RAID Evaluator, SYSTEM_MANAGEMENT, StorageWorks(TM) RAID Evaluator program This directory contains a copy of the StorageWorks(TM) RAID Evaluator program, Version 1.9. V1.9 is an experimental version of the program. It contains new features, but has not been thoroughly tested. It is being released primarily for fall, 1993 DECUS attendees, although it may be made available to others. ---------------------------- New Features Of Version V1.9 ---------------------------- 1. Each child window now contains a "Print" button which enables printing of its contents to a laser printer. This feature has been tested with the Apple LaserWriter Plus, the Digital LN03R, and the Digital LPS20 and LPS40 laser printers. Whether it works properly with other laser printers is not known. The File menu contains a "Printer Setup..." command to provide printer setup local to the RAID Evaluator program. 2. Data about Digital's latest disk and controller products has been added to the built-in disk and controller types in the RAID Evaluator program. This enables you to construct hypothetical configurations using these products. Cautions: like previous RAID Evaluator versions, this one does not restrict modeled configurations to valid ones. Moreover, the variable maximum data transfer rates of the newer 'banded' disk drives have been approximated by averages. ********************************************************************* Most Important: The RAID Evaluator model is based on disk mechanical characteristics. It DOES NOT MODEL cache. This is especially important to note in the case of cached controllers (HSC70, HSC9x, HSJ40), where performance can be seriously understated. This will be fixed in a future release of the model. ********************************************************************* 3. A new "Parameters" menu has been added to the RAID Evaluator menu bar. This menu has two commands, "Controllers..." and "Disks...". These allow you to add user-defined controller and disk types respectively. User-defined controller and disk types do not become available until the session following the one in which they are added. The "Parameters" menu applies only to user-defined controller and disk types. It is not possible to alter the parameters of the built-in disks and controllers. Approximately 20 User-defined controller types and 40 User-defined disk types may be added. The program is supplied with two hypothetical controller types called "UserControllerA" and "UserControllerB" and six disk types called "UserDisk1A" through "UserDisk3B" to give you an idea of how to use the user-specified controller and disk types. ------------------------------------------------- General Description of the RAID Evaluator Program ------------------------------------------------- The RAID Evaluator is a simple application for the Microsoft(TM) Windows V3.1 or later environment that can help you understand the tradeoffs among various RAID configurations and appreciate the performance, data reliability, and cost characteristics of various RAID alternatives using your own I/O workload and hardware configuration definitions. ------------------------- Installation Instructions ------------------------- To install and use the RAID Evaluator program, do the following: 1. Create a directory on your PC hard drive, for example: C:\RAIDEVAL\ 2. Copy the following files from the distribution diskette to the directory: QREV19WN.EXE -- program image (windows version) RAIDEVAL.INI -- file of drive/controller parameters *.WLD -- sample workload files (This is optional) QRE_HELP.HLP -- help file 3. Use any of the standard Windows mechanisms for running the program. If you make a Windows association between file type .WLD and QREV19WN.EXE, the RAID Evaluator will start executing and automatically open any .WLD file that you double-click from File Manager. 4. When the RAID Evaluator starts executing, you first see a panel in its main window that describes the limits of its modeling capability. Be sure you read this panel to understand the program's capabilities and limitations. 5. When you have read the introductory panel, use the key or double-click the button to start. You may either enter your own workload data into the input dialog panel that appears, or you may use the menu to open an existing .WLD file. A single .WLD file generally contains several workloads. The names of the available workloads can be listed at any time by pulling down the Workload Name list box in the input dialog panel. 6. At any time, you may press the F1 key for help. When you do this, the cursor changes to the words "QRE HELP" with an upward left pointing arrow. If you move the cursor to the RAID Evaluator window object you want help on (the cursor will change back to a text cursor or arrow) and click, you will get a help panel describing the object you have clicked. This works with menu commands as well. After each invocation of HELP, RAID Evaluator program returns to normal mode. Note: I have encountered problems with the HELP cursor not appearing on some monitor/video board combinations. The circumvention seems to be to minimize the RAID Evaluator main window and then restore it. The next time you press "F1", the HELP cursor should appear. You may also use the Index command on the Help menu to invoke the Help utility for browsing, or Search to go directly to the help search list. The updating of Help to include the new features is not complete. What is there is generally valid, but you may encounter some missing context-sensitive help items.