Debugging Abnormal RAID Performance in Windows for RocketRAID Controllers or RocketStor Series Enclosures
Written by Support Team
Updated at February 6th, 2023
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Overview
This article is intended for customers who experience slow performance when formatting a RAID volume hosted by a HighPoint RocketRAID Controller or RocketStor RAID Enclosure.
The article includes information about benchmarking the performance of the hard drives, and how to determine if the hard drives are operating optimally and capable of achieving the manufacturer's advertised performance. This debugging article will also help customers determine if there is a potential issue with the HighPoint software.
Applicable products
- RocketRAID SAS & SATA Series RAID Controllers
- RocketStor Series RAID Enclosures
Warning：
- Ensure there is no critical data stored on the array. Uninstalling the HighPoint driver may be required, and doing so may destroy or corrupt data stored by the RAID array.
Performance Benchmark Utilities and Test Scripts：
- Recommended Tools (Windows)：Iometer
- Download Address：
- Script Configuration：
- Recommended Tools (Linux)：FIO
- To download: to download and install this software, open a Terminal and use the following command (screenshot is from Ubuntu 18.04);
#apt-get install fio
- Script Configuration：
2M-seq-write
fio --filename=/dev/hptblock0n1 --direct=1 --rw=write --ioengine=libaio --bs=2m --iodepth=64 --size=10G --numjobs=1 --runtime=60 --time_base=1 --group_reporting --name=test-seq-write
2M-seq-read
fio --filename=/dev/hptblock0n1 --direct=1 --rw=read --ioengine=libaio --bs=2m --iodepth=64 --size=10G --numjobs=1 --runtime=60 --time_base=1 --group_reporting --name=test-seq-read
Possible Cause of Slow Performance：
- The System platform limits the performance capability of the array (e.g. PCIe generation, lane speed, motherboard design)
- There is a problem with the HighPoint software (device driver)
- The hard disks are unable to perform optimally
Troubleshooting steps for low RAID performance：
- First, test the performance of each disk by connecting them directly to the motherboard’s built-in SAS or SATA ports, and run the IOmeter test scripts.
- If the performance is normal: You will need to connect the disk to the RAID Controller/Enclosure and install the HighPoint driver. Retest using the IOMeter scripts (See Step 2, below)
- If the performance is abnormal: the disk may not be functioning properly – we would recommend contacting the manufacturer for further diagnosis.
- Single disk performance test under HighPoint software. After confirming that the performance of every single disk is normal when used with the motherboard ports, connect them to the RAID Controller/Enclosure, install the HighPoint driver and management software, and repeat the tests using the IOmeter scripts.
- If the performance is normal: you would need to retest the drives when configured as an array – see step 3 below.
- If the performance is abnormal: Contact Support – a driver update may be required.
- Benchmark the drives while they are configured as an array using the HighPoint Controller or Enclosure. Configure the drives array using the WebGUI, then run the IOmenter scripts.
- RAID performance is normal: try formatting the array once more, and notify support if it still seems to be progressing too slowly.
- Abnormal RAID performance: Please contact support – a driver update may be required.
Note: Your Personal/Business Data is Safe. HighPoint’s “1-Click" diagnostic feature only collects information related to the product’s hardware and software environment. This data will only be used to troubleshoot technical support issues submitted by customers, and will not be used to identify or track customer activity.