Promise Technology Version 4.4 - Manual

Promise Array Management 2 How They Work Together The Promise Array Management (PAM) utility provides and easy way to set up, monitor, modify and repair your RAID. PAM works with the Promise FastTrak SX4000 series and S150 SX4 Controller card. PAM watches the RAID and when significant events happen,...

Chapter 1: Introduction 3 PAM Installation Options Following are some examples of ways you can incorporate PAM into your network and RAID systems. Router & Firewall Laptop computer + Monitoring Utility A networked PC + Monitoring Utility Company LAN Internet Home-based PC + Monitoring Utility Mo...

Promise Array Management 4 A networked PC + Monitoring Utility Company LAN A networked PC + Monitoring Utility + Message Server PC + FastTrak S150 SX4 + Internal RAID array + Message Agent PC + FastTrak S150 SX4 + Message Agent PC + FastTrak SX4000 series + Message Agent Figure 2. Company LAN withou...

Chapter 1: Introduction 5 PC + FastTrak S150 SX4 + Internal RAID array + Monitoring Utility + Message Server + Message Agent PC + FastTrak SX4000 series + Monitoring Utility + Message Server + Message Agent Figure 3. PCs with Internal RAID. Promise’s FastTrak SX4000 series and S150 SX4 Controller ca...

7 Chapter 2: Installation To install Promise Array Management (PAM) is an uncomplicated procedure, once you understand your systems and how you want to use PAM. The purpose of this Chapter is to help you plan and carry out your installation of PAM. By way of review, PAM consists of three components:...

Promise Array Management 8 Router & Firewall Laptop computer + Monitoring Utility A networked PC + Monitoring Utility Company LAN Internet Home-based PC + Monitoring Utility Modem Network File Server + Message Server PC + FastTrak S150 SX4 + Internal RAID array + Message Agent PC + FastTrak SX40...

Chapter 2: Installation 9 Message Server The Message Server installs onto the RAID PC if your installation does not involve a network. If you want run PAM over a network, install the Message Server on one of your networked computers including a file server, a networked PC or the RAID PC. Only one in...

Promise Array Management 10 Network Requirements If you plan to install PAM on a network be sure all the hosts and servers are connected and running. That is, each of the PCs, RAIDs and Servers must have a working network connection before you install PAM. In order for PAM to be configured over a ne...

Chapter 2: Installation 11 Figure 5. PAM Setup Opening Screen. 7. Click Next or press Enter to continue. Figure 6. The License Agreement. 8. When the License Agreement appears, click the Yes button to agree to the terms and continue the installation. If you click No, PAM Setup will exit.

Promise Array Management 12 Figure 7. The Setup Type dialog box. 9. In the Setup Type dialog box, make your choice between Complete (Recommended) and Custom installation. Use the Custom installation to change install locations or to deselect individual components. 10. Click the Next button or press ...

Chapter 2: Installation 13 Figure 9. Add User Account dialog box. 12. When the Add User Account dialog box appears, you may accept the default name or enter a new one in the Name field. 13. Enter your password in the Password and Confirm Password fields. When you are done, click Next or press Enter ...

Promise Array Management 14 Figure 10. Install Complete dialog box. 14. When the Install Complete dialog box appears, you have the option to • Create program shortcuts on your Desktop • Register WebPAM online Both of these options are recommended. 15. Click Finish or press Enter to finish the instal...

15 Chapter 3: Initial Setup After you have completed installation, you must setup your PAM Monitoring Utility to work with your RAID. Launch PAM Figure 11. Desktop icons (left) and Start Menu entries (right). To Start PAM, click on a Desktop icon or go to Start > Programs > Promise Array Manag...

Promise Array Management 16 Local PAM Log-in Launch Local PAM as described above. When the PAM user interface appears: Figure 12. Logging in to the Local Agent. 1. Right click on the RAID Machine icon in Tree View. Select Login from the popup menu (see above). The Login dialog box appears. Figure 13...

