Promise Technology Network Device Ex4650 Users Manual SuperTrak_EX Series_UM_v2.0

Network Device EX16650 SuperTrak_EX-Series_UM_v2.0

EX8658 to the manual da53435d-6d49-4569-b398-3c5bc9df1e97

2015-02-06

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SUPERTRAK

EX4650, EX8650,
EX8654, EX8658,
EX16650
USER MANUAL
Version 2.0

SR2

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Copyright
© 2008 Promise Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright by Promise Technology, Inc. (Promise Technology). No part of this
manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the expressed,
written permission of Promise Technology.

Trademarks
Promise, and the Promise logo are registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Important data protection information
You should back up all data before installing any drive controller or storage
peripheral. Promise Technology is not responsible for any loss of data resulting
from the use, disuse or misuse of this or any other Promise Technology product.

Notice
Although Promise Technology has attempted to ensure the accuracy of the
content of this manual, it is possible that this document may contain technical
inaccuracies, typographical, or other errors. Promise Technology assumes no
liability for any error in this publication, and for damages, whether direct, indirect,
incidental, consequential or otherwise, that may result from such error, including,
but not limited to loss of data or profits.
Promise Technology provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any
kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
The published information in the manual is subject to change without notice.
Promise Technology reserves the right to make changes in the product design,
layout, and driver revisions without notification to its users.
This version of the User Manual supersedes all previous versions.

Recommendations
In this Manual, the appearance of products made by other companies, including,
but not limited to software, servers, and physical drives, is for the purpose of
illustration and explanation only. Promise Technology does not recommend,
endorse, prefer, or support any product made by another manufacturer.

Notices

Radio Frequency Interference Statement
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B
digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency
energy, and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction may
cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this
equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which
can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged
to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
•

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

•

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

•

Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which
the receiver is connected.

•

Consult Promise Technology, Inc. or an experienced radio or TV technician
for help.

This device complies with Part 5 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2)
this device must accept any interference received, including interference that
may cause undesired operation.
Caution
Only digital device equipment CERTIFIED CLASS B should be
attached to this equipment and that must have shielded cables.

iii

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
About This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Product Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
XOR Microprocessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Hot-Swapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
WebPAM PRO Management Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Operating System Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Browser Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Key Features and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Chapter 2: Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Unpacking the SuperTrak Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Installing the SuperTrak Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Connecting SuperTrak to a SuperSwap Enclosure . . . . . . . . .14
Connecting SuperTrak to a VTrak JBOD Enclosure . . . . . . . . .14
SAS Connections and ID Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Choosing the Physical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Creating a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Installing the CLI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Installing onto Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Installing onto Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Installing the CLI onto FreeBSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Installing the CLI onto VMware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Installing WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Utility Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
JRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Internet Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Installing WebPAM PRO onto Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Installing WebPAM PRO onto Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Logging into WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Logging in at the Host PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Logging in over the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Login Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Setting up WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Driver Installation Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Linux and FreeBSD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Windows Server 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Confirming Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Confirming Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Windows Server 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Confirming Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Confirming Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Red Hat Linux Enterprise 4.4, 4.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Fedora Core 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Fedora Core 7, 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
SuSE Open 10.2, 10.3, 10.5, 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
SuSE SLES 10, 10 SP1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Miracle Linux 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
FreeBSD 6.1, 6.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
vi

Contents

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers, cont.
VMware ESX Server 3.0.2, 3.5.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
New OS Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Existing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
SuperTrak BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Accessing the Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Selecting a Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Viewing Controller Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Managing Physical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Viewing Physical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Viewing Physical Drive Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Managing Physical Drive Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Managing Disk Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Viewing Disk Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Viewing Disk Array Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Creating a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Changing Disk Array Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Rebuilding a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Deleting a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Managing Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Viewing Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Viewing Logical Drive Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Creating a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Initializing a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Changing Logical Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Deleting a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Managing Spare Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Viewing Spare Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Viewing Spare Drive Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Creating a Spare Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Changing Spare Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Deleting a Spare Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Viewing Background Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Managing the Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Viewing RAM Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Viewing NVRAM Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Clearing the Event Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

vii

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility, cont.
Working with Time Sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Setting the Time Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Synchronizing Time with an Embedded Site . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Using the Miscellaneous Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Making the SAS Ready LED Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Making the SGPIO Backplane Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Working with the Buzzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Logging into WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Logging in at the Host PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Logging in over the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Login Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Accessing the Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Using the Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Using Tree View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Using Management View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
Choosing a Display Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Viewing the Event Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Saving the Event Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Deleting the Event Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Viewing the Storage Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Logging out of WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Managing Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Viewing User Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Making User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Making Your Own User Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Changing a User’s Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Changing Your Own Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Creating a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Deleting a User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Working with Subsystem/Host Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Viewing Subsystem/Host Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Adding a Subsystem or Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
In-Band versus Out-of-Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Deleting a Subsystem or Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Setting User Privilege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Managing Software Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Viewing Service Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Changing Web Server Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
viii

Contents

Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO, cont.
Managing Software Services, cont.
Restarting the Tomcat Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Setting up Email Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Setting up Extended SMTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Sending A Test Email Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Setting Event Frame Refresh Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Changing CIM Client Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Changing CIM Server Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Managing the Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Viewing Host Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Setting User Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Refreshing the WebPAM PRO Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Managing the Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Viewing Subsystem Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Clearing Statistical Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Setting an Alias for the Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Updating the Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Checking Subsystem Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Viewing the Runtime Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Saving the Runtime Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Clearing the Runtime Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Viewing the NVRAM Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Saving the NVRAM Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Clearing the NVRAM Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Viewing Current Background Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Making Background Activity Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Running Background Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Running Media Patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Running PDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Viewing Scheduled Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Scheduling an Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Deleting a Scheduled Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Viewing System Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Managing the Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Viewing Controllers Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Viewing Controller Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Viewing Controller Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Making Controller Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Clearing an Orphan Watermark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Viewing Battery Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO, cont.
Managing the Controller, cont.
Silencing the Buzzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
Making Buzzer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
Testing the Buzzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
Viewing Buzzer Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
Managing Enclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
Viewing Enclosure Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
Managing Physical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Viewing a List of Physical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Locating a Physical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Making Global Physical Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Viewing Physical Drive Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Viewing Physical Drive Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Making Physical Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Clearing Stale and PFA Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Managing Disk Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Viewing Disk Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Locating a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Creating a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Creating a Disk Array – Automatic Configuration . . . . . . . . . .152
Creating a Disk Array – Express Configuration . . . . . . . . . . .153
Creating a Disk Array – Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . .155
Deleting a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
Viewing Disk Array Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
Making Disk Array Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158
Creating a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Deleting a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160
Migrating a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161
Rebuilding a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Running Media Patrol on a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Running PDM on a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Transitioning a Disk Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
Preparing a Disk Array for Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
Managing Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166
Viewing Information for All Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166
Locating a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Viewing Logical Drive Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Viewing Logical Drive Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Changing Logical Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168
Initializing a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
x

Contents

Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO, cont.
Managing Logical Drives, cont.
Running Redundancy Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Viewing the Logical Drive Check Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Managing Spare Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172
Viewing a List of Spare Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172
Creating a Spare Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
Deleting Spare Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Making Spare Drive Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174
Running Spare Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Working with the Logical Drive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Viewing a List of All Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Locating a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Viewing Individual Logical Drive Information . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
Chapter 6: Management with the CLI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Opening the CLI on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Opening the CLI on Linux, FreeBSD, and VMware . . . . . . . . . . . .180
Table of Supported Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Notes and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
List of Supported Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184
Chapter 7: Technology Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
Introduction to RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
RAID 0 – Stripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
RAID 1 – Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
RAID 1E – Enhanced Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
RAID 5 – Block Striping with Distributed Parity . . . . . . . . . . . .223
RAID 6 – Block and Double Parity Stripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224
RAID 10 – Mirror / Stripe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225
RAID 50 – Striped Distributed Parity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
RAID 60 – Striping of Double Parity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
Choosing a RAID Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
RAID 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
RAID 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
RAID 1E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
RAID 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233
RAID 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234
RAID 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234
RAID 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235
RAID 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Chapter 7: Technology Background, cont.
Choosing Stripe Block Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236
Choosing Sector Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236
2 TB Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
Choosing Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
Read Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Write Cache Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Capacity Coercion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Initialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Hot Spare Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Partition and Format the Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240
RAID Level Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240
RAID 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241
RAID 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242
RAID 1E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242
RAID 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
RAID 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
RAID 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244
RAID 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
RAID 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
Ranges of Disk Array Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246
Media Patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248
Predictive Data Migration (PDM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248
PDM Triggers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248
Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249
Drive Failure and Automatic Rebuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249
Automatic Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251
Manual Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251
Critical & Offline Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
When a Physical Drive Fails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
With a Hot Spare Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255
Without a Hot Spare Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255
Rebuild Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255
Chapter 8: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Problems Reported by SuperTrak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Buzzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259
Problems Reported in WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
Open WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
xii

Contents

What to Look For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
Critical & Offline Logical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
Finding the Failed Drive in SuperBuild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
Finding the Failed Drive in WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264
Salvaging Physical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265
Clearing Stale and PFA Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265
Rebuilding a Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266
Spare Drive Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266
No Spare Drive Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266
Manual Rebuild: SuperBuild Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266
Manual Rebuild: WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
Recovering from a Blank Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268
Cache Battery Does Not Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268
Chapter 9: Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269
Frequently Asked Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269
Pre-Installation (Speed, Device Types, Capacity, Cabling) . .269
Drive Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270
Installation Issues (Capacity, Booting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271
Post-Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272
Contacting Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273
Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
Returning the Product For Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
Appendix A: Partition and Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
Appendix B: Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285
Updating SuperTrak BIOS and Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285
Updating WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286
Appendix C: Battery Backup Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287
Installing the BBU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .288
Appendix D: LED Backplane Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291
Schematic Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291
Direct LED Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293
Aggregate LED Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293
Global LED Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

xiv

Chapter 1: Introduction
•

About This Manual, below

•

Product Overview (page 2)

•

WebPAM PRO Management Software (page 3)

Thank you for purchasing one of Promise Technology’s SuperTrak EX4650,
EX8650, EX8654, EX8658, or EX16650 SAS/SATA RAID Controller card.

About This Manual
This User Manual describes how to setup, use and maintain the SuperTrak RAID
controller. It also describes how to use the Web-Based Promise Array
Management—Professional (WebPAM PRO) RAID management software.
This manual includes a full table of contents, chapter task lists and numerous
cross-references to help you find the specific information you are looking for.
Also included are four levels of notices:
Note
A Note provides helpful information such as hints or alternative
ways of doing a task.
Important
Important calls attention to an essential step or point required to
complete a task. Important items include things often missed.
Caution
A Caution informs you of possible equipment damage or loss of
data and how to avoid them.
Warning
A Warning notifies you of probable equipment damage or loss of
data, or the possibility of physical injury, and how to avoid them.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Product Overview
SuperTrak EX4650, EX8650, EX8654, EX8658, and EX16650 are SAS and
SATA RAID Controller cards. When used with WebPAM PRO software, the
SuperTrak RAID Controllers offer a feature-rich, secure and versatile enterprisewide RAID solution. In addition, the SuperTrak EX Series supports RAID
expansion. The resulting RAID environment allows users and administrators to
configure, manage, and monitor everything from single logical drives on local
systems to logical drive networks residing in offsite locations.
The SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller cards support SAS hard drives as well
as 1.5 Gb/s and 3.0 Gb/s SATA hard drives. At its core, the SuperTrak card
provides advanced RAID management functions: creating logical drives,
monitoring them, keeping them online and operating at optimum efficiency.
SuperTrak can also perform many other tasks, such as:
•

The SuperTrak EX4650 Controller card supports up to four SAS or SATA
physical drives and RAID levels 0, 1, 1E, 5, 6, and 10. With a SAS expander
you can attach up to 24 drives, for RAID 50 and 60.

•

The SuperTrak EX8650, EX8654, EX8658, and EX16650 Controller cards
you can directly attach up to 16 SAS or SATA physical drives. With a SAS
expander you can attach up to 128 drives. These Controllers also support
RAID levels 0, 1, 1E, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60.

•

Set up a network of SuperTrak RAID servers (all running under different
RAID levels) and monitor those servers from any workstation on the
network.

•

Create a series of SuperTrak RAID networks at any number of offsite
locations.

•

Monitor and repair SuperTrak RAID logical drives using the Internet from an
offsite location—all without compromising the integrity of secure servers.

XOR Microprocessor
The SuperTrak EX Series Controllers have an onboard microprocessor for XOR
calculations, which off loads the parity calculation workload from the main CPU
and transfers it to the controller card, boosting the performance of the entire
system.

Hot-Swapping
Attached drives can be hot swapped when necessary.

Chapter 1: Introduction

WebPAM PRO Management Software
The Web-Based Promise Array Management—Professional (WebPAM PRO)
software offers local and remote management and monitoring of all SuperTrak
logical drives that exist anywhere on a network. Browser-based GUI provides
email notification of all major events or alarms, memory cache management,
drive event logging, logical drive maintenance, rebuild, and access to all
components in the RAID configuration (controller, physical drives, disk arrays,
logical drives, physical drives, and enclosure).
For information on using WebPAM PRO, see “Chapter 5: Management with
WebPAM PRO” on page 107.

Operating System Support
On the Host PC where you install the SuperTrak controller and WebPAM PRO,
Promise Technology recommends:
•

Windows Server 2008 (64 bit) with or without Hyper-V

•

Windows Server 2008 (32 bit)

•

Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit)

•

Windows Server 2003 SP1, SP2; R2 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Windows XP Professional SP2, SP3 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2 (32 or 64 bit)

•

SuSE Open 10.2, 10.3, 11 (32 or 64 bit)

•

SLES 10, 10 SP1 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Miracle Linux 4 SP2, 5 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Fedora Core 6, 7, 8, 9 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Open Source Driver for Linux 2.6 kernel (32 or 64 bit)

SuperTrak management on the following OS is supported only via CLI:
•

FreeBSD 6.1, 6.2 (32 or 64 bit)

SuperTrak management on the following virtualization platform is supported only
via CLI:
•

VMware ESX 3.0.2, 3.5 (certification pending)

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Browser Support
On the Host PC where you install the SuperTrak controller and WebPAM PRO,
you must have one of the following browsers:
•

Internet Explorer

•

Firefox

•

Netscape Navigator

If you do not have one of the above browsers, install the browser first and make it
the default browser. Then install WebPAM PRO.

Key Features and Benefits
The following information offers an overview of the major features of the Promise
SuperTrak EX4650, EX8650, EX8654, EX8658, and EX16650.
Advanced Hardware Design
Features
Supports PCIe x8 bus
motherboards

Benefits
Allows maximum data transfers of up to 2 GB/s
in both directions simultaneously to dramatically
reduce the time to save and retrieve large files.

EX4650 supports: RAID 0, 1,
1E, 5, 6, and 10. RAID 50 and Provides dramatic increase in drive performance
60 with SAS Expander.
and/or fault tolerant options. Offers performance
customization and data rebuilds from the BIOS
EX8650, EX8654, EX8658,
and EX16650 support: RAID menu.
0, 1, 1E, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60
Supports Serial ATA
Specification II

Burst data transfer rates up to 300 MB/s from
Serial ATA drives to boost overall system
performance.

Supports Serial Attached
SCSI Specification

Burst data transfer rates up to 300 MB/s from
SAS drives to boost overall system
performance.

Independent data channels
for SATA and SAS drives

Drives can multiply their data transfer
performance when striped together and each
drive uses a separate data channel.

Supports multiple logical
drives on the same physical
drives

Up to 32 logical drives per array,
Up to 128 arrays drives per controller,
Up to 128 physical drives per controller,
Up to 256 logical drives per controller.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Advanced Hardware Design
Features

Benefits

Supports online logical drive
expansion

Add disk drives to the array without affecting
data availability.

Supports online logical drive
migration

Change RAID level without affecting data
availability.

Utilizes SuperBuild™
Has “Auto Setup” option for quick and easy
automenu from the SuperTrak logical drive builds.
onboard BIOS
Displays status and error
checking messages during
bootup

Notifies user of possible errors and allows for
recovery of mirrored drive logical drives directly
from SuperBuild™.

Supports S.M.A.R.T.
monitoring and reporting

Polls status at set intervals, reports through
WebPAM PRO.

Employs the latest Promise
Fully supports Serial ATA specifications with 150
PCI Express SATA/SAS ASIC and 300 MB/sec timing and CRC error-checking
technology
at high speeds.
Automatic background
rebuilds

Fault tolerance can be restored automatically
without rebooting.

DOS based flash upgrade of
BIOS and Firmware

Verifies proper file, option to backup existing file.
Download files from Promise website.

Capacity coercion

Supports four schemes of capacity coercion.

System reboot not required
System boot process continues without
after create, delete, migrate or restarting.
expand logical drive

Compatibility
Features

Benefits

Complies with PCI Express
Specification 1.0a

Provides highest level of hardware compatibility

Complies with SATA
Specification 1.0a

Provides full compatibility with first generation
SATA hard drives.

Complies with SATA II:
Extensions to SATA 1.0a
Specification

Provides enclosure and drive monitoring
compatibility.

Complies with SAS
Specification 1.1

Provides full compatibility with SAS hard drives.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Compatibility
Features

Benefits

Tested compatibility to coexist Improves system performance and minimizes
with motherboards that have system conflicts for new and existing
integrated IDE controllers
installations.
Features LBA support

Supports drives greater than 137 GB capacity.

Supports BIOS Boot
Specification

All logical drives attached to the SuperTrak card
appear in the BBS-compliant motherboards
BIOS boot list.

Specifications
•

Port Counts and Connectors
EX4650: 4 internal, one SFF-8087
EX8650: 8 internal, two SFF-8087
EX8654: 4 internal, one SFF-8087; 4 external, one SFF-8088
EX8658: 8 external, two SFF-8088
EX16650: 16 internal, four SFF-8087

•

Interface: PCI-Express x8 Slot

•

I/O Processor
EX4650: 667 MHz
EX8650: 800 MHz
EX8654, EX8658, EX16650: 1.2 GHz

•

Memory (DDR-II)
EX4650: 128 MB
EX8650: 256 MB
EX8654, EX8658, EX16650: 512 MB

•

Controller card dimensions (HWD):
EX4650, EX8650, EX8654, EX8658:
2.69 x 6.63 x 0.75 inches (68.3 x 168.3 x 19.0 mm) “Low profile”
EX16650:
4.37 x 6.63 x 0.75 inches (111.0 x 168.3 x 19.0 mm) “Full height”

•

Operating temperatures
Without BBU: 32° to 122°F (0°C to 50°C)
With BBU: 32° to 104°F (0°C to 40°C)

•

Operating humidity: 5% to 95% non-condensing
6

Chapter 2: Installation
•

Unpacking the SuperTrak, below

•

Installing the SuperTrak Card (page 9)

•

Choosing the Physical Drives (page 17)

•

Creating a Logical Drive (page 18)

•

Installing the CLI (page 23)

•

Windows (page 23)

•

Linux (page 28)

•

Free BSD (page 35

•

VMware (page 36)

Installing WebPAM PRO (page 37)
•

Windows (page 39)

•

Linux (page 47)

•

Logging into WebPAM PRO (page 55)

•

Setting up WebPAM PRO (page 57)

Unpacking the SuperTrak Card
When you receive the SuperTrak EX Series SAS/SATA RAID Controller card, the
package should contain the items listed below:
•

SuperTrak EX4650, EX8650, EX8654, EX8658, or EX16650 Controller card

•

Quick Start Guide

•

0.5m (19-inch) SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 multi-lane cable
One (1) for EX4650 and EX8654
Two (2) for EX8650
Four (4) for EX16650

•

CD with WebPAM PRO software, Windows and Linux drivers, and
SuperTrak User Manual

If any of the items are missing or appear damaged, please contact your dealer or
distributor immediately.
Warning
The electronic components on the SuperTrak EX Controller cards
are sensitive to damage from Electro-Static Discharge (ESD).
Observe appropriate precautions at all times when handling the
SuperTrak card or its subassemblies.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Warning
Before installing the SuperTrak EX Controller card into an existing
system, backup any important or useful data. Failure to follow this
accepted PC practice could result in data loss.
Important
Promise does not recommend multi-lane and fanout cables longer
than 1m (38 inches) because they have not been tested with the
SuperTrak controller.
Important
If your SuperTrak EX16650 card has a battery backup unit (BBU),
follow these requirements to be sure the battery charges properly:
•

Ambient operating temperature must not exceed 104°F (40°C)

•

Airflow through your PC or server must be at least 200 LFM
Note

The SuperTrak EX Controller cards are PCI Plug-n-Play (PnP)
devices. No changes are necessary in the motherboard CMOS or
BIOS Setup for resources or drive types in most applications.

Chapter 2: Installation

Installing the SuperTrak Card
The SuperTrak EX Controller card fits into any available PCI-Express x8 slot. You
can also plug the SuperTrak card into a PCI-Express x16 slot.
1.

Remove the cover of your system.

Remove the inside slot cover of an available PCI-Express slot on the
motherboard.

Install the SuperTrak card into the open PCI-Express slot.

Fasten the SuperTrak card bracket to the system case.

