PE2850 getting raid 1 set up

Question

i think i need to get a tutorial to get raid 1 going. then i need to get the operating system installed. i found a tutorial sometime ago for the 2850 but have not found it again yet. anyone have a link? also i think i have it set up but 3003 server software does not see it so it just says to hit F3 and reboot. did that a few times. Now I'm a bit tired of the frustration. does the container need to be formatted? i would think so but havent seen how to get that done yet. Maybe some pointers in that direction also. pe2850, 2x 3 gig procs., 2x 4gig ram sticks yes, ecc and they are good. 2x 72 gig drives, scsi. does the 2850 have a place for hyperthreading, or is that just for non-server boards. i have a precision 470 and a 670 set to hyperthreading. just curious.

theflash1932 · Answer

In the BIOS (F2), you will find the option to enable/disable HT - should be enabled by default. And, yes, the array (container) must be created/initialized before Windows will recognize it.

To set up the RAID ...

Make sure that RAID is enabled under Integrated Devices in the BIOS.
Hit CTRL-M during POST when that is an option.
Configure>View/Add Configuration - if it asks for disk/nvram config, choose disk, exit/save config, then in View/Add, if the drives show anything other than READY, then choose Clear Config from Configure menu.
In View/Add, hit the Space Bar on each drive (they will start blinking), then hit Enter (they will stop blinking), then F10.
After the RAID 1 is created, you will need to Initialize the array.
Choose Initialization from the main Management menu, Space Bar to select the array/logical drive, and F10.

Now you are ready to install the OS. You will boot to the 2003 CD, and hit F6 when prompted (very first thing at blue screen), and load the following RAID driver from a floppy.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/scsi-raid/perc-cerc-w2k3-6.46.2.32-A05.exe

Z00gatah · Answer

That did the trick.  thank you. now another question.....  i have that container set up and running 2003 server software now.  I will be adding 4ea  146 gig drives later for all the data that we need. raid 5 i presume? don't know how our current server is set up.  an old PE2500.  we can add those drives later as a different container?  i have a long ways to go to get this thing done enuf to bring in a tech to finish the fine points.  but first things first  i need the network/internet up and running.  thanks again   Charles

theflash1932 · Answer

Yes, you can add drives and arrays at any time using the OpenManage Server Administrator application.

ftp://ftp.dell.com/sysman/OM_6.2.0_Man_Node_A00.exe

Download and run to extract files, then run C:\Openmanage\windows\setup.exe. Choose Custom install and make sure that Storage Management (and all sub-features) is installed. Then you will go to Storage>PERC 4e/Di>Information/Configuration (link at the top)>and choose Create/New from the dropdown menu of available tasks for the controller.

With 4 disks, you can do a RAID 5 (will give you around 408GB with one-disk redundancy) or a RAID 10 (will give you around 272GB with UP TO two-disk redundancy). After it has been created and initialized and you reboot, then you can set up a new partition(s) with the new Unallocated Space in Windows.

Did you get the Chipset and all other drivers loaded?

PowerEdge HDD/SCSI/RAID

PE2850 getting raid 1 set up

Was this post helpful?