Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, H710, H710P, and H810 User’s Guide Regulatory Model: UCSA-801, UCSB-800, UCSM-800, UCPA-801, UCPB-800, UCPM-800, and UCPE-800
Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. © 2016 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.
Contents 1 Overview.................................................................................................................9 Supported Operating Systems............................................................................................................ 10 Getting help..........................................................................................................................................11 Contacting Dell.......................................................................
Recovering Cache Data................................................................................................................ 24 Battery Transparent Learn Cycle........................................................................................................ 24 TLC time frame..............................................................................................................................24 Conditions for replacing the battery.........................................................
Importing Or Clearing Foreign Configurations Using The Foreign Configuration View Screen............................................................................................................................................ 45 Break Mirror................................................................................................................................... 47 Managing Preserved Cache..........................................................................................................
CacheCade Virtual Disk Characteristics.............................................................................................63 Configuring And Managing CacheCade Virtual Disks....................................................................... 63 CacheCade Virtual Disk Management......................................................................................... 64 Creating CacheCade Virtual Disks................................................................................................
Virtual disks partially degraded error message............................................................................. 77 Memory or battery problem error message................................................................................. 77 Firmware fault state error message.............................................................................................. 77 Foreign configuration found error message................................................................................
9 Appendix: RAID description............................................................................. 88 Summary Of RAID Levels....................................................................................................................88 RAID terminology................................................................................................................................88 Disk Striping......................................................................................................
1 Overview The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, H710, H710P, and H810 family of storage controller cards has the following characteristics: • Complies with serial-attached SCSI (SAS) 2.0 providing up to 6 Gb/sec throughput. • Supports Dell-qualified serial-attached SCSI (SAS) hard drives, SATA hard drives, and solid-state drives (SSDs). NOTE: Mixing SAS and SATA drives within a virtual disk is not supported. Also, mixing hard drives and SSDs within a virtual disk is not supported.
Specification H310 H710 H710P H810 Cache Memory Not Applicable 512 MB DDR3 800 Mhz 1 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz 1 GB DDR3 1333 Mhz Cache Function Not Applicable Write Back, Write Through, Adaptive Read Ahead, No Read Ahead, Read Ahead Write Back, Write Through, Adaptive Read Ahead, No Read Ahead, Read Ahead Write Back, Write Through, Adaptive Read Ahead, No Read Ahead, Read Ahead Maximum number of spans per Disk Group 8 8 8 8 Maximum 16 number of Virtual Disks per Disk Group 16 16 16 Online Ca
NOTE: For the latest list of supported operating systems and driver installation instructions, see the system documentation at dell.com/support/manuals. For specific operating system service pack requirements, see the Drivers and Downloads section at dell.com/support/manuals. Getting help Contacting Dell Dell provides several online and telephone-based support and service options.
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2 Features Some of the features discussed for PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, H710, H710P, and H810 cards are: • Physical Disk Power Management • Types of Virtual Disk Initialization • Consistency Checks • Disk Roaming • Fast Path • Virtual Disk Migration • Reconfiguration Of Virtual Disks • Fault Tolerance • Patrol Read Physical Disk Power Management Physical disk power management is a power saving feature of the PERC H310, H710, H710P, and H810 cards.
The amount of time to wait before spinning down disks can be set using Configured Spin Down Delay. The minimum value of the timer is 30 minutes (default) and the maximum is one day. Disks are spun down automatically and spun up when accessed. All disks are spun up on reboot. NOTE: There is a delay in I/O operations when a configured disk is being spun up.
Consistency Checks Consistency Check (CC) is a background operation that verifies and corrects the mirror or parity data for fault tolerant virtual disks. It is recommended that you periodically run a consistency check on virtual disks. You can manually start a CC using the BIOS Configuration Utility or the Dell OpenManage storage management application. You can schedule CC to run on virtual disks using a Dell OpenManage storage management application.
Both CTIO and FastPath provide enhanced performance benefits to SSD volumes, as they can fully capitalize on the lower access times and latencies of these volumes. FastPath provides IO performance benefits to rotational HDD-based volumes configured with Write Through and No Read Ahead cache policies, specifically for read operations across all RAID levels and write operations for RAID 0.