Chapter 3: Initial Setup 17 Remote PAM Log-in You must create a RAID Server in order to use Remote PAM. The RAID Server in PAM communicates with the Message Server on the network to connect your PC with the other PCs running FastTrak. Launch Remote PAM as described above. When the PAM user interface...

Promise Array Management 18 Figure 16. List of RAID PCs on the network. 4. Click on the + icon in front of the RAID Server to see the list of networked RAID PCs. 5. From the list of networked RAID PCs, find the one you want to access, right-click on its RAID Machine icon and select Login from the po...

Chapter 3: Initial Setup 19 Logout of RAID PC Logout of the RAID Server effectively logs you out of all RAID PCs using that network connection. You can log out of one RAID PC while remaining connected to others on the network. Right-click on the RAID Machine icon of the PC you want to disconnect and...

Promise Array Management 20 PAM User Interface The Monitor window is the user interface for PAM. It appears immediately after login and displays monitoring and management functions. Figure 19. The PAM Monitor window has three views. The Monitor window has three views: Tree View ― Displays the elemen...

Chapter 3: Initial Setup 21 Create a New User The Administrator is created by default. You must create additional users manually. To create a new User: 1. Right-click on the User Management icon and select New > User from the popup menu (below). A new User icon appears. Figure 20. User Informatio...

Promise Array Management 22 Every User has least one of these three Rights and can change his/her own password. The Administrator can assign more or fewer rights to other Users but cannot change their passwords. 3. Type in a Username and Password in their respective fields. Check all the appropriate...

Chapter 3: Initial Setup 23 Figure 21. Create Array Settings. 3. The Select the Create Array icon and go to the Create Array Settings in Information View. 4. In the Create Array Settings box: • Type in a name for your array • Select the RAID Mode (Level) from the dropdown menu • Highlight the disk d...

Chapter 3: Initial Setup 25 Setup Email Alert Notification PAM alerts you to the problems and processes happening to your RAID through email and popup messages. These steps describe how to setup the email function. 1. Click on the RAID Machine icon. Information for the RAID PC appears in Information...

Promise Array Management 26 Figure 25. Email Sender and Recipients. 9. Scroll down to the Email Sender and Recipients box. 10. In the Email ID of Alert Sender field, type in the email address of this computer. 11. This address will appear in the From field of the email alerts. Recipients may reply t...

Chapter 3: Initial Setup 27 Specify Alert Notification Events PAM can be configured to report a variety of alerts, by email, popup message or both. This section describes how to tell PAM what to report and which method to use. 1. Click on the RAID System icon whose alert notification events you wish...

Promise Array Management 28 Following is a list of Events and their Severity: Information Events Warning Events Disk S.M.A.R.T. Failed Disk Time Out Array Critical Controller Delete Array Array Rebuild Aborted Array Expansion/Conversion Aborted Error Events Disk Plug In Bad Sector Log Updated Channe...

29 Chapter 4: PAM User Interface This chapter describes PAM’s Graphic User Interface (GUI). You should understand that PAM is software running on top of the Promise RAID BIOS and other applications that came with your Promise RAID product. PAM adds a graphic user interface to make RAID management fu...

Promise Array Management 30 Tree View Local PAM The Monitor window is the user interface for PAM. It has three views: Tree View, Object View and Information View which were introduced in Chapter 3. The Tree View displays all of the elements of your RAID system. Use it to navigate to specific compone...

Chapter 4: User Interface 31 Remote PAM Figure 31. An example of a RAID system in Tree View on Remote PAM. Normally, the Tree View is present. To close it, right-click on any object and select Hide Pane from the popup menu. To open it again, go to View menu and Outline. PAM Software RAID Server (PC ...

Promise Array Management 32 Tree View and Component Specific Menus In PAM, like most Windows applications, you can access the various commands and functions by opening dropdown menus and clicking on icons. Each time you click on a component in Tree View, PAM’s menu bar also displays that component’s...

