Dell^® PowerEdge^® Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC Quick Installation Guide

Installation Overview | Dell Settings and Software | Running the RAID Configuration Utility | Checking the Raid Configuration | Changing the RAID Configuration | Adding RAID Drivers While Installing the Operating System | Where to Go Next

Installation Overview

This document provides instructions for installing and using configuration software for a Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC in your Dell PowerEdge System. Instructions are provided for configuring the redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID) and adding RAID drivers during operating system installation.

Dell Settings and Software

If you ordered three or more hard-disk drives for your system and did not specify a RAID level with your order, Dell configured the hard-disk drives for RAID 5 by default. If you ordered your system with less than three hard-disk drives, Dell configured the drive(s)
for RAID 0.

CAUTION: Altering the Dell-configured RAID can result in the loss of data and the loss of all Dell-installed software options. Refer to the Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC User's Guide for information on configuring RAID levels on your system.

Running the RAID Configuration Utility

You can run the RAID configuration utility from either the controller's firmware or from the Dell Server Assistant CD. Running the utility from the Dell Server Assistant CD requires the Dell Server Assistant CD version 3.2.0 or higher.

Running the Utility From the Controller's Firmware

To run the RAID configuration utility from the controller's firmware, use the following procedure:

1. Turn on the computer and any Dell-provided peripherals.

During the boot sequence, a screen with messages similar to the following example appears:

PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller BIOS1.25 May 28, 1998

Copyright © American Megatrends, Inc.

Press <Ctrl><m> to run the BIOS Configuration Utility

Firmware Initializing... [Scanning SCSI Device]

During initialization, the controller scans the small computer system interface (SCSI) channels. When the scan is complete, a screen with messages similar to the following example appears:

Host Adapter-0 Type: PERC 2/SC Firmware Version ED4D DRAM Size=16MB

0 Logical Drives found on the Host Adapter

0 Logical Drives handled by BIOS

2. Press <Ctrl><m> immediately when the screen appears and starts to run the RAID configuration utility.

The screen appears for only a few seconds before continuing with the boot process. If you do not press the key combination within the allotted time, reboot the system and try again.

See the Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC User's Guide for additional information on the utility.

Running the Utility From the Dell Server Assistant CD

NOTE: If you do not have the Dell Server Assistant CD version 3.2.0 or higher, you must run the RAID configuration utility from the controller's firmware as described above.

To run the RAID configuration utility from the Dell Server Assistant CD, use the following procedure:

1. Insert the Dell Server Assistant CD and reboot the system.

2. Select Configure the System from the Dell Server Assistant main menu.

3. Select Configure the RAID Subsystem from the submenu to run the RAID configuration utility.

NOTE: See the Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC User's Guide for additional information on the utility.To check the RAID configuration, use the following procedure.

Checking the RAID Configuration

To check the RAID configuration, use the following procedure:

1. From the Management Menu of the RAID configuration utility, select Configure.
2. Select View/Add Configuration.
3. When the controller has finished scanning the hard-disk drives, press <F3> to view the logical drive(s).
4. Examine the current RAID configuration of your system and determine if you need to make any changes.

Table 1, "RAID Levels," identifies each of the available RAID levels. Refer to the
Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC User's Guide for more information about RAID levels.

5. To exit without changing the current RAID configuration, press <Esc> until you return to the Management Menu. Press <Esc> once more, select Yes to exit, and reboot the system.

Changing the RAID Configuration

To change the RAID configuration on your system, follow these steps:

1. From the Management Menu, select Configure.
2. From the Configure menu, select New Configuration.

A dialog box appears asking if you want to proceed.

CAUTION: In the next step, all data on the hard-disk drives will be destroyed.

3. Select Yes.

The controller scans for all devices and then displays the New Configuration/Array Selection menu.

4. Use the arrow keys to highlight a hard-disk drive you want to include in the array, and press the <Spacebar> to change the hard-disk drive status from Ready to Online.
5. Repeat step 4 for the hard-disk drive to be included in the array.
6. Press <Enter> to accept the hard-disk drives you just selected.
7. Press <F10> to display the Logical Drives Configuration menu, and then select RAID from the menu and press <Enter>.
8. Select the desired RAID level from the list of available choices and press <Enter>.

The available RAID options depend on the number of logical drives in the system, as shown in Table 2, "RAID Options."

