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Optiplex 7020 and RAID Array
Greetings.
I purchased an Optiplex 7020 along with the SATA controller card referenced in this post after chatting with a representative and coming away believing the 7020 and the SATA controller card combination would allow me to set up a RAID 1 array. I bought both the 7020 and the controller card from Dell.
However, after multiple conversations with Dell Technical Support and Startech Technical Support, I am still unable to get this to work. I am able to get into the controller card configuration menu on boot up in addition to being able to access the system BIOS. The BIOS shows "Mass Storage" assigned to the PCI Express slot (as it should), but complains about no hard drive being found when I try to boot.
Just for clarity: I am not attempting to use an integrated RAID configuration and am instead trying to use a controller card to care for the RAID array. So I am of the (possibly mistaken) belief that the "RAID ON" setting in the BIOS is irrelevant because the controller card is caring for the RAID array. BTW: My BIOS doesn't have a "RAID ON" setting. I'm just stating this to prevent a responder from taking me down the path of the integrated RAID configuration. The 7020 doesn't come with integrated RAID.
In fact, this Dell page says I'll need to "purchase additional hardware", which is exactly what I did when I bought the controller card - or at least I thought.
So the questions are: What do I need to do to be able to get my Optiplex 7020 to mirror the first drive onto a second so that the second is bootable right away in the event the first one fails? Do I need a software solution instead? Do I need additional hardware yet?
Thanks in advance!
RoHe
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September 26th, 2015 19:00
If that card requires a driver, it's probably not loaded until Windows loads so BIOS won't be able to see drives connected to that card in order to boot from one of them.
And according to the manual, boot options are:
Allows you to specify the order in which the computer attempts to find an operating system. The options are:
So there's no option to tell BIOS to look for a boot drive on PCI-e.
That said, there is a reference to the Intel RAID controller in the manual, so that suggests it might work with this system.
In Win 8/8.1 and Win 10, there's a built-in utility called "Storage Spaces" to create a mirror. Both drives have to be connected to SATA ports on the motherboard, and presumably identical in size. So give that a try...
RoHe
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September 26th, 2015 19:00
Read this about Storage Spaces. It's for 8.1 but probably works the same in Win 10.
RoHe
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September 27th, 2015 17:00
I've never used Storage Spaces, so I can't answer the question about being able to boot from the mirror if the primary drive fails completely.
But I should think you'd always be able to boot from that partition on drive 2, even if it's not up-to-date. After all, we can boot a PC from a Windows Reinstallation disk or a Recovery Disk years after the disk was created. True, you'd probably have to install a boat load of updates, but it still should be bootable.
If the 7020 doesn't support RAID, why did they even mention the Intel RAID controller in the manual? Did somebody just cut/paste that bit from some other manual without thinking about it? :emotion-3:
The 7020 is on Dell's list of PCs tested for compatibility with Win 10. So it should be upgradeable for free, as long as it doesn't have an Enterprise version of Win 7. Enterprise versions don't qualify for the free upgrade.
Only Dell can decide whether to allow an exchange to a 9020...
Hope this works out for you.
ABCS-JB
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September 27th, 2015 13:00
Thanks for the info, RoHe! That helps a lot.
Just so the info is captured in this thread, it's a Windows 7 system. At this time, MS is promoting its free upgrade to Windows 10, and I'm considering it, but I haven't done enough research on it to make the jump. The computer will be used as a file share and internal web server / database server (via a proprietary application) on a ~10 workstation network consisting of all Windows 7 machines. I don't want a one-off OS on the network and I don't want to include a Windows 10 migration in the scope of this project. So I'm leaning away from Windows 10 for now. Maybe some other day.
I read the articles you linked. If I went down that path, I'm concerned that the following scenario could (theoretically) come into play (Murphy's law):
This is a lot of effort considering I might be able to work with Dell on an exchange for a 9020 that supports RAID.
How realistic is this scenario?
ABCS-JB
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September 28th, 2015 07:00
RoHe,
Thank you for carving out your free time to share your knowledge with others. I owe you a beer.
This info is helping me determine my next steps, which is probably going to involve a conversation with Dell.
It's people like you that make this world a better place.
RoHe
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September 28th, 2015 11:00
You're welcome.