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Adaptec 2820SA User Guide - Page 74

Selecting the Best RAID Level, general, the more drives, the better the performance.

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Appendix B: Understanding RAID ● 74 Selecting the Best RAID Level Use this table to select the RAID levels that are most appropriate for the logical drives on your storage space, based on the number of available disk drives and your requirements for performance and reliability. RAID level RAID 0 Redundancy No Disk Drive Usage 100% Read Performance ŠŠŠ Write Performance ŠŠŠ Built-in Hot Spare No Minimum Disk Drives 2 RAID 1 Yes 50% ŠŠ ŠŠ No 2 RAID 1E Yes 50% ŠŠ ŠŠ No 3 RAID 10 Yes 50% ŠŠ ŠŠ No 4 RAID 5 Yes 67 - 94% ŠŠŠ Š No 3 RAID 5EE Yes 50 - 88% ŠŠŠ Š Yes 4 RAID 501 Yes 67 - 94% ŠŠŠ Š No 6 RAID 6 Yes 50 - 88% ŠŠ Š No 4 RAID 60* Yes 50 - 88% ŠŠ Š No 8 1 Because it supports a maximum of four disk drives, the Adaptec 2420SA RAID controller can't support RAID 50 or RAID 60. Disk drive usage, read performance, and write performance depend on the number of drives in the logical drive. In general, the more drives, the better the performance.

Section	Page
About This Guide	11
What You Need to Know Before You Begin	12
Terminology Used in this Guide	12
How to Find More Information	12
Kit Contents and System Requirements	13
Kit Contents	14
System Requirements	14
About Your RAID Controller	16
Standard RAID Controller Features	17
Array-level Features	17
Advanced Data Protection Suite	17
Adding Enhanced Features	18
Using a Feature Key to Unlock Enhanced Features	18
Adding a Battery Backup Module	18
Upgrading the Controller Firmware	18
About the Adaptec 4000SAS	19
About the Adaptec 4800SAS	20
About the Adaptec 4805SAS	21
About the Adaptec 2420SA	22
About the Adaptec 2820SA	23
About the Adaptec 2130SLP	24
About the Adaptec 2230SLP	25
Getting Started	26
Choosing a RAID Level	27
Selecting Disk Drives	28
Disk Drives for SAS Controllers	28
Disk Drives for SATA Controllers	28
Disk Drives for SCSI Controllers	28
Selecting Cables	29
SAS Cables	29
SATA Cables	29
SCSI Cables	30
Installation Options	30
Basic Installation Steps	30
Installing with an Operating System	30
Installing on an Existing Operating System	30
Installing the Controller and Disk Drives	31
Before You Begin	32
Installing the Controller	32
Connecting Disk Drives to SAS RAID Controllers	33
Connecting Directly to the Controller	33
Connecting to a System Backplane	34
Connecting Disk Drives to SATA RAID Controllers	34
Connecting Disk Drives to SCSI RAID Controllers	35
Connecting External Devices	35
Next Steps	35
Creating a Bootable Array	36
Setting the Boot Controller	37
Creating an Array	37
Creating an Array with the ACU	37
Creating an Array with Adaptec Storage Manager	39
Making Your Array Bootable	40
Installing the Driver and an Operating System	41
Before You Begin	42
Creating a Driver Disk	42
Installing with Windows	43
Installing with Red Hat Linux	43
Installing with SuSE Linux	44
Installing with NetWare	44
Installing with OpenServer	45
Installing with UnixWare	45
Installing with FreeBSD	46
Installing the Driver on an Existing Operating System	47
Before You Begin	48
Creating a Driver Disk	48
Installing on Windows	49
Installing on Red Hat or SuSE Linux	49
Installing on NetWare	49
Installing on OpenServer	50
Installing on UnixWare	50
Installing on Solaris	51
Installing on FreeBSD	51
Managing Your Storage Space	52
About Adaptec Storage Manager	53
Installing Adaptec Storage Manager	53
About the Adaptec RAID Controller Configuration Utility	53
About the Adaptec RAID Controller Utility	54
About the Adaptec Flash Utility	54
Which Utility Should I Use?	54
Solving Problems	55
Troubleshooting Checklist	56
Silencing the Alarm	56
Recovering from a Disk Drive Failure	56
Failed Disk Drive Protected by a Hot Spare	57
Failed Disk Drive Not Protected by a Hot Spare	57
Failure in Multiple Arrays Simultaneously	57
Disk Drive Failure in a RAID 0 Array	57
Multiple Failures in the Same Array	58
Resetting the Controller	58
Introduction to Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)	59
Terminology Used in This Chapter	60
What is SAS?	60
How Do SAS Devices Communicate?	61
What’s a Phy?	61
What’s a SAS Port?	62
What’s a SAS Address?	62
What’s a SAS Connector?	62
What do SAS Cables Look Like?	63
How are Disk Drives Identified in SAS?	63
What are the SAS Connection Options?	63
Direct-attach Connections	63
Backplane Connections	64
SAS Expander Connections	64
How is SAS Different from Parallel SCSI?	65
Understanding RAID	66
Understanding Drive Segments	67
RAID 0 (Non-RAID Arrays)	67
RAID 1 Arrays	68
RAID 1 Enhanced Arrays	68
RAID 10 Arrays	69
RAID 5 Arrays	70
RAID 5EE Arrays	71
RAID 50 Arrays	72
RAID 6 Arrays	73
RAID 60 Arrays	73
Selecting the Best RAID Level	74
Using the Adaptec RAID Controller Utility	75
Introduction to the Adaptec RAID Controller Utility	76
Running the Adaptec RAID Controller Utility	76
Navigating the Adaptec RAID Controller Utility	76
Using the ACU to Create and Manage Arrays	76
Creating a New Array	76
Managing Existing Arrays	77
Initializing Disk Drives	77
Rescanning Disk Drives	77
Secure Erasing Disk Drives	78
Using the -Select Utility to Modify Controller Settings	78
Opening a -Select Utility	78
Applying Changes and Exiting	78
Modifying Your Controller’s Configuration	79
General Controller Settings	79
SAS-specific Controller Settings	80
SATA-specific Controller Settings	80
SCSI-specific Controller Settings	81
Formatting and Verifying Disk Drives	82
Viewing the Event Log	82
Using the ACU for DOS	83
Getting Started	84
Working in the ACU Using Menus	84
Running the ACU Using Scripts	85
About Playback Mode	85
About Record Mode	86
Creating the Script File Manually	86
Array Definition Block Keywords	87
Channel Definition Block Keywords-SCSI only	90
ACU Error Codes	91
Sample Scripts	92
Using the Adaptec Flash Utility	94
System Requirements	95
Before You Begin	95
Obtaining the Firmware	95
Creating the Firmware Floppy Disks	96
Running the Menu-based AFU	96
Running the AFU from the Command Line	97
AFU Commands	97
Updating the Flash Using the AFU Command Line	100
Safety Information	101
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)	101
Technical Specifications	102
Environmental Specifications	103
DC Power Requirements	103
Current Requirements	103
Index	104