r710 floppy disc

You said you "searched the support site" ... what were you looking for?  It is important to know which RAID controller you are using, as it depends 100% on the controller.  Assuming you have configured the RAID prior to trying to install from the Windows DVD, you would most likely be using either the H200 or H700 RAID controller.

H200:

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails?DriverId=2VWD1&FileId=2731092858&DriverName=Dell%20PERC%20H200%20Adapter%2C%20PERC%20H200%20Integrated%2C%20PERC%20H200%20Integrated%20Modular%2C%20PERC%20H200%20Embedded%2C%20v.2.0.12.20%2C%20A01&productCode=poweredge-r710&urlProductCode=False

H700:

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails?DriverId=W7X7H&FileId=2984171586&DriverName=Dell%20PERC%20H700%20Integrated%2C%20PERC%20H700%20Adapter%2C%20PERC%20H800%20Adapter%2C%20PERC%20H700%20Modular%2C%20v.4.31.1.64%2C%20A02&productCode=poweredge-r710&urlProductCode=False

You must download and run these files to extract the contents before attempting to use them to load the drivers.

As mentioned, you MUST configure RAID on an H700 before any drives can be seen, even with the correct drivers.

Just a note ... Vista/2008 and later no longer require the ancient tradition of loading drivers from floppy (as with XP/2003 and previous).  While you "can" still use floppy, it is now much easier to use USB, CD, etc.  In fact, I do all my installs from USB flash drives with the drivers pre-loaded in a "drivers" folder for various machines.

Umm, so to go back to basic's, why doesn't the Windows iso see the drives? Is it because I need to configure the raid first? And if yes, how would I do that?

And thank you for the information so far. The links you provided are for .exe's. Please keep in mind I am installing this OS over the iDrac/ILO/Console (not sure what its called). So .exe file is  of no use. Hence the reason for the floppy I can mount over virtual console.

On a hardware RAID controller, it takes the disks in the configuration you specify and creates a virtual (or logical) disk and presents that to the operating system.  On a controller that does not support non-RAID (like the H700 and others), it does not present the OS with ANY virtual disk.  RAID is configured on this controller in the CTRL-R utility during POST.

The operating sytem treats the virtual disk presented by the RAID controller as a single disk, completely unaware that it is part of an array of disks.  The number of devices Windows [2008 and later] has built-in drivers for is impressive, but it is not possible for Windows to contain drivers for all possible controllers.  In the case that Windows does not have a built-in driver (as IS the case with the H-series controllers), it is necessary to give Windows the proper driver so it knows how to talk to the controller to get the disk information.

The EXE is NOT the driver file for installation INSIDE the OS ... it is a self-extracting file that CONTAINS the drivers.  On a computer - any computer - download and run the driver EXE; the files will be extracted, and THOSE files will be the ones you will give to Windows when it tells you it can't find any drives, using the Load Driver link in the bottom-left corner.  

The driver files - in extracted form - can be accessed through USB, CD, floppy, and even network, if Windows has a native - or supplied - driver for the NIC, etc.  Because of 2008's ability to obtain a driver in various forms, a specific floppy image is no longer available.  If you want to use floppy, by all means you can, but you must use the Hard Drive version of the driver that I gave you, extract it, and put its contents on a floppy (or create your own floppy 'image').  However, it is MUCH easier to use USB or CD media. 

Given you are trying to do this over the iDRAC ... I'm not sure if you can mount a local drive/folder or mount more than one ISO at the same time ... SO, unless you have a tool that can create a floppy image from a folder, I would simply add the driver to a folder on your Windows DVD media and create a new DVD using something like ISORecorder or 7-zip.

Another option is the installation tools ... USC (Universal Server Configurator - BIOS F2/System Setup/System Services) is built into the server and walks you through an OS installation, configuring RAID and installing drivers as needed; SMTD (Systems Management Tools and Documentation - DVD included with your system or downloadable from support.dell.com) ... both will work over iDRAC ... then you don't need to worry about any of this.

I dont have a tool that can create a floppy image. I tried using the SMTD software but keep receiving this error below. Any ideas?

CTRL-ALT-PRINTSCREEN, paste into a image editor (including MS PAINT), save as JPG, then use the Use Rich Formatting link below the forum post box, then insert image.

Is there a way I can send you a screenshot?

Can't see the error.

Raid setup:

Error:

I would assume from the message that your SMTD media is bad ... are you using the original SMTD DVD that came with this system?  Possibly a network issue using it as virtual media over iDRAC.  Not sure how you are getting to step 3 (RAID) when the error is showing on step 2.

I downloaded SMTD as you suggested. I tried versions 6.0.1 and 6.0.2 but only 6.0.1 would work.

You can configure raid previous to any steps. Actually, you have to configure raid and create a virtual disk first or you cant proceed. Its just when I come to this part, I get the error. I will try a different version to see if it matters.

I think I will get on the phone to Dell in the am and see if I can enlist some help.

I appreciate your help to date.

Without downloading the files, I wouldn't be able to tell you for sure which versions you will need ... and I'm not sure where you got links for 6.0.x ... but I can tell you that 1) 6.0.2 is only for the x410 models, and 2) 2008 R2 support wasn't added until version 6.2, so you need to use a more recent version.  The latest is version 7.1, and it appears as though SP1 or non-SP1 media is supported.  SP1 media may not work with older versions of SMTD though (which is why I would need to see the documentation for it).

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=1WNJW&FileId=2988337740&productCode=poweredge-r710&urlProductCode=False

You do have the option of skipping RAID config IF you have already configured it in CTRL-R.  RAID MUST be configured before Windows can be installed, whether with the SMTD wizard or in CTRL-R.  Did you add any disks to this server?

Support with Dell is free, so I would do that ... it is definitely easier to assist in "real-time" than through a forum.

If you are able to do this at the actual physical console, I suspect all your problems would be gone :)

I wish I could do this at the console but I am in another state.

Is there simple instructions to prepare these drives with CTRL-R fro 2008 standard install? If so, I can try this.

I was able to use Magic disc to create a iso file of the drivers and mount it over iDrac. I just unchecked the Windos 2008 install iso and checked the new iso I created and it found the needed files.

Thanks for all you help. I was able to install the OS successfully. :)