Intel SRCMR, User Manual

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66 Intel RAID Controller SRCMR User’s Guide
NetWare-Server Not Stable When Under High Utilization
High server utilization combined with a large number of applications running on the server can lead
to an increase in the number of dirty cache buffers resulting in an unstable server. To avoid this
situation, modify the following parameters.
•
Increase the number of concurrent disk cache writes for the disk subsystem. Set maximum
concurrent disk cache writes. This parameter can be increased up to 500 for high performance
controllers and fast hard disks.
•
Decrease the delayed write standard parameter. Set dirty disk cache delay time. This
parameter sets the time where dirty buffers are written (flushed) from the cache of NetWare to
the hard disk. The minimum value is 0.8 seconds. Care should be taken not to go below
0.8 seconds because this value influences server performance substantially.
Intel RAID Controller SRCMR and Non-ASPI Compatible
Controllers
If an Intel RAID Controller SRCMR is operated under NetWare together with another
controller/host adapter which does not support the ASPI standard, SCSI raw devices cannot be
operated on both controllers (tapes, CD-ROMs).
In general, NetWare gives preference to controllers which support the ASPI Standard (for example,
Intel RAID Controller SRCMR, Adaptec
†
). As soon as aspitran.dsk is loaded (auto-loading
module) tapes and CD-ROMs on the ASPI non-compatible controller are no longer recognized. To
avoid this problem, the file aspitran.dsk can be deactivated via a modification.
To deactivate aspitran.dsk, find the string ‘ASPI_Entry’ by using a Disk-Monitor in aspitran.dsk
(please pay attention to upper case letters etc). Modify the string by replacing ‘A’ with an ‘X’ (for
example, ‘XSPI_Entry’). The modified aspitran.dsk enables the operation of raw devices on
non-ASPI-compatible controllers.
✏
NOTE
After this modification, no other raw devices (tapes, CD-ROMs) are recognized on the Intel RAID
Controller SRCMR or Adaptec.