The BIOS of the Dell™ Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) 5/iR controller (also known as CTRL-C) offers the following features:
Support for multiple SAS 5 adapters
POST Memory Management (PMM) support
RAID configuration tool
Read-only memory (ROM) BIOS recovery image
POST status error messaging
Compatibility with Console Redirection
POST accessible, text-based configuration utility (CTRL-C)
POST Messages
During POST, the BIOS displays messages that provide the status and identification information of the SAS 5/iR controller, and also displays errors detected during the POST process.
The POST messages display a series of information. The BIOS POST identification banner prints the BIOS identification, copyright information, and the controller version. It displays the list of controllers and devices detected at initialization in a hierarchical order. The BIOS also prompts you to start the Configuration Utility during the POST process.
BIOS Fault Code Messages
When the BIOS encounters errors during initialization, it stops and displays the error warning. By default, the message is followed by a pause and the user is expected to hit any key for acknowledgement. Use the Configuration Utility to disable the pause.
The BIOS offers two options:
The boot process can be stopped if an error is encountered.
The boot process can continue even if there is an error.
Configuration Utility
Starting the Configuration Utility
Boot the system.
Press <Ctrl+C> during POST when prompted.
If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until the operating system
completes bootup. Then restart your system and try again.
The Configuration Utility menu screen displays.
Functions Performed
NOTE: The screens are organized in a hierarchical fashion and navigation hints are displayed at the bottom of each screen. See the online help for additional information about the utility.
Table 5-1.
Functions Performed by the Configuration Utility
Function
Description
Adapter Listing
Lists all the SAS 5/iR controller in the system.
Global Properties
Lists all the configurable global properties of the Configuration Utility and allows setting their values.
Adapter Properties
Lists the properties for the selected SAS 5/iR controller.
SAS Topology
Lists all the SAS 5/iR controllers in the system and the physical interfaces (PHYs)supported by them.
Advanced Adapter Properties
Lists advanced properties of the selected SAS 5/iR controller and allows their modification.
Device Properties
Lists properties of the selected device.
PHY Properties
Lists properties of the selected PHY
Exit/Change Verification
Displays a message indicating the change made or the screen which is being exited and a list of available exit/verification actions.
Select New Virtual Disk Type
Allows you to select the type of virtual disk to create.
Create New Virtual Disk
Allows you to select disks for a new virtual disk.
View Virtual Disk
Allows you to view the current virtual disk configuration.
Manage Virtual Disk
Allows you to manage the current virtual disk.
Navigating the Configuration Utility
The navigation hints are displayed at the bottom of each screen. Online help is also available in the utility. The screens are organized in a hierarchical fashion.
Integrated RAID Configuration and Management Screens
Integrated RAID (IR) configuration and management involves many screens, all of which are accessed by selecting RAID Properties on the Adapter Properties screen.
If no RAID virtual disks are currently configured, you are prompted to create a RAID virtual disk.
If at least one RAID virtual disk is currently configured, select View Existing Array to manage the virtual disk(s), or select the appropriate create option to configure a new virtual disk.
The screens in the RAID configuration and management properties area are:
Select New Virtual Disk Type
Create New Virtual Disk
View Virtual Disk
Manage Virtual Disk
Select New Virtual Disk Type
The two options for creating a new virtual disk are Create IM Volume and Create IS Volume. Additional information about the disk type options appear on the screen.
Create New Virtual Disk
The Create New Virtual Disk screen allows you to select disks for a new virtual disk.
Press <C> to create the virtual disk once the virtual disk is configured.
Save the changes when prompted to do so.
Press <F3> to confirm the changes.
After the virtual disk is created, the utility returns to the Adapter Properties screen. See the table below for the virtual disk properties description.
NOTE: Dell recommends backing up your data prior to adding or updating configurations.
Table 5-2. Virtual Disk Field Descriptions
Field
Description
Virtual Disk Type
The type of virtual disk being created: IM or IS
Virtual Disk Size
The size of the virtual disk in MB
Slot Num
The slot number the device is located in
Device Identifier
The device identifier
RAID Disk
Specifies whether the disk is part of a RAID virtual disk (Yes or No). This field is grayed out under the following conditions:
The disk does not meet the minimum requirements for use in a RAID virtual disk.
The disk is not large enough to mirror existing data on the primary physical disk.
The disk is a part of another virtual disk.
