3.5.4 Using the Physical View

Physical View under the RAID View window is where you can view and modify the configuration of drive and host channels, the fault bus, and physical drives.

To display the Physical View, you can either click on the Physical View button in the RAID View Introduction or select the Physical View icon in the navigation panel of the RAID View window.  A window similar to the one below will appear.

Note that the symbols in the Physical View initial content panel are not interactive. To select a channel, status display, or physical drive, click on the appropriate icon in the navigation panel.

Letting the mouse pointer hover over a channel displays a table similar to the following:

This table provides information such as primary and secondary IDs, and the current transfer clock rate.

The Physical View also allows you to modify the configuration of the drive and host channels, and scan in newly added or replaced physical drives.  It also provides host channel LUN configuration; and remote enclosure monitoring via I2C Bus, SAF-TE Bus, and Fault Bus.

To display host channel LUN configuration information, click on a host channel icon in the navigation panel, then click on the channel ID in the sub-navigation panel (lower-left quadrant of the window). For more information about modifying these configurations, see Chapter 4, Array Management.


I2C

In addition to displaying drive and host channels, the Physical View can also display I2C Bus Device Status. I2C is an interface by which signals from enclosure sensors are passed to the RAID controller.  It provides a basic status report on enclosure devices like power supplies, fans, and drive slots.

If your enclosure has I2C monitoring circuitry and cabling installed, RAIDWatch Manager will display an I2C icon under Physical View. Click on the icon to show I2C devices and status. I2C is not user configurable via RAIDWatch Manager.


SAF-TE

SAF-TE stands for SCSI Accessed Fault-Tolerant Enclosures. It is an enclosure management technology. A SAF-TE-compliant enclosure monitors the fan temperature, power supply, UPS, and also provides drive status LED's.

The SAF-TE enclosure connects to the RAID Controller via a SCSI connector. The RAID controller communicates with the SAF-TE enclosure using standard SCSI commands.

How does SAF-TE work?

The SAF-TE device (often a back plane within a drive-bay enclosure) must occupy a connector on one of the drive channels' SCSI cables. The presence of a SAF-TE device will be detected and its presence will be displayed in the RAIDWatch Manager program under Physical view.

SAF-TE controllers and SAF-TE devices are not user-configurable via RAIDWatch Manager.


Fault Bus

In addition to displaying drive and host channels, the Physical View can also display the status of the Fault Bus.

Fault Bus is a proprietary enclosure management interface.  It will warn the user if a dangerous failure occurs within the RAID system. Fault Bus monitors the fault signals of the ventilation fans, power supply, enclosure temperature sensor, and UPS.  In RAIDWatch Manager, it will report failures to the user by displaying a red "X" on the icon of whichever device has failed.


NOTE:

Only the IFT-3101, IFT-3102, and SentinelRAID 100 Infortrend controllers support fault-bus.


Fault Bus only detects failure signals; it does not detect the current temperature, fan rotation, power supply output, or UPS status. Either a user-designed circuit or a third-party circuit is necessary for Fault Bus.

The user is given the choice of enabling or disabling failure signals.  In addition, each signal must be configured as either High or Low (refer to your third-party manufacturer’s documentation for the proper settings.)


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