violin velocity pcie memory card user’s...

ViolinMEMORY

Document Number: 535-0030-00 Rev 01May 2013

Violin Velocity PCIe Memory CardUser’s Guide

For Release 1.0

LEGAL NOTICE

Copyright © 2006-2013 Violin Memory, Inc. All rights reserved.

Violin Memory, Violin Technologies, Violin, vSHARE, vCACHE, Flash Forward, and Violin and Design are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Violin Memory, Inc. (“Violin”) in the United States and other countries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks, and service marks are the properties of their respective owners.

This document and the associated software product are protected by copyright and international treaties, and are distributed under license from Violin, including restrictions on their use, copying, redistribution and reverse engineering. Unless otherwise agreed by Violin in writing, Violin’s standard end user license agreement shall apply, which may be reviewed at www.violin-memory.com/legal. No part of this document may be reproduced, adapted or translated without prior written permission of Violin, except as permitted under applicable copyright law. The associated software product may include, access or otherwise operate, interface or be delivered with third party software or other applications or copyrighted materials, which are copyrighted and licensed by Violin suppliers. Such third party materials and licenses are identified in this document and/or at www.violin-memory.com/legal.

Violin assumes no responsibility for any typographical, technical or other errors or omissions in this document. Violin reserves the right to periodically change the information contained in this document, but Violin makes no commitment to provide any such changes, updates, enhancements or other additions in a timely manner or at all.

The only warranties for Violin products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. THIS DOCUMENT (INCLUDING ANY EXAMPLES AND OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN) IS MADE AVAILABLE “AS IS” WITHOUT REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. VIOLIN MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY IN THIS DOCUMENT REGARDING ANY ASSOCIATED SOFTWARE OR ANY OTHER VIOLIN OR THIRD PARTY HARDWARE, SOFTWARE OR OTHER PRODUCTS OR SERVICES REFERENCED HEREIN. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, VIOLIN (FOR ITSELF AND ITS LICENSORS AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES IDENTIFIED HEREIN) HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ORAL OR WRITTEN, WITH RESPECT TO THE FOREGOING, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, QUIET ENJOYMENT, ACCURACY, INTEGRATION, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL VIOLIN (OR ITS LICENSORS OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY IDENTIFIED HEREIN) BE LIABLE CONCERNING ANY USE OF THIS DOCUMENT, REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ANY CLAIM OR ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE), FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, RELIANCE, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OR INTERRUPTION OF USE, COST OF PROCURING SUBSTITUTE TECHNOLOGIES, GOODS OR SERVICES, OR LOSS OF BUSINESS, REVENUES, PROFITS OR GOODWILL, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Violin Memory, Inc.685 Clyde AvenueMountain View, CA 94043USA

ii Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide 535-0030-00 Rev 01

http://www.violin-memory.com/legal




DISCLAIMER

Portions of this document are intended solely as an outline of methodologies to be followed during the installation, set-up, and maintenance of Violin Memory equipment. It is not intended as a step-by-step guide or a complete set of all necessary and sufficient procedures.

While every effort has been made to ensure that this document is complete and accurate at the time of publication, the information that it contains is subject to change. Violin Memory is not responsible for any additions to or alterations of the original document. This document is intended as a general guide only. It has not been tested for all possible applications, and it may not be complete or accurate for some situations.

Users of this document are urged to heed warnings interspersed throughout the document, such as service disruption warnings.

TRADEMARKS

• Violin, Violin Memory, and the Violin Memory logo are trademarks of Violin Memory

• Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

• VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

• Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

• Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

535-0030-00 Rev 01 Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide iii

iv Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide 535-0030-00 Rev 01

Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTER 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Overview of the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Primary Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Hardware Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

PCIe Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7RAM Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Operating Systems Supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

CHAPTER 2. Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Required Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Installing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Preparing to Install the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Connecting the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Verifying System Hardware Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Installing the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Downloading the Software Bundle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Preparing to Install the Software Bundle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Installing the Software Bundle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

CHAPTER 3. Managing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Management Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

About the Web Interface (Web UI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24About the Command Line Interface (CLI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Using the Web UI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Logging in to the Web UI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Web UI Overview Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Performing Management Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Logging in to the CLI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Formatting the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Upgrading Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Viewing Status Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Diagnosing Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Appendix A. Command Line Interface Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Information-related Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36vdrive-info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Management-related Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40vdrive-cfg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40vdrive-util. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

535-0030-00 Rev 01 Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide v

vdrive-mgmt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Ring-related Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

vdrive-util ringdump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Register-related Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

vdrive-util regdump. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Diagnostics-related Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

vdrive-incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Appendix B. Compliance Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

FCC Class A Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Regulatory Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Regulatory Model Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Precautions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52Disposal of Waste Equipment by Users in Private Households in the European Union . . . . . . . . . . . 53European Union RFI Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Japan Radio Frequency Interference VCCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Korea RFI Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Canada RFI Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54CISPR 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Taiwan BSMI Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Four-in-One Recycling Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

vi Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide 535-0030-00 Rev 01

Preface

This preface outlines the organization of this book, describes document conventions, and provides information about additional resources.

• Intended Audience on page 1

• Document Organization on page 2

• Reference Documents on page 2

• Document Conventions on page 3

• Contacting Violin Memory on page 4

Intended Audience

This guide is intended for experienced systems administrators. Violin Memory assumes that you are experienced in installing and servicing high-performance storage systems.

Contact Violin Memory Customer Support for any assistance with installing and servicing this system. See Contacting Violin Memory on page 4 for contact information.

535-0030-00 Rev 01 Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide 1

Document Organization

This guide is organized into the following sections:

• Chapter 1, Introduction—Provides a high-level description of the Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card along with the hardware and software required to utilize the product.

• Chapter 2, Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card Installation—Provides a description of the hardware and software requirements and instructions for installing the Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card.

• Chapter 3, Managing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card—Describes the utilities available that allow an administrator to manage the cards and provides instructions for using the Web interface and the Command Line Interface (CLI).

• APPENDIX A, Command Line Interface Reference—Describes the Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card Command Line Interface (CLI) and how to use it; describes the commands available in the Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card.

Reference Documents

In addition to this guide, the following Violin Memory documents comprise the documentation suite that will assist you with setting up, using and servicing the Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card. These guides are available for download from the Violin Memory Support site at http://www.violin-memory.com/support/

This document... Provides this information...

Release Notes This document describes the new features, resolved issues, known limitations and software upgrade instructions for the current release.

Reference Documents

2 Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card User’s Guide 535-0030-00 Rev 01

http://www.violin-memory.com/support/

http://www.violin-memory.com/support/

Document Conventions

Safety Icons

The table below summarizes warning, caution, and note icons used in this document and includes sample text.

