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Document:	StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility
Order Number:	AA-RO7GA-TE
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Pages:	99
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RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem
RAID Configuration Utility
User's Guide
AA-R07GA-TE

Digital Equipment Corporation
Maynard, Massachusetts

First Edition, November 1996
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should
not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation.
Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that
might appear in this document.
The software, if any, described in this document is furnished under a license and
may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. No
responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software or equipment that
is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation or its affiliated companies.

The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation:
Alpha, DEC OSF/1, Digital UNIX, OpenVMS, StorageWorks, and the Digital
logo.
The following are third-party trademarks:
Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks, and Windows and Windows
NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Intel, Intel486, and i486 are trademarks of Intel Corporation.
NetWare is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
SCO UNIX is a trademark of Santa Cruz Operations, Inc.
SIMM is a trademark of Wang Laboratories.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their
respective holders.
Copyright  1996 by Digital Equipment Corporation.
Printed in the U.S.A.

Contents
Revision Record .................................................................................................................. ix
About This Guide ............................................................................................................... xi
1

RAID Configuration Utility
1.1

Energizing/De-Energizing Host System and Storage Enclosures............................. 1–1

1.2 Invoking RAID Configuration Utility ..................................................................... 1–2
1.2.1 Intel-Based Systems ......................................................................................... 1–2
1.2.2 Alpha-Based Systems....................................................................................... 1–2
1.3

Invoking Serial RCU on Alpha-Based Systems....................................................... 1–4

1.4 Command Line Options.......................................................................................... 1–5
1.4.1 Configuration Override Option......................................................................... 1–5
1.4.1.1 Intel-Based Systems ......................................................................................... 1–5
1.4.1.2 Alpha-Based Systems....................................................................................... 1–5
1.5 Using RAID Configuration Utility.......................................................................... 1–6
1.5.1 Selecting KZPAC Controller ............................................................................ 1–6
1.5.2 Navigating through RCU Screens ..................................................................... 1–8
1.5.3 How to Exit RCU ............................................................................................. 1–9
1.6 Main Menu Selections............................................................................................ 1–9
1.6.1 View/Update Configuration.............................................................................. 1–9
1.6.2 Automatic Configuration.................................................................................. 1–9
1.6.3 New Configuration ......................................................................................... 1–10
1.6.4 Initialize Logical Drive .................................................................................. 1–10
1.6.5 Parity Check................................................................................................... 1–10
1.6.6 Rebuild .......................................................................................................... 1–11
1.6.7 Tools.............................................................................................................. 1–11
1.6.7.1 Bad Block Table............................................................................................. 1–12
1.6.7.2 Error Counts................................................................................................... 1–12
1.6.7.3 Format Drive.................................................................................................. 1–12
1.6.7.4 Make Optimal ................................................................................................ 1–12
1.6.7.5 Fail Drive....................................................................................................... 1–12
1.6.7.6 Backup/Restore Configuration........................................................................ 1–12
1.6.7.7 Clear Configuration........................................................................................ 1–12
1.6.7.8 Print Configuration......................................................................................... 1–13
1.6.8 Select Controller ............................................................................................ 1–13
1.6.9 Controller Setup ............................................................................................. 1–13

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

RAID Configuration Utility (Cont.)
1.7 Setting Controller Parameters............................................................................... 1–13
1.7.1 Hardware Parameters ..................................................................................... 1–13
1.7.2 Data Parameters ............................................................................................. 1–15
1.7.2.1 Data Parameters KZPAC and KZPSC............................................................. 1–15
1.7.2.2 Data Parameters KZESC ................................................................................ 1–16
1.7.3 SCSI Transfer Parameters .............................................................................. 1–17
1.7.4 Startup Parameters ......................................................................................... 1–18

Configuring The RAID Array
2.1 Planning Disk Configuration .................................................................................. 2–1
2.1.1 Planning Recovery from Disk Failure............................................................... 2–1
2.1.1.1 Hot Spare ......................................................................................................... 2–2
2.1.1.2 Hot Swap ......................................................................................................... 2–2
2.1.1.3 Manually Rebuilding........................................................................................ 2–2
2.1.2 Planning Configuration .................................................................................... 2–3
2.1.2.1 Sample Configuration for High Data Availability............................................. 2–3
2.1.2.2 Sample Configuration for Low Cost with High Performance ............................ 2–6
2.2 Understanding Configuration Methods ................................................................... 2–7
2.2.1 Automatic Method ........................................................................................... 2–7
2.2.1.1 Restrictions ...................................................................................................... 2–7
2.2.1.2 Major Steps...................................................................................................... 2–7
2.2.1.3 Menu Selection ................................................................................................ 2–8
2.2.2 Interactive/Manual Method .............................................................................. 2–8
2.2.2.1 Advantages....................................................................................................... 2–8
2.2.2.2 Major Steps...................................................................................................... 2–8
2.2.2.3 Menu Choices .................................................................................................. 2–9
2.3 Configuring Automatically..................................................................................... 2–9
2.3.1 Selecting Automatic Configuration Option ....................................................... 2–9
2.3.2 Initializing Logical RAID Drive ..................................................................... 2–11
2.3.3 Saving Controller Configuration to Diskette................................................... 2–13
2.4 Configuring Interactively/Manually...................................................................... 2–14
2.4.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 2–14
2.4.1.1 New Configuration and View/Update Configuration: Differences................... 2–14
2.4.1.2 Using New, or View/Update, Configuration Screen to Configure Subsystem or
Check Configuration ...................................................................................... 2–17
2.4.2 Defining Drive Groups ................................................................................... 2–18
2.4.2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 2–18
2.4.2.2 Create Drive Group ........................................................................................ 2–21
2.4.2.3 Cancel Drive Group........................................................................................ 2–24
2.4.2.4 Arrange Drive Group...................................................................................... 2–24
2.4.2.5 Obtaining Device Information ........................................................................ 2–25

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Contents

Configuring The RAID Array (Cont.)
2.4.3 Creating Logical Drive and Choosing Caching Policy .................................... 2–27
2.4.3.1 Define Logical Drive...................................................................................... 2–27
2.4.3.2 Choose Caching Policy................................................................................... 2–32
2.4.4 Defining Hot Spare Drive............................................................................... 2–33
2.4.5 Viewing Logical Drive Matrix........................................................................ 2–34
2.4.6 Saving Logical Drive Configuration ............................................................... 2–36
2.4.7 Initializing Logical Drive ............................................................................... 2–37
2.4.8 Saving KZPAC Controller Configuration to Diskette...................................... 2–40

Maintaining The RAID Array
3.1

Introduction............................................................................................................ 3–1

3.2

Running Parity Check/Repair ................................................................................. 3–2

3.3 Rebuild .................................................................................................................. 3–6
3.3.1 Rebuild Fails .................................................................................................... 3–7
3.4 Tools...................................................................................................................... 3–8
3.4.1 Bad Block Table............................................................................................... 3–9
3.4.2 Error Counts................................................................................................... 3–11
3.4.3 Format Drive.................................................................................................. 3–12
3.4.4 Make Drive Optimal....................................................................................... 3–13
3.4.5 Fail Drive....................................................................................................... 3–15
3.4.6 Backup/Restore Configuration........................................................................ 3–18
3.4.6.1 Saving Copy of RAID Configuration on Diskette ........................................... 3–18
3.4.6.2 Restoring RAID Configuration onto New Controller ...................................... 3–19
3.4.7 Clear Configuration........................................................................................ 3–20
3.4.8 Print Configuration, Intel-Based..................................................................... 3–21
3.4.9 Print Configuration, Alpha-Based................................................................... 3–23

Appendix A Downloading New Controller Firmware
A.1 Firmware Downloader Description .........................................................................A–1
A.1.1 Intel-Based Systems .........................................................................................A–1
A.1.1.1 Explicit Image Name........................................................................................A–1
A.1.1.2 -v Option..........................................................................................................A–2
A.1.2 Alpha-Based Systems.......................................................................................A–2
A.1.2.1 Explicit Image Name........................................................................................A–2
A.1.2.2 -v Option..........................................................................................................A–3

Readers Comment Form .........................................................................Inside Back Cover

AA–R07GA–TE

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figures
1–1 Main Menu of RAID Configuration Utility............................................................. 1–3
1–2 ARC Console for Alpha-Based System................................................................... 1–3
1–3 Select Controller Function...................................................................................... 1–7
1–4 Selection Screen..................................................................................................... 1–7
1–5 Elements of RCU Screens ...................................................................................... 1–8
1–6 Edit/View Parameters Menu................................................................................. 1–14
1–7 Hardware Parameters Screen ................................................................................ 1–15
1–8 Enter Channel # Box at Bottom Right................................................................... 1–17
1–9 SCSI Transfer Parameters of Channel Screen ....................................................... 1–18
1–10 Startup Parameters Menu ..................................................................................... 1–19
2–1 View Matrix Screen Showing Configuration of Table 2–1...................................... 2–5
2–2 Storage Enclosures Required for Configuration of Table 2–1 ................................. 2–5
2–3 Automatic Configuration Screen .......................................................................... 2–10
2–4 Initialize Logical Drive Screen ............................................................................. 2–11
2–5 Proceed with Initialization Confirmation Message................................................ 2–12
2–6 Progress Bar Displays Status of Initialization ....................................................... 2–13
2–7 View/Update Configuration Screen ...................................................................... 2–21
2–8 Group Definition Screen....................................................................................... 2–22
2–9 Adding New Drive Group..................................................................................... 2–23
2–10 Arrange Group Screen.......................................................................................... 2–25
2–11 Selecting Device Information ............................................................................... 2–26
2–12 Device Information Window ................................................................................ 2–26
2–13 Logical Drive Definition Screen ........................................................................... 2–28
2–14 RAID Level Window............................................................................................ 2–29
2–15 Create Logical Drive Confirmation ...................................................................... 2–30
2–16 Displaying New Logical Drive ............................................................................. 2–31
2–17 Define Spare Screen ............................................................................................. 2–34
2–18 View Matrix Screen ............................................................................................. 2–35
2–19 Save Configuration Window................................................................................. 2–37
2–20 Initialize Logical Drive Screen ............................................................................. 2–38
2–21 Confirmation Window.......................................................................................... 2–39
2–22 Percent Initialized Screen ..................................................................................... 2–40
3–1 Main Menu of RCU................................................................................................ 3–1
3–2 Parity Check Menu................................................................................................. 3–2
3–3 Parity Check Screen ............................................................................................... 3–3
3–4 Parity Check Progress Screen ................................................................................. 3–4

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Contents

Figures (Cont.)
3–5 Parity Check Passed Screen.................................................................................... 3–4
3–6 Parity Check Failed Screen..................................................................................... 3–5
3–7 Restore Parity Screen ............................................................................................. 3–5
3–8 Parity Successfully Restored Screen ....................................................................... 3–6
3–9 Choose whether to Format before Rebuilding ......................................................... 3–8
3–10 Tools Window........................................................................................................ 3–9
3–11 Bad Block Table Screen ....................................................................................... 3–10
3–12 Error Count Window ............................................................................................ 3–12
3–13 Tools Window...................................................................................................... 3–13
3–14 Make Drive Optimal............................................................................................. 3–15
3–15 Message Displayed When You Select Drive to Fail.............................................. 3–16
3–16 Fail Drive Confirmation Message......................................................................... 3–17
3–17 RCU Changes Drive Status to FLD....................................................................... 3–17
3–18 Backup/Restore Configuration Window................................................................ 3–19
A–1 ARC Console for Alpha-Based System...................................................................A–3

Tables
2–1 Data Availability Configuration Using RAID 5 ...................................................... 2–4
2–2 Low Cost and High Performance Using RAID 0..................................................... 2–6
2–3 Configuration Methods, Automatic Verus Interactive............................................. 2–7
2–4 New Configuration and View/Update Configuration Screens: Differences............ 2–15
2–5 Number of Drives per Drive Group for Each RAID Level .................................... 2–19
2–6 How Capacity of Each Individual Drive Affects Capacity of Drive Group — Example
Only ..................................................................................................................... 2–20
2–7 Drive Status ......................................................................................................... 2–36

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vii

Revision Record
This Revision Record provides a concise publication history of this user’s guide. It lists
the guide’s revision levels, release dates, and reasons for the revisions.

