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NETWARE.TXT
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This file describes the features and use of the Symbios Logic SDMS
device drivers for the Novell NetWare v3.12 and 4.xx operating
system environments. It is divided into the following sections:
Introduction
Installing Your SDMS NetWare Drivers
The Power Management Utilities
Important Additional Information
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********************** Introduction ***********************
The Symbios Logic SDMS drivers for the Novell Netware operating
system allow you to utilize a Symbios Logic SCSI controller or
processor, controlled by a Symbios Logic SCSI BIOS, with NetWare.
The SDMS software, coupled with a Symbios Logic SCSI controller
or processor, provides a SCSI solution within the NetWare
environment.
Separate drivers are provided for Novell NetWare v3.12, and Novell
NetWare v4.xx. The following information explains how to install and
use the SDMS SCSI drivers for NetWare.
* Features *
Supports the ASPI interface
Provides synchronous negotiation including Fast and Ultra (Fast-20) SCSI
Supports multiple host adapters
Supports multiple logical unit numbers (LUN)
Large LUN support (larger than 7.844 GBytes) for devices with
dedicated NetWare partitions and volumes
Supports Disconnect/Reselect
Supports scatter-gather
Supports tagged command queuing
Supports ordered queue tags
Allows shared interrupts
Supports Wide SCSI (single-ended and differential)
Supports device exclusion
Supports NWOS2
Supports NW4.10 SFT-III
Supports target initiated negotiation (wide and synchronous)
Displays SCSI Additional Sense Code & Qualifier bytes
Support for removable media devices including CD-ROM, Magneto
Optical, and Bernoulli devices
Supports retries on non-sequential access devices
Extensive error reporting and handling for multi-LUN RAID support
Supports 3.XX BIOS
Supports 4.XX BIOS and ASPI drivers
Power management supported via PMSCHED
(a power management utility)
* Description *
There is a separate SDMS device driver and ASPI manager for each
of two major releases of NetWare. For NetWare v3.12, the SDMS
device driver is SDMSNET3.DSK, and the file NETASPI3.NLM is
loaded if support for the ASPI interface is desired (this is required
for devices such as tape drives). For NetWare v4.xx, the SDMS
device driver is SDMSNET4.DSK, and the file NETASPI4.NLM is
loaded if support for the ASPI interface is desired.
* ASPI Support *
The Symbios Logic ASPI interface is provided by the NETASPIx.NLM
drivers. NetWare, or third party applications, may use this interface to
communicate with any SCSI-2 device attached to a Symbios Logic
controller, including SCSI-2 tape devices.
************ Installing Your SDMS NetWare Drivers ************
Install NetWare as described in the Novell NetWare Installation
Manual. The following information is provided to assist in the
installation.
You can load these drivers only once. If changes are required
(to reconfigure the driver options), you must remove the drivers and
reload them with the new option settings. If these changes are
permanent, and the drivers load automatically at server boot time, you
must specify these options in the startup.ncf or autoexec.ncf file.
* For An Existing Installation Of NetWare
With SDMS Drivers Installed *
If your current SDMS NetWare drivers are version 3.05.00 or older,
they are named NCRSDMSx.DSK and ASPICAMx.NLM. Replace
the NCRSDMSx.DSK and ASPICAMx.NLM drivers with the ones
supplied on the new Symbios Logic device drivers diskette.
If you intend the driver to auto load on NetWare boot, it is necessary
to edit the startup.ncf or autoexec.ncf file and replace the line:
LOAD NCRSDMSx.DSK <options>
with
LOAD SDMSNETx.DSK <options>
where x is the version of NetWare you are using, and <options> are
the command line options (if any) you intend to use.
If your current SDMS NetWare drivers are version 3.06.00 or newer,
they are named SDMSNETx.DSK and NETASPIx.NLM. Replace
the SDMSNETx.DSK and NETASPIx.NLM drivers with the ones
supplied on the new Symbios Logic device drivers diskette.