Typographical Conventions

The following typographic conventions are used in this guide:

Safety Icons

Icon Sample Text

WARNING! WARNING! Only authorized, qualified, and trained personnel should attempt to work on this equipment.

Caution: Caution: Follow the listed safety precautions when working on the product.

Note: Note: Read through this entire chapter and plan your installation according to your location before installing the equipment. The following procedures and the order in which they appear are general installation guidelines only.

Format Meaning

Bold User Interface text.

Italic Provides emphasis and identifies variables and document titles.

Courier Command names, examples, and output.

Courier bold Input you must type exactly as shown.

<Courier italic> Information for which you must supply a value.

[ ] Optional command parameters are enclosed within square brackets.

| Separates a set of command choices from which only one may be chosen.

{ } Required command parameters that must be specified are enclosed within curly brackets.

Typographical Conventions


Security

Violin Memory, Inc., cannot be responsible for unauthorized use of equipment and will not make allowance or credit for unauthorized use or access.

Contacting Violin Memory

To obtain additional information or technical support for Violin Memory products, contact us at:

Phone: 1-855-VIOLIN-5 (1-855-846-5465)

International: +1 650-396-1500 Extension 3

Web site: http://www.violin-memory.com

Email: [email protected]

When contacting Violin Memory Customer Support, please have the following information available:

• Model and serial number of the system for which you are requesting support.

• Software version.

• A brief description of the problem.


http://www.violin-memory.com/

mailto:[email protected]

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

This chapter provides a high-level description of the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards along with the hardware and software required to utilize the cards. Also included is detailed information about the physical, operational and flash characteristics of the cards.

This chapter introduces the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards in the following sections:

• Overview of the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards on page 6

• Specifications on page 7

• Hardware Requirements on page 7

• Software Requirements on page 8


Chapter 1 - Introduction

Overview of the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards are designed to accelerate applications by leveraging flash memory to increase storage performance. These products combine the persistence and capacity of traditional storage devices with the superior performance qualities of flash memory. Applications may experience a 2 to 10x improvement in performance as a result of using the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards.

Figure 1.1 shows a top view of the full height, half length Velocity card. Full length, single wide, and low profile cards are also available.

Figure 1.1 Card Components

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards deliver the perfect storage solution for environments that require higher performance than what traditional storage offers in terms of bandwidth, IOPS and latency.

The cards are intended for standard x86 server products that are capable of supporting Intel®- and AMD®-class processors. It is especially well-suited for Web infrastructure providers and database, virtualization, e-mail and storage networking appliances.

Bracket

PCIe Card Edge ConnectorPCIe Connector Key

(I/O Panel)

Heat Sinkwith Heat Pipes

Protective Cover


Specifications

Primary Applications

Although the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards can be employed by a wide variety of applications, it is particularly well-suited for the following software appliances:

• Web infrastructure

• Storage networking appliances

• Database appliances

• Virtualization appliances

• E-mail appliances

Specifications

This section provides detailed information about the physical, operational and flash characteristics of the cards.

Table 1.1 Specifications

Hardware Requirements

PCIe Requirements

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards can be used with standard PCIe slots. Depending on which card you use, a PCIe x4, PCIe x8 or PCIe x16 slot can be used.

Dimensions

Note the dimensions of the various cards shown in Table 1.1.

RAM Requirements

The software and utilities require a minimum of 128 MB of free memory on the host.

Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Usage Capacity (GB) 800 1600 3200

Form Factor Low Profile Full Height

Dimensions 6.4" x 2.5" 6.4" x 4.2"

PCIe Connectivity Gen 2.0; 3.0 x4 Gen 2.0; Gen 3.0 x8

Maximum Power 25W 50W(Aux power connections required for proper operation)

Airflow Required(Line Feet per Minute)

100 LFM 200 LFM


Chapter 1 - Introduction

Software Requirements

Operating Systems Supported

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card requires a 64-bit, x86 operating system architecture for optimal use.

Supported Linux Distributions

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6

• CentOS 5, 6

• Oracle Linux 5, 6

• Other Linux distributions from 2.6.9.x

Supported Windows Versions

• Windows Server 2008 R2

• Windows Server 2012


CHAPTER 2 Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card Installation

This chapter provides instructions for installing a Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card and its associated software. This chapter also lists the contents of the kit and the tools that are required for successful installation of the card.

This chapter includes the following topics:

• Required Tools on page 10

• Installing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card on page 10

• Installing the Software on page 14


Chapter 2 - Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card Installation

Required Tools

• Phillips screwdriver

• Anti-static wrist strap

Installing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards are available in various heights and lengths, and are designed to fit in a standard PCI Express (PCIe) x4, x8 or PCIe x16 slot. A server may be installed with different sized Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards.

Note: Make sure that the server in which the Velocity card is installed has the correct air flow to support the card.

Preparing to Install the Card

Caution: Static discharge can be hazardous to both the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card and the device in which it is installed. Make sure that you are properly grounded by wearing a grounded anti-static wrist strap while you are performing the installation procedures in this chapter.

1. Ensure that power has been removed from the host system.

2. Ensure that you are wearing a grounded anti-static wrist strap.

Figure 2.1 Open Server

3. Open the system in which you intend to install the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card. If you are not sure how to open the system, see the user documentation for the system being used.



4. Remove the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card from its packaging.

5. Identify the key components of the card, as shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2 Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card

Connecting the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards can be installed in any standard x4 (low-profile card only), x8 or x16 PCIe Gen 1, Gen 2, or Gen 3 slot. If the card is used in a Gen 3 slot, it operates no faster than Gen 2 speed; if it is used in a Gen 1 slot, its performance will be degraded. All of the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards support PCIe x4 and x8 electrically.

Note: An auxiliary power connection is required for the 4.8 TB and 9.6 TB cards.

1. Locate a vacant PCIe slot in the system.

Note: The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards have a custom, full-height installation bracket pre-installed. The customized bracket provides better ventilation for the card and viewability of the LEDs. A separate half-height bracket is included with the low-profile card to accommodate a smaller server.

Bracket(I/O Panel)

PCIe Card Edge ConnectorPCIe Connector Key



Figure 2.3 Remove Server Bracket Panel

2. In the server, remove the blank bracket panel from an available PCIe x4, x8 or x16 slot, and retain the screw.

Figure 2.4 Install the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card in the Server

3. Insert the card into the PCIe slot so that the connector on the bottom of the card is firmly seated in the slot. (Note that the connector has notched keys that align with matching keys on the slot to prevent misalignment.)

