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Thecus i8500  

 

iSCSI RAID SYSTEM 

 
 

 

 
 

User Manual 

 

 

Summary of Contents for i8500

Page 1: ...1 Thecus i8500 iSCSI RAID SYSTEM User Manual...

Page 2: ...on and specification will be changed without further notice For any update information please visit www thecus com and your contact windows Copyright 2009 Thecus Technology Corp All rights reserved Th...

Page 3: ...reation wizard 19 3 4 System configuration 20 3 4 1 System setting 20 3 4 2 IP address 21 3 4 3 Login setting 22 3 4 4 Mail setting 22 3 4 5 Notification setting 23 3 5 iSCSI configuration 25 3 5 1 En...

Page 4: ...4 Snapshot Rollback 62 4 4 1 Create snapshot volume 63 4 4 2 Auto snapshot 65 4 4 3 Rollback 66 4 5 Disk roaming 67 4 6 Support Microsoft MPIO and MC S 67 Appendix 69 A Certification list 69 Event not...

Page 5: ...ing data Data can be recovered from the existing data and parity drives Data can be recovered from the rest disks drives Snapshot is a fully usable copy of a defined collection of data that contains a...

Page 6: ...different volume capacity CV Cache Volume Controller uses onboard memory as cache All RAM except for the part which is occupied by the controller can be used as cache LUN Logical Unit Number A logical...

Page 7: ...n one short time interval RO Set the volume to be Read Only DS Dedicated Spare disks The spare disks are only used by one specific RG Others could not use these dedicated spare disks for any rebuildin...

Page 8: ...CSI storage system over the iSCSI data ports iSNS Internet Storage Name Service 1 3 RAID levels RAID 0 Disk striping RAID 0 needs at least one hard drive RAID 1 Disk mirroring over two disks RAID 1 ne...

Page 9: ...ds at least eight hard drives JBOD The abbreviation of Just a Bunch Of Disks JBOD needs at least one hard drive 1 4 Volume relationship diagram Figure 1 4 1 This is the volume structure of i8500 desig...

Page 10: ...with VLAN LCAP optional 8 CHAP security information including CHAP username and secret optional 9 Setup the hardware connection before power on servers and i8500 Connect console cable management port...

Page 11: ...ver which handles the SCSI traffic over iSCSI The initiator can be software or hardware HBA Please refer to the certification list of iSCSI HBA s in Appendix A OS native initiators or other software i...

Page 12: ...m group open iscsi threads gvc 2 http groups google com group open iscsi topics Open iSCSI Wiki http www open iscsi org cgi bin wiki pl 3 ATTO iSCSI initiator is available for Mac Website http www att...

Page 13: ...r DHCP address for this field Login name admin Default password 1234 2 4 Enclosure 2 4 1 LCM There are four buttons to control LCM LCD Control Module including c up d down ESC Escape and ENT Enter Aft...

Page 14: ...reate a volume Please refer to next chapter for operation in web UI View IP Setting Display current IP address subnet mask and gateway Change IP Config Set IP address subnet mask and gateway There are...

Page 15: ...1 new x disk cd xxx BG Adjust Volume Size Apply The Config cYes Nod IP Config Static IP IP Address 192 168 001 100 IP Subnet Mask 255 255 255 0 View IP Setting IP Gateway 192 168 001 001 DHCP cYes No...

Page 16: ...LEDs indicates different functions in different stages I Marquee LEDs When system powers on and successfully boots up the Marquee LED is on until the system boots successful II Disk status LEDs the LE...

Page 17: ...Create Delete Volume configuration Volume create wizard Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Confirm Physical disk Set Free disk Set Global spare Set Dedicated spare More information RAID group Create Migrate...

Page 18: ...to connect the LAN cable The default IP address is 192 168 1 100 open the browser and enter http 192 168 1 100 Please check the IP address first on LCM Click any function at the first time it will pop...

Page 19: ...ysical disks to create a RG the system will calculate maximum spaces on RAID levels 0 1 3 5 6 0 1 Volume creation wizard will occupy all residual RG space for one VD and it has no space for snapshot a...

Page 20: ...QUICK53360 named by system itself with the total available volume size 1191GB 3 4 System configuration System configuration is designed for setting up the System setting IP address Login setting Mail...

Page 21: ...k Time Protocol server 3 4 2 IP address IP address can change IP address for remote administration usage There are 2 options DHCP Get IP address from DHCP server or static IP The default setting is St...

