HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller User Guide Part number: 433600-001 First Edition: June 2006
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Contents 1 About the controller Installing the driver................................................................................................................................... 4 Methods for configuring an array............................................................................................................... 4 2 Using the RAID Configuration Utility Creating an array .........................................................................................................................
1 About the controller The HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller enables you to create arrays with RAID levels 0, 1, and 10 on SATA hard drives in specified HP ProLiant server models. NOTE: Some servers that use the HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller do not support RAID 10. For information about supported RAID levels on a particular server, see the user guide for that server. For a complete list of the controller attributes, see the server page on the HP website (http://www.hp.com/support).
2 Using the RAID Configuration Utility The RAID Configuration Utility is loaded on the controller ROM. To run the utility, press the Ctrl+A keys or the F8 key (depending on the version of the ROM) when prompted by one of the following messages during system startup: Press for Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility Press for HP Embedded SATA Setup To select an option from any of the menus within the RAID Configuration Utility, browse with the arrow keys, and then press the Enter key.
11. Select the method that the controller is to use to build the array. CAUTION: Do not use the Migrate or Build methods to create an array on Microsoft® Windows® dynamic disks (volumes), or you will lose data. Table 1 Choosing a method for creating the array RAID level Method Method is appropriate for… 0 Quick Init Creating a RAID 0 array on new drives. 0 Migrate Creating a RAID 0 array when you want to preserve data on an existing drive.
Changing the disk write cache setting To enable or disable the drive write cache for an array: 1. From the main menu of the array configuration utility, select Manage Arrays, and press the Enter key. 2. From the List of Arrays, select the array for which you want to modify the write cache setting, and press the Ctrl+W keys. A dialog box appears asking you to confirm that you want to modify the setting. 3. Press the Y key to change the current setting. Deleting an array 1.
4. At the appropriate prompt during POST, press the Ctrl+A keys or the F8 key to access the RAID Configuration Utility. 5. From the menu, select Array Configuration Utility. 6. From the main menu of the array configuration utility, select Add/Delete Hotspares. 7. Assign the new drive as a hotspare. The Rebuild task begins. All the data from the good drive is copied to the new one, and the original array is recreated.
3 Using the Command Line Utility The command line utility, HRCONF, enables you to perform the following tasks: • Create and delete logical drives • Display and modify a limited set of configuration settings • Recover from a failed physical drive and rebuild an affected logical drive • Detect the removal and connection of any disk drives • Restore the controller configuration HRCONF is provided on the HP website at http://www.hp.com/support.
Syntax hrconf backup Parameters Controller# is the controller number. Filename is the relative or absolute path with file name. Example hrconf backup 1 c:\windows\hr2200 Return values SUCCESS: 0x00 indicates the command completed successfully. FAILURE: 0x01 indicates the command failed. hrconf create This command creates logical drives. You must provide the channel and device ID of the physical drives. On redundant logical drives, HRCONF performs autosynchronization.
Example hrconf delete 1 logicaldrive 1 noprompt Return values SUCCESS: 0x00 indicates successful termination. FAILURE: 0x01 indicates bad arguments or internal error. hrconf getconfig This command lists information about the controllers, logical drives, and physical drives.
hrconf rescan This command enables the controller to detect the removal of any disk drives in the ready state and to detect the connection of any new disk drives to the controller. The command returns when the rescan is complete. Syntax hrconf rescan Parameters Controller# is the controller number. Example hrconf rescan 1 Return values SUCCESS: 0x00 indicates the command completed successfully. FAILURE: 0x01 indicates the command failed.
Return values SUCCESS: 0x00 indicates the command completed successfully. FAILURE: 0x01 indicates the command failed. hrconf setstate This command redefines the state of a physical device from its current state to the designated state. Syntax hrconf setstate Parameters Controller# is the controller number. channel# is the channel number for the drive. device# is the device number for the drive.
4 Understanding RAID When you create arrays (or logical drives), you can assign a RAID level to protect your data. Each RAID level offers a unique combination of performance and redundancy. RAID levels also vary by the number of disk drives they support. This section describes the RAID levels supported by the HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller and provides a basic overview of each level to help you select the best level of protection for your data storage needs.
When selecting a RAID level for your system, consider the following factors.
The following figure shows a RAID 1 array being built from two disk drives of dissimilar size. RAID 10 A RAID 10 array is built from two equal-sized RAID 1 arrays. Data in a RAID 10 array is both striped and mirrored. Mirroring provides data protection, and striping improves performance. Using as an example the same set of drives as in the RAID 0 discussion, the total usable drive space is still 1,000 GB if these drives are configured into a RAID 10 array.
