Mylex eXtremeRAID 1100, Installation Manual

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775013 E-1
Appendix E
Enclosure Management
Introduction
Mylex’s eXtremeRAID controllers support the industry standard enclosure
management protocol SCSI Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosures (SAF-TE).
This feature allows the host to monitor drive enclosures and detect certain
faults or operating environment conditions. The host can make a decision to
shut down the system or issue a warning based on the type of fault detected.
SAF-TE
The SAF-TE protocol follows a specification jointly worked out by nStor
Corporation and Intel Corporation. Enclosures that are compliant with this
protocol are known as SCSI Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosures (SAF-TE).
The protocol is compatible with standard SCSI buses and cabling.
The SAF-TE interface standard’s objective is to provide a non-proprietary
means of allowing third-party disks and controllers to be automatically
integrated with peripheral enclosures that support:
• Status Signals (LEDs, audible alarms, LCDs, etc.)
• Hot swapping of drives
• Monitoring of fans, power supplies, and enclosure temperature
SCSI is the underlying transport mechanism for communicating enclosure
information. All standard SCSI host adapters will work. There is no need to
consider reserved signals or special cabling.
The SAF-TE interface can be implemented as a SCSI target that uses a SCSI
port and an 8-bit microcontroller.
All communication is initiated by the host. The SAF-TE processor acts only
in target mode. The SAF-TE processor should be periodically polled by the
host approximately every 2 to 10 seconds.