Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 manual

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34

Go to page of

A good user manual

The rules should oblige the seller to give the purchaser an operating instrucion of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210, along with an item. The lack of an instruction or false information given to customer shall constitute grounds to apply for a complaint because of nonconformity of goods with the contract. In accordance with the law, a customer can receive an instruction in non-paper form; lately graphic and electronic forms of the manuals, as well as instructional videos have been majorly used. A necessary precondition for this is the unmistakable, legible character of an instruction.

What is an instruction?

The term originates from the Latin word „instructio”, which means organizing. Therefore, in an instruction of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 one could find a process description. An instruction's purpose is to teach, to ease the start-up and an item's use or performance of certain activities. An instruction is a compilation of information about an item/a service, it is a clue.

Unfortunately, only a few customers devote their time to read an instruction of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210. A good user manual introduces us to a number of additional functionalities of the purchased item, and also helps us to avoid the formation of most of the defects.

What should a perfect user manual contain?

First and foremost, an user manual of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 should contain:
- informations concerning technical data of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210
- name of the manufacturer and a year of construction of the Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 item
- rules of operation, control and maintenance of the Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 item
- safety signs and mark certificates which confirm compatibility with appropriate standards

Why don't we read the manuals?

Usually it results from the lack of time and certainty about functionalities of purchased items. Unfortunately, networking and start-up of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 alone are not enough. An instruction contains a number of clues concerning respective functionalities, safety rules, maintenance methods (what means should be used), eventual defects of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210, and methods of problem resolution. Eventually, when one still can't find the answer to his problems, he will be directed to the Texas Memory Systems service. Lately animated manuals and instructional videos are quite popular among customers. These kinds of user manuals are effective; they assure that a customer will familiarize himself with the whole material, and won't skip complicated, technical information of Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210.

Why one should read the manuals?

It is mostly in the manuals where we will find the details concerning construction and possibility of the Texas Memory Systems RamSam-210 item, and its use of respective accessory, as well as information concerning all the functions and facilities.

After a successful purchase of an item one should find a moment and get to know with every part of an instruction. Currently the manuals are carefully prearranged and translated, so they could be fully understood by its users. The manuals will serve as an informational aid.

Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    - i - TEXAS MEMORY SYSTEMS, INC. RamSan - 210 User’s Manual Version 1. 1[...]

  • Page 2

    - ii - Any trademarks or registered trademarks used in this document belong to the companies that own them. Copyright © 2001 , Texas Memory Systems, Inc. All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information [...]

  • Page 3

    - iii - Table of Contents Preface ................................................................................................................................. 1 Document Overview ....................................................................................................... 1 Conventions ................................................[...]

  • Page 4

    - iv - 4.5.13 RESET ...................................................................................................... 19 4.5.14 STATUS .................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 5 Cha pter 5 – Hot Swap Components .............................................................[...]

  • Page 5

    - v - Figures Figure 1 RamSan - 210 Layout ............................................................................................. 6 Figure 3 - 2 RamSan - 210 Front Panel ................................................................................ 10 Figure 5 - 3 Default LUN configuration ..................................................[...]

  • Page 6

    - 1 - Preface Document Overview This document provides operating procedures for the RamSan - 210. It covers installation, management, and troubling shooting issues. Conventions The following textual c onventions are used in this document: Select Front panel button descriptions Ethernet Setup Front panel text (menu items) lunconfig Management port ([...]

  • Page 7

    - 2 - Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 Overview The RamSan - 210 is a solid - state disk . The system uses SDRAM (memory) as primary storage. The system is non - volatile because all writes are mirrored to two internal hard disk drives and stored in memory. All reads occur from memory. This architecture provides uncompromised performance and security[...]

  • Page 8

    - 3 - 1.3 Power Requirements The RamSan - 210 requires 150 watts of power for a fully loaded system. The RamSan - 210 includes two power supplies. Only one power supply is needed to run the system. The power supplies are auto - ranging (they will accept either 110 or 220 power). Each power supply is c onnected to an internal battery. The batteries [...]