Attach one end of a SAS multi-lane cable to a SAS port on the SuperTrak
card.
External SAS multi-lane cables are user-supplied. The external SAS ports
have SFF-8088 connectors.
See Figures 1 through 5.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Figure 1. SuperTrak EX4650 card

Activity and
Fault LED Pins

Global and
Aggregate
LED Pins

SAS Ports
Ch1-4
BBU module
connector
SuperSwap connector
Figure 2. SuperTrak EX8650 card

Activity and
Fault LED Pins

Global and
Aggregate
LED Pins

SAS Ports
Ch5-8
Ch1-4
BBU module
connector
SuperSwap connector

Chapter 2: Installation

Figure 3. SuperTrak EX8654 card
SuperSwap connector
SAS Ports:
Ch5-8

Activity and Fault
LED Pins

BBU module
connector

Aggregate
LED Pins

Global
LED Pins

SAS Ports: Ch1-4

Figure 4. SuperTrak EX8658 card
BBU module
connector
SAS Ports

SuperSwap connector

Aggregate
LED Pins

Ch1-4
Ch5-8

Global
LED Pins

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Figure 5. SuperTrak EX16650 card
Activity and Fault LED Pins
SAS Ports
Ch13-16
Ch9-12
Ch5-8
Ch1-4
Global and
Aggregate
LED Pins
BBU module
connector
6.

SuperSwap
connector

Attach the other end of the SAS multi-lane cable to a SAS port on your
enclosure’s backplane or to your SAS expander.
For more information, see the user manual for your enclosure or SAS
expander.

Optional. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for the other SAS ports on the SuperTrak
EX8650, EX8654, EX8658, or 16650 card.

Optional. Attach cables from the LED pins on the SuperTrak card to the
LEDs in your PC or enclosure. See Figures 5 through 7.
For more information, see “Appendix D: LED Backplane Connections” on
page 291 and the user manual for your PC or enclosure.

Figure 6. Individual LED pins, EX4650, EX8650, and EX8654
EX8650
EX4650

EX8654
Fault LEDs
Activity LEDs

Activity LEDs
Fault LEDs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

4 3 2 1

Ports/Channels

Chapter 2: Installation

For SuperTrak EX8654 and EX8658, note that only the interior SAS Ports
have individual LED pins.
Figure 7. Individual LED pins, EX16650
Activity LEDs
Fault LEDs
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Ports/Channels
Figure 8. Global and Aggregate LED pins, EX4650 and EX8650
Global LEDs (J2)

R G+

+ – – +
Aggregate LEDs (J3)
Figure 9. Global and Aggregate LED pins, EX8654 and EX8658

+
R
G

+
–

+
Global LEDs

Aggregate LEDs

Figure 10. Global and Aggregate LED pins, EX16650

+
–
–
+

R
G

+
Global LEDs

Aggregate LEDs

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Connecting SuperTrak to a SuperSwap Enclosure
If you are using Promise SuperSwap enclosures:
1.

Attach SAS fanout cables to the SAS ports of the SuperTrak card.

Connect the other ends of the SAS fanout cables to the SuperSwap
enclosure.

Connect the 3-to-3 pin management cable (came with the SuperSwap) from
the SuperSwap connector on SuperTrak card to the Management connector
on the back of the the SuperSwap housing.

Optional. If you are installing multiple SuperSwap 4600s, install a 6-pin
daisy-chain cable from the daisy-chain OUT connector of the first
SuperSwap to the daisy-chain IN connector of the second.
SuperTrak supports up to eight SuperSwap 1600 enclosures or up to two
SuperSwap 4600 enclosures.

Connecting SuperTrak to a VTrak JBOD Enclosure
If you are connecting the SuperTrak card to a single VTrak JBOD enclosure, you
can attach the SAS multi-lane cable to either the circle or diamond port on the
enclosure.
However, if you plan to cascade multiple VTrak JBOD enclosures, you must
attach the SAS multi-lane cable to the circle port on the first enclosure.
Figure 11. Attaching the SAS multi-lane cable to the diamond port

O
I

115200
8N1

SuperTrak
Controller

SAS multi-lane cable
(supplied with VTrak)

VTrak JBOD
enclosure

Chapter 2: Installation

SAS Connections and ID Numbers
The table below correlates the ranges of Enclosure IDs and Physical Drive IDs,
that appear in the WebPAM PRO interface as a result of the data connections
you make.
SuperTrak SAS Port Enclosure ID Range

Drive ID Range

Ch1-4 Virtual*

1 to 128

Ch1-4

2 to 9

1 to 128

Ch5-8

10 to 17

129 to 256

Ch9-12

18 to 25

257 to 384

Ch13-16

26 to 33

385 to 512

* A virtual enclosure involves physical drives attached directly to the
SuperTrak controller or a connection to an SGPIO backplane.
You can attach up to 128 SAS or SATA drives on each SAS port
using SAS expanders.
The SuperTrak EX8650, EX8654, and EX8658 cards are designed to manage up
to 16 enclosures and up to 256 SAS or SATA disk drives (using SAS expanders).
The SuperTrak EX16650 card is designed to manage up to 32 enclosures and up
to 512 SAS or SATA disk drives (using SAS expanders).
If your system has fewer components, you might be surprised at the way
WebPAM PRO numbers your enclosures and drives. The following scenarios
illustrate some numbering examples.

Scenario 1: Virtual Enclosure – SGPIO
You install the SuperTrak card into an SGPIO enclosure. You attach a SAS data
cable between Port Ch1-4 and the enclosure’s backplane.
In WebPAM PRO, the SGPIO enclosure appears as Enclosure 1. The drives are
numbered 1 to 128.
If you attached a second SGPIO enclosure to Port Ch5-8, it would appear in
WebPAM PRO as Enclosure 10. The drives would be numbered 129 to 256.

Scenario 2: Virtual Enclosure – Host PC
You install the SuperTrak card into a Host PC. You attach SAS breakout cables
to Ports Ch1-4 and Ch5-8 and a SAS or SATA drive at the drive ends of each
cable.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In WebPAM PRO, the Host PC appears as Enclosure 1. The drives on Port
Ch1-4 are numbered 1 to 4. The drives on Port Ch5-8 are numbered 129 to 132.
This scenario also applies if you use Promise SuperSwap enclosures.

Scenario 3: External Enclosures – Daisy Chain
You install the SuperTrak card into a Host PC. You attach a SAS data cable
between Port Ch1-4 and a Promise VTrak J310s 12-drive JBOD enclosure. You
connect a second J310s enclosure to the first in a daisy chain.
In WebPAM PRO, the first JBOD enclosure appears as Enclosure 2. The drives
are numbered 1 to 12. The second JBOD enclosure appears as Enclosure 3. The
drives are numbered 13 to 24.

Scenario 4: External Enclosures – Parallel
You install the SuperTrak card into a Host PC. You attach a SAS data cable
between Port Ch1-4 and a VTrak J310s enclosure. You attach a SAS data cable
between Port Ch5-8 and a second J310s enclosure.
In WebPAM PRO, the first JBOD enclosure appears as Enclosure 2. The drives
are numbered 1 to 12. The second JBOD enclosure appears as Enclosure 10.
The drives are numbered 129 to 140.

Scenario 5: SAS Expanders
You install the SuperTrak card into a Host PC. You attach a SAS data cables
between Ports Ch1-4 and Ch5-8 and two SAS Expanders.
In WebPAM PRO, the first Expander appears as Enclosure 2. The drives are
numbered 1 to 128. The second Expander appears as Enclosure 10. The drives
are numbered 129 to 256.
See “Viewing Enclosure Information” on page 145 and “Locating a Physical
Drive” on page 146 for more information.

Chapter 2: Installation

Choosing the Physical Drives
The SuperTrak EX Controller card supports SAS and 1.5-Gb/s or 3.0-Gb/s SATA
physical drives. For optimal performance, install physical drives of the same
model and capacity.
Level

Number of Drives

Level

Number of Drives

RAID 0

1 or more

RAID 6

4 to 16*

RAID 1

2 only

RAID 10

4 or more**

RAID 1E

3 or more

RAID 50

6 or more

RAID 5

3 to 16*

RAID 60

8 or more

* Requires SAS expansion
** Requires an even number of drives
The table above shows the number of drives required for each RAID level.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Creating a Logical Drive
You can use the SuperBuild™ Configuration Utility to create a logical drive with
the attached physical drives. Even if you plan to use the WebPAM PRO software
to manage your logical drives, you can still create your first logical drive using the
SuperBuild Utility, as described here.
Note
For an explanation of the logical drive concepts and the choices
you can make when you create your logical drive, see “Chapter 7:
Technology Background” on page 219 of this manual.
1.

Boot your system. If this is the first time you have booted with the SuperTrak
card and physical drives installed, the SuperTrak BIOS will display the
following screen.

Press the Ctrl-S keys to display the SuperBuild Utility Main Menu.

Chapter 2: Installation

Press the arrow keys to highlight Disk Array Management and press Enter.

The Disk Array Management screen appears.

Highlight Create Disk Array and press Enter.
The Create Disk Array screen appears.

Use this screen to select the physical drives for your disk array.
5.

Press the arrow keys to highlight a physical drive. Then press the spacebar
to select the physical drive.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of each selected physical drive.

Highlight Save Configuration and press Enter.
The Disk Array Management screen appears, showing your new disk array

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

The Main Menu appears.
8.

Highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.

The Logical Drive Management screen appears.
9.

Highlight Create Logical Drive and press Enter.

The Create Logical Drive Step 1/2 screen appears.
10. Press the arrow keys to highlight a disk array. Then press the spacebar to
choose the disk array.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the chosen disk array.

Chapter 2: Installation

11. Highlight Next Step and press Enter.

The Create Logical Drive Step 2/2 screen appears.

12. To change the RAID Level, highlight RAID Level and press Enter.
In the popup menu, highlight your choice of RAID Level and press Enter.
The available RAID Levels depend on the number of physical drives you
selected for your disk array.
13. Press the arrow keys to highlight Logical Drive Name. Type a name for your
logical drive and press Enter.
14. To use less than the full physical drive capacity for this logical drive, highlight
Capacity and press Enter.
Press the Delete or Backspace keys to erase the current capacity. Type the
new capacity in MB to allocate to this logical drive.
Later, you can assign the unused capacity to a second logical drive.
15. To change the Stripe Size, highlight Stripe Size and press Enter.
Highlight your choice of 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, or 1024 KB and
press Enter.
16. To change the Sector Size, highlight Sector Size and press Enter.
Use the default 512 B. Only exceptions are logical drives larger than 2 TB on
Windows XP 32-bit. See page 246 for more information.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

17. To change the Write Cache Policy, highlight Write Cache Policy and press
Enter.
Highlight your choice of Write Through or Write Back and press Enter.
18. To change the Read Cache Policy, highlight Read Cache Policy and press
Enter.
Highlight your choice of None, Read Cache, or Read Ahead and press
Enter.
19. Highlight Save Configuration and press Enter.
The Logical Drive Management screen appears with your new logical drive.

At this point you can create additional logical drives, if there is physical drive
space available. To create another logical drive, repeat steps 4 though 18
above.
20. Press the F10 key to exit the SuperBuild utility and press Y to confirm and
restart the computer.
Do not press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys. Do not press the Esc key.
You have successfully created a new RAID logical drive.
Important
You must partition and format your new logical drive before you
can use it. Use the same method of partitioning and formatting a
logical drive as you would any other fixed disk added to your
computer system.

Chapter 2: Installation

Installing the CLI
The Command Line Interface (CLI) provides rapid setup of disk arrays and logical
drives. You can also manage your SuperTrak system using the CLI.

Installing onto Windows
To install the CLI onto your Windows PC or server:
1.

Boot the PC or server, launch Windows, and log in as the Administrator.
If the computer is already running, exit all programs. If you are not logged in
as the Administrator, log out, then log in again as the Administrator.

Insert the Software CD into your CD-ROM drive.
The installer window opens automatically.

Click the CLI/SNMP button, then click the Install CLI for Windows button.
The first CLI installation dialog box appears.

In the Introduction dialog box, click the Next button to proceed with
installation.

Figure 12. Introduction dialog box

The CLI uses the same installer as WebPAM PRO. Even though the dialog
boxes say “WebPAM PRO,” this procedure installs the CLI.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the License Agreement dialog box, choose the I accept... option, then
click the Next button.

Figure 13. License Agreement dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Choose Destination Location dialog box, you can:
•

Accept the default installation folder (recommended)

•

Specify a different installation folder (advanced users)

When you agree with the proposed installation folder, click the Next button.
Figure 14. Choose Destination Location dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the Ready to Install dialog box, click the Install button to continue.

Figure 15. Ready to Install dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Install Complete dialog box, click the Finish button to exit the installer.

Figure 16. Install Complete dialog box

With the Register Your Product Online box checked, your browser will
open and go directly to the Promise product registration website. Thank
you for taking the time to register.
To open the CLI, click the CLI icon on the desktop (right).
Go to “Chapter 6: Management with the CLI” on page 149 for
information about using this application.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Installing onto Linux
Important
Check the SuperTrak Read Me file for any issues pertaining to the
distribution and version of Linux OS running on your PC or server.
For Linux PCs, Promise offers two different binary files:
•

WebPAM PRO and CLI – Installs either or both WebPAM PRO and the CLI

•

CLI only – Installs only the CLI

Note that both of these binary files open in a terminal window and both files use
the WebPAM PRO installer. The procedure below installs the CLI only. To install
WebPAM PRO, see page 47.
To install the CLI onto your Linux PC or server:
1.

Boot the PC or server, log in as root, and launch the Linux GUI.
If the computer is already running, exit all programs. If you are not logged in
as root, log out, then log in again as root.

Insert the Software CD into your CD-ROM drive.

Copy the CLI_Installer...linux.bin file from the Software CD \CLI\Linux
directory to the /root directory on your PC.

Open a terminal window and type sh followed by one space, the exact name
of the CLI_Installer...linux.bin file, then press Enter.
After several moments, the first installation dialog box appears.

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Introduction dialog box, click the Next button to proceed with
installation.

Figure 17. Introduction dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the License Agreement dialog box, choose the I accept... option, then
click the Next button.

Figure 18. License Agreement dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

When the Choose Install Folder dialog box appears, you can:
•

Accept the default installation folder (recommended)

•

Specify a different installation folder (advanced users)

When you agree with the proposed installation folder, click the Next button.
Figure 19. Choose Install Folder dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the Pre-Installation Summary dialog box, click the Install button to
continue.

Figure 20. Pre-Installation Summary dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Install Complete dialog box, click the Next button to continue.

Figure 21. Install Compete dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

10. In the Register On-line dialog box, click the Done button to exit the installer
Figure 22. Register On-line dialog box

With the Register Your Product On-line box checked, your browser will open and
go directly to the Promise product registration website. Thank you for taking the
time to register.
Go to the /opt/Promise/WebPAMPRO/Agent/bin directory and type ./cliib to
start the CLI.
Go to “Chapter 6: Management with the CLI” on page 149 for information about
using this application.

Chapter 2: Installation

Installing the CLI onto FreeBSD
PCs running FreeBSD do not support WebPAM PRO, therefore they cannot use
the WebPAM PRO installer. Those systems use a binary file to install the CLI in a
terminal window.
Choose the x64 binary file for a 64-bit OS or the x86 binary file for a 32-bit OS.
To install the CLI onto your FreeBSD PC or server:
1.

Boot the PC or server, log in as root.
If the computer is already running, exit all programs. If you are not logged in
as root, log out, then log in again as root.

Insert the Software CD into your CD-ROM drive.

Copy the CLI_Installer...FreeBSD.bin file from the Software CD
\CLI\FreeBSD directory to the /root directory on your PC.

Open a terminal window and type
sh CLI_Installer...FreeBSD.bin -i silent
and press Enter.
CLI_Installer...FreeBSD.bin represents the exact name of the CLI binary
file, such as
CLI_Installer_3_11_0000_00_x64FreeBSD.bin, or
CLI_Installer_3_11_0000_00_x86FreeBSD.bin

5. Reboot the PC or server.
After the installation is finished, type cliib with any shell to start the CLI.
Go to “Chapter 6: Management with the CLI” on page 149 for information about
using this application.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Installing the CLI onto VMware
The VMware virtualization platfrom does not support WebPAM PRO, therefore
they cannot use the WebPAM PRO installer. Those systems use a binary file to
install the CLI in a terminal window.
Before you begin, download the CLI_Installer...VMware.bin file from the
Promise Support Website to your PC or server.
To install the CLI onto your VMware platform:
1.

Boot the PC or server, log in as root.
If the computer is already running, exit all programs. If you are not logged in
as root, log out, then log in again as root.

Copy the CLI_Installer...VMware.bin file to the /root directory on your PC.

Open a terminal window and type
sh CLI_Installer...VMware.bin -i silent
and press Enter.
CLI_Installer...VMware.bin represents the exact name of the CLI binary file,
such as CLI_Installer_3_11_0000_00_VMware.bin

After the installation is finished, go to the /opt/Promise/WebPAMPRO/Agent/bin
directory and type ./cliib to start the CLI.
Go to “Chapter 6: Management with the CLI” on page 149 for information about
using this application.

Chapter 2: Installation

Installing WebPAM PRO
Web-Based Promise Array Management—Professional (WebPAM PRO)
software provides a browser-based graphic user interface used to monitor and
manage Promise RAID products and their logical drives. Because it works over
your network, it can monitor and control multiple systems.
WebPAM PRO involves four components:
•

Utility Server – Enables RAID management over a network

•

Agent – Enables the Host PC to communicate with the Utility Server

•

Java Runtime Environment (JRE) – A private installation for
WebPAM PRO

•

Internet Browser – Comes with your OS

When you install WebPAM PRO on a PC or server, you are installing the Utility
Server, Agent, and JRE.
•

Utility Server (page 37)

•

Agent (page 37)

•

JRE (page 38)

•

Internet Browser (page 38)

•

Installing WebPAM PRO onto Windows (page 39)

•

Installing WebPAM PRO onto Linux (page 47)

Utility Server
The Utility Server can run on the Host PC (where the SuperTrak card is installed),
or on a networked PC, if your WebPAM PRO system includes remote
management over a network. You run the Utility Server by directing your browser
to the IP address of the Host PC.

Agent
The Agent runs on the Host PC (where the SuperTrak card is installed). After you
have logged into the Utility Server through WebPAM PRO, the Utility Server
accesses the Agent on the Host PC. As the user, you do not access the Agent
directly.

Operating System Support
On the Host PC where you install the SuperTrak controller and WebPAM PRO,
Promise Technology recommends:
•

Windows Server 2008 (64 bit) with or without Hyper-V

•

Windows Server 2008 (32 bit)

•

Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit)
37

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

•

Windows Server 2003 SP1, SP2; R2 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Windows XP Professional SP2, SP3 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 5.0, 5.1, 5.2 (32 or 64 bit)

•

SuSE Open 10.2, 10.3, 11 (32 or 64 bit)

•

SuSE SLES 10, 10 SP1 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Miracle Linux 4 SP2, 5 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Fedora Core 6, 7, 8, 9 (32 or 64 bit)

•

Open Source Driver for Linux 2.6 kernel (32 or 64 bit)

Choose one of these operating systems to take full advantage of all the features
of WebPAM PRO.

JRE
The WebPAM PRO installation program installs a private Java Runtime
Environment (JRE) under the same directory where WebPAM PRO is installed.
WebPAM PRO uses this private JRE to avoid incompatibility issues with any
other JREs that may be present on your system.

Internet Browser
Typically an Internet browser comes with your operating system. The WebPAM
PRO installer does not include a browser. For computers that will remotely
monitor and manage the RAID, the browser is the only software required.

Browser Support
Choose the latest version of the following browsers to use with WebPAM PRO:
•

Internet Explorer

•

Firefox

•

Netscape Navigator

If you do not have one of the above browsers on the Host PC, install the browser
first and make it the default browser. Then install WebPAM PRO.
Important
Install the SuperTrak driver for your operating system before
installing WebPAM PRO. See “Chapter 3: Installing Drivers” on
page 59 for instructions.

Chapter 2: Installation

Caution
If you have WebPAM or an earlier version of WebPAM PRO on
your PC or server, manually uninstall them before you install
WebPAM PRO from the Software CD.
Go to one of the following procedures:
•

“Installing WebPAM PRO onto Windows” on page 39.

•

“Installing WebPAM PRO onto Linux” on page 47.

Installing WebPAM PRO onto Windows
To install WebPAM PRO onto your Windows-based PC or server:
1.

Insert the Software CD into your CD-ROM drive.
The installer window opens automatically.

Click the WebPAM PRO Software button, then click the Install WebPAM
PRO for Windows button.

In the Introduction dialog box, click the Next button to proceed with
installation.

The first WebPAM PRO installation dialog box appears.

Figure 23. Introduction dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the License Agreement dialog box, choose the I accept... option, then
click the Next button.

Figure 24. License Agreement dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Setup Type dialog box, choose the option you prefer:
•

Typical – Installs the Agent, Server, and CLI. Recommended for most
users.

•

Custom – Enables you to choose which components to install. Optional
for advanced users.

Click the Next button to continue.
Figure 25. Setup Type dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Optional. If you chose the Custom option, the Select Features dialog box
appears. Choose any combination of three options:
•

Agent Feature – The Agent is required on the Host PC (where the
SuperTrak card is installed) and for In-band management of
subsystems.

•

Server Feature – The Utility Server is required for local or remote
management. If you have a network, install the Server on one of your
networked PCs. If you have only local management, install the Server
on the Host PC (where the SuperTrak card is installed).

•

CLI Feature – The Command Line Interface runs on the Host PC
(where the SuperTrak card is installed) and provides local management
only.

Checked items will be installed. Uncheck items you do not want to install.
Click the Next button to continue.
Figure 26. Custom Setup dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Choose Destination Location dialog box, you can:
•

Accept the default installation folder. Recommended for most users.

•

Specify a different installation folder. Optional for advanced users.