Chapter 4: User Interface 33 Information View Information View, like Object View, changes its content depending on which item you select in Tree View. The difference is that you use Information View to obtain data, input settings and information. Figure 34. Information View showing the specification...

Promise Array Management 34 Pulldown Menus As indicated above, the left-most item of the Pulldown Menus changes according to which component is selected in the Tree View. Dynamic Menus By the term Dynamic Menus, we refer to menus appear only when a certain item is selected in Tree View. They are: Ma...

Chapter 4: User Interface 35 RAID Machine Menu When the RAID Machine is selected, the RAID Machine menu appears. Its functions include: • Login • Logout • Screen refresh • Rename the RAID Machine icon • Exit PAM RAID System Menu The RAID System menu appears with the RAID System icon is selected. Its...

Promise Array Management 36 When the Array icon is selected, the Maintenance menu displays Controller functions: • Pause synchronization/rebuild • Continue synchronization/rebuild • Delete this array • Refresh the screen • Rename the Array icon View Menu The View menu displays or hides three items: ...

Chapter 4: User Interface 37 Preference Menu The Preference menu allows you to start PAM automatically when your PC boots. Check to enable or uncheck to disable this feature. If you are using PAM for remote monitoring, running PAM automatically is a good idea. This way, your PC will be connected to ...

Promise Array Management 38 Toolbar The Toolbar is a series of buttons that are shortcuts to performing specific tasks. You will never see all buttons active as in the example below. Figure 36. The Toolbar. They become active when you click on specific system components in Tree View. Only the tool b...

Chapter 4: User Interface 39 Popup Menus In addition to the commands in the dropdown menus, there is a corresponding set of commands you can access via popup menus. In a popup menu, you can use any of the commands that are in black. You will notice that some functions are grayed out, meaning that yo...

Chapter 4: User Interface 41 Array Icon Right-click on the Array icon to access the following commands: • Pause synchronization/rebuild • Continue synchronization/rebuild • Delete this array • Refresh the screen • Rename the Array icon User Management Icon Right-click on the User Management icon to ...

Promise Array Management 46 Create a RAID Server The Message Server relays data and commands between the Monitoring Utility on this computer and the Message Agent on the RAID PC. In order for your monitoring PC to communicate with the Message Server, you must create a RAID Server. Figure 42. Create ...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 47 Delete a RAID Server If the IP address changes for the computer where the Message Server software is installed, an existing RAID Server with the old address will no longer work. 1. Right-click on a RAID Server icon and select Delete from the popup menu. ...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 49 Message Server IP Address Change If the IP address changes for the computer where the Message Server software is installed, an existing RAID Server with the old address will no longer work. 1. Right-click on a RAID Server icon and select Delete from the ...

Promise Array Management 50 Manage Users Create a New User The Administrator is created by default. You must create additional users manually. 1. Right-click on the User Management icon select New > User from the popup menu (right). A new User icon appears. 2. Or select the User Management icon a...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 51 Type in a Username and Password in their respective fields. Check all the appropriate boxes to set access rights. Click the Commit button when you are done. The new user’s name appears in the Tree View (right). Delete a User 1. In the Tree View, right-cl...

Promise Array Management 52 Alert Notification PAM alerts you to the problems and processes happening to your RAID through email and popup messages. These steps describe how to setup the email function. 1. Click on the RAID Machine icon. Information for the RAID PC appears in Information View. Figur...

Promise Array Management 54 Delete a User from the Recipient List To remove a recipient from the Email Address List, do the following: 1. Click on the RAID Machine icon from which you wish to delete an email alert message recipient. The Current Recipients window appears in the Information View. Figu...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 57 Controller The Controller deals with creating new Arrays, reading events from the memory buffer, setting cache and performance options. Array creation is covered in the Arrays section of this chapter. View Event Log The Controller’s Memory Buffer records...