  • Page 9

    - 4 - read intensive. Statistically, most applications have 80% reads and 20% writes. For systems that are w rite intensive, please contact Texas Memory Systems to discuss configuration alternatives. The RamSan - 210 with two FC32 Fibre Channel controllers should be able to provide very close to 400MB/second of read performance. The system will aut[...]

  • Page 10

    - 5 - Chapter 2 – Installation 2.1 Electro - Static Discharge Warning Important: P lease take full E.S.D. precautions if it is necessary at any time to come into contact with any circuit boards, components or connectors. The components used in the RamSan - 210 and its interfaces can be damage d by electrostatic discharge. 2.2 Battery Warning The [...]

  • Page 11

    - 6 - Figure 1 RamSan - 210 Layout[...]

  • Page 12

    - 7 - 2.4 Rack Mounting The RamSan - 210 is a 2U rack - mountable system. The system is shipped with the slides and equipment needed to install it into a standard 19” rack. 2.5 Connecting the Fibre Channel Ports After you have inspected the system and properly mounted it, connect the Fibre Channel ports on the RamSan - 210 to either your server o[...]

  • Page 13

    - 8 - one without any interruption in Fibre Channel service. Howev er, if external power is completely lost, all Fibre Channel ports will go into a standby mode after a short user - defined timeout period because the system will power off. Warning: Do not remove both power supplies from the system at the same time. This w ill cause system failure s[...]

  • Page 14

    - 9 - 2.7 Turning on the System The RamSan - 210 will automatically power on when power is connected to the system. The only time the system will not automatically power on is when a user has initiated a Manual Shutdown of the system. In t he event this has happened, it is necessary to press the top button on either power supply. Please see 2.6 Con[...]

  • Page 15

    - 10 - Chapter 3 – Using the Front Panel 3.1 Overview The front panel for the RamSan - 210 allows you to inspect the state of the system, change the method of IP address assignment, and shutdown the system. Four buttons located to the left of the panel are used to make selections. Figure 4.1 is a picture of the front of the system. Figure 3 - 2 R[...]

  • Page 16

    - 11 - 3.2 Menu System Layout The front panel menu system is as follows: RS-210 Main Menu • Ethernet Setup § Set IP Config § Static § IP § Subnet Mask § Gateway § DHCP § BOOTP § RARP § None § No Change (Exit) § Restart Network § Show Current Config § Exit Menu • Manual Shutdown § Power off System? • Exit Menu 3.3 Ethernet Setup [...]

  • Page 17

    - 12 - After selecting “ Set IP Config ”, you may use the arrow buttons to cycle though “ Static IP ”, “ DHCP ”, “ BOOTP ”, “ RARP ”, “ None ”, and “ No Change ”. Talk to your system administrator for t he proper IP assignment type. Use the “ Select ” button to select the desired method of IP assignment. If you did n[...]

  • Page 18

    - 13 - display will now indicate that the system is powering off. This will typically take between 5 and 15 seconds to complete. As a reminder, in order to turn the RamSan - 210 back on after a manual shutdown it is necessary to press the top button on either power supply. 3.5 System Monitoring When the menu on the front panel is not in use, it is [...]

  • Page 19

    - 14 - o “ *FAIL* ” . This indicated that a System Failure has been detected. Possible failures include: – Front or rear fan trays have a failed fan – Power supply failed – One or both batteries have failed – System overheated – One or both disks have failed In the case of either System Warnings or Failures, the front panel display wi[...]

  • Page 20

    - 15 - Chapter 4 The Management Control Port (MCP) 4.1 Connecting to the MCP The management port on the RamSan - 210 allows you to manage, configure, and monitor system behavior. This includes obtaining status information about internal hardware, configuring the LUNs , and obtaining data rates of the system. You may connect to the management port u[...]

  • Page 21

    - 16 - 4.5 MCP Commands 4.5.1 EXIT The exit command is used to clos e a monitor session. The “ QUIT ” command also performs the same action. 4.5.2 HELP The “ HELP ” command provides a brief online description of each command that is available. Commands that require parameters are listed with the “ <parameters> ” as options. Comman[...]