When you agree with the proposed installation folder, click the Next button.
Figure 27. Choose Destination Location dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the WebPAM PRO Server dialog box, check the box to select SSL
security.
External SSL Security – Applies security to all connections involving the
Internet or outside your company firewall.
Security options are invisible to authorized users.
Promise Technology provides a default certificate for the server as well as for
internal data communication. However, in some cases it is better to install
and verify your own certificate for the webserver. And, if possible, verify the
certificate by a certificate authority such as Verisign or Thwate. See your MIS
Administrator for guidance.
Click the Next button to continue.

Figure 28. WebPAM PRO Server dialog box

Note
If you are only installing the CLI, this dialog box does not appear.

Chapter 2: Installation

10. In the Ready to Install dialog box, click the Install button to continue.
Figure 29. Ready to Install dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

11. In the Install Complete dialog box, click the Finish button to exit the installer.
Figure 30. Install Complete dialog box

With the Register Your Product Online box checked, your browser will open and
go directly to the Promise product registration website. Thank you for taking the
time to register.
This completes the WebPAM PRO installation for Windows. Go to “Logging into
WebPAM PRO” on page 55.

Chapter 2: Installation

Installing WebPAM PRO onto Linux
Important
Check the SuperTrak Read Me file for any issues pertaining to the
distribution and version of Linux OS that you are running.
To install WebPAM PRO onto your Linux-based PC or server:
1.

Boot the PC or server, log in as root, and launch the Linux GUI.
If the computer is already running, exit all programs. If you are not logged in
as root, log out, then log in again as root.

Insert the Software CD into your CD-ROM drive.

Go to the WebPAM PRO / Linux directory on the CD-ROM and copy the
WebPAMPRO...Linux.bin file to the root directory.

Open a terminal window and type sh followed by the exact name of the
./WebPAMPRO...Linux.bin file, then press Enter.
After several moments, the first WebPAM PRO installation dialog box
appears.

In the Introduction dialog box, click the Next button to proceed with
installation.

Figure 31. Introduction dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

In the License Agreement dialog box, choose the I accept... option, then
click the Next button.

Figure 32. License Agreement dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the Choose Install Product dialog box, choose any combination of three
options:
•

WebPAM PRO Utility Server – One Server must be installed on the
network, or on the Host PC if there is only local management

•

WebPAM PRO Agent – The Agent must be installed on every PC or
Server where a SuperTrak Controller card has been installed

•

Inband CLI Only – Installs the Command Line Interface (CLI)
You can install the CLI now or at a later time.

Checked items will be installed. Uncheck items you do not want to install.
Click the Next button to continue.
Figure 33. Choose Install Product dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

When the Choose Install Folder dialog box appears, you can:
•

Accept the default installation folder. Recommended for most users.

•

Specify a different installation folder. Optional for advanced users.

When you agree with the proposed installation folder, click the Next button.
Figure 34. Choose Install Folder dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

In the SSL Security Options dialog box, check the box to select SSL security.
External SSL Security – Applies security to all connections involving the
Internet or outside your company firewall.
Security options are invisible to authorized users.
Promise Technology provides a default certificate for the server as well as for
internal data communication. However, in some cases it is better to install
and verify your own certificate for the webserver. And, if possible, verify the
certificate by a certificate authority such as Verisign or Thwate. See your MIS
Administrator for guidance.
Click the Next button to continue.

Figure 35. SSL Security Options dialog box

Note
If you are only installing the CLI, this dialog box does not appear.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

10. In the Pre-Installation Summary dialog box, click the Install button to
continue.
Figure 36. Pre-Installation Summary dialog box

Chapter 2: Installation

11. In the Install Complete dialog box, click the Next button to continue.
Figure 37. Install Compete dialog box

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

12. In the Register On-line dialog box, click the Done button to exit the installer
Figure 38. Register On-line dialog box

With the Register Your Product On-line box checked, your browser will open and
go directly to the Promise product registration website. Thank you for taking the
time to register.
Note
The first time you install WebPAM PRO on a RedHat Linux
system, the WebPAM PRO icon appears on the desktop but not in
the application menu. Please log out, then log in again, and the
WebPAM PRO icon will thereafter appear in the application menu.
This completes the WebPAM PRO installation for Linux. Go to “Logging into
WebPAM PRO” on page 55.

Chapter 2: Installation

Logging into WebPAM PRO
You can log into WebPAM PRO in either of two ways:
•

Logging in at the Host PC (page 55)

•

Logging in over the Network (page 55)

Logging in at the Host PC
At the Host PC (where the SuperTrak EX Controller is installed), do one of the
following actions:
•

Double-click the WebPAM PRO desktop icon.

•

Choose WebPAM PRO in the Windows Programs menu.

•

Choose WebPAM PRO in the Linux Applications menu.

•

Follow the steps under “Logging in over the Network”.

Logging in over the Network
You can log into WebPAM PRO from any PC with a network connection to the
Host PC (where the SuperTrak EX Controller is installed).
1.

Launch your Browser.

In the Browser address field, type the information provided below, then press
Enter.
If you selected External SSL Security during installation (Windows, see
page 44; Linux, see page 51), use the Secure Connection. Otherwise, use
the Regular Connection.

Regular Connection
•

WebPAM PRO uses an HTTP connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .http://

•

Enter the Host PC’s IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.168.10.228

•

Enter the Port number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :8080

•

Add promise to launch WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /promise

Together, your entry looks like this:
http://192.168.10.228:8080/promise

Secure Connection
•

WebPAM PRO uses a secure HTTP connection . . . . . . . . . . .https://

•

Enter the Host PC’s IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.168.10.228

•

Enter the Port number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :8443

•

Add promise to launch WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /promise

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Together, your entry looks like this:
https://192.168.10.228:8443/promise
Notes
•

You can enter the Host PC’s network name in place of the IP
address.

•

If you are logging in at the Host PC, you can enter localhost
in place of the IP address.

•

Whether you select a regular or a secure connection, your
WebPAM PRO user name and password are always secure.

Type administrator in the User Name field.

Type password in the Password field.

Click the Login button.
The User Name and Password are case sensitive. See Figure 39.

Figure 39. The WebPAM PRO login screen

Chapter 2: Installation

Setting up WebPAM PRO
The first time you use WebPAM PRO, you must add the Host PC so that
WebPAM PRO will recognize it. You only need to perform this procedure once.
To add the Host PC:
1.

In the Tree, click

Subsystem/Host Management.

See Figure 40.
Figure 40. WebPAM PRO initial login screen

Click Subsystem/Host Management
2.

Click the Add Subsystem/Host tab.

In the Subsystem/Host Port IP address field, type the IP address of the
Host PC where you installed the SuperTrak EX Controller card.
If you are working at the same Host PC where the SuperTrak card is
installed, you can also type 127.0.0.1 in the IP address field.
Entries such as localhost or the Host PC’s network name do not work for this
function.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Figure 41. Add Subsystem/Host tab

Click the Submit button.
The newly added host appears in the Tree, on the left side of the
WebPAM PRO screen.

This completes the WebPAM PRO installation and initial setup. Go to “Chapter 5:
Management with WebPAM PRO” on page 107 for information about using this
application.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers
•

•

Driver Installation Media
•

Windows (page 60)

•

Linux and FreeBSD (page 61)

•

Windows Server 2008

•

Red Hat Linux Enterprise 4.4, 4.5
•

New OS Installation (page 70)

•

Existing System (page 70)

Fedora Core 6

•

New OS Installation (page 62)

•

New OS Installation (page 71)

•

Existing System (page 63)

•

Existing System (page 71)

•

Confirming Driver Installation
(page 63)

•

Windows Vista

Fedora Core 7, 8
•

New OS Installation (page 72)

•

Existing System (page 72)

•

New OS Installation (page 64)

•

Existing System (page 65)

•

New OS Installation (page 73)

•

Confirming Driver Installation
(page 65)

•

Existing System (page 73)

•

Windows Server 2003
•

New OS Installation (page 66)

•

Existing System (page 67)

•

Confirming Driver Installation
(page 67)

•

Windows XP
•

New OS Installation (page 68)

•

Existing System (page 69)

•

Confirming Driver Installation
(page 69)

•

SuSE Open 10.2, 10.3, 10.5, 11

SuSE SLES 10, 10 SP1
•

New OS Installation (page 74)

•

Existing System (page 74)

Miracle Linux 4
•

New OS Installation (page 76)

•

Existing System (page 77)

FreeBSD 6.1, 6.2
•

New OS Installation (page 76)

•

Existing System (page 77)

VMware ESX Server 3.0.2, 3.5.0
•

New OS Installation (page 78)

•

Existing System (page 78)

Following are installation procedures for the SuperTrak drivers for Windows,
Linux, and FreeBSD included on the software CD.
Download the latest drivers from the Promise Support Website.
The software CD also includes source code files for compiling your own Linux
drivers. Source code files begin with the letters SRC.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

.
Important
If you are using a Linux distribution for which there are no
compiled drivers, please access the Promise Knowledge Base
and call up Article 10029.

Driver Installation Media
Windows
If your Windows PC does not have a floppy drive, copy the driver file to a CD or a
USB stick, whichever your PC supports.
To prepare a driver diskette, CD, or USB stick for Windows:
1.

Insert the software CD into your CD-ROM drive.

Click the Driver button.

Click the Driver for Windows button.

Click the button for your Windows system:

5.
6.

•

2000 or XP 32-bit – Windows SCSIPort Driver

•

All other versions – Windows STORPort Driver

Insert a blank diskette, a writable CD, or attach a USB memory stick to your
PC.
Copy the driver file to the diskette, CD, or USB stick.
Check the driver’s ReadMe file for important information.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Linux and FreeBSD
For BSD, start with a diskette. For Linux, choose the medium that works for your
system.
If your Linux PC does not have a floppy drive, copy the driver file to a CD or a
USB stick, whichever your PC supports.
To prepare a driver diskette, CD, or USB stick for Linux:
1.

Insert the software CD into your CD-ROM drive.

Click the Driver button.

Click the button for your OS:

•

Driver for Miracle Linux

•

Driver for RedHat / Fedora

•

Driver for SUSE

•

Driver for FreeBSD

Double-click the folder for your OS version.

Manually copy the driver .tar.gz file from the folder to your PC’s hard drive.

Open a terminal window and untar the driver file. Below is an example:
tar zxvf RH-306010003.tar.gz

Insert a blank diskette, a writable CD, or attach a USB memory stick to your
PC.

Copy the driver file to the diskette, CD, or USB stick.
Check the driver’s ReadMe file for important information.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Windows Server 2008
New OS Installation
The following details the installation of the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller
drivers while installing Windows Server 2008.
1.

Start the installation: Boot from the CD-ROM.

When the “Where do you want to install Windows?” dialog box appears, click
Load Driver.

Insert the SuperTrak driver diskette into drive A: or attach a USB memory
stick with the SuperTrak driver to the USB port.

In the Load Driver dialog box, click the Browse button.

In the Browse for Folder dialog box, click the diskette or USB stick, then click
the OK button.

In the “Select the driver to be installed” dialog box, highlight Promise
SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller, then click the
Next button.

When the “Where do you want to install Windows?” dialog box appears
again, in the list of Disks, highlight the Disk representing your logical drive
(the Disk with unallocated space), then click the Next button.

Continue the Windows installation.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Existing System
After installing the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller card and rebooting your
system, Windows Server 2008 setup will show a “Found New Hardware” dialog
box.
1.

Choose the Locate and install driver software option and click the Next
button.
The “Found New Hardware – RAID Controller” dialog box displays the
message: “Allow Windows to search online for driver software for your RAID
Controller?”

Choose the Don’t search online option.
The “Found New Hardware – RAID Controller” dialog box displays the
message: “Insert the disc that came with your RAID Controller.”

Insert the driver diskette into the floppy drive and click the Next button.
Windows loads the driver and displays the “Found New Hardware” dialog
box with message: “Windows has finished installing the driver software for
this device Promise SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm)
Controller.”

Click the Close button to finish driver installation.

Confirming Driver Installation
1.

Right-click the My Computer icon and choose Manage from the popup
menu.

From the left panel, choose Device Manager.

Click the + in front of Storage controllers. “Promise SuperTrak EX [4650,
8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller” and “Promise Raid Console”
should appear.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Windows Vista
New OS Installation
The following details the installation of the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller
drivers while installing Windows Vista.
1.

Start the installation: Boot from the CD-ROM.

When the “Where do you want to install Windows?” dialog box appears, click
Load Driver.

Insert the SuperTrak driver diskette into drive A: or attach a USB memory
stick with the SuperTrak driver to the USB port.

In the Load Driver dialog box, click the Browse button.

In the Browse for Folder dialog box, click the diskette or USB stick, then click
the OK button.

In the “Select the driver to be installed” dialog box, highlight Promise
SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller, then click the
Next button.

Continue the Windows installation.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Existing System
After installing the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller card and rebooting your
system, Windows Vista setup will show a “Found New Hardware” dialog box.
1.

Choose the Don’t search online option.
The “Found New Hardware – RAID Controller” dialog box displays the
message: “Insert the disc that came with your RAID Controller.”

Click the Close button to finish driver installation.

Confirming Driver Installation
1.

Right-click the My Computer icon and choose Manage from the popup
menu.

From the left panel, choose Device Manager.

Click the + in front of Storage controllers. “Promise SuperTrak EX [4650,
8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller” and “Promise Raid Console”
should appear.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Windows Server 2003
New OS Installation
The following details the installation of the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller
drivers while installing Windows Server 2003.
1.

Start the installation:
•

Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows Server 2003
installation diskettes.

•

CD-ROM Install: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 after the message
“Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver” appears.

When the Windows Server 2003 Setup window is generated, press S to
specify an Additional Device(s).

Insert the SuperTrak driver diskette into drive A: and press Enter.

Choose Promise SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm)
Controller from the list that appears on screen, and then press the Enter.

The Windows Server 2003 Setup screen will appear again saying “Setup will
load support for the following mass storage devices:” The list will include
“Promise SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller”.
NOTE: If there are any additional devices to be installed, specify them now.
When all devices are specified, continue to the next step.

From the Windows Server 2003 Setup screen, press the Enter. Setup will
now load all device files and then continue the Windows Server 2003
installation.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Existing System
After installing the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller card and rebooting your
system, Windows Server 2003 setup will show a “Found New Hardware” dialog
box. Under Windows 2003, “RAID Controller” will be displayed.
1.

Insert the SuperTrak driver diskette into the A:\ drive.

Choose Install the software automatically and press the Enter key.

If using a driver that has not been digitally signed by Microsoft, you will be
asked if you want to continue the installation. Click Continue anyway.

When the New Hardware Wizard has finished installing the SuperTrak driver,
click Finish.

Confirming Driver Installation
1.

Right-click the My Computer icon and choose Manage from the popup
menu.

From the left panel, choose Device Manager.

Click the + in front of SCSI and RAID controllers. “Promise SuperTrak EX
[4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller” and “Promise Raid
Console” should appear.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Windows XP
New OS Installation
The following details the installation of the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller
drivers while installing Windows XP.
1.

Start the installation:
•

Floppy Install: Boot the computer with the Windows XP installation
diskettes.

•

CD-ROM Install: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 after the message
“Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver” appears.

When the Windows XP Setup window is generated, press S to specify an
Additional Device(s).

Insert the SuperTrak driver diskette into drive A: and press Enter.

Choose Promise SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm)
Controller from the list that appears on screen, and then press the Enter.

The Windows XP Setup screen will appear again saying “Setup will load
support for the following mass storage devices:” The list will include
“Promise SuperTrak EX [4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller”.
NOTE: If there are any additional devices to be installed, specify them now.
When all devices are specified, continue to the next step.

From the Windows XP Setup screen, press the Enter. Setup will now load all
device files and then continue the Windows XP installation.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Existing System
After installing the SuperTrak EX Series RAID Controller card and rebooting your
system, Windows XP setup will show a “Found New Hardware” dialog box.
1.

Insert the SuperTrak driver diskette into the A:\ drive.

Choose Install the software automatically and press the Enter key.

If using a driver that has not been digitally signed by Microsoft, you will be
asked if you want to continue the installation. Click Continue anyway.

When the New Hardware Wizard has finished installing the SuperTrak driver,
click Finish.

Confirming Driver Installation
1.

Right-click the My Computer icon and choose Manage from the popup
menu.

From the left panel, choose Device Manager.

Click the + in front of SCSI and RAID controllers. “Promise SuperTrak EX
[4650, 8650, 8654, 8658, 16650] (tm) Controller” and “Promise Raid
Console” should appear.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Red Hat Linux Enterprise 4.4, 4.5
New OS Installation
1.

Start the RedHat Linux Installation by booting from the install CD.

At the “Welcome to Red Hat Linux...” installation screen, a prompt labeled
boot: will appear at the bottom of the screen. Type linux dd and press
Enter.

When the Installer asks, “Do you have a driver disk?” click Yes.

At the “Insert your driver disk and press OK to continue,” click OK.
At the Devices dialog box, insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB
stick and click OK.

Continue with the installation normally.

Note: Check the readme file, included with the downloaded driver files, for
instructions on installing the RAID Console.
Note: The RHEL 5 kernel includes a SuperTrak driver.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount -r /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /mnt/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type sh ./install.

When the Installer asks, “You are installing a driver on an existing OS. Is it
true (y/n)?” press Y, then press Enter.

Type cd; umount /mnt/floppy.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Fedora Core 6
New OS Installation
1.

Start the Fedora Core Installation by booting from the install CD.

At the “Welcome to Fedora 6...” installation screen, a prompt labeled boot:
will appear at the bottom of the screen. Type linux dd acpi=off and press
Enter.

When the Installer asks, “Do you have a driver disk?” click Yes.

At the “Insert your driver disk and press OK to continue,” click OK.
At the Devices dialog box, insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB
stick and click OK.

Continue with the installation normally.

Note: Include acpi=off in the boot script to ensure proper system startup.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount -r /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /mnt/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type sh ./install.

When the Installer asks, “You are installing a driver on an existing OS. Is it
true (y/n)?” press Y, then press Enter.

Type cd; umount /mnt/floppy.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Note: Include acpi=off in the boot script to ensure proper system startup.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Fedora Core 7, 8
New OS Installation
1.

Start the Fedora Core Installation by booting from the install CD.

At the “Welcome to Fedora...” installation screen, highlight the Install or
upgrade an existing system option, then press the Tab key for edit options.
A prompt labeled boot: will appear at the bottom of the screen.

Type linux dd and press Enter.

When the Installer asks, “Do you have a driver disk?” click Yes.

At the “Insert your driver disk and press OK to continue,” click OK.
At the Devices dialog box, insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB
stick and click OK.

Continue with the installation normally.

Note: For Fedora Core 7, include acpi=off in the boot script to ensure proper
system startup.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount -r /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /mnt/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type sh ./install.

When the Installer asks, “You are installing a driver on an existing OS. Is it
true (y/n)?” press Y, then press Enter.

Type cd; umount /mnt/floppy.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Note: For Fedora Core 7, include acpi=off in the boot script to ensure proper
system startup.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

SuSE Open 10.2, 10.3, 10.5, 11
New OS Installation
1.

Start the SuSE Linux Installation by booting from the install CD.

As the system boots, press F6 for the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Choose the Yes option.

Move the cursor to highlight the Installation option, then press Enter.

When the Driver Update Menu pops up, choose your driver diskette, CD, or
USB stick.
Then click OK and click Back to return to the installer.

Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount /dev/fd0 /media/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /media/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

5.
6.

Type sh ./install.
Type cd; umount /media/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

SuSE SLES 10, 10 SP1
New OS Installation
1.

Start the SuSE Linux Installation by booting from the install CD.

As the system boots, press F5 for the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Choose the Yes option.

Move the cursor to highlight the Installation – ACPI Disabled option, then
press Enter.

When the Driver Update Menu pops up, choose your driver diskette, CD, or
USB stick.
Then click OK and click Back to return to the installer.

Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount /dev/fd0 /media/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /media/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type sh ./install.

Type cd; umount /media/floppy.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Miracle Linux 4
New OS Installation
1.

Start the Miracle Linux Installation by booting from the install CD.

At the “Asianux” installation screen, a prompt labeled boot: will appear at the
bottom of the screen. Type linux dd and press Enter.

When the Installer asks, “Do you have a driver disk?” click Yes.

At the “Insert your driver disk and press OK to continue,” insert the driver
diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick and click OK.

Continue with the installation normally.

Note: The Miracle Linux 5 kernel includes a SuperTrak driver.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount -r /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /mnt/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type sh ./install.

When the Installer asks, “You are installing a driver on an existing OS. Is it
true (y/n)?” press Y, then press Enter.

Type cd; umount /mnt/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

FreeBSD 6.1, 6.2
New OS Installation
1.

Start the FreeBSD Installation by booting from the install CD.

When the console menu appears, choose 6. Escape to loader prompt and
press any key except Enter to confirm your choice.

Insert the driver diskette.

Type the following commands and press Enter:
set currdev=disk0
load /stex.ko
set currdev=cd0
boot

Remove the driver diskette and continue the installation.

When the installation is finished, DO NOT EXIT.
Press Alt-F4 to switch to another screen.

Verify whether a device node exists.
Type the following command and press Enter.
ls /dev/fd0

Option 1. Device Node Exists
1.