Pred Fail
Indicates whether device SMART is predicting device failure
Drive Status
The physical disk drive status
Ok: Disk is online and fully functional
Missing: Disk is not detected
Failed: Disk is not accessible or has reported a failure
Initing: Disk is initializing
Offline: Disk is offline for some other reason
Inactive: Disk has been set inactive
Not Syncd: Data on disk is not synchronized with the rest of the virtual disk
Primary: Disk is the primary disk for a 2-disk mirror and is OK
Secondary: Disk is the secondary disk for a 2-disk mirror and is OK
Wrg Type: Device is not compatible for use as part of the RAID virtual disk
Too Small: Disk is too small to mirror existing data
Max Dsks: Maximum # of disks allowed for this type of virtual disk reached
Wrg Intfc: Device interface (SAS/SATA) differs from existing IR disks
Size (MB)
The coerced size of the physical disk in MB (1 MB = (1024 x 1024) = 1,048,576 bytes).
NOTE: Disk coercion is used to ensure the disks are the same size. In virtual disks consisting of different sized physical disks, excess space on larger physical disks is unusable.
View Virtual Disk
The View Virtual Disk screen allows you to view the current virtual disk configuration.
Press <Alt+N> to view the next virtual disk. See the table above to view descriptions of each virtual disk property.
Manage Virtual Disk
The Manage Virtual Disk screen is used to manage the current virtual disk. If you select Synchronize Mirror, Activate Mirror, or Delete Virtual Disk, you are prompted to confirm the choice by pressing Y for yes or N for no.
Table 5-3. Manage Virtual Disk Field Descriptions
Field
Description
Identifier
The identifier of the virtual disk
Type
The RAID type of the virtual disk
Scan Order
The scan order of the virtual disk
Size (MB)
The size of the virtual disk
Status
The status of the virtual disk
Synchronize Mirror
This option is used to synchronize the IM virtual disk.
This option is not accessible under the following conditions:
The virtual disk is inactive.
The virtual disk does not need to be resynchronized.
IS virtual disk is used.
Manage Secondary Disk
This option is used to add a secondary drive to a degraded IM virtual disk with a missing member.
This option is not accessible under the following conditions:
The virtual disk is inactive.
The virtual disk is not a degraded IM virtual disk with a missing member.
IS virtual disk is used.
Activate Mirror
This option is used to activate an inactive (foreign) virtual disk. The option is grayed out if there are no inactive virtual disks.
Delete Virtual Disk
This option is used to delete the currently displayed virtual disk
Exit Screen
It is important to exit the SAS BIOS Configuration Utility properly, because some changes take effect only when you exit. From the Adapter List, press <Esc> to exit. In addition, a similar exit screen appears when you exit most other screens, and it can be used to save settings.
Performing Configuration Tasks
Creating an Integrated Striping Virtual Disk
An Integrated Striping (IS) virtual disk, also referred to as RAID 0, offers the ability to stripe data across multiple physical disks. This can increase storage capacity and performance by combining multiple disks into one logical virtual disk. Follow these steps to create an IS virtual disk on a SAS 5/iR controller that does not currently have a virtual disk configured.
Select a controller from the Adapter List in the Configuration Utility.
Select the RAID Properties option.
Select Create IS Volume when you are prompted to create either an IS virtual disk or an IM virtual disk.
The next screen shows a list of disks that can be added to a virtual disk.
Move the cursor to the RAID Disk column. To add a disk to the virtual disk, change "No" to "Yes" by
pressing the <+>, <->, or space bar. As disks are added, the Virtual Disk Size field changes to reflect
the size of the new virtual disk.
All data will be lost upon creation of the virtual disk.
There are several limitations when creating an IS virtual disk:
All disks must be either Dell-compliant SAS or SATA physical disks.
SAS and SATA physical disks cannot be used in the same virtual disk.
Disks must have 512 byte blocks and must not be removable media (e.g., floppy drive, USB key, etc.).
There must be at least 2 physical disks in a virtual disk.
No more than 4 physical disks are allowed in a virtual disk.
Press <C> and then select Save changes when the virtual disk has been fully configured.
Press <F3> to confirm that existing data will be lost with the creation of the virtual disk. The
Configuration Utility will pause while the virtual disk is being created.
NOTICE: IS does not provide any data protection in the event of disk failure. It is primarily used to increase performance.
NOTE: Once the number of disks in a RAID virtual disk is set, it cannot be changed.
NOTE: The maximum size of the virtual disk that contains the bootable operating system is 2 Terabytes. This is due to operating system restrictions.The maximum array size (non-bootable) is 16 Terabytes.