No other actions are required to use these new drivers. You may want
to review the command line options to insure you are using the best
options for your configuration.
* For NetWare v3.12 New Installations *
Note:
The SDMSNET3.DSK driver should work on a NetWare 3.11 server.
However, this compatibility is neither tested nor supported.
1. Create a directory in which to install the NetWare file server.
Change to that directory and copy all the files from the NetWare
system disks into that directory.
2. Copy the file SDMSNET3.DSK from the Symbios Logic device
drivers diskette into this directory. If ASPI support is desired, also
copy NETASPI3.NLM.
3. To start NetWare and continue the installation, type:
SERVER
4. When prompted, enter the name of the file server and
network (IPX) number. See the chapter on file server installation
in the NetWare Installation Manual for restrictions and further
information.
5. At the NetWare prompt, type:
LOAD SDMSNET3 <options>
This command loads the main driver. Without this command,
NetWare is unable to access the hard disk drive. If ASPI
support is desired, also type:
LOAD NETASPI3
6. To bring up the Installation menu, at the NetWare prompt type:
LOAD INSTALL
Continue with the installation according to the file server installation
chapter in the Novell NetWare Installation Manual.
7. At the Available System Options menu, select the
EDIT STARTUP.NCF option and check to see that the line
LOAD SDMSNET3 is in the file. If not, add this line to the file.
This eliminates the need to load drivers by hand every time the system
is powered up. If the line appears more than once, remove the duplicate
statements and all references to "port=xxxx", "slot=xxxx" and/or
"mem=xxxx".
8. In addition, if ASPI support is required, add the line:
load NETASPI3.NLM
to the file after the line:
load SDMSNET3.DSK
* For NetWare v4.xx New Installations *
1. Begin the file server installation as per the instructions in the file
server installation chapter in the Novell NetWare Installation Manual.
2. When the NetWare installation procedure prompts you for a disk
driver, insert the Symbios Logic device drivers diskette into
drive a: or b:. Then use the INS key to select an unlisted driver. A
dialog box appears. If you are installing the driver from the a: drive,
press Enter to continue. If you are installing the driver from the
b: drive, press F3 (to specify the path to search for the driver), and
enter the drive letter:
B:
The SDMSNET4.DSK driver should appear as a selection.
Select the driver.
3. Next you are prompted with the available command line options
to load the driver. A description of each option appears in the
box at the bottom of the installation screen. A more detailed
description is also given later in this document, in the section titled
Command Line Options. Select any options needed for your
particular installation.
4. When asked to edit the STARTUP.NCF file, make sure
SDMSNET4 is loaded only once. If present, remove the
"port=xxxx slot=xxxx mem=xxxx" options from the command line.
5. After the installation is complete, if ASPI support is also desired,
down the server and copy the NETASPI4.NLM file to the appropriate
server directory. For NetWare 4.0x systems this directory is
SERVER.40 by default. For NetWare 4.1x systems this directory is
NWSERVER by default.
Edit the startup.ncf file and add the line:
load NETASPI4.NLM
to the file after the line:
load SDMSNET4.DSK
* For NetWare v4.1x SFT-III Installations *
1. Install your primary server following procedures for native 4.1x
installations.
2. Begin the SFT-III installation as instructed by NetWare installation
procedures.
3. While installing the secondary server, you have the option of
copying the SDMSNET4.DSK driver from the primary server.
Press F10 to accept.
4. If ASPI support is required for the secondary server, down the
system after completing the SFT-III installation.
Copy the NETASPI4.NLM file from the device drivers diskette to
the NWSERVER directory on the secondary server.
Edit the IOSTART.NCF file on both servers by adding the line:
load NETASPI4.NLM
to the files after the line:
load SDMSNET4.DSK
* For NetWare v4.1x NWOS2 Installations *
This is not a supported configuration
* Command Line Options *
The SDMSNET3.DSK and SDMSNET4.DSK drivers have many
tuning parameters. Following is a list of tuning parameters available,
including the default option and a list of valid options. Following
each parameter is a description of when to use a parameter, and any
impact its use/disuse might incur.