Card bracket

Velocity Card

PCIe slot (x4 or x8 or x16)



Figure 2.5 Secure Card in Server

4. Attach the bracket to the system chassis with the screw that was removed in Step 2.

5. Replace the cover on the server.

6. Power on the server.

Figure 2.6 Velocity Card LEDs

7. Verify that the LEDs on the card are as follows:

— Amber = OFF

— Green = ON

— Red = OFF

LEDs



Verifying System Hardware Detection

Once the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card has been installed, there are some basic checks that can be performed to verify that the hardware has been properly detected by the system. Depending on your operating system, this can be performed in one of the following ways.

Linux

Output on the server console similar to the following indicates the presence of the card:[root@ srv8]# lspci | grep Violin83:00.0 Mass storage controller: Violin Memory, Inc Device 0005

Note: The Device ID number will change based on the card installed.

Windows

Run Device Manager and examine the devices under Storage Controllers. You should see “Violin Memory vDrive Storage Controller” and “Violin Memory Drive.”

Installing the Software

Note: Before installing the software, review the latest Release Notes for the most up-to-date instructions, information on the necessary software image and required upgrade paths.

Downloading the Software Bundle

To install the software bundle, you must first download the installer. The software for the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card is available for download from the Violin Memory Customer Support site and can be downloaded as described below.

1. Go to http://www.violin-memory.com/support

2. Log in to Customer Support using your Violin Memory Customer Portal login and password information. (If you don’t have an account, follow the instructions to set one up. You will be notified when the account is activated.)

3. Click the Software Downloads tab.

4. From the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card location, download the software bundle.


http://www.violin-memory.com/support


Preparing to Install the Software Bundle

Note: The installer can be run using either the Setup Wizard or in text mode. The Setup Wizard is used in the following procedures.

Preparing Installation for a Linux System

You must install the packages required for your kernel version (kernel-devel, kernel-headers, rpm-build, gcc). Ensure that you install versions of kernel-devel and kernel-headers that match your specific kernel version, as described below.

Force yum to download the exact version of the packages by using the following command:

yum install kernel-headers-’uname -r’ kernel-devel-’uname -r’ gcc make rpm-build

Note: ’uname -r’ (which is required) is not enclosed in single quotes but grave accent.

Installing the Software Bundle

Follow these steps to install the software bundle on your system.

Note: The screens in the following steps are from an installation on a Windows system. Use these steps when installing the software on a Linux system, as the screens are similar. See the Release Notes for the most up-to-date installation information.

1. After downloading the installer file, start the installation using one of the following commands:

— Linux: vdriveinstaller-[Version]-linux-x64.run

— Windows: vdriveinstaller-[Version]-windows.exe

Caution: For Windows, first uninstall the previously-installed bundle, reboot the host and then install the new software bundle.

Note: If the above Windows Security screen displays during installation of the software bundle, select “Always trust software from ’Violin Memory, Inc.’"



Figure 2.7 Welcome Screen

1. Click the Next button to begin the installation once the welcome screen appears.

Figure 2.8 License Agreement

2. Read the License Agreement and then click “I accept the agreement”.



3. Click the Next button to proceed.

Figure 2.9 Select Components Screen

4. On the Select Components screen, select the components that you want to install:

Note: vDrive Libraries must be installed along with Card Utilities and/or vManager; both utilities require the use of Common Libraries and they cannot be installed without it.

• Violin Driver: This is the driver that is required to use the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card.

• vDrive Libraries: These are the library files that are common to all software bundle components.

• vDrive Utilities: Installing the vDrive Utilities allows you to use the Command Line Interface utilities. (See Command Line Interface Reference on page 35 for more information.)

• vManager: vManager is a management server that provides support for multiple management clients, including the Web UI and programmatic interfaces (API).

5. Click the Next button. If you have not selected a component to install before clicking the Next button, you will receive a message prompting you to do so.

Note: On Windows systems, the Violin Driver check box is automatically selected and cannot be cleared.

6. When the Ready to Install screen appears (Figure 2.10), click the Next button to continue with the installation.



Figure 2.10 Ready to Install Screen

While the software bundle is loading, a progress bar appears showing the progress of the installation, as shown in Figure 2.11.

Figure 2.11 Installation Progress Screen



Figure 2.12 Setup Complete Screen

7. Click the Finish button when the software installation is complete.

Automatic Firmware Update

The installer will also update the firmware on any card if the minimum firmware requirements are not met. Please back up your data before proceeding.

The following screens will display in this case:



Note: If the firmware is updated, reboot the host before using the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card.



Verifying Detection of the Card

Depending on the system (Windows or Linux) in which the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card is installed, see one of the following sections to verify that the cards is detected.

Using Device Manager (Windows Only)

1. Open Device Manager.

2. Open Storage controllers.

3. Verify that the card has been detected as a system device. You should see the following Violin devices listed under Storage controllers in the system devices tree:

4. Right-click the Violin PCIe Card and then display the Properties for the device. The Device status should show “This device is working properly”.

Using the CLI (Windows and Linux)

1. Open a new terminal window or shell.

2. Use the vdrive-info summary command line utility to list all the cards present on the system:

3. When the following (or similar) text appears, verify that the new card is listed under Device.

The following is output from a Windows system:

# vdrive-info summary█

# vdrive-info summaryViolin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013------------------------------------------------------------------------------Device Size(GB) Location I/O Status SN------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/dev/vdrivea 640 04:00.0 READY 48251F00010

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C:\Users\Administrator>vdrive-info summaryViolin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-win-0.10.86.0-2013.4.4.16, 04/04/2013------------------------------------------------------------------------------Device Size(GB) Location I/O Status SN------------------------------------------------------------------------------

\\.\physicaldrive1 640 04:00.0 READY 48251F00010

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



4. Verify that the size of the card is shown in the Size (GB) column and that the I/O Status column shows “READY.”

Checking the LEDs

The Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card has three LEDs that provide information about the status of the card. The LEDs are located on the right side of the bracket. The bracket was designed so that the LEDs would be visible through the cutout. The following table represents the LEDs (from left to right).

Table 2.1 LED Status

LED Name LED Color State Meaning

Status Amber

OffFlash not accessed by hardware for 10 seconds

SolidPerformance is good; moderate load

Blinking (1/second) Load is high (Queue >100)

Blinking (4/second) Load is high (Queue >400)

Power Green

Off No power

Blinking Flash state initialization

Solid Hardware initialization complete

Alarm Red

Off No faults or alarms

Blinking (1/second) Temperature is too high

Blinking (4/second)Too many bad blocks/flash failures

Solid Fault; needs replacement


CHAPTER 3 Managing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card

There are a number of utilities available that allow an administrator to manage Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards, such as upgrading firmware and formatting a card. The two primary tools are the Web interface and the Command Line Utilities.