Page 22: ...one user to login or modify system settings Figure 3 4 3 1 Check Change admin password or Change user password to change admin or user password The maximum length of password is 12 characters 3 4 4 M...

Page 23: ...gure 3 4 4 1 3 4 5 Notification setting Notification setting can set up SNMP trap for alerting via SNMP pop up message via Windows messenger not MSN alert via system log server protocol and event log...

Page 24: ...ls The following web sites are for your reference SNMPc http www snmpc com Net SNMP http net snmp sourceforge net Using Messenger user must enable the service Messenger in Windows Start Control Panel...

Page 25: ...ent level on Pop up events and LCM 3 5 iSCSI configuration iSCSI configuration is designed for setting up the Entity Property NIC Node Session and CHAP account Figure 3 5 1 3 5 1 Entity property Entit...

Page 26: ...IP settings for iSCSI ports There are 2 selections DHCP Get IP address from DHCP server or static IP Figure 3 5 2 2 Default gateway Default gateway can be changed by moving mouse to the gray button o...

Page 27: ...for user login It s a type of authentication in which the authentication server sends the client a key to be used for encrypting the username and password CHAP enables the username and password to tra...

Page 28: ...very Count 4 Detail of Authentication status and Source IP port number Figure 3 5 4 1 Figure 3 5 4 1 iSCSI Session Mouse moves to the gray button of session number click List connection It will list a...

Page 29: ...me configuration Volume configuration is designed for setting up the volume configuration which includes Volume create wizard Physical disk RAID group Virtual disk Snapshot and Logical unit Figure 3 6...

Page 30: ...ber for RAID level volume size E g user chooses RAID 5 and the controller has 6 200G 2 80G HDDs inserted If we use all 16 HDDs for a RAID 5 and then the maximum size of volume is 560G 80G 7 By the wiz...

Page 31: ...mber Then click Figure 3 6 1 3 Step 4 Confirm page Click if all setups are correct Then a VD will be created Done You can start to use the system now Figure 3 6 1 4 Figure 3 6 1 4 A RAID 0 Virtual dis...

Page 32: ...n be executed 2 Active function can be selected but inactive function will show in gray color For example set PD slot number 11 to dedicated spare disk Step 1 Mouse moves to the gray button of PD 11 s...

Page 33: ...number of slot shows the functions which can be executed Size GB Capacity of hard drive RG Name Related RAID group name Status The status of hard drive Online the hard drive is online Rebuilding the h...

Page 34: ...the RG information but cannot be used It may be caused by an uncompleted RG set or hot plug of this disk in the running time In order to protect the data in the disk the status changes to reserve It...

Page 35: ...disk write cache Standby options Disabled Disable spindown 30 sec 1 min 5 min 30 min Enable hard drive auto spindown to save power in the period of time More information Show hard drive detail informa...

Page 36: ...lumn description No Number of RAID group The button next to the No shows the functions which can be executed Name RAID group name Total GB Total capacity of this RAID group Free GB Free capacity of th...

Page 37: ...etail Activate Activate a RAID group it can be executed when RG status is offline This is for online roaming purpose Deactivate Deactivate a RAID group it can be executed when RG status is online This...

Page 38: ...ach Virtual disk The following is an example to create a VD Step 1 Click enter Name choose RG name Stripe height KB Block size B Read Write mode Priority Bg rate change Capacity GB if necessary Then c...

Page 39: ...o 12 Done View Virtual disk page VD column description No Number of this Virtual disk The button next to the VD No shows the functions which can be executed Name Virtual disk name Size GB Total capaci...

Page 40: ...Virtual disk is operating and has experienced no failures of the disks that comprise the RG Degraded At least one disk which comprises space of the Virtual disk has been marked as failed or has been...

Page 41: ...50 60 only Delete Delete a Virtual disk Set property Change the VD name right priority and bg rate Right options WT Write Through WB Write Back RO Read Only Priority options HI HIgh priority MD MiD pr...

Page 42: ...napshot Snapshot can view the status of snapshot Please refer to next chapter for more detail about snapshot concept The following is an example to take a snapshot Step 1 Create snapshot space In Volu...

Page 43: ...ize is zero the exported snapshot VD will be read only Otherwise the exported snapshot VD can be read written and the size will be the maximum capacity to read write Figure 3 6 5 4 Figure 3 6 5 5 Figu...

Page 44: ...hot VD can be read write RO Read Only The snapshot VD can be read only LUN Number of LUN s that snapshot VD is attaching Created time Snapshot VD created time Snapshot operations description Export Un...

