Precautions and Alerts - SRCU31 and SRCU31L
WARNING – Please read directions before proceeding.
1.  For any NEW installations with only one Intel RAID card installed, it is recommended that the new RAID software stack be utilized.
	
2.	For any NEW installations with more than one Intel RAID card installed,  both cards must use the same versions of firmware, drivers and utilities.  This will ensure full RAID compatibility, physical drive portability and functionality of all volume date.  

3.	For any EXISTING field installations with the current software stack, customers have the choice to:
	a) Keep the existing field installations on the current software. This is low-risk and recommended approach if the customer is satisfied with the solution.

	b)Upgrade the existing field installation to the new software.  Because the RAID meta data format is not the same, the data attached to the RAID array must be backed up and restored.  This involves backing up the data array, destroying the current RAID array, installation of the new RAID arrays with the new software, and then restoring the data onto the new RAID array. There is a risk of data loss on the RAID array if the data is not correctly backed up previous to the upgrade, as the process requires the RAID array to be 'reset'.  Customers should only proceed with this major upgrade if they are comfortable with this backup/restore process.  

Install the Operating System
5	
Installing Novell Netware
This section discusses installation issues related to the Novell NetWare operating system and covers version NetWare 5.1.  For a successful installation, study the NetWare system manuals thoroughly.  The information provided in this section refers to the loading of the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L NetWare driver(s) only.  The required Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L disks can be created from the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L system CD-ROM.
Pre-Installation Requirements Checklist
This section identifies the minimum hardware and software required to successfully install the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L and the accompanying RAID Software Suite.
Minimum Hardware Requirements
•	Computer with CD-ROM drive (not attached to the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L).  Computer must be on the supported hardware list (for example, Intel STL2 server board).
•	One available 32-bit, 33 MHz, PCI compatible slot.
•	PCI 2.2 compliant System BIOS.
•	SCSI hard disk drive(s) (the minimum required to meet desired RAID level).
Minimum Software Requirements
•	RAID Software Suite CD-ROM
•	20 MB of hard disk space
•	RAID Driver Installation Diskette for NetWare (see Section 2.1 for instructions to create this diskette)
•	Novell NetWare 5.1 Software

New Installation of NetWare 5.1 
The following procedures assume that your Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L(s) is(are) already installed in your system.  If you plan to install the OS to a RAID volume, you must first configure the RAID volume through the XROM version of StorCon.  At system boot time, press <Ctrl> + <G> when prompted to invoke the XROM version of StorCon.
	NOTE
Install all Novell patches and updates prior to installing the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L driver and StorCon.  These updates can be found at:
http://www.novell.com
New Installation of NetWare 5.xx with the SRCRX.HAM Driver
1.	Create a driver diskette from the RAID Software Suite CD-ROM.  See Chapter 2 for details to create this disk.
2.	Start the OS installation from the NetWare bootable CD-ROM.
3.	At the storage driver summary menu, select “modify drivers.”
4.	Insert the driver disk into drive A.
5.	Press <Enter> on the storage driver list.
6.	Press <Insert> in the storage controller driver menu.
7.	Press <F3> and change the path to “A:\DRIVERS\5XX,” then press <Enter>.
8.	Select the “SRCRX.HAM” driver.
9.	Complete the installation.
	NOTE
The above procedures install only the controller drivers.  To install the StorCon NLM, follow the procedure under Adding Intel RAID Controller(s), drivers, and/or StorCon to and existing NetWare installation and select “Storage RAID Controller Tools Kit” (STORCON.NLM).