This chapter includes the following topics:

• About the Web Interface (Web UI) on page 24

• About the Command Line Interface (CLI) on page 25

• Using the Web UI on page 26

• Performing Management Tasks on page 31


Chapter 3 - Managing the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card

Management Tools

The Web interface (Web UI) and the Command Line Interface (CLI) are the two primary tools used for managing and monitoring the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards. Both are introduced in this section.

About the Web Interface (Web UI)

The Web UI for the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card is a convenient, easy-to-use utility for viewing detailed information about installed Velocity cards.

Figure 3.1 Violin Web Interface

Accessible information includes the status of the cards and host, health, bandwidth, and input/output operations per second (IOPS) of the cards. In addition to monitoring the card status, the Web UI utility allows you to initiate actions, including formatting the card, upgrading the firmware and attachment or detachment of the card from the server. The Web UI also replicates the state of a card’s Status, Power and Alarm LEDs.

See Using the Web UI on page 26 for more detailed information.


Management Tools

Supported Browsers

The following browsers support the Web UI for the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card:

Note: For Windows Internet Explorer, Compatibility Mode should be turned OFF.

The following table lists the recommended software and settings for optimum performance of the Violin Web interface.

Web Interface Help

A full PDF version of this guide is available by clicking the online help icon (?) on the Menu Bar.

About the Command Line Interface (CLI)

The Command Line Interface provides a complete set of utilities available for managing and monitoring a Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card on a local system. The frequently-used management commands are covered later in this chapter. See Performing Management Tasks on page 31.

See Command Line Interface Reference on page 35 for a full description of the commands and syntax for these utilities.

Operating System Supported Browsers

Windows, Linux and Mac Mozilla Firefox 15 and above

Google Chrome 12 and above

Windows only Internet Explorer 9 and above

Table 3.1 Supported Web Browsers

Recommendation Description

Display resolution The minimum recommended display resolution for the Vio-lin Web Interface is 1024 by 768 pixels.

JavaScript JavaScript must be enabled for the Violin Web Interface.

Adobe Flash Player Adobe Flash Player version 8 (or above) is required for viewing charts in the Violin Web Interface.

Cookies Enable cookies for login and session management. Cook-ies are also used to store dashboard page settings.

Table 3.2 Recommended for the Violin Web Interface



Using the Web UI

After the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card has been installed and the drivers have been loaded, the Web UI is accessible by entering the Web UI URL. Ensure that your firewall on the server being managed is set properly to allow remote access.

Note: For a Linux system, use the “iptables stop” command to disable the firewall or white-list port 8080 for UI traffic to be allowed through the firewall.

Logging in to the Web UI

You access the Violin Web interface through a Web browser.

1. Open one of the supported Web browsers (shown in Supported Browsers on page 25).

2. In the address bar, enter the IP address or host name of the card. For example: http://<IP address>:8080/vManagerhttp://<hostname>:8080/vManagerhttp://localhost:8080/vManager (for the local machine)

The default user name is “admin” and the password is “secret”.

3. Click the Login button to log into the Web UI.

Once you have logged in, the Web UI utility is displayed.The Web UI utility consists of two main screens: Overview and Monitor.


Using the Web UI

Web UI Overview Screen

On the Overview screen, you can select a specific card in the system and view a variety of the card’s details. From the Overview screen, you can format a card, upgrade its firmware, and attach or detach the card to or from the server.

See Figure 3.2 identifies the Overview screen’s key elements, which are described in Table 3.3.

Figure 3.2 Web UI Overview Screen

Installed cards are listed on the left side of the Overview screen in the Web interface. Information provided includes the size of the card and bandwidth it is currently using. For detailed information about a particular card, click the card name.

Detailed information about a selected card is displayed in a variety of windows on the Overview screen. At the top of the screen, the current status of the card’s LEDs is provided. (For more information about the significance of each LED, see Checking the LEDs on page 22.)

Below the LED status, details about the selected card are provided in the Card Info screen. This includes the card name and serial number, along with other relevant information.

Session

Online HelpMenu Bar LED StatusReset

Update FirmwareLatency Monitoring



Screen Element Description

Menu Bar The Menu Bar allows you to switch between the Overview and Monitor screens.

Help Button

The Help button opens the Violin Memory Support page in a new browser window, from which you can view and download the latest user documentation.

Logout Button

Click the Logout button to log out of the Web UI.

LED Status The LED Status panel displays the current state of the Status, Power and Alarm LEDs for the selected card. See Checking the LEDs on page 22 for descriptions of the LEDs.

Reset Button

The Reset button initiates an embedded controller reset on the Velocity drive.

WARNING! This operation may begin a firmware upgrade if the card reset was not started previously.

Update Firmware Button

The Update Firmware button initiates a firmware upgrade (or downgrade), depending upon the version to which it is pointed. See Upgrading Firmware on page 32 for more information.

WARNING! Updating the firmware on the card with the Update Firmware button is a destructive operation. Be sure to check the Release Notes before proceeding with this operation.

Latency Monitoring Button

The Latency Monitoring button allows you to turn latency monitoring on and off. This is useful for monitoring latency of I/O in case performance degradation is observed.

Cards Installed The Cards Installed display provides a list of flash cards currently installed in the server. To view information about a specific card, click the button adjacent to it to populate the Overview screen with information related to the selected card.

Host Info Host Information provides a variety of data about the current server.

Device Info The Device Information display provides detailed information about the selected card.

Device Life The Device Life display shows the estimated amount of flash life remaining, and the amount of data read from and written to the card.

Uptime The Uptime gadget displays the amount of time the selected card has been running.

Temperature The temperature of the selected card.

Table 3.3 Web UI Overview Screen Features


Using the Web UI

Web UI Monitor Screen

The Monitor screen displays real-time data for the cards, including bandwidth, IOPS and latency. The Monitor screen also provides historic data over a period of the previous hour or previous day.

Figure 3.3 Web UI Monitor Screen

Realtime Bandwidth The Realtime Bandwidth display provides a quick-look view of the bandwidth information from the Monitor screen. Depending upon which button has been selected, realtime bandwidth information or historic bandwidth information for the previous hour or day is displayed.

Realtime IOPS The Realtime IOPS display provides a quick-look view of the IOPS information from the Monitor screen for the selected card. Depending upon which button has been selected, realtime IOPS information or historic IOPS information for the previous hour or day is displayed.


Table 3.3 Web UI Overview Screen Features



Table 3.4 Web UI Monitor Window Elements


Menu Bar The Menu Bar allows you to switch between the Overview and Monitor screens.

Help Button The Help button opens the Violin Memory Support page in a new browser window, from which you can view and download the latest user documentation.

