User manual

FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual

Selecting Array Type

1. Under the Definition section of this menu, highlight the Array # for which you want to

assign a RAID level.

2. Use the [Space] key to cycle through three array types: Performance (RAID 0 Striping),

Security (RAID 1 Mirroring, RAID 0+1 Striping/Mirroring (for 4 drives), or Capacity

(Spanning)). See page 43 about RAID levels.

[ Define Array Definition Menu ]

Array No RAID Mode Total Drv Capacity(MB) Status

Array 1 Stripe 2 16126 Functional

Stripe Block: 64 KB Gigabyte Boundary: ON

[ Drive Assignments ]

Channel:ID Drive Model Capacity (MB) Assignment

1 : Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Y

1 : Slave QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 N

2 : Master QUANTUMCR8.4A 8063 Y

[ Keys Available ]

[↑] Up [↓] Down [ESC] Exit [Space] Select [Ctrl-Y] Save

Selecting Stripe Block

For RAID 0 and RAID 0+1 arrays you may manually select the “stripe block size.” Use the

Spacebar to scroll through choices progressing as follows (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 . . . 1024).

The size selected affects how FastTrak TX2000 sends and retrieves data blocks from the

drives. You will need to perform your own testing to determine how the data block size is

affecting your particular use of the array. In general, a larger block size is better when handling

large data transfers (such as in A/V editing or graphics) while a smaller block size is better

when handling e-mail and other common server data. The default is 64K.

Gigabyte Boundary

The Gigabyte Boundary feature is designed for mirrored arrays (RAID 1 or

RAID 0+1) in which a drive has failed and the user cannot replace the drive with the same

capacity or larger. Instead, the Gigabyte Boundary feature permits the installation of a

replacement drive that is slightly smaller (within 1 gigabyte) than the remaining working drive

(for example, a 20.5 GB drive would be rounded down to 20 GB). This can be helpful in the

event that a drive fails and an exact replacement model is no longer available. Without this

feature enabled, FastTrak TX2000 will NOT permit the use of a replacement drive that is slightly

smaller than the remaining working drive.

For the Gigabyte Boundary feature to work, the Gigabyte Boundary feature must be set to “ON”

when the original mirrored array is created. When enabled, the Gigabyte Boundary feature

rounds the drive capacity of both drives to the common whole GB drive size. For example, with

the Gigabyte Boundary feature enabled, the remaining working drive can be 20.5 GB and the

replacement drive can be 20.3, since both are rounded down to 20GB. This permits the smaller