Type the following commands and press Enter.
mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /cdrom
/cdrom/install

After those commands finish, type the following command and press Enter.
umount /cdrom

Remove the driver diskette.

Press Alt+F1, exit the installation, and reboot your PC.

Option 2. Device Node Does Not Exist
1.

Obtain a blank USB device, a disk drive or a memory stick, formatted to FAT
or FAT32 (MSDOS).

Copy the files from the driver diskette to the root directory of the USB device.

Attach the USB device to the PC.

Type the following commands and press Enter.
mount -t msdos /dev/daXsX /cdrom
/cdrom/install
Where /dev/daXs is the device node for the USB device.
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Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

After those commands finish, type the following command and press Enter.
umount /cdrom

Remove the USB device.

Press Alt+F1, exit the installation, and reboot your PC.

Existing System
1.

Insert the driver diskette or CD, or attach the USB stick.

Type mount -r /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy.
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type cd /mnt/floppy
Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

Type ./load.

Type cd; umount /mnt/floppy.

Remove the driver diskette, CD, or USB stick.

Type reboot to restart the system.

Change this command as needed for a CD or USB stick.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

VMware ESX Server 3.0.2, 3.5.0
New OS Installation
1.

Download the VMware driver ISO image from the Promise Support Website.

Burn the VMware driver ISO image to a CD.

Place the driver CD in the CD-ROM drive.

Reboot the computer.

When prompted for an upgrade or installation method, press Enter for
graphical mode.

Specify your language.

Select a keyboard type.

If your Driver CD successfully loaded, you will be prompted to insert the ESX
Server CD and restart.

Continue with the ESX Server installation.

Existing System
1.

Download the VMware driver ISO image from the Promise Support Website.

Burn the VMware driver ISO image to a CD.

Log into the system as the Superuser.

Insert the driver CD into the CD-ROM.
If CD does not mount automatically, type the following comand and press
Enter:

mount /mnt/cdrom
5.

Type the following command and press Enter to install the driver RPM:

rpm -ivh /mnt/cdrom/VMupdates/RPMS/VMware-esxdrivers-scsi-stex--i386.rpm
If the installation fails due to conflicts, try installing with the --force option.
6.

Type the followig commands and press Enter to update the boot file and
regenerate GRUB:

esxcfg-boot -rg
esxcfg-boot -b
If the ESX Server did not install on the SuperTrak EX controller, copy stex.o
From /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/
To /lib/modules/2.4.xxxxx/kernel/drivers/scsi/
7.

Reboot ESX Server.

Chapter 3: Installing Drivers

Remove the CD from the CD-ROM.

Note: If the driver did not load after the server rebooted, try one of the following
actions to make the ESX Server reconfigure its hardware settings:
•

Move the SuperTrak EX controller to a different slot.

•

Remove the existing SuperTrak EX controller and install a different
SuperTrak EX controller in its place.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility
•

SuperTrak BIOS (below)

•

Accessing the Main Menu (page 84)

•

Selecting a Controller (page 85)

•

Viewing Controller Information (page 86)

•

Managing Physical Drives (page 87)

•

Managing Disk Arrays (page 89)

•

Managing Logical Drives (page 92)

•

Managing Spare Drives (page 97)

•

Viewing Background Activity (page 100)

•

Managing the Event Log (page 101)

•

Working with Time Sync (page 103)

•

Using the Miscellaneous Menu (page 104)

SuperTrak BIOS
This section explains the information that you can obtain from the SuperTrak
BIOS.
When the SuperTrak BIOS loads during bootup, the BIOS displays pertinent
information about the RAID logical drives. At this point, press Ctrl-S to enter the
SuperBuild Configuration Utility.
The SuperTrak BIOS screen displays the following information:
•

Summary of Controller – The SuperTrak controller model number.

•

Version of Single Image – The version number of the image used to update
the firmware on the SuperTrak controller.

•

Number of Physical Drives – The number of physical drives attached to
this controller.

•

Number of Disk Arrays – The number of disk arrays managed by this
controller.

•

Number of Logical Drives – The number of logical drives managed by this
controller.

See Figure 1.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Figure 1. SuperTrak BIOS screen

If the SuperBuild BIOS detects a Critical logical drive, the BIOS reports the
condition:
Figure 2. SuperTrak BIOS screen, logical drive critical

See “Chapter 8: Troubleshooting” on page 257 for information about rebuilding a
critical logical drive.
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If the SuperTrak BIOS detects an Offline logical drive, the BIOS reports the
condition and temporarily halts the booting process of the Host PC.
Figure 3. SuperTrak BIOS screen, logical drive offline

See “Chapter 8: Troubleshooting” on page 257 for information about restoring an
offline logical drive.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Accessing the Main Menu
The opening screen of the SuperBuild utility is the Main Menu.
Figure 4. SuperBuild Main Menu

The Main Menu (above) has nine options:
•

Controller Selection – Select which of two SuperTrak controllers you want
to access, if you have two SuperTraks installed in the Host PC

•

Controller Information – Memory type and size, Firmware and BIOS
version numbers, and address information that may be helpful for diagnostic
purposes

•

Physical Drive Management – A list of physical drives attached to the
SuperTrak controller, their ID (channel) numbers, model numbers, capacity,
and status

•

Disk Array Management – A list of disk arrays attached to the SuperTrak
controller, the assigned physical drives, logical drives, capacity, and status

•

Logical Drive Management – A list of logical drives plus create and delete
logical drive functions

•

Spare Drive Management– A list of hot spare drives, their characteristics
and status

•

Background Activity – A list of logical drives, any current background
activity, logical drive status and percentage of activity completed.
Background activities include: Rebuild, Initialize, Synchronize, Migrate, and
Pause/Resume

•

Event Log – A list of events stored in RAM (since startup) or non-volatile
RAM (since the log was cleared) for diagnosis

•

Time Sync – Enables you to set the time zone and synchronize system time
and date with the embedded site
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Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

•

Miscellaneous – SAS drive LEDs, enclosure management, and buzzer
settings

Selecting a Controller
The SuperBuild Configuration utility supports up to two SuperTrak RAID
Controller cards installed in the same Host PC. Controller selection enables you
to select which of the two SuperTrak controllers the utility accesses.
If you have only one SuperTrak card installed in the Host PC, the SuperTrak is
Controller 1, and no selection is necessary.
If you have two SuperTrak cards installed in the Host PC, take the following
action to select one of them:
1.
2.

In the Main Menu, highlight Controller Selection and press Enter.
Highlight Controller 1 or Controller 2 and press Enter.
The selected controller (SuperTrak card) displays in the SuperBuild utility.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Viewing Controller Information
The SuperBuild utility displays information about the selected SuperTrak EX
controller.
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Controller Information and press Enter.
The information includes:
Vendor – Promise Technology, Inc.
Model – SuperTrak EX4650, 8650, 8654, EX8658, or EX16650
WWN – World Wide Number of the SuperTrak controller
Memory Type – DDR2 SDRAM
Memory Size – 128 MB, 256 MB, or 512 MB
Single Image Ver – The version number of the image used to update the
firmware on the SuperTrak EX controller.*
Firmware Version – The version number of the firmware currently installed
on the SuperTrak EX controller.*
BIOS Version – The version number of the BIOS currently installed on the
SuperTrak EX controller.*
PCI Func Address – The functional address of the SuperTrak card in the
Host PC. Used for advanced diagnostics
* The BIOS and Firmware are upgradable. See “Downloading BIOS and
Firmware File” on page 285 and See “Updating the Firmware” on
page 129.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

Managing Physical Drives
Physical drive management includes these functions:
•

Viewing Physical Drives (page 87)

•

Viewing Physical Drive Information (page 87)

•

Managing Physical Drive Problems (page 88)

Viewing Physical Drives
To view physical drives:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Physical Drive Management and press Enter.
The information includes:
ID – The channel number of the SuperTrak controller to which the physical
drive is attached
Model Name – The physical drive manufacturer’s model name for the drive
Capacity – Data capacity of the physical drive
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding or Dead.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Viewing Physical Drive Information
The SuperBuild utility displays information about the physical (disk) drives
attached to the SuperTrak controller.
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Physical Drive Management and press Enter.

Highlight the physical drive you want to see and press Enter.
The Physical Drive Information screen displays:
ID – The channel number of the SuperTrak controller to which this physical
drive is attached.
Model Name – The drive manufacturer’s model name.
Serial Number – The drive manufacturer’s serial number.
Firmware Version – The drive’s firmware version number.
Drive Interface – SAS or SATA, 3.0 or 1.5 Gb/s
Protocol – ATA/ATAPI protocol level.
Capacity – Data capacity of the physical drive in GB.
Location – Enclosure refers to the Host PC. Slot refers to the channel
number of the SuperTrak controller.
Configuration – Disk array number and sequence number, Type of spare
drive, or Unconfigured.
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Stale, or Dead.
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Managing Physical Drive Problems
Physical drives can develop problems that make them unsuitable for service in a
logical drive. These problems are reflected in the physical drive status:
•

PFA – The physical drive has errors resulting in a prediction of failure

•

Stale – Caused by obsolete array information on the physical drive

•

Offline – The physical drive is present but set to Offline status

•

Dead – Physical drive set down by the SuperTrak controller

See “Chapter 8: Troubleshooting” on page 257 for corrective action.

Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

Managing Disk Arrays
Disk array management includes these functions:
•

Viewing Disk Arrays (page 89)

•

Viewing Disk Array Information (page 89)

•

Creating a Disk Array (page 90)

•

Changing Disk Array Settings (page 91)

•

Rebuilding a Disk Array (page 91)

•

Deleting a Disk Array (page 91)

Viewing Disk Arrays
The SuperBuild utility displays information about the disk arrays managed by the
SuperTrak controller.
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Disk Array Management and press Enter.
The information includes:
ID – The consecutive number of the disk array in the order it was created,
beginning with 0.
Disk Array Name – The name you assigned to the disk array.
Capacity – Data capacity of the disk array in GB.
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Degraded, Critical, or
Offline.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Viewing Disk Array Information
To view disk array information:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Disk Array Management and press Enter.

Highlight the Disk Array you want to see and press Enter.

The Disk Array Management screen displays.
The Disk Array Info and Setting screen displays. The information includes:
Disk Array ID – The consecutive number of the disk array in the order it was
created, beginning with 0
Disk Array Name – The name you assigned to the disk array
Capacity (Free) – Total data capacity of the disk array in GB
Capacity (Configurable) – Usable data capacity of the disk array in GB
Number of Physical Drives – Number of physical drives in this disk array
Number of Logical Drives – Number of logical drives in this disk array

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Degraded, Critical, or
Offline.
3.

Highlight Physical Drives in the Disk Array and press Enter.
The following information displays:
ID – The channel number of the SuperTrak controller to which the physical
drive is attached
Model Name – The physical drive manufacturer’s model name for the drive
Capacity – Data capacity of the physical drive in GB
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding or Dead.

Highlight Logical Drives in the Disk Array and press Enter.
The following information displays:
ID – The consecutive number of the logical drive in the order it was created,
beginning with 0
Logical Drive Name – The user-assigned name for the logical drive
Capacity – Data capacity of the logical drive in GB
Status – Shows one of seven logical drive conditions: OK, Critical, Offline,
Init, Migration, Synchron, and Rebuild.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Creating a Disk Array
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Disk Array Management and press Enter.
The Disk Array Management screen displays.

Highlight Create Disk Array and press Enter.

Optional. Press the arrow keys to highlight Disk Array Name and press
Enter. Then type a name for this disk array.

Press the arrow keys to highlight the physical drives you want to add to this
disk array. Then press the spacebar to select the physical drives.

The Create Disk Array screen displays.

An asterisk (*) appears at the left of each selected physical drive.
5.

Highlight Save Configuration and press Enter.
The new disk array appears under Disk Array Management. If you have
more physical drives available, you can create additional disk arrays
following the same procedure.
After you have created your disk arrays, Your next action is to create one or
more logical drives. See “Creating a Logical Drive” on page 93.

Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

Changing Disk Array Settings
To change the name of a disk array:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Disk Array Management and press Enter.

Highlight the Disk Array you want to change and press Enter.

The Disk Array Management screen displays.
The Disk Array Info and Setting screen displays.
3.

Highlight Disk Array Name and press Enter.

Press the backspace or delete keys to remove the characters. Then type
new characters.

Highlight Save Setting and press Enter.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Rebuilding a Disk Array
See “Chapter 8: Troubleshooting” on page 257.

Deleting a Disk Array
Warning
When you delete a disk array, you delete the logical drives and all
of the data on them. Be sure to backup any important data before
you delete a disk array!
To delete a disk array:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Disk Array Management and press Enter.
The Disk Array Management screen displays.

Highlight the disk array you want to delete and press the spacebar to mark
the disk array.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected disk array.

Highlight Delete Selected Disk Arrays and press Enter.

Press Y to confirm disk array deletion.
The selected disk array is removed from the list.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Managing Logical Drives
Logical drive management includes these functions:
•

Viewing Logical Drives (page 92)

•

Viewing Logical Drive Information (page 92)

•

Creating a Logical Drive (page 93)

•

Initializing a Logical Drive (page 94)

•

Changing Logical Drive Settings (page 95)

•

Deleting a Logical Drive (page 95)
Note
For an explanation of the logical drive concepts and the choices
you can make when you create your logical drive, see “Chapter 7:
Technology Background” on page 219.
For information about logical drive problems, see “Chapter 8:
Troubleshooting” on page 257.

Viewing Logical Drives
To view your logical drives:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.
The Logical Drive Management screen displays the following information:
ID – The consecutive number of the logical drive in the order it was created,
beginning with 0
Logical Drive Name – The user-assigned name for the logical drive
Capacity – Data capacity of the logical drive in GB
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Initializing,
Synchronizing, Degraded, Critical, or Offline.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Viewing Logical Drive Information
To view logical drive information:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.

Highlight the logical drive you want to see and press Enter.

The Logical Drive Management screen displays.
The Logical Drive Info and Setting screen displays. The information includes:
Logical Drive ID – The consecutive number of the logical drive in the order it
was created, beginning with 0.
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Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

Logical Drive Name – You can change this setting.
Capacity – Data capacity of the logical drive in GB
RAID Level – Chosen when the logical drive was created.
Stripe Size – Chosen when the logical drive was created.
Sector Size – Chosen when the logical drive was created.
Write Cache Policy – You can change this setting.
Read Cache Policy – You can change this setting.
Disk Array ID – Consecutive number of the disk array to which this logical
drive belongs
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Initializing,
Synchronizing, Degraded, Critical, or Offline.
3.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Creating a Logical Drive
You must create a disk array before you can create a logical drive. See “Creating
a Disk Array” on page 90.
To create a logical drive:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.
The Logical Drive Management screen displays.

Highlight Create Logical Drive and press Enter.
The Create Logical Drive Step 1/2 screen appears.

Press the arrow keys to highlight a disk array. Then press the spacebar to
select the disk array.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected disk array.
Highlight Next Step and press Enter.
The Create Logical Drive Step 2/2 screen displays.

Press the arrow keys to highlight the item you want to change, then press
Enter to select the item:
•

Logical Drive Name – Optional. Type a name.

•

RAID Level – Choose a new RAID level. Your choices depend upon the
number of physical drives in your disk array.

•

Capacity – 0 means the full capacity or the remaining capacity of the
disk array will be used for this logical drive.

•

Stripe Size – Choose from 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1 MB.
64 KB is the default.

•

Sector Size – Choose from 512 B, 1 KB, 2 KB, and 4 KB. 512 B is the
default.
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

•

Write Cache Policy – Choose from Write Back or Write Through.

•

Read Cache Policy – Choose from Read Cache, Read Ahead, or No
Cache.

•

Axle – RAID 50 and 60 logical drives only. Choose the number of axles
or choose 0 to let the controller decide for you.

Highlight Save Configuration and press Enter.
At this point you can create additional logical drives, if there is space
remaining on your disk arrays. To create another logical drive, repeat steps 2
though 5 above.

Press the F10 key to exit the SuperBuild utility and press Y to confirm and
restart the computer.
Do not press the Ctrl-Alt-Del keys. Do not press the Esc key.
Important
•

Promise recommends that you Initialize your logical drives
immediately after you create them.

•

You must be partition and format your new logical drives
before your operating system will recognize them.

Initializing a Logical Drive
Promise recommends that you Initialize your logical drives immediately after you
create them. Initialization sets all data bits in the logical drive to zero, removing
any residual data left behind from earlier configurations. You can also perform an
Initialization on an existing logical drive.
Warning
When you initialize a logical drive, you delete all data on the
logical drive. Be sure to backup any important data before you
initialize a logical drive!
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.
The Logical Drive Management screen displays.

2.
3.

Highlight the logical drive you want to initialize and press Enter.
Highlight Initialization Start and press Enter.
A message appears at the bottom of the screen.

Choose one of the following actions:
•

For a Full Initialization, press F.

•

For a Quick Initialization, press Q.
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Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

•

To cancel Initialization, press C.

The Initialization begins immediately. If you set Initialization for multiple
logical drives, they will be initialized sequentially. You can monitor
Initialization progress under Background Activity.
5.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Changing Logical Drive Settings
To change logical drive settings:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.
The Logical Drive Management screen displays.

Highlight the logical drive whose settings you want to change and press
Enter.

Press the arrow keys to highlight the item you want to change, then press
Enter to select the item:

The Logical Drive Info and Setting screen displays.

•

Logical Drive Name – Press the backspace or delete keys to remove
the characters. Then type new characters.

•

Write Cache Policy – Choose from Write Back or Write Through.

•

Read Cache Policy – Choose from Read Cache, Read Ahead, or No
Cache.

Highlight Save Setting and press Enter.
The changes happen immediately.

Deleting a Logical Drive
Warning
When you delete a logical drive, you delete all data on the logical
drive. Be sure to backup any important data before you delete a
logical drive!
To delete a logical drive:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Logical Drive Management and press Enter.
The Logical Drive Management screen displays.

Highlight the logical drive you want to delete and press the spacebar to mark
the logical drive.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected logical drive.

Highlight Delete Selected Logical Drives and press Enter.

Press Y to confirm logical drive deletion.
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

The selected logical drive is removed from the list.

Chapter 4: SuperBuild™ Utility

Managing Spare Drives
Spare drive management includes these functions:
•

Viewing Spare Drives (page 97)

•

Viewing Spare Drive Information (page 97)

•

Creating a Spare Drive (page 97)

•

Changing Spare Drive Settings (page 98)

•

Deleting a Spare Drive (page 99)

Viewing Spare Drives
To view your spare drives:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Spare Drive Management and press Enter.
ID – The consecutive number of the spare drive in the order it was created,
beginning with 0
Model Name – The physical drive manufacturer’s model name
Capacity – Data capacity of the physical drive in GB
Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding or Dead.

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Viewing Spare Drive Information
To view spare drive information:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Spare Drive Management and press Enter.
The Spare Drive Management screen displays.

Highlight the spare drive you want to see and press Enter.
The Spare Drive Info and Setting screen displays. The information includes:
Physical Drive ID – The channel number of the SuperTrak controller to
which the physical drive is attached.
Revertible – Yes or No.
Spare Type – Global or Dedicated.
Disk Array – ID, name, capacity, and status, for spare drives dedicated to
an array

Highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

Creating a Spare Drive
For a physical drive to qualify as a spare, the drive must be:
•

Unconfigured – Not part of an array

•

Functional – Showing OK status
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

•

Big Enough – Same capacity or greater than the largest drive in your array

To create a spare drive:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Spare Drive Management and press Enter.
The Spare Drive Management screen displays.

Highlight Assign Spare Drive and press Enter.
The Assign Spare Drive Step 1/2 screen appears.

Press the arrow keys to highlight a physical drive. Then press the spacebar
to select the physical drive.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected physical drive.
Highlight Next Step and press Enter.
The Assign Spare Drive 2/2 screen displays.

Press the arrow keys to highlight the item you want to change, then press
Enter to select the item:
•

Revertible – Yes or No. A revertible spare drive automatically returns to
its spare drive assignment after the failed physical drive in the disk array
is replaced. Go to step 6.

•

Spare Type – Global, can be used by any disk array. Dedicated, can
only be used by the assigned disk array. Go to step 5.

Optional. If you chose Dedicated in step 4, press the arrow keys to highlight
a disk array. Then press the spacebar to select the disk array.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected disk array.

Highlight Save Configuration and press Enter.

Changing Spare Drive Settings
You can change a spare drive’s revertibility and type. To change spare drive
settings:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Spare Drive Management and press Enter.
The Spare Drive Management screen displays.

Highlight the spare drive whose settings you want to change and press
Enter.

Press the arrow keys to highlight the item you want to change, then press
Enter to select the item:

The Spare Drive Info and Setting screen displays.

•

Revertible – Yes or No. A revertible spare drive automatically returns to
its spare drive assignment after the failed physical drive in the disk array
is replaced. Go to step 5.

•

Spare Type – Global, can be used by any disk array. Dedicated, can
only be used by the assigned disk array. Go to step 4.
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Optional. If you chose Dedicated in step 3, press the arrow keys to highlight
a disk array. Then press the spacebar to select the disk array.
An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected disk array.

Highlight Save Setting and press Enter.
The changes happen immediately.

Deleting a Spare Drive
To delete a spare drive:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Spare Drive Management and press Enter.

Highlight the spare drive you want to delete and press the spacebar to mark
the spare drive.

The Spare Drive Management screen displays.

An asterisk (*) appears at the left of the selected spare drive.
3.