Logout Button Click the Logout button to log out of the Web UI.

Realtime Data Windows Depending on the parameters set in the associated Current Settings window, the Realtime Data windows display metrics for the selected cards. To expand or reduce the width of the window, click the < or > arrows, respectively.

Settings Selectors The Settings selectors allow you to choose the metrics for a specific card to be displayed in the associated Realtime Data window.

Read/Write/Total Operations Windows

Depending upon which operations you have selected in the Current Settings window, this will display the current Read, Write, and/or Total operations for the selected card.

One Hour/One Day History Windows

The History windows display the history (previous hour or previous day) for the metrics and card selected in the Current Settings window. To expand or reduce the width of the window, click the < or > arrows, respectively.


Performing Management Tasks

Adjusting Realtime Settings


This section describes some of the more common management tasks that can be performed on the Velocity card using the CLI and the Web UI.

Note: Linux syntax is used in all of the CLI examples in this section. Windows syntax is identical except for the way the device is identified. In Linux, the device is identified as /dev/<device name>, where as in Windows you would just specify <device name> in all of the following examples.

WARNING! Using tools that affect the state of the card should be completed with caution. Formatting a card and upgrading firmware are destructive processes that can affect your data. Use of these tools is recommended only for administrators.

Logging in to the CLI

You can connect to the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card CLI using an SSH client. The following procedure is an example of connecting to the card using PuTTY.

1. Start the SSH program.

2. In the Category > Session window, type either the host name of the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card or its IP address in the Host Name (or IP address) field.

3. Set the Connection type to SSH.

4. Click the Open button at the bottom of the screen.

The Realtime Bandwidth and Realtime IOPS settings currently shown on the screen can be changed by clicking the Settings icon to open the Settings window.

The Device selected in the bottom field represents the card that will be represented by the realtime windows.

From the Metric Type field, select the data that will be displayed in the realtime windows (Bandwidth, IOPS, or Latency).

From the Chart Type field, select whether the display should appear in line or chart format.

In the Operations field, select whether Read, Write, and/or Total operations is to be displayed when the Settings window is closed.

Figure 3.4 Settings Selectors



Formatting the Card

Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards come pre-formatted. You do not need to explicitly format the card to use it for the first time. However, the format operation can be used for the following reasons:

• If “N/A” is shown in the Size (GB) column and “NOT READY” is shown in the I/O Status column in the output for the “vdrive-info summary” command.

• To erase the data on the card or to change the amount of formatted space available to applications.

• To improve performance. If the formatted capacity is reduced it may result in better write performance.

The syntax of the format command is as follows:

vdrive-cfg format <percent> <sector_size> <dev_name|serial_num>

If the format percentage parameter is not specified, it will default to 100 percent, which is the factory default formatted level and provides the maximum amount of usable capacity.

Example:

Upgrading Firmware

It may be necessary to update the Velocity card firmware in order to match the driver. To obtain the latest firmware release, contact Violin Memory Customer Support, as described in Contacting Violin Memory on page 4.

Using the CLI

To upload firmware using the CLI, use the following command:

vdrive-mgmt update firmware <filename> <dev_name|serial_num> [force]

percent format percentage

sector_size the size of the sector (512 or 4096)

dev_name device name

serial_num serial number of the card

# vdrive-cfg format 80 4096 82314F00017Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.110.0-1.0, 05/08/2013Format is destructive operation. Would you like to proceed? (Y/N):yErasing done..... vdrivea : Configured



Example:

Note: The image bundle can be <image-name>.vio or <image-name>.img.

Using the Web UI

The Web interface can also be used to upgrade the card firmware.

1. Log in to the Web UI as described Logging in to the Web UI on page 26.

2. From the Overview screen, click the Update Firmware button.

Viewing Status Information

You can access a wide variety of informational data by using the Web UI and CLI.

Command Line Interface

The vdrive-info command shows detailed status information about one or all of the installed cards.

vdrive-info <summary|list|status|iostats> <device|serial number>

See Command Line Interface Reference on page 35 for detailed information about the CLI commands.

# vdrive-mgmt update firmware C0.1.1.40-fpga-1095-as4-m2.21.vio 82314F00017 force

Violin Memory Velocity vDrive

Version: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.110.0-1.0, 05/08/2013

82314F00017: Reset in progress ....

82314F00017: EMBEDDED RESET IN PROGRESS............


82314F00017: Loading new firmware..................

82314F00017: Please reboot the system for the firmware update to take effect.

82314F00017 : Reset

summary displays card information

list lists card information

status status of the specified card

iostats input/output statistics of the card

device card name

serial number serial number



Diagnosing Failures

In situations where a problem needs to be diagnosed, use the vdrive-incident utility to obtain the diagnostic information from the system. This utility copies detailed diagnostic information to a file. This file can then be used by Violin Memory Customer Support to diagnose the failure and suggest corrective action.

vdrive-incident [file_path]

If the [file_path] parameter is omitted, the output will be dumped to the file vdrive-incident.date_and_time.txt.

file_path complete path to the location to which to deliver the report


APPENDIX A Command Line Interface Reference

The Command Line Interface (CLI) can be used to issue various commands to the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card. Using the commands from this appendix allows you to collect detailed information about the cards, perform card tests, updates, and formatting, and run diagnostic tests on the cards. Many of these operations can also be performed using the Web interface.

Note: Linux syntax is used in all of the CLI examples in this appendix. Windows syntax is identical except for the way the device is identified. In Linux, the device is identified as /dev/<device name>, where as in Windows you would just specify <device name> in all of the examples below.

The tasks that can be performed using the CLI are classified into five groups: Information-, Management-, Ring-, Register-, and Diagnostics-related tasks.

• Information-related Commands on page 36

• Management-related Commands on page 40

• Ring-related Commands on page 47

• Register-related Commands on page 48

• Diagnostics-related Commands on page 50


Appendix A: Command Line Interface Details

Information-related Commands

vdrive-info

The vdrive-info command allows access to detailed information about the Velocity cards installed in a system or a server.

vdrive-info <summary|list|status|iostats> <dev_name|serial_num>

Listing details about all cards connected to a system

vdrive-info summary

When the command is used by itself without any arguments, details about all cards connected to the system are listed, including the card’s device name, size, location, operational status and serial number.

Example:

summary displays card information

list list all cards

status status of the specified card

iostats input/output statistics of the card

dev_name card name


vdrive-info summaryViolin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Device Size(GB) Location I/O Status SN-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/dev/vdrivea 640 04:00.0 READY 48251F00010-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Listing details about the server and all connected cards

vdrive-info list <dev_name|serial_num>

A server can have multiple Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards installed. When this command is issued without arguments, details are provided about all cards in the server. Information is displayed regarding the driver and device with respect to the host, device, software, capacity, debug level and serial number. When the dev_name argument is used, the same information is provided about the given device.

