The CHALLENGE® RAID storage system provides a compact, high-capacity, high-availability source of disk storage for the complete line of Silicon Graphics® CHALLENGE servers running IRIX™ 5.3 and 5.3 with XFS™: CHALLENGE S, CHALLENGE DM, CHALLENGE L, and CHALLENGE XL.
 | Note: For ease in reading, CHALLENGE is written as Challenge in the balance of this guide. |
The Challenge RAID storage system uses high-availability disk storage in as many as 20 disk modules. For even more storage, the Challenge RAID rack storage system offers up to four RAID chassis assemblies, each with as many as 20 disk modules. The chassis assemblies in a Challenge RAID rack can be connected to one or more SCSI buses on Challenge servers separately or in combination.
Firmware revision level 8.20 and higher supports RAID levels 0, 1, 1_0 (0+1), 3, and 5, as well as disks configured as individual disk arrays or as hot spares. In addition, a basic Challenge RAID storage system provides storage-system caching.
You administer the Challenge RAID storage system through a command-line interface (CLI) or a graphical user interface (GUI). This guide explains how to perform Challenge RAID operations on both interfaces.
This guide contains the following chapters:
Chapter 1, “Features of the Challenge RAID Storage System,” introduces the main Challenge RAID components and summarizes RAID levels and data availability and performance features.
Chapter 2, “Storage System Configurations,” explains Challenge RAID configurations in detail: basic, dual-interface/dual-processor, and split-bus.
Chapter 3, “Operating the Storage System,” describes how to check status, identify failing components, and start and shut down the storage system.
Chapter 4, “Configuring Disks,” explains how to use the command-line interface to group disks into RAID-5 groups and how to display or change information on groups of disks.
Chapter 5, “Maintaining Disk Modules,” explains how to replace a failed disk module and add a disk module array.
Chapter 6, “Identifying Failed System Components,” explains how to get status information on failed components other than disk modules.
Chapter 7, “Caching,” explains how to determine, set up, and change caching parameters.
Chapter 8, “Reconfiguring LUNs,” explains how to transfer control of a LUN and how to change LUN configuration and parameters.
Appendix A, “Technical Specifications,” summarizes technical information for the Challenge RAID deskside storage system.
Appendix B, “The raidcli Command-Line Interface,” lists and explains all parameters of the raid5 command.
Appendix C, “Storage-Control Processor Event-Log Error Codes,” lists and explains the error codes that appear in the SP event log.
Appendix D, “RAID-3 and Fast RAID-3,” summarizes firmware revision level-based differences in the capabilities and requirements of RAID level 3.
Appendix E, “Compliance Statements,” shows domestic and international compliance statements.
An index completes this guide.
In command syntax descriptions and examples, square brackets ( [ ] ) surrounding an argument indicate an optional argument. Variable parameters are in italics. Replace these variables with the appropriate string or value.
In text descriptions, IRIX filenames are in italics. The names of keyboard keys are printed in boldface typewriter font and enclosed in angle brackets, such as <Enter> or <Esc>.
Messages and prompts that appear on-screen are shown in fixed-width type. Entries that are to be typed exactly as shown are in boldface fixed-width type.