Page 45: ...to bottom in sequence For example there are 2 rules for the same VD one is LUN 0 and the other is iqn host1 LUN 1 The other host iqn host2 can login successfully because it matches the rule 1 The acc...

Page 46: ...the list click to choose the RAID PD slot s then click 4 Check the outcome Click if all setups are correct 5 Done A RG has been created Figure 3 6 7 2 Figure 3 6 7 2 Creating a RAID 5 with 3 physical...

Page 47: ...other VD Figure 3 6 7 4 Figure 3 6 7 4 Create VDs named VD R5 1 and VD R5 2 Regarding to RG R5 the size of VD R5 1 is 50GB the size of VD R5 2 is 64GB VD R5 1 is initialing about 86 There is no LUN at...

Page 48: ...se follow the procedures 1 Select Volume configuration Physical disk 2 Mouse moves to the gray button next to the PD slot click Set Global space 3 GS icon is shown in Usage column Figure 3 6 7 5 Figur...

Page 49: ...te the RAID group please follow the procedures 1 Select Volume configuration RAID group 2 Select a RG which is no VD related on this RG otherwise the VD s on this RG must be deleted first 3 Mouse move...

Page 50: ...ware characteristics among these sensors they have different polling intervals Below are the details of polling time intervals 1 Temperature sensors 1 minute 2 Voltage sensors 1 minute 3 Hard disk sen...

Page 51: ...g auto shutdown controllers use multiple condition judgments for auto shutdown below are the details of when the Auto shutdown will be triggered 1 There are 3 sensors placed on controllers for tempera...

Page 52: ...tes of the hard drive all the time and inspects the properties of hard drives which are close to be out of tolerance The advanced notice of possible hard drive failure can allow users to back up hard...

Page 53: ...pe Select UPS Type Choose Smart UPS for APC None for other vendors or no UPS Shutdown Battery Level When below the setting level system will shutdown Setting level to 0 will disable UPS Shutdown Delay...

Page 54: ...log to record critical events and Reboot and shutdown to either reboot or shutdown the system Figure 3 8 1 3 8 1 System information System information can display system information including firmware...

Page 55: ...fect 3 8 3 Reset to factory default Reset to factory default allows user to reset controller to factory default setting Figure 3 8 3 1 Reset to default value the password is admin and IP address to de...

Page 56: ...ume setting was also imported user s current data will be overwritten Figure 3 8 4 1 1 Import Import all system configurations excluding volume configuration 2 Export Export all configurations to a fi...

Page 57: ...3 8 6 Reboot and shutdown Reboot and shutdown displays Reboot and Shutdown buttons Before power off it s better to execute Shutdown to flush the data from cache to physical disks The step is necessary...

Page 58: ...system will not start auto rebuild If this disk is not belonging to any existing RG it would be FR Free disk and the system will start Auto Rebuild If user only removes the failed disk and plugs the s...

Page 59: ...ion over the member disks RAID 6 allows two hard drives failure or unplugging If it needs to rebuild two hard drives at the same time it will rebuild the first one then the other in sequence RAID 0 1...

Page 60: ...ID level is RAID 6 and user wants to migrate to RAID 0 system will evaluate whether this operation is safe or not and appear a message of Sure to migrate to a lower protection array to give user warni...

Page 61: ...the same RAID level with the same hard disks of original RG The operation is not allowed when RG is being migrated System would reject following operations 1 Add dedicated spare 2 Remove a dedicated s...

Page 62: ...n it will display an Initiating in Status and complete percentage of initialization in R Figure 4 3 2 Figure 4 3 2 Extend VD R5 from 20GB to 40GB 4 4 Snapshot Rollback Snapshot captures the instant st...

Page 63: ...the VD number click Set snapshot space 3 Set up the size for snapshot The minimum size is suggested to be 20 of VD size then click It will go back to the VD page and the size will show in snapshot col...

Page 64: ...s chapter for attaching a LUN 9 Done It can be used as a disk Figure 4 4 1 2 Figure 4 4 1 2 This is the list of VD 01 There are two snapshots in VD 01 Snapshot VD SnapVD 01 is exported to read only Sn...

Page 65: ...mes VD number snapshot config snapshot number reaches the max number of the controller In i8500 it is 256 We leave the flexibility to users so users can have their own RG VD Snapshot plan Let take 2 e...