Adding Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L Controller(s), Drivers, and/or StorCon to an Existing NetWare Installation
Install all Novell patches and updates prior to installing the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L driver and StorCon.  These updates can be found at:
http://www.novell.com
1.	Create a driver diskette from the RAID Software Suite CD-ROM.  See Chapter 2 for details to create this disk.
2.	Power OFF the system and add the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L card(s).
3.	Power ON the system and boot to the OS.
4.	Load NWCONFIG.NLM (For 5.x and above).
5.	Insert the driver diskette into drive A.
6.	Do one or both of the following to install your desired packages – Installing the Driver Package or Installing the Tools Kit Package.  (You do not need to reinstall the driver package if you initially installed the driver using one of the steps under New Installation of NetWare 5.1).
Installing the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L Driver Package
1.	Select “Product options,” and then select “Install a product not listed.”
2.	Change the path to “A:\INSTALL” and press <Enter> to continue.
3.	Select “Storage RAID Controller Driver” (SRCRX.HAM) by setting the cursor on its menu item and pressing the space bar (an “X” will appear in the item’s checkbox).
4.	Press <F10> to accept the selected item.
5.	After the file copy is complete, select “Return to previous menu” to get back to the “INSTALL/NWCONFIG” main options.
6.	Select “Driver Options.”
7.	Select “Configure disk and storage device drivers.”
8.	Select “Discover” and load additional drivers.
9.	Press <Enter> to continue past any module load errors not related to the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L.
10.	Press <F3> to continue past any non-Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L related hardware found by NetWare for which a matching driver was not found.
11.	NetWare will now load the SRCRX.HAM driver for each hardware instance you added in the system and update the STARTUP.NCF file so the driver will load for each subsequent restart of the server.
12.	Select “Return to previous menu” twice to get back to the “INSTALL/NWCONFIG” main options.

Installing the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L Tools Kit Package
	NOTE
STORCON.NLM will not find any controllers unless SRCRX.HAM is already loaded and running.

1.	Select “Product options” and then select “Install a product not listed.”
2.	Change the path to “A:\INSTALL” and press <Enter> to continue.
3.	Select “Storage RAID Controller Tools Kit” (STORCON.NLM) by setting the cursor on its menu item and pressing the space bar (an “X” will appear in the item’s checkbox).
4.	Press <F10> to accept the selected item.
5.	NetWare will copy the necessary files, automatically load “STORCON.NLM,” and modify the “AUTOEXEC.NCF” file to load “STORCON.NLM” for each subsequent restart of the server.
Configuring Tools for Remote Access
1.	Create a group “SRC_Operator” in the NDS.
2.	Add the administrator and all other users who will use this interface.
3.	Load “SRCIPX.NLM.”
4.	Start StorCon (Storcon.exe) or StorCon+ (Storcon+.exe) from a workstation using a user name of the group “SRC_Operator” and their NetWare password.
ASPI Support for NetWare 5.1
You will need to ensure that the “NWASPI.CDM” file is in the server’s search path.  For NetWare 5.1, copy “NWASPI.CDM” into the server’s startup directory from “C:\NWSERVER\DRIVERS.”
	NOTE
Since the debut of Media Manager (MM.NLM) and the NetWare Peripheral Architecture (NWPA.NLM), the need for ASPI in NetWare is rare.  However, there may be a few applications that require ASPI.  Unless your application(s) require it, do not install ASPI.
This procedure describes how to manually install Novell’s ASPI manager module, but be aware that you may need to follow specific instructions from your application vendor to correctly configure ASPI.
1.	With the server loaded and running, load NWCONFIG.NLM (NetWare 5.1).
2.	Select “NCF Files Option” from the main menu.
3.	Select “Edit Startup.ncf.”
4.	Add the following line at the end of the “.CDM” section of “STARTUP.NCF:”
LOAD NWASPI.CDM
5.	Reboot the server.

Tips and Tricks
Optimize Data Throughput
High performance RAID controllers are designed for multi-I/O operations and are capable of processing several I/Os simultaneously.  Cache controllers with powerful on-board RISC CPUs can handle many I/Os per second.  NetWare offers the option of adjusting the number of write I/Os that are loaded on the mass storage subsystem.  To gain optimum performance and speed from modern high performance disk controllers, the amount of the so-called maximum concurrent disk cache writes has been increased with every further development of NetWare.  Looking back to NetWare 3.11, only 100 concurrent disk cache writes were possible.  With NetWare 4.10, it can be as much as 1000.
The number of concurrent disk cache writes delivering the best performance is highly dependent on the performance of the installed disk controller, the amount of cache RAM on the controller and the hard disks.  The Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L’s can easily cope with up to 500 simultaneous requests.  The following command line enables the adjustment of a new number under NetWare (default value = 50):
set maximum concurrent disk cache writes = xxxx
Where “xxxx” represents the required number of concurrent disk cache writes.
“Cache Memory Allocator Out of Available Memory” in PCI-ISA Systems
PCI systems which are not equipped with an EISA Bus behave in the same way as an ISA mainboard with regard to the available RAM memory.  NetWare therefore does not automatically recognize the available memory above 16 MB.  The command “register memory” allows the registration of memory above 16 MB.  Memory shortage can appear while loading several applications simultaneously on the server, especially where large volumes are concerned.  This is because the register memory command is normally carried out in the “autoexec.ncf” file.  This is usually located in the SYS volume.  An “autoexec.ncf” file placed in the DOS partition of the NetWare Server helps to get around this problem.  To carry out this process, the disk driver must be removed from the “startup.ncf” and inserted into the “autoexec.ncf” in the DOS partition.  After completing this process, the disk driver must be loaded directly after the register memory command as indicated in the following “autoexec.ncf” file example.
Register memory 1000000 1000000
LOAD C:SRCRP312
An additional start file can be loaded on the SYS volume for differentiation, for example, with the name “autonet.ncf.”

NetWare Server Not Stable When Under High Utilization
High server utilization combined with a large number of applications running on the server can lead to an increase in the number of dirty cache buffers resulting in an unstable server.  To avoid this situation, modify the following parameters:
•	Increase the number of concurrent disk cache writes for the disk subsystem.  Set maximum concurrent disk cache writes.  This parameter can be increased up to 500 for high performance controllers and fast hard disks.
•	Decrease the delayed write standard parameter.  Set dirty disk cache delay time.  This parameter sets the time where dirty buffers are written (flushed) from the cache of NetWare to the hard disk.  The minimum value is 0.8 seconds.  Care should be taken not to go below 0.8 seconds because this value influences server performance substantially.
Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L and Non-ASPI Compatible Controllers
If an Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L is operated under NetWare together with another controller/host adapter which does not support the ASPI standard, SCSI raw devices cannot be operated on both controllers (tapes, CD-ROMs).
In general, NetWare gives preference to controllers which support the ASPI Standard (for example, Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L, Adaptec†).  As soon as “aspitran.dsk” is loaded (auto-loading module) tapes and CD-ROMs on the ASPI non-compatible controller are no longer recognized.  To avoid this problem, the “aspitran.dsk” file can be deactivated through a modification.
To deactivate “aspitran.dsk,” find the string “ASPI_Entry” by using a Disk-Monitor in “aspitran.dsk” (please pay attention to upper case letters).  Modify the string by replacing “A” with an “X” (for example, “XSPI_Entry”).  The modified “aspitran.dsk” enables the operation of raw devices on non‑ASPI-compatible controllers.
	NOTE
After this modification, no other raw devices (tapes, CD-ROMs) are recognized on the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L or Adaptec.

Last Status Information
All Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L Controllers temporarily store the status information from all hard disks that are connected to that controller.  This information can be useful when searching for possible causes of disk failures or interferences.  The last status information consists of a hexadecimal, 8-digit number and can be displayed via the StorCon or saved in a SAVE INFORMATION ASCII file.  The information is temporarily available in the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L’s RAM.  Therefore, it is important to check this information before switching OFF and before carrying out a Reset, if a disk failure has occurred or if interference was present.  The last status information is divided into controller-specific and SCSI-specific messages.  A detailed description can be found in the “laststat.pdf” file.
Adding Additional Capacity After an Online Capacity Expansion
The additional capacity resulting from an online capacity expansion of an existing array drive is introduced to the system as a new host drive.  To be able to make use of the new capacity without having to down the server, type “scan for new devices” on the server console to recognize the new capacity.  Use Install to build new partitions and volumes.
Notes on ARCserve†
Make sure that you always have the latest version of your ARCserve software.
The back-up program ARCserve can be used in connection with the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L.  The communication between the tape device (for example, DAT, DLT) and the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L takes place through the ASPI interface.  For this purpose, the Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L ASPI Manager “aspitran.dsk” is needed.  When loading the regular Intel RAID Controller SRCU31L NetWare driver (for example, srcrp311.dsk), the ASPI Manager is automatically loaded, too.  During the installation of ARCserve, choose Adaptec ASPI Manager as the interface.