NOTE: The source controller must be offline prior to performing the disk migration. NOTE: Disks cannot be migrated to older revisions or generations of the PERC cards. NOTE: Non-RAID disks are supported only on the PERC H310 controller. Migration to any other PERC product is not supported. NOTE: Importing secured virtual disks is supported as long as the appropriate key (LKM) is supplied or configured.
NOTE: Use the Dell OpenManage storage management application or the BIOS Configuration Utility to view and manage virtual disk cache settings. Write-Back And Write-Through In Write-Through caching, the controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host system when the disk subsystem has received all the data in a transaction. In Write-Back caching, the controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host when the controller cache has received all the data in a transaction.
NOTE: Reconfiguring Virtual Disks typically impacts disk performance until the reconfiguration operation is complete. Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) can be done in two ways: • If there is a single virtual disk in a disk group and free space is available, the virtual disk’s capacity can be expanded within that free space. • If a virtual disk is created and it does not use the maximum size of the disk group, free space is available.
Source RAID Level Target RAID Level Number of Physical Disks (Beginning) Number of Physical Disks (End) Capacity Expansion Possible Description RAID 1 RAID 0 2 2 or more Yes Removes redundancy while increasing capacity. RAID 1 RAID 5 2 3 or more Yes Maintains redundancy while doubling capacity. RAID 1 RAID 6 2 4 or more Yes Two disks required to be added for distributed parity data.
Source RAID Level Target RAID Level Number of Physical Disks (Beginning) Number of Physical Disks (End) Capacity Expansion Possible Description RAID 6 RAID 6 4 or more 5 or more Yes Increases capacity by adding disks. NOTE: The total number of physical disks in a disk group cannot exceed 32. You cannot perform RAID level migration and expansion on RAID levels 10, 50, and 60.
If an automatic Replace Member occurs using a source disk that was originally a hot spare (that was used in a rebuild), and a new disk added for the Replace Member operation as the target disk, the hot spare reverts to the hot spare state after a successful Replace Member operation. NOTE: To enable the automatic Replace Member, use the Dell OpenManage storage management application. For more information on automatic Replace Member, see the topic Dell OpenManage Storage Management.
NOTE: This support for redundant paths refers to path-redundancy only and not to controllerredundancy. Physical disk failure detection Failed physical disks are detected and rebuilds automatically start to new disks that are inserted into the same slot. Automatic rebuilds can also occur with hot spares. If you have configured hot spares, the controllers automatically try to use them to rebuild failed physical disks.
NOTE: The controller automatically reverts a hot spare only if the failed disk is replaced with a new disk in the same slot. If the new disk is not placed in the same slot, a manual Replace Member operation can be used to revert a previously commissioned hot spare. NOTE: A Replace Member operation typically causes a temporary impact to disk performance. Once the operation completes, performance returns to normal.
Conditions for replacing the battery The PERC battery is marked Failed when the state or health of the battery is declared bad. If battery is declared failed then the firmware runs learn cycles in subsequent reboots until the battery is replaced. The virtual disk then transitions to Write Back mode.
Deploying The PERC Card 3 CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that came with the system.
Figure 1. Removing and Installing the PERC Adapter 1. PCIe slot 2. SAS cable connectors (2) 3. PERC adapter 4.
Figure 2. Removing and Installing the PERC Mini Blade Controller 28 1. release lever (2) 2. PERC stack-up connector 3. PERC mini blade controller 4.
Figure 3. Removing and Installing the PERC Mini Monolithic Controller 1. release lever (2) 2. storage-controller card holder 3. storage controller card 4. battery 5. heatsink 6. touch points (2) 7. storage-controller card connector on the system board 8. guide pins (2) Installing The PERC Controller To install the PERC controller: 1. Perform a controlled shutdown of the system and attached peripherals. 2. Disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and remove the system cover. 3.
CAUTION: When removing or replacing the PERC Mini Monolithic Controller, hold the card by its edges marked by the blue touch points. Do not handle the card while holding the battery or the heatsink. For more information, see the relevant figures in Removing The PERC Controller. 4. Replace the system cover. 5. Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.
connection between the controller and enclosures. After you remove the cable and power up the system, ensure that there are no warning messages during boot, and that all virtual disks are online and optimal. If you are using Dell OpenManage, see the Dell OpenManage documentation at dell.com/support/ manuals for additional instructions. CAUTION: If you remove any cables other than the ones added to enable redundant path support, the enclosure and disks can get disconnected, and virtual disk may fail.
