User manual

Chapter 2: Installation
9
Message Server
The Message Server is required if your RAID PC connects to a network.
If you want run PAM over a network, install the Message Server on one of your
networked computers including a file server, a networked PC or the RAID PC.
Only one installation of the Message Server is required for PAM to work over a
network. You may install Message Server on more than one network PC or file
server, but PAM’s network configuration will only use one of them, thus any
additional installations are useless.
Do not install the Message Server on any PC that may be disconnected from the
network, such as a laptop or a computer that connects via the Internet. Not only
will a disconnect cause PAM to fail, but reconnecting again may involve time-
consuming network configuration.
Network configuration is discussed later in this chapter.
Message Agent
The Message Agent installs on the RAID PC, whether your RAID is networked
or not. In order for PAM to monitor and manage a RAID, it must have Message
Agent installed.
If you have more than one PAM-compatible RAID PC on your network, you may
install a copy of Message Agent on all of them.
Operating System Support
PAM is a utility designed to run on top of previously installed Promise FastTrak
card. Generally, if your PC runs the FastTrak card properly, it will run PAM also.
Promise Technology recommends Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP Professional or
Server 2003 to take full advantage of all the features of PAM. In some cases,
you can run PAM on other Windows operating systems. This becomes an issue
when running PAM over a network where there are PCs with different operating
systems.