DAC960PG and DAC960PJ PCI to Ultra SCSI RAID Controller Installation Guide Part Number 775012-00 © Copyright 1998 Mylex Corporation. All Rights Reserved. All contents of this manual are copyrighted by Mylex Corporation.
Greetings Thank you for purchasing a Mylex DAC960 RAID controller. Requests for technical information about this and other Mylex Corporation products should be made to your Mylex authorized reseller or Mylex marketing representative. Please Notice Mylex and DAC960 are registered trademarks of Mylex Corporation. Global Array Manager and GAM are trademarks of Mylex Corporation. MS-DOS, Windows 95,and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
About This Manual This installation guide covers hardware set-up and configuration procedures necessary for the installation of Mylex DAC960PG and DAC960PJ PCI to Ultra SCSI RAID controllers. Chapter 1 describes the controllers, standard package contents, and usersupplied items necessary for installation. Chapter 2 describes steps to be performed prior to controller installation. Chapter 3 describes installation of the controller. Chapter 4 describes controller start-up and the BIOS resident utilities.
Contents Chapter 1 Introduction Product Description ........................................................................... Controller Features and Functions ............................................. Operating System Support ......................................................... Standard Package Contents ............................................................. Hardware.................................................................................... Software ..............................
Appendix A IBBU Option Product Description ........................................................................... A-1 Features ..................................................................................... A-1 Installation ......................................................................................... A-2 Operation ........................................................................................... A-4 Battery Conditioning Prior to Use ..........................................
Appendix D Regulatory Information FCC Class B Compliance........................................................... D-1 FCC Declaration of Conformity .................................................. D-2 Community of Europe ................................................................ D-3 Underwriters Laboratories Listed ...............................................
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Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter covers: • Product description • Standard package contents • User supplied items Figure 1-1. DAC960PG/PJ Disk Array Controllers Product Description The Mylex DAC960PG™ and DAC960PJ™ controllers are 32-bit PCI to Ultra SCSI RAID controllers designed for high performance file servers.
Standard Package Contents Controller Features and Functions Features of the DAC960PG and DAC960PJ controllers include: • Ultra SCSI drive channels that support RAID levels 0, 1, 3, 5, 0+1, 10, 30, and 50 • Single-Ended Wide Ultra SCSI (Fast 20) drive support • High performance RISC processor and EDO ECC DRAM cache (4MB to 128MB) for high speed, fault tolerant I/O transfers • 512KB, 8-bit flash EEPROM for BIOS and code supports future enhancements through firmware upgrades • Built-in configuration utilities
Introduction ☛ Note A loopback terminator plug must be installed on the full-length version of the DAC960PG/PJ controller’s IBBU connector if the optional IBBU is not present.
User-supplied Items User-supplied Items The following user-supplied items are required to perform this installation: • IBM-PC™ compatible host system with an available PCI slot • Network operating system software (as required) • SCSI cables to connect the controller and disk drives • Static grounding strap or electrostatic discharge (ESD) safe work area • Disk array enclosure (or equivalent) and SCSI disk drives* *SCSI drive compatibility list is available from Mylex Technical support 1-4 DAC960PG/PJ Ins
Chapter 2 Preinstallation Planning This chapter covers: • SCSI termination • SCSI cabling • SCSI drive preparation • Limitations on mixing Narrow and Wide SCSI drives Mylex Disk Array Controllers are designed to work in a variety of SCSI RAID application environments. Certain configuration steps need to be performed prior to installing the controller into a RAID environment.
SCSI Termination SCSI Termination The DAC960PG and DAC960PJ are equipped with automatic SCSI termination circuitry. If the controller is at the end of a SCSI bus, it automatically enables on-board termination. If all the SCSI devices on a channel are connected either to an internal connector of a channel, or to an external connector of a channel, the end of the SCSI bus farthest from the controller must have a terminator installed. In this case, the controller automatically enables on-board termination.
Preinstallation Planning T Auto Termination Enabled T External Drive Configuration T T Auto Termination Enabled Internal Drive Configuration T Auto Termination Disabled T Internal – External Drive Configuration Figure 2-1.
SCSI Cabling SCSI Cabling Each Ultra SCSI channel supports up to 15 drives. The total allowable SCSI bus lengths will be limited to the single-ended bus lengths shown in Table 2-1. Table 2-1. Supported SCSI Formats and Bus Lengths SCSI Drive Type* Bus Speed, Bus Width, Bus Length, Drives** per Max.(MB/Sec) (Bits) Max.(Meters) Channel, Max. SCSI-1 5 8 6 Fast SCSI Fast Wide SCSI 7 10 8 3 7 20 16 3 15 Ultra SCSI 20 8 1.