The following revision history lists all revisions of this publication and their effective
dates. The publication part number is included in the Revision Level column, with the
last entry denoting the latest revision. This publication supports StorageWorks RAID
Array 230/Plus Subsystems.
Revision Level

Date

Summary of Changes

AA–R07GA–TE

November 1996

Original release

AA–R07GA–TE

About This Guide
This section defines the audience of the guide and describes its contents and structure.
In addition, this section identifies the conventions used in the guide and provides a list of
related documents.

The StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration
Utility User’s Guide
This guide describes the RAID Configuration Utility (RCU) and how to use it to
configure and maintain StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystems.

Intended Audience
This guide is for system administrators and users who need to configure and
maintain RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystems with the RCU.

Organization
This guide contains the following:
Chapter 1: RAID Configuration Utility
The chapter provides:
•

A procedure for energizing and de-energizing the host computer and storage
enclosures,

•

Procedures for invoking the RCU on Intel-Based, and Alpha-Based systems,

•

The function of the RCU’s command line options and how to use them,

•

A procedure for selecting a specific StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus
Subsystem controller, also known as a KZPAC controller, when the host
system has multiple KZPAC controllers installed,

•

General information for navigating through the RCU screens,

•

A procedure for exiting the RCU,

•

A brief description of the RCU’s main menu selections, and

•

Procedures for setting the KZPAC controller parameters.

AA–R07GA–TE

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Chapter 2: Configuring RAID Array
This chapter provides:
•

Information on planning your disk configuration;

•

A description of the automatic configuration method with the two
requirements which must be satisfied to use it, and the three major steps
required to implement it;

•

A description of the interactive/manual configuration method with a listing of
its four advantages over the automatic method, and a listing of the five major
steps (two of them optional) used to implement it;

•

The procedure for configuring automatically; and

•

The procedure for configuring interactively/manually.

Chapter 3: Maintaining RAID Array
This chapter provides:
•

A procedure for checking and repairing parity on logical drives with redundant
RAID levels,

•

Procedures for recreating (rebuilding) a failed drive’s data on a replacement
drive if the failed drive is part of a configuration with a redundant RAID level,
and

•

Procedures for using each of the eight options in the Tools window.

Appendix A: Downloading New Controller Firmware
This appendix documents the firmware downloading function.

xii

AA–R07GA–TE

About This Guide

NOTE
The RCU and this document use the term 'MB' or
'megabyte' to mean 220 or 1,048,576 bytes. The
RCU reports only the formatted capacity.

Conventions
This guide uses the following conventions:
Style

Meaning

boldface mono-space
type
plain mono-space
type

To be input by the user

italic type

For emphasis, manual titles, utilities,
menus, screens, and filenames

Screen text

Special Notices
This guide uses the following to emphasize specific information.
WARNING
WARNING indicates the presence of a hazard that
can cause personal injury if the hazard is not
avoided.

CAUTION
CAUTION indicates the presence of a hazard that
might damage hardware or corrupt software.

NOTE
Notes provide additional information.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Related Documentation
The table below identifies related documentation by title and order number.
Document Title

Order Number

RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem Installation Guide

AA–R07FA–TE

RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID
Configuration Utility User’s Guide

AA–R07GA–TE

RAID Array 230/Plus Release Notes

AA–R0Ex–TE
(x = latest revision letter)

xiv

AA–R07GA–TE

1
RAID Configuration Utility
This chapter provides: a procedure for energizing and de-energizing the host computer
and storage enclosures, procedures for invoking the RAID Configuration Utility (RCU) on
Intel-Based, and Alpha-Based systems, the function of the RCU’s command line options
and how to use them, a procedure for selecting a specific StorageWorks RAID Array
230/Plus Subsystem controller, also known as a KZPAC controller, when the host
system has multiple KZPAC controllers installed, general information for navigating
through the RCU screens, a procedure for exiting the RCU, a brief description of the
RCU’s main menu selections, and procedures for setting the KZPAC controller
parameters. The StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration
Utility supports a maximum of four RAID Array 200 devices.

NOTE
Always read the Release Notes, supplied as hard
copy with the KZPAC controller, to get information
not included in other RAID Array 230/Plus
documentation.

1.1

Energizing/De-Energizing Host System and Storage Enclosures
The order in which you turn-on and -off your computer and storage enclosures is
critical. If the KZPAC controller can not access the drives in your storage
enclosures, it marks the drives as failed, and the RAID array subsystem won’t
operate. To avoid the KZPAC controller trying to access the drives with the
storage enclosure turned off, power-on and off your computer and storage
enclosures in the following order:
Energizing
1. Storage enclosures first
2. System second
De-Energizing
1. System first
2. Storage enclosures second

AA–R07GA–TE

1–1

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

If the RAID array subsystem fails because you make an error when energizing or
de-energizing the computer or storage enclosures, you must change any drives
that are in the failed (FLD) state into the optimal (OPT) state. (Use the Make
Optimal selection in the Tools window.)

1.2

Invoking RAID Configuration Utility
1.2.1

Intel-Based Systems

To invoke the RAID Configuration Utility on an Intel system:
1. Insert StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID Configuration
Utility for Intel Systems diskette in your floppy drive.
2. Boot computer so it starts from floppy drive.
3. Take this opportunity to read the release notes.
• At the following prompt:
Press a key to read the RAID Array 230/Plus
Utilities Release Notes
Or type Ctrl–C to quit to the MS-DOS prompt
Press any key to continue . . .
• Press <space bar> (or any key) to read release notes. Or press Ctrl and C
keys simultaneously to bypass release notes and continue with next step.
4. Screen displays prompt: A:\RA200RCU>
5. After prompt type: RA200RCU
6. Press Enter. RCU checks drives, then displays Main Menu as shown in
Figure 1–1.

1.2.2

Alpha-Based Systems
NOTE
Take this opportunity to review the release notes
for Alpha-Based systems, fully identified under
Related Documentation in the About This Guide
section.

To invoke the RCU on Alpha systems:
1.

1–2

Invoke ARC console menu shown in Figure 1–2. Consult your Alpha-Based
system documentation for this procedure.

AA–R07GA–TE

Chapter 1. RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 1–1 Main Menu of RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 1–2 ARC Console for Alpha-Based System

ARC Multiboot Alpha AXP Version 4.31
Copyright (c) 1993–1995 Microsoft Corporation
Copyright (c) 1993–1995 Digital Equipment
Corporation
Boot Menu
Boot Windows NT
Boot an alternate operating system
Run a program
Supplementary menu ...
Use the arrow keys to select, then press Enter.
2.

Insert StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID Configuration
Utility for Alpha Systems diskette into your floppy drive.

Select Run a program option from Alpha Boot menu. System displays
Program to run: prompt.

AA–R07GA–TE

1–3

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

1.3

After Program to run: type: A:RA200RCU

Press Enter. RCU checks drives, then displays Main Menu as shown in
Figure 1–1.

Invoking Serial RCU on Alpha-Based Systems
If you have:
• A Vtxxx terminal, and
• A serial connection to the host system,
you can still run the RAID Configuration Utility from the ARC console. Prepare
as follows:
• Set up your system for serial mode as explained in your system manual.
• Set to No Cursor mode.
• Set to Vtxxx Mode, 8-bit controls.
Then:
1.

Invoke ARC console menu shown in Figure 1–2. Consult your Alpha-Based
system documentation for this procedure.

Insert StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID Configuration
Utility for Alpha Systems diskette into your floppy drive.

Select Run a program option from Alpha Boot menu. System displays
Program to run: prompt.
NOTE
When the RCU starts in the following steps, and
prompts you to press the Esc key to continue,
use Ctrl-[ as a simultaneous, two-key
combination, rather than Esc. That is, press
Ctrl and [, at the same time, to invoke the
escape function.

1–4

After Program to run: type: A:\RA200SRL.EXE

Press Enter. RCU checks drives, then displays Main Menu as shown in
Figure 1–1, above.

AA–R07GA–TE

Chapter 1. RAID Configuration Utility

1.4

Command Line Options
1.4.1 Configuration Override Option
The RAID Configuration Utility has an override option which allows the user to
enter the utility without waiting for the drives to timeout in the event of either a
dead logical drive or an unwanted configuration. To use the override option, type
RA200RCU -o when starting the utility. You can then make failed drives OPT
(optimal) or completely change your RAID configuration. This option should
only be used when using the Tools or New Configuration menu options of the
RAID configuration utility.
1.4.1.1 Intel-Based Systems
1.

Insert StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID Configuration
Utility for Intel Systems diskette in your floppy drive.

Boot computer so it starts from floppy drive.

Screen displays prompt: A:\RA200RCU>

After prompt type: RA200RCU -o

Press Enter.

1.4.1.2 Alpha-Based Systems
1.

Invoke ARC console menu shown in Figure 1–2. Consult your Alpha-Based
system documentation for this procedure.

Insert StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID Configuration
Utility for Alpha Systems diskette into your floppy drive.

Select Run a program option from Alpha Boot menu. System displays
Program to run: prompt.

After Program to run: type: A: RA200RCU -o

Press Enter.

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1–5

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

1.5

Using RAID Configuration Utility
1.5.1 Selecting KZPAC Controller
NOTE
As explained in the paragraph below, the following
KZPAC controller selection procedure applies only
to RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystems with more
than one RAID controller.

With one KZPAC controller installed in the host system, the RCU automatically
selects that controller when the RCU is invoked as described above. If there are
two or more KZPAC controllers installed, a controller selection screen displays
when the RCU is invoked, and the user selects the desired controller before
proceeding.
The RCU works with one KZPAC controller at a time. If you are using the RCU
in a multiple controller subsystem and wish to select another controller:
•

Press Esc successively as required to display Main Menu of RCU.

•

Use arrow keys to highlight Select Controller from Main Menu as shown in
Figure 1–3.

•

Press Enter to display selection screen as shown in Figure 1–4.

•

Use arrow keys to highlight desired KZPAC controller distinguished by slot
number as shown in Figure 1–4.
NOTE
The screen in Figure 1–4 shows a subsystem with
only one KZPAC controller and only one possible
choice. With a multiple KZPAC controller
subsystem, your screen shows two or more
choices.

•

1–6

Press Enter. RCU now works with new controller selection.

AA–R07GA–TE

Chapter 1. RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 1–3 Select Controller Function

Figure 1–4 Selection Screen

AA–R07GA–TE

1–7

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

1.5.2 Navigating through RCU Screens
Figure 1–5 explains the elements of the utility screens. Notice that:
•

With RCU started, and Main Menu screen displayed, RCU operation is similar
on both Intel-Based, and Alpha-Based systems.

•

You may use arrow keys to highlight desired selection, then press
Enter/Return. Or, type first letter of desired selection, then press Enter/Return.

•

Message window in lower part of screen displays brief description of
highlighted option.

Figure 1–5 Elements of RCU Screens

SELECT MAJOR
FUNCTION

DESCRIBES
HIGHLIGHTED
OPTION.
INDICATES VALID KEY
PRESS OPTIONS, AND
WHAT THE KEY WILL DO.

1–8

AA–R07GA–TE

Chapter 1. RAID Configuration Utility

1.5.3 How to Exit RCU

1.6

•

From Main Menu, press Esc once.

•

RCU prompts you to confirm you want to exit. Use arrow key to highlight Yes.

•

Press Enter.

Main Menu Selections
Refer to Figure 1–5 for the Main Menu selections of the RAID Configuration
Utility described below. The descriptions given are intended as an overview of
functions you can perform with the RCU. Detailed procedures are given
elsewhere in this guide.

1.6.1 View/Update Configuration
This selection lets you check the status of a selected KZPAC controller to find
out whether any target SCSI disk drives are connected to it, and if so, whether
those drives are configured into defined drive groups and logical drives. If the
drives are configured, View/Update Configuration shows how the drive groups
and logical drives are defined, and also other characteristics such as the RAID
level of logical drives, caching in effect, and the status of each drive, namely:
failed (FLD), formatting (FMT), hot spare (HSP), optimal (OPT), ready (RDY),
unformatted (UNF), and write only (WOL).
In addition, View/Update Configuration permits you to modify the existing
configuration, or create a new one if the drives connected to the KZPAC
controller aren’t currently configured into drive groups and logical RAID drives.
The New Configuration selection in Section 1.6.3, below, is more often used to
create a new configuration than View/Update Configuration.
Compare the View/Update Configuration with the New Configuration selection
in Section 1.6.3, below.

