HDD-8263/8264 Installation Guide
12
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Caution
Reconfiguring your RAID arrays erases all data on your system. Back up all data
before reconfiguring.
•
Shortly after powering on your host system, follow the onscreen
directions for entering the option ROM configuration menu.
•
Install the RAID management software from within Windows XP. The
RAID management utility is available on the included CD or from the
RAID controller manufacturer’s Web site.
Consult the RAID controller user manual or guide for more information
about reconfiguring the HDD-826
x
systems.
Note
When reconfiguring the HDD-826
x
, do not create any single array larger than 2 TB.
Windows XP and Vista (32-bit operating systems) recognize partitions of only 2 TB or less
using this sector size.
Booting from the HDD-826
x
has not been validated and is not supported.
In certain scenarios, due to limited system memory available to load device
option ROMs, the RAID controller ROM may not load at boot time. This
makes it impossible to boot from the RAID array. However, the array will
function properly from within Windows even if the option ROM does not
load.
Hot Swapping Hard Drives
The HDD-826
x
system supports hot swapping of hard drives. If you are
using a RAID array in a redundant mode (RAID1, 5, 6, 50, or 60), you
can hot swap a bad drive and recover your data. National Instruments ships
the arrays in RAID0 mode, which is not redundant, but gives the highest
performance. If a drive fails on the RAID0, the data is lost, but you still can
hot swap the bad disk and recreate the array without rebooting your host.
The HDD-8264 does not currently support any RAID mode except RAID0.
The HDD-8263 supports all RAID modes listed in its user manual.
Hardware Overview
This section presents an overview of HDD-826
x
hardware functionality
and explains the operation of each functional unit.
Functional Overview
The HDD-826
x
is based on PCI Express technology, as shown in Figure 1.
The NI 8262 paired with the HDD-826
x
uses PCI Express redrivers to
enable control of a PCI Express RAID card in an external chassis. The
PCI Express redriver architecture is transparent to device drivers, so only
the RAID driver is needed for the HDD-826
x
to function.
