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Changing Controller Parameters

  1. Select the array.
  2. Choose Configuration > Custom Configure.

    If necessary, log in to the configuration level of the program with the ssconfig password.
  3. From the Custom Configuration Options window, select Change Controller Parameters.

    The Change Controller Parameters window with the Channel tab is displayed.
  4. NOTE: For the SANnet II 200 FC and SATA arrays, the CurClk is 2.0 GHz.

    Controller Name (optional) If you want to specify a name for the controller so that you can easily identify it, select Controller Name and type the desired name. Click OK to save the change. The controller name is displayed in various applicable SANscape windows for convenience.

    Controller Unique ID (reserved) The controller unique identifier is automatically set by the SCSI Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosure (SAF-TE) or SCSI Enclosure Services (SES) device. The controller unique identifier is used to create Ethernet addresses and WWNs, and to identify the unit for some network configurations.

    CAUTION: Do not specify a new nonzero value unless you have replaced the chassis and the original chassis serial number must be retained. It is especially important in a Sun Cluster environment to maintain the same disk device names in a cluster. Do not change the controller unique identifier unless instructed to do so by qualified service personnel. Changes made to the controller unique identifier do not take effect until the controller is reset.

The tabs in this window include:

Channel Tab

RS 232 Tab

Cache Tab

Disk Array Tab

Drive I/F Tab

Host I/F Tab

Redundancy Tab

Peripheral Tab

Network Tab

Protocol Tab

Some of the options on the Change Controller Parameters window require that the controller be reset so the changes can take effect. For details about saving changes in the Change Controller Parameters window, see Saving Changed Values.

Channel Tab

  1. From the Channel tab, select the channel to be edited.
  2. Click Change Settings.
  3. The Change Channel Settings window is displayed. For the server to recognize the array, a host channel must have an ID assigned to a logical drive and a logical drive mapped to that host channel and ID. This window enables you to configure the host/drive channel.

  4. From the Channel Mode list box, select either Host or Drive.

    A Drive channel is what the drives are connected to (internal or external). A Host channel is what is connected to the server. The most common reason to change the Channel Mode from Host to Drive is to attach expansion units to a RAID array.

  5. NOTE: SCSI arrays support a maximum of two host channels.

    NOTE: Depending on the controller configuration, you might need to select both primary and secondary channel IDs as described in the following steps.

    CAUTION: Arrays are preconfigured with host, drive, and RCCOM channel settings. SANscape cannot configure or show RCCOM channels. Before configuring a host or drive channel, review the channel assignments using the firmware application. In a redundant-controller configuration, if the RCCOM channel settings are overwritten using SANscape, intercontroller communication stops and unexpected results might vary. For more information, refer to the SANnet II Family RAID Firmware User's Guide.

  6. From the Available SCSI IDs list box, select the primary channel ID, which is designated as PID. Then click Add PID.
  7. If you have two controllers installed, select a secondary channel ID from the Available SCSI IDs list box, and click Add SID.
  8. NOTE: For SCSI arrays, if you add more than four channel IDs, the LUNs Per Host ID (see Host I/F Tab) must be set to a value less than 32.

Changing Host ID in a Fibre or SATA Configuration

  1. If you want an ID higher than 15, select the desired range from the Select SCSI Range list box.

    NOTE: Each channel's ID must be within the same range.

  2. Click Remove to remove the PID or SID.
  3. Once your selections have been made, click OK to redisplay the previous window.

RS 232 Tab

RS 232 parameters enable you to set the baud rate of the RS 232 connection.

  1. After all channel settings have been made, from the Change Controller Parameters window, click the RS 232 Settings tab.
  2. Select the port desired, and click Change Settings. The Change RS232 Port Settings window is displayed.
  3. Select any baud rate desired, including the default rate of 38400, and click OK to return to the previous window.
  4. Click OK.

Cache Tab

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, select the Cache tab.

  2. To specify write back as the default cache, select Enabled from the Write Back Cache list box.

    The write policy determines when cached data is written to the disk drives. The ability to hold data in cache while it is being written to disk can increase storage device speed during sequential reads. Write policy options include write-through and write-back.

    Using write-back cache, the controller receives the data to write to disk, stores it in the memory buffer, and immediately sends the host OS a signal that the write operation is complete, before the data is actually written to the disk drive. Write-back caching improves the performance of write operations and the throughput of the controller card. Write-back cache is enabled by default.