1.6.2 Automatic Configuration
The Automatic Configuration selection is a quick method of configuring an array
of disk drives if the user is willing to:
•

Configure one RAID level 5 logical RAID drive using not less than 3, or more
than 8, drives of the same capacity, or

•

Configure up to 8 Just a Bunch of Disks (JBODs) of any capacity.

AA–R07GA–TE

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

1.6.3 New Configuration
The New Configuration selection is useful when you know there are target SCSI
disk drives connected to the selected KZPAC controller and you wish to use the
RCU to:
•

Define drive groups and logical RAID drives when no configuration exists, or

•

Eliminate an existing configuration and replace it with a new one by defining
new drive groups and new logical RAID drives.

The New Configuration selection eliminates any existing configuration.
Therefore, this selection does not permit you to view or modify an existing
configuration, only eliminate the existing configuration and define a new one.
Compare the New Configuration selection with the View/Update Configuration
selection in Section 1.6.1, above.

1.6.4 Initialize Logical Drive
CAUTION
To avoid data loss:
•

Do not initialize a logical RAID drive if it has
valid data. Initialization overwrites and
destroys all data.

•

After initializing a logical RAID drive, do not
change, or rearrange, the physical drives or
cables. These actions may destroy all data in
the drive group.

The Initialize Logical Drive selection enables you to create a starting parity for a
logical RAID drive which has parity, or starting data for a logical RAID drive
which does not have parity. To do this, the RCU writes a pattern of zeros to the
logical RAID drive.

1.6.5 Parity Check
Use the Parity Check selection to check parity on logical RAID drives having a
redundant RAID level such as RAID 1, RAID 0+1, and RAID 5 to ensure the
consistency of RAID parity information.

1–10

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When you select Parity Check, the RCU reads the data from the logical RAID
drives and computes the parity for each series of blocks. Any discrepancies
between the computed parity and the parity stored on the drive are indicated.
The RCU repairs parity errors, at the option of the user, by regenerating the data.
Check the parity of all your logical RAID drives periodically, and after a power
failure or an RCU crash, to ensure the integrity of parity and reduce the chance
of data loss.

1.6.6 Rebuild
The Rebuild selection allows you to manually rebuild a failed drive’s data onto a
replacement drive after replacing the failed drive. You can rebuild a logical drive
only for configurations with redundant RAID levels 0 + 1, 1, and 5. If a drive
fails in a configuration without a redundant RAID level (RAID 0 or JBOD), you
can’t recover data from the failed drive using the RCU.
When you define a hot spare drive in a redundant RAID subsystem, and you have
enabled StorageWorks Fault Management, the rebuilding process when a drive
fails is entirely automatic. If you don’t have a hot spare drive defined, rebuilding
occurs automatically as soon as you replace the failed drive. In both cases, a
manual rebuild is unnecessary.
Use the Rebuild selection on the Main Menu of the RCU to manually rebuild a
logical drive if:
•

Your storage enclosure doesn’t have StorageWorks Fault Management and a
drive fails.

•

You manually fail a drive.

1.6.7 Tools
Selecting Tools from the Main Menu of the RCU displays the Tools window with
eight available options:
1.

Bad Block Table

Error Counts

Format Drive

Make Optimal

Fail Drive

Backup/Restore conf (configuration)

Clear Configuration

Print Configuration

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Read the sections below for a brief functional summary of the options on the
Tools menu.
1.6.7.1 Bad Block Table
The Bad Block Table selection helps you troubleshoot a failed rebuild when a
disk drive fails in a redundant logical RAID drive.
1.6.7.2 Error Counts
The Error Counts selection tracks errors in four categories: parity, soft, hard, and
miscellaneous, which occur on each of the drives. Use it to check the reliability
of each drive by checking on the number, and type, of errors it makes. Replace
unreliable drives.
1.6.7.3 Format Drive
The Format Drive selection permits you to perform a SCSI format of disk drives
with a status of failed (FLD) and ready (RDY).
1.6.7.4 Make Optimal
Use the Make Optimal selection to change the status of a drive to optimal (OPT)
when you want the controller to write information to it.
1.6.7.5 Fail Drive
Failing a drive in a RAID 0 or JBOD configuration will result in the loss of all
data. You will need to restore the data from backup media.
Ensure optimal status for all drives in a RAID 1, RAID 0+1, or RAID 5
configuration before failing a drive. Failing a drive in a RAID 1, RAID 0+1, or
RAID 5 configuration with a drive already failed will cause the loss of all data,
and you will need to restore the data from backup media.
1.6.7.6 Backup/Restore Configuration
If your KZPAC controller fails, you will need to load the configuration
information onto the replacement KZPAC controller from a backup copy stored
on diskette. Use the Backup/Restore conf selection for this purpose.
1.6.7.7 Clear Configuration
Use the Clear Configuration selection to clear the existing RAID configuration
without immediately creating a new one.

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1.6.7.8 Print Configuration
Use the Print Configuration selection to print a hard copy summary of the
existing RAID configuration easily understood by the user.

1.6.8 Select Controller
The RCU works with one KZPAC controller at a time. Choose Select Controller
from the Main Menu of the RCU If you are using the RCU in a multiple
controller subsystem and wish to select another KZPAC controller:
With one KZPAC controller installed in the host system, the RCU automatically
selects that controller when the RCU is invoked as described above. If there are
two or more KZPAC controllers installed, a controller selection screen displays
when the RCU is invoked, and the user selects the desired controller before
proceeding.

1.6.9 Controller Setup
Choose Controller Setup from the Main Menu of the RCU after installing your
KZPAC controller, and prior to configuring your RAID array. When you
highlight Controller Setup and press Enter, the RCU displays an Edit/View
Parameters menu which allows you to set the RAID controller: hardware, data,
SCSI transfer, and startup parameters.

1.7

Setting Controller Parameters
After installing your KZPAC controller, and prior to configuring your RAID
array, you must perform a one-time setup to load parameters into the controller
firmware. These parameters help define the controller interface with the disk
drives in the StorageWorks storage pedestals or internal shelves. The controller
parameters establish such characteristics as the speed of data movement (data
transfer rate) between the controller and disk drives; how fast data on a failed
disk drive is restored to a hot spare drive (rebuild rate); and various other onetime settings which must be selected before configuring the RAID array.
Start the RAID Configuration Utility, then set the controller parameters,
beginning with the hardware parameters below.

1.7.1 Hardware Parameters
1.

Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Controller Setup option on Main
Menu (Figure 1–1), then press Enter.

System displays Edit/View Parameters menu shown in Figure 1–6.

If necessary, use arrow keys to highlight Hardware Parameters, then press
Enter.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Hardware Parameters screen appears, similar to that shown in Figure 1–7,
showing current status of Battery-Backup and StorageWorks Fault
Management options.

If your KZPAC controller is equipped with battery backup, your BatteryBackup setting needs to be Enabled, if not, leave setting Disabled. If you
need to change settings, use arrow keys to highlight Battery-Backup, then
press Enter to change setting.

Figure 1–6 Edit/View Parameters Menu

NOTE
If the KZPAC controller connects to a
StorageWorks enclosure and StorageWorks Fault
Management is enabled in the following step, the
subsystem will support hot swapping for
redundant RAID levels in case of a disk drive
failure.

1–14

Check StorageWorks Fault Management setting on screen. If your KZPAC
controller connects to StorageWorks enclosure, it supports fault management
and this option should be Enabled. If setting needs to be changed, use arrow
keys to highlight StorageWorks Fault Management, then press Enter to
change setting.

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Figure 1–7 Hardware Parameters Screen

Press Esc to return to Edit/View Parameters menu.

Continue with Section 1.7.2.

1.7.2 Data Parameters
1.7.2.1 Data Parameters KZPAC and KZPSC
Two Data Parameters must be set. You can no longer set the Read-Ahead option
for the cache as you could with the previous utility. When saving the data
parameters, Read-Ahead will be automatically disabled. The parameters are:
Default rebuild rate — The maximum percentage of time that the controller will
spend on reconstructing data during a rebuild
Stripe size — The amount of data that the RAID controller writes to any drive
before writing to the next drive in the RAID set
Set the data parameters as follows:
1.

Use arrow keys to highlight Data Parameters option on Edit/View
Parameters menu and press Enter key.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Default rebuild rate of 50 is fastest rate system will rebuild data from failed
drive. If default setting is value you wish to use, continue with next step. If
not, press Enter key and box appears at bottom right corner of screen in
which you can type rebuild rate from 0 – 50. Type in desired value.

Use arrow keys to highlight Stripe size (K bytes) option.

Press Enter key to change Stripe size value.

Press Esc key to return to Edit/View Parameters menu.

Continue with Section 1.7.3.

1.7.2.2 Data Parameters KZESC
Three Data Parameters must be set. Parameters which may be set are:
Default rebuild rate — The maximum percentage of time that the controller will
spend on reconstructing data during a rebuild
Stripe size — The amount of data that the RAID controller writes to any drive
before writing to the next drive in the RAID set
Read-Ahead — When enabled, the firmware on the KZESC will pre-fetch data
into the cache on the controller.
Set the Data Parameters as follows:

1–16

Use arrow keys to highlight Data Parameters option on Edit/View
Parameters menu and press Enter key.

Default rebuild rate of 50 is fastest rate system will rebuild data from failed
drive. If default setting is value you wish to use, continue with next step. If
not, press Enter key. Box appears at bottom right corner of screen in which
you can type rebuild rate from 0 to 50. Type in desired value.

Use arrow keys to highlight Stripe size (K bytes) option.

Press Enter key to change Stripe size value.

Use arrow keys to highlight Read-Ahead option.

Press Enter key to change Read-Ahead value.

Press Esc key to return to Edit/View Parameters menu.

Continue with Section 1.7.3.

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1.7.3 SCSI Transfer Parameters
Under the SCSI Xfr Parameters menu, you will be able to change the data
transfer rate and command tagging for each SCSI bus individually.
1.

Use arrow keys to highlight SCSI Xfr Parameters option on Edit/View
Parameters menu and press Enter. An Enter Channel # box appears, similar
to that shown at bottom right of screen in Figure 1–8.

Figure 1–8 Enter Channel # Box at Bottom Right

NOTE
You will need to perform steps 1 through 5 for
each SCSI channel that is used in the array.

Enter a channel number of attached controller and press Enter. SCSI
Transfer Parameters of Channel x screen appears similar to that shown in
Figure 1–9.

If necessary, use arrow keys to highlight Data transfer rate (MHz). Press
Enter to scroll through Data transfer rate (MHz) options. Default value is 10
Mhz, which should be used only if you are not using longer than 3-meter
SCSI cable. Select 5 Mhz if you plan to use 6-meter SCSI cable. Select
Async only if drives in your subsystem don’t support synchronous operation.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Use arrow keys to highlight Command tagging option. Command tagging is
Enabled by default. Command tagging allows controller to queue up to two
commands to each drive. With Command tagging Disabled, controller
queues only one command to each drive. Press Enter to disable Command
tagging if required.

Press Esc to return to Edit/View Parameters menu.

Figure 1–9 SCSI Transfer Parameters of Channel Screen

Repeat steps 1 – 5 to set these parameters for each channel on your
controller.

Continue with Section 1.7.4.

1.7.4 Startup Parameters
1.

1–18

Use arrow keys to highlight Startup Parameters option on Edit/View
Parameters menu and press Enter. Start up Parameters menu appears as
shown in Figure 1–10.

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Spin up option specifies whether controller starts drives at intervals, or
drives spin up simultaneously on power up. Spin up option is set to
Automatic by default, meaning controller starts drives. If you want drives to
spin up on power up, go to step 3. If you want controller to start drives,
continue with substeps below.
a.

Ensure that Spin up option setting is Automatic. If necessary, use arrow
keys to highlight Spin up option and press Enter to change On Power to
Automatic, then continue with next substep.

Figure 1–10 Startup Parameters Menu

Use arrow keys to highlight Number of devices per spin and type number
desired. Default value is 2.

Use arrow keys to highlight Delay (seconds) and type number desired.
Default value is 6.

Go directly to step 4.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

NOTE
In the following step, the remaining options,
Number of devices per spin and Delay (seconds),
can’t be set, and aren’t required, because drives
start immediately when power turns on.