Driver Installation 4 The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, H710, H710P, and H810 cards require software drivers to operate with the supported operating systems. This chapter contains the procedures for installing the drivers for the PERC H310, H710, H710P, and H810 cards. NOTE: For more information on VMware ESX drivers, see the VMware ESX documentation at dell.com/support/manuals. NOTE: To check operating system compatibility, see dell.com/support/manuals.
Downloading Drivers From The Dell Systems Service And Diagnostic Tools Media For Windows To download drivers from the Dell Systems Service and Diagnostic Tools media: 1. Insert the Dell Systems Service and Diagnostics Tools media in a system. The Welcome to Dell Service and Diagnostic Utilities screen is displayed. 2. Select your system model and operating system (Microsoft Windows Server 2008). 3. Click Continue. 4. From the list of drivers displayed, select the driver you require.
Installing Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 For A New RAID Controller Perform the following steps to configure the driver for the RAID controller on a system that already has Windows installed: 1. Turn off the system. 2. Install the new RAID controller in the system. For detailed instructions on installing and cabling the RAID controller in the system, see the topic Deploying The PERC Card . 3. Turn on the system. The Found New Hardware Wizard screen displays the detected hardware device. 4. Click Next.
NOTE: Dell provides the Dell Update Package (DUP) to update drivers on systems running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. DUP is an executable application that updates drivers for specific devices. DUP supports command line interface and silent execution. For more information, see dell.com/support.
Installing Or Updating The RPM Driver Package With KMP Support NOTE: This procedure is applicable for SUSE Enterprise Linux 11 SP2. Perform the following steps to install the RPM package with KMP support: 1. Uncompress the gzipped tarball driver release package. 2. Install the driver package using the command: rpm –ihv kmpmegaraid_ sas- .rpm. NOTE: Use rpm -Uvh when updating an existing package. 3.
Management Applications For PERC Cards 5 Dell OpenManage Storage Management applications enable you to manage and configure the RAID system, create and manage multiple disk groups, control and monitor multiple RAID systems, and provide online maintenance.
NOTE: The PERC PER H310, H710, H710P, and H810 card configuration utility refreshes the screen to show changes to information. The refresh occurs when you press or every 15 seconds. Entering The BIOS Configuration Utility Perform the following steps to enter the BIOS Configuration Utility ( ) when you boot the system: 1. Turn on the system. A BIOS screen displays information about the controller and configuration. 2. During startup, press when prompted by the BIOS screen. 3.
Notatio n Meaning and Use Example menu list in a popup window. Word wrap is supported. leftarrow key Use the left-arrow key to close a submenu, Controller 0 ← Disk Group 1 move from a menu item to the menu heading for that item, or move from a submenu to a higher level menu. If you press the left-arrow key at a menu heading, the submenu collapses. Press it again to go to the higherlevel menu. Word wrap is supported.
Notatio n Meaning and Use Example can use to access information about navigation, RAID levels, and general topics. Press to access the context menu, which displays the list of options. Press to refresh the information on the screen. Switch between two controllers. Press to display a list of controllers. Spaceba Press the to select an item.
Parameter Description performance, and capacity should be considered when selecting the RAID level. For more information, see the topic Summary Of RAID Levels. Stripe Element Size Stripe Element Size specifies the size of the segments written to each physical disk in a RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60 virtual disk. You can set the stripe element size to 64 KB 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, or 1024 KB. The default and recommended stripe element size is 64 KB.
NOTE: To create secured virtual disks, see the topic Security Key And RAID Management. Perform the following steps to create a virtual disk: 1. During host system bootup, press after the BIOS screen is displayed. The Virtual Disk Management screen is displayed. If there is more than one controller, the main menu screen is displayed. Select a controller, and press . The Virtual Disk Management screen is displayed for the selected controller. 2.