Highlight Delete Selected Spare Drives and press Enter.

Press Y to confirm spare drive deletion.
The selected spare drive is removed from the list.

SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Viewing Background Activity
The Background Activity function enables you to monitor background activities
are running on the SuperTrak RAID controller. Information reported includes:
•

Device – Disk array or logical drive by ID number

•

Type – Synchronization, Initialization, or Rebuilding

•

Status – Running or queued (waiting)

•

Percentage – Percent completed

The Background Activity screen does not enable you to start, pause, resume, or
cancel any activity. Status of the activity, such as in-progress or paused.
To view background activity, in the Main Menu, highlight Background Activity and
press Enter.
When you are done, highlight Return to Previous Menu and press Enter.

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Managing the Event Log
The event log tracks events related to the SuperTrak controller and includes the
following functions:
•

Viewing RAM Events (page 101)

•

Viewing NVRAM Events (page 101)

•

Clearing the Event Logs (page 102)

Viewing RAM Events
RAM events are also called Runtime events. All recorded events happened since
the last time you booted the Host PC. Displays the 1023 most recent events.
To view NVRAM events:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Event Log and press Enter.

Optional. If NVRAM is displayed beside Select Location, highlight Select
Location and press Enter. Then highlight NVRAM and press Enter.

Do the following actions to navigate the Event Log screen:

The Event Log screen displays.

•

To move to the next page or screen of events, highlight Next Page and
press Enter.

•

To move to the previous page or screen of events, highlight Previous
Page and press Enter.

•

To see all the information about an event, highlight the event and press
Enter.

Viewing NVRAM Events
NVRAM events are the most important events. These events are stored in nonvolatile RAM. Displays the 63 most recent events.
To view NVRAM events:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Event Log and press Enter.
The Event Log screen displays.

Optional. If RAM is displayed beside Select Location, highlight Select
Location and press Enter. Then highlight NVRAM and press Enter.

Do the following actions to navigate the Event Log screen:
•

To move to the next page or screen of events, highlight Next Page and
press Enter.

•

To move to the previous page or screen of events, highlight Previous
Page and press Enter.

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

•

To see all the information about an event, highlight the event and press
Enter.

Clearing the Event Logs
Clearing the event logs remove all of the events from both the RAM and NVRAM
event logs. Note that the RAM log clears every time you boot the Host PC.
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Event Log and press Enter.
The Event Log screen displays. You can clear both logs from the RAM or
NVRAM screen.

Highlight Clear All Event Logs and press Enter.

Press Y to confirm event log clearing.

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Working with Time Sync
The Time Sync function adds two special features to SuperTrak. These functions
include:
•

Setting the Time Zone (page 103)

•

Synchronizing Time with an Embedded Site (page 103)

The Time Sync function does not replace or overwrite the regular date and time
settings in the Host PC’s BIOS or OS.

Setting the Time Zone
To set the difference between the current time zone (the time zone in which you
are) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT):
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Time Sync and press Enter.
The Time Sync screen displays.

Highlight Current Time Zone and press the + or – key to change the time for
the current time zone.
Each press of the + key increments 15 minutes forward.
Each press of the – key increments 15 minutes backward.

Synchronizing Time with an Embedded Site
This feature requires you to have installed in the Host PC a separate product that
is not part of SuperTrak RAID controller.
To synchronize time with an embedded site:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Time Sync and press Enter.
The Time Sync screen displays.

Highlight Sync Time with Embedded Site and press Enter.

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Using the Miscellaneous Menu
The Miscellaneous menu enables three useful functions on SuperTrak:
•

Making the SAS Ready LED Setting (page 104)

•

Making the SGPIO Backplane Setting (page 104)

•

Working with the Buzzer (page 104)

Making the SAS Ready LED Setting
The LEDs for SAS disk drives stay on continuously to show Ready status, except
when the drive is processing a command. This function enables you to turn the
LEDs off.
To turn the SAS drive LEDs off:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Miscellaneous and press Enter.

Highlight SAS READY LED and press Enter.

Highlight your choice and press Enter.
•

On – SAS drive LEDs on continuously

•

Off – SAS drive LEDs off

Making the SGPIO Backplane Setting
This function enables you to set your SuperTrak card to work your enclosure
management controller through the SGPIO connection.
To choose your enclosure management controller setting:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Miscellaneous and press Enter.

Highlight SGPIO Backplane and press Enter.

Highlight your choice and press Enter.
•

Generic

•

AIC

•

AMI

•

Chenbro

•

Direct LED

•

Supermicro

Working with the Buzzer
The buzzer sounds to inform you that your RAID system needs attention. But the
buzzer does not specify the condition. When a continuous tone sounds, there are
multiple alarm patterns sounding at the same time.

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When the buzzer sounds, take the following actions:
•

Check your disk arrays and logical drives.

•

Check the Event Log. See page 101.

To silence the buzzer for the current trigger event, you must disable it.
Also see “Chapter 8: Troubleshooting” on page 257.

Enabling or Disabling the Buzzer
To enable or disable the Buzzer:
1.

In the Main Menu, highlight Miscellaneous and press Enter.

Highlight Buzzer and press Enter.

Highlight your choice and press Enter.
•

Enable

•

Disable

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•

Logging into WebPAM PRO (page 107)

•

Accessing the Interface (page 110)

•

Managing Users (page 116)

•

Working with Subsystem/Host Management (page 120)

•

Managing Software Services (page 123)

•

Managing the Host (page 127)

•

Managing the Subsystem (page 128)

•

Managing the Controller (page 139)

•

Managing Enclosures (page 145)

•

Managing Physical Drives (page 146)

•

Managing Disk Arrays (page 150)

•

Managing Logical Drives (page 166)

•

Managing Spare Drives (page 172)

•

Working with the Logical Drive Summary (page 176)

This chapter describes using WebPAM PRO to monitor and manage your RAID
system. This chapter is divided into sections for major WebPAM PRO
components as shown above.

Logging into WebPAM PRO
You can log into WebPAM PRO in either of two ways:
•

Logging in at the Host PC (page 107)

•

Logging in over the Network (page 108)

Logging in at the Host PC
At the Host PC (where the SuperTrak EX Controller is installed), to log into
WebPAM PRO, do one of the following actions:
•

Double-click the WebPAM PRO desktop icon.

•

Choose WebPAM PRO in the Windows Programs menu or the Linux
Applications menu.

•

Follow the steps under “Logging in over the Network” on page 108.

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Logging in over the Network
You can log into WebPAM PRO from any PC with a network connection to the
Host PC (where the SuperTrak EX Controller is installed).
1.

Launch your Browser.

In the Browser address field, type the information provided below. Then
press Enter.
If you chose External SSL Security during installation (Windows, see
page 44; Linux, see page 51), use the Secure Connection. Otherwise, use
the Regular Connection.

Regular Connection
•

WebPAM PRO uses an HTTP connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .http://

•

Enter the Host PC’s IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.168.10.228

•

Enter the Port number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :8080

•

Add promise to launch WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /promise

Together, your entry looks like this:
http://192.168.10.228:8080/promise

Secure Connection
•

WebPAM PRO uses a secure HTTP connection . . . . . . . . . . .https://

•

Enter the Host PC’s IP address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.168.10.228

•

Enter the Port number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :8443

•

Add promise to launch WebPAM PRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /promise

Together, your entry looks like this:
https://192.168.10.228:8443/promise
Notes
•

You can enter the Host PC’s network name in place of the IP
address.

•

If you are logging in at the Host PC, you can enter localhost
in place of the IP address.

•

Whether you select a regular or a secure connection, your
login to WebPAM PRO and your user password are always
secure.

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Type administrator in the User Name field.

Type password in the Password field.

Click the Login button.
The User Name and Password are case sensitive. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. The WebPAM PRO login screen

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Accessing the Interface
WebPAM PRO is browser-based RAID management software with a graphic
user interface. Basic user interface components and functions include:
•

Using the Header (page 111)

•

Using Tree View (page 111)

•

Using Management View (page 112)

•

Choosing a Display Language (page 113)

•

Viewing the Event Frame (page 113)

•

Saving the Event Frame (page 114)

•

Deleting the Event Frame (page 114)

•

Viewing the Storage Network (page 114)

•

Logging out of WebPAM PRO (page 115)

Figure 2. WebPAM PRO interface

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There are four major parts to the WebPAM PRO interface:
•

Header (see page 111)

•

Tree View (see page 111)

•

Management View (see page 112)

•

Event Frame (see page 113)

Using the Header
The Header contains the following items:
•

Language – To choose a display language, see “Choosing a Display
Language” on page 113.

•

Show/Hide Event Frame – To view the Event Frame, see “Viewing the
Event Frame” on page 113.

•

Show/Hide Storage Network – To view the Storage Network, see “Viewing
the Storage Network” on page 114.

•

Logout – To logout, see “Logging out of WebPAM PRO” on page 115.

Using Tree View
Tree View enables you to navigate around all components of the Host PC (where
the SuperTrak controller card is installed), software management, RAID
controller, enclosure, physical drives, disk arrays, logical drives, and spare
drives. The figure below shows the components of Tree View.

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Figure 3. WebPAM PRO Tree View
Logged-in User

Host PC, where the
SuperTrak card is
installed

The Administrative Tools section is different for the Administrator and Super
Users than for other users. The remainder of the Tree is the same for all users.
Management View displays information according to the item you choose in Tree
View.

Using Management View
Management View—also referred to Management View—provides the actual
user interface with the SuperTrak EX Controller card, including creation,
maintenance, deletion, and monitoring of disk arrays and logical drives.
Function Tabs control specific actions and processes. This View changes
depending on which item you choose in Tree View and which tab you choose in
the Management View itself.
Click the Help button to the right of the tabs in Management View to access
online help for the function that is currently displayed.

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Choosing a Display Language
WebPAM PRO displays in the following languages:
•

English

•

Italian

•

Simplified Chinese

•

Japanese

•

Traditional Chinese

•

Korean

•

French

•

Spanish

•

German

•

Russian

To change the display language:
1.
2.

Click the Language dropdown menu in the Header.
Highlight the language you prefer.
WebPAM PRO displays in the chosen language.

Viewing the Event Frame
To view the Event Frame, click Show Event Frame in the Header.
To hide the Event Frame, click Hide Event Frame in the Header.
The Event Frame reports all events and stores them in the WebPAM PRO folder
on the hard disk drive of the Host PC.
In the event frame, events are listed and sorted by:
•

Host IP – The IP address of the Host PC or subsystem where the event
happened

•

WWN – World Wide Number of the Host PC or subsystem where the event
happened

•

Device – Disk array, logical drive, physical drive, controller, battery, etc.

•

Event ID – The hexadecimal number that identifies the specific type of event

•

Severity – See below:
•

Information – Information only, no action is required

•

Warning – User can decide whether or not action is required

•

Minor – Action is needed but the condition is not serious at this time

•

Major – Action is needed now

•

Critical – Action is needed now and the implications of the condition are
serious

•

Fatal – Non-Recoverable error or failure has occurred

•

Time – Time and date of the occurrence

•

Description – A brief description of the event

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You can also view events by clicking the Subsystems
clicking the Event tab in Management View.

icon in Tree View, then

Saving the Event Frame
This function saves a copy of the events from the Event Frame as a text file on
the Host PC’s hard drive.
To save the event log:
1.

In the Header, click Show Event Frame.

In the Event Frame, click the Save Events button.

In the File Download dialog box, click the Save button.

In the Save dialog box, name the file, navigate to the folder where you want
to save the log file, and click the Save button.
The event log is saved as a text file on the Host PC’s hard drive.

Deleting the Event Frame
This function deletes the events from the Event Frame and from the WebPAM
PRO database. Deleting the events from this point does not affect events
physically stored in the HBA’s or Subsystem’s RAM or NVRAM.
This function has no effect upon events reported under the Subsystem
icon
Events tab. See “Viewing the Runtime Event Log” on page 130 and “Viewing the
NVRAM Event Log” on page 131.
To clear the event log:
1.

In the Header, click Show Event Frame.

In the Event Frame, click the Delete Events button.

In the Confirmation dialog box, type confirm and click the OK button.

Viewing the Storage Network
The Storage Network consists of all the subsystems and host PCs currently
accessible on your network. Use this function to identify the subsystem or host
PC you want to add.
Subsystems and host PCs already added to WebPAM PRO have a + icon beside
them in Tree View.

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Figure 4. The Storage Network appears in Tree View

Added to
WebPAM PRO
Not added yet
To view the Storage Network, click Show Storage Network in the Header. All
networked systems will appear in Tree View.
To hide the Storage Network, click Hide Storage Network in the Header. Only
the networked systems you have added appear in Tree View.
See “Adding a Subsystem or Host” on page 120.

Logging out of WebPAM PRO
There are two ways to log out of WebPAM PRO:
•

Close your browser window

•

Click Logout in the WebPAM PRO Header

Figure 5. Clicking “Logout” in the Header)

Clicking Logout brings you back to the Login Screen. After logging out, you must
enter your user name and password in order to log in again.

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Managing Users
User Management includes all functions dealing with user accounts. Functions
include:
•

Viewing User Information (page 116)

•

Making User Settings (page 116)

•

Making Your Own User Settings (page 117)

•

Changing a User’s Password (page 117)

•

Changing Your Own Password (page 117)

•

Creating a User (page 118)

•

Deleting a User (page 118)

Viewing User Information
The view a list of users, their status, access privileges, display name, and email
address:
1.
2.

Click the Administrative Tools
Click the User Management

icon.
icon.

The Information tab appears in Management View.

Making User Settings
To change settings of other users:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO as the Administrator or a Super User.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the User Management

icon.
icon.

Click the Information tab in Management View.

In the list of users, click the link of the user whose settings you want to
change.
The Settings screen for the chosen user displays.

Enter or change the settings for this user.
•

Enable/disable this user

•

Display name

•

Privilege. See “List of User Privileges” on page 118

Click the Submit button.

The Administrator or Super User can change another user’s password. See
“Changing a User’s Password” on page 117 for more information.

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You can also set user privilege under Subsystem/Host Management. See
“Setting User Privilege” on page 122 and “Setting User Rights” on page 127.

Making Your Own User Settings
To change your own user settings:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO under your own user name.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the User Management

icon.
icon.

Click the Settings tab in Management View.

Enter or change the display name or mail address.

Click the Submit button.

Changing a User’s Password
To change a user’s password:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO as the Administrator or a Super User.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the User Management

In the list of users, click the link of the user whose settings you want to
change.

icon.
icon.

The Settings screen for the chosen user displays.
5.

Click the Password tab in Management View.

Enter the new password in the New Password field.

Enter the new password in the Retype Password field.

Click the Submit button.

Changing Your Own Password
To set or change your own password:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO under your own user name.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the User Management

icon.
icon.

Click the Password tab in Management View.

Enter the current password in the Old Password field.
If you do not have a password, leave this field blank.

Enter the new password in the New Password field.

Enter the new password in the Retype Password field.
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Click the Submit button.

Creating a User
To create a user:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO as the Administrator or a Super User.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the User Management

icon.
icon.

Click the Create tab in Management View.

Enter a user name in the User Name field.

Enter a password for this user in the New Password and Retype Password
fields.
A password is optional. If you do not assign password, tell this user to leave
the password field blank when he/she logs into to WebPAM PRO. Users can
set their own passwords, see “Changing Your Own Password” on page 117.

7.
8.

Check the Enabled box to enable this user on this subsystem.
Enter a display name in the Display Name field.
A display name is optional but recommended.

Choose a privilege level from the Privilege dropdown menu.
For definitions of each privilege level, see the List of User Privileges below.

10. Click the Submit button.

List of User Privileges
•

View – Allows the user to see all status and settings but not to make any
changes

•

Maintenance – Allows the user to perform maintenance tasks including
Rebuilding, PDM, Media Patrol, and Redundancy Check.

•

Power – Allows the user to create (but not delete) disk arrays and logical
drives, change RAID levels, change stripe size; change settings of
components such as disk arrays, logical drives, physical drives, and the
controller.

•

Super – Allows the user full access to all functions including create and
delete users and changing the settings of other users, and delete disk arrays
and logical drives. The default “administrator” account is a Super User.

Deleting a User
There will always be at least one Super User account. You cannot delete the user
account you used to log in. To delete a user:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO as the Administrator or a Super User.
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Click the Administrative Tools

Click the User Management

icon.
icon.

Click the Delete tab in Management View.

Check the box to the left of the user you want to delete.

Click the Submit button.

Click OK in the confirmation box.

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Working with Subsystem/Host Management
Subsystem/Host Management includes the following functions:
•

Viewing Subsystem/Host Information (page 120)

•

Adding a Subsystem or Host (page 120)

•

Deleting a Subsystem or Host (page 121)

•

Setting User Privilege (page 122)

Viewing Subsystem/Host Information
To view the Subsystem/Host List:
1.
2.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Subsystem/Host Management

icon.

In the Information tab, the following information appears:
•

Subsystem/Host IP address

•

Management Port IP address

•

Health – A green checkmark means OK. A red X indicates a problem

•

Model of the RAID controller

•

Alias of the RAID controller

•

Firmware Version of the RAID controller

•

Interface of the RAID controller

•

World Wide Number of the RAID controller

If a red X appears under Health, click the Health Information
icon to
display a breakdown showing the health of the controller, disk arrays, logical
drives, spare drives, and physical drives.

Adding a Subsystem or Host
To add a subsystem/ or host PC to WebPAM PRO:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO as the Administrator or a Super User.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the Subsystem/Host Management

Click the Add Subsystem/Host tab in Management View.

icon in Tree View.

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Do one of the following actions:
•

To create an in-band connection: Type the Host PC’s IP address into
the address field.
Choose this option for SuperTrak. Note that entries such as localhost or
the Host PC’s network name do not work for this function.

•
6.

To create an out-of-band connection: Type the Subsystem’s
management port IP address into the address field.

Click the Submit button.
The new Subsystem or Host PC is added to Tree View.

In-Band versus Out-of-Band
In-band connection
•

The WebPAM PRO Agent is running on the Host PC or server.

•

The WebPAM PRO Client/Server is running on any PC on the network.

•

Management commands to a subsystem travel through the subsystem's
data ports.

•

Multiple subsystems can appear under the same Host PC or server.

Out-of-band connection
•

The WebPAM PRO Agent is running on the subsystem.

•

The WebPAM PRO Client/Server is running on the same Host PC on the
network.

•

Management commands to a subsystem travel through the subsystem's
management port.

•

Only one subsystem can appear under a Host PC or server.

Deleting a Subsystem or Host
When you delete a subsystem or host PC, you only remove it from WebPAM
PRO’s list of monitored systems. This action has no effect upon the disk arrays,
logical drives, or data stored on the RAID.
To delete a subsystem or host PC:
1.

Log into WebPAM PRO as the Administrator or a Super User.

Click the Administrative Tools

Click the Subsystem/Host Management

icon in Tree View.
icon.

Click the Delete Subsystem/Host tab in Management View.

Check the box to the left of the subsystem or host PC you want to delete.

Click the Submit button.
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In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.

Click the OK button.

Setting User Privilege
To set user privilege:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Subsystem/Host Management

click the IP address link of the Subsystem or Host you want to access.

Beside the name of the user whose privilege you want to change, choose
the privilege level from the Privilege dropdown menu.

icon.

For definitions of each privilege level, see “List of User Privileges” on
page 118.
5.

Click the Submit button.

You can also set user privilege under User settings. See “Making User Settings”
on page 116.

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Managing Software Services
Software Services include the following functions:
•

Viewing Service Status (page 123)

•

Changing Web Server Settings (page 123)

•

Restarting the Tomcat Server (page 124)

•

Setting up Email Service (page 124)

•

Setting up Extended SMTP (page 125)

•

Setting Event Frame Refresh Time (page 125)

•

Changing CIM Client Settings (page 126)

•

Changing CIM Server Settings (page 126)

Viewing Service Status
There are two software services: Web Server and Email. There are no user
settings. To view the status of the software services:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

icon.

The service name, startup type, and current status appear under the Service
tab.

Changing Web Server Settings
To change the Web Server settings:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

icon.

Click the Web Server tab in Management View.

Do one of the following actions:
•

For a regular connection:
In the HTTP Port field, type the HTTP port number.
The default is 8080.

•

For a secure connection:
Check the Enable SSL box.
In the HTTPS Port field, type the HTTPS port number.
The default is 8443.

In the Session Time Out field, enter a time value in minutes.

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The range is 1 to 1440 minutes. 15 minutes is the default.
Session Time Out refers to the amount of time the connection remains active
without any user interaction. After WebPAM PRO reaches the Time Out
interval, you must log in again and begin a new session.
6.

Click the Submit button.

In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.

Click the OK button.

Restarting the Tomcat Server
After you change the Web Server port number, you must restart the Tomcat
server.

Windows
In the Start menu, choose Programs > WebPAM PRO > Server > Restart.

Linux
1.

Open a terminal window.

Go to the server folder.
cd /opt/Promise/WebPAMPRO/Server

Run the restart command:
sh restartPromiseWebPamPro.sh
The system returns:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/ exists.
Shutting down: tomcat OK
Starting: tomcat OK
(Or a similar message)

Setting up Email Service
To change the Email settings:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

Click the Email tab in Management View.

Enter an Email sender address (example: RAIDmaster@mycompany.com)
in the field provided.

Enter an Email server IP address in the field provided.

icon.