Preinstallation Planning SCSI Drive Preparation Prepare the drives for installation as follows: • Remove any terminators attached to the drive or set any drive termination jumpers to the disabled position. • Set the SCSI addresses on the drives. ☛ Note Each drive on a channel must have a unique ID chosen from 0 through 6 or 8 through 15. ID 7 cannot be used as a drive ID because it is reserved for the controller. • Enable term power on the drives.
Mixing Narrow and Wide SCSI Devices 2-6 DAC960PG/PJ Installation Guide
Chapter 3 Installation This chapter covers: • Preparation • Connectors and jumpers • Safety considerations • Controller installation procedures Before You Begin Installing a Mylex DAC960 PCI to Ultra SCSI RAID controller is no more difficult than installing any PCI adapter card. Follow these steps and then follow the installation procedures in this chapter. , WARNING Disconnect the system from the electrical wall outlet before opening the system cabinet.
Connectors and Jumpers Connectors and Jumpers Up to three Ultra SCSI channels are supported on the DAC960PG/PJ. The SCSI connector locations are shown in Figure 3-1. Be sure that the Jumper JP6 has a jumper installed (see Figure 3-1 and Table 3-1). ☛ Note The half-card has only one SCSI channel. Its jumpers are numbered differently than on the full size cards. See Figure 3-2 and Table 3-2 for half-card connector and jumper references.
Installation Internal Channel 0 Connector JP1 JP4 JP5 J1 J2 JP10 External Channel 0 Connector Figure 3-2. Half-card Component Layout Table 3-2.
Connectors and Jumpers External SCSI Connectors The external connectors on the controller are female, Dual In-line Micro SCSI connectors. Figure 3-3 shows the configurations that are available on both the DAC960PG and the DAC960PJ. A DAC960PG 1-Channel B DAC960PG 2-, 3-Channel DAC960PJ 2-Channel C DAC960PJ 3-Channel Figure 3-3. Configurations of 1, 2, and 3 External SCSI Connectors The corresponding cable connector that fits the controller is available from AMP and from Honda.
Installation Figure 3-4. Offset Hood Cable Assembly Alignment, 3-Channel DAC960PJ Safety Considerations Be sure to observe the following precautions before beginning the controller installation procedure: m Caution Anti-static handling procedures are required. Leave the controller in its anti-static bag until it is time to plug the controller into the PCI slot. The use of a grounded wrist strap and other ESD protective measures are highly recommended.
Installing the Controller Installing the Controller ☛ Note If an Intelligent Battery Backup Unit (IBBU) is to be installed on a full-length card, it should be done before the controller is installed into the host system. Refer to Appendix A for information on installing the IBBU. Follow these steps: 1. Power-off all enclosures and the system components and disconnect their power cords. 2. Remove the covers or the cabinet as necessary to access the I/O slots on the system board. 3.
Chapter 4 Controller Start-up This chapter covers: • Start-up procedures • BIOS options • Driver installation • What to check in case of problems This chapter describes the DAC960PG and DAC960PJ controller start-up procedures and messages produced by the BIOS during start-up or re-boot, and explains the BIOS options that are available for configuring controller operation. This chapter also contains a brief introduction of necessary software configuration with references to additional documentation.
Controller Start-up Controller Start-up The controller start-up procedure is the first step in confirming that the controller is correctly installed and working properly. The start-up procedure should be performed prior to any software configuration. BIOS Start-up Sequence After physically installing the controller and connecting the cabling, do the following: 1. Power on the computer. 2. Watch the messages on the screen for the following prompt to be displayed: Press Alt-M for BIOS options 3.
Controller Start-up Other BIOS Options In addition to Configure MDAC, the other available BIOS options are: • BIOS disabled / enabled • CD-ROM boot disabled / disabled • 2GB / 8GB drive geometry BIOS Disable or Enable This option must be enabled in order to change the following BIOS options. When BIOS Disable or Enable is selected, the following message will be displayed. Pressing any key will restart the system.
Controller Start-up Enable 8GByte or 2GByte Drives This setting affects how the BIOS reads the disk drives. Drive geometries can be toggled between 8 GB and 2 GB. The default is 2 GB. The drive geometry must be set, and then the drive must be formatted (or reformatted). The default BIOS geometry of the controller is set to 2 GB. This means that the BIOS only sees the first 2 GB of any drive that has been configured on the controller.
