LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility USER’S MANUAL Revision 1.
The information in this User’s Manual has been carefully reviewed and is believed to be accurate. The vendor assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be contained in this document, and makes no commitment to update or to keep current the information in this manual, or to notify any person or organization of the updates. Please Note: For the most up-to-date version of this manual, please see our web site at www.supermicro.com. Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Preface Preface About This Manual This manual is written for system integrators, PC technicians and knowledgeable PC users. It provides instructions on how to use the LSI™ 2108/2208 MegaRAID ® Configuration Utility to configure RAID settings for Supermicro motherboards or systems. Manual Organization Chapter 1 Provides an overview on the LSI™ 2108/2208 MegaRAID® Software Utility. Chapter 2 Provides instructions on how to run the LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Utility to configure RAID settings.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual Contacting Supermicro Headquarters Address: Tel: Fax: Email: Web Site: Europe Address: Tel: Fax: Email: Asia-Pacific Address: Super Micro Computer, Inc. 980 Rock Ave. San Jose, CA 95131 U.S.A. +1 (408) 503-8000 +1 (408) 503-8008 marketing@supermicro.com (General Information) support@supermicro.com (Technical Support) www.supermicro.com Super Micro Computer B.V.
Preface Notes v
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 Introduction 1-1 Overview of the LSI 2108/2208 SAS Controller.............................................. 1-1 Features of the LSI 2108/2208 Controller....................................................... 1-1 Functions of the LSI MegaRAID Utility............................................................ 1-3 Drive Features Supported by the LSI MegaRAID Utility.................................
Chapter 1: Introduction to the LSI MegaRAID Software Utility Chapter 1 Introduction After you have installed hardware components, you must first configure LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID settings before you install an operating system and other software drivers. Note: If you do not wish to configure LSI Software RAID settings, proceed with the OS installation. For OS installation instructions, refer to related documents posted on our website at www.supermicro.com.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual High Performance • Single PowerPC core at 800 MHz (LSI2108 only), 512MB Write Cache • Dual PowerPC cores at 800 MHz (LSI2208 only), 1GB Write Cache 6Gb/s SAS Interface • 8-port SAS/SATA controller • 1.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the LSI MegaRAID Software Utility Functions of the LSI MegaRAID Utility • Support for BIOS Boot Specification (BBS) (if supported by the system BIOS) • Support for Enhanced Disk Drive Specification • Support for Enable/Disable BIOS Boot • Support for Hot-plug and Hot Auto Rebuild (during a hot plug event and the physical drive is forced off-line) Drive Features Supported by the LSI MegaRAID Utility The following drive features are supported by the LSI MegaRAID Software utility:
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual 1-2 RAID Levels Supported by the 2108/2208 Controller The LSI Embedded MegaRAID Software Configuration Utility adds RAID functions to enhance system efficiency and data security by supporting RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 50 and RAID 60. . Note: A maximum of 16 physical disk drives is supported for RAID.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the LSI MegaRAID Software Utility RAID 10 RAID 10, a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0, provides superb system performance and system security. RAID 10 mirrors small blocks of data to a series of RAID 1 drive groups. Then the first RAID 1 drive in a drive group duplicates its data to the second drive. RAID 10 requires a minimum of 4 drives. Any additional drives must be be added in pairs (6 drives, 8 drives, etc).
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual RAID 50 RAID 50 is a combination of RAID 5 and RAID 0. This type of drive group is called a spanned drive group because data is striped across multiple RAID 5 drive groups. RAID 50 requires at least 6 drives. The following illustration provides a visual example of a RAID 50 virtual drive group.
Chapter 1: Introduction to the LSI MegaRAID Software Utility RAID 60 RAID 60 combines the features of RAID 6 and RAID 0. RAID 60 implements distributed parity (two independent parity bloks per stripe in a RAID set) and disk striping.The dual parity allows RAID 6 to survive two drive failures in each RAID 6 set without losing data. RAID 60 requires at least 8 drives. The following illustration provides a visual example of a RAID 60 virtual drive group.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual Notes 1-8
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings Chapter 2 Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings This chapter provides instructions on how to configure MegaRAID settings for the LSI 2108/2208 SAS controller. If you do not wish to configure LSI Software RAID settings, skip this section and go directly to OS Installation. For OS installation instructions, please refer to our web site at www.supermicro.com. Note: To use the drives connected to the 2108/2208 controller, a RAID must be created.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual 2-2 The LSI MegaRAID Main Screen LSI Configuration Utility Main Screen On the left side of the LSI MegaRAID main screen is a list of configurable items. To configure the settings for an item, use the mouse or press the key to select the item and press .