Page 66: ...nfiguration Snapshot 2 Mouse moves to the gray button next to the Snap VD number which user wants to rollback the data click Rollback 3 Done the data in snapshot VD will rollback to original VD Rollba...

Page 67: ...ration RAID group 2 Mouse moves to the gray button next to the RG number click Deactivate 3 Move all PDs related to the RG to another system 4 Mouse moves to the gray button next to the RG number clic...

Page 68: ...supports multi path Please follow the procedures to use MPIO feature 1 A host with dual LAN ports connects cables to controller 2 Create a RG VD and attach this VD to the host 3 When installing Micro...

Page 69: ...UG7128D7488LN GJF 1GB DDR 400 ECC with Hynix Unigen UG7128D7588LZ GJF 1GB DDR 400 ECC Reg with Hynix Unigen UG7128D7588LZ GJF 1GB DDR 400 ECC Reg with Elpida Unigen UG732D6688KS DH 256MB DDR 333 Unbu...

Page 70: ...CSI offload QLogic QLA4010C PCI X Gigabit 1 port TCP IP offload iSCSI offload QLogic QLA4052C PCI X Gigabit 2 ports TCP IP offload iSCSI offload NIC Vendor Model HP NC7170 PCI X Gigabit 2 ports HP NC3...

Page 71: ...cuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3 0Gb s 16M Seagate Barracuda ES ST3750640NS 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3 0Gb s 16M Seagate Barracuda ES 2 ST31000340NS 1000GB 7200RPM SATA 3 0Gb s 32M Westem Digital Ca...

Page 72: ...e Unable to update thermal value on location WARNING Voltage warning System voltage location is a little bit higher lower ERROR Voltage critical System voltages location failed ERROR Voltage critical...

Page 73: ...VD name starts migration INFO VD migration finished VD name completes migration ERROR VD migration failed Failed to complete migration of VD name INFO VD scrubbing started VD name starts scrubbing IN...

Page 74: ...name has been restored Snapshot events Level Type Description INFO Snapshot deleted The snapshot VD name has been deleted INFO Snapshot auto deleted The oldest snapshot VD name has been deleted to obt...

Page 75: ...reshold Exceed Condition occurred for attribute s WARNING SMART Failure JBOD number disk slot Failure to get S M A R T information INFO Dedicated spare configured JBOD number PD slot has been configur...

Page 76: ...ues 1 Microsoft MPIO driver is not supported on Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional Workaround solution Using Windows Server 2008 2003 Windows 2000 server to run MPIO Workaround solution It s a J...

Page 77: ...ite for latest iSCSI initiator The following setup may not use the latest Microsoft iSCSI initiator 1 Run Microsoft iSCSI Initiator 2 Click Discovery 3 Click Add Input IP address or DNS name of iSCSI...

Page 78: ...OK The status would be Connected 9 Done it can connect to an iSCSI disk The following procedure is to log off iSCSI device 1 Click Details in Targets 2 Check the Identifier which will be deleted 3 Cl...

Page 79: ...ase refer to following steps below Step 1 Configure target 1 Prepare the hard drivers which capacity is over 2TB totally Follow the example in chapter 3 to create a RG VD Then attach LUN Figure E 1 Fi...

Page 80: ...w http www microsoft com downloads details aspx FamilyID 12cb3c1a 15d6 4585 b385 befd1319f825 DisplayLang en Step 3 Initialize Format Mount the disk 1 Go to Start Control Panel Computer Management Dis...

Page 81: ...81 http www microsoft com whdc device storage GPT_FAQ mspx Figure E 4 4 Format the disk Figure E 5 5 Done Figure E 6 6 The new disk is ready to use the available size 2 72TB...

Page 82: ...tup MPIO or MC S The following network diagrams are the examples Please follow them to setup the environment Remind that host must have multi NICs which are set up as different IPs Caution If user set...

Page 83: ...t Portal on Microsoft iSCSI initiator 4 Logon 5 Enable Enable multi path checkbox Then click Advanced 6 Select the first Source IP and Target Portal to iSCSI data port 1 Then click OK 7 Logon again 8...

Page 84: ...ite back cache policy means i8500 reply to the host that write access is complete when data is written into memory Then i8500 writes the cached data to the disk device when system activity is low or w...

Page 85: ...BBM inspect steps 1 Connect BBM cable into i8500 controller 2 Initial controller then BBM will start to charge automatically 3 Wait and watch the value of Battery Backup Module please reference the at...

Page 86: ...86 H M B Diagram...

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