Controller Start-up Device Drivers Device drivers that make the controller compatible with the supported operating systems can be found in the Mylex Disk Array Controller Software Kit. For details on how to install and load drivers, refer to the Disk Array Controller Software Kit Installation Guide and User Manual (P/N 771929). Global Array Manager (GAM) The controller can be configured using GAM.
In Case of Problems 4-6 DAC960PG/PJ Installation Guide
Appendix A IBBU Option Product Description The Intelligent Battery Backup Unit (IBBU) option is an add-on module that protects the data in the RAID controller’s cache memory in the event of a power failure. This option is available only for full-length form factor versions of the DAC960PG/PJ PCI to Ultra-SCSI RAID Controller. The battery backup module monitors the write back cache on the DAC960PG/PJ, and provides power to the cache if it contains data not yet written to the drives when power is lost.
Installation Installation Tools Needed The only tool needed for the installation is a small, flat-blade screwdriver Procedure 1. If the DAC960PG/PJ is not already removed from the system, power the system down and then remove the DAC960PG/PJ. , WARNING Disconnect the system from the electrical wall outlet before opening the system cabinet. Working with the system covers off and power applied to the system can result in shock and serious injury. 2. Remove the loopback plug from J5 on the DAC960PG/PJ.
IBBU Option 3. Remove the protective pin cover and peel-off label from J1 on the IBBU. 4. Leaving the 4 standoffs attached to the IBBU, remove a nylon screw from the free end of each nylon standoff. Nylon Screw Standoffs Figure A-3. Installing the IBBU 5. Install the IBBU so that J1 on the IBBU connects to J5 on the DAC960PG/PJ. Pin 1 on the IBBU’s J1 must connect to hole 1 on the DAC960PG/PJ’s J5.
Operation Operation Battery Conditioning Prior to Use Battery conditioning is automatic. There are no manual procedures for battery conditioning or preconditioning to be performed by the user. Set-up – Enabling the Write-Back Cache The write-back cache is enabled by toggling the write-back/write-through mode switch. The write-back/write-through mode switch is accessed in the Onboard Configuration Utility, DACCF, or in GAM.
IBBU Option Maintenance No end user maintenance is required on the IBBU. It is recommended, however, that the battery charge level be periodically checked using the Gas Gauge function in GAM (see the Global Array Manager Client Software Installation Guide and User Manual). Removing the Battery Backup Module The battery backup module will need to be removed for one of the following reasons: 1. The NiCd battery will no longer accept a charge properly (NiCd battery life expectancy is approximately 5 years).
Functional Description Functional Description General Operational Description Whenever the system is running, the IBBU is standing by, monitoring the voltage level of VCC. In the event of a power failure, the VCC voltage level will begin to drop. When the IBBU detects this voltage drop, it checks the status of the disk cache. If the cache is empty, the IBBU does nothing. If the cache contains data during a power failure, the IBBU will maintain cache data integrity until the power is restored.
IBBU Option Battery and Charge Circuit On-board Battery The on-board battery is rated at 3.6 v with a capacity of 650 mAH. The IBBU has a DC-DC converter that converts the 3.6 v from the battery to 5 v, which is the nominal voltage needed to replace VCC if a power failure should occur. Battery Charger Battery charging and conditioning are automatically handled by the IBBU. No manual preconditioning needs to be performed by the user.
IBBU Specifications IBBU Specifications On-board Battery Electrical Properties • 3 NiCd 1.2 V, 650 mAH cells, connected in series for a total of 3.6V at 650mAH Physical Description • Nominal pack size (in inches): 1.89(L) X 2.01(W) X 0.33 (H) Battery Charge Life Depends upon memory in use External Battery Not supported Module Dimensions Length: 3.75 inches Width: 2.