If an option is specified but the assignment is not valid, then the
default value is used. The SDMSNET3.DSK and SDMSNET4.DSK
drivers are referred to in the remainder of this section as
SDMSNETx.DSK, where x refers to the appropriate NetWare
operating system version.
The options described below are used by placing the specified
characters on the load command line for the SDMS driver. For
example, if the Verbose Mode command line option is desired in
NetWare 3.1X, the load command line should look like this:
load SDMSNET3 -v
IMPORTANT:
No spaces are allowed in specifying these command line options.
Spaces are required between different command line options.
Using the Verbose Mode Option
Command line option: -v
Function: Display the current settings of
all driver options.
This option shows all the command line option settings for this load
of the driver.
Using the Help Mode Option
Command line option: -? or -h
Function: Display the options available in
the driver.
Possible Impact: The driver will not load with -?
or -h specified.
This option is specified on the command line for a brief description
of each of the options available in the driver, as well as valid values
for each option. If the -? or -h option is specified along with other
options, the help screen is invoked, the other options are ignored,
and the driver is not loaded.
Using the Tagged Queuing Option
Command line option: qtags=<option>
Default value: enable
Valid options: enable, disable
Function: Enable/disable tagged
queuing for the devices
Possible Impact: Tagged queuing may result in
improved I/O throughput in
devices that support such an
option.
Enabling this option results in the driver issuing tagged IO requests
to the devices that support tagged queuing. Devices that do not
support tagged queuing are not issued tagged requests. Depending
on the drive controller, throughput of the device is increased by the
use of queue tags. However, the optimal number of queue tags is
based on the specific device type.
Using the Depth of Queue Tags Option
Command line option: qdepth=<option>
Default value: 10
Valid options: 0-128
Function: Set the depth of the queue for
tagged queuing. This
value designates the depth of the
queue per LUN (I_T_L
nexus). That is, this value
designates the depth of the
queue per device, or per LUN, if
a device has multiple LUNs.
Possible Impact: Used to optimize the
performance of tagged queuing.
This option is valid only when tagged queuing (qtags) is enabled,
which it is by default. Values possible for this parameter range
from 0 to 128. 0 is equivalent to qtags=disable. While the actual
depth of the queue depends on the specific drive controller. For
single drives, values of about 10-30 are typically optimal.
Sometimes a greater number is optimal for peripherals such as disk arrays.
You should experiment with various qdepth values to determine the
optimal performance for their particular setup. The optimal qdepth
value is based on different aspects of the system, including but not
limited to: the processor, the available memory, the disk drives, and
other peripherals.
Note:
The driver supports a maximum of 128 qtags per controller at a
given time. The driver may allocate fewer qtags per device if this
limit is being reached.
Using the Queue Tag Type Option
Command line option: qtag_type=<option>
Default value: simple
Valid options: simple, ordered
Function: Specify the type of tagged
commands the device is
issued.
Possible Impact: Ordered type is required
for certain devices to avoid
IO starvation.
This option is valid only when tagged queuing (qtags) is enabled,
which it is by default. Simple qtags are typically the preferred tag
type. It is sometimes necessary to use ordered tags on certain
devices to avoid IO starvation under extremely heavy IO loads
such as a NetWare remirror process.
Using the Base Time-Out Option
Command line option: timeout=<option>
Default value: 30
Valid options: Any integer value 30 to
999999999
Function: Specify the minimum value (in
seconds) for command
time-out.
Possible Impact: Insure system integrity when
using a slow device.
If a device is slow, you should increase this value to insure the device
has adequate time to respond to a command issued to it before the
command times out.
Using the Sorting of Read Requests Option
Command line option: sort=<option>
Default value: enable
Valid options: enable, disable
Function: Enable/disable sorting of read
commands to be issued to
devices.
Possible Impact: Enabling normally yields
increased performance based
on the target device controller.
