*************************************************************** * IBM ServeRAID Firmware/BIOS Update Readme * * Version 3.60 * *************************************************************** CONTENTS ________ 1.0 Overview 2.0 Updating the BIOS and firmware 3.0 BIOS setup 4.0 Change history 5.0 Trademarks and notices 1.0 Overview ____________ The IBM ServeRAID Firmware/BIOS Update Diskette Version 3.60 contains BIOS Level 3.60.05 and the following firmware levels: o Firmware Level 3.60.21 for the ServeRAID 3H Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter and the ServeRAID 3L Ultra 2 SCSI Adapter. o Firmware Level 2.88.13 for the ServeRAID II Ultra SCSI Adapter. o Firmware Level 2.88.13 for the integrated ServeRAID Controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards. o Firmware Level 2.25.01 for the ServeRAID Adapter. For more information about IBM ServeRAID and server products, visit the IBM Netfinity Web site at: http://www.pc.ibm.com/netfinity or refer to the ServeRAID User's Guide. To install device drivers and management software for your ServeRAID controller, refer to the readme.txt file for your operating system. You can find the readme files at any of the following locations: - The ServeRAID device driver diskettes - The PROGRAMS directory on the "IBM ServeRAID Support CD" - The IBM Netfinity Web site 2.0 Updating the BIOS and firmware ___________________________________ NOTES: a. When upgrading the BIOS/firmware to 3.60, you must also upgrade to 3.60 version drivers and utilities. b. If you are running a ServeRAID-3L with write-back mode enabled and a 64 KB logical block size, you might experience a hang condition. This behavior will be corrected in the first half 2000 firmware release. To work-around this potential problem, change the cache setting to Write Through. Otherwise, do not create logical drives with a block size of 64 KB. Once the block size is set with the creation of the array, you cannot change the block size without losing data. If you need to run in write-back mode, you must backup your data, recreate arrays and logical drives, and then restore your data. 1. Insert the "IBM ServeRAID Support CD" into the CD-ROM drive or insert the "IBM ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Update Diskette" into the diskette drive; then, turn on the system. NOTE: The ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Update program might hang while booting the "IBM ServeRAID Support CD," if the ServeRAID BIOS is 3.10 or earlier. To prevent this potential problem, update the ServeRAID BIOS and firmware with the ServeRAID BIOS/Firmware Diskette 3.60 or later which is available on the IBM Web site. 2. Wait for the BIOS/Firmware Update program to start and follow the instructions on the screen. 3.0 BIOS setup _______________ If your server contains multiple ServeRAID adapters or controllers, only one copy of the ServeRAID BIOS is used. If multiple copies of the BIOS are detected, the BIOS will be handled based on how each one is configured. The instructions to configure the BIOS settings are found in the Advanced Functions section of the Mini-Configuration program. The Multiple-Controller mode has two settings: Erase and Shrink. o Erase erases redundant copies of the ServeRAID BIOS. o Shrink removes redundant copies of the ServeRAID BIOS from memory, but stores the copies for future use. When you have multiple ServeRAID adapters and controllers installed, you need only one active copy of ServeRAID BIOS. However, to ensure that you have a copy of the ServeRAID BIOS available if your active copy becomes defective or unavailable, leave the Multiple-Controller mode set to Shrink. 4.0 Change history __________________ ServeRAID Family changes from level 3.50.20 to 3.60.21 ______________________________________________________ o ServeRAID Manager has the following new features: - Runs in Netfinity Director on Windows NT - OS/2 and NetWare 5.0 support - Option to verify a Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) is setup correctly - Standby Hot Spare support - BIOS compatibility mode setting - Enable write-back cache in the drives support - Printable configuration, code levels, event logs, and VPD - Enhanced PCI Hot Plug and Failover support - Enclosure monitoring. o The ServeRAID Manager replaces the following programs: - DOS Configuration program - OS/2 Administration and Monitoring program - NetWare Administration and Monitoring program - Windows NT Administration and Monitoring program. o IPSSEND BACKUP now saves the BIOS settings. o The High-Performance Windows NT 4.0 (monolithic) driver is integrated with the standard miniport driver now. You can now expect higher performance and less CPU utilization when accessing RAID drives. o New device driver for the Red Hat Linux 6.0 operating system. ServeRAID-3H/3L changes from level 3.50.25 to 3.60.21 _____________________________________________________ o Performance enhancements in the ServeRAID firmware. o Support for arrays consisting of up to 16 physical drives with 32 KB and 64 KB stripe-unit sizes. o Support for up to four concurrent FlashCopy commands. ServeRAID-3H/3L changes from level 3.50.22 to 3.50.25 _____________________________________________________ o Fix of rare, but potential, failure that might result under repeated manual movement of cluster resources from one server to another under MSCS. o Fix of potential hang conditions resulting from the handling of the ServeRAID battery-backup cache. o Enhancement of drive rebuilding while logical drive migration is in progress. o Fix of various operating system-level traps reported on, but not limited to, OS/2 and UnixWare 7.1. o Improved handling of drives that exceed the (Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) threshold. ServeRAID-3H/3L changes from level 3.11.00 to 3.50.22 _____________________________________________________ o Rebuild recovery enhancements o New RAID level-5E o FlashCopy o Adaptive Read-Ahead support o Enhanced import configuration path when importing a configuration with a non-default stripe-unit size o RAID level-1 rebuild error recovery enhancements o Logical drive migration stress test enhancements with NetWare 4.2 o Corrected system hang condition for PC Server 704 o Channel 3 quorum-arbitration link no longer required when running Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) o Clustering error recovery enhancements o Message to the user added when voltage drop or removal of Battery-Backup Cache option ServeRAID Family changes from level 3.11.00 to 3.50.20 ______________________________________________________ o New ServeRAID Manager for Windows NT and UnixWare o Support for 12 controllers with Windows NT o Logical drive numbering starts at 1 instead of 0 o When creating a hot-spare drive, old ServeRAID configuration data is automatically deleted from the drive. This eliminates the low-level format requirement for cluster setups. o Corrected Windows NT installation problems with more than seven drives in RAID level-5 array. ServeRAID-II and integrated ServeRAID controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards: Changes from level 2.88.08 to 2.88.13 ___________________________________________________________ o Enhancement of drive rebuilding while logical drive migration is in progress. o Fix of various operating system-level traps reported on, but not limited to, OS/2 and UnixWare 7.1. ServeRAID-II and integrated ServeRAID controller on the IBM PC Server 330 and IBM Netfinity 5500 system boards: Changes from level 2.88.06 to 2.88.08 ___________________________________________________________ o Rebuild recovery enhancements o Clustering error recovery enhancements 5.0 Trademarks and notices __________________________ The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM Netfinity OS/2 ServeRAID Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. 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