Appendix B DAC960PG/PJ Specifications General Hardware Specifications DAC960PG Controller DAC960PG CPU Intel i960 RP® RISC 32-bit microprocessor, 33MHz Memory EDO ECC RAM, 60ns, 72-pin SIMM, n x 40 (Use only Mylex supplied SIMMS) Minimum: 4 MB Optional: 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 MB Cache Write: Selectable – Write Through or Write Back Error Protection: Error Correction Code (ECC) Firmware PCI ROM Type, Flash EEPROM, 512K x 8 I/O Processor: Embedded Intel i960 RP 32-bit bus Transfer Rate - Up to 133MB/
General Hardware Specifications DAC960PJ Controller DAC960PJ CPU Intel i960 RD® RISC 32-bit microprocessor, 66MHz Memory EDO ECC RAM, 60ns, 72-pin SIMM, n x 40 (Use only Mylex supplied SIMMS) Minimum: 4 MB Optional: 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 MB Cache Write: Selectable – Write Through or Write Back Error Protection: Error Correction Code (ECC) Firmware PCI ROM Type, Flash EEPROM, 512K x 8 I/O Processor: Embedded Intel i960 RD 32-bit bus Transfer Rate - Up to 133MB/second SCSI Mylex BA-81C15, one per
DAC960PG/PJ Specifications Physical and Environmental Specifications Controller DAC960PG/PJ Form Factor: Full-length card Length Width 12.283 inches 4.2 inches Component 0.105 inches – solder side Height (max.) 0.590 inches – component side Half-card Board Width (with IBBU) Not to exceed the width of one PCI slot Length 7.225 inches Width 4.2 inches Component 0.105 inches – solder side Height (max.) 0.
Physical and Environmental Specifications B-4 DAC960PG/PJ Installation Guide
Appendix C Error Messages Error Messages Start-up Error Messages The BIOS looks for any initialization message posted by the firmware during the start-up sequence. If a message is found, one of the following errors displays onscreen and the installation process aborts.
Aborted Installation During the initialization, if the firmware fails to respond to the BIOS inquiry within two minutes, the following message displays: DAC960Pn not responding--no drives installed. The BIOS then inquires the firmware for its version number and other information, and prints out the following message: DAC960Pn firmware version x.
Error Messages NVRAM Error With Firmware 4.x, if the BIOS displays a mismatch between the NVRAM and the COD, no drives will be installed. Normally this error will not be displayed. If it is, boot and run the on-board Mylex Disk Array Configuration Utility (see Chapter 4). to recover from the error. For more information, refer to the Disk Array Controller Configuration Utilities (DACCF) Installation Guide and User Manual.
System Reboot or Power Down Messages C-4 DAC960PG/PJ Installation Guide
Appendix D Regulatory Information Class B Compliance THIS DEVICE COMPLIES WITH PART 15 OF THE FCC RULES. OPERATION IS SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TWO CONDITIONS: 3. THIS DEVICE MAY NOT CAUSE HARMFUL INTERFERENCE, AND 4. THIS DEVICE MUST ACCEPT ANY INTERFERENCE RECEIVED, INCLUDING INTERFERENCE THAT MAY CAUSE UNDESIRED OPERATION. 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.
Declaration of Conformity Manufacturer’s Name: Mylex Corporation Manufacturer’s Address: 34551 Ardenwood Blvd.
Regulatory Information Community of Europe CE mark is rated for the DAC960PG and DAC960PJ as follows: CISPR 22 Radiated Emission EN55022, EN5082-1 Generic immunity standard for the following: IEC 801-2 ESD, IEC 801-3 Radiated, and IEC 801-4 EFT/Burst Warning! This is a Class B product. In a residential environment this product may cause radio interference, in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures. Achtung! Dieses ist ein Gerät der Funkstörgrenzwertklasse B.
Underwriters Laboratories Listed D-4 DAC960PG/PJ Installation Guide
Glossary Battery Backup Unit See “Intelligent Battery Backup Unit.” Cache Controller memory used to speed up data transfer to and from a disk. Cache Flush Refers to an operation where all unwritten blocks in a Write-Back Cache are written to the target disk. This operation is necessary before powering down the system. Cache Line Size See “Segment Size.” Channel Refers to one SCSI bus on a disk array controller. Each disk array controller provides at least one channel.
Disk Failure Detection The controller automatically detects SCSI disk failures. A monitoring process running on the controller checks, among other things, elapsed time on all commands issued to disks. A time-out causes the disk to be “reset” and the command to be retried. If the command times out again, the disk could be “killed” (taken “offline”) by the controller (its state changed to “dead”). DAC960 controllers also monitor SCSI bus parity errors and other potential problems.
Glossary Hot Replacement of Disks (Hot Swap) The design of the DAC960 Series controllers allows for the replacement of failed hard disk drives without interruption of system service. In the event of a SCSI drive failure on a properly configured system (where the data redundancy features of the controller are used), system service continues without interruption. A message is generated by the system to alert the system operator.