If the devices connected to a host adapter are of a non-buffered
architecture, such as the Symbios Logic 6298 disk array, then sorting
of reads may result in a performance degradation, since the absence
of cache provides no benefit for sorted requests. In this instance you
should disable the sort option. On most disk drives, an on-board cache
allows for reading ahead of data, and by sorting read requests, the
probabilities of achieving a cache hit are greatly increased, thus
increasing the overall performance of the driver.
Using the Shared Interrupts Option
Command line option: shared_int=<option>
Default value: disable
Valid options: enable, disable
Function: Support shared interrupts.
Possible Impact: Enabling may cause a
performance degradation.
You should enable the shared interrupt option any time a PCI card
other than a Symbios Logic controller is added to a system which
assigns all PCI cards the same interrupt value. The added card must
support shared interrupts. The driver automatically handles the case
of more than one Symbios Logic host adapter sharing an interrupt.
Using the Wide SCSI Option
Command line option: wide=<option>
Default value: enable
Valid options: enable, disable
Function: Enable/Disable support of
wide SCSI.
Possible Impact: No wide SCSI support
available.
This option allows the user to disable support of wide SCSI when
using a wide SCSI controller. Set this option to "disable" if a wide
SCSI device is present on the system, but a narrow SCSI cable is
connected somewhere on the bus between the wide SCSI host adapter
and the wide device, thus prohibiting the transfer of wide data. If this
option is set to "disable", the wide device still works, but all
data transferred to/from the device is narrow (8 bit). The driver does
not initiate a wide SCSI transfer request negotiation.
Using the Number of Error Recovery Retries Option
Command line option: max_retry=<option>
Default value: 5
Valid options: 0-50
Function: Set the maximum limit on the
number of times to retry an
IO on a non-sequential access
device in the event of a SCSI
error condition.
Possible Impact: Setting this to 0 prevents the
driver from retrying an IO in
the event of an error.
If SCSI error conditions occur on a non-sequential access device, the
driver retries an IO operation the set number of times before giving
up and returning the IO to the caller with a failed status. Possible
callers are NetWare or an application via the CAM or ASPI interface.
If this option is set to 0, IOs are not retried in the event of an error
condition.
Note:
Some SCSI error conditions (such as DATA PROTECT or
ILLEGAL REQUEST) do not warrant a retry. Such conditions are
reported but not retried, even for positive values of max_retry.
Using the Logging of SCSI Errors Option
Command line option: Log_ScsiErrors=<option>
Default value: Both
Valid options: Off/Console/Syslog/Both
Function: Specify where to log serious
SCSI errors.
Possible Impact: Changing this option may result
in loss of this information.
If SCSI error conditions occur, the driver normally attempts to log a
SCSI Error Report describing the event to both the console and the
system log file SYS:SYSTEM\SYS$LOG.ERR. This information is
valuable in determining when a device is having problems. It can
indicate when a device is beginning to fail, providing an
opportunity to replace the device before complete failure.
With this option you can choose to specify where these messages
are logged: Console - the server console only; Syslog - the system
error log; Both - both the server console and the system error log;
or Off - the error messages are not logged anywhere.
Note:
This option affects the logging of serious SCSI errors only.
Non-SCSI errors are still logged to both the console and system
error log.
Using the Exclusion of Devices Option
Command line option: xcl=<device>[:device ...]
Default value: All devices recognized by the
driver, i.e. no devices are
excluded.
Valid options: p,i,l
(You may specify multiple devices
with a colon separator)
where p is the Path designator,
and is in the range 0 -7, i is
the SCSI ID designator, and is
in the range 0 -31, l is the
LUN designator, and in the
range 0 -7. The LUN parameter
is optional. You may exclude multiple
devices so long as the
string does not exceed 35
characters in length and devices
are separated by colons.
Examples: xcl=1,2,3 to exclude LUN 3 of the
device at SCSI ID 2 on Path 1.
xcl=1,2,3:2,5 to exclude LUN
3 of the device at SCSI ID 2
on Path 1, and all LUNs on the
device at SCSI ID 5 on Path
2
Function: Allows for specifying that the driver
not recognize certain devices.