Promise Array Management 58 Controller Options The Controller has system information and settings several important features. Click on the Controller icon in Tree View to see the Options in Information View. If any of these features are grayed out, it means they are not available on your hard drives...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 59 Controller Cache Allows you to toggle between two write modes for the FastTrak's cache: Write Through – Data is written to the cache and hard drive at the same time. This arrangement is safer. Check the box to select it Write Back – Data is written to th...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 61 Arrays Create an Array 1. In Tree View, click the + to the left of the Controller icon to see the Channels. Click the + to the left of each Channel icon to see the unassigned disk drives. Unassigned drives have this icon. The available RAID selection dep...

Promise Array Management 64 Synchronize an Array Promise uses the term synchronization to mean an automated process of checking and correcting data and parity. Unlike a Rebuild, Synchronization is a maintenance operation. Synchronization applies to RAIDs 1, 0+1 and 5. It takes place when an array is...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 65 On Demand Synchronization In addition to schedule Synchronization, you can direct FastTrak to begin the Synchronization process immediately. To access this feature: Figure 59. Start Synchronization. 1. Click on the Array icon and look in Information View...

Promise Array Management 66 Synchronization Settings This feature tells FastTrak how to deal with inconsistencies in mirrored or parity data encountered on the disk drives during Synchronization. Figure 61. Error Handling Policy for Synchronization. To access these settings, click on the Controller ...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 67 Expand / Convert an Array Expansion and Conversion are two different operations but they often work together. Expansion means adding disk drives to an existing array. Conversion means changing an existing array from one RAID level to another. FastTrak S1...

Promise Array Management 68 Figure 63. Select a disk drive to add to the array. 3. In the Select Free Disk dialog box, click on the icon of any available disk drive to select it. Then click Next to continue. Figure 64. Do not select a RAID Level. 4. In the Select RAID Mode dialog box, do not select ...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 69 Figure 65. Verify the Array name and click Finish. 5. In the Finish dialog box, verify the name of the array you are expanding. Then click Finish to begin the expansion process. Figure 66. Expansion progress. During the Expansion, the array will be avail...

Promise Array Management 70 Conversion Converting changes its RAID Level, and in some cases increases the array capacity, without affecting data availability. Depending on the source and target RAID levels, you can add one or more free disk drives while performing the Convert function. Note • With m...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 71 To convert an existing array: 1. Click on the Array icon in Tree View. Figure 67. Start Conversion. 2. Scroll down in Information View to show the Conversion/Expansion Wizard and click the Start button. Figure 68. Select a drive only if you are adding on...

Promise Array Management 72 Figure 69. Select the new RAID Level. 4. In the Select RAID Mode dialog box, click on the icon of the new RAID level to select it. Then click Next to continue. Figure 70. Verify the Array name and click Finish. 5. In the Finish dialog box, verify the name of the array you...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 73 Figure 71. Conversion progress. During the Conversion, the array will be available for use but it may run noticeably slower. If the popup messages are enabled, one will notify you when the Conversion is successfully completed. The array will return to Fu...

Promise Array Management 74 Array Critical When a disk drive fails on a fault-tolerant array (RAID 1, 0+1 and 5) for any reason, the Array goes Critical. The array can still read and write data but fault tolerance has been lost. An Array Critical icon displays in Tree View and the alarm (if enabled)...

Promise Array Management 76 Rebuild an Array To Rebuild to restore redundancy to a RAID 1, 0+1 or 5 after one of its drives has failed. Unlike Synchronization, a Rebuild is a repair operation. When a drive fails for any reason, the Array goes Critical. An Array Critical icon displays in Tree View an...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 77 Manual Rebuild After you replace a failed disk drive, the replacement drive must be rebuilt in order to restore the Array. To initiate an array Rebuild manually: 1. In Tree View, select the Array icon of the array you want to rebuild. Figure 76. Start Re...

Promise Array Management 78 Figure 78. Rebuild Wizard Confirmation window. To confirm the rebuild choice, click Finish. Tree View and Information View display the progress (below). Figure 79. Rebuild progress. During the Rebuild process, the array will be available for use but it may run noticeably ...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 79 Rebuild Settings Beeper – Right-click on the Controller icon and select Beeper from the popup menu. A checkmark means the beeper is enabled. Figure 80. Rebuild Settings in Information View. Right-click on the Controller icon and look into Information Vie...

Promise Array Management 80 Error Handling This feature deals with a bad sector on a disk drive that the FastTrak Controller encounters during a Rebuild. The options are: Fix if possible – The Controller attempts to repair the disk error. Skip – Bypasses the disk error and works around it. Abort – H...

Chapter 5: RAID Monitoring and Maintenance 81 Array Offline When a disk drive fails on a non-fault-tolerant array (RAID 0) for any reason, the Array goes Offline. The array cannot read or write data. All of the data on the array will be lost unless the failed drive is restored to operation. A fault-...

83 Appendix A: RAID Concepts RAID is an acronym that stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. It is divided into different numbered Levels. The numbers of these Levels do not mean that one Level is higher or better than another. Each Level has its own advantages and shortcomings. PAM allows ...

Promise Array Management 84 Striping (RAID 0) Reads and writes sectors of data interleaved between multiple drives. When any disk member fails, it affects the entire array. Performance is better than a single drive since the workload is balanced between the array members. This array type is for high...

Appendix A: RAID Concepts 87 About Dual Data Redundancy One unique (though rarely occurring) feature of RAID 0+1 is dual fault tolerance. In some cases, two drives can fail simultaneously and still maintain the integrity of data. There are six combinations in which two drives can fail. FastTrak SX40...

Appendix A: RAID Concepts 89 JBOD - Single Drive An alternative to RAID, Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD) capacity is equal to the sum of all drives in the group, even if the drives are of different sizes. JBOD appears in the User Interface as one or more individual drives. There are no performance or f...

91 Appendix B: Partition and Format In order for your Windows to recognize and work with your array, you must partition and format the array. These actions create a file structure within your array with which Windows can work. Note If you plan to boot your computer from this array, go to Windows and...

Promise Array Management 92 Figure 89. The Disk Management Window and Disk Wizard. 3. Click the Next button to start the Wizard. 4. In the following windows, select Disk 1 to Initialize. Do not select any disks to Convert. Click the Finish button to Initialize the array. Figure 90. Initialized array...

Appendix B: Partition and Format 93 Figure 91. The New Partition Wizard. 6. Click the Next button to start the wizard. 7. In the following windows, do the following actions. Click Next to move to the next window. • Select Primary Partition • Specify the maximum available partition size in MB • Assig...

Promise Array Management 94 Figure 92. The newly formatted array as it appears under Disk Management. When formatting is complete, your array will appear as a hard drive in the Disk Management window (above) and the My Computer window (below). Figure 93. The newly formatted array under My Computer.

95 Appendix C: Networking Issues IP Address In order for PAM to be configured over a network, you must know the IP (network) address of every component. The Message Server uses IP addresses to communicate with the Message Agent on the RAID PCs and the Monitoring Utility on the network PCs. To find t...

Promise Array Management 96 DHCP Issues Referring to the Figure 84 above, note that it says: Dhcp enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes This means that a DHCP server gave this IP address to this PC when the PC connected to the network. DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and refers to softwar...

97 Appendix D: Technical Support Promise Technical Support provides several support options for Promise users to access information and updates. We encourage you to use one of our electronic services, which provide product information updates for the most efficient service and support. If you decide...

Promise Array Management 98 Pacific Rim Sales Office E-mail Support [email protected] Fax Technical Support +886 3 578 23 90 Attention: Technical Support Phone Technical Support +886 3 578 23 95 (ext. 8870) 9:00-6:00pm Taiwan Time If you wish to write us for support: Promise Technology, Inc. At...