter the LDAP server’s IP address in the Server IP field. b. Enter the LDAP server’s user name in the User name field. An example of a user name can be username@testldap.com. c. Enter the name of the Domain Controller in the Distinguished User name field.
13. Select one of the setup options. See Setup Options, for specific information. Figure 8. Custom Setup Window 14. Click Next to proceed. 15. Click Install to install the program. 16. When the final Configuration Wizard window appears, click Finish.
Console 2 in Client mode on a laptop or a desktop, you can log in to a specific server by providing the IP address. • Select the Server radio button to install only those components required for remote server management. To begin installation, click on Install on the next window that appears. • Select the StandAlone radio button if you want to use the Intel® RAID Web Console 2 to create and manage storage configurations on a stand-alone workstation.
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7 Getting Started With Intel®RAID SSD Cache Controller Note: Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller Caching group is created by default when you install a Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller for the first time. If you want to create a Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller Caching group manually, use the steps provided in the section below, Manual Configuration. Auto Configuration Note: The Auto configuration method, R1 using the Flash Memory module is created with WB write policy option only.
These are the typical operations performed: • Clear the configuration. • Create configuration. — Create VD. — Create Nytro Cache. For more information about using Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller on WebBIOS, see Chapter 6, Configuration and Chapter 8, WebBIOS Configuration Utility. For more information about using Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller on CmdTool2, see Chapter 9, MegaRAID Command Tool.
The Create Nytro MR Cache Drive group dialog appears. AF005947 Figure 9. Create Nytro MR Cache Drive Group - First Screen 3. Select a RAID level for the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller Cache VD from the RAID level list. After you select an unconfigured Flash memory drive, the Add button is enabled. 4. Click Add to add the selected Flash memory drive into the Nytro Cache Drive Group box on the right pane. After you click Add, the Create Drive Group button is enabled. 5. Click Create Drive Group. 6.
The following dialog appears. AF005948 Figure 10. Create Nytro MR Cache Virtual Drive 1 The newly created Nytro MR Cache drive group appears in the Nytro Cache Drive Group box on the right pane. 8. Click Create Virtual Drive. 9. Click Next.
The following dialog appears. AF005949 Figure 11. Create Nytro MR Cache Virtual Drive 2 The Nytro Cache VD is created under the Nytro Cache Drive Group as shown in the preceding figure. 10. Click Next.
The Summary dialog appears. AF005950 Figure 12. Create Nytro MR Cache - Summary 11. Click Finish.
The following dialog appears confirming the creation of VD. AF005951 Figure 13. Create Nytro MR Cache - VD Created Summary The summary dialog appears. Check the details added. 12. Click Finish on the dialog. Select the Logical tab to check the details of the VD. Nytro Write Back Caching R1 WB caching delivers high application performance acceleration for write-intensive random I/O workloads.
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8 Using Nytro Cache This chapter helps you use Nytro Cache functionality. Note: Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller firmware monitors the I/O performance; it accommodates the Nytro Cache statistics. The Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller Cache metric are captured for each virtual drive (VD) that has Cache enabled.
AF005952 Figure 14. Enable SSD Caching on New Virtual Drives If there are multiple VDs displayed, select the required VD and click Yes. The VD is now associated. Note: During I/O, the controller automatically uses this Nytro Cache VD. Note: You can select the Enable check box on the Enable Nytro Caching on New VD dialog to associate the Nytro Cache VD anytime later. 3. Check if the source VD is associated with Nytro Cache VD. 4. Click the source VD under the controller. 5.
AF005953 Figure 15. Nytro Cache Properties 6. Right-click the source VD to view whether the Disable the Nytro Caching option shows, (it must show). • Scenario 2: You do not have a source VD or Nytro Cache VD at all. 1. Create a source VD using the RWC2 application (normal RAID creation method), at the time of creating a source VD. 2. Click the Finish button. The Enable Nytro Caching on New VD dialog appears (see Figure 12). 3.
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9 Booting the system There are two ways to boot your system: Not booting from Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller and booting from Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller. Booting from a device not managed by a Intel®RAID SSD Cache Controller Boot system and install Windows driver After installing the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller, boot the system by turning it on. For detailed information, see chapters 5 and 6 of this document.
Figure 16. WebBIOS Configuration Utility Main Dialog When in the Logical View, on the left you can select the Physical View and when in the Physical View you can select the Logical View. Each view is different but of the same configuration. Using WebBIOS to Configure a HDD Virtual Drive as a Boot drive For detailed information on how to use the webBIOS to configure a HDD VD as a boot drive, see the Intel® RAID Software User’s Guide.
10 Types of Caching Configurations There are three different levels of Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller data caching: • Drive cache (enabled/associated or disabled/disassociated) • Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller DRAM caching used for optimizing RAID operations (Write Through or Write Back requires power backup) • Nytro caching VD used to accelerate frequently accessed application data Nytro Cache Related Options with CmdTool2 Creating a Nytro Cache Volume Use the CmdTool2 command in the following tabl
Intel®RAID SSD Cache Controller DRAM Cache Cache Offload is a method to backup the contents of the cache into the Flash drives, which are nonvolatile on-board Flash components on the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller. This feature deploys a method to backup, save, and persist the controller cache for Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controllers during unexpected power loss conditions.
11 Other Documents Following is a list of documents that support the Intel® RAID SSD Cache Controller RCS25ZB040/RCS25ZB040LX. These documents help you customize Nytro Cache VD RAID level and caching modes. They also help with customizing HDD VD configuration and settings.
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