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ForceWare Software

NVIDIA RAID User’s
Guide

Version 2.0 A

NVIDIA Corporation
September 3, 2004

Summary of Contents for NVRAID

Page 1: ...ForceWare Software NVIDIA RAID User s Guide Version 2 0 A NVIDIA Corporation September 3 2004...

Page 2: ...x Logo STB STB Systems and Design the STB Logo the StarBox Logo NVIDIA nForce GeForce NVIDIA Quadro NVDVD NVIDIA Personal Cinema NVIDIA Soundstorm Vanta TNT2 TNT RIVA RIVA TNT VOODOO VOODOO GRAPHICS W...

Page 3: ...Up a Bootable NVIDIA RAID Array 22 Setup Used in This Section 22 Setting Up the BIOS 23 Configuring the NVIDIA RAID BIOS 25 Installing the RAID Drivers 31 Initializing and Using the Disk Array 33 3 Us...

Page 4: ...Windows RAID Application 110 5 NVIDIA RAID Application Notes 111 Installing NVIDIA RAID on a New Windows XP Operating System 112 Problem 112 Solution 112 Windows 2000 Limitation with Bootable RAID 11...

Page 5: ...s were divided into different categories or levels Originally RAID levels focused on improving resiliency or data availability As additional RAID levels were defined one was introduced for improving p...

Page 6: ...following NVIDIA nForce versions nForce 4 nForce4 Ultra nForce4 SLI nForce3 Pro250 nForce3 250Gb nForce3 Ultra nForce3 250 nForce3 150 nForce2 MCP2S Operating System Support NVIDIA RAID supports the...

Page 7: ...orts RAID 0 RAID 0 defines a disk striping scheme that improves the disk read and write times for many applications RAID 1 RAID 1 defines techniques for mirroring data RAID 0 1 RAID 0 1 combines the t...

Page 8: ...ons to complicate the write operation This makes RAID 0 ideal for applications that require high bandwidth but do not require fault tolerance RAID 0 has the best performance and capacity of any RAID l...

Page 9: ...to more expensive and less reliable media Figure 1 2 RAID 1 Array Diagram RAID 1 provides complete data redundancy but at the cost of doubling the required data storage capacity resulting in 50 capac...

Page 10: ...0 and the fault tolerance of disk mirroring RAID 1 Data is striped across multiple drives and duplicated on another set of drives Summary of Features and Benefits Benefits Optimizes for both fault to...

Page 11: ...is needed but it offers no speed improvement or fault tolerance Figure 1 4 JBOD Array Diagram Summary of Features and Benefits Benefits JBOD provides the ability to combine odd size drives using all...

Page 12: ...ironment requiring fault tolerance 100 data redundancy Requires two drives for the storage space of one drive 2 Yes RAID 0 1 Critical data requiring high performance Optimized for both 100 data redund...

Page 13: ...ootable mirrored RAID array RAID on Multiple Disk Controllers Unlike other RAID solutions that limits the user to a dedicated RAID controller NVIDIA RAID software can use a drive on one RAID controlle...

Page 14: ...the event of a array failure Offers additional protection in case of a failure in a mirrored array Bootable RAID Supports the use of a RAID drive for loading the operating system at power up for optim...

Page 15: ...eate the desired RAID array 3 Run the Windows nForce Setup application and install the RAID software 4 Initialize the NVRAID Array Disks See Initializing and Using the Disk Array on page 33 Bootable R...

Page 16: ...s set to Master and the other set to Slave This example shows how to enable RAID 0 on the two hard disks RAID1 Two hard disks connected to the secondary IDE channel where one is set to Master and the...

Page 17: ...word Save Exit Setup Exit Without Saving Esc Quit F10 Save Exit Setup Select Item Onboard IO IRQ DMA Assigment Phoenix Award BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Phoenix Award BIOS CMOS Setup Utility Move Enter Se...

