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Poweredge 2900 3TB HD addition
I have a Poweredge 2900 that was given to me. It has a SATA hard drive with Windows 7 installed on it that it boots from. All 8 of the Raid bays are currently empty and im looking to fill them. Everything i have read states the PERC 5i raid controller will only allow a 2TB HD pr slot. I want to find out if there is a way to Increase this to 3TB HD. Since its booting off a separate drive is there a way to get Windows 7 to see the individual drives with software? Or a different way to create a RAID 5 allowing me to use the larger 3TB HD? Please let me know if more info is needed or if anyone has any good ideas. My ultimate goal is to store media on this machine. Its not going to be used as an actual server but more to store pictures, music and movies.
DELL-Geoff P
990 Posts
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March 1st, 2013 06:00
Good morning,
The Perc 5/i will not see all the space on the 3TB drive. The maximum it will see is 2TB, so you will be wasting 1TB of space on each drive. There is not a firmware upgrade to change this.
The single drive is probably setup as a RAID 0. To add additional drives to this server, you can create more RAID 0's or an additional RAID, such as RAID 5 with the remaining bays. This controller will not allow a JBOD setup, so each drive has to be in some sort of RAID.. This can be configured in the Ctrl R bios during POST.
Regards,
theflash1932
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March 1st, 2013 08:00
"Its not going to be used as an actual server but more to store pictures, music and movies."
Sounds liike a server to me ;)
You can upgrade to an H700 RAID controller ... it is not officially supported in the 2900, but there are reports of it working just fine - it can see drives larger than 2TB, but it is spendy. It also cannot do JBOD, so, like the PERC 5/6, you would need to configure each drive in a RAID array (each as RAID 0 for drives to be seen individually).
The H200 (also not supported) can see drives larger than 2TB, but it is a low-end controller and will not give you the performance even of the PERC 5. It does support JBOD/non-RAID.
The SAS 6/iR is supported in the 2900 and is a very low-end controller, but is capable of JBOD/non-RAID. I have HEARD that IN NON-RAID MODE ONLY, it will see drives larger than 2TB, but I cannot confirm that, as this controller is documented as having a 2TB limit.
Or you could try your luck on a third-party controller that meets your needs ... there just is no guarantee it will work as expected.
andytrance
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March 1st, 2013 07:00
The main boot-able SATA drive is actually hooked to the motherboard. There are two SATA connections, A and B, one going to a BluRay drive and the other goes to the SATA drive with the OS on it. It's configured in the bios to boot from SATA A. So all 8 raid bays are open. I'm bummed to hear 2TB is all they will see. I was hoping there would be a way to "virtually" mount the drives so windows would see them and i could create the raid in windows. Is there an "upgrade raid card available that would fit in the 2900? I is possible to take out all the raid controller gear and put in a PCIE raid card? Let me know if you have any ideas on this.
andytrance
7 Posts
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March 1st, 2013 08:00
Cool, Thanks a bunch. I think i will load the 2900 with 4 2TB HD's and create a raid 5. Once i have 4 more drives i will just create a second raid 5. I wanted to use the 3TB HD cause i have 4 of them but not gonna waist them on this setup. Once this thing is full i will just build a NAS or something of the sort. Thanks for all your time and help.
andytrance
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March 2nd, 2013 15:00
OK, so i now have a completely new question. Raid 5 all setup. My server is loaded up with windows 7. There is not a user name or password used to log on when it boots up. I right clocked on the raid and went to properties. I Shared the drive to be accessible by anyone on the network. From another computer I click on the server. The raid drive shows up "y" and says "shared". When i click on it i get a message that says "you do not have permission to access \\server-pc\y. Contact your network administrator to request access. Any ideas? Do I have to make the server have a user name and password on boot up?
theflash1932
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March 2nd, 2013 15:00
Have you networked Windows 7 computers before? You need to make sure that Network Discovery is on for your network type, and you need to set a password OR turn off Password Protected Sharing in the Advanced Sharing Settings of the Network and Sharing Center. If mapping the drive, you will need to make sure it connects with "different credentials", being the username/password of an authorized user on the server.
theflash1932
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March 3rd, 2013 11:00
That works, but just know that is not very good practice if the network may be accessed by unintended users (like if you have your wifi unprotected, etc.), as anyone and everyone will have the access (Full/Change/Read) that you specified. Best practice would be to create a user on the server/PC to whom you can grant the appropriate permissions for the resources you are making available. Also, if you plan to Remote Desktop into this system, you cannot do so without a password-protected account.
andytrance
7 Posts
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March 3rd, 2013 11:00
I found it! Under the "Y" drive i clicked properties, sharing, advanced sharing, permissions. Everyone was selected but i could still not access drive. Under permissions i was able to add "network" and "anonymous logon" after doing this i was able to access my "Y" drive from other locations.
andytrance
7 Posts
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March 9th, 2013 15:00
well, i had everything working great for a week and the motherboard died on me. I cant even get to the BIOS. If i replace the motherboard will the raid be in tact? Or with replacing the motherboard is the raid going to require a new setup? I have seen motherboards for about $75 online. Is it worth it or should i just part this machine out? Not sure if the parts have any value to be honest?
theflash1932
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March 9th, 2013 16:00
Parts can have value ... keep them listed on eBay, eventually people will buy them, but it is a waiting game until someone develops a need for the part. If you have much invested in the data on your drives, then it may be worth replacing the motherboard (or getting a new system with a controller compatible with your existing virtual disk) so you don't have to build a server from scratch.
theflash1932
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March 9th, 2013 16:00
The RAID config is stored on the RAID card, not the motherboard, so replacing the motherboard should not affect your RAID setup.