Critical: A Logical Drive is in a “critical” state if... It has been configured at RAID level 1, 3, 5, or 0+1; and One (and only one) of its SCSI drives is not “online.” A logical drive is considered “critical” because any failure of another of its SCSI drives may result in a loss of data. ☛ Note I/O operation can only be performed with system drives that are online or critical. Offline: A Logical Drive is in an “offline” state if... No data can be read from it or written to it.
Glossary RAID RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. The DAC960 controllers implement this technology to connect up to 15 SCSI devices per channel. Several different forms of RAID implementation have been defined. Each form is usually referred to as a “RAID level.” All the RAID levels supported by DAC960 Series controllers are shown below. The appropriate RAID level for a system is selected by the system manager or integrator.
Level 10. Combines RAID 0 striping and RAID 1 mirroring spanned across multiple drive groups (super drive group). This level provides redundancy through mirroring. Level 30. Data is “striped” across multiple drive groups (super drive group). Maintains parity information which can be used for data recovery. Level 50. Data is “striped” across multiple drive groups (super drive group). For data redundancy, drives are encoded with rotated XOR redundancy.
Glossary SCSI Drive States Refers to a SCSI drive’s current operational status. At any given time, a SCSI drive can be in one of five states: READY, ONLINE, STANDBY, DEAD, or REBUILD. The controller stores the state of the attached SCSI drives in its non-volatile memory. This information is retained even after power-off. Hence, if a SCSI disk is labeled DEAD in one session, it will stay in the DEAD state until a change is made either by using a system level utility or after a rebuild.
Rebuild: A SCSI disk drive is in a “rebuild” state... While it is in the process of being rebuilt. During this process, data is regenerated and written to the disk drive. This state is also referred to as ‘Write-Only’ (WRO). Segment Size The Segment Size function is set in conjunction with stripe size and represents the size of the data “chunk” that will be read or written at one time. Under DACCF, the segment size (also known as “cache line size”) should be based on the stripe size you selected.
Glossary ☛ Note The standby rebuild will only happen on the SAME DAC960 controller, never across DAC960 controllers. A “Standby” disk can be created in one of two ways: 1. When a user runs DACCF utility, all disks attached to the controller that are NOT configured into any drive group will be automatically labeled as “standby” drives. 2.
Stripe Order The order in which SCSI disk drives appear within a drive group. This order must be maintained, and is critical to the controller’s ability to ‘Rebuild’ failed drives. Stripe Size The stripe size is defined as the size, in kilobytes (1024 bytes) of a single I/O operation. A stripe of data (data residing in actual physical disk sectors, which are logically ordered first to last) is divided over all disks in the drive group. Stripe Width The number of striped SCSI drives within a drive group.
Glossary Write-Back Cache Refers to a caching strategy whereby write operations result in a completion signal being sent to the host operating system as soon as the cache (not the disk drive) receives the data to be written. The target SCSI drive will receive the data at a more appropriate time, in order to increase controller performance. An optional cache battery backup can be used to protect against data loss as a result of a power failure or system crash.
G-12 DAC960PG/PJ Installation Guide
DAC960 Problem Report Customer Identification Name: ______________________ Company: ___________________ Address: ____________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Country: ____________________ DAC960 Identification Date: ___________ Purchase Date: ______ Model _______________________________ Invoice Number: _______________________ Serial Number: ________________________ # Chnls:_________ Cache: ________ Firmware Ver:____ BIOS Ver: _____ Make/Model/Size/Type of Phone Number: _____
Mylex Warranty - Customer Policy Thank you for purchasing this Mylex product for your computer system. In addition to this high-quality product, your purchase entitles you to the warranty coverage set forth herein. In order to provide this warranty coverage, and to indicate your acceptance of this warranty, we must have the attached Warranty Registration Card completed and returned to us within 15 days of your purchase.
Returned Merchandise Procedures If you suspect that there is a defect in the material or workmanship of this PRODUCT, you should contact the person or company from which you purchased it. That person or company may be able to solve the problem and if not, will be able to contact us for technical assistance or repair. If it is determined that the PRODUCT must be returned to MYLEX for repair or replacement, contact MYLEX’s Technical Support Department at 510-608-2400 before it is returned.
WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD ❏ ❏ Article Review ❏ ❏ Friend 10. Have you ever purchased Mylex products in the past? ❏ Yes ❏ No P/N: 772058-03 7-96 Printed in U.S.A. ❏ Monitor______________________________________ ❏ Operating System __________________________________________________ 7. What add-ons or peripherals are you most considering for future purchase? ______________________________________________________________________ 8.
Mylex Corporation Customer Service Dept. 34551 Ardenwood Blvd.