  • Page 22

    - 17 - IP Address = 192.94.231.206 Netmask = 255.255.255.0 Select option: 1. Change IP assignment mode 2. Change hostname S. Save changes, restart the network, and exit Q. Cancel (No changes) Enter selection: To change the IP assignment mode enter “ 1 ”. This w ill present the following screen: ** Ethernet configuration utility ** Current IP as[...]

  • Page 23

    - 18 - To exit the IP configuration utility, select “ S ” to save the changes you have made. The network will be re configured to use the new Ethernet settings you have chosen. To discard any changes you have made, use the “ Q ” option. 4.5.6 LUNCONFIG This command is a memory - partitioning tool that allows the administrator to configure s[...]

  • Page 24

    - 19 - The password feature is automatically bypassed when logging in on the serial console. This feature allows a system administrator access to the RamSan - 210 if the password is forgotten or lost. 4.5.9 PERFORMANCE T he “ PERFORMANCE ” command may be used to view the bandwidth of each port. The monitor shows the average bandwidth of each po[...]

  • Page 25

    - 20 - 4.5.14 STATUS The “ STATUS ” command provides a variety of configuration details for the MCP and the Fibre Channel controllers. ram-san> status Texas Memory Systems, Inc. RamSan-210 Monitor Software Version: 1.0.1 Ethernet address: 00:20:c2:00:08:05 Ethernet IP: 192.94.231.206 Capacity: 4096 Megabytes System Status: System Idle FC32 C[...]

  • Page 26

    - 21 - Chapter 5 – Hot Swap Components One of the main features of the RamSan - 210 is the ability to hot swap many of the sy stem components. The power supplies, fans and disk drives can all be hot swapped; meaning that these components can be removed and replacement components reinserted while the system is running. 5.1 Hot Swapping Power Suppl[...]

  • Page 27

    - 22 - 5.2 Hot Swapping Disk Drives The RamSan - 210 includes two mirrored hard disk drives. The system can operate with two disks operational, one disk operational or no disks operational. Normal operation mirrors writes to both disk drives. If a single disk drive fails, the system will continue to write to the available disk drive. At this point,[...]

  • Page 28

    - 23 - The following steps should be performed to hot swap a fan block: 1. Slide the latch on the fans to the left and simultaneously pull firmly on the fan handle. The unit will slide out from the chassis. Use caution to avoid hitting the spinning fan blades once removed. 2. Firmly insert the new fan block into the RamSan - 210 chassis. The fans w[...]

  • Page 29

    - 24 - Chapter 6 – Batteries The RamSan - 210 is equipped with two redundant one - hour Lithium Ion batteries. The batteries are designed to support the RamSan’s operational modes. Specifically, if external power to the RamSan - 210 is lost, the system will continue to function running on the internal batteries. The batteries in the RamSan - 21[...]

  • Page 30

    - 25 - Chapter 7 – Troubleshooting After the system runs short self - tests on each internal component, the hardware initiates synchronization between disk and memory. To obtain further information about the failing location, the management p ort must be used. Contact Information: Texas Memory System, Inc. 11200 Westheimer Suite #1000 Houston, Te[...]

  • Page 31

    - 26 - Chapter 8 – Specifications 8.1 Physical Characteristics Rack Mount Size: 2U (3.5”) x 25” deep Weight: 50 lbs. Voltage: 110 or 22 0 VAC Ventilation: Side to side airflow Rear exhaust for power supplies 8.2 Operating Environment Temperature: 32 - 85 ° F (0 - 30 ° C) Max relative humidity: 80% (non - condensing) Max heat dissipation: 51[...]

  • Page 32

    - 27 - Appendix A – RamSan - 210 Replacement Parts Figure B - 1 MCP31 Management Control Processor Figure B - 2 FC32 Dual channel 1 gigabit Fibre Channel controller[...]

  • Page 33

    - 28 - Figure B - 3 PWR21 Power Supply Module Figure B - 4 FAN21 Hot swappable fan tray[...]

  • Page 34

    - 29 - Figure B - 5 MEMG41 4 Gigabyte memory blade Figure B - 6 TDD21 18 gigabyte replacement hard drive[...]