Possible Impact: Cannot directly
access devices via the
SDMSNETx.DSK driver.
This option is available to exclude recognition and direct access
of specific devices by the SDMSNETx.DSK drivers.
These excluded devices are not registered with the operating
system for use by the driver. Other applications/drivers can then
take over the control of such devices. This option is available for
support of third party vendors who write their own SCSI control
applications. You may exclude a maximum of five devices.
Using the Maximum Block Size for Concatenation Option
Command line option: max_kb=<option>
Default value: 32767
Valid options: 0-32767
Function: Set the maximum number of
KB written to disk at one time.
Possible Impact: A high number may result in
more data transferred in
a single data phase.
Specify the maximum size block in Kilobytes which is written to disk
in one data transfer phase. This ensures that when requests are
concatenated, the maximum size of the concatenated request does
not exceed the specified value. If individual requests are greater than
this specified value, no action is taken.
Note:
The following three options affect the amount of memory used by the
driver. For information on how memory is allocated by the driver,
and to get an approximate feel for the amount of memory which is
saved by invoking these parameters, refer to Memory Allocation
under Important Additional Information at the end of this section.
If the product of max_hbas * max_id * max_lun is small
(less than 100), system performance may suffer. These values
determine the number of IO buffers allocated by the driver.
Allocation of too few may degrade performance
Using the Maximum Host Adapters Option
Command line option: max_hbas=<option>
Default value: 8
Valid options: 1-8
Function: Specify the maximum number
of host adapters to support.
Possible Impact: If number is reduced, it may allow
for reduction in the memory
used by the driver. Reduction
may also result in performance
degradation.
This parameter is used to optimize the use of dynamically allocated
memory by the driver. If your system has less than 8 Symbios Logic
based PCI host adapters, including any Symbios PCI-SCSI controllers
designed into the mainboard, this parameter allows you to reduce the
total memory used for the driver.
Using the Maximum SCSI IDs Option
Command line option: max_id=<option>
Default value: 32
Valid options: 8-32
Function: Specify the maximum number
of SCSI IDs each host adapter
board should support.
Possible Impact: If number is reduced, may allow
for reduction in memory used
by the driver. Reduction
may also result in performance
degradation.
This parameter is used to optimize the use of dynamically allocated
memory by the driver. If all the host adapters, including any SCSI
controllers on the mainboard are connected to less than 31 devices,
you can reduce the size of the dynamically allocated memory by
setting this value to the maximum number of devices on any of the
SCSI controllers.
Using the Maximum LUNs Option
Command line option: max_lun=<option>
Default value: 4
Valid options: 1-8
Function: Specify the maximum number
of LUNs each host adapter
board should support per
SCSI id.
Possible Impact: If number is reduced, may allow
for reduction in memory used
by the driver. Reduction
may also result in performance
degradation.
Use this parameter to optimize the use of dynamically allocated
memory by the driver. If less than 8 LUNs are used per Symbios
Logic based PCI host adapter SCSI id, this parameter allows a
reduction in the total memory used for the driver.
************** The Power Management Utilities **************
Power management support for NetWare is provided by two NLMs,
PMMAKE.NLM and PMSCHED.NLM. Use one or both of these
NLMs to activate power management of disk devices registered with
the Netware operating system through the SDMSNETx.DSK driver.
PMSCHED.NLM allows manual control of power management to
individual devices, while PMMAKE.NLM allows creation of a
schedule for power management. You must not load these two
utilities at the same time. If you plan to use power management
regularly, you can have PMSCHED.NLM load from the
AUTOEXEC.NCF file.
SDMS power management is supported only on disk devices. Some
disk devices do not support power management. If such a device is
detected, PMSCHED indicates the device is not power manageable.
Command line options for the PMMAKE.NLM and
PMSCHED.NLM utilities are described in this document.
Note:
Power management of disk devices connected to Symbios Logic
8XX controllers and handled by SDMSNETx.DSK is NOT
supported in the NetWare 4.10 SFT-III environment.