Enter an Email subject (example: VTrak Status) in the field provided.

When you are done, click the Submit button.

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Setting up Extended SMTP
To make Extended SMTP settings:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

icon.

Click the Email tab in Management View.

Check the Enable ESMTP box to enable ESMTP.
Uncheck the box to disable ESMTP.

Enter ESMTP user name in the field provided.

Enter a ESMTP password in the field provided.

When you are done, click the Submit button.

Sending A Test Email Message
Before you can send a test message, your email service must be set up as
described in “Setting up Email Service” on page 124.
To send a test email message:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

Click the Email tab in Management View.

Click the Test Email button.

icon.

A new window opens.
5.

Type the recipient's email address in the field provided.

Click the Submit button.
WebPAM PRO sends a test email message to the address you specified.

Setting Event Frame Refresh Time
To set the refresh time for the Event Frame:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

icon.

Click the Refresh time tab.

Choose a time interval from the Event Refresh Time dropdown menu.
The choices are 15, 30, 60, and 300 seconds.

Click the Submit button.

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Changing CIM Client Settings
The CIM client is part of the WebPAM PRO Utility Server. The Utility Server can
be installed on any PC on the network. Only one CIM client and Utility Server
installation is required.
The CIM client works with CIM server. The CIM server is part of the
WebPAMPRO Agent. The Agent must be installed on every host PC where the
HBA RAID controller is installed to enable management over a network.
Under most conditions, there is no need to change CIM settings.
To change settings for the CIM client:
1.

Click the Administrative Tools

icon in Tree View.

Click the Software Management

Click the CIM Settings tab.

Type the user name in the CIM User name field.

icon.

The default name is “cim”.
5.

Type a password into the CIM User Password field.
The default password is “password”.

Click the Submit button.
Important
If you change CIM client settings, you must make matching CIM
server settings on ALL Host PCs, otherwise WebPAM PRO will be
unable to monitor them.
Be sure you change the CIM server settings on ALL of your Host
PCs to match the CIM client settings.

Changing CIM Server Settings
To change settings for the CIM server:
1.

On the Host PC, access the WebPAM PRO agent folder.
•

Windows – C:/Program Files/Promise/WebPAMPRO/Agent/bin

•

Linux – /opt/Promise/WebPAMPRO/Agent/bin

Open a command-line utility, type cimuser --help and press Enter.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

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Managing the Host
The Host is designated by its IP address:127.0.0.1. Host functions include:
•

Viewing Host Information (page 127)

•

Setting User Rights (page 127)

•

Refreshing the WebPAM PRO Screen (page 127)

Viewing Host Information
To view Host information, click the 127.0.0.1
icon in Tree View. In the
Information tab, the following information appears:
•

Management Port IP address (refers to the Host PC)

•

Model of the RAID controller

•

Alias of the RAID controller

•

Firmware Version of the RAID controller

•

Interface of the RAID controller

•

World Wide Number of the RAID controller

Setting User Rights
User rights is the same function as user privilege. To set user rights:
1.

Click the 127.0.0.1

Click the User Rights tab.

icon in Tree View.

Beside the name of the user whose privilege you want to change, choose
the privilege level from the Privilege dropdown menu.
For definitions of each privilege level, see “List of User Privileges” on
page 118.

Click the Submit button.

You can also set user privilege under User settings. See “Making User Settings”
on page 116

Refreshing the WebPAM PRO Screen
Unlike clicking browser’s refresh button, this function calls new information from
the RAID controller’s firmware to update the screen. To refresh the screen:
1.

Click the 127.0.0.1

icon in Tree View.

Click the Refresh tab.

Click the Submit button.

Click the OK button in the confirmation box.
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Managing the Subsystem
Subsystem functions include:
•

Viewing Subsystem Information (page 128)

•

Clearing Statistical Data (page 129)

•

Setting an Alias for the Subsystem (page 129)

•

Viewing the Runtime Event Log (page 130)

•

Saving the Runtime Event Log (page 131)

•

Clearing the Runtime Event Log (page 131)

•

Viewing the NVRAM Event Log (page 131)

•

Saving the NVRAM Event Log (page 132)

•

Clearing the NVRAM Event Log (page 132)

•

Updating the Firmware (page 129)

•

Checking Subsystem Health (page 130)

•

Viewing the NVRAM Event Log (page 131)

•

Viewing Current Background Activities (page 133)

•

Making Background Activity Settings (page 133)

•

Running Background Activities (page 134)

•

Running Media Patrol (page 134)

•

Running PDM (page 135)

•

Viewing Scheduled Activities (page 135)

•

Scheduling an Activity (page 135)

•

Deleting a Scheduled Activity (page 137)

•

Viewing System Configuration (page 137)

Viewing Subsystem Information
To view information about a subsystem, click the Subsystem
View. Management View displays the subsystem information.

icon in Tree

To view information about the Host PC, users, controllers, schedules, activities,
physical drives, disk arrays, and logical drives, see “Viewing System
Configuration” on page 137.

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Clearing Statistical Data
Use this function to clear the statistical data registers for the controller, physical
drives, and logical drives.
To clear statistical data:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

icon.

In Management View, click the Information tab.

Click the Clear Statistics link.

Click the Submit button.

In the Confirmation dialog box, type confirm and click the OK button.

Setting an Alias for the Subsystem
An alias is optional. To set an alias for this subsystem or host:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

In Management View, click the Settings tab.

icon.

Enter a name into the Alias field.
Maximum of 48 characters. Use letters, numbers, one space between
words, and underscore.

Click the Submit button.

Updating the Firmware
Cautions
•

Before you begin, backup any important or useful data.

•

Do NOT power off your PC during the procedure.

Use this function to update the firmware and BIOS on the SuperTrak controller
card. You must first download the update file and save it to the Host PC. See
“Downloading BIOS and Firmware File” on page 285.
Note that this function does not update the software driver. Install the software
driver file following the procedure for your operating system. See “Chapter 3:
Installing Drivers” on page 59.
To upgrade the firmware and BIOS on the SuperTrak controller card:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

In Management View, click the Firmware Update tab dropdown menu and
choose Download From Local File.

Click the Browse button.
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4.
5.

Navigate to the directory where you saved the upgrade file, then click the
upgrade file, and click the Open button.
Click the Submit button.
When the Flash Image Status shows Flash image completed, the firmware
and BIOS have been updated.

Restart the Host PC.

Checking Subsystem Health
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

icon.

In Management View, click the Health tab.
The health or status of following items is displayed:
•

Controller

•

Disk Array

•

Logical Drive

•

Spare Drive

•

Physical Drive

If any item reports other than “OK” click that item in the Tree to investigate
the cause of the problem.

Viewing the Runtime Event Log
Runtime Events lists information about all events recorded since the system was
started. Runtime events are stored in RAM on the RAID controller. These events
are cleared when you reboot your system.
To view runtime events:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Event tab, choose Runtime Events.

icon.

The events are listed from newest at the top of the list to oldest at the
bottom.

Severity Definitions
Each event is marked with a level of severity.
•

Information – Information only, no action is required

•

Warning – User can decide whether or not action is required

•

Minor – Action is needed but the condition is not serious at this time

•

Major – Action is needed now

•

Critical – Action is needed now and the implications of the condition are
serious
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•

Fatal – Non-Recoverable error or failure has occurred

Saving the Runtime Event Log
This function saves a copy of the runtime event log as a text file on the Host PC’s
hard drive.
To save the runtime event log:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Events tab, choose Runtime Events.

icon.

At the bottom of the window, click the Save Event Log button.

In the File Download dialog box, click the Save button.

In the Save dialog box, name the file, navigate to the folder where you want
to save the log file, and click the Save button.
A text file of the event log is saved to the Host PC’s hard drive.

Clearing the Runtime Event Log
This function clears the events from the runtime event log screen and from the
RAM on the RAID controller. This function has no effect upon events reported in
the WebPAM PRO Event Frame. “Viewing the Event Frame” on page 113.
To clear the runtime event log:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

icon.

From the dropdown menu on the Events tab, choose Runtime Events.

At the bottom of the window, click the Clear Event Log button.

In the Confirmation dialog box, type confirm and click the OK button.
All events are cleared from the screen and the RAID controller’s RAM.

Viewing the NVRAM Event Log
NVRAM Events lists information about the most recent important or critical
events. NVRAM events are stored in non-volatile memory on the RAID controller.
This information persists even if you reboot your system.
To view runtime events:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

icon.

From the dropdown menu on the Events tab, choose Subsystem Events in
NVRAM.
The events are listed from newest at the top of the list to oldest at the
bottom.

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Severity Definitions
Each event is marked with a level of severity.
•

Information – Information only, no action is required

•

Warning – User can decide whether or not action is required

•

Minor – Action is needed but the condition is not serious at this time

•

Major – Action is needed now

•

Critical – Action is needed now and the implications of the condition are
serious

•

Fatal – Non-Recoverable error or failure has occurred

Saving the NVRAM Event Log
This function saves a copy of the NVRAM event log as a text file on the Host
PC’s hard drive.
To save the NVRAM event log:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Events tab, choose Subsystem Events in
NVRAM.

icon.

At the bottom of the window, click the Save Event Log button.

In the File Download dialog box, click the Save button.

In the Save dialog box, name the file, navigate to the folder where you want
to save the log file, and click the Save button.
A text file of the event log is saved to the Host PC’s hard drive.

Clearing the NVRAM Event Log
This function clears the events from the NVRAM event log screen and from the
NVRAM on the RAID controller. This function has no effect upon events reported
in the WebPAM PRO Event Frame. “Viewing the Event Frame” on page 113.
To clear the NVRAM event log:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Events tab, choose System Events in
NVRAM.

icon.

At the bottom of the window, click the Clear Event Log button.

In the Confirmation dialog box, type confirm and click the OK button.
All events are cleared from the screen and the RAID controller’s non-volatile
RAM.

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Viewing Current Background Activities
To view the current background activities:
1.
2.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Background Activities tab in Management View.
A list of current background activities appears, including:
•

Rebuild

•

PDM – Predictive Data Migration

•

Synchronization

•

Redundancy Check

•

Migration

•

Transition

•

Initialization

•

Media Patrol

Making Background Activity Settings
To make settings for background activities:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

icon.

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Settings.

Click the dropdown menu to choose a priority of Low, Medium, or High for
the following functions:
•

Rebuild – Rebuilds the data from a failed drive in a disk array

•

Synchronization – Checks the data integrity on disk arrays

•

Initialization – Sets all data bits in the logical drive to zero

•

Redundancy Check – Checks, reports and can correct data
inconsistencies in logical drives

•

Migration – Change RAID level or add physical dries to disk arrays

•

PDM – Looks for bad blocks the physical drives of disk arrays

•

Transition – Returns a revertible spare drive to spare status

The rates are defined as follows:
•

Low – Fewer resources to activity, more to data read/write.

•

Medium – Balance of resources to activity and data read/write.

•

High – More resources to activity, fewer to data read/write.

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Highlight the following PDM trigger settings and type a value into the
corresponding field:
•

Reassigned Block Threshold – 1 to 512 blocks

•

Error Block Threshold – 1 to 1024 blocks

Check to enable or uncheck to disable the following functions:
•

Media Patrol – Checks the magnetic media on physical drives

•

Auto Rebuild – If there is a spare drive of adequate capacity, a critical
disk array will begin to rebuild automatically. If not spare drive is
available, the disk array will begin to rebuild as soon as you replace the
failed physical drive with an unconfigured physical drive of equal or
greater size.

Click the Submit button to save your settings.

Running Background Activities
To run a background activity from the Background Activities tab:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose one of
the following activities:

icon.

•

Media Patrol – See “Running Media Patrol” on page 134

•

Rebuild – See “Rebuilding a Disk Array” on page 162

•

PDM – See “Running PDM” on page 135

•

Transition – See “Transitioning a Disk Array” on page 164

•

Initialization – See “Initializing a Logical Drive” on page 169

•

Redundancy Check – See “Running Redundancy Check” on page 170

In the next screen, make the choices as requested.

Click the Start button.

Running Media Patrol
Media Patrol checks the magnetic media on physical drives. When it finds the
specified number of bad blocks, it will trigger PDM. See “Making Background
Activity Settings” on page 133 and “Running PDM” on page 135.
You can schedule Media Patrol to run automatically, see “Scheduling an Activity”
on page 135.
To run Media Patrol:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Start
Media Patrol.
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In the next screen, click the Start button.

Running PDM
Predictive Data Migration (PDM) migrates data from the suspect physical drive to
a spare disk drive, similar to Rebuilding. But unlike Rebuilding, PDM acts before
the disk drive fails and your Logical Drive goes Critical.
You an also run PDM on a specific disk array, see “Running PDM on a Disk
Array” on page 163.
Also see “Predictive Data Migration (PDM)” on page 248.
To run PDM:
1.

In Tree View, click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Start
PDM.

icon.

In the next screen, choose the Source and Target physical drives.
The suspect physical drive is the Source. The replacement physical drive is
the Target.

Click the Start button.

Viewing Scheduled Activities
To view scheduled activities for this subsystem:
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Scheduler tab in Management View.

icon Tree View.

Scheduling an Activity
To set a scheduled activity for this subsystem:
1.

Click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Scheduler tab, choose Add BGA
Scheduler.

Click the option button of the activity you want:

icon Tree View.

•

Media Patrol. See “Running Media Patrol” on page 134

•

Redundancy Check. See “Running Redundancy Check” on page 170

•

Spare Check. See “Running Spare Check” on page 175

In the Scheduler dialog box, check the Enable This Schedule box.

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6.
7.

Click the option button for the Recurrence Pattern you want:
•

Daily

•

Weekly

•

Monthly

Click the Next button.
For a DAILY recurrence pattern, make the following setting:
•

Choose a Start Time for the activity, based on a 24-hour clock, from the
dropdown menus.

•

Type the number of days between activities, from 1 to 255, into the
Every days field.

For a WEEKLY recurrence pattern, make the following settings:
•

Choose a Start Time for the activity, based on a 24-hour clock, from the
dropdown menus.

•

Type the number of weeks between activities, from 1 to 52, into the
Every weeks field.

•

Check the boxes for the days of the week you want the activity to run.
You can choose from 1 to 7 days.

For a MONTHLY recurrence pattern, make the following settings:
•

Choose a Start Time for the activity, based on a 24-hour clock, from the
dropdown menus.

•

Choose the day of the month:

•

Choose a day of the month, 1 to 31, from the dropdown menu. See
the Note below.

•

Choose a day of the month, first to last, and day of the week, from
the dropdown menus.

Check the boxes for the months of the year you want the activity to run.
You can choose from 1 to 12 months.

Choose a starting date in the Start From dropdown menus.
The default is today's date.

Choose an End On option:
•

No end date (recommended).

•

End After the specified number of activities. Type the number of
activities, from 1 to 255, into the field provided.

•

Until a specified date. Choose an end date from the dropdown menus.
The default is today's date.

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10. For Redundancy Check only:
•

Choose the Auto Fix option. This feature attempts to repair the problem
when it finds an error.

•

Choose the Pause on Error option. This feature stops the process when
it finds an error

•

Check the boxes beside the logical drives (all except RAID 0) to which
this activity will apply.
Note: Each logical drive can have only one scheduled Redundancy
Check.

11. Click the Submit button.
Note
For monthly schedules, if you choose a higher number than a
month has days, the activity will occur in the following month. For
example, say you choose day 31. But there are only 30 days in the
month of June. Therefore, the June activity will happen on July 1.
The next activity will happen on July 31.

Deleting a Scheduled Activity
To delete a scheduled activity for this subsystem:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon Tree View.

From the dropdown menu on the Scheduler tab, choose Delete Schedules.

Check the box to the left of the schedule you want to delete.

Click the Submit button.

Viewing System Configuration
To view the configuration of your complete system:
1.
2.

Click the Subsystem

icon Tree View.

Click the Configuration tab in Management View.
The following information is displayed:
•

Host Information – WebPAM PRO version, host name and IP address,
OS version, and JVM version

•

User List – User name, status, and display name

•

Controllers Summary – Alias, model, and operational status

•

Scheduled Activities List – Type, recurrence, start time, and
operational status

•

Enclosures Summary – ID, type, operational status, and description
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•

Physical Drive List – Device number, model, type, capacity, location,
operational status, and configuration

•

Disk Array List – ID, alias, operational status, configurable capacity,
and free capacity

•

Logical Drive List – Device number, alias, RAID level, capacity, ID,
stripe size, sector size, and operational status

•

Spare Drive List – ID, operational status, physical drive ID, capacity,
revertibility, type (global or dedicated), and dedicated to array

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Managing the Controller
The RAID controller is the heart of the RAID storage system. Management of
Controllers includes the following functions:
•

Viewing Controllers Information (page 139)

•

Viewing Controller Information (page 139)

•

Viewing Controller Statistics (page 141)

•

Making Controller Settings (page 141)

•

Clearing an Orphan Watermark (page 142)

•

Viewing Battery Information (page 142)

•

Silencing the Buzzer (page 143)

•

Making Buzzer Settings (page 143)

•

Testing the Buzzer (page 143)

•

Viewing Buzzer Information (page 144)

Viewing Controllers Information
Controllers information refers to a brief summary about the controller. To view
Controller information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

The controllers information appears under the Information tab in
Management View. Controllers information includes:
•

Controller ID

•

Alias, if assigned

•

Model of the RAID controller

•

Status of the RAID controller – OK means normal

Viewing Controller Information
Controller information refers to detailed information about the controller. To view
Controller information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

icon.

The controller information appears on the Information tab in Management
View.

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Controller information includes:
•

Controller ID (1 or 2)

•

Alias, if assigned*

•

Vendor

•

Model

•

Operational Status

•

Power On Time

•

Cache Usage (percent)

•

Dirty Cache Usage (percent) – Refers to data in the cache that is not yet
saved to a physical drive

•

Part number

•

Serial number

•

Hardware revision number

•

WWN – World Wide Number of the controller

•

Manufacturing Date

•

SCSI protocols supported

•

Host Driver Version

•

BIOS Version

•

Single Image Version

•

Single Image Build Date

•

The Host driver is installed and updated through your operating system.
You can update the other items automatically. See “Updating the
Firmware” on page 129.

•

Advanced controller information includes:

•

Memory Type – Controller’s data cache.

•

Memory Size

•

Flash Type – Stores firmware, software and user configurations.

•

Flash Size

•

NVRAM Type – Stores parameters, settings and tables.

•

NVRAM Size

•

Preferred Cache Line Size

•

Cache Line Size

•

Coercion*

•

Coercion Method*

•

SMART* – Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting System for physical
drives
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Controller information, continued:
•

SMART Polling Interval*

•

Write Back Cache Flush Interval*

•

Write Through Mode

•

Enclosure Polling interval*

•

Adaptive Writeback Cache*

Items marked with an asterisk (*) are user adjustable. See “Making
Controller Settings” on page 141.

Viewing Controller Statistics
To view controller statistics:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

From the dropdown menu on the Information tab, choose Statistics.

icon.

Making Controller Settings
To make Controller settings:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

icon.

Click the Settings tab in Management View.

Make the following settings as needed:
•

Optional. Enter a name into the Alias field.
Maximum of 48 characters. Use letters, numbers, one space between
words, and underscore. An alias is not required.

•

Check the SMART Log box to enable the Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and
Reporting System (SMART).

•

Enter a polling interval (1 to 1440 minutes) in SMART Polling Interval
field.

•

Check the Coercion Enabled box to enable disk drive capacity coercion.

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•

Choose a coercion method from the Coercion Method dropdown menu.
The choices are:
•

GBTruncate

•

10GBTruncate

•

GRPRounding

•

TableRounding

For more information, see “Capacity Coercion” on page 238.
•

Enter a time interval (1 to 12 seconds) in the Write Back Cache Flush
Interval field.
For more information, see “Choosing Cache Policy” on page 237.

•

Enter a time interval (15 to 255 seconds) in the Enclosure Polling
Interval field.
This is the time interval in which the controller polls all of the
components in the enclosure.
Note: Adaptive Writeback Cache is a planned feature for SuperTrak.

Click the Submit button.
The changes take effect immediately.

Clearing an Orphan Watermark
An Orphan Watermark condition is the result of a disk drive failure during an
NVRAM RAID level migration on a disk array. The Clear tab remains grayed out
unless this condition is present.
To clear an orphan watermark:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

Click the Clear tab in Management View.

icon.

Click the Submit button.
The change takes effect immediately.

Viewing Battery Information
The RAID controller’s cache backup battery protects data in the cache for up to
72 hours in the event of a power failure.
To view battery information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.
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Click the Controller

Click the Battery tab in Management View.

icon.

In normal operation, the operational status of the battery shows Fully Charged
with a Reserve Capacity of 100%. If the battery is constantly recharging, its
reserve capacity drops significantly, or the battery remains discharged, replace
the battery. Also see “Viewing Enclosure Information” on page 145.

Silencing the Buzzer
To silence the buzzer for the current event:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

Click the Buzzer tab in Management View.

Click the Mute button.

icon.

The buzzer goes silent but will sound again for future events.

Making Buzzer Settings
To make buzzer settings:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

icon.

From the dropdown menu on the Buzzer tab, choose Settings.

Check the Enable Buzzer box to enable the buzzer.
Uncheck the box to disable the buzzer.

Click the Submit button
The changes take effect immediately.

Testing the Buzzer
You must enable the buzzer before you can test it. See “Making Buzzer
Settings,” above.
To test the buzzer:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

icon.
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4.
5.

Click the Buzzer tab in Management View.
Click the Sound button.
The buzzer sounds a continuous tone.

Click the Mute button.
The buzzer goes silent but remains enabled.

Viewing Buzzer Information
This function refers to the buzzer on the SuperTrak RAID controller card.
To view buzzer information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Controllers

icon.

Click the Controller

Click the Buzzer tab in Management View.

icon.

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Managing Enclosures
This function of WebPAM PRO does not apply to the SuperTrak RAID controller
card installed in the Host PC, except for one item:
•

Viewing Enclosure Information (page 145)

Viewing Enclosure Information
Enclosure information includes:
•

Enclosure ID

•

Enclosure Type – Virtual

•

SEP Firmware Version

•

Maximum number of Controllers, Physical Drive Slots, Fans, Blowers,
Temperature Sensors, Power Supply Units, Batteries, and Voltage Sensors.

This information might be useful when contacting Technical Support.
To view Enclosure information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Enclosures

icon.

Click the Enclosure

icon.

The Enclosure information appears on the Information tab.
See the following topics:
•

“SAS Connections and ID Numbers” on page 15

•

“Viewing Controller Information” on page 139

•

“Viewing Battery Information” on page 142

•

“Contacting Technical Support” on page 273.
Note
In addition to the SuperTrak EX Series, WebPAM PRO also
supports Promise VTrak RAID Subsystems.
For more information about managing those products with
WebPAM PRO, see the online help or refer to the Subsystem’s
Product Manual.

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Managing Physical Drives
Managing Physical Drives deals with the physical disk drives under the
SuperTrak RAID controller, including the following functions:
•

Viewing a List of Physical Drives (page 146)

•

Locating a Physical Drive (page 146)

•

Making Global Physical Drive Settings (page 147)

•

Viewing Physical Drive Information (page 148)

•

Viewing Physical Drive Statistics (page 148)

•

Making Physical Drive Settings (page 148)

•

Clearing Stale and PFA Conditions (page 149)

Viewing a List of Physical Drives
To view a list of physical drives in this enclosure:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Enclosures

icon.

Click the Enclosure

Click the Physical Drives

icon.
icon.

The list of physical drives appears in Management View.
Click the PD link to view a specific physical drive. See “Viewing Physical
Drive Information” on page 148.
Note that Enclosure and Slot numbers are assigned by the controller and do
not necessarily correspond to the actual physical locations of the disk drives,
especially when the disk drives are installed in an enclosure not designed by
Promise.
Also see “SAS Connections and ID Numbers” on page 15.

Locating a Physical Drive
Virtual or Third Party Enclosures
Support for this feature depends on how your system or enclosure was set up.
Direct-connect systems with individual LED connections and SGPIO enclosures
support individual physical drive LEDs. Other systems or enclosures might or
might not support them. See “Appendix D: LED Backplane Connections” on
page 291.
To locate a physical drive in the enclosure, click the Locate PDx button. The LED
for the carrier holding the physical drive will blink for one minute.

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Promise Enclosures
To locate a physical drive in the VTrak JBOD enclosure, click the Locate PDx
button. The disk status LED will blink for one minute to identify the carrier holding
the physical drive.
Figure 6. VTrak drive carrier LEDs
Disk Status

Power/Activity

Making Global Physical Drive Settings
Global settings apply to all of the physical disk drives installed under the
SuperTrak controller. The functions include:
SATA Drives

SAS Drives

•

Enable Write Cache

•

Enable Write Cache

•

Enable Read Look Ahead Cache

•

Enable Read Look Ahead Cache

•

Enable Command Queuing

•

Enable Read Cache

To make global physical drive settings:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Enclosures

icon.

Click the Enclosure

Click the Physical Drives

Click the Global Settings tab in Management View.

Check the features you want to enable.

icon.
icon.

Uncheck any features you want to disable.
7.

Click the Submit button.
The changes take effect immediately.
The functions you enable here depend on whether the physical drives
support those functions. See “Viewing Physical Drive Information” on
page 148 to determine which functions a particular drive supports.

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Viewing Physical Drive Information
To view physical drive information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Enclosures

icon.

Click the Enclosure

Click the Physical Drives

Click a Physical Drive

icon.
icon.
icon.

Useful information provided here includes:
•

Operational Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Forced
Online, Forced Offline, Transition Running, PDM Running, Media Patrol
Running, Stale, PFA, Offline or Dead.

•

Configuration Status – The array to which the drive is assigned or its spare
designation, including Unconfigured, Stale, PFA, Global Spare, Dedicated
Spare, Revertible Global Spare, Revertible Dedicated Spare.

Adjustable Items
•

Write Cache – Enabled or disabled as chosen on the Physical Drives
Settings tab.

•

Read Look Ahead (Cache) – Enabled or disabled as chosen on the
Physical Drives Settings tab.

•

Command Queuing – SATA only. Enabled or disabled.

See “Making Global Physical Drive Settings” on page 147.

Viewing Physical Drive Statistics
To view physical drive statistics:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Enclosures

icon.

Click the Enclosure

Click the Physical Drives

icon.
icon.

Click a Physical Drive

From the dropdown menu on the Information tab, choose Statistics.

icon.

Making Physical Drive Settings
The only individual physical drive setting is an alias. An alias is optional. To set
an alias for a physical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.
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Click the Enclosures

icon.

Click the Enclosure

Click the Physical Drives

Click a Physical Drive

icon.
icon.
icon.

Click the Settings tab in Management View.

Type an alias into the Physical Drive Alias field.
Maximum of 32 characters. Use letters, numbers, one space between
words, and underscore.

Click the Submit button.

Clearing Stale and PFA Conditions
The Clear tab only appears when one or both conditions are present.
•

Stale – The physical drive contains obsolete disk array information.

•

PFA – The physical drive has errors resulting in a prediction of failure.

Be sure you have corrected the condition by a physical drive replacement, rebuild
operation, etc., first. Then clear the condition.
To clear a Stale or PFA status from a physical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Enclosures

Click the Enclosure

Click the Physical Drives

Click a Physical Drive

in Management View, click the Clear tab.

Click the Submit button.

icon.
icon.
icon.
icon.

Note
If a physical drive has both a Stale and a PFA condition, click the
Submit button once to clear the Stale condition, then click again
to clear the PFA condition.

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Managing Disk Arrays
Disk Array Management includes the following functions:
•

Viewing Disk Arrays (page 150)

•

Locating a Disk Array (page 150)

•

Creating a Disk Array (page 151)

•

Deleting a Disk Array (page 157)

•

Viewing Disk Array Information (page 157)

•

Making Disk Array Settings (page 158)

•

Creating a Logical Drive (page 159)

•

Deleting a Logical Drive (page 160)

•

Migrating a Disk Array (page 161)

•

Rebuilding a Disk Array (page 162)

•

Running PDM on a Disk Array (page 163)

•

Transitioning a Disk Array (page 164)

•

Preparing a Disk Array for Transport (page 164)

Viewing Disk Arrays
To view the disk arrays in this enclosure plus any expanded or cascaded
enclosures:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

A list of disk arrays appears in Management View.
Click the DA link to view a specific disk array. See “Viewing Disk Array
Information” on page 157.

Locating a Disk Array
Virtual or Third Party Enclosures
Support for this feature depends on how your system or enclosure was set up.
Direct-connect systems with individual LED connections and SGPIO enclosures
support individual physical drive LEDs. Other systems or enclosures might or
might not support them. See “Appendix D: LED Backplane Connections” on
page 291.
To locate a disk array in the enclosure, click the Locate DAx button. The LEDs
for the carriers holding the physical drives used by the disk array will blink for one
minute.

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Promise Enclosures
To locate a disk array in a VTrak JBOD enclosure, click the Locate DAx button.
The disk status LEDs will blink for one minute to identify the carriers holding the
physical drives used by the disk array.
Figure 7. VTrak drive carrier LEDs
Disk Status

Power/Activity

Creating a Disk Array
WebPAM PRO provides three methods of creating a disk array:
•

Automatic – Creates a default disk array and logical drive based on
unconfigured physical drives in the system. No user choices. If you have
multiple enclosures, multiple disk array/logical drive sets are created. See
“Creating a Disk Array – Automatic Configuration” on page 152.

•

Express – You choose the RAID characteristics and type of application.
Creates a disk array and logical drive(s) based on your input. See “Creating
a Disk Array – Express Configuration” on page 153.

•

Advanced – You specify all parameters for a new disk array. One logical
drive will be made automatically when you create the disk array. If you
specify less than the total available capacity, you can use the remaining
space to create additional logical drives now or at a later time. See “Creating
a Disk Array – Advanced Configuration” on page 155.

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Creating a Disk Array – Automatic Configuration
The Disk Array – Automatic Configuration option enables you to create a new
disk array following a default set of parameters. One logical drive will be made
automatically when you create the disk array. If you have multiple enclosures,
multiple disk array/logical drive sets are created. To create a Disk Array using
the Automatic function:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

From dropdown menu on the Create tab, choose Automatic.
The following parameters display:

•

Disk Arrays – The number of physical drives in the disk array, their slot
numbers, configurable capacity, and the number of logical drives to be
created

•

Logical Drives – The ID number of the logical drive(s), their RAID level,
capacity, and stripe size

•

Spare Drives – The physical drive slot number of the dedicated hot
spare assigned to this disk array. A hot spare drive is created for all
RAID levels except RAID 0, when five or more unconfigured physical
drives are available

If you accept these parameters, click the Submit button.
The new disk array appears in the Disk Array List the Information tab.
If you do NOT accept these parameters, use the Advanced option to create
your disk array.

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Creating a Disk Array – Express Configuration
The Disk Array – Express Configuration option enables you to choose the
parameters for a new disk array by specifying the characteristics you want. With
this method, you can create multiple logical drives at the same time you create
your disk array. However, all of the logical drives will be the same.
If you prefer to specific the parameters directly, use the Advanced option to
create your disk array.
If you are uncertain about choosing parameters for your disk array, use the
Automatic option.
To create a new disk array:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

From the dropdown menu on the Create tab, choose Express.

Check the boxes to choose any one or combination of:
•

Redundancy – The array will remain available if a physical drive fails

•

Capacity – The greatest possible amount of data capacity

•

Performance – The highest possible read/write speed

•

Mixing SATA/SAS Drive – Check this box if you want to use both
SATA and SAS drives in the same disk array.
If the box is unchecked, and you have both SATA and SAS drives,
different arrays will be created for each type of drive.

In the Number of Logical Drives field, enter the number of logical drives you
want to make from this disk array.

From the Application Type menu, choose an application that best describes
your intended use for this disk array:

•

File Server

•

Video Stream

•

Transaction Data

•

Transaction Log

•

Other

Click the Update button.
Or check the Automatic Update box and updates will occur automatically.
The following parameters display:
•

Disk Arrays – The number of physical drives in the disk array, their slot
numbers, configurable capacity, and the number of logical drives to be
created
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•

Logical Drives – The slot number of the logical drive(s), their RAID
level, capacity, and stripe size

•

Spare Drives – The physical drive slot number of the dedicated hot
spare assigned to this disk array (all RAID levels except RAID 0)

If you accept these parameters, proceed to the next step.
If you do NOT accept these parameters, review and modify your choices in
the previous steps.
8.

When you are done, click the Submit button.

The new disk array appears in the Disk Array List the Information tab.

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Creating a Disk Array – Advanced Configuration
The Disk Array – Advanced Configuration option enables you to directly specify
all parameters for a new disk array. One logical drive will be made automatically
when you create the disk array. If you specify less than the total available
capacity, you can use the remaining space to create additional logical drives now
or at a later time.
If you are uncertain about choosing parameters for your disk array, use the
Express or Automatic option to create your disk array.
To create a new disk array:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

From the dropdown menu on the Create tab, choose Advanced.

Step 1 – Disk Array Creation
1.

Enter a name for the disk array in the field provided.

Check the box if you want to enable Media Patrol.
For more information, see “Media Patrol” on page 248.

Check the box if you want to enable PDM.
For more information, see “Predictive Data Migration (PDM)” on page 248.

Highlight physical drives you want in the disk array from the Available list
and press the >> button to move them to the Selected list.
You can also double-click them to move them.

When you are done, click the Next button.

Step 2 – Logical Drive Creation
Logical Drive Creation enables you to specify logical drives under the new disk
array. Enter the information for a logical drive, then click the Update button. If
there is free capacity remaining, you can specify another logical drive now or wait
until later. You can create up to 32 logical drives per array.
1.
2.

Optional. Type an alias into the field provided.
Choose a RAID level for the logical drive from the dropdown menu.
The choice of RAID levels depends the number of physical drives you
selected.

RAID 50 and 60 only. Specify the number of axles for your array.
See “RAID 50 Axles” on page 227 or “RAID 60 Axles” on page 230.

Specify a Capacity and the unit of measure (MB, GB, TB).

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This value will be the data capacity of the first logical drive in your new disk
array. If you specify less than disk array's maximum capacity, the remainder
will be available for additional logical drives which you can create later.
5.

Specify a Stripe size from the dropdown menu.
64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, and 1 MB are available. 64 KB is the default.

Specify a Sector size from the dropdown menu.
512 B, 1 KB, 2 KB, and 4 KB are available. 512 B is the default.

Specify a Read (cache) Policy from the dropdown menu.
Read Cache, Read Ahead Cache, and No Cache are available. Read Ahead
is the default.

Specify a Write (cache) Policy from the dropdown menu.
Write Back and Write Through are available. Write Back is the default.

From the Initialization dropdown menu, choose an Initialization policy.
None, Quick, and Full are available. None is the default but is not
recommended. See “Initialization” on page 239.

10. Click the Update button.
A new logical drive is displayed under New Logical Drives.
Repeat the above steps to specify additional logical drives as desired.
11. When you are done specifying logical drives, click the Next button.
Step 3 – Summary
The Summary lists the disk array and logical drive information you specified.
To proceed with disk array and logical drive creation, click the Submit button.
The new disk array appears in the Disk Array List the Information tab.
Note
This function does not automatically create a hot spare drive. After
the disk array is created, you can create a hot spare drive for it.
For more information, see “Creating a Spare Drive” on page 173.

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Deleting a Disk Array
The Disk Arrays–Delete tab enables you to delete existing disk arrays.
Caution
If you delete a disk array, you also delete any logical drives that
belong to it, along with the data in those logical drives. Back up
any important data before deleting a disk array.
To delete a disk array:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Delete tab in Management View.

Check the box to the left of the disk array you want to delete.

Click the Submit button.

In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.

Click the OK button.

The chosen disk array disappears from the Disk Array List the Information tab.

Viewing Disk Array Information
To view Disk Array information:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

icon.

The disk array information is shown in Management View.

Disk Array Operational Status
•

OK – This is the normal state of a logical drive. When a logical drive is
Functional, it is ready for immediate use. For RAID Levels other than
RAID 0, the logical drive has full redundancy.

•

Synchronizing – This condition is temporary. Synchronizing is a
maintenance function that verifies the integrity of data and redundancy in the
logical drive. When a logical drive is Synchronizing, it will function and your
data is available. However, access will be slower due to the synchronizing
operation.

•

Critical / Degraded – This condition arises as the result of a physical drive
failure. A degraded logical drive will still function and your data is still

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available. However, the logical drive has lost redundancy (fault tolerance).
You must determine the cause of the problem and correct it.
•

Rebuilding – This condition is temporary. When a physical drive has been
replaced, the logical drive automatically begins rebuilding in order to restore
redundancy (fault tolerance). When a logical drive is rebuilding, it will
function and your data is available. However, access will be slower due to
the rebuilding operation.

•

Transport Ready – After you perform a successful Prepare for Transport
operation, this condition means you can remove the physical drives of this
disk array and move them to another enclosure or different drive slots. After
you relocate the physical drives, the disk array status will show OK.

Physical Drive Status
•

OK – This is the normal state of a physical drive.

•

Forced Offline – This drive was forced offline by the user.

•

Forced Online – This drive was forced online by the user.

•

Transition Running – A Transition is running that involves this physical
drive.

•

PDM Running – PDM is running on this physical drive.

•

Media Patrol Running – Media Patrol is running on this physical drive.

•

Stale – The physical drive contains obsolete disk array information. Click the
Clear tab.

•

PFA – The physical drive has errors resulting in a prediction of failure. Click
the Clear tab.

•

Offline – This condition arises as the result of a second physical drive
failure. An Offline logical drive is not accessible but some or all of your data
may remain intact. You must determine the cause of the problem and correct
it.

•

Dead – The physical drive has failed.

Making Disk Array Settings
To make Disk Array settings:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

icon.

Click the Settings tab in Management View.

Optional. Enter an alias in the Disk Array Alias field.

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Maximum of 32 characters. Use letters, numbers, one space between
words, and underscore. An alias is optional.
6.

To enable Media Patrol support, check the Media Patrol box.

To enable PDM support, check the PDM box.

Click the Submit button.

Creating a Logical Drive
When you create a disk array, you automatically create one logical drive also. If
the initial logical drive used less than the full capacity of the disk array, you can
create additional logical drives from the same disk array. You can create up to 32
logical drives per array.
To create a logical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

Click the Create LD tab in Management View.

icon.

Optional. Enter an alias (name) in the Alias field.
Maximum of 32 characters. Use letters, numbers, one space between
words, and underscore. An alias is optional.

From the RAID Level dropdown list, choose a RAID level for this logical
drive.
All RAID levels supported by the disk array appear in the list. See “Choosing
a RAID Level” on page 232.

Enter a capacity and choose unit of measure (MB, GB, TB).
The default value is the available capacity of the disk array. You can use this
value or any lesser amount.

From the Stripe dropdown menu, choose a Stripe size for this logical drive.
The choices are 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1 MB. 64 KB is the
default. See “Choosing Stripe Block Size” on page 236.

From the Sector dropdown menu, choose a Sector size for this logical drive.
The choices are 512 B, 1 KB, 2 KB, and 4 KB. 512 B is the default. See
“Choosing Sector Size” on page 236.

10. From the Read Policy dropdown menu, choose a Read Cache policy for this
logical drive.

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The choices are Read Cache, Read Ahead, and No Cache. Read Ahead is
the default. See “Choosing Cache Policy” on page 237.
11. From the Write Policy dropdown menu, choose a Write Cache policy for this
logical drive.
The choices are Write Through and Write Back. Write Back is the default. If
you chose No Cache under Read Cache, this setting will be Write Through.
See “Choosing Cache Policy” on page 237.
12. From the Initialization dropdown menu, choose an Initialization policy.
The choices are None, Quick and Full. See “Initialization” on page 239.
13. Click the Update button to enter the logical drive parameters.
14. Review the results. If there is remaining space the disk array, you can create
another logical drive, following the steps above. Each logical drive can have
a different set of parameters.
15. Click the Next button when you are done.
A new window displays with the disk array information and the proposed
logical drives with their parameters.
16. Click the Submit button create the logical drives.
The new logical drive appears in the Logical Drive List the Information tab.
If you created a fault-tolerant logical drive (any RAID level except RAID 0), the
Operational Status of new logical drive will display Synchronizing for several
minutes after creation. You can use the logical drive during this period but read/
write performance could be slower than normal.

Deleting a Logical Drive
Caution
All data the logical drive will be lost. Back up any valuable data
before deleting the logical drive.
To delete a logical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

icon.

Click the Delete LD tab in Management View.

Check the box to the left of the logical drive you want to delete.

Click the Submit button.

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In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.
7.

Click the OK button.

The chosen logical disappears from the Logical Drive List the Information tab.

Migrating a Disk Array
On SuperTrak, RAID level migration is performed on the disk array but it applies
to the logical drives. The action of migrating a disk array means either or both:
•

Change its RAID Level

•

Increase the number of disk drives (sometimes called expansion)

For a list of Migration options and other important information, see “RAID Level
Migration” on page 240.
To Migrate an existing disk array:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Start
Migration.

Highlight physical drives you want in the disk array from the Available list
and press the >> button to move them to the Selected list. You can also
double-click them to move them.

When you are done, click the Next button

Choose a new RAID Level, if desired

To expand the capacity of one or more logical drives, check the Expand
Capacity box

If you checked the Expand Capacity box, enter a number into the Capacity
field and choose the appropriate unit of measure (MB, GB, TB)

icon.

10. Under Capacity Usage, highlight the logical drive whose RAID level you
want to change or whose capacity you want to expand
11. Click the Update button.
The logical drive changes to reflect your choices.
12. Update other logical drives using the same method.
13. When you are done making changes, click the Next button.
14. Click the Submit button to begin Migration.
In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.
15. Click the OK button.
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To set Migration priority, see “Making Background Activity Settings” on page 133.

Rebuilding a Disk Array
When you rebuild a disk array, you are actually rebuilding the data on a
replacement physical drive.

Rebuilding Automatically
Normally, a disk array would rebuild itself using a hot disk drive, after going
Critical. However, if the Auto Rebuild function is disabled or no spare drives are
available, you must initiate the procedure.
To enable Auto Rebuild, see “Making Background Activity Settings” on page 133.
To create a spare drive, see “Creating a Spare Drive” on page 173.
For more information, see “Hot Spare Drive(s)” on page 239.

Rebuilding Manually
If a physical drive has failed, identify and replace the drive, then rebuild the disk
array as described below:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activity tab, choose Start
Rebuild.

Choose Source physical drive.

icon.

If there are multiple disk arrays, choose the icon with the yellow !.