Example:

Note: Not all information in the example output above is available for all Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards.

dev_name card name


# vdrive-info list 82314F00017Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.110.0-1.0, 05/08/2013

-- Host Info -- FQDN : lab-card-srv13 Driver Date : May 10 2013 11:21:36 Driver version : 0.10.110.0

-- Device Info --vdrivea Serial Number : 82314F00017 Firmware version : C0.1.1.42 Board controller version : bcc0.2.23 Board FPGA version : bfp-1092.0 (Primary) Board Fabric version : bcf-7.1.5.1 PCI(Bus:Dev.Func) : 04:00.0 Raw Capacity(bytes) : 800000000000 Total Bytes Read : 1388544 Total Bytes Written : 4096 R/W Optimized : WRITE Format ratio (%) : 80 Irqtune : 96 Latency measurement : DISABLED Debug level : 88 PCIe lanes - Device : x4 PCIe link speed - Device : 5 GT/s DMA access byte alignment : 128 DMA ring size : 4096 IO timeout (secs) : 30 LBA sector (bytes) : 4096 MSI : DISABLE



Listing component status for a specific card

vdrive-info status <dev_name|serial_num>

This command reads the status for a variety of components on the specified Velocity card including status for LED, volume, PCIe, temperature and embedded. This command does not support partition-based information.

Example:

dev_name card name


vdrive-info status /dev/vdriveaViolin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013vdrivea -- LED Status -- Status LED : AMBER OFF Power LED : GREEN ON Alarm LED : RED OFF

-- Volume Status -- Device Ready : YES Paused : NO

-- PCIe Status -- PCIe lanes - slot : x8 PCIe link speed - slot : 5 GT/s PCIe lanes - device : x8 PCIe link speed - device : 5 GT/s

-- Temp Status -- Temperature : 44 C

-- Embedded Status -- Super-Cap Controller Status : OK Super-Cap Status : OK Temperature Controller Status : OK Board Temperature Status : OK Embedded Upgrade Status : OK AS Flash Status : OK BootUp Status : OK



Displaying the input/output statistics for a specific card

vdrive-info iostats <dev_name|serial_num>

This command displays the input/output (IO) statistics in bytes for a specified card. Displayed information includes the number of IOs requested based on size categories, as well as the number of completed, failed, and unaligned host IOs for read and write operations.

Example:

dev_name card name


# vdrive-info iostats /dev/vdrivebViolin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013

vdriveb

-- Target Counts -- IO > 128K : 0 64K < IO <=128K : 0 32K < IO <=64K : 0 16K < IO <=32K : 0 8K < IO <=16K : 0 4K < IO <=8K : 0 IO = 4K : 4318 IO < 4K : 0

IO requests : 4318 IO requests completed : 4318 active io sent to HW : 0 IO requests failed : 0 IO zero-size requests : 0

IRQ calls: 5239 IRQ calls for Violin: 4319 IRQ calls for errors: 0 Completed I/O bytes: 17690624 Completed read bytes: 17690624 Completed write bytes: 0 Completed I/O's: 4319 Completed read I/O's: 4319 Completed write I/O's: 0 Failed read I/O's: 0 Failed write I/O's: 0 Average read bytes: 4096 Average write bytes: 0 Unaligned host buf reads: 0 Unaligned host bounce reads: 0 Unaligned host buf writes: 0 Unaligned host bounce writes: 0 Requested DMA reads: 4319 Requested DMA writes: 0 Flash partial page reads: 0 Flash partial page writes: 0



Management-related Commands

vdrive-cfg

Formatting the card

vdrive-cfg format <percent> <sector_size> <dev_name|serial_num>

This command formats the card. The dev_name or serial_num argument is required since multiple format commands for different devices can run concurrently on a given system. Multiple format commands to the same device using different interfaces will result in a single format operation; there is no queuing of format commands. Upon successful completion of the formatting operation, a “Format complete” message is shown on the console. If format percentage is not specified, it defaults to 80 percent.

If the formatted capacity is reduced to a level below 80 percent, it may result in better write performance. If the primary workload being processed by the card is write requests, you can use the “optimize” option to boost write performance as well.

Example:

Write Performance Optimization

vdrive-cfg optimize <device> <mode>]

By default, the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Cards are optimized for a mixed workload where READ and WRITE operations are intermixed. However, if the card is being used for a workload that is primarily WRITE operations, the “optimize” command can be used to tune the card’s pro-cessing in order to boost WRITE performance. Formatting the card to a lower usable capacity can also boost write performance. (See Formatting the card on page 40.)

percent format percentage

sector_size the size of the sector (512 or 4096)



# vdrive-cfg format 80 4096 82314F00017Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.110.0-1.0, 05/08/2013Format is destructive operation. Would you like to proceed? (Y/N):yErasing done..... vdrivea : Configured

device device name

mode read | write



vdrive-util

Use the vdrive-util command to ensure that all data is securely erased from the Violin Memory PCIe Flash Card. This utility provides complete destruction of data on the card so that it can be discarded, returned for replacement or safely used by another system.

vdrive-util erase clear <serial_num>vdrive-util regdump all <serial_num>vdrive-util ringdump paged <serial_num>vdrive-util ringdump continuous <serial_num>vdrive-util bbscan device <serial_num>

Examples:

erase Erase the card

clear Perform a full chip purge

regdump Flash controller register dump

all All cards in a server

ringdump Perform I/O ring dump

paged One page output

continuous Refresh page periodically

bbscan Flash bad block scanning

device Device name

serial_num The serial number of the card

# vdrive-util erase clear 48251F00010Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.76.020130319191608-1.0, 03/19/201315% Erasing......Erasing done.....



