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Appendix A AcerAltos 3102RS RAID
(Redundant Array of Independent
Disks) Controller
The AcerAltos 3102RS RAID controller is an Ultra-Wide-SCSI-to-Ultra-Wide-
SCSI RAID controller specifically designed to provide RAID 0, 1, 3, or 5
capability to any host system equipped with a SCSI interface. It is totally
independent of the host system's operating system. All RAID functions are
performed by a 486 CPU coupled with high-speed DRAMs and firmware in
the Flash Memory. In effect, it endows the host system with a high-speed
and fault-tolerant disk storage operation using the RAID technology. It is an
ideal solution for weaving several hard disks into one contiguous volume.
The controller has comprehensive drive failure management that allows
automatic reassignment of reserved blocks when a bad sector is encountered
during a write. Hot-swapping is supported through automatic disconnection
of a failed drive and detection of a reserved drive followed with background
building of data. The controller also controls spare drive operation. What is
remarkable is that all of these failure recovery procedures are transparent to
the host system.
The controller has been designed with ease of integration and maintenance
in mind. All major factors are described in the next chapter. The AA-3102RS
already includes all the major operational requirements of the RAID sub
system.
The overall features of a fully-built RAID system will, however,
depend on the actual components used and the creativity of the integrator.
Basic Features
Five operating modes:
Non-RAID
RAID-0
RAID-1
RAID-3
RAID-5
Disk-spanning
Disk striping
Disk mirroring and striping (RAID 0+1)
Disk striping with dedicated parity
Multiple block striping with interspersed parity
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