This is a remaining functional physical drive in the disk array.
6.

Choose the Target physical drive.
This is the replacement physical drive.

Click the Submit button.

The Disk Array Background Activity tab will show the rebuild the replacement
(target) physical drive. Depending the size of the physical disk involved, this
process will take some time.
To view more information, click the Rebuild on PDx link.
To set Rebuild priority, see “Making Background Activity Settings” on page 133.

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Running Media Patrol on a Disk Array
Media Patrol checks the magnetic media on physical drives. When it finds the
specified number of bad blocks, it will trigger PDM. See “Making Background
Activity Settings” on page 133 and “Running PDM” on page 135.
You can schedule Media Patrol to run automatically, see “Scheduling an Activity”
on page 135.
To start Media Patrol:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Start
Media Patrol.

Click the Start button.

icon.

Running PDM on a Disk Array
Predictive Data Migration (PDM) migrates data from the suspect physical drive to
a spare physical drive, similar to Rebuilding. But unlike Rebuilding, PDM acts
before the disk drive fails and your Logical Drive goes Critical.
See “Predictive Data Migration (PDM)” on page 248.
To start PDM:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Start
PDM.

icon.

In the next screen, choose the Source and Target physical drives.
The suspect physical drive is the Source. The replacement physical drive is
the Target.

Click the Start button.

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Transitioning a Disk Array
Transition is the process of replacing a revertible spare drive that is currently part
of a disk array with an unconfigured physical drive or a non-revertible spare. The
revertible spare drive returns to its original status. For more information, see
“Transition” on page 249.
In order to run the Transition function:
•

The spare drive must be Revertible.

•

You must specify an unconfigured physical drive of the same or larger
capacity to replace the revertible spare drive.

To run Transition:
1.

Click the Subsystem

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose Start
Transition.

icon in Tree View.

Choose an unconfigured physical drive from the list of available drives.

After Transition is completed, refresh the screen. The revertible spare drive will
be listed under the Spare Drives
icon and the disk array’s operational status
will show OK.
To set Transition priority, see “Making Background Activity Settings” on
page 133.

Preparing a Disk Array for Transport
Important
Before you can use this feature:
•

There must be a dedicated spare disk drive assigned to this
disk array.

•

The disk array’s Operational Status must be OK.

To prepare a disk array for transport:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

icon.

Click the Transport tab in Management View.

Click the Submit button.

In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.
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Click the OK button.

After the Transition is complete, move the physical drives comprising the
disk array to their new locations.

Click the Refresh button in your Browser.
The drives appear in their new locations and disk array status displays OK.

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Managing Logical Drives
Logical drives are made from disk arrays. In the Tree, you can see a graphic
representation of the logical drives that belong to each array. You can see a
summary of all logical drives in the subsystem under Logical Drive Summary.
Logical drive management includes the following functions:
•

Viewing Information for All Logical Drives (page 166)

•

Locating a Logical Drive (page 167)

•

Viewing Logical Drive Information (page 167)

•

Viewing Logical Drive Statistics (page 168)

•

Changing Logical Drive Settings (page 168)

•

Initializing a Logical Drive (page 169)

•

Running Redundancy Check (page 170)

•

Viewing the Logical Drive Check Table (page 170)

Viewing Information for All Logical Drives
To view information about all logical drives in a disk array:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

Click the Logical Drives

icon.
icon

Logical Drive Status
•

OK – This is the normal state of a logical drive. When a logical drive is OK, it
is ready for immediate use. For RAID Levels other than RAID 0 (Striping),
the logical drive has fault tolerance.

•

Critical/Degraded – This condition arises as the result of a physical drive
failure. Or, one of the physical drives was accidently or intentionally
disconnected or pulled from its enclosure. A critical or degraded logical drive
will still function and your data is still available. However, the logical drive
has lost its fault tolerance.

•

Rebuilding – This condition is temporary. When a physical drive has been
replaced, the logical drive automatically begins rebuilding in order to restore
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fault tolerance. When a logical drive is rebuilding, it will function and your
data is available. However, access will be slower due to the rebuilding
operation.
To create a logical drive, see “Creating a Logical Drive” on page 159.
To delete a logical drive, see “Deleting a Logical Drive” on page 160.
For a Degraded or Offline logical drive, see “Critical & Offline Logical Drives” on
page 253.

Locating a Logical Drive
Virtual or Third Party Enclosures
Support for this feature depends on how your system or enclosure was set up.
Direct-connect systems with individual LED connections and SGPIO enclosures
support individual physical drive LEDs. Other systems or enclosures might or
might not support them. See “Appendix D: LED Backplane Connections” on
page 291.
To locate a logical drive in the enclosure, click the Locate LDx button. The LEDs
for the carriers holding the physical drives used by the logical drive will blink for
one minute.

Promise Enclosures
To locate a logical drive in the VTrak JBOD enclosure, click the Locate LDx
button. The disk status LEDs will blink for one minute to identify the carriers
holding the physical drives used by the logical drive.
Figure 8. VTrak drive carrier LEDs
Disk Status

Power/Activity

Viewing Logical Drive Information
To view information for a single logical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

icon.

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Click the Logical Drives

Click the Logical Drive

icon
icon.

To specify an Alias or set the Read and Write Policies, click the Settings tab.

Logical Drive Status
See “Logical Drive Status” on page 166.

Logical Drive Synchronization
Synchronization is an automatic procedure applied to logical drives when they
are created. Yes means the logical drive was synchronized.

Adjustable Items
•

Alias – Optional

•

Read Policy

•

Write Policy

See “Changing Logical Drive Settings” on page 168.

Viewing Logical Drive Statistics
To view information for a single logical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

Click the Logical Drives

Click the Logical Drive

From the dropdown menu on the Information tab, choose Statistics.

icon.
icon
icon.

Changing Logical Drive Settings
To make logical drive settings:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

Click the Logical Drives

Click the Logical Drive

Click the Settings tab in Management View.

icon.
icon
icon.

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Optional. Enter an alias in the Logical Drive Alias field.
Maximum of 32 characters. Use letters, numbers, one space between
words, and underscore. An alias is optional.

From the Read Policy dropdown menu, choose a Read Cache policy.
The choices are Read Cache, Read Ahead, and No Cache. See “Choosing
Cache Policy” on page 237.

From the Write Policy dropdown menu, choose a Write Cache policy.
The choices are Write Back and Write Through. If you chose No Read
Cache, Write policy is automatically Write Through. See “Choosing Cache
Policy” on page 237.

10. Click the Submit button.

Initializing a Logical Drive
Initialization sets the data bits in the logical drive to zero. The action removes any
residual data left behind from earlier configurations. Initialization is recommended
for new logical drives. You can also initialize an existing logical drive. See
“Initialization” on page 239 for more information.
Warning
When you initialize a logical drive, all the data the logical drive will
be lost. Backup any important data before you initialize a logical
drive.
To initialize a logical drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Logical Drive Summary

Click the

From the dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose
Initialization.

icon.

icon of the logical drive you want to Initialize.

•

To choose Quick Initialization, check the box.

•

If you checked the Quick Initialization box, enter a value in the Quick
Initialization Size field. This value is the size of the initialization blocks in
MB.

•

If you did not choose Quick Initialization, enter a hexidecimal value in
the Initialization Pattern in Hex field or use the default 00000000 value.

Click the Submit button.

In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.

Click the OK button.
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To view the progress of the Initialization, click the Background Activity tab.
To set Initialization priority, see “Making Background Activity Settings” on
page 133.
You can also start Initialization from the Subsystem
Activities tab.

icon, Background

Running Redundancy Check
Redundancy Check is a routine maintenance procedure for fault-tolerant disk
arrays (those with redundancy) that ensures all the data matches exactly.
Redundancy Check can also correct inconsistencies. You can also schedule a
Redundancy Check. See “Scheduling an Activity” on page 135.
Redundancy Check a Logical Drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Logical Drive Summary

Click the

From dropdown menu on the Background Activities tab, choose
Redundancy Check.

icon.

icon of the logical drive you want to Redundancy Check.

•

To choose Auto Fix, check the box.

•

To choose Pause On Error, check the box.

This feature attempts to repair the problem when it finds an error.
This feature stops the process when it finds an error.
If Auto Fix is also checked, the process stops only when it finds a nonrepairable error.
5.

Click the Submit button.

To view the progress of the Redundancy Check, click the Background Activity
tab.
To set Redundancy Check priority, see “Making Background Activity Settings” on
page 133.
You can also start Redundancy check from the Subsystem
Activities tab

icon Background

Viewing the Logical Drive Check Table
The Logical Drive Check Table displays errors related to a logical drive. Use this
information to evaluate the integrity of the logical drive and to determine whether
corrective action is needed. To View the tables:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.
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Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO

Click the Disk Arrays

icon.

Click the Disk Array

Click the Logical Drives

Click the Logical Drive

Click the Check Table tab in Management View.

Click the option for the table you want to see.

icon.
icon
icon.

The default is All tables.
If there are entries, they are listed as follows:
•

Entry Number – A number assigned to each block of entry.

•

Table Type – Read Check, Write Check or Inconsistent Block (see
below).

•

Start Logical Block Address – LBA of the first block for this entry.

•

Count – Number of continuous blocks starting from this LBA.

•

Read Check Table – Contains a list of read errors for this logical drive.

•

Write Check Table – Contains a list of write errors for this logical drive.

•

Inconsistent Block Table – Contains a list of inconsistent blocks for
this logical drive.
•

Mirror data for RAID Levels 1, 1E, and 10.

•

Parity data for RAID Levels 5, 6, 50, and 60.

•

Inconsistent blocks are identified by the Redundancy Check.

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Managing Spare Drives
When a physical drive in a disk array fails and a spare drive of adequate capacity
is available, the disk array will begin to rebuild automatically using the spare
drive. See “Critical & Offline Logical Drives” on page 253.
Spare drive management includes the following functions:
•

Viewing a List of Spare Drives (page 172)

•

Creating a Spare Drive (page 173)

•

Deleting Spare Drive (page 174)

•

Making Spare Drive Settings (page 174)

•

Running Spare Check (page 175)

Viewing a List of Spare Drives
To view a list of spare drives:
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Spare Drives

icon in Tree View.
icon.

The information includes:
•

ID – The unique ID number assigned to the spare drive.

•

Operational Status – OK is normal. Can also show Rebuilding, Transition
Running, PDM Running, or Offline.

•

Physical Drive ID – The ID number of the physical drive assigned as a
spare

•

Capacity – The data storage capacity of this spare drive.

•

Revertible – Yes or No. A revertible spare drive automatically returns to its
spare drive assignment after the failed physical drive in the disk array is
replaced. See “Transition” on page 249 for more information.

•

Type – Global, can be used by any disk array. Dedicated, can only be used
by the assigned disk arrays.

•

Dedicated to Disk Arrays – For dedicated spares, the disk arrays to which
they are assigned. Global spares show N/A.

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Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO

Creating a Spare Drive
Important
•

There must be an unconfigured physical drive available to
assign as a spare drive. See “Viewing a List of Physical
Drives” on page 146.

•

Be sure the spare drive you choose has capacity equal to or
greater than the smallest physical drive assigned to the disk
array.

To create a spare drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Spare Drives

icon in Tree View.
icon.

Click the Create tab in Management View.

Choose a spare type, Global or Dedicated.

To make a revertible spare drive, check the Revertible box.

To enable Media Patrol on this spare drive, check the Enable Media Patrol
box.

In the Physical drives field, highlight the physical drive you want to assign as
a spare drive in the Available list and press the >> button to move the drive
to the Selected list.
You can also double-click drives to move them.

If you chose a Dedicated spare drive, in the Dedicated to Disk Arrays field,
highlight disk array to which you want assign the spare drive from the
Available list and press the >> button to move the array to the Selected list.
You can also double-click arrays to move them.

Click the Update button.
Your choices are displayed under New Hot Spare Drives.

10. If you agree with the proposed choices, click the Submit button.

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Deleting Spare Drive
Note
If an existing spare drive has the wrong parameters for your
needs, click the Settings tab to change the parameters rather than
delete the spare drive and create a new one.
To delete a spare drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Spare Drives

icon in Tree View.
icon.

Click the Delete tab in Management View.

Check the box to the left of the spare drive you want to delete.

Click the Submit button.
In the confirmation box, type the word confirm in the field provided.

Click the OK button.

Making Spare Drive Settings
The Spare Drive–Settings tab enables you to change the settings of an existing
spare drive. To change spare drive settings:
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Spare Drives

Click the Spare Drive

icon in Tree View.
icon.
icon.

Click the Settings tab in Management View.

Choose a spare type, Global or Dedicated.

To make a revertible spare drive, check the Revertible box.

To enable Media Patrol on this spare drive, check the Enable Media Patrol
box.

If you chose a Dedicated spare drive, in the Dedicated to Disk Arrays field,
highlight the disk array to which you want assign the spare drive from the
Available list and press the >> button to move them to the Selected list.
You can also double-click array to move it.

Click the Submit button.

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Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO

Running Spare Check
Spare Check verifies the operational status of your spare drives. You can also
schedule a Spare Check. See “Scheduling an Activity” on page 135.
To check a spare drive:
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Spare Drives

icon in Tree View.
icon.

Click the Spare Check tab in Management View.

From the Physical Drive dropdown menu, choose the spare drive you want
to check.
Or choose All to check all the spare drives at the same time.

Click the Submit button.

The results of the Spare Check appear under Spare Check Status in the
Information tab. “Healthy” means normal condition.

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Working with the Logical Drive Summary
The Logical Drive Summary displays a list of all logical drives under the
SuperTrak controller including logical drives in expanded or cascaded
enclosures. This list does not arrange the logical drives under the disk array to
which they belong nor under the enclosure in which they are located.
Logical Drive Summary includes the following functions:
•

Viewing a List of All Logical Drives (page 176)

•

Locating a Logical Drive (page 176)

•

Viewing Individual Logical Drive Information (page 177)

Viewing a List of All Logical Drives
To view a list of all logical drives in all enclosures:
1.

Click the Subsystem

icon in Tree View.

Click the Logical Drive Summary

icon.

Power/Activity
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Chapter 5: Management with WebPAM PRO

Viewing Individual Logical Drive Information
1.

Click the Subsystem

Click the Logical Drive Summary

icon in Tree View.

Click the Logical Drive

icon.

The information and location for the logical drive appear in Management
View. See Viewing Logical Drive Information (page 167).

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

178

Chapter 6: Management with the CLI
•

Opening the CLI on Windows (below)

•

Opening the CLI on Linux, FreeBSD, and VMware (page 180)

•

Table of Supported Commands (page 181)

•

Notes and Conventions (page 183)

•

List of Supported Commands (page 184)

SuperTrak EX Controller’s Command Line Interface (CLI) provides rapid setup of
disk arrays and logical drives. You can also manage your SuperTrak system
using the CLI. However, ongoing management is much easier with the
SuperBuild utility or WebPAM PRO.

Opening the CLI on Windows
To open the CLI, click the CLI icon on the desktop (right), or:
1.

Go to Start > Run and click the Browse button.

Navigate to the C:\Program Files\WebPAMPRO\Agent\bin folder.

Click cliib.exe file then click the Open button.

Click the OK button in the Run dialog box.
The CLI window opens.

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Opening the CLI on Linux, FreeBSD, and VMware
To open the CLI:
1.

Open a terminal window.

Go to the /opt/Promise/WebPAMPRO/Agent/bin directory.

Type ./cliib and press Enter.
The CLI runs in the terminal window.

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Chapter 6: Management with the CLI

Table of Supported Commands
Command
about
array

Action
View utility information.
View or edit array information.
Create, edit, or delete a new or existing array.
Create, edit, or delete logical drives in an existing array.
To physically locate an array in an enclosure.
Accept an incomplete array condition.

battery

Subsystems only. View battery information or to
recondition a battery.

bbm

View or clear the BBM defect list of the specified
configured physical drive.

bga

View status of all current background activities.
Enable or disable relevant background activities.
Modify the background task rate for each of the
background tasks.

buzz

View buzzer status, enable/disable and turn on/off buzzer.

checktable

View logical drive error tables.

config

For express or automatic configuration.
For advanced configuration please see the 'array'
command.

ctrl

View or edit controller information and settings.

date

View or edit system time.

enclosure

View or edit enclosure and SEP information and settings.
Locate an enclosure via LEDs.

event

View or clear events logs.

export

Subsystems only. Export files to remote tftp host.

factorydefaults

Restore settings to factory defaults.

init

View logical drive initialization status and progress.
Start, stop, pause, or resume an initialization or a quick
initialization.

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

Command
logdrv

Action
View or edit logical drive information and settings.
Locate a logical drive via LEDs.

migrate

Start and monitor disk array migration process.

View media patrol status and progress.
Start, stop, pause, or resume media patrol.

pdm

View PDM status and progress.
Start, stop, pause, or resume PDM process.

phydrv

View or edit physical drive information and settings.
Locate a physical drive via LEDs.

ptiflash

Update system software and firmware through local host.

View redundancy check status and progress.
Start, stop, pause or resume redundancy check.

View rebuild status and progress.
Start, stop, pause, or resume a rebuild process.

View spare check status. Start spare check.

spare

Create or modify hot spare drives.

spath

Discover and change subsystem path.

stats

View or reset statistics.

subsys

View or edit subsystem information and settings.

sync

View logical drive synchronization status and progress.

topology

View SAS topology, the physical connections and device
information. For products that support multiple enclosures
only.

transit

View transition status and progress.
Start, stop, pause, or resume a transition process.

help

When used alone will display this menu.
When used in conjunction with a command (example:
help array) it will display help information for that particular
command.

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Chapter 6: Management with the CLI

Command
?

Action
This can be used in place of the help command or
optionally can be used as a switch for a command
(example: array -?) to provide command usage.

Note: Commands are NOT case sensitive.

Notes and Conventions
Commands and options are NOT case sensitive.
Not all extended keys are supported. However, you can use the backspace and
the left and right arrow keys for command line editing. In addition, the up and
down arrow keys allow scrolling through the command history buffer.
If you need context-sensitive help, type one of the following commands:
•

-h

•

help

That action will display full context-sensitive help for the specific command.
Each command when used alone, such as “array” will display a summary of
relevant information. If more information is desired, the -v verbose mode can be
used. This will provide information for all relevant aspects of that command.
Usage terminology is as follows:
•

[square braces] depict an optional switch

•

depict user input

•

Type " | more" at the end of each command, to display info page by page

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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

List of Supported Commands
•

about (page 184)

•

migrate (page 203)

•

array (page 184)

•

mp (page 204)

•

battery (page 188)

•

pdm (page 205)

•

bbm (page 189)

•

phydrv (page 206)

•

bga (page 189)

•

ptiflash (page 209)

•

buzz (page 191)

•

rc (page 210)

•

checktable (page 192)

•

rb (page 211)

•

config (page 192)

•

sc (page 212)

•

ctrl (page 194)

•

spare (page 212)

•

date (page 197)

•

spath (page 213)

•

enclosure (page 197)

•

stats (page 214)

•

event (page 198)

•

subsys (page 215)

•

export (page 199)

•

sync (page 216)

•

factorydefaults (page 200)

•

topology (page 217)

•

init (page 201)

•

transit (page 217)

•

logdrv (page 202)

about
Usage
about

Summary
Displays utility information.

array
Usage
array [-a ] [-d ] [-c ] [-v] array -a add [-s ""] [-d ] -p [-c ] [-l ""] array -a mod -d [-s ""]
array -a del -d
array -a locate -d
array -a accept -d [-t ]
array -a addld -d [-c ] -l ""
array -a delld -l
array -a transport -d
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Chapter 6: Management with the CLI

Summary
The array command is the main command for performing advanced configuration
and maintenance tasks on disk arrays.
This command lists, creates, modifies, deletes, and locates disk arrays. It also
adds and deletes logical drives.

Options
-a

Specifies the action to perform.

list

(Default) Displays a summary of all arrays, a specified
number of arrays, or a specific array.

add

Adds/creates an array. This action might also create
logical drives at the same time.

addld

Adds/creates a logical drive to an existing array.

delld

Deletes a logical drive from an array.

mod

Modifies array settings.

del

Deletes an array and all its associated logical drives.

locate

Locates an array.

Accepts the condition of an incomplete array. Currently,
there are two conditions that can cause an array to be
incomplete:
•

"Missing Drive: one or more drives missing in the
array

•

"Missing NVRAM Watermark
The migration watermark is not found on the
controller but the DDF on the array indicates that
migration is in progress.

When the either of the above conditions occurs, all the
logical drives on the array go offline.
You can accept the array in incomplete condition and try
to bring the logical drives online. However, that is a highrisk and non-revertible operation, and it may result in data
loss. Therefore, it is recommended to clear the condition
first, for example: putting the missing drives back or
roaming the array back to the original controller and wait
until the migration completes.
transport
-d

Takes the array and the logical drives on the array offline
to get ready for transport the array to another subsystem.
The disk array ID. Valid values are 0-255. Specifies the
desired array ID when creating (add) an array. Specifies
the array ID when listing array information, modifying,
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SuperTrak EX Series User Manual

deleting, locating, accepting, adding or deleting a logical
drive. Only one array may be specified.
-p

Specifies physical drives to be used in an array, with -a
add option. PD IDs are specified individually or separated
by comma. Sequential group of physical drives are
specified by placing a ~ between numbers such as 1~6.
This will include physical drives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

-s "

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