Chapter 6
Understanding Disk Array Concepts
Disk Array Adapter
FastTrak66 is a high performance Ultra ATA/EIDE RAID controller card that
features parallel data channel operation and an onboard BIOS. The two channels
on the FastTrak66 support parallel operation that allows for overlapped I/O under
multi-tasking operating systems and sharing the workload between multiple drives.
Adapter BIOS
The FastTrak66 card contains a BIOS code that extends the standard disk service
routine provided through Int13. The BIOS is bootable for DOS and other operating
systems that rely on the system BIOS for drive operation. FastTrak66 can support
drives and disk arrays with capacities exceeding 8.4 GB using Extended Interrupt13
support. When the FastTrak66 BIOS appears during bootup, users can press <F2>
to enter the FastBuild
TM
setup to select from menu settings.
FastBuild
TM
Auto Menu Setup
This setup utility is used to build and manage FastTrak66 disk arrays. The utility is
menu driven and features the <1> Auto Setup option that uses a simple, interactive
setup process. Once the array is built, all the array members store the configuration
information in the drive’s reserved area.
See Chapter 4 that provides descriptions of individual functions.
Reserved Sector
Array configuration data about the drive member and other members in the disk
array are saved on a special location on the disk drives called the reserved sector. If
any member of the array becomes corrupt or lost, the redundant configuration data
on the other members can be used for rebuilds.
Disk array members do not have a “memory” of their drive positions. This allows
drives to be placed on different FastTrak66 connectors or cards within the system
without reconfiguring or rebuilding.
6-1
Содержание FastTRAK66
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