* Installing the Power Management Utilities *
Follow these steps to install the Power Management Utilities.
1. Copy PMMAKE.NLM and PMSCHED.NLM to the
SYS:\SYSTEM directory of the NetWare server.
2. Create a subdirectory called SYS:\PM. This is the directory in
which the schedule text and configuration files should reside.
* Using the PMMAKE.NLM Utility *
The PMMAKE.NLM utility is used to compile a power management
schedule file from a standard text file, which you can create using the
NetWare EDIT utility, or some other editor. Place the text file in the
SYS:\PM directory on the server. The format for this text file is
given below.
The syntax for the line that loads the PMMAKE utility is:
load PMMAKE <input filename> [<output filename>]
where
<input filename> is the full path name of the text file containing the
power management scheduling directives. If the path is not specified,
the NetWare search path is used.
<output filename> is the full path name of the output configuration
(CFG) file produced. If the output file name is not specified, the
output file produced is named PM.CFG, located in the SYS:\PM
directory.
The format for the PMMAKE input (text) file is:
!<DAY INDICATOR>
BEGIN, <START TIME>, <DELAY TIME>, <DEVICE LIST>
END, <STOP TIME>, <DELAY TIME>, <DEVICE LIST>
where
DAY INDICATOR = SUN,MON,TUE,WED,THR,FRI,SAT
START TIME = 24 hour time format: 00:00 - 23:59
STOP TIME = 24 hour time format: 00:00 - 23:59
DELAY TIME = Time to wait during no activity on a device
before spinning it down, in seconds 1 - 3600
DEVICE LIST = ALL or <DEVICE ID>[, <DEVICE ID> ...]
DEVICE ID = BXXIXXLXX
BXX identifies the bus
IXX identifies the SCSI ID
LXX identifies the LUN (if zero you can omit)
You may omit bus identifiers after the first one. It is assumed that
multiple sequential directives are on the same day until another day
is specified. It is assumed that future devices are on the same bus
until a new bus id is specified.
For example:
B00I01L01, I02, I03, I04, B01I00, I01,I02
specifies
Devices ID 01 LUN 01, ID 2, ID 3, ID 4 on Bus 0
Devices ID 0, ID1, ID 2 on Bus 1
Here is a PMMAKE sample input file:
!SUN
BEGIN, 00:00, 10, ALL
END, 23:59, 10, ALL
!MON
BEGIN, 00:00, 10, ALL
END, 06:00, 10, B00I00
END, 06:30, 10, B00I01
BEGIN, 18:00, 10, ALL
END, 23:59, 10, ALL
!FRI
BEGIN, 00:00, 10, ALL
END, 06:00, 10, B00I00
END, 06:30, 10, B00I01
BEGIN, 17:30, 10, B00I01
BEGIN, 18:00, 10, B00I00
END, 23:59, 10, ALL
!SAT
BEGIN, 00:00, 10, ALL
END, 23:59, 10, ALL
* Using the PMSCHED.NLM Utility *
You must load the PMSCHED.NLM utility to activate power
management for devices controlled by the SDMSNETx.DSK driver.
The syntax for the line that loads the PMMAKE utility is:
load PMSCHED [<schedule file>]
where
<schedule file> is the name of the power management configuration
file to use. If no file is specified, PMSCHED looks for
SYS:\PM\PM.CFG. If PM.CFG is not found, PMSCHED loads
for manual operation of power management.
Manual Operation
In manual operation, power management is initially off on all devices,
and gather/displaying of device statistics is on. PMSCHED.NLM
allows manual enabling and disabling of power management on
individual drives. You can also enable and disable statistics gathering,
and clear statistics.
To toggle power management on and off for a device, highlight the
device under PMSCHED.NLM and press the F3 key. A menu appears
with these selections:
1. Toggle Power Management
2. Toggle Statistics
3. Reset Statistics
Highlight Toggle Power Management and press Enter. Toggling Power
Management has no effect on the device statistics.