1–20

Ensure that Spin up option setting on screen is On Power. If not, use arrow
keys to highlight Spin up option and press Enter to change Automatic to On
Power.

Press Esc to exit. Edit/View Parameters menu appears.

Press Esc again.

If you change settings, RCU prompts to save altered controller configuration.
Use arrow keys to highlight Yes, then press Enter and Main Menu appears. If
you make no parameter changes, Main Menu appears as soon as you press
Esc.

Press Esc, then: Press any key to continue. Exit screen appears.

Use arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter.

When A: prompt (Intel-Based system) or Boot Menu (Alpha-Based system)
appears, proceed to Chapter 2 to configure RAID array. Don’t remove
diskette from floppy diskette drive.

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2
Configuring The RAID Array
This chapter provides: information on planning your disk configuration; a description of
the automatic configuration method with the two requirements which must be satisfied to
use it, and the three major steps required to implement it; a description of the
interactive/manual configuration method with a listing of its advantages over the
automatic method, and a listing of the major steps used to implement it; the procedure
for configuring automatically; and the procedure for configuring interactively/manually.

2.1

Planning Disk Configuration
The first step in configuration is planning. When you configure your array, you
allocate your disk drive resources into drive groups and hot spares. You then
create logical RAID drives, which allow your computer to view the combined
disk space of each of the disk drives in the group as a single drive. You
determine how you want to store data on a logical RAID drive by selecting a
RAID level (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, or Just a Bunch of Disks [JBOD]) when you
create it.

2.1.1 Planning Recovery from Disk Failure
One of the major benefits of RAID is the ability to maintain data availability
even in the event of a disk failure. RAID configurations using redundant RAID
levels (RAID 1, RAID 0 + 1, and RAID 5) can sustain the failure of one disk at
any given time. Your RAID Array 230/Plus Series Subsystem recovers from the
failure of a disk by rebuilding the failed disk's data onto a replacement disk. The
RAID subsystem does this using any one of the following methods:
•

Hot Spare

•

Hot Swap

•

Manually rebuilding

Read the following descriptions of the methods for recovering from a disk failure
to help you decide whether to create one or more hot spare drives when you
configure your array.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

NOTE
You can’t recover data from a drive that fails in a
configuration with a non-redundant RAID level
(RAID 0, JBOD).

2.1.1.1 Hot Spare
A hot spare drive is a drive in your storage enclosure that you do not incorporate
into a drive group, but designate as a hot spare. The drive remains unused and
available in your storage enclosure until a disk fails in a drive group on which
you configured a redundant logical RAID drive. Then, the StorageWorks RAID
Array 230/Plus Subsystem controller, also known as a KZPAC controller,
automatically starts to rebuild the failed drive's data onto the hot spare disk.
You can define a hot spare drive when you configure your array for the first
time, or at another time. This drive must have a capacity equal to, or greater
than, the drives in the drive groups on which you will configure redundant
logical RAID drives. Section 2.4.4 has the procedure for defining a hot spare
drive.
2.1.1.2 Hot Swap
Enable the StorageWorks Fault Management option as described in Section
1.6.1, Hardware Parameters, and you can perform a hot swap if a drive fails.
(Your storage enclosure must support StorageWorks Fault Management.) You
perform a hot swap by removing the failed drive, a drive to which the KZPAC
controller assigned a status of failed (FLD), from the storage enclosure. You then
insert a working drive into the same slot of the storage enclosure from which you
removed the failed drive. Shortly after you insert the replacement drive, the
KZPAC controller automatically starts to rebuild the failed drive's data onto the
replacement drive.
NOTE
It may take minutes for a rebuild to begin on a hot
spare or after a hot swap, depending upon the
rebuild rate and activity of the subsystem.

2.1.1.3 Manually Rebuilding
If a drive fails, and you did not define a hot spare drive, or do not have hot swap
capability, you can manually issue a command to get the controller to rebuild the
data from a failed drive onto a replacement drive. See Section 3.2, for the
rebuilding procedure.
Now go on to Section 2.1.2 to continue planning the configuration.

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2.1.2 Planning Configuration
You started planning your configuration when you selected what to purchase for
your StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem. Prior to configuring the
subsystem, you need to plan how to maximize the resources you purchased. This
section includes two sample configurations which illustrate ways to maximize
the potential of a subsystem.
The following samples demonstrate:
•

High data availability (redundancy) and

•

Low cost with high performance

2.1.2.1 Sample Configuration for High Data Availability
The configuration shown in this example provides high data availability
(redundancy) in case of a drive or channel failure. Drive redundancy is achieved
by using RAID 5 logical RAID drives. Channel redundancy is achieved by
locating all the drives in a drive group on separate channels. If a channel fails,
the subsystem continues to function in degraded mode.
This sample is shown in Table 2–1, we configured 21, 1-GB capacity disk drives
into 7 drive groups, then created 7, RAID 5 logical RAID drives with 1 logical
RAID drive on each drive group. For information on the number of drives you
can use in a drive group with each RAID level, and how the capacity of
individual drives affects the capacity of a drive group, see Section 2.4.2,
Defining Drive Groups.
Figure 2–1 shows the View matrix screen of the RAID Configuration Utility
(RCU) when the configuration in Table 2–1 is implemented with a 3-channel
KZPAC controller connected to 3 storage enclosures. Each controller channel (0,
1, and 2) of the KZPAC controller connects to a storage enclosure through a
SCSI cable as shown in Figure 2–2. For more information on viewing the logical
drive matrix, refer to Section 2.4.5, Viewing Logical Drive Matrix.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Table 2–1 Data Availability Configuration Using RAID 5

Drive
Group
A

Number
of Drives
in Group
3

Drive Location
Drive 1 = Ch 0, SCSI ID 0

Group
Type
RAID 5

Usable
Capacity
2GB

RAID 5

2GB

RAID 5

2GB

Drive 2 = Ch 1, SCSI ID 0
Drive 3 = Ch 2, SCSI ID 0
B

Drive 1 = Ch 0, SCSI ID 1
Drive 2 = Ch 1, SCSI ID 1
Drive 3 = Ch 2, SCSI ID 1

Drive 1 = Ch 0, SCSI ID 6
Drive 2 = Ch 1, SCSI ID 6
Drive 3 = Ch 2, SCSI ID 6

Total

21 drives

7 RAID 5

14 GB

The Table 2–1 sample shows all of the 21 drives in the subsystem being used in
drive groups; however, you may want to create fewer drive groups and use some
of the 21 drives as hot spare drives. When hot spares are used, if a drive fails in
one of the redundant logical RAID drives, the controller will automatically begin
to rebuild the failed drive’s data onto one of the hot spares.

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Figure 2–1 View Matrix Screen Showing Configuration of Table 2–1

Figure 2–2 Storage Enclosures Required for Configuration of Table 2–1

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

2.1.2.2 Sample Configuration for Low Cost with High Performance
The configuration shown in this example maximizes low cost and high
performance in the event that you want to configure the same number of drives
used in Table 2–1, and maximize their usable capacity. This configuration
provides high performance and good use of disk media at the expense of data
redundancy. A loss of any disk in a RAID 0 configuration results in a complete
loss of data in the affected logical drives. Backups of your data are the only
possibility of data recovery.
In the configuration example shown in Table 2–2, we configured 21, 1-GB
capacity disk drives into 7 drive groups. We created 7, RAID 0 logical RAID
drives, one on each drive group. For information on the number of drives you can
use in a drive group with each RAID level, and how the capacity of individual
drives affects the capacity of a drive group, see Section 2.4.2, Defining Drive
Groups.
Table 2–2 Low Cost and High Performance Using RAID 0
Drive
Group

Number
of Drives
in Group

Drive Location

Group
Type

Usable
Capacity

Drive 1 = Ch 0, SCSI ID 0

RAID 0

3GB

RAID 0

3GB

Drive 2 = Ch 1, SCSI ID 0
Drive 3 = Ch 2, SCSI ID 0
B

Drive 1 = Ch 0, SCSI ID 1
Drive 2 = Ch 1, SCSI ID 1
Drive 3 = Ch 2, SCSI ID 1

Drive 1 = Ch 0, SCSI ID 6

RAID 0

3GB

Drive 2 = Ch 1, SCSI ID 6
Drive 3 = Ch 2, SCSI ID 6

2–6

Total

21 drives

7 RAID
0

21 GB

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2.2

Understanding Configuration Methods
You can configure your array either automatically or by using the
interactive/manual method. Though configuring automatically is quicker than
configuring interactively, manual configuration provides more flexibility in
creating the array. Table 2–3 compares available options with both methods.
Table 2–3 Configuration Methods, Automatic Verus Interactive
Interactive/Manual
Method

Feature

Automatic Method

Available RAID
levels

Either RAID 5 or JBOD
(not both)

0, 0 +1, 1, 5, and JBOD

Drive group limit

One with RAID 5, or up
to 8 with JBOD

Up to 8

Logical RAID drive
limit

One with RAID 5 or up
to 8 with JBOD

Up to 8, total, with choice
of RAID levels

Capability to
define spare
drives

Yes

2.2.1 Automatic Method
2.2.1.1 Restrictions
You can configure automatically only if:
•

You want to configure one RAID 5 logical RAID drive (requires between
three and eight drives of same capacity)

•

You want to configure up to eight JBODs of any capacity

2.2.1.2 Major Steps
To configure automatically you must:
•

Select the Automatic Configuration option.

•

Initialize the logical RAID drive.

•

We also recommend that you save your configuration to diskette.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

2.2.1.3 Menu Selection
Automatic Configuration is a selection available on the Main Menu of the RCU.

2.2.2 Interactive/Manual Method
2.2.2.1 Advantages
Configuring interactively provides four options not available with automatic
configuration. Configure interactively if you want to:
•

Create more than one drive group.

•

Create more than one logical RAID drive.

•

Specify RAID levels 0 + 1 and 1, in addition to RAID level 5 and JBOD.

•

Define one or more hot spare drives.

2.2.2.2 Major Steps
To configure interactively you will:

2–8

•

Create one or more drive groups. A drive group defines the drives that you
want to work together as the available space for the logical RAID drives that
you will create.

•

Create logical RAID drives. A logical RAID drive allows your system to see
and respond to a drive group as a single drive and defines how your system
will store data in that space, based on the RAID level selected.

•

Add hot spares (optional). A hot spare drive is a drive available in your
subsystem that the KZPAC controller can automatically begin to use to store
the data of a failed drive when a redundant logical RAID drive fails.

•

Initialize the logical RAID drives. Initialize a logical RAID drive before you
use it to ensure consistent RAID parity information.

•

Save your configuration to diskette. Your RAID subsystem stores the new
configuration information on flash EEPROM/NVRAM on the KZPAC
controller. In the event that your KZPAC controller fails, you can restore your
configuration from a backup copy of the NVRAM configuration on floppy
disk, created by the Backup/Restore conf option of the RAID Configuration
Utility.

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2.2.2.3 Menu Choices
You can configure interactively with one of two menu choices. These choices are
selections on the Main Menu of the RCU. Use:
•

New Configuration to cancel an existing configuration and create a new one,
and

•

View/Update Configuration to look at, and possibly modify, an existing
configuration.

Differences between these two menu choices are explained in Section 2.4.1.1.

2.3

Configuring Automatically
The two requirements for configuring automatically are:
•

You want to configure one RAID 5 logical RAID drive. This requires between
three and eight drives of the same capacity.

•

You want to configure up to eight JBODs of any capacity.

2.3.1 Selecting Automatic Configuration Option
To configure automatically:
1. Start RCU and display Main Menu on your monitor. Refer to Section 1.2,
Invoking RAID Configuration Utility, if necessary.
2. Use arrow keys to highlight Automatic Configuration, then press Enter key.
One of two things happens depending upon whether, or not, any
configuration currently exists.
If current configuration exists, RCU displays warning message explaining
that valid configuration exists and that if you proceed, you will destroy it.
Confirmation window also appears. See Step 3.
If there is no current configuration, Automatic Configuration screen
appears. Go to Step 4.
3. Select Yes to delete current configuration. (Select No to quit without
changing configuration and return to Main Menu.) Automatic Configuration
screen appears.
4. Use arrow keys to highlight RAID 5 or JBOD and press Enter key to select
that configuration. RCU displays window with this message:
Do you want to have Write Cache enabled?

