*******************************************************************************
                                  NETWARE.TXT
*******************************************************************************

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


******************************** 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 
version 4.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 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 
main board, 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 
main board 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 performance. (max_hbas, max_id, max_lun)


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 NetWare drivers in a 3.XX BIOS environment only support ASPI8XX 
configurations. 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 conjunction 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.