    Using write-through cache, the controller writes the data to the disk drive before signaling the host OS that the process is complete. Write-through cache has lower write operation and throughput performance than write-back cache, but it is the safer strategy, with minimum risk of data loss on power failure. Because a battery module is installed, power is supplied to the data cached in memory and the data can be written to disk when power is restored. When write-back cache is disabled, write- through cache becomes the default write policy.

    The setting you specify is the default global cache setting for all logical drives. You can override this setting per logical drive when you create a logical drive.

  3. Select an optimization mode.
  • The Optimization mode indicates the amount of data that is written across each drive. The controller supports two optimization modes, Sequential I/O and Random I/O. Sequential I/O is the default mode.

    The RAID array’s cache optimization mode determines the cache block size used by the controller for all logical drives:

  • For sequential optimization, the cache block size is 128 Kbyte.

  • For random optimization, the cache block size is 32 Kbyte.

    An appropriate cache block size improves performance when a particular application uses either large or small stripe sizes:

  • Video playback, multimedia post-production audio and video editing, and similar applications read and write large files in sequential order.

  • Transaction-based and database update applications read and write small files in random order.

    Since the cache block size works in conjunction with the default stripe size set by the cache optimization mode for each logical drive you create, these default stripe sizes are consistent with the cache block size setting. You can, however, specify a different stripe size for any logical drive at the time you create it. See “Specifying Non-Default Stripe Sizes” on page 168 for more information.

    Refer to the SANnet II Family RAID Firmware User’s Guide for more information on cache optimization modes.

NOTE: Once logical drives are created, you cannot use the RAID firmware’s “Optimization for Random I/O” or “Optimization for Sequential I/O” menu option to change the optimization mode without deleting all logical drives. You can use SANscape, as described above, or the SANscape CLI set cache-parameters command to change the optimization mode while logical drives exist. Refer to the SANscape CLI User’s Guide for information on the set cache-parameters command.

Specifying Non-Default Stripe Sizes

Depending on the optimization mode and RAID level selected, newly created logical drives are configured with the default stripe sizes shown in the following table.


RAID Level Default Stripe Size for Sequential I/O Default Stripe Size for Random I/O
0, 1, 5 128 32
3 16 4

When you create a logical drive, you can replace the default stripe size with one that better suits your application.

  • For sequential optimization, available stripe size choices include 16 Kbyte, 32 Kbyte, 64 Kbyte, 128 Kbyte, and 256 Kbyte.

  • For random optimization, available stripe size choices include 4 Kbyte, 8 Kbyte, 16 Kbyte, 32 Kbyte, 64 Kbyte, 128 Kbyte, and 256 Kbyte.

    NOTE: Default stripe sizes optimize performance for most applications.

    Refer to the SANnet II Family RAID Firmware User’s Guide for information about how to set the stripe size for a logical drive.

    Once the stripe size is selected and data is written to logical drives, the only way to change the stripe size of an individual logical drive is to back up all its data to another location, delete the logical drive, and create a logical drive with the stripe size that you want.

    Maximum Number of Disks and Maximum Usable Capacity for Random and Sequential Optimization

    The maximum capacity per logical drive supported by the RAID firmware is:

  • 16 Tbyte with Random Optimization

  • 64 Tbyte with Sequential Optimization

    Actual logical drive maximum capacities are usually determined by practical considerations or the amount of disk space available.

    CAUTION: In FC and SATA configurations with large drive capacities, the size of the logical drive might exceed the device capacity limitation of your operating system. Be sure to check the device capacity limitation of your operating system before creating the logical drive. If the logical drive size exceeds the capacity limitation, you must partition the logical drive.

    Refer to the SANnet II Family RAID Firmware User’s Guide for details regarding maximum usable capacity of a logical drive, depending on RAID level and optimization mode.
  1. Set Periodic Cache Flush Time.

    Setting a Periodic Cache Flush Time enables the controller to flush cache to logical drive storage at specified intervals. This safety measure prevents the accumulation of data in cache that could be lost in the event of power loss.

    Select one of the following values:

    • Disabled - Terminates periodic cache flush, enabling the controller to flush cache when data in cache is written to disk.

    • Continuous Sync - Continuously flushes data from cache to logical drive storage

    • 30 sec - Flushes cache to logical drive storage after each 30-second interval.

    • 1 min - Flushes cache to logical drive storage after each one-minute interval.

    • 2 min - Flushes cache to logical drive storage after each two-minute interval.

    • 5 min - Flushes cache to logical drive storage after each five-minute interval.

    • 10 min - Flushes cache to logical drive storage after each 10-minute interval.