# vdrive-util regdump all 48251F00010Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013

Device: /dev/vdrivea

-- Host Registers --HH_DMA_SCRATCH : 0x40000000HH_IRQ1 : 0x00020001HH_IRQ1_EN : 0xe0050000HH_IRQ2 : 0x00004000HH_IRQ2_EN : 0x00d0c38fHH_RING_STATUS : 0x00000000HH_DMA_STAT1 : 0x00000000HH_DMA_STAT2 : 0x00000000HH_DMA_CTRL : 0x06004000HH_DEBUG1 : 0x00000000HH_STATUS : 0x00000000HH_STATUS2 : 0x00000000HH_MEM_CFG : 0x00000320HH_RING_ADDR_H : 0x00000000HH_RING_ADDR_L : 0x7f200000HH_RING_MASK : 0x00000fffHH_RING_INDEX : 0x00000001HH_ACK_FETCH : 0x00000000HH_XFER_OPEN_CMPL : 0x00000000HH_CLOSE_XFER_CMPL: 0x00000000HH_OPEN_CLOSE_ACK : 0x00000000HH_FETCH_CNT : 0x00000000HH_OPEN_CNT : 0x00000000HH_OPEN_CMPL_CNT : 0x00000000HH_XFER_CNT : 0x00000000HH_XFER_CMPL_CNT : 0x00000000HH_CLOSE_CNT : 0x00000000HH_CLOSE_CMPL_CNT : 0x00000000HH_ACK_CNT : 0x00000000

-- HVM --t_config : 0x00000000t_status : 0x00000000h_format_req : 0x00000000

-- DMA ring --dma_active : 0io_pend : 0ring_trgt_index : 2 (0x2)ring_host_index : 2 (0x2)ring_mask : 0xfffcmn_io_req** : ffff81027ad70000

PFC Registers (@0x0):WL Registers (@0x400):GC Registers (@0x600):RC Registers (@0x800):......vdrivea : Success



vdrive-mgmt

The vdrive-mgmt commands give you the ability to perform a variety of software and flash device management tasks, including upgrading and resetting firmware, loading and unloading drivers, performing low-level formatting, and resetting the card and commands.

Usage:

vdrive-mgmt download event <filename> <dev_name|serial_num>vdrive-mgmt download incident <filename> <dev_name|serial_num>vdrive-mgmt download file <filename> <dev_name|serial_num>vdrive-mgmt update firmware <filename> <dev_name|serial_num> [force]vdrive-mgmt reset firmware <dev_name|serial_num> [force]vdrive-mgmt clear allcmds inprogress <dev_name|serial_num> [force]

# vdrive-util ringdump paged 48251F00010Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013Device: /dev/vdrivea

-- DMA ring info --INDX CMD/FLAGS TRGT_ADDR HOST_ADDR SIZERG 2 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 3 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 4 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 5 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 6 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 7 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 8 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 9 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 10 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 11 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 12 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 13 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 14 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 15 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 16 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 17 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 18 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 19 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 20 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 21 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0)<Cut op>

download Log device events or diagnostics

event Download embedded controller events

incident Download embedded controller incidents

file Download file that’s present or previously copied on embedded controller



Updating firmware

vdrive-mgmt update firmware <device><file path>

Use this command to update (upgrade or downgrade, depending on the location to which it is pointed) the device firmware. Upon completion of the update operation, a success or failure status message displays on the console. Multiple updates to a single device are not supported; however simultaneous updates to multiple devices using a separate interface is supported.

update Upgrade or downgrade firmware

firmware Use with update command to update firmware

reset Initiates an embedded controller reset on the Velocity drive

clear Abort management operations in progress for a given device

allcmds Abort management operations in progress for a given device

inprogress Abort management operations in progress for a given device

filename Name of a file



force Does not expect user input

device device name

file path complete path to file location



Example:

Enabling and disabling a card

vdrive-mgmt <load|unload> <dev_name|serial_num>

This command enables and disables the device. This option will be used for selectively enabling or disabling a device. This will create a device instance in the device directory.

Example:

vdrive-mgmt update firmware img-bundle_C0.10.25.0.imz 48251F00010

Violin Memory Velocity vDrive

Version: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013

100% Updating......

48251F00010: File transfer complete.

Would you like to reset the Card? (Y/N):y


48251F00010: Loading new firmware..................

Message from syslogd@ at Thu Mar 21 19:24:34 2013 ...

lcard kernel: vdrive(0): FATAL: lost PCIE link! (sanity)

48251F00010: Need to REBOOT the system.

vdrivea : Reset

load enable the card

unload disable the card

# vdrive-mgmt loadViolin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013

vdrivea : Loaded vdriveb : Loaded



Aborting management operations in progress for a given device

vdrive-mgmt clear allcmd <device>

Example:

Resetting the embedded processor and FPGA

vdrive-mgmt reset firmware <device>

This command resets the embedded processor and field-programmable gate array (FPGA). This command puts the device in a paused state, and blocks other management commands such as upgrade, format and diagnostics. As soon as the device returns to a ready state, it allows all of the blocked commands to proceed.

Example:

Download device events or diagnostics

vdrive-mgmt download <event|incident><device><file path>

To log device event or diagnostics, specify the type of log to be captured, the device name and the file path to deliver the report. On completion of the download operation, a message with either success or failure status is shown on the console. Multiple download operations to a single device are not supported, but download to different devices simultaneously using a separate interface is supported.

device device name

# vdrive-mgmt clear allcmds inprogress /dev/vdriveb Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.90.0-1.0, 04/08/2013Would you like to abort all command to device /dev/vdriveb? (Y/N):yAborted all commands to device /dev/vdriveb

device device name

# vdrive-mgmt reset firmware /dev/vdriveb Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.90.0-1.0, 04/08/2013Would you like to reset the Card? (Y/N):y/dev/vdriveb: Reset in progress ..../dev/vdriveb: Reset complete, ready for I/O.........

vdriveb : Reset

event select event log

incident select diagnostics log

device device name

file path complete path to the location to which to deliver log report


Ring-related Commands

Example:

Ring-related Commands

vdrive-util ringdump

Dump DMA descriptor ring information

vdrive-util ringdump paged <serial_num>

The vdrive-ring command dumps complete information about DMA descriptor rings. It specifies the ring index, read/write flag, host and target address along with the size of the data being transferred. At present, the driver supports a single 4K ring.

Example:

vdrive-mgmt download event event_log_vdrivea 48233F00001Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.90.0-1.0, 04/08/2013 vdrivea : Downloaded

# vdrive-util ringdump paged 48251F00010Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.75.1-1.0, 03/17/2013Device: /dev/vdrivea

-- DMA ring info --INDX CMD/FLAGS TRGT_ADDR HOST_ADDR SIZERG 2 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 3 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 4 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 5 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 6 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 7 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 8 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 9 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 10 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 11 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 12 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 13 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 14 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 15 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 16 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 17 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 18 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 19 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 20 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0) 21 0x00000000 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000 0RG( 0)<Cut op>



Register-related Commands

vdrive-util regdump

Dump register definition and value

vdrive-util regdump all <serial_num>

The utility dumps register’s definition and value when the driver is loaded. It provides more hardware-related information about ring status and DMA status.