4. Press to display the list of stripe element sizes (64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1024 KB). Press the down-arrow key to highlight the desired option and press . The default stripe element size is 64 KB. 5. If you need to change the read policy, press to move the cursor to Read Policy. 6. Press to display the options (No Read Ahead, Read Ahead, or Adaptive Read Ahead). Press the down-arrow key to highlight the desired option and press . 7.
5. Press . Initializing Virtual Disks CAUTION: A full initialization permanently destroys any existing data on that virtual disk. Perform the following steps to initialize virtual disks: 1. On the VD Mgmt screen, select Virtual Disk # and press to display the menu of available actions. 2. Select Initialization and press the right-arrow key to display the Initialization submenu options. 3. Select Start Init. to begin a regular initialization or select Fast Init.
Importing Or Clearing Foreign Configurations Using The VD Mgmt Menu When a foreign configuration exists, the BIOS screen displays the message Foreign configuration(s) found on adapter. In addition, a foreign configuration is displayed on the right side of the Ctrl Mgmt screen. You can use the VD Mgmt menu to import the existing configuration to the RAID controller or clear the existing configuration.
You can use the Foreign Configuration View screen to manage foreign configurations in the following cases: • All the physical disks in a configuration are removed and re-inserted. • Some of the physical disks in a configuration are removed and re-inserted. • All the physical disks in a virtual disk are removed, but at different times, and then re-inserted. • The physical disks in a non-redundant virtual disk are removed.
NOTE: Start a consistency check immediately after the rebuild is complete to ensure data integrity for the virtual disks. For more information about checking data consistency, see the topic Checking Data Consistency. 3. If the physical disks in a non-redundant virtual disk are removed, the controller considers the disks to have foreign configurations. Perform the following steps: a. Select Foreign Configuration View to display the complete foreign configuration information. b.
NOTE: Importing a Broken Mirror is the same as importing a Foreign configuration. See the topic Importing Or Clearing Foreign Configurations Using The VD Mgmt Menu. The imported VD is in a degraded state until the missing member is rebuilt. Managing Preserved Cache If a virtual disk becomes offline or is deleted because of missing physical disks, the controller preserves the dirty cache from the virtual disk.
1. Press the down-arrow key to highlight an available physical disk. 2. Press the spacebar to select the disk. 3. Repeat step a to step b for each dedicated hot spare that you want to create. NOTE: An X is displayed beside the selected physical disk(s). • 4. Deleting a dedicated hot spare 1. Use the down-arrow key to highlight a current hot spare. 2. Press the spacebar to de-select the disk. 3. Repeat step a and step b for each dedicated hot spare that you want to delete.
Clearing The Configuration You can delete all virtual disks on the RAID controller by performing the operation. To clear the configuration, perform the following steps in the BIOS Configuration Utility ( ): 1. Press to access the VD Mgmt screen. 2. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the Controller heading. 3. Press . The action menu is displayed. 4. Select Clear Config. A pop-up window is displayed prompting for confirmation to delete all virtual disks. 5.
Table 5.
Menu Item Selected in Left Panel Information Displayed in Right Panel Disk Group # Properties: • • • • • Total Free Capacity Number of virtual disks (VD) Number of physical disks (PD) Space available on the physical disks Number of free segments Number of dedicated hot spares Disk Group # Properties: • • • • • Hot Spares Number of virtual disks (VD) Number of physical disks (PD) Space available on the physical disks Number of free segments Number of dedicated hot spares Physical Disk Properties: • •
Action Description Display or update virtual disk parameters Displays the properties of the selected virtual disk. You can modify the cache write policy and read policy from the menu. Manage preserved cache Preserves the dirty cache from a virtual disk if it becomes offline or is deleted. The dirty cache is preserved until you import the virtual disk or discard the cache. Delete a virtual disk Deletes the virtual disk and frees up disk space to create another virtual disk.
Table 8. Physical Disk Actions Action Description Rebuild Regenerates all data to a replacement disk in a redundant virtual disk (RAID level 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, or 60) after a disk failure. A disk rebuild normally occurs without interrupting normal operations on the affected virtual disk. Replace Member Replaces the disk in the virtual disk with another disk that can be selected. LED Blinking Indicates when physical disks are being used to create a virtual disk.