Page 18: ...0 1 array 5 Press F10 to save the configuration and exit The PC reboots 6 Enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted and proceed to set up the NVIDIA RAID BIOS as described in the next se...

Page 19: ...ears as part of the system POST and boot process prior to loading the OS You have a few seconds to press F10 before the window disappears 2 Press F10 The NVIDIA RAID Utility Define a New Array window...

Page 20: ...ray Disks lists Figure 2 5 Loc Column Information In Figure 2 5 1 0 M means the hard drive is attached to Adapter 1 Channel 0 and the drive is set to Master The following is a list of all possible com...

Page 21: ...mended to leave this value at the default Optimal which is 64KB but the values can be between 4 KB and 128 KB 4 8 16 32 64 and 128 KB Assigning the Disks The disks that you enabled from the RAID Confi...

Page 22: ...er two disks have been assigned as RAID 1 array disks Figure 2 6 NVIDIA RAID Utility Array Disks Assigned NVIDIA RAID Utility Define a New Array Free Disks Loc Disk Model Name Array Disks Loc Disk Mod...

Page 23: ...eview the RAID arrays that you have set up Figure 2 8 Array List Window NVIDIA RAID Utility Define a New Array RAID Mode Striping Block Free Disks Loc Disk Model Name Array Disks Loc Disk Model Name A...

Page 24: ...s contents then press C 5 At the prompt press Y to wipe out all the data otherwise press N 6 Press Enter again to go back to the previous window and then press F10 to exit the RAID setup Now that the...

Page 25: ...gram to open the NVIDIA Windows nForce Drivers page Figure 2 10 nForce Driver Installation Window 2 Select the modules that you want to install Make sure that the NVIDIA IDE Driver is selected You mus...

Page 26: ...connected to the secondary IDE channel where one is set to Master and the other set to Slave A fresh copy of Windows XP will be installed on the 2 striped hard disks RAID 1 Two hard disks connected t...

Page 27: ...timized Defaults Set Supervisor Password Set User Pasword Save Exit Setup Exit Without Saving Esc Quit F10 Save Exit Setup Select Item Onboard IO IRQ DMA Assigment Phoenix Award BIOS CMOS Setup Utilit...

Page 28: ...ID0 1 array 6 Press F10 to save the configuration and exit The PC reboots 7 Enter the RAID BIOS Setup by pressing F10 when prompted and proceed to set up the NVIDIA RAID BIOS as described in the next...

Page 29: ...system POST and boot process prior to loading of the OS You have a few seconds to press F10 before the screen disappears 2 Press F10 The NVIDIA RAID Utility Define a New Array screen appears Figure 2...

Page 30: ...ay Disks lists Figure 2 15 Loc Column Information In Figure 2 15 1 0 M means the hard drive is attached to Adapter 1 Channel 0 and the drive is set to Master The following is a list of all possible co...

Page 31: ...mended to leave this value at the default Optimal which is 64KB but the values can be between 4 KB and 128 KB 4 8 16 32 64 and 128 KB Assigning the Disks The disks that you enabled from the RAID Confi...

Page 32: ...ter two disks have been assigned as RAID1 array disks Figure 2 16 NVIDIA RAID Utility Array Disks Assigned NVIDIA RAID Utility Define a New Array Free Disks Loc Disk Model Name Array Disks Loc Disk Mo...

Page 33: ...eview the RAID arrays that you have set up Figure 2 18 Array List Window NVIDIA RAID Utility Define a New Array RAID Mode Striping Block Free Disks Loc Disk Model Name Array Disks Loc Disk Model Name...

Page 34: ...such as Striping Block used RAID Mode Striping Width Disk Model Name and disk capacity 5 If you want to mark this disk as empty and wipe out all its contents press C 6 At the prompt press Y to wipe o...

Page 35: ...r Currently Setup will load support for the following mass storage device s none To specify additional SCSI adapters CD ROM drives or special disk controllers for use with Windows including those for...

Page 36: ...completely installed it is recommended that you install the ForceWare software in order to access NVRAIDMAN the RAID management tool Note Each time you add a new hard drive to a RAID array the RAID dr...

Page 37: ...eady to be initialized under Windows 1 Launch Computer Management by clicking Start Settings Control Panel then open the Administrative Tools folder and double click on Computer Management 2 Click Dis...

Page 38: ...nfiguration 3 Click Next The Select Disks to Initialize window appears Figure 2 24 Select Disks to Initialize Page The disks listed depend on how many arrays you have configured 4 Click Next The Selec...

Page 39: ...r RAID Configuration 5 Check the disk in the list if you want to make the array a dynamic disk then click Next The Completing the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard window appears Figure 2 26 Completi...

Page 40: ...l disks listed will depend on your system In Figure 2 27 there is a 111 GB unallocated partition which is the total combined storage of two 60 GB HD You must format the unallocated disk space in order...

Page 41: ...onfigurations View an array configuration mirrored striped mirrored striped JBOD or any supported combination Setting Up a Spare RAID Disk View free and or dedicated free disks Designate a free disk t...

Page 42: ...g are examples of the information displayed for the various RAID levels While the details of your own configuration will likely vary from what is shown the examples serve to illustrate the basic diffe...

Page 43: ...nformation NVIDIA RAID Mirrored Stripe Array Figure 3 4 shows an example of a four hard drive mirrored stripe array The total disk space used is 68 95 GB The total storage space is 68 95 GB because th...

Page 44: ...R 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility NVIDIA RAID Mirrored Array and Striped Array Figure 3 6 shows an example of a two hard drive mirrored array as well as a two hard drive striped array Figure 3 6 NVRAIDM...

Page 45: ...where one disk is used to boot the OS two hard drives are set up in a mirrored array and a fourth hard disk is set up as a free disk then if one of the mirrored array drives fails the free disk will...

Page 46: ...ure that the drive that you want to mark as free is RAID enabled 2 Enter the RAID BIOS and make sure that the drive is not part of any array if one exists 3 Boot into Windows and run the NVRAIDMAN pro...

Page 47: ...irrored arrays while two PATA drives are used as free disks Step 1 Mark the Disk as a Free Disk 1 Enter the system BIOS setup and make sure that the drive that you want to mark as free is RAID enabled...

Page 48: ...PTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility 2 Select Designate Spare from the menu to launch the Spare Disk Allocation Wizard Figure 3 9 Spare Disk Allocation Wizard 3 Click Next The RAID Array Selection page...

Page 49: ...e select one of the arrays from the list This is the array to which you want to allocate the dedicated free disk Note In Figure 3 10 there are two arrays available 5 Click Next The Completing the NVID...

Page 50: ...ny of the two WD360GD drives to fail the ST380011A hard drive will take over and be used in the newly formed mirrored array Removing a Dedicated Disk Once a dedicated disk has been assigned to a parti...

Page 51: ...nother and then the data is synchronized between the two hard drives This applies only to RAID 1 as well as a RAID 0 1 arrays Rebuilding Instructions After creating a mirrored array you can rebuild th...

Page 52: ...CHAPTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility 2 Right click on Mirroring The popup menu appears Figure 3 15 Array Pop up Menu 3 From the popup menu click Rebuild Array The NVIDIA Rebuild Array Wizard appears...

Page 53: ...ext The Disk Selection page appears Figure 3 17 Disk Selection Page 5 Select the drive that you want to rebuild by clicking it from the list then click Next The Completing the NVIDIA Rebuild Array pag...

Page 54: ...m right corner of the screen as shown in Figure 3 19 Figure 3 19 Rebuild Bubble Message When the rebuilding process is finished you will see the pop up box shown inFigure 3 20 Figure 3 20 Rebuild Fini...