1. Highlight Accept and press <Enter>.
2. Press <Esc> until a dialog box appears asking if you want to save the new configuration. Select Yes to save your setup.
3. To initialize the logical drives, select Initialize from the Management Menu.
4. Use the <Spacebar> to select the logical drives individually or press <F2> to select all, then press <F10> to initialize the array.
5. Select Yes to confirm.

Initialization may take anywhere from several minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the logical drives.

CAUTION: Do not interrupt the system during logical drive initialization.

1. When initialization is complete, press <Esc> repeatedly until you return to the Management Menu. Press <Esc> again and select Yes to exit.
2. Reboot the system.

For information about partitioning the logical drives, refer to the installation instructions for your operating system.

Adding RAID Drivers While Installing the Operating System

NOTE: Before installing the RAID drivers, create the necessary driver diskettes using the Dell Server Assistant CD version 3.2.0 or higher. Use these diskettes instead of those supplied with the operating system. If you do not have the Dell Server Assistant CD version 3.2.0 or higher, use the RAID driver diskettes shipped with the system.

Refer to the appropriate subsection that follows for instructions specific to your operating system.

Adding RAID Drivers During Microsoft ® Windows NT ® Server Installation

The procedure for adding RAID drivers to the Windows NT Server operating system depends on whether the operating system is installed using a CD or diskettes.

Adding RAID Drivers During Windows NT Server Installation From a CD

If you are installing Windows NT Server from a CD, install the RAID drivers using this procedure:

1. Insert the Windows NT Server Disk CD into the CD-ROM drive and reboot the system.

The system boots from the CD.

2. Press <F6> immediately when the Windows NT Setup screen starts to appear (when the screen changes from a black background to a blue background).
3. Type s to specify a driver.
4. Select Other, insert the RAID driver diskette that shipped with the system when prompted for the manufacturer's driver diskette, and press <Enter>.
5. Ensure that the PERC NT driver is selected and press <Enter>.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 to load additional SCSI device drivers or press <Enter>to continue with the installation.

After Windows NT Server is installed, you can use the Windows NT Disk Administrator utility to partition and format any unused hard-disk drive space.

NOTE: The boot partition for Windows NT cannot exceed 4096 megabytes (MB).

Adding RAID Drivers During Windows NT Server Installation From Diskettes

If you are installing Windows NT Server from diskettes, install the RAID drivers using this procedure:

1. Insert the Windows NT Server Setup Boot Disk diskette into the diskette drive and reboot the system.

The system boots from the diskette.

1. When prompted, insert the Setup Disk 2 diskette and press <Enter> to proceed.
2. Press <Enter> at the Welcome to Setup screen.
3. Type s to skip detection.
4. Type s again to specify a driver.
5. Select Other, insert the RAID driver diskette shipped with the system when prompted for the manufacturer's driver diskette, and press <Enter>.
6. Repeat steps 4 through 6 to install the SCSI drivers using the SCSI driver diskette.
7. When the drivers have been installed, proceed with the rest of the Windows NT Server installation following the instructions that came with the operating system.

After Windows NT Server is installed, you can use the Windows NT Disk Administrator Utility to partition and format any unused hard-disk drive space.

NOTE: The boot partition for Windows NT cannot exceed 4096 MB.

Adding RAID Drivers During Novell ® NetWare ® 4.11 Installation

Use the following procedure to install RAID drivers with NetWare 4.11:

1. Before installing NetWare, use the fdisk utility to create an MS-DOS ® partition of 50 to 100 MB.
2. Install the EZ-SCSI software using the instructions provided with your system, and install the CD-ROM driver using the instructions provided with the CD-ROM drive.
3. Insert the Novell NetWare 4.11 CD or the Dell IntranetWare Support CD into the
   CD-ROM drive and change to the CD-ROM drive letter.
4. Run install.bat from the CD.

NetWare 4.11 detects the Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC (identified as MegaRAID in the system message).

5. Press <Esc> to clear the system message.
6. Insert the RAID driver diskette shipped with the system and press <Ins>.

NOTE: Do not use the drivers provided on the NetWare CD.

7. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the RAID drivers and to complete the NetWare installation.

Where to Go Next

• After installing the Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC, continue to the Getting Started with Your Dell PowerEdge Server document for further instructions.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are available on the Dell Server Assistant CD
  version 3.0.0 or later. FAQs are also available on Dell's Web site at www.dell.com.
• For Dell technical assistance refer to the chapter titled "Getting Help" in your system Installation and Troubleshooting Guide for country/region-specific information about contacting Dell via telephone, fax, and the Internet.