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

5. If you want the recommended Write Through caching, press the Enter key
to select No. This sets cache to the recommended Write Through policy.
(See Section 2.4.3.2, Choose Caching Policy, for description of caching
options.)
6. RCU displays window with Automatic Configuration at top of screen and
message, Saving configuration, please wait ..., at bottom of screen. RCU
then displays screen with your system configuration information, similar to
Figure 2–3.
7. Press any key to return to Main Menu.
Now go to the next section to initialize the logical RAID drive(s).
Figure 2–3 Automatic Configuration Screen

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2.3.2 Initializing Logical RAID Drive
Initialize a logical RAID drive before you use it. The RCU initializes the logical
drive by writing a pattern of consistent data and parity to it. This creates a
starting parity for a logical RAID drive with parity.
CAUTION
Do not initialize a logical RAID drive if it has valid
data. Initialization overwrites and destroys all
data.
Also, after you initialize a logical RAID drive, do
not change or rearrange the physical drives or
cables. Otherwise, all data in the drive group can
be lost.

To initialize a logical RAID drive:
1.

From Main Menu, use arrow keys to highlight Initialize Logical Drive, then
press Enter key. RCU displays Initialize Logical Drive screen, with

Log Drv 0, as shown in Figure 2–4.

Figure 2–4 Initialize Logical Drive Screen

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If necessary, use arrow keys to move to Log Drv 0 and press Enter key to
select it. Check mark appears in front of Log Drv 0. Select any additional
JBOD logical RAID drives that were created automatically, that you wish to
initialize. RCU automatically highlights Start button after you select all
logical RAID drives.

Press Enter key. Confirmation window appears, as shown in Figure 2–5,
displaying:

Do you want to proceed with initialization?

Select Yes. Initialize Logical Drive status bar appears at top of screen, as
shown in Figure 2–6, indicating percent of initialization completed. Bar
gradually fills as initialization process completes. When done initializing,
RCU prompts you to press any key to continue.

Press any key. RCU displays message indicating that it is saving
configuration, then Main Menu appears.

Go to Section 2.3.3 to continue with the next step of the automatic configuration,
saving the configuration to a diskette.
Figure 2–5 Proceed with Initialization Confirmation Message

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Figure 2–6 Progress Bar Displays Status of Initialization

2.3.3 Saving Controller Configuration to Diskette
CAUTION
If you replace a failed KZPAC controller with a
new one, and restore an outdated configuration to
it from diskette, data will be lost. Since the KZPAC
controller must have a current configuration to
locate data on the logical drives, it’s important to
have a current version of the configuration on
diskette. All configuration changes, however
small, must be reflected. For example, if a logical
drive rebuilds using a hot spare drive, you need to
update the new configuration on diskette.

Refer to Section 3.4.6, Backup/Restore Configuration, for this procedure.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

2.4

Configuring Interactively/Manually
2.4.1 Introduction
A user configures interactively using one of two Main Menu choices in the RAID
Configuration Utility. These choices are New Configuration and View/Update
Configuration. Decide which choice is best for your situation by reading Sections
2.4.1.1 and 2.4.1.2.
2.4.1.1 New Configuration and View/Update Configuration: Differences
If a valid configuration already exists, selecting New Configuration from the
Main Menu on the RCU displays a WARNING which explains that a
configuration exists and that proceeding further may destroy it. There is also a
prompt asking if you want to proceed. Selecting NO returns you to the Main
Menu. Selecting YES displays the New Configuration screen. If no configuration
exists, the WARNING and NO/YES prompt do not appear, and the New
Configuration screen displays directly when selected. The New Configuration
screen has three selections:
•

Define Drive Group

•

Define Logical Drive

•

Define Spare

Selecting View/Update Configuration from the Main Menu on the RCU displays
the View/Update Configuration screen with four selections:

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•

View/Define Drive Group

•

Define Logical Drive

•

Define Spare

•

View Logical Drive matrix

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Table 2–4 summarizes the differences between the New Configuration and
View/Update Configuration screens.
Table 2–4 New Configuration and View/Update Configuration Screens:
Differences
Feature/
Selection

New Configuration
Screen

View/Update
Configuration Screen

Major
differences

If configuration already exists,
displays WARNING when New
Configuration selected that
existing configuration may be
voided if you proceed.

If configuration already exists,
selecting View/Update Configuration
displays View/Update Configuration
screen with no WARNING because
existing configuration is left in place.

All selections made from New
Configuration screen below show
no configuration until you create
new one.

All selections made from
View/Update Configuration screen
show previously defined
configuration if one exists.

If no configuration exists,
selecting New Configuration
displays New Configuration
screen directly with no advance
WARNING.

If no configuration exists, or old
configuration has been canceled,
selections below become similar to
New Configuration screen
selections.

Define Drive Group — Displays
Group Definition screen allowing
you to create, and then arrange,
drive groups as well as cancel
drive group and obtain device
information.

View/Define Drive Group —
Displays same Group Definition
screen as originated from New
Configuration screen. Difference is
that screen displays any existing
configuration.

1st selection

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Table 2–4 New Configuration and View/Update Configuration Screens:
Differences (Cont)

2–16

Feature/

New Configuration

View/Update

Selection

Screen

Configuration Screen

2nd
selection

Define Logical Drive — Displays
Logical Drive Definition screen,
allowing you to define logical
drives if you’ve defined and
arranged drive groups. Making
this selection without creating
and arranging drive groups,
displays message explaining that
drive groups must be created
and arranged before defining
logical drives.

Define Logical Drive — Displays
same Logical Drive Definition
screen as originated from New
Configuration screen. Difference is
that screen displays any drive
groups and logical drives already
defined in existing configuration.

3rd selection

Define Spare — Displays Define
Spare screen, allowing you to
designate any drive with ready
(RDY) status as hot spare
(HSP).

Define Spare — Displays same
Define Spare screen as originated
from New Configuration screen.
Difference is that screen displays
any previously defined hot spare
drive in existing configuration as
HSP.

4th selection

(This selection is unavailable on
New Configuration screen.)

View Logical Drive matrix —
Displays View matrix screen with
list of logical drives currently
defined.

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2.4.1.2 Using New, or View/Update, Configuration Screen to Configure
Subsystem or Check Configuration
Use New Configuration screen selections for configuring when:
•

No configuration exists and you want to create one.

•

An unwanted configuration exists and you want to replace it with an entirely
different one.

The New Configuration screen is a good choice when you know there is no
existing configuration and you want to create one. In this case, you start with
unconfigured drives connected to the KZPAC controller and configure them.
For example, you install a new RAID array subsystem and use the New
Configuration screen to configure it.
The New Configuration screen is also a good choice when an unwanted
configuration exists, and you want to create a different one. In this case, the data
on the RAID subsystem may be from a completed project and is no longer
needed. The new project has different data requirements than the old one, and
requires an entirely different configuration, not just a change that can be handled
by a slight modification of the old configuration.
For example, your original project requires you to maximize storage space using
six, 1-GB drives. Available space is more important than redundancy. You
configure six drives in six drive groups as JBODs on a 1-channel KZPAC
controller to maximize available storage space.
In your next project your storage space requirements are small, but reliability is
important. You use the New Configuration screen to cancel the existing
configuration and configure four of the six, 1-GB drives in two drive groups of
two drives each, defining logical RAID drives using RAID level 1 for maximum
reliability. You define the remaining drives as hot spares.
Use View/Update Configuration screen selections when:
•

You want to find out whether a configuration exists, and if so, determine its
characteristics.

•

You want to modify an existing, known configuration.

The View/Update Configuration screen is a good choice when you don’t know
whether a subsystem has been configured, or you know it’s configured, but have
forgotten the arrangement.

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For example, you know a configuration exists with two logical RAID drives, but
you don’t know what RAID level was specified. Select the View/Update
Configuration screen, then choose Define Logical Drive from the screen that
appears. The Logical Drive Definition screen displays, showing that logical
drives 0 and 1 are defined using RAID level 1 in two drive groups with two
physical drives each.
The View/Update Configuration screen is also a good choice when you want to
modify a known configuration.
For example, you have the configuration described above with six, 1-GB drives
in two drive groups of two drives each, with two logical RAID drives defined,
using RAID level 1 for maximum reliability. Two remaining drives are hot
spares. Because you need more space for data storage, you decide to create an
identical third drive group using the two hot spares. You select the Define Spare
screen from the View/Update Configuration screen to change the status of the
two hot spares from HSP to RDY, then use the View/Define Drive Group from
the View/Update Configuration screen to create and arrange the drive group.
Next, you use the Define Logical Drive screen to define the logical drive.
Finally, you save the configuration before you return to the Main Menu of the
RCU.

2.4.2 Defining Drive Groups
Read Section 2.4.1.2 before choosing the View/Update Configuration screen
used for working with drive groups as in the procedure below. Depending on the
situation, the New Configuration screen may be a better choice than the
View/Update Configuration screen.
2.4.2.1 Introduction
A drive group consists of from one to eight physical drives that you want to work
together.
You can define a drive group at any time. After you initially configure the
subsystem, you can define a drive group with drives that you did not previously
configure into drive groups, or with new drives you add to the subsystem. You
can also define new drive groups with drives that you previously configured into
drive groups by first canceling the existing drive groups that you want to reorganize.

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Determine how many drives to use for each drive group based on the following:
•

The RAID levels of the logical RAID drives you will create.
See Table 2–5 to see the minimum and maximum number of drives allowed
for each RAID level. (You can create multiple logical RAID drives of varying
RAID levels on a drive group.)

Table 2–5 Number of Drives per Drive Group for Each RAID Level

•

RAID
Level

Number of Drives in
Drive Group

Amount of Storage
Available for User Data

Data
Redundancy

2 to 8

100%

50%

Yes

0+1

3 to 8

50%

Yes

3 to 8

66% — 87%

Yes

JBOD

100%

The amount of disk space you need
Table 2–5 shows the amount of storage available for user data for each of the
RAID levels.
Also, consider the capacities of each of the individual disks. The capacity of
each disk is affected by the other disks in the group. As shown in Table 2–6,
disk drives of varying capacities are limited to the capacity of the smallest
drive in the drive group. To maximize your space resources, use drives of the
same capacity in each drive group.

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Table 2–6 How Capacity of Each Individual Drive Affects Capacity of Drive
Group — Example Only
Drive
Group

Drives

Drive's
Capacity

Drive's Usable
Capacity in This
Group

Drive Group's
Total Capacity

1 gigabyte

2 gigabyte

1 gigabyte

2 gigabyte

1 gigabyte

3 gigabytes (due
to drive 0's
capacity being 1
gigabyte)

2 gigabytes

6 gigabytes

2 gigabytes

In defining drive groups, remember:
•

Each physical disk will belong to only one drive group at a time.

•

You can define a maximum of eight drive groups per KZPAC controller.

•

After you create drive groups, you must arrange them in the order in which
you want to use them. Arranging drive groups determines the order that the
operating system sees the logical drives you create in each drive group. The
logical drive(s) on the first group arranged is (are) presented to the operating
system before all subsequently arranged drive groups.

•

You must use all the available space on a drive group before you can use
another drive group. Consider what data you want to put on which drive group
before arranging your drives because you can only delete drive groups in the
reverse order in which they were arranged. For example, if you create drive
groups A, B, and C, and arrange them in that order, then you must delete drive
groups C and B before you can delete drive group A.

Defining drive groups is a two-step procedure.

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•

Creating drive groups and

•

Arranging drive groups.

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2.4.2.2 Create Drive Group
This procedure creates a drive group. In the example given, we create a group
with 2 disk drives, and add it to an existing group of 3 disk drives.
We use the View/Update Configuration screen, rather than the New
Configuration screen, because we are adding to an existing configuration.
NOTE
You may create a maximum of eight drive groups
per KZPAC controller. Version 2.xx firmware
supports the creation of a maximum of eight
logical drives spread in any combination on the
drive groups defined on the controller.

