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PowerEdge T710 PERC6i Dual Array question
Hi Guys,
My first post here so excuse my protocol breaches if any...
My customer had a current config of Raid5 with 4 x 500gb drives.
I upgraded to a new Raid5 with 4 x 2TB drives and hit the wall with teh 2TB limit.
My question is - Can I configure the first 4 drivebay with the "old" drives (4x500) as Raid5 and create the OS Partition, Paging Partition, Log Partition etc... and then install a second separate Raid 5 in drivebays 5-8 and configure a secondary array (virtual disk 2) with the 4x2TB drives and use GPT to leverage all teh available drive space for a monster 6TB data drive with a 2TB "hot spare" ?
Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
James
theflash1932
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Unlikely? Oh ye of little faith :) The PE R710 does support UEFI. Boot to the BIOS/System Setup (F2) and change Boot Settings to UEFI/BIOS.
theflash1932
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Yes, you can. I would elaborate, but there's just not that much to it ... you can have multiple arrays, and as long as one of them is smaller than 2TB, then it can be the boot "disk". (Depending on your server model, you could also enable UEFI and boot to any size "disk" you want.)
TechnoChef
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Ha... I said unlikely as I just didnt think you would pull that out of your hat so fast ! Amazing !!
I believe its a PERC6i controller...
So .. if UEFI capable do I still need dual array or can I just enable it and use the 8TB Raid5 (4x2TB) partition OS to 100GB.
theflash1932
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Which RAID controller do you have?
theflash1932
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Windows can't have a disk larger than 2TB unless it is GPT, but it cannot boot to a GPT disk unless it is installed on a UEFI-enabled system. The limit for boot disks in Windows on UEFI is larger than any server's current disk capacity. You can have separate arrays if you like, but with UEFI, you don't need to. With the write penalty of RAID 5, you might consider separating them, IF write performance is important.
TechnoChef
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Thanks Flash... Unlikely that would know off the top of your head.... but is the Dell Poweredge T710 UEFI capable?
I was in Bios here and didnt see but really wasnt looking for that ... so maybe a bit of research and a bios update ??
TechnoChef
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January 9th, 2014 22:00
Thanks Flash - Thats perfect as write is not anywhere near as important as read and I really didnt want to install the secondary array.