Scheduled Operation
Automatic scheduling of power management cycles is possible only
when PMSCHED remains loaded. For scheduled operation,
PMSCHED.NLM requires either:
the file SYS:\PM\PM.CFG, created by PMMAKE.NLM, or
the name of the schedule file, created by PMMAKE.NLM, loaded
with PMSCHED as a command line parameter
Unloading the PMSCHED.NLM Utility
Unloading PMSCHED.NLM does not turn power management off.
The state of power management on each device is maintained until
the server is downed or PMSCHED.NLM is reloaded
Device Statistics
Device statistics are gathered on all devices registered by
SDMSNETx.DSK with the NetWare operating system. These
statistics record the number of reads and writes performed on a
device and, if the device is power manageable by the SDMS driver,
the number of times the device is spun up and spun down. Statistics
are viewed, toggled on and off, or reset from the power management
utility PMSCHED.NLM.
************** Important Additional Information **************
* For Information Pertaining to a Specific Driver *
This document addresses options available on the Symbios Logic
SDMS NetWare drivers, version 3.06.00. For information pertaining
to a specific driver, please do one of the following:
- For NetWare version 4.XX, consult the SDMSNET4.DDI file for
options available for SDMSNET4.DSK. This is accessed via the
NetWare install utility.
- For versions of the driver 3.05.00 and later, use the -? option on
the command line of the SDMSNETx.DSK driver
* About Memory Allocation *
The driver allocates memory for certain structures based upon the
maximum number of SCSI IDs (max_id), LUNs (max_lun), and
paths (max_hbas) that are used in the system. The amount of memory
allocated is based on the following formula:
414 bytes of memory are allocated for the structure, so
Memory Allocated = 414 * max_hbas * max_lun * max_id.
So for default allocations, the amount of memory allocated is:
Memory Allocated = 414 * 8 * 4 * 32 = 423,936 bytes (414 KB).
If, for example,
- only one host adapter is installed (or when using a Symbios Logic
based PCI SCSI embedded controller and no add-in host adapters),
- only one LUN per device is used, and
- the bus is narrow (up to 8 SCSI IDs),
then by setting the appropriate command line options, the amount of
memory allocated is:
Memory Allocated = 414 * 1 * 1 * 8 = 3,312 bytes (3.4 KB).
* Optimal Use of Command Line Options *
Peripheral Device Dependent Optimizations
Some devices support SCSI tagged queue commands very efficiently,
while others show a significant loss of performance when the number
of queued requests exceed a certain value. (qtags, qdepth, qtag_type)
Most disk drives have an onboard read cache that is used by the drive
controller to read ahead data. The driver may take advantage of this
cache by maximizing the cache hits and ensuring a higher data
transfer rate. However, there are devices that do not have an on
board cache, and implementation of the sorting algorithm results
in greater processing overhead and loss of overall performance. (sort)
Devices differ in their response times to requests. To ensure that the
driver can handle devices with various response times, an option to
tune the time-out value is available. (timeout)
Flexibility
In order to allow flexibility in controlling devices in a system, an
option is provided to determine which devices the driver needs to
exclude from taking over control. This allows independent software
vendors to provide value added applications to directly control
certain devices through the ASPI or CAM interface. (xcl)
Serious SCSI errors are logged to both the console and system error
log by default. If a device is going bad, these errors may provide
forewarning to replace the device before complete failure.
However, you may turn off the logging of these errors to either or
both of these locations. (Log_ScsiErrors)
For embedded systems, or other systems with fixed configurations,
you can limit the amount of dynamically allocated memory by
choosing to set maximum limits on the number of host adapters,
devices, and logical units to support. The number of allocated
buffers for processing IOs is reduced, which could adversely affect
Overall System Timing
A driver designed for a networked file server environment has to
optimize performance in tandem with the other components of the
system. To avoid monopoly on the I/O bus, you can configure the
size of the blocks for transfer across the SCSI bus. This ensures
that other components get fair access to the I/O bus. (max_kb)
* DOS Access Dependencies *
NetWare sometimes requires access to the DOS partition (perhaps to
load a file, or to down the system). The SDMSNETx.DSK driver
supports several SDMS DOS configurations.