Page 55: ...ilding does not apply to RAID 0 and JBOD arrays Rebuilding applies to a degraded fault tolerant array You can rebuild a degraded mirrored array using any available Free Disk or Dedicated Disk For exam...

Page 56: ...Creating a Spanning Array In these examples the system is configured with four SATA hard disks Creating a Striped Array NVRAIDMAN can be used to create a striped array from one disk up to the maximum...

Page 57: ...TER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility 3 Create Array and the following screen will appear Figure 3 23 Create Array Wizard Welcome Screen 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 24...

Page 58: ...ty 5 Click the RAID Mode list arrow and select Striping and leave the Stripe Size with its default value as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 25 RAID Array Selection Striping 6 Click Next an...

Page 59: ...set In this example the upper two disks were selected as shown in Figure 3 27 Figure 3 27 Free Disk Selection Page Selecting Disks To create a striped array with more disks select additional disks fr...

Page 60: ...A disks has been created while the other two disks are allocated as Free Disks Similarly to create an array with three or more disks simply make sure to add the number of disks that you want to use in...

Page 61: ...Data is written to both drives and if one drive fails then data can be recovered from the other drive To create a Mirrored Array do the following 1 Go to the system BIOS and make sure that the drives...

Page 62: ...Version 2 0 A CHAPTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility 3 Click Next and the following screen will appear Figure 3 31 RAID Array Selection Page 4 Click Next and the following screen will appear Figure 3...

Page 63: ...two drives that you want to use in the Mirrored array In this example the upper two disks were selected as shown in Figure 3 33 Figure 3 33 Free Disk Selection Page Selecting Disks 6 Click Next and th...

Page 64: ...preserve Do not select a disk if you do not want to rebuild the array at this time 8 Click Next and the following screen shot appears Figure 3 35 Completing the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard Page 9 Click...

Page 65: ...h requires at least four disks to start such an array To create a Stripe Mirror Array do the following 1 Go to the system BIOS and make sure that the drives that you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boo...

Page 66: ...3 Click on Next and the following screen will appear Figure 3 38 RAID Array Selection 4 Click on RAID Mode and select Stripe Mirroring while leaving the Stripe Size set to its default value as shown...

Page 67: ...following screen will appear Figure 3 40 Free Disk Selection Page 6 Select the four drives that you want to use in the Stripe Mirroring array In this example all of the drives are selected as shown i...

Page 68: ...Utility 7 Click Next and the following screen shot will eventually appear Figure 3 42 Completing the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard Page 8 Click Finish and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3...

Page 69: ...ires at least one disk to start such an array To create a Spanning Array do the following 1 Go to the system BIOS and make sure that the drives that you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows...

Page 70: ...3 Click Next and the following screen will appear Figure 3 45 RAID Array Selection Page 4 Click the RAID Mode list arrow and select Spanning while leaving the Stripe Size set to its default value as s...

Page 71: ...e following screen shot will appear Figure 3 47 Free Disk Selection Page 6 Select the two drives that you want to use in the Spanned array In this example the upper two disks were selected as shown in...

Page 72: ...NVRAIDMAN Utility 7 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 49 Completing the NVIDIA Create Array Wizard Page 8 Click Finish and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 5...

Page 73: ...ay do the following 1 Launch the NVRAIDMAN application and right click on the RAID array that you want to delete assuming that you have a RAID array already created as shown in the following screen sh...

Page 74: ...g the NVRAIDMAN Utility After the Delete Array has been selected the following screen shot appear Figure 3 52 Delete Array Wizard Welcome Page 2 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Fi...

Page 75: ...e NVRAIDMAN Utility 3 Click Finish and the array will be deleted and the following screen shot will appear showing all the free disks Figure 3 54 RAID Array Deleted A similar process can be applied to...

Page 76: ...r array to another with a one step process called Morphing This section describes the NVIDIA Morphing process and explains how to use Morphing to convert from one RAID array type to another General Mo...