1. Use arrow keys to highlight View/Update Configuration option from Main
Menu and press Enter key to select it. View/Update Configuration screen
appears with View/Define Drive Group option highlighted, as shown in
Figure 2–7.
Figure 2–7 View/Update Configuration Screen

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2. Press Enter key to select View/Define Drive Group option. RCU displays
Group Definition screen with drive matrix showing drives connected to
adapter (KZPAC controller). Screen indicates status of each drive, as shown
in Figure 2–8. Create Group selection appears highlighted.
NOTE
The Group Definition screen below is the same
whether originated from the View/Update
Configuration screen by selecting View/Define
Drive Group, or from the New Configuration
screen by selecting Define Drive Group.

Figure 2–8 Group Definition Screen

3. Press Enter key to select Create Group option. Cursor moves to drive matrix.
4. Use arrow keys to position cursor on each drive you want to add to drive
group, one at a time, and press Enter key. RCU adds that drive to drive group,
changing its status from RDY (ready) to OPT (optimal), and assigning group
letter and sequence number to drive as shown in Figure 2-9.

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Figure 2–9 Adding New Drive Group

5. Press Esc key after you add all drives you want for this drive group.
NOTE
The hot spare drive mentioned in the following
step must have capacity equal to, or greater than,
capacity of drives you used in drive groups.

Repeat Steps 3 through 5 of this procedure to create additional drive groups.
If you plan to define a hot spare, leave at least one drive with RDY (ready)
status.

If you assign all physical drives to drive groups, RCU automatically
highlights Arrange Group option. To leave some drives unassigned, press
Esc key and cursor returns to Group Definition menu.

If you mistakenly select incorrect drive for drive group, cancel drive group
as explained in Section 2.4.2.3. Otherwise, go directly to Section 2.4.2.4 to
arrange drive groups.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

NOTE
Check the drive groups you defined to make sure
you want them. Make changes now. You cannot
cancel a drive group once you select the Arrange
Group option.

2.4.2.3 Cancel Drive Group
If you select a drive for a drive group incorrectly, or you want to redefine a drive
group for any other reason, cancel the group as follows:
1.

See Section 2.4.2.1 for restrictions in canceling drive groups.

If necessary, display Group Definition screen by performing steps 1 and 2 in
Section 2.4.2.2, Create Group.

Use arrow keys to highlight Cancel Group and press Enter key to select it.

Cursor highlights first drive in drive group. If this is not drive group you
wish to cancel, use arrow keys to highlight first drive in desired group.

Press Enter key to cancel drive group.

2.4.2.4 Arrange Drive Group
Before you define a logical RAID drive on any drive group, you must arrange the
drive groups to specify the order in which you want to use them.
1. If Arrange Group option is not already highlighted, use arrow keys to
highlight it, then press Enter key. Cursor moves to first defined drive group.
NOTE
If you press the ESC key while arranging groups,
you lose the assigned drive groups and must
recreate them.

2. Use arrow keys to move cursor to drive in drive group you want to arrange.
Press Enter key. Drive group and size information for arranged drive group
appears in table at lower-right side of screen, as shown in Figure 2–10. If you
defined only one drive group, View/Update Configuration menu appears with
the Define Logical Drive option highlighted.
Otherwise, repeat this for each drive group that you defined. When you
arrange last drive group, View/Update Configuration screen appears with
Define Logical Drive option highlighted.

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This completes the creation and arrangement of your drive groups. If you want
device information on the drives, continue with Section 2.4.2.5, Obtaining
Device Information; otherwise, go to Section 2.4.3, Creating Logical Drive and
Choosing Caching Policy.

Figure 2–10 Arrange Group Screen

2.4.2.5 Obtaining Device Information
Use the Device Information selection to obtain the vendor, model number,
revision, size (in MB), channel number, and target identification number of any
drive attached to the KZPAC controller:
1.

If necessary, display Group Definition screen by performing steps 1 and 2 in
Section 2.4.2.2, Create Group.

Use arrow keys to highlight Device Information and press Enter key.

Cursor moves to drive matrix to highlight first drive in first drive group
(A-0) as shown in Figure 2–11.

Use arrow keys to highlight desired drive; that is, drive you want
information on.

When desired drive is highlighted, press Enter key.

Monitor displays Device Information for highlighted drive (A–0) at lower
right corner of screen. See Figure 2–12.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 2–11 Selecting Device Information

Figure 2–12 Device Information Window

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2.4.3 Creating Logical Drive and Choosing Caching Policy
You create a logical RAID drive with part, or all of the space available on a
drive group. The logical RAID drive allows your operating system to see and
respond to the selected space of the drive group as one physical drive. The
logical RAID drive also defines how your system will store data on that disk
space, based on the RAID level selected. To the operating system, there is no
difference between a logical RAID drive and a single physical drive on a
conventional disk controller.
You can create a maximum of 8 logical RAID drives per controller.
NOTE
For redundant RAID configurations, the controller
must use some of the space to support
redundancy. See Table 2–5 for information on how
much space is available on which you can store
unique data for each RAID level.

Creating a logical drive is a three-step procedure:
Defining a logical drive
• Choosing a write caching policy
• Saving the logical drive configuration
•

2.4.3.1 Define Logical Drive
To define a logical drive:
1. Press Enter key to select Define Logical Drive option from View/Update
Configuration menu. Logical Drive Definition screen appears as shown in
Figure 2–13. Logical Drive Definition screen displays option menu, table of
drive groups available for selection as logical drives, and table of existing
logical drives.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 2–13 Logical Drive Definition Screen

2. Press Enter key to select Create Logical Drive option. A pop-up window,
similar to that shown in Figure 2–14, displays RAID levels available for that
logical drive. Unavailable levels appear black in this guide, gray on your
monitor. You cannot select them.
You can create logical drives on one drive group at a time, and must use all
space on each drive group before you can go on to the next one. You can only
create logical RAID drives on drive groups in the order in which groups
appear in Group Drives (Grp/Drvs) list.

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Figure 2–14 RAID Level Window

3. Use up and down arrow keys to move to RAID level valid for number of
drives in this drive group. (See Table 2–5 for description of number of drives
required for each RAID level.) Press Enter key to select. Pop-up window
appears, displaying available space for this RAID level.
4. Type amount of space you want to use for this logical drive and press Enter
key, or press Enter key to select all available space in this drive group. Two
boxes appear, similar to those shown in Figure 2–15, displaying number of
new logical drive, its RAID level, and capacity. Another box prompts you to
create this logical drive.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 2–15 Create Logical Drive Confirmation

5. Select YES to create this logical drive. RCU adds logical drive to Logical
Drive (Log Drv) list at lower-left of screen, similar to screen shown in Figure
2–16.
Or,
Select NO if you don’t want to create this logical drive. Confirmation box
disappears.

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Figure 2–16 Displaying New Logical Drive

6. Repeat steps 1–5 for up to eight logical RAID drives, or until you use full
capacity of all available drive groups, whichever comes first. You can only
create logical drives on one drive group at a time and must use all space on
drive group before you can go on to next one. RCU displays each logical
drive in list at lower-left of screen.
7. When you finish creating logical drives, see Section 2.4.3.2, Choose Caching
Policy, to select caching policy for logical drives you created.
Or, if you do not want to use logical drives you just created, press Esc key.
View/Update Configuration screen appears. Press Esc key again. Save
Configuration screen appears. Highlight NO and press Enter key. Main Menu
appears.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

2.4.3.2 Choose Caching Policy
The caching policy determines what procedure the KZPAC controller uses to
write data to the logical drives. You can choose one of the following caching
policies:
•

WRITE BACK caching: A caching policy in which the controller
acknowledges that a write operation has completed successfully before data is
written to the disks. If you choose this option, you may increase the I/O
performance of your RAID subsystem.
We recommend that you select this caching policy only if your cache has
battery backup and you have enabled the battery backup. Without a battery
backup, if there is a power failure, you lose data in cache that is not yet written
to the disks.

•

WRITE THRU caching: A caching policy in which the data is written to disk
before the controller acknowledges that a write operation has completed
successfully. If you choose this option, and there is a power failure, you
minimize the chance of data loss. This is the StorageWorks RAID Array 200
subsystem default caching policy.
NOTE
If you do not have the battery backup option
installed and enabled, we strongly recommend a
WRITE-THRU caching policy to eliminate the
chance of data loss due to a power failure.

To change the caching policy:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Toggle Write Policy option in
Logical Drive Definition box (Figure 2–16) and press Enter key. Cursor
moves to Write Mode column of Logical Drives (Log Drv) list and highlights
write mode of first logical drive.
2. Press Enter key to toggle caching policy to WRITE BACK.
3. Use arrow keys to move to another logical drive and repeat step 2, as
necessary.
4. When you finish selecting cache policy for your logical drives, press Esc key.
Write Mode column is no longer highlighted.
5. Press Esc key again. View/Update Configuration screen, or New
Configuration screen, appears.

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If you plan to use one of your drives as a hot spare, go on to section 2.4.4 to
define a hot spare drive. If you want to view the logical drive matrix, go to
section 2.4.5. Otherwise, go to section 2.4.6 to save your array configuration.

2.4.4 Defining Hot Spare Drive
Optionally, you may define a hot spare drive to keep a drive available in your
subsystem on which the KZPAC controller can automatically rebuild information
from a drive that fails. The hot spare drive must have a capacity equal to, or
greater than, the failed drive.
CAUTION
To maintain high availability in the array when hot
spare devices are used, always ensure that your
hot spare disk capacity is equal to, or larger than,
any prospective configured disk the hot spare
might replace. This is particularly important after
an initial failure to a hot spare disk has occurred,
and
the
KZPAC
controller
automatically
designates a replacement drive as a new hot
spare.

To define a hot spare drive:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Define Spare option on
View/Update Configuration screen and press Enter key. RCU displays Define
Spare screen as shown in Figure 2–17.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 2–17 Define Spare Screen

2. Use arrow keys to select drive with status of RDY that you want to define as
spare, and press Enter key. RCU changes drive status to HSP (hot spare).
If you select wrong drive or decide you do not want hot spare drive, press
Enter key again. Status of drive returns to its previous status.
Unless you want to view the logical drive matrix as described in section 2.4.5, go
to section 2.4.6 to save the configuration of your array.

2.4.5 Viewing Logical Drive Matrix
NOTE
View Logical Drive matrix cannot be originated
from the New Configuration screen.

To view disk drive and logical drive information:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to select View/Update Configuration option
from Main Menu and press Enter key. RCU displays View/Update
Configuration screen (Figure 2–7).

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2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight View Logical Drive matrix option
from View/Update Configuration screen and press Enter key. View matrix
screen appears with drive matrix as shown in Figure 2–18.
View matrix list displays all logical drives configured onto disk drives in your
subsystem.
3. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight any logical drive and press Enter
key. Cursor moves to drive matrix. Cursor appears at disk drive 0 of drive
group associated with selected logical drive. Drive matrix displays:
• Target Identification (Tgt ID)
• Channel Number
• Drive group designator, if any, which allows you to see which disks
belong to which drive groups, and how many disks belong to group based
on numbers assigned to drives 0 through 7. For example, drive A-2 is one
of three drives in drive group A.
• Status for each drive in subsystem (Table 2–7 describes each status that a
drive can have.)
Figure 2–18 View Matrix Screen

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Table 2–7 Drive Status
Display

Drive Status

Meaning

FLD

Failed

The device failed due to errors, or you manually
failed it.

FMT

Formatting

The device is undergoing SCSI device format.

HSP

Hot spare

The device is configured as a hot spare for use in
an automatic rebuild in the event of a disk failure in
a redundant RAID configuration.

OPT

Optimal

The device is on-line and configured for use. Drives
associated with a drive group appear with this
status.

RDY

Ready

The device is spun up and ready to be used by the
controller, but it is not configured. Drives which are
not associated with a drive group appear with this
status.

UNF

Unformatted

The controller could not properly talk to the device
on the SCSI bus, or a SCSI format to the device
was halted in the middle.

WOL

Write Only

The device is being rebuilt and is in write-only
mode, or the rebuild has failed, leaving the RAID
set in degraded mode.

4. Press Enter key to return to View Matrix list.
5. Press Esc key to return to View/Update Configuration screen when you finish
viewing drive groups associated with logical drives.

2.4.6 Saving Logical Drive Configuration
To save the logical drive configuration that you created:
1. Press Esc key from View/Update Configuration, New Configuration, or
Define Spare screens. RCU displays SAVE configuration? window, as shown
in Figure 2–19.
2. Select Yes to save logical drive configuration. RCU saves configuration to
flash EEPROM/NVRAM and Main Menu appears.