Creating a Integrated Mirroring Virtual Disk
An Integrated Mirroring (IM) virtual disk, also referred to as RAID 1, offers the ability to mirror data from one physical disk onto another one. This can increase reliability by combining multiple disks into one logical virtual disk. Follow these steps to create an IM virtual disk on a SAS 5/iR controller that does not currently have a virtual disk configured.
Select a controller from the Adapter List in the Configuration Utility.
Select the RAID Properties option.
Select Create IM Volume when you are prompted to create either an IS virtual disk or an IM virtual disk.
The next screen shows a list of disks that can be added to a virtual disk.
Move the cursor to the RAID Disk column. To add a disk to the virtual disk, change "No" to "Yes" by
pressing the <+>, <->, or space bar.
Data on both disks will be lost. Dell recommends backing up all data before performing these steps.
As disks are added, the Virtual Disk Size field will change to reflect the size of the new virtual disk.
There are several limitations when creating an IM virtual disk:
All disks must be either Dell-compliant SAS or SATA physical disks.
SAS and SATA physical disks cannot be used in the same virtual disk.
Disks must have 512-byte blocks and must not have removable media.
There must be 2 physical disks in an IM virtual disk.
Press <C> and then select Save changes when the virtual disk has been fully configured.
Press <F3> to confirm that existing data will be lost with the creation of the virtual disk. The
Configuration Utility will pause while the virtual disk is being created.
NOTE: IM provides protection against the failure of a single physical disk. When a disk fails, the physical disk can be replaced and the data re-mirrored to the physical disk, maintaining data integrity.
NOTE: The maximum size of the virtual disk that contains the bootable operating system is 2 Terabytes. This is due to operating system restrictions.The maximum array size (non-bootable) is 16 Terabytes.
Viewing Virtual Disk Properties
Follow these steps to view the properties of IS and IM virtual disks:
Select a controller from the Adapter List in the Configuration Utility.
Select the RAID Properties option.
If there are no existing virtual disks, you will be prompted to create an IM or an IS virtual disk.
If there is one existing virtual disk, select View Existing Array.
If there are two existing virtual disks, press <Alt+N> to view the next virtual disk.
Press <Enter> when the Manage Virtual Disk item is selected to manage the current virtual disk.
Synchronizing a Virtual Disk
Synchronizing a virtual disk means that the firmware synchronizes the data on the secondary disk(s) with the data on the primary disk of the mirror. Follow these steps to start synchronization for an IM virtual disk:
Select Synchronize Mirror.
Press Y to start the synchronization or N to cancel it.
Activating a Virtual Disk
A virtual disk can become inactive if, for example, it is removed from one SAS 5/iR controller and moved to another one. The Activate Mirror option allows you to reactivate an inactive virtual disk that has been added to a system. This option is only available when the selected virtual disk is currently inactive.
Select Activate Mirror.
Press Y to proceed with the activation or press N to abandon it.
After a pause, the virtual disk will become active.
NOTE: Activation of migrated virtual disks is only supported when the migrated virtual disk(s) is in an optimal state and contains all the physical disks.
Deleting a Virtual Disk
NOTICE: Before deleting a virtual disk, be sure to back up all data on the virtual disk that you want to keep.
Follow these steps to delete a selected virtual disk:
Select Delete Virtual Disk.
Press Y to delete the virtual disk or press N to abandon the deletion.
Press <F3> to confirm deletion of the virtual disk. After a pause, the firmware deletes the virtual disk.
NOTICE: If the physical disks of a virtual disk are removed and the virtual disk's configuration is subsequently deleted from the SAS 5/iR controller, the physical disks show up only as simple disks with no RAID association if they are placed back onto the same SAS 5/iR controller. Once the virtual disk is removed from a SAS 5/iR controller using the BIOS Configuration Utility (regardless whether the physical disks members are present), the virtual disk cannot be restored.
Replacing and Rebuilding a Degraded Virtual Disk
In the event of a physical disk failure in an IM virtual disk, you will need to replace the disk and resynchronize the virtual disk. Synchronization will occur automatically on replacing the physical disk using the following steps.
Replace the failed physical disk with a blank disk of the same type and capacity.
Check your management application or the BIOS Configuration Utility (Ctrl-C) to ensure
synchronization started automatically.
NOTE: The Dell SAS 5/iR controller only supports migration of consistent virtual disks and does not support hot migration of virtual disks.