NOTE: Setting this value to an interval less than one minute (Continuous Sync or 30 sec) might affect performance.

For changes to take effect, reset the controller.

See also Maximum Number of Disks and Maximum Usable Capacity for Random and Sequential Optimization.

Disk Array Tab

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Disk Array tab.
  2. Select either Disabled or Enabled from the three Write Verify list boxes.
  3. Normally, errors might occur when a hard drive writes data. To avoid the write error, the controller can force the hard drives to verify the written data.

    • Write Verify on Initialization - Performs verify-after-write while initializing the logical drive.
    • Write Verify on Rebuild - Performs verify-after-write during the rebuilding process.
    • Write Verify on Normal - Performs verify-after-write during normal I/O requests.


  4. Select from the four options available in the Rebuild Priority list box: Low, Normal, Improved, or High.
  5. The RAID controller provides a background rebuilding ability. This means the controller is able to serve other I/O requests while rebuilding the logical drives. The time required to rebuild a drive set largely depends on the total capacity of the logical drive being rebuilt. Additionally, the rebuilding process is totally transparent to the host computer or the operating system.

    • Low - The default that uses the controller's minimum resources to rebuild.
    • Normal - To speed up the rebuilding process.
    • Improved - To allocate more resources to the rebuilding process.
    • High - To use the controller's maximum resources to complete the rebuilding process in the shortest time possible.

Drive I/F Tab

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Drive I/F tab.
  2. From the Drive Motor Spin Up field, select either Disabled or Enabled.
  3. Drive Motor Spin Up determines how the physical drives in a disk array are started. When the power supply is unable to provide sufficient current for all physical drives and controllers that are powered up at the same time, spinning up the physical drives serially requires less current.

    If Drive Motor Spin Up is enabled, the drives are powered up sequentially and some of these drives might not be ready for the controller to access when the array powers up. Increase the disk access delay time so that the controller will wait longer for the drive to be ready.

  4. Set the Disk Access Latency.
  5. This function sets the delay time before the controller tries to access the hard drives after power on. The default is 15 seconds.

  6. Set the Tag Count Per Drive.
  7. This is the maximum number of tags that can be sent to each drive at the same time. A drive has a built-in cache that is used to sort all of the I/O requests (tags) that are sent to the drive, enabling the drive to finish the requests faster.

    The cache size and maximum number of tags varies between different brands and models of drive. Use the default setting of 32. Changing the maximum tag count to Disable causes the internal cache of the drive to be ignored (not used).

    The controller supports tag command queuing with an adjustable tag count from 1 to 128.

  8. Select the variable time options shown in the list box from the SAF-TE/SES Polling Period(s) field, or select Disabled to disable this function so that all installed Event Recording Modules (ERMs) are never polled.
  9. From the SCSI I/O Timeout(s) field, select from 0.5 through 30 seconds.
  10. The SCSI I/O Timeout is the time interval for the controller to wait for a drive to respond. If the controller attempts to read data from or write data to a drive but the drive does not respond within the SCSI I/O timeout value, the drive is considered a failed drive. The default setting for SCSI I/O Timeout is 30 seconds.

    CAUTION: Do not change this setting. Setting the timeout to a lower value causes the controller to judge a drive as failed while a drive is still retrying or while a drive is unable to arbitrate the SCSI bus. Setting the timeout to a greater value causes the controller to keep waiting for a drive, and it might sometimes cause a host timeout.

    When the drive detects a media error while reading from the drive platter, it retries the previous reading or recalibrates the head. When the drive encounters a bad block on the media, it reassigns the bad block to another spare block. However, all of this takes time. The time to perform these operations can vary between different brands and models of drives.

    During SCSI bus arbitration, a device with higher priority can use the bus first. A device with lower priority sometimes receives a SCSI I/O timeout when devices of higher priority keep using the bus.

  11. From the Drive Check Period (Sec) field, select from 0.5 through 30 seconds.
  12. The Periodic Drive Check Time is an interval for the controller to check the drives on the SCSI bus. The default value is Disabled, which means if there is no activity on the bus, the controller does not know if a drive has failed or has been removed. Setting an interval enables the program to detect a drive failure when there is no array activity; however, performance is degraded.

  13. Auto Assign Global Spare Drive.

    This feature is disabled by default. When you enable it, the system automatically assigns a global spare to the minimum drive ID in unused drives. This enables the array to rebuild automatically without user intervention when a drive is replaced.