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings 2-3 Advanced Software Options The MegaRAID advanced software options enable enhanced features and functionality that may not be available in the standard controller configuration. Advanced software options are not a standard feature and are not provided by Supermicro. For more information on this feature, go to: www.lsi.com/products/storagesw/Pages/LSIAdvancedSoftwareLicensing.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual 3. Select Next again to display the Controller Properties screen (shown below). Controller Properties 4. The Controller Properties screen allows you to view and configure the following items: Note: Select Next to see additional configurable items. Item Description Battery Backup This item indicates if a backup battery is installed in the system. If installed, select Present to view the battery details.
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings Item Description Rebuild Rate The rebuild rate determines the percentage of system resources that will be applied toward rebuilding a drive that has failed. Enter a number between 1 and 100 to control the rebuild rate. Patrol Read Rate A patrol read monitors physical disks to find and resolve any problems that may result in disk failure. Enter a number between 0 and 100 for the patrol read rate.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual Item Description Emergency Spare Specify whether to use GHS (Global Hot Spares) or UG (Unconfigured Good) drives as emergency spares. Emergency for SMARTer Select to enable or disable this feature. The default is disabled. Link Speed Use this item to manage the link speed between the controller and a drive that is connected to the controller. Data Protection Use this item to enable or disable data protection.
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings 2. In the window on the right, select a virtual drive and perform one of the following actions: • Fast Initialize: Initializes the selected drive by writing zeros to the first sector of the drive, then continue the initialization in the background after system boot. • Slow Initialize: Initializes the selected drive by writing zeros to the entire drive volume. This process can take hours or days to complete, depending on the drive size.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual Policies: This section allows you to view and change the read, write, disk cache, BGI, access, and I/O policies on the drive. To change any settings, choose the desired setting from the pull-down menu and select Change to confirm the change.
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings 2. Highlight a drive and select one of the following items to perform an action. • Rebuild: Check this item to rebuild the drive selected. • Properties: Check this item to display the properties of the drive selected. After you've selected an action to perform, click Go to perform the action. Click Reset to reset the setting. 2-9 Configuration Wizard This feature enables you to create a new configuration, add a configuration, or clear a configuration.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual • Add Configuration: Check this item to keep the existing configuration settings and to add new settings to the drive. This is a safe operation because there is no risk of losing data. After you have checked an item, select Next to proceed with the action or select Cancel to return to the configuration utility main page. Adding a Configuration If you selected Add Configuration, the following screen displays. Add Configuration 3.
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings Configuring Drives Manually 1. In the Add Configuration screen, select Manual Configuration and click Next to begin adding drives. The following screen displays. Add Drives 2. Select the drives you want to add to the array and click Add to Array. To undo any drive addition, select the drive and click Reclaim. 3. After all desired drives are added to the drive group, select Accept DG to create a drive group.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual 5. The Virtual Drive Definition screen displays, as shown below. Virtual Drive Definition In the Virtual Drive Definition screen, configure the following options as needed: RAID Level: Select the desired RAID level.
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings • Always Write-Back: Use this option to write data only to the cache, even if a battery backup is bad or missing. (This option is not recommended because cached data will be lost in the event of a power outage.) IO Policy: The IO Policy applies only to reads on a specific virtual drive and does not affect the Read Policy or the Write Policy. Select between the following options: • Cached: Use this option to buffer all IO reads in cache memory.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual 2-10 Logical View This feature displays the status of logical drives of the system. From the MegaRAID utility configuration main page, use the key or the mouse to select Logical View. The following screen displays to indicate the status of logical drives installed in the system.
Chapter 2: Configuring the LSI MegaRAID Settings 2-11 Events This feature displays system event information. From the configuration utility main page, use the key or the mouse to select Events. The following screen displays. Event Information Use the left pane of the screen to set the parameters, then select Go to display the associated events. The parameters are: First Sequence# / Last Sequence#: The first and last sequence are for display only.
LSI 2108/2208 SAS MegaRAID Configuration Utility User's Manual Event Class: Select the class level for the event search. Available classes include: • Informational: This type of event is informative only and does not require user action. • Warning: This type of event indicates a component that may cause a failure. • Critical: This type of event affects system stability. User intervention is required to solve the problem before the system becomes unstable.
(Disclaimer continued) The products sold by Supermicro are not intended for and will not be used in life support systems, medical equipment, nuclear facilities or systems, aircraft, aircraft devices, aircraft/emergency communication devices or other critical systems whose failure to perform be reasonably expected to result in significant injury or loss of life or catastrophic property damage.