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Figure 2–19 Save Configuration Window

The RCU saves the configuration that you created by storing it on flash
EEPROM/NVRAM. Thereafter, your controller will expect to see this
configuration.
If you created a new logical drive, go to section 2.4.7 to initialize it.

2.4.7 Initializing Logical Drive
Initialize a logical RAID drive before you use it. The RCU initializes the logical
drive by writing a pattern of consistent data and parity to it. This creates a
starting parity for a logical RAID drive with parity.
CAUTION
Do not initialize a logical drive if it has valid data.
Initialization overwrites and destroys all data.
After you initialize a logical drive, do not change or
rearrange the physical drives or cables.
Otherwise, all data in the drive group can be lost.

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To initialize a logical drive:
1. From Main Menu, select Initialize Logical Drive option. RCU displays
Initialize Logical Drive screen, with logical drive 0 (Log Drv 0), as shown in
Figure 2–20.
Figure 2–20 Initialize Logical Drive Screen

2. Use arrow keys to move to each logical drive you want to initialize, and press
Enter key to select it. Check mark appears beside each logical drive you
selected. Once you select all available logical drives, RCU automatically
highlights START button. Otherwise use arrow keys to move to START button.
3. Press Enter key. Confirmation window appears as shown in Figure 2–21,
displaying message as follows:
Do you want to proceed with Initialization?

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Figure 2–21 Confirmation Window

4. Use arrow keys to select YES, then press Enter key. Initialize Logical Drive
status bar appears at top of screen, as shown in Figure 2–22, indicating
percent of initialization completed. Bar gradually fills as initialization
completes. When done initializing, RCU prompts you to press any key to
continue.
5. Press any key. RCU displays message indicating that it is saving
configuration, then Main Menu appears.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 2–22 Percent Initialized Screen

2.4.8 Saving KZPAC Controller Configuration to Diskette
CAUTION
To avoid the chance of data loss due to a KZPAC
controller failure, save the configuration to diskette
any time the configuration changes. Then, If the
controller fails and is replaced, the current
configuration will be available to load onto the
replacement controller. For example, if a physical
drive fails, and the logical RAID drive
incorporating it rebuilds the contents of the
physical drive onto a hot spare, the changed
configuration must be updated on diskette.

Refer to Section 3.4.6, Backup/Restore Configuration, for this procedure.

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3
Maintaining The RAID Array
This chapter provides: a Parity Check procedure for checking and repairing parity on
logical drives with redundant RAID levels, a Rebuild procedure for recreating (rebuilding)
a failed drive’s data on a replacement drive if the failed drive is part of a configuration
with a redundant RAID level, and Tools procedures for using each of the eight options in
the Tools window.

3.1

Introduction
As stated in the summary above, this chapter provides procedures for the Parity
Check, Rebuild, and Tools selections. These choices are shown on the Main
Menu of the RAID Configuration Utility (RCU). See Figure 3–1.
Figure 3–1 Main Menu of RCU

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

3.2

Running Parity Check/Repair
Perform a parity check on logical drives with a redundant RAID level (RAID 1,
RAID 0 + 1, and RAID 5) to check the consistency of the RAID parity
information. When you select Parity Check from the Main Menu, the RCU reads
the data from the logical drive and computes the parity for each series of blocks.
Any discrepancies between the computed parity and the parity stored on the
drive are indicated. The RCU repairs parity inconsistencies by regenerating the
data.
Check the parity of all of your logical drives at regular intervals, and after a
power failure, or an RCU crash to ensure the integrity of parity and reduce the
chance of data loss.
To check the consistency of a logical drive, follow these steps:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Parity Check on Main Menu, and
press Enter. RCU displays Parity Check menu as shown in Figure 3–2.
Figure 3–2 Parity Check Menu

2. If necessary, use up and down arrow keys to highlight:
1.

Select System Drive

3. Press Enter key. RCU displays Parity Check screen as shown in Figure 3–3.

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Figure 3–3 Parity Check Screen

4. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight logical drive you wish to check.
5. Press Enter key to select logical drive, then press Esc key to return to Parity
Check menu (Figure 3–2).
6. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight:
2.

Start Check

7. Press Enter key. RCU displays Parity Check progress screen as shown in
Figure 3–4.
8. If check is successful, as shown in Figure 3–5, press any key to return to Main
Menu.
9. If check fails, as shown in Figure 3–6, press any key to restore parity. Screen
similar to Figure 3–7 appears. Press any key again to restore parity. RCU
displays results of parity restoration on screen similar to that shown in Figure
3–8.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 3–4 Parity Check Progress Screen

Figure 3–5 Parity Check Passed Screen

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Figure 3–6 Parity Check Failed Screen

Figure 3–7 Restore Parity Screen

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 3–8 Parity Successfully Restored Screen

3.3

Rebuild
Rebuilding a drive recreates a failed drive's data onto a replacement drive. You
can rebuild a drive only for configurations with redundant RAID levels (RAID 1,
RAID 0 + 1, and RAID 5). If a drive fails in a configuration without a redundant
RAID level (RAID 0, JBOD), you can not recover data from the failed drive
using the RCU.
NOTE
Upon detection of a drive failure, replace the drive
as soon as possible to minimize the chance of
data loss because of a second drive failure.

If your storage enclosure has StorageWorks Fault Management support, then the
StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem controller, also known as a
KZPAC controller, will automatically start to rebuild the logical drive when you
replace a failed drive in a redundant RAID set. If a hot spare drive exists in the
shelf, then you do not have to manually rebuild the failed drive. In this case, a
rebuild will automatically start on a hot spare device in the event of a drive
failure in a redundant RAID set.

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In addition, the KZPAC controller supports queuing rebuilds. If a rebuild is in
process and a drive should fail in another drive group, the controller will start a
rebuild of that second logical drive group after completing the first rebuild,
assuming you replace the second failed drive, or another hot spare is present in
the shelf.
Use the Rebuild selection on the Main Menu of the RCU to manually rebuild a
logical drive if:
•

Your storage enclosure doesn’t have StorageWorks Fault Management and a
drive fails.

•

You have manually failed a drive because it was reporting excessive errors,
and you wish to return the replaced drive to the optimal state.

To manually rebuild a drive:
1. Replace failed drive with a working drive.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Rebuild selection on Main Menu
and press Enter key to select it. RCU displays drive matrix, showing drives
and status of each.
3. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight drive with FLD (failed) status and
press Enter key to select it.
4. Pop-up window appears, similar to screen shown in Figure 3–9. RCU provides
option of formatting replacement drive prior to rebuilding information from
failed drive. Press Enter key to select NO to rebuild drive without formatting,
or highlight YES and press Enter key to rebuild drive after formatting. Status
bar appears, indicating either formatting or rebuilding. After formatting, RCU
automatically begins rebuilding drive.
5. When the rebuild progress bar displays 100%, press any key to continue.
Main Menu appears.

3.3.1 Rebuild Fails
A rebuild will fail if the power on the system is lost during the time the
controller is doing the rebuild, or data can not be reconstructed correctly from
the other drives in the RAID set. The drive being reconstructed will be in the
WOL state if the rebuild fails. If the rebuild fails due to a power cycle, the user
can recover by reseating the WOL drive and restarting a manual rebuild.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 3–9 Choose whether to Format before Rebuilding

3.4

Tools
Selecting Tools from the Main Menu of the RCU (Figure 3–1) displays the Tools
window with eight available options as shown in Figure 3–10:
1.

Bad Block Table

Error Counts

Format Drive

Make Optimal

Fail Drive

Backup/Restore conf (configuration)

Clear Configuration

Print Configuration

The remaining sections of this chapter explain how to use each of the Tools
options.

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Figure 3–10 Tools Window

3.4.1 Bad Block Table
The Bad Block Table selection helps you troubleshoot a failed rebuild when a
disk drive fails in a redundant logical RAID drive.
Sometimes the RCU fails to rebuild data onto a replacement disk. A rebuild
failure occurs because of errors with one of the disks from which the RCU tries
to rebuild the data.
You will know that a rebuild failed when the status of the replacement drive
remains WOL (write only). After a successful rebuild, the status of the
replacement drive changes to OPT (optimal).

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

To view the Bad Block Table, invoke the RAID Configuration Utility, then:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option from Main Menu and
press Enter key to select it. RCU displays Tools window.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Bad Block Table option from Tools
window, and press Enter key to select it. RCU displays View Bad Block Table
window as shown in Figure 3–11. You can select:
•

View Rebuild BBT, or

•

View Write Back BBT

Figure 3–11 Bad Block Table Screen

3. Press any key to return to Tools window. RCU clears REBUILD — Bad
Block Table once you exit it.
4. Press Esc key to return to Main Menu.

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If the REBUILD — Bad Block Table contains error entries, it indicates some
internal error with one of the drives which the RCU used to rebuild data. If no
entries appear in the REBUILD — Bad Block Table, check for physical problems,
such as improperly seated drives, or loose connecting cables.
Attempt to rebuild the data onto the replacement drive again. If the rebuild fails a
second time, and bad block entries appear in the REBUILD — Bad Block Table,
restore the data from backup media.

3.4.2 Error Counts
The RAID Configuration Utility keeps a count of errors that occur while the RCU
is running. You can view the number of device error occurrences and the type of
error in a table. View the table to see the number and nature of errors being
produced. Use this information to determine the reliability of a drive and whether
to replace it.
The Error Counts Table displays a maximum of 127 errors.
To view the error count for a drive:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option on Main Menu and
press Enter key to select it. Tools window appears.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Error Counts option in Tools
window and press Enter key to select it. Cursor appears in drive matrix.
3. Use arrow keys to select drive you want to check for errors, and press Enter
key. RCU displays error count window similar to Figure 3–12.
4. After viewing error count window, press any key to return to Tools window.
5. Press Esc key and drive no longer appears highlighted.
6. Press Esc key again to return to Main Menu.
The types of Error Counts shown in the error count window in Figure 3–12 are
described below:
Parity Errors — A count of SCSI bus parity errors that occurred while
transferring information on the SCSI bus
Soft Errors — “Check-Condition” errors from the device, indicating a bad sector
was encountered on the device
Hard Errors — A count of hardware-related error on the RAID controller
Misc. Error — All other errors not listed otherwise

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Figure 3–12 Error Count Window

3.4.3 Format Drive
You can use the RCU to perform a SCSI format of any drive with a RDY (ready)
state, prior to using it in a drive group. It takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes
for the RCU to format a drive.
To format a disk drive:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option on Main Menu, and
press Enter key to select it. RCU displays Tools window as shown in Figure
3–13.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Format Drive option and press
Enter key to select it.
3. Cursor moves to first available drive in matrix. Drives that you can format
appear in blue, and drives that you cannot appear in gray.
4. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight drive you want to format, then press
Enter key. RCU displays warning message indicating all data will be lost.
5. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key to
confirm selection. Drive status changes to FMT (formatting).
6. Press Esc key. RCU prompts you to decide whether to continue.

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Figure 3–13 Tools Window

7. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key to
confirm selection. RCU begins to format drive. When formatting completes,
drive status changes from FMT to RDY.
Or, highlight NO and press Enter key. RCU returns drive status to its previous
state and cursor appears in Tools window.
8. When formatting completes, press any key to continue, then press Esc key.
Main Menu appears.

3.4.4

Make Drive Optimal

Use the Make Optimal selection in the Tools window to change the status of a
FLD (failed) drive to OPT (optimal). Normally, the only time you would want to
change a failed drive to the optimal state is if you energized or de-energized the
components in the wrong order. Changing a failed drive to optimal at any other
time may cause increased potential for data loss.
Do not use Make Optimal to change the status of a drive which replaces a disk
drive that failed. Use the Rebuild option to properly replace a disk drive that has
failed. Otherwise, the drive may contain faulty data.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

CAUTION
When you use this option, ensure the integrity of
the data stored on all logical RAID drive(s) that
use the failed drive. For example, do the following:
• For drives with a redundant RAID level (RAID 1,
0+1, or 5), use the Parity Check option from the
Tools window.
• Run an operating system file integrity check.
• Run a data integrity check of your files
(application-specific).
If you detect corrupted files, you need to restore
data from backups.