    Host I/F Tab

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Host I/F tab.
  2. Set the Max Queued IO Count.
  3. This function enables you to configure the maximum number of I/O operations per logical drive that can be accepted from servers. The predefined range is from 1 to 1024 I/O operations per logical drive, or you can choose Auto Compute (automatically configured) setting. The default value is 1024 I/O operations per logical drive.

    The appropriate setting depends on how many I/O operations the attached servers and the controller itself are performing. This can vary according to the amount of host memory present, the number of drives and their size, and buffer limitations. If you increase the amount of host memory, add more drives, or replace drives with larger drives, you might want to increase the maximum I/O count.

  4. (FC and SATA only). Select the type of Fibre Connection.

    SANnet II 200 FC arrays and SANnet II 200 SATA arrays support the following Fibre connection protocols:

    • Point-to-Point - This protocol can be used only with a switched fabric network, also called a Storage Attached Network (SAN) configuration. Point-to-Point protocol supports full duplex communication, but only allows one ID per channel.

    • Loop (FC-AL) - This protocol can be used with Direct Attached Storage (DAS) or SAN configurations. FC-AL supports only half-duplex communication, but allows up to eight IDs per channel.

      Refer to the SANnet II Family RAID Firmware User’s Guide for more information about point-to-point and loop protocols.

  5. Set the LUNs Per Host.
  6. This function is used to change the maximum number of LUNs you can configure per host ID. Each time a host channel ID is added, it uses the number of LUNs allocated in this setting. The default setting is 32 LUNs, with a predefined range of 1 to 32 LUNs available.

    NOTE: For SCSI arrays, the maximum number of LUN assignments is 128; therefore, if you use the default setting of 32, you can only add four host channel IDs (4 x 32 = 128). If you added more than four host channel IDs (see Channel Tab), the LUNs Per Host ID parameter must be set to a value less than 32.

  7. (Optional) To increase the security of the data stored on the array, you can prevent in-band management through a SCSI or FC interface by selecting Disable for In-Band External Interface Management.

    CAUTION: If you are managing the array through in-band, when you select Disable for In-Band External Interface Management, communication with the array is disabled. If you want to continue monitoring this array, select this option only when you are managing the array through out-of-band. For the steps to switch to out-of-band management, see Out-of-Band Storage Management.

    After selecting Disable for In-Band External Interface Management, select the server icon and choose View > View Server > Probe. It takes several minutes for the console to update.

  8. If you made changes to the Fibre Connection protocol, for changes to take effect, reset the controller.

    Disable for In-Band External Interface Management.

Redundancy Tab

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Redundancy tab.

  2. Select an option from the Set Controller Config field.
    • Redundant Deassert Reset - If you have failed a controller and want to bring it back online.
    • Redundant Force Sec Fail - If you want to force the secondary controller to fail.
    • Redundant Force Pri Fail - If you want to force the primary controller to fail.

    NOTE: Set both controllers in the Redundant Primary configuration. The controllers then determine which one is primary and which one is secondary. This prevents any possible conflicts between controllers.

  3. When an array with redundant controllers is operating with write-back cache enabled, you can disable the synchronization of cache between the two controllers by selecting Not Synchronized from the Write-Through Cache Synchronization list box.

    CAUTION: Disabling cache synchronization and eliminating the mirroring and transferring of data between controllers can improve array performance, but it also eliminates the safeguard provided by cache synchronization if one of the controllers fails.

  4. To save any changes in the Change Parameters window, reset the controller.
  5. Click OK to return to the main window.

Peripheral Tab

The Peripheral tab enables you to configure the array to dynamically switch write policy from write-back cache to write-through cache when a specified event occurs or threshold is exceeded. Once the problem is corrected, the original write policy is restored. You can also configure the controller to shut down if it exceeds the temperature threshold.

The Peripheral Device Status box enables you to view the status of all environmental sensors for the controller. (For environmental status of the chassis, see Enclosure View.)

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Peripheral tab.
  2. Enable or disable event trigger operations.

    If the array is configured with write-back cache enabled, specify whether you want the write policy to automatically switch from write-back cache to write-through cache when the following events occur:

    • Controller Failure
    • Fan Failure
    • Battery-backup Unit Failure or battery Not Fully Charged
    • Power Supply Failure

    NOTE: Once the problem is corrected, the original write policy is restored.

    If you do not want the write policy to be switched automatically, set these options to Disable. They are enabled by default.

