Intel SRCMR, User Manual

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88 Intel RAID Controller SRCMR User’s Guide
View Hard Disk Info
View Hard Disk Info menu shows information for hard disk drives. The hard disk information
(shown in Figure 21) includes SCSI Channel, SCSI ID, Vendor, Product Type, Retries/Reassigns,
Grown Defects and Last Status.
Figure 21. Hard Disk Information
The Retries Counter
The Retries counter records the number of retries to a hard drive (the counter it is incremented by
one unit whenever the Intel RAID Controller SRCMR retries to access a hard disk. If the counter
continues to increase it is likely that the cable is not adequate for the selected data transfer rate
(cable is too long, of poor quality or connectors are of poor quality) or that the SCSI bus is not
properly terminated (too many terminators on the cable or a missing terminator). In very few cases
is the hard disk defective. The retries counter also increments when the SCSI parameters of a hard
disk are changed.
The Reassigns Counter
The Reassigns counter records the number of media defects which occur on a hard drive. Defective
blocks of a hard drive are assigned substitute blocks (spare blocks) that are either on the same track,
or on alternate ones if all spare blocks on the same track are already in use. The administration of
the reassignments is carried out by the hard drive through reassignment tables. If you observe that
the number of reassigns is constantly increasing, you may assume that something is wrong with the
drive.
If a hard disk works with alternate tracks, it is generally no longer suitable for applications with
high performance expectations. Whenever a defective block is being accessed, the read/write
actuator has to move to an alternate position and this requires extra time.
The Grown Defects Counter
The Grown Defects counter records the number of media defects that have occurred since the
device was first operated with an Intel RAID Controller SRCMR. A hard disk is in good condition
when it has 0 grown defects. Any value greater than 0 indicates a grown defect condition. For
more information on grown defects see Chapter 7, View Status/Defects.