To change the status of a drive to optimal, follow these steps:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option from Main Menu, then
press Enter key. RCU displays Tools window similar to that shown in Figure
3–13, above.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Make Optimal selection from Tools
window and press Enter key. Cursor moves to first drive in matrix available
for you to make optimal, as shown in Figure 3–14.
3. Use arrow keys to move cursor to drive you want to change to OPT status and
press Enter key. RCU displays warning message. Press any key to continue.
4. Confirmation window appears. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES,
then press Enter key. RCU starts drives and changes state of selected drive to
OPT.
5. Press Esc key to return to Main Menu.

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Chapter 3. Maintaining The RAID Array

Figure 3–14 Make Drive Optimal

3.4.5

Fail Drive

Use the Fail Drive option to change the status of a drive to failed when you want
to prevent the KZPAC controller from writing information to it. You would do
this, for example, if you wanted to remove the drive from the storage enclosure
because you believed it was not operating properly.
Failing a drive in a RAID 0 or JBOD configuration will result in the loss of all
data, and you will need to backup the data before putting the drive in the FLD
(failed) state.
Ensure OPT (optimal) status for all drives in a RAID 1, RAID 0+1, or RAID 5
configuration before failing a drive. Failing a drive in a RAID 1, RAID 0+1, or
RAID 5 configuration with a drive already failed will result in the loss of all
data, and you will need to restore the data from backup media.
To fail a drive:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option from Main Menu and
press Enter key to select it. RCU displays Tools window similar to Figure
3-13, above.
2. Use up and down arrow key to highlight Fail Drive option, and press Enter
key. Cursor appears in drive matrix. Drives you can fail appear in blue.
Drives you cannot fail appear in gray.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

3. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight drive you want to fail and press
Enter key. RCU displays message similar to that shown in Figure 3–15.
Figure 3–15 Message Displayed When You Select Drive to Fail

4. Press any key. RCU displays confirmation window as shown in Figure 3–16.
5. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key. RCU
spins down selected drive. Status of drive changes to FLD (failed), similar to
screen shown in Figure 3–17.

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Figure 3–16 Fail Drive Confirmation Message

Figure 3–17 RCU Changes Drive Status to FLD

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

3.4.6 Backup/Restore Configuration
3.4.6.1 Saving Copy of RAID Configuration on Diskette
CAUTION
If you replace a failed KZPAC controller with a
new one, and restore an outdated configuration to
it from diskette, data will be lost. Since the KZPAC
controller must have a current configuration to
locate data on the logical drives, it’s important to
have a current version of the configuration on
diskette. All configuration changes, however
small, must be reflected. For example, if you
rebuild a logical drive to incorporate a hot spare
drive, you need to update the new configuration on
diskette.

Save a copy of your KZPAC controller configuration on a diskette. Because the
RCU stores the configuration on EEPROM/NVRAM on the KZPAC controller
board, if your controller ever fails, you will need to restore the configuration
from diskette after you install a new controller.
To save the configuration:
1. Insert formatted diskette in your system's floppy drive.
2. Use arrow keys to highlight Tools option from Main Menu, and press Enter
key to select it. RCU displays Tools window as shown in Figure 3–13, above.
3. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Backup/Restore conf option. Press
Enter key to select it. Brief message appears explaining this option.
4. Press any key to continue. Backup/Restore Conf window appears as shown in
Figure 3–18.
5. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Backup Configuration from
Backup/Restore Conf option, and press Enter key to select it. RCU prompts
you to enter name for file.
6. On Intel-Based systems enter path, for example, a:\, and appropriate file
name with up to eight characters, not including file extension. On AlphaBased systems enter only eight-character filename and character extension.
Then press Enter key. RCU displays message asking whether it should
overwrite existing file.

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Chapter 3. Maintaining The RAID Array

Figure 3–18 Backup/Restore Configuration Window

7. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key to
overwrite existing file. Message appears, indicating that RCU is saving
configuration. Backup/Restore Conf window appears when RCU finishes
saving configuration.
Or,
Use up and down arrow keys to highlight NO, then press Enter key to return
to Backup/Restore Conf window without saving file.
8. Press any key, then press Esc key to exit. Main Menu appears.
3.4.6.2 Restoring RAID Configuration onto New Controller
If your RAID controller fails, you will need to restore the configuration
information onto the new KZPAC controller. You can restore the RAID
configuration information if you saved a copy of the configuration on a diskette.
To restore the configuration:
1. Insert diskette with previously saved configuration into floppy drive.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option from Main Menu and
press Enter key to select it.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

3. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Backup/Restore conf option from
Tools window, then press Enter key to select it. Backup/Restore Conf
window appears with Backup Configuration option highlighted as shown in
Figure 3-18, above. RCU prompts you to use caution. Press any key to
continue.
4. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Restore Configuration, then press
Enter key to select Restore Configuration option. RCU prompts you for file
name.
5. On Intel-Based systems, enter path, for example, a:\, and name of saved
configuration file. On Alpha-Based systems, enter name of saved
configuration. Then press Enter key. RCU prompts you to confirm that you
want to restore.
6. Use up and down arrow keys to select YES, then press Enter key. RCU begins
reading file and prompts you again to confirm that you want to restore
configuration.
7. Use up and down arrow keys to select YES, then press Enter key. RCU writes
configuration to Flash EEPROM/NVRAM and indicates when it has
successfully restored configuration.
8. Press any key to continue.
9. Press Esc key to return to Main Menu.

3.4.7 Clear Configuration
This option provides you with a quick way to delete the existing RAID
configuration when you want to delete it without immediately creating a new
one. You may want to use this option when moving the controller to another
system without moving the attached hardware. Otherwise, use the New
Configuration option, which clears the configuration and then prompts you to
create a new one.
To clear the configuration:
1. Use normal procedures to back up information stored on your array prior to
clearing configuration.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Tools option on Main Menu, then
press Enter key. Tools window appears.
3. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Clear Configuration option in Tools
window, then press Enter key.

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3.4.8 Print Configuration, Intel-Based
You can view your configuration by printing out a hard copy representation of it.
To print a representation of your configuration:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to select Tools option from Main Menu, then
press Enter key. Tools window appears as shown in Figure 3–13, above.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Print Configuration option from
Tools window, then press Enter key. Prompt appears:
Enter File Name
3. To create configuration save file in current directory, enter a file name with
up to 8 characters plus extension. For example, type:
config.sav
To create configuration save file in root directory of C: drive, type:
c:\config.sav
Press Enter key. Prompt appears:
Existing File, if any will be overwritten!
4. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key if you
want to create file with name that you specified. If file with same name
already exists, RCU will write over it. Use up and down arrow keys to
highlight NO, then press Enter key to return to previous menu without
creating file. If you select YES, prompt appears:
Saved configuration print file. Press any key to continue.
5. Press any key and Tools window appears. Press Esc key to return to Main
Menu.
6. Press Esc key again. RCU prompts you to confirm that you want to exit
utilities.
7. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key to exit
RCU. MS-DOS prompt appears.

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StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

8. At MS-DOS prompt type:
print filename
where filename is name you specified for print configuration file, including path,
if any. For example, type:
print c:\config.sav
File similar to the following prints on printer attached to your computer:
*************************************************************
Digital Disk Array Controller - Configuration Utility *
• Version 4.27 *
*************************************************************
CONFIGURATION INFORMATION OF :
==============================
1 Channel - 7 Target KZPAC in Slot 3
DRIVE GROUP INFORMATION :
===========================
Number of drive groups = 1
Group 0 : [0:0]
LOGICAL RAID DRIVE INFORMATION :
=================================
Number of Logical RAID Drives = 1
Log. Drv #
Phy. Size
Raid Level
========
========
=========
0
4004 MB
5

3–22

Firmware version 2.40

Eff. Size
========
3003 MB

Write Policy
============
Write Thru

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Chapter 3. Maintaining The RAID Array

3.4.9 Print Configuration, Alpha-Based
You can view your configuration by printing out a hard copy representation of it.
To print a representation of your configuration:
1. Use up and down arrow keys to select Tools option from Main Menu, then
press Enter key. Tools window appears as shown in Figure 3–13, above.
2. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight Print Configuration option from
Tools window, then press Enter key. Prompt appears:
Enter File Name
3. To create configuration save file in current directory, enter a file name with
up to 8 characters plus extension. For example, type:
config.sav
Press Enter key. Prompt appears:
Existing File, if any will be overwritten!
4. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight YES, then press Enter key if you
want to create file with name that you specified. If file with same name
already exists, RCU will write over it. Use up and down arrow keys to
highlight NO, then press Enter key to return to previous menu without
creating file. If you select YES, prompt appears:
Saved configuration print file. Press any key to continue.
5. Press any key and Tools window appears. Press Esc key to return to Main
Menu.
6. Press Esc key again. RCU prompts you to confirm that you want to exit
utilities.
7. Print config.sav (or name you specified) from any machine that can read
a MS-DOS based file.

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A
Downloading New Controller Firmware
This appendix documents the firmware downloading function.

CAUTION
Please read the current release notes for the
latest instructions on downloading firmware.

A.1 Firmware Downloader Description
There are two ways to specify command line parameters for the firmware
download utility: an explicit name for the download image for each controller in
the system, up to four, and the -v option where the same image is used for each
controller in the system.
If you have a mix of different types of RA200 RAID controllers, then you must
explicitly specify the firmware for each controller.

A.1.1 Intel-Based Systems
A.1.1.1 Explicit Image Name
1. Insert diskette labeled StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID
Configuration Utility for Intel Systems into floppy drive and boot system
from it.
2. Screen displays prompt: A:\RA200RCU>
3. After prompt type:
A:\RA200RCU> RA200FL.EXE xxxx yyyy zzzz aaaa
where xxxx, yyyy, zzzz, aaaa are firmware image names; for
example, SWXCRFWP.240

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A–1

StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Subsystem RAID Configuration Utility

Dummy parameters can be specified if you do not wish to load firmware for a
specific controller. Leaving yyyy in the command above would cause the
second controller’s firmware not to be changed.
The order in which you specify the image name depends on the machine and
the order in which the boards are identified. Usually, any EISA boards will be
identified first.
4. Press Enter key. Firmware loads onto controllers.
A.1.1.2 -v Option
1. Insert diskette labeled StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID
Configuration Utility for Intel Systems into floppy drive and boot system
from it.
2. Screen displays prompt: A:\RA200RCU>
3. After prompt type:
RA200FL.EXE -v xxxx
where xxxx is version of firmware; for example, 240
4. Press Enter key. Firmware loads onto controllers.

A.1.2 Alpha-Based Systems
A.1.2.1 Explicit Image Name
1. Invoke ARC console menu shown in Figure A–1. Consult your Alpha-Based
system documentation for this procedure.
2. Insert diskette labeled StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID
Configuration Utility for Alpha Systems into floppy drive.
3. Select Run a program option from Alpha Boot menu. System displays
Program to run: prompt.
4. After prompt type:
RA200FL.EXE xxxx yyyy zzzz aaaa
where xxxx yyyy zzzz aaaa are firmware image names; for example,
SWXCRFWP.240
Dummy parameters can be specified if you do not wish to load firmware for a
specific controller. Leaving yyyy in the command above would cause the
second controller’s firmware not to be changed.

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The order in which you specify the image name depends on the machine, and
the order in which the boards are identified. Usually, any EISA boards will be
identified first.
Figure A–1 ARC Console for Alpha-Based System

ARC Multiboot Alpha AXP Version 4.31
Copyright (c) 1993–1995 Microsoft Corporation
Copyright (c) 1993–1995 Digital Equipment Corporation
Boot Menu
Boot Windows NT
Boot an alternate operating system
Run a program
Supplementary menu ...
Use the arrow keys to select, then press Enter.

5. Press Enter key. Firmware loads onto controllers.
A.1.2.2 -v Option
1. Invoke ARC console menu shown in Figure A–1. Consult your Alpha-Based
system documentation for this procedure.
2. Insert diskette labeled StorageWorks RAID Array 230/Plus Software RAID
Configuration Utility for Alpha Systems into floppy drive.
3. Select Run a program option from Alpha Boot menu. System displays
Program to run: prompt.
4. After prompt type:
RA200FL.EXE -v xxxx
where xxxx is version of firmware; for example, 240
5. Press Enter key. Firmware loads onto controllers.
CAUTION
Please read the current release notes for the
latest instructions on downloading firmware.

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A–3

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