Register-related Commands

Example:

# vdrive-util regdump all 48246F00006Violin Memory Velocity vDriveVersion: vdriveutils-linux-0.10.90.0-1.0, 04/08/2013

Device: /dev/vdriveb

-- Host Registers --HH_DMA_SCRATCH : 0x40000000HH_IRQ1 : 0x0002014eHH_IRQ1_EN : 0xe0050000HH_IRQ2 : 0x00004000HH_IRQ2_EN : 0x00d0c38fHH_RING_STATUS : 0x00000000HH_DMA_STAT1 : 0x00000000HH_DMA_STAT2 : 0x00000000HH_DMA_CTRL : 0x06004000HH_DEBUG1 : 0x00000000HH_STATUS : 0x00000000HH_STATUS2 : 0x00000000HH_MEM_CFG : 0x00000320HH_RING_ADDR_H : 0x00000000HH_RING_ADDR_L : 0x36860000HH_RING_MASK : 0x00000fffHH_RING_INDEX : 0x0000014eHH_ACK_FETCH : 0x00000000HH_XFER_OPEN_CMPL : 0x00000000HH_CLOSE_XFER_CMPL: 0x00000000HH_OPEN_CLOSE_ACK : 0x00000000HH_FETCH_CNT : 0x00000000HH_OPEN_CNT : 0x00000000HH_OPEN_CMPL_CNT : 0x00000000HH_XFER_CNT : 0x00000000HH_XFER_CMPL_CNT : 0x00000000HH_CLOSE_CNT : 0x00000000HH_CLOSE_CMPL_CNT : 0x00000000HH_ACK_CNT : 0x00000000

-- HVM --t_config : 0x00000000t_status : 0x00000000h_format_req : 0x00000000

-- DMA ring --dma_active : 0io_pend : 0ring_trgt_index : 335 (0x14f)ring_host_index : 335 (0x14f)ring_mask : 0xfffcmn_io_req** : ffff880207718000...



Diagnostics-related Commands

vdrive-incident

Gather diagnostic information about the card

vdrive-incident <filename> <SN|all>

The vdrive-incident command gathers diagnostic and status information about a variety of card components. The information is gathered and reported in file format to the file location specified in the file path argument. The vdrive-incident command collects the following information:

• Host driver register dump

• HVM register dump

• Output from Ispci

• Syslog

• Last few DMA read/write operations

• Module information

• RPM package information

• Event log

Example:

filename complete path to the location to which to deliver report

# vdrive-incident allGathering information from host...Generating dmesg...Generating lspci...Generating proc files...Generating system device statistics...Generating memory info...Generating CPU info...Generated vdrive-info...Generated device list and state...Generated device status...Incident report created in all


APPENDIX B Compliance Information

This appendix contains the following compliance information for the Violin Velocity PCIe Memory Card.

• FCC Class A Compliance on page 52

• Regulatory Model Number on page 52

• Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Precautions on page 52

• Disposal of Waste Equipment by Users in Private Households in the European Union on page 53

• European Union RFI Statement on page 53

• European Union RFI Statement on page 53

• Japan Radio Frequency Interference VCCI on page 53

• Canada RFI Statement on page 54

• CISPR 22 on page 54

• Taiwan BSMI Statement on page 54

• Four-in-One Recycling Symbol on page 54


Appendix B: Compliance Information

FCC Class A Compliance

This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case, you are required to correct the interference at your own expense.

The user is cautioned that changes or modifications not expressly approved by Violin Memory could result in the equipment being noncompliant with FCC Class A requirements and void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

Regulatory Information

For your protection, this product has been tested for conformance to various national and international regulations and standards. The scope of this regulatory testing includes electrical and mechanical safety, electromagnetic emissions, immunity, acoustics and hazardous materials.

Regulatory Model Number

For the purpose of regulatory compliance certifications and identification, this product is assigned a Violin Memory regulatory model number. This number can be found on the product label, along with the required approval markings and information. When requesting certification information for this product, always refer to this regulatory model number.

Note: Do not confuse the regulatory model number with the marketing or model number.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Precautions

When handling any electronic component or assembly, you must observe the following antistatic precautions to prevent damage. An ESD kit (P/N A3024-80004) is available (or supplied with memory additions). This kit contains one wrist strap, one conductive sheet, and one antistatic foam pad.

• Always disconnect power from the server and wear a grounded wrist strap when working around the server.

• Always wear a grounded wrist strap when handling printed circuit boards.

• Treat all assemblies, components and interface connections as static-sensitive.

• Avoid working in carpeted areas, and keep body movement to a minimum while removing or installing boards, to minimize buildup of static charge.


Disposal of Waste Equipment by Users in Private Households in the European Union

Disposal of Waste Equipment by Users in Private Households in the European Union

This symbol on the product or on its packaging indicates that this product must not be disposed of with your other household waste. Instead, it is your responsibility to dispose of your waste equipment by handing it over to a designated collection point for the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment. The separate collection and

recycling of your waste equipment at the time of disposal will help to conserve natural resources and ensure that it is recycled in a manner that protects human health and the environment. For more information about where you can drop off your waste equipment for recycling, please contact your local city office, your household waste disposal service or the shop where you purchased the product.

European Union RFI Statement

This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures.

Japan Radio Frequency Interference VCCI

Korea RFI Statement

VCCI クラス A EMI コンプライアンス宣言これは、自主規制協議会の干渉を情報技術機器（VCCI）基準クラス A の製品です。この機器は、国内の環境で使用される場合は、無線障害の原因があります。そのようなトラブルが発生した場合は、ユーザーは是正措置をする必要があります


Appendix B: Compliance Information

Canada RFI Statement

This Class A digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.

Cet appareil numérique de la classe A est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada.

CISPR 22

WARNING! This is a class A product. In a domestic environment, this product may cause radio interference, in which case, the user may be required to take adequate remedial measures.

Taiwan BSMI Statement

Four-in-One Recycling Symbol


Index

Ccaution icons 3CLI command

aborting operations 46disabling a card 45displaying card information 36–39downloading events and diagnostics 46dump DMA descriptor rings 47dump register definition 48erasing data 41formatting a card 40gathering diagnostic information 50management tasks 43resetting 46updating firmware 44

command line interfaceabout 25logging in 31

customer support, contacting 4

Ffirmware

upgrading 32

LLEDs

location on card 13status 22

Ooperating systems supported 8

Rrequirements

PCIe 7RAM 7software 8

Ssoftware

downloading 14installing 14preparing installation for Linux 15

specifications 7

VViolin Velocity PCIe Memory Card

about 6components 6detecting hardware (Linux and Windows) 14formatting the card 32installing 10–13installing software 14–20verifying card detection 21Web interface 24

Wwarning icons 3Web interface

logging in 26monitor screen 29–31overview screen 27–29supported browsers 25


using 26 Web interface, about 24