Controller management (Ctrl Mgmt) The Controller Management screen (Ctrl Mgmt) displays the product name, package, firmware version, BIOS version, boot block version, controller ID, security capability, and security key presence. Use the screen to perform actions on the controller and BIOS. You can perform functions such as enable or disable the controller BIOS, enable or disable the BIOS during bootup in the event of BIOS errors, and enable or disable the option to Auto Import.
Foreign Configuration View When a foreign configuration is present, you can select Foreign Configuration View to display the configuration. The screen shows the foreign configuration as it would be if you import it. You can preview the foreign configuration before you decide whether to import it or clear it. In some cases, a foreign configuration cannot be imported. If a physical disk in a virtual disk is rebuilding, the physical disk's state is set to Rebuild.
Removing Global Or Dedicated Hot Spares You can remove one global or dedicated hot spare at a time on the PD Mgmt screen. Perform the following steps to remove a global hot spare or dedicated hot spare: 1. Press to access the PD Mgmt screen. A list of physical disks is displayed. The status of the each disk is displayed under the heading State. 2. Press the down-arrow key to highlight a physical disk that is a hot spare. 3. Press to display the menu of available actions. 4.
Stopping Background Initialization Background initialization (BGI) is the automated operation in which parity is created and written. BGI does not run on RAID 0 virtual disks. Under certain conditions, the BIOS Configuration Utility ( ) displays a message if you want to stop BGI in progress.
controllers. The system can then boot from the BIOS-enabled controller. Perform the following steps to enable the controller BIOS: 1. Press to access Ctrl Mgmt menu screen. 2. Press to move the cursor to Enable Controller BIOS in the Settings box. 3. Press the spacebar to select Enable Controller BIOS. An X is displayed beside Enable Controller BIOS. 4. Press to move the cursor to the Apply button, and then press to apply the selection. The controller BIOS is enabled.
An X is displayed beside Enable Auto Import. 4. Press to move the cursor to the Apply button, and then press to apply selection. The Auto Import is enabled. Disabling Auto Import To disable Auto Import: 1. Use the spacebar to de-select Enable Auto Import. 2. Select Apply and press . The Auto Import is disabled. Restoring Factory Default Settings You can use the Ctrl Mgmt menu screen to restore the default settings for the options in the Settings box.
NOTE: The help information for all of the options within the UEFI RAID Configuration Utility can be viewed by clicking on Help at the top right-hand corner of the browser screen. Help information for individual option menus can also be viewed by scrolling down on each option. NOTE: Some of the options within the UEFI RAID Configuration Utility are not present if the controller does not support the corresponding feature. Options may also be grayed out if the feature is supported in existing configuration.
allowed, except to clear the controller configuration if desired. Rebooting the system will exit safe mode, and drives will appear as foreign on the next boot; if problems remain the system will enter safe mode again. If the boot volume is on this controller, boot will halt. • Battery Management— Displays battery status and capacity information. • Clear Configuration — Deletes all existing configurations on the controller.
CacheCade 6 The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H710, H710P, and H810 cards support CacheCade, a feature that can improve application performance by increasing read caching capacity. The CacheCade feature makes use of high performing solid state disks (SSDs) as a secondary tier of cache. CacheCade provides faster reads and maximizes transactional I/O performance. NOTE: PERC H310 does not support Cachecade.
apply to the BIOS Configuration Utility ( ). For more information on the management applications, see the topic Management Applications For PERC Cards. CacheCade Virtual Disk Management The Virtual Disk Management screen is the first screen that is displayed when you access a RAID controller from the main menu screen on the BIOS Configuration Utility.
NOTE: You can only delete or rename a CacheCade virtual disk. Background initialization, fast initialization, full initialization, and consistency check operations are not applicable to CacheCade virtual disks. Deleting CacheCade Virtual Disks To delete CacheCade virtual disks, perform the following steps in the BIOS Configuration Utility: 1. Press to access the Virtual Disk Management screen. 2. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the CacheCade Disk Group or Virtual Disks heading. 3.
NOTE: Disks inserted into a CacheCade hot slot must be equal to or greater than the smallest contributing disk in the virtual disk. Manual Resizing Of CacheCade Virtual Disks In operating system management applications, a manual resizing of a CacheCade virtual disk occurs due to the addition or removal of drives. Reboot is not necessary. • Any number of SSDs can be added to a CacheCade virtual disk.
Security Key And RAID Management 7 NOTE: PERC H310 does not support any security implementations. Security Key Implementation The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H710, H710P, and H810 cards support Self-Encrypting Disks (SED) for protection of data against loss or theft of SEDs. Protection is achieved by the use of encryption technology on the drives. There is one security key per controller. You can manage the security key under Local Key Management (LKM).
Local Key Management (LKM) You can use LKM to generate the key ID and the passphrase required to secure the virtual disk. You can secure virtual disks, change security keys, and manage secured foreign configurations using this security mode. NOTE: Under LKM, you are prompted for a passphrase when you create the key. Creating A Security Key NOTE: There is no passphrase backup option when you create a security key; you need to remember your passphrase.
6. Enter an identifier for your Security Key. 7. Press to enter a new passphrase. NOTE: You need to provide the current passphrase in order to change the security key on the controller. 8. Press and select OK to accept the settings and to exit the window. Select Cancel to exit if you do not want to change the security key on the controller. NOTE: If there is an existing configuration on the controller, it is updated with the new security key.
Perform the following steps when securing a pre-existing virtual disk on a secured controller: 1. During the host system bootup, press when the BIOS screen is displayed. The Virtual Disk Management screen is displayed. If there is more than one controller, the main menu screen is displayed. 2. Select a controller, and press . The Virtual Disk Management screen is displayed for the selected controller. 3. Use the arrow keys to highlight the Disk Group number. 4.
NOTE: A secured VD cannot be imported using the PERC H310 card. Perform the following steps when importing a foreign secured virtual disk: 1. During the host system bootup, press when the BIOS screen is displayed. The Virtual Disk Management screen is displayed. If there is more than one controller, the main menu screen is displayed. 2. Select a controller, and press . The Virtual Disk Management screen is displayed for the selected controller. 3.
Troubleshooting Security Key Errors Secured Foreign Import Errors A foreign configuration is a RAID configuration that already exists on a replacement physical disk that you install in a system. A secured foreign configuration is a RAID configuration that was created under a different security key.
Troubleshooting 8 To get help with your Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, H710, H710P and H810, you can contact your Dell Technical Service representative or see dell.com/support. BIOS Error Messages The controller BIOS read-only memory (ROM) provides Int 13h functionality (disk I/O) for the virtual disks connected to the controller. You can boot from or access the physical disks without a driver.
Corrective Action: • The controller detects an Error-Correcting Code (ECC) error while performing its cache checking routine during initialization. • The controller discards the cache rather than sending it to the disk subsystem because the data integrity cannot be guaranteed. To resolve this issue, allow the battery to charge fully. If the problem persists, the battery or controller memory may be faulty; contact Dell Technical Support.
Corrective Action: Check the cable connections and fix any issues. Restart the system. If there are no cable problems, press any key or to continue. Dirty Cache Data Error Message Error Message: The following virtual disks are missing: (x). If you proceed (or load the configuration utility), these virtual disks will be removed from your configuration. If you wish to use them at a later time, they will have to be imported.
Probable Cause: The message is displayed after another BIOS warning indicating there are problems with previously configured disks and you have chosen to accept any changes and continue. The SAS cables for your system might be improperly connected. Corrective Action: Check the cable connections and fix any problems before restarting the system. If there are no cable problems, press any key or to continue.
The BIOS does not take any action. Virtual disks partially degraded error message Error Message: x Virtual Disk(s) Partially Degraded, where x is the number of virtual disks partially degraded. Probable Cause: This message is displayed when the BIOS detects a single disk failure in a RAID 6 or RAID 60 configuration. Corrective Action: You must check why the member disk is not present to correct the problem. The BIOS does not take any action.
Foreign Configuration Not Found In Error Message Error Message: The foreign configuration message is present during POST but no foreign configurations are present in the foreign view page in . All virtual disks are in an optimal state. Corrective Action: Corrective Action: Ensure all your PDs are present and all VDs are in optimal state. Clear the foreign configuration using or Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management.
Multibit ECC errors were detected on the RAID controller. The DIMM on the controller needs replacement. If you continue, data corruption can occur. Press 'X' to continue or else power off the system, replace the DIMM module, and reboot. If you have replaced the DIMM please press 'X' to continue. CAUTION: When removing or replacing the PERC Mini Monolithic Controller, hold the card by its edges marked by the blue touch points. Do not handle the card while holding the battery or the heatsink.
Degraded State Of Virtual Disks A redundant virtual disk is in a degraded state when one or more physical disks have failed or are inaccessible. For example, if a RAID 1 virtual disk consists of two physical disks and one of them fails or become inaccessible, the virtual disk become degraded. To recover a virtual disk from a degraded state, you must replace the failed physical disk and rebuild it. Once the rebuilding process is complete, the virtual disk state changes from degraded to optimal.
PERC Card Not Seen In Device Manager Issue: The device does not appear in the Device Manager. Correction: Turn off the system and reseat the controller. For more information see, Installing The PERC Controller. No Hard Drives Found Error Message During Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Installation Issue: Corrective Action: No Hard Drives Found message is displayed during a media-based installation of Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
Fatal error or data corruption reported Issue: Fatal error(s) or data corruption(s) are reported when accessing virtual disks. Corrective Action: Contact Dell Technical Support. Physical disk displayed as blocked Issue: One or more physical disks is displayed as Blocked and cannot be configured. Corrective Action: Update the PERC cards to the latest firmware available on dell.com/support.
NOTE: You can use the BIOS Configuration Utility ( ) or Dell OpenManage storage management application to perform a manual rebuild of an individual physical disk. For information on rebuilding a single physical disk, see Performing A Manual Rebuild Of An Individual Physical Disk. Virtual disk fails during rebuild using a global hot spare Issue: A virtual disk fails during rebuild while using a global hot spare.
Smart error detected on a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk Issue: A SMART error is detected on a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk. Corrective Action: Perform the following steps: 1. Back up your data. 2. Force the physical disk offline. NOTE: If a hot spare is present, the rebuild starts with the hot spare after the disk is forced offline. 3. Replace the disk with a new physical disk of equal or higher capacity. 4. Perform the Replace Member operation.
Corrective Action: If the target disk fails, the Replace Member operation aborts. General disk fails Issue: A general disk fails. Corrective Action: If the target disk fails and the Replace Member operation aborts but the source data is still available, then the Replace Member operation continues as Replace Member. Linux operating system errors Linux Will Not Boot Using an H310 Controller With IOMMU Enabled Issue: Linux operating system will not boot to a disk or virtual disk on an H310 controller.
1. Install a DKMS-enabled driver package. 2. Run up2date or a similar tool to upgrade the kernel to the latest version. 3. Reboot to the new kernel. The driver running in the new kernel is the native driver of the new kernel. The driver package you installed previously in the new kernel does not take effect in the new kernel: 1. Type: dkms build –m –v –k . 2. Type: dkms install –m –v –k . 3.
Figure 5. Disk Carrier LED Indicators 1. activity LED 2.
Appendix: RAID description 9 RAID is a group of independent physical disks that provides high performance by increasing the number of disks used for saving and accessing data. CAUTION: In the event of a physical disk failure, a RAID 0 virtual disk fails, resulting in data loss. A RAID disk subsystem offers the following benefits: • • • Improved I/O performance and data availability. Improved data throughput because several disks are accessed simultaneously.
KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1024 KB. The stripes are interleaved in a repeated sequential manner. The part of the stripe on a single physical disk is called a stripe element. For example, in a four-disk system using only disk striping (used in RAID 0), segment 1 is written to disk 1, segment 2 is written to disk 2, and so on. Disk striping enhances performance because multiple physical disks are accessed simultaneously, but disk striping does not provide data redundancy. Figure 6.
Parity data Parity data is redundant data that is generated to provide fault tolerance within certain RAID levels. In the event of a disk failure, the parity data can be used by the controller to regenerate user data. Parity data is present for RAID 5, 6, 50, and 60. The parity data is distributed across all the physical disks in the system. If a single physical disk fails, it can be rebuilt from the parity and the data on the remaining physical disks.