Page 77: ...ginal array RAID 1 m 2 n 1 RAID 1 array must include two disks converted from a one disk RAID 0 array RAID 0 1 m 2 x n Number of RAID 0 1 disks must be equal to or greater than twice the number of RAI...

Page 78: ...AID 1 to RAID 0 1 on page 92 Morphing from RAID 0 1 to RAID 0 on page 97 Morphing from RAID 0 1 to RAID 0 1 on page 101 Morphing from RAID 0 to RAID 0 Adding a Disk to a Stripe Set The following examp...

Page 79: ...from a two disk RAID 0 into a three disk RAID 0 array 3 Right click on the newly created striped array or existing striped array and a select Convert Array as shown from the following screen shot Figu...

Page 80: ...ion 2 0 A CHAPTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility 5 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 58 RAID Mode Selection Page 6 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figur...

Page 81: ...g one disk which is the upper disk to the existing two disk striped array So select the first disk and click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 60 Completing the NVIDIA Convert Ar...

Page 82: ...Example In the example above we started with an identical two disk each disk had a size of 34 48 GB striped array that had a total disk space of 68 95 GB We then added a 69 25 GB disk to this array a...

Page 83: ...that you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows launch the NVRAIDMAN application then follow the steps outlined in Creating a Striped Array on page 52 with the exception that you need to sele...

Page 84: ...APTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility After selecting Convert Array the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 64 Convert Array Wizard Welcome Screen 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will...

Page 85: ...AIDMAN Utility 5 For the New RAID Mode entry select Mirror as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 66 RAID Mode Selection Page Selecting Mirroring 6 Click Next and the following screen shot wil...

Page 86: ...ed RAID Array The Morphing Process As soon as the new three disk striped array has been created a pop up window similar to the following will appear followed by the following pop up window It will tak...

Page 87: ...at you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows launch the NVRAIDMAN application then follow the steps outlined in Creating a Striped Array on page 52 to create a two disk striped array When tha...

Page 88: ...the newly created striped array or existing striped array and a select Convert Array as shown from the following screen shot Figure 3 70 Selecting Convert Array from the Pop Up Menu After selecting Co...

Page 89: ...N Utility 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 72 RAID Mode Selection Page 5 Change the New RAID Mode to Stripe Mirroring as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 73 R...

Page 90: ...74 Free Disk Selection Page 7 Select the two disks that you want to add to the new stripe mirror array In this example we are adding two disks which are both of the upper disks to the existing two di...

Page 91: ...The Morphing Process As soon as the new four disk mirrored stripe array has been created a pop up window similar to the following will appear followed by the following pop up window It will take some...

Page 92: ...drives that you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows and launch the NVRAIDMAN application then follow the steps outlined in Creating a Mirrored Array on page 57 to create a two disk mirror a...

Page 93: ...Right click on Mirroring and select Convert Array as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 78 Selecting Convert Array from the Pop Up Menu 4 After selecting Convert Array the following screen sh...

Page 94: ...ion 2 0 A CHAPTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility 5 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 80 RAID Mode Selection Page 6 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figur...

Page 95: ...select any additional disks since we are simply convert the existing two disk mirrored array into a two disk striped array 8 Click on Striping and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 82 Ne...

Page 96: ...e drives that you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows launch the NVRAIDMAN application then follow the steps outlined in Creating a Mirrored Array on page 57 to create a two disk mirrored a...

Page 97: ...Right click on Mirroring and select Convert Array as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 84 Selecting Convert Array from the Pop Up Menu 4 After selecting Convert Array the following screen sh...

Page 98: ...RAIDMAN Utility 5 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 86 RAID Mode Selection Page 6 From the New RAID Mode entry select Stripe Mirroring as shown in the following screen shot...

Page 99: ...y 7 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 88 Free Disk Selection Page 8 Select both of the disks and click Next then click Finish 9 Click on Stripe Mirroring and the following...

Page 100: ...array has been created a pop up window similar to the following will appear followed by the following pop up window It will take some time before the entire process is completed The time it takes to...

Page 101: ...to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows launch the NVRAIDMAN application then follow the steps outlined in Creating a Stripe Mirroring Array on page 61 to create a four disk mirrored stripe array W...

Page 102: ...ity 3 Right click on Stripe Mirroring and select Convert Array as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 91 Selecting Convert Array from the Pop Up Menu 4 After selecting Convert Array the follow...

Page 103: ...DMAN Utility 5 Click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 93 RAID Mode Selection Page 6 From the New RAID Mode entry select Striping as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 9...

Page 104: ...New Morphed RAID Array The Morphing Process As soon as the new four disk striped array has been created a pop up window similar to the following will appear It will take some time before the entire pr...

Page 105: ...tem has six free RAID enabled disks 1 Goto the system BIOS and make sure that the drives that you want to use are RAID enabled 2 Boot to Windows launch the NVRAIDMAN application then follow the steps...

Page 106: ...lity 3 Right click on Stripe Mirroring and select Convert Array as shown in the following screen shot Figure 3 97 Selecting Convert Array from the Pop Up Menu 4 After selecting Convert Array the follo...

Page 107: ...een shot will appear Figure 3 99 RAID Mode Selection Page 6 From the New RAID Mode entry select Stripe Mirror then click Next and the following screen shot will appear Figure 3 100 Free Disk Selection...

Page 108: ...structs the user as to when a drive can be safely added to the system As soon as the drive is added the user can then finish running the RAID wizard and the drive becomes usable by the system Hot Plug...

Page 109: ...he following screen shot will appear Figure 3 102 Hard Disk Insertion Screen 3 Connect the RAID disk that you want to use with any given RAID array 4 Click Next and the following screen shot will appe...

Page 110: ...106 NVIDIA RAID User s Guide Version 2 0 A CHAPTER 3 Using the NVRAIDMAN Utility...

Page 111: ...ndent Disks and refers to the grouping of 2 or more disk drives that the system views as a single drive Different groupings have difference advantages that include better performance and data fault to...

Page 112: ...drives Ideal configuration is achieved using drives of identical size How do I configure a multiple array system Two different arrays can be configured and active at the same time For example a mirror...

Page 113: ...es BBS stand for in the RAID ROM F10 setup BBS stands for BIOS Boot Specification This indicates that the boot device is defined in the BIOS What does Clear Disk mean in the RAID ROM Setup Clear Disk...

Page 114: ...Yes a dedicated disk can be removed from a RAID 1 or a RAID 0 1 array Windows RAID Application What functions can be performed using the NVRAIDMAN application The following tasks can be performed View...

Page 115: ...on page 112 describes how to create a floppy disk to install NVIDIA RAID on a fresh Windows operating system Windows 2000 Limitation with Bootable RAID on page 113 describes how to create a bootable...

Page 116: ...ce driver directory IDE WinXP or Win2K onto a formatted floppy disk Disk1 Txtsetup oem Nvraid sys NvAtaBus sys 2 Go into the BIOS setup menu and enable RAID a In the BIOS menu specify which disks shou...

Page 117: ...2000 on a selected hard drive 2 Download and install Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 from Microsoft s website 3 Reboot the system 4 Press the DEL key as the system is rebooting to enter into the system B...

Page 118: ...2 Select the desired type of RAID array you want to convert 23 Select Next You are prompted to select the desired Free Disk s to add to the bootable RAID array 24 Click Finish At this point NVRAID sta...

Page 119: ...upgrading Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 Solution In order to upgrade Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 1 Install Windows 2000 on a selected hard drive 2 Download and install Windows 2000 Service Pa...

Page 120: ...to rely on Extended INT13 to access the disk To set GHOST to use Extended Interrupt 13h INT13 access a Start GHOST from the DOS prompt Not the Windows Command Prompt session b Select the Options ALT...

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