  3. Enable or disable over-temperature controller shutdown.

    If you want the controller to shut down immediately if the temperature exceeds the threshold limit, select the Enable in the Temperature Exceeds Threshold field; otherwise, select Disable.

    When the controller shuts down, the controller icon in the main window displays a yellow (degraded) device status symbol Degraded.

  4. If you want the controller to shut down after the temperature exceeds the threshold limit but not before a specified interval, select a time from the Temperature Exceeds Threshold Period field:

    • 0 sec
    • 2 min
    • 5 min
    • 10 min
    • 20 min
    • 30 min (default)

Viewing Environmental Status for the Controller

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Peripheral tab.
  2. Click the right scroll bar and scroll down until the Peripheral Device Status box is displayed.

  3. In the Peripheral Device Status box, click the scroll bar and scroll down to view the environmental status information.

    The threshold ranges for peripheral devices are set using the firmware application. If a device exceeds the threshold range that was set, its status displays Over upper threshold. If a device does not meet the threshold range, its status displays Under lower threshold. Both events cause the controller icon in the main window to display a red (critical) status symbol Critical.

For information on how to set the threshold ranges, refer to the SANnet II RAID Firmware User’s Guide.

Network Tab

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Network tab.
  2. To manually configure an IP address, subnet mask, gateway, and MAC address, click Change Settings.

    The Change Network Setting window is displayed.

    NOTE: SANnet II family arrays are configured by default with the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) TCP/IP network support protocol enabled. If your network uses a DHCP server, the server assigns an IP address, netmask, and gateway IP address to the RAID array when the array is initialized or subsequently reset.
  3. If you have set up an array in an environment with a RARP server:
  • Remove DHCP from the Selected box in the Dynamic IP Assignment Mechanism List.

  • Add RARP to the Selected box in the Dynamic IP Assignment Mechanism List.

    NOTE: The firmware does not support multiple IP assignment mechanisms. If a protocol is currently selected, you must remove it before adding another protocol.
  1. If you prefer to have a static IP address:
  • Deselect the Enable Dynamic IP Assignment check box.

  • Type the static IP address, the subnet mask, and the gateway IP address into the appropriate boxes under Static IP Information.
  1. Click OK.

  2. When prompted to reset the controller, click Yes.

    For new settings to take effect, reset the controller.

Saving Changed Values

The options on the Change Controller Parameters window specified in the following table require that the controller be reset so that the changes take effect.

Option Tab
Controller Unique ID All
Channel Mode Channel (Change Channel Settings)
Default Transfer Width Channel (Change Channel Settings
Termination Channel (Change Channel Settings
Default Sync Clock Channel (Change Channel Settings
Write Back Cache (only in firmware later than 3.3.1) Cache
Optimization Cache
I/O Timeout Drive I/F SCSI
Max Queued IO Count Host I/F
Fibre Connection (FC and SATA only) Host I/F
LUNs Per Host Host I/F
Controller Configuration Redundancy

If a change requires a controller reset, the following message is displayed in the lower left side of the window:

[A Controller reset is required for changes to take effect.]

To reset the controller and save changed values, you can either select the Controller Reset check box at the time of making the change, or reset the controller later through the Controller Maintenance window. If you are making multiple changes, you might not want to stop and reset the controller after each change. If you do not select the Controller Reset check box, and the change requires a reset, when you click OK, a warning message is displayed.

  1. Select the Controller Reset check box.

  2. Make the changes and click OK.
or
  1. Do not select the Controller Reset check box.

  2. Make the changes and click OK.

  3. Reset the controller later.

Protocol Tab

For security reasons, you can enable only the network protocols you want to support, which limits the ways in which security can be breached.

  1. From the Change Controller Parameters window, click the Protocol tab.
  2. Select which protocols to enable or disable.

    The protocols are enabled or disabled by default as follows:

    • TELNET - Telnet access to the IP address is enabled.

    • HTTP - Hypertext Transport Protocol access is disabled.

    • HTTPS - Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure access is disabled.

    • FTP - File Transfer Protocol access is disabled.

    • SSH - Secure Socket Handling protocol access is disabled.

    • PriAgentAll - The internal communication protocol used by the controller is enabled.

      NOTE: The PriAgentAll protocol must remain enabled for SANscape and the CLI to receive information from the controller firmware. Do not disable this protocol.

    • SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol access is disabled. SNMP might be used to communicate with external management software.

    • DHCP - The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol access is enabled. DHCP is used in some networks to dynamically assign IP adresses to systems on the network.

    • Ping - Ping enables hosts in the network to determine if an array is online.
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