Logic MegaRAID Express User's Guide
Table Of Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Introduction to RAID
- 3 RAID Levels
- 4 Features
- 5 Configuring MegaRAID Express 500
- 6 Hardware Installation
- Checklist
- Installation Steps
- Summary
- 7 Cluster Installation and Configuration
- Software Requirements
- Hardware Requirements
- Installation and Configuration
- Driver Installation Instructions under Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Network Requirements
- Shared Disk Requirements
- Cluster Installation
- Installing the Windows 2000 Operating System
- Setting Up Networks
- Configuring the Cluster Node Network Adapter
- Configuring the Public Network Adapter
- Verifying Connectivity and Name Resolution
- Verifying Domain Membership
- Setting Up a Cluster User Account
- Setting Up Shared Disks
- Configuring Shared Disks
- Assigning Drive Letters
- Verifying Disk Access and Functionality
- Cluster Service Software Installation
- Configuring Cluster Disks
- Validating the Cluster Installation
- Configuring the Second Node
- Verify Installation
- SCSI Drive Installations
- Configuring the SCSI Devices
- Terminating the Shared SCSI Bus
- 8 Troubleshooting
- A SCSI Cables and Connectors
- B Audible Warnings
- C Cluster Configuration with a Crossover Cable
- Glossary
- Index
MegaRAID Express 500 Hardware Guide
12
Disk Striping
Disk striping writes data across multiple disk drives instead of just one disk drive. Disk
striping involves partitioning each drive storage space into stripes that can vary in size
from 2 KB to 128 KB. These stripes are interleaved in a repeated sequential manner. The
combined storage space is composed of stripes from each drive. MegaRAID Express 500
supports stripe sizes of 2 KB, 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, or 128 KB.
For example, in a four-disk system using only disk striping (as in RAID level 0), segment
1 is written to disk 1, segment 2 is written to disk 2, and so on. Disk striping enhances
performance because multiple drives are accessed simultaneously; but disk striping does
not provide data redundancy.
Stripe Width
Stripe width is a measure of the number of disks involved in an array where striping is
implemented. For example, a four-disk array with disk striping has a stripe width of four.
Stripe Size
The stripe size is the length of the interleaved data segments that MegaRAID Express 500
writes across multiple drives. MegaRAID Express 500 supports stripe sizes of 2 KB, 4
KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, or 128 KB.