SDMSNETx.DSK detects whether an SDMS 3.XX or 4.XX BIOS
is present on the system in addition to the Symbios Logic
ASPI8XX.SYS driver.
If there are DOS partitions present on any device connected to a
Symbios Logic controller, an SDMS 3.XX BIOS or 4.XX BIOS is required
for DOS support. The BIOS is either integrated into the system BIOS
or resides with the controller itself.
* Supported DOS Configurations *
The following are the DOS configurations supported by the
SDMSNETx.DSK driver:
3.XX BIOS, ASPI8XX.SYS
4.XX BIOS, ASPI8XX.SYS
3.XX BIOS, ASPI8XX.SYS, SYMCD.SYS, MSCDEX.EXE
4.XX BIOS, ASPI8XX.SYS, SYMCD.SYS, MSCDEX.EXE
3.XX BIOS, No DOS Drivers
4.XX BIOS, No DOS Drivers
* When Using An SDMS 3.XX BIOS *
If an SDMS 3.XX BIOS is present, you may load an optional
Symbios Logic ASPI driver (ASPI8XX.SYS) in the CONFIG.SYS file.
An optional driver for CD-ROM support (SYMCD.SYS) works with these
drivers in conjunction with MSCDEX.EXE.
Supported DOS Drivers
The SDMS 3.XX BIOS currently supports both CAM and ASPI
drivers. However, the SDMS NetWare drivers in a 3.XX BIOS
environment only support ASPI8XX configurations at this time. The
following is a list of DOS drivers currently supported by the
SDMSNETx.DSK driver:
ASPI8XX.SYS
The DOS ASPI Manger interface, ASPI8XX.SYS DOS driver in conjuction
with the SDMSNETx.DSK driver is currently the only supported DOS
ASPI configuration in a Netware environment.
SYMCD.SYS
The SYMCD.SYS driver is an ASPI based CD-ROM driver. It requires
the ASPI8xx.SYS driver to be loaded.
MSCDEX.EXE
This driver (provided with DOS) is required in conjunction with
SYMCD.SYS to install NetWare from a CD-ROM. Due to a bug
in MSCDEX.EXE, the name assigned to the CD-ROM device not
match the base name of any file installed from the CD-ROM. A
recommended name to assign to the CD-ROM device is MSCD001.
Note:
The NetWare drivers can function independently of any DOS drivers,
with the exception of installation of NetWare from CD-ROM.
Performance is impacted on DOS accesses, but if memory is
premium, this option is available.
DOS Drivers Not Supported
The following SDMS DOS drivers are not supported in the
NetWare Environment.
ASPICAM.SYS
SCSIDISK.SYS
SYMDISK.SYS
DOSCAM.SYS
MINICAM.SYS
CDROM.SYS
* When Using An SDMS 4.XX BIOS *
The SDMS 4.XX BIOS supports two different configurations -
default Boot configuration and NVRAM configuration. Both
configurations are supported.
Default Configuration
In default boot configuration, the 4.XX BIOS supports up to
two Symbios Logic 8XX controllers. Disk devices are supported
by the BIOS. Other SCSI devices are not supported without
additional DOS drivers.
NVRAM
If NVRAM is present on a controller with a 4.XX BIOS, the
SDMSNETx.DSK NetWare drivers use the on-board parameters
to configure the Symbios Logic 8XX controllers.
Supported DOS Drivers
Currently only the ASPI8XX.SYS driver is supported in a NetWare
configuration utilizing a 4.XX BIOS.
* When Using No SDMS BIOS *
The SDMSNETx.DSK driver operates properly on a system when
no SDMS BIOS is present. In this case, DOS must reside on a device
which is not connected to a Symbios Logic controller based host
adapter. As an example, DOS could reside on an IDE drive.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.