Sun StorEdge SRC/P Intelligent SCSI RAID ControllerTM System ...

Internal Information
Sun StorEdge SRC/P Intelligent SCSI RAID Controller TM System FAQ
Question Answer
Why support Sun StorEdge TM MultiPack systems?
Why not support Sun StorEdge D1000 arrays?
The primary requirement for the card was to
support single ended UltraSCSI disks—those
used as internal drives in the Sun Enterprise TM 250
and 450 servers. No cards support both
single-ended and differential SCSI (required to
support Sun StorEdge D1000 array). Since the
card also has external SCSI ports, we qualified it
for use with Sun StorEdge MultiPack systems.
Why introduce another RAID management GUI? Unfortunately we had no choice. There were no
RAID cards available that were compatible with
RM6, and porting RM6 was not an option.
Why can’t this card be used in a cluster? Because the controller must operate in
write-through mode when sharing disks with
another controller, the write performance gains
from the on-board cache are negated. The Sun
StorEdge A1000 array, with its shared controller,
is better suited for disk sharing/clustering.
Why can’t the card support boot disks? In order to support booting, the Sun StorEdge
SRC/P device driver must be included in the base
Solaris TM Operating Environment install package.
This will happen at the next Solaris 7 Operating
Environment update release. We are evaluating
alternative methods for supporting booting from
the controller under the Solaris 2.6 Operating
Environment, although this is not committed.
What must be done add the Sun StorEdge SRC/P
card into an existing Sun Enterprise 450 server
system that already has internal 8-bay options
installed?
First, remove the internal SCSI cable for each
8-disk option and replaced with a 530-2744 cable
(either included in an X6602A option or ordered
as a spare). Then, simply remove the dual-channel
SCSI controller and replace with the Sun
StorEdge SRC/P card. The disk backplane and
other internal cables need not be replaced.
Just the Facts December 1999
Internal Information