Server User Manual

•RAID50:acombinationofRAID0andRAID5
RAID50usesdistributedparityanddiskstriping.ARAID50drivegroupisaspanneddrivegroupin
whichdataisstripedacrossmultipleRAID5drivegroups.RAID50worksbestwithdatathatrequires
highreliability,highrequestrates,highdatatransfers,andmedium-to-largecapacity.
Note:HavingvirtualdrivesofdifferentRAIDlevels,suchasRAID0andRAID5,inthesamedrivegroupis
notallowed.Forexample,ifanexistingRAID5virtualdriveiscreatedoutofpartialspaceinanarray,the
nextvirtualdriveinthearrayhastobeRAID5only.
RAID50requiresaminimumnumberofsixharddiskdrives.
FordetailedinformationaboutRAID,referto“IntroductiontoRAID”intheMegaRAIDSASSoftwareUser
GuideonthedocumentationDVDthatcomeswithyourserver.
RAIDforyourserver
ThistopicprovidesinformationabouttheRAIDsupportedbyyourserver.
YourserversupportsthefollowingtwotypesofRAIDcongurations:
•OnboardSATAsoftwareRAIDcongurationusingtheLSISoftwareRAIDCongurationUtility
program;andRAIDmanagementusingtheMegaRAIDStorageManagerprogram
TheonboardSATAsoftwareRAIDcontrollerisintegratedintheIntelC202chiponthesystemboard.Ifyour
serverhasSATAharddiskdrivesthatareconnectedtothesystemboard,youcanusetheLSISoftware
RAIDCongurationUtilityprogramtocongureRAID.YourserversupportsonboardSATAsoftwareRAID
levels0,1,and10.YoucanalsoactivateRAIDlevel5byinstallingaThinkServerSATASoftwareRAID5
activationkey.See“InstallingorremovingtheThinkServerSATASoftwareRAID5Key”onpage102
.
YoucaninstallandusetheMegaRAIDStorageManagerprogramtomanagetheRAIDarrayandRAID
controllerinanoperatingsystemenvironment.
Fordetailedinformation,see“ConguringtheonboardSATAsoftwareRAID”onpage74
.
•AdvancedSATA/SAShardwareRAIDcongurationusingtheWebBIOSCongurationUtility
program;andRAIDmanagementusingtheMegaRAIDStorageManagerprogramandtheMegaCLI
CongurationUtilityprogram(requiresaRAIDcard)
SomeservermodelscomewitharequiredRAIDcardtoprovideadvancedSATA/SAShardwareRAID
functionstotheserver.YoucanalsopurchasetheRAIDcardfromLenovoandinstallitintoservermodels
thatsupporttheRAIDcardtogetadvancedSATA/SAShardwareRAIDfunctions.See“RAIDcard”on
page33
and“InstallingorremovingtheRAIDcard”onpage98formoreinformation.
Note:ForservermodelswithmorethanfourharddiskdrivesormodelsthatuseSASharddiskdrives,
theremustbeaRAIDcardinstalled.
TheRAIDcardprovidestheWebBIOSCongurationUtilityprogramtohelpyoucongureRAID
independentlyoftheoperatingsystem.YoucanalsoinstalltheMegaRAIDStorageManagerprogramand
theMegaCLICongurationUtilityprogramtohelpyoumanagetheRAIDarrayandRAIDcontrollerin
anoperatingsystemenvironment.ThesupportedRAIDlevelsareRAID0,1,and10.ToactivateRAID
5and50levels,youneedtoinstallaRAID5keyontheRAIDcard.See“Installingorremovingthe
ThinkServer9240-8iRAID5UpgradeKey”onpage100
.
Fordetailedinformation,see“ConguringtheadvancedSATAorSAShardwareRAID”onpage79.
Note:TheThinkServerEasyStartupprogramsimpliestheprocessofconguringsupportedRAIDand
installingsupportedoperatingsystemsanddevicedrivers.
Chapter5.Conguringtheserver73