User manual

Chapter 2: Installation
7
Installing the Hard Drives
Important
If you wish to include your current bootable Serial ATA drive
using the Windows XP operating system as part of a bootable
Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your FastTrak card, do NOT connect
the hard drive to the FastTrak yet.
You MUST install the Windows XP driver software first onto this
drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller.
The FastTrak S150 SX4 RAID Controller card supports only Serial ATA hard
drives. The FastTrak SX4000 / SX4000 Lite RAID Controller card supports only
(Parallel) ATA hard drives.
For optimal performance, install all identical drives of the same model and
capacity. The drives’ matched performance allows the array to function better as
a single drive.
If you are striping (RAID 0) for performance, use up to four new drives. If
mirroring (RAID 1) for protection, you can use two new drives OR use an
existing drive and a new drive (the new drive must be the same size or larger
than the existing drive). If you are planning a RAID 5 array, use three or four
new drives.
1. SX4000 / SX4000 Lite only: Set your hard drives to Master, Cable-Select or
Single (depending on drive specification).
The Serial ATA Specification excludes Master/Slave settings, so these do
not apply to the S150 SX4 card.
2. Install the hard drives into the hard drive bays of your system.
Caution
Use of removable hard drive enclosures other than Promise
Technology’s SuperSwap is not supported and may result in
performance loss or other undesired results.
3. S150 SX4: Attach one Serial ATA data cable to each hard drive. Then
attach the other ends of the cables to the connectors on the FastTrak card
(see Figure 2, below).
SX4000 / SX4000 Lite: Attach the black end of the Ultra ATA cable to each
hard drive. Then attach the blue end to the ATA connectors on the FastTrak
card (see Figure 3, below).