http://www

http://www.tricksguide.com/setup-raid-with-amd-onboard-sata-controller-on-your-hp-microserver.htmlSetup RAID Array with AMD Onboard SