Antares-RAID-sparcLinux-HOWTO: 5070 Onboard Configuration

7. 5070 Onboard Configuration

Before diving into the RAID configuration I need to define a few terms.

"RaidRunner" is the name given to the the 5070 controller board.
"Husky" is the name given to the shell which produces the ":raid;" command prompt. It is a command language interpreter that executes commands read from the standard input or from a file. Husky is a scaled down model of Unix's Bourne shell (sh). One major difference is that husky has no concept of current working directory. For more information on the husky shell and command prompt see the "Advanced Topics" section
The "host port" is the SCSI ID assigned to the controller card itself. This is usually ID 7.
A "backend" is a drive attached to the controller on a given channel.
A "rank" is a collection of all the backends from each channel with the same SCSI ID (i.e. rank 0 would consist of all the drives with SCSI ID 0 on each channel)
Each of the backends is identified by a three digit number where the first digit is the channel, the second the SCSI ID of the drive, and the third the LUN of the drive. The numbers are separated by a period. The identifier is prefixed with a "D" if it is a disk or "T" if it is a tape (e.g. D0.1.0). This scheme is referred to as <device_type_c.s.l> in the following documentation.
A "RAID set" consists of given number of backends (there are certain requirements which I'll come to later)
A "spare" is a drive which is unused until there is a failure in one of the RAID drives. At that time the damaged drive is automatically taken offline and replaced with the spare. The data is then reconstructed on the spare and the RAID resumes normal operation.
Spares may either be "hot" or "warm" depending on user configuration. Hot spares are spun up when the RAID is started, which shortens the replacement time when a drive failure occurs. Warm spares are spun up when needed, which saves wear on the drive.

The test based GUI can be started by typing "agui"

: raid; agui

at the husky prompt on the serial terminal (or emulator).

Agui is a simple ASCII based GUI that can be run on the RaidRunner console port which enables one to configure the RaidRunner. The only argument agui takes is the terminal type that is connected to the RaidRunner console. Current supported terminals are dtterm, vt100 and xterm. The default is dtterm.

Each agui screen is split into two areas, data and menu. The data area, which generally uses all but the last line of the screen, displays the details of the information under consideration. The menu area, which generally is the bottom line of the screen, displays a strip menu with a title then list of options or sub-menus. Each option has one character enclosed in square brackets (e.g. [Q]uit) which is the character to type to select that option. Each menu line allows you to refresh the screen data (in case another process on the RaidRunner writes to the console). The refresh character may also be used during data entry if the screen is overwritten. The refresh character is either <Control-l> or <Control-r>.

When agui starts, it reads the configuration of the RaidRunner and probes for every possible backend. As it probes for each backend, it's "name" is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen.

7.1 Main Screen Options

Figure 1: Main Screen

The Main screen is the first screen displayed. It provides a summary of the RaidRunner configuration. At the top is the RaidRunner model, version and serial number. Next is a line displaying, for each controller, the SCSI ID's for each host port (labeled A, B, C, etc) and total and currently available amounts of memory. The next set of lines display the ranks of devices on the RaidRunner. Each device follows the nomenclature of <device_type_c.s.l> where device_type_ can be D for disk or T for tape, c is the internal channel the device is attached to, s is the SCSI ID (Rank) of the device on that channel, and l is the SCSI LUN of the device (typically 0).

The next set of lines provide a summary of the Raid Sets configured on the RaidRunner. The summary includes the raid set name, it's type, it's size, the amount of cache allocated to it and a comma separated list of it's backends. See rconf in the "Advanced Topics" section for a full description of the above.

Next are the spare devices configured. Each spare is named (device_type_c.s.l format), followed by it's size (in 512-byte blocks), it's spin state (Hot or Warm), it's controller allocation , and finally it's current status (Used/Unused, Faulty/Working). If used, the raid set that uses it is nominated.

At the bottom of the data area, the number of controllers, channels, ranks and devices are displayed.

The menu line allows one to quit agui or select further actions or sub-menus.

[Q]uit: Exit the main screen and return to the husky prompt.
[R]aidSets: Enter the RaidSet configuration screen.
[H]ostports Enter the Host Port configuration screen.
[S]pares Enter the Spare Device configuration screen.
[M]onitor Enter the SCSI Monitor configuration screen.
[G]eneral Enter the General configuration/information screen.
[P]robe Re-probe the device backends on the RaidRunner. As each backend is probed it's "name" (c.s.l format) is displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen.

These selections are described in detail below.

7.2 [Q]uit

Exit the agui main screen and return to the husky ( :raid; ) prompt.

7.3 [R]aidSets:

Figure 2: Raid Set Configuration Screen

The Raid Set Configuration screen displays a Raid Set in the data area and provides a menu which allows you to Add, Delete, Modify, Install (changes) and Scroll through all other raid sets (First, Last, Next and Previous). If no raid sets have been configured, only the screen title and menu is displayed. All attributes of the raid set are displayed. For information on each attribute of the raid set, see the rconf command in the "Advanced Topics" section. The menu line allows one to leave the Raid Set Configuration screen or select further actions:

[Q]uit: Exit the Raid Set Configuration screen and return to the Main screen. If you have modified, deleted or added a raid set and have not installed the changes you will be asked to confirm this. If you select Yes to continue the exit, all changes made since the last install action will be discarded.
[I]nst: This action installs (into the RaidRunner configuration area) any changes that may have been made to raid sets, be that deletion, addition or modification. If you exit prior to installing, all changes made since the last installation will be discarded. The installation process takes time. It is complete once the typed "i" character, is cleared from the menu line.
[M]od: This action allows you to modify the displayed raid set. You will be prompted for each Raid Set attribute that can be changed. The prompt includes allowable options or formats required. If you don't wish to change a particular attribute, then press the RETURN or TAB key. The attributes you can change are the raid set name, I/O mode, status (Active to Inactive), bootmode, spares usage, backend zone table usage, IO size (if raid set has never been used - i.e. just added), cache size, I/O queues length, host interfaces and additional stargd arguments. If you wish to change a single attribute then use the RETURN or TAB key to skip all other options. The changed attribute will be re-displayed as soon as you press the RETURN key. When specifying cache size, you may suffix the number with 'm' or 'M' to indicate the number is in Megabytes or with 'k' or 'K' to indicate the number is in Kilobytes. Note you can only enter whole integer values. When specifying io size, you may suffix the number with 'k' or 'K' to indicate the number is in Kilobytes. When you enter data, it is checked for correctness and if incorrect, a message is displayed and all changes are discarded and you will have to start again. Remember you must install ([I]nst.) any changes.
[A]dd: When this option is selected you will be prompted for various attributes of the new raid set. These attributes are the raid set name, the raid set type, the initial host interface the raid set is to appear on (in c.h.l format where c is the controller number, h is the host port (0, 1, 2 etc) and l is the SCSI LUN) and finally a list of backends. When backends are to be entered, the screen displays a list of available backends, each with a numeric index (commencing at 0). You select each backend by entering the index and once complete enter q for Quit. As each backend index is entered, it's backend name is displayed in a comma separated list. When you enter data, it is checked for correctness and if incorrect, a message is displayed and the addition will be ignored and you will have to start again. Once the backends are complete, the newly created raid set will be displayed on the screen with supplied and default attributes. You can then modify the raid set to change other attributes. Remember you must install ([I]nst.) any new raid sets.
[D]elete: This action will delete the currently displayed raid set. If this raid set is Active, then you will not be allowed to delete it. You will have to make it Inactive (via the [M]od. option) then delete it. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion. Once you confirm the deletion, the screen will be cleared and the next raid set will be displayed, if configured. Remember you must install ([I]nst.) any changes.
[F]irst, [L]ast, [N]ext and [P]rev allow you to scroll through the configured raid sets.

7.4 [H]ostports:

Figure 3: Host Port Configuration Screen

The Host Port Configuration screen displays for each controller, each host port (labelled A, B, C, etc for port number 0, 1, 2, etc) and the assigned SCSI ID. If the RaidRunner you use, has external switches for host port SCSI ID selection, you may only exit ([Q]uit) from this screen. If the RaidRunner you use, does NOT have external switches for host port SCSI ID selection, then you may modify (and hence install) the SCSI ID for any host port. The menu line allows one to leave the Host Port Configuration screen or select further actions (if NO external host):

[Q]uit: Exit the Host Port Configuration screen and return to the Main screen. If you have modified a host port SCSI ID assignment and have not installed the changes you will be asked to confirm this. If you select Yes to continue the exit, all changes made since the last install action will be discarded.
[I]nstall: This action installs (into the RaidRunner configuration area) any changes that may have been made to host port SCSI ID assign ments. If you exit prior to installing, all changes made since the last installation will be discarded. The installation process takes time. It is complete once the typed "i" character, is cleared from the menu line.
[M]odify: This action allows you to modify the host port SCSI ID assignments for each host port on each controller (if NO external host port SCSI ID switches). You will be prompted for the SCSI ID for each host port. You can enter either a SCSI ID (0 thru 15), the minus "-" character to clear the SCSI ID assignment or RETURN to SKIP. As you enter data, it is checked for correctness and if incorrect, a message will be printed although previously correctly entered data will be retained. Remember you must install ([I]nst.) any changes.

7.5 [S]pares:

Figure 4: Spare Device Configuration Screen

The Spare Device Configuration screen displays all configured spare devices in the data area and provides a menu which allows you to Add, Delete, Mod ify and Install (changes) spare devices. If no spare devices have been configured, only the screen title and menu is displayed. Each spare device displayed, shows it's name (in device_type_c.s.l format), it's size in 512-byte blocks, it's spin status (Hot or Warm), it's controller allocation, finally it's current status (Used/Unused, Faulty/Working). If used, the raid set that uses it is nominated. For information on each attribute of a spare device, see the rconf command in the "Advanced Topics" section. The menu line allows one to leave the Spare Device Configuration screen or select further actions:

[Q]uit: Exit the Spare Device Configuration screen and return to the Main screen. If you have modified, deleted or added a spare device and have not installed the changes you will be asked to confirm this. If you select Yes to continue the exit, all changes made since the last install action will be discarded.
[I]nstall: This action installs (into the RaidRunner configuration area) any changes that may have been made to the spare devices, be that deletion, addition or modification. If you exit prior to installing, all changes made since the last installation will be discarded. The installation process takes time. It is complete once the typed "i" character, is cleared from the menu line.
[M]odify: This action allows you to modify the unused spare devices. You will be prompted for each spare device attribute that can be changed. The prompt includes allowable options or formats required. If you don't wish to change a particular attribute, then press the RETURN key. The attributes you can change are the new size (in 512-byte blocks), the spin state (H or hot or W for Warm), and the controller allocation (A for any, 0 for controller 0, 1 for controller 1, etc). If you wish to change a single attribute of a spare device, then use the RETURN key to skip all other attributes for each spare device. The changed attribute will not be re-displayed until the last prompted attribute is entered (or skipped). When you enter data, it is checked for cor rectness and if incorrect, a message is dis played and all changes are discarded and you will have to start again. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.
[A]dd: When adding a spare device, the list of available devices is displayed and you are required to type in the device name. Once entered, the spare is added with defaults which you can change, if required, via the [M]odify option. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.
[D]elete: When deleting a spare device, the list of spare devices allowed to be deleted is displayed and you are required to type in the required device name. Once entered, the spare is deleted from the screen. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.

7.6 [M]onitor:

Figure 5: SCSI Monitor Screen

The SCSI Monitor Configuration screen displays a table of SCSI monitors configured for the RaidRunner. Up to four SCSI monitors may be configured. The table columns are entitled Controller, Host Port, SCSI LUN and Protocol and each line of the table shows the appropriate SCSI Monitor attribute. For details on SCSI Monitor attributes, see the rconf command in the "Advanced Topics" section. The menu line allows one to leave the SCSI Monitor Configuration screen or modify and install the table.

[Q]uit: Exit the SCSI Monitor Configuration screen and return to the Main screen. If you have made changes and have not installed them you will be asked to confirm this. If you select Yes to continue the exit, all changes made since the last install action will be discarded.
[I]nstall: This action installs (into the RaidRunner configuration area) any changes that may have been made to SCSI Monitor configuration. If you exit prior to installing, all changes made since the last installation will be discarded. The installation process takes time. It is complete once the typed "i" character, is cleared from the menu line.
[M]odify: This action allows you to modify the SCSI Monitor configuration. The cursor will be moved around the table, prompting you for input. If you do not want to change an attribute, enter RETURN to skip. If you want to delete a SCSI monitor then enter the minus "-" character when prompted for the controller number. If you want to use the default protocol list, then enter RETURN at the Protocol List prompt. As you enter data, it is checked for correctness and if incorrect, a message will be printed and any previously entered data is discarded. You will have to re-enter the data again. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.

7.7 [G]eneral:

Figure 6: General Screen

The General screen has a blank data area and a menu which allows one to Quit and return to the main screen, or to select further sub-menus which provide information about Devices, the System Message Logger, Global Environment variables and throughput Statistics.

[Q]uit: Exit the General screen and return to the Main screen.
[D]evices: Enter the Device information screen. The Devices screen displays the name of all devices on the RaidRunner. The menu line allows one to Quit and return to the General screen or display information about the devices.

Figure 7: Devices Screen
- [Q]uit: Exit the Devices screen and return to the General screen.
- [I]nformation: The Device Information screen displays information about each device. You can scroll through the devices. For disks, information displayed includes, the device name, serial number, vendor name, product id, speed, version, sector size, sector count, total device size in MB, number of cylinders, heads and sectors per track and the zone/notch partitions. The menu line allows one the leave the Device Information screen or browse through devices.
  
  Figure 8: Device Information Screen
- - [Q]uit: Exit the Device Information screen and return to the Devices screen.
  - [F]irst, [L]ast, [N]ext and [P]rev allow you to scroll through the devices and hence display their current data .
- Sys[L]og: Enter the System Logger Messages screen.
  
  Figure 9: System Logger Messages Screen
- - [Q]uit: Exit the System Logger Messages screen and return to the General screen.
  - [F]irst, [L]ast, [N]ext and [P]rev allow you to scroll through the system log.
- [E]nvironment: Enter the Global Environment Variable configuration screen. The Environment Variable Configuration screen dis plays all configured Global Environment Variables and provides a menu which allows you to Add, Delete, Modify and Install (changes) variables. Each variable name is displayed followed by an equals "=" and the value assigned to that variable enclosed in braces - "{" .. "}". The menu line allows you to Quit and return to the General screen or select further actions.
  
  Figure 10: Environment Global Variable Configuration Screen
- - [Q]uit: Exit the Environment Variable Configuration screen and return to the General screen. If you have modified, deleted or added an environment variable and have not installed the changes you will be asked to confirm this. If you select Yes to continue the exit, all changes made since the last install action will be discarded.
  - [I]nst: This action installs (into the RaidRunner configuration area) any changes that may have been made to environment variables, be that deletion, addition or modification. If you exit prior to installing, all changes made since the last installation will be discarded. The installation process takes time. It is complete once the typed "i" character, is cleared from the menu line.
  - [M]od: This action allows you to modify an environment variable's value. You will be prompted for the name of the environment variable and then prompted for it's new value. If the environment variable entered is not found, a message will be printed and you will not be prompted for a new value. If you do not enter a new value, (i.e. just press RETURN) no change will be made. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.
  - [A]dd: When adding a new environment variable, you will be prompted for it's name and value. Providing the variable name is not already used and you enter a value, the new variable will be added and displayed. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.
  - [D]elete: When deleting an environment variable, you will be prompted for the variable name and if valid, the environment variable will be deleted. Remember you must install ([I]nstall) any changes.
- [S]tats: Enter the Statistics monitoring screen. The Statistics screen display various general and specific statistics about raid sets configured and running on the RaidRunner. The first section of the data area displays the current temperature in degrees Celsius and the current speed of fans in the RaidRunner. The next section of the data area displays various statistics about the named raid set. The statistics are - the current cache hit rate, the cumulative number of reads, read failures, writes and write failures for each backend of the raid set and finally the read and write throughput for each stargd process (indicated by it's process id) that front's the raid set. The menu line allows one the leave the Statistics screen or select further actions.
  
  Figure 11: Statistics Monitoring Screen
- - [Q]uit: Exit the Statistics screen and return to the General screen.
  - [F]irst, [L]ast, [N]ext and [P]rev allow you to scroll through the statistics.
  - [R]efresh: This option will get the statistics for the given raid set and re-display the current statistics on the screen.
  - [Z]ero: This option will zero the cumulative statistics for the currently displayed raid set.
  - [C]ontinuous: This option will start a back ground process that will update the statis tics of the currently displayed raid set every 2 seconds. A loop counter is created and updated every 2 seconds also. To inter rupt this continuous mode of gathering statistics, just press any character. If you need to re-fresh the display, then press the refresh characters - <Control-l> or <Con trol-r>.
7.8 [P]robe
The probe option re-scans the SCSI channels and updates the backend list with the hardware it finds.
7.9 Example RAID Configuration Session
The generalized procedure for configuration consists of three steps arranged in the following order:
1. Configuring the Host Port(s)
2. Assigning Spares
3. Configuring the RAID set
Note that there is a minimum number of backends required for the various supported RAID levels:
- Level 0 : 2 backends
- Level 3 : 2 backends
- Level 5 : 3 backends
In this example we will configure a RAID 5 using 6, 2.04 gigabyte drives. The total capacity of the virtual drive will be 10 gigabytes (the equivalent of one drive is used for redundancy). This same configuration procedure can be used to configure other levels of RAID sets by changing the type parameter.
1. Power on the computer with the serial terminal connected to the RaidRunner's serial port.
2. When the husky ( :raid; ) prompt appears, Start the GUI by typing "agui" and pressing return.
3. When the main screen appears, select "H" for [H]ostport configuration
4. On some models of RaidRunner the host port in not configurable. If you have only a [Q]uit option here then there is nothing further to be done for the host port configuration, note the values and skip to step 6. If you have add/modify options then your host port is software configurable.
5. If there is no entry for a host port on this screen, add an entry with the parameters: controller=0, hostport=0 , SCSI ID=0. Don't forget to [I]nstall your changes. If there is already and entry present, note the values (they will be used in a later step).
6. From this point onward I will assume the following hardware configuration:
  1. There are 7 - 2.04 gig drives connected as follows:
    1. 2 drives on SCSI channel 0 with SCSI IDs 0 and 1 (backends 0.0.0, and 0.1.0, respectively).
    2. 3 drives on SCSI channel 1 with SCSI IDs 0 ,1 and 5 (backends 1.0.0, 1.1.0, and 1.5.0).
    3. 2 drives on SCSI channel 2 with SCSI IDs 0 and 1 (backends 2.0.0 and 2.1.0).
  2. Therefore:
    1. Rank 0 consists of backends 0.0.0, 1.0.0, 2.0.0
    2. Rank 1 consists of backends 0.1.0, 1.1.0, 2.1.0
    3. Rank 5 contains only the backend 1.5.0
  3. The RaidRunner is assigned to controller 0, hostport 0
7. Press Q to [Q]uit the hostports screen and return to the Main screen.
8. Press S to enter the [S]pares screen
9. Select A to [A]dd a new spare to the spares pool. A list of available backends will be displayed and you will be prompted for the following information:
```
Enter the device name to add to spares - from above:
```
enter
```
D1.5.0
```
Select I to [I]nstall your changes
Select Q to [Q]uit the spares screen and return to the Main screen
Select R from the Main screen to enter the [R]aidsets screen.
Select A to [A]dd a new RAID set. You will be prompted for each of the RAID set parameters. The prompts and responses are given below.
1. Enter the name of Raid Set: cim_homes (or whatever you want to call it).
2. Raid set type [0,1,3,5]: 5
3. Enter initial host interface - ctlr,hostport,scsilun: 0.0.0 Now a list of the available backends will be displayed in the form: 0 - D0.0.0 1 - D1.0.0 2 - D2.0.0 3 - D0.1.0 4 - D1.1.0 5 - D2.1.0
4. Enter index from above - Q to Quit: 1 press return 2 press return 3 press return 4 press return 5 press return Q
After pressing Q you will be returned to the Raid Sets screen. You should see the newly configured Raid set displayed in the data area.
Press I to [I]nstall the changes
Figure 12: The RaidSets screen of the GUI showing the newly configured RAID 5
Press Q to exit the RaidSet screen and return to the the Main screen
Press Q to [Q]uit agui and exit to the husky prompt.
type "reboot" then press enter. This will reboot the RaidRunner (not the host machine.)
When the RaidRunner reboots it will prepare the drives for the newly configured RAID. NOTE: Depending on the size of the RAID this could take a few minutes to a few hours. For the above example it takes the 5070 approximately 10 - 20 minutes to stripe the RAID set.
Once you see the husky prompt again the RAID is ready for use. You can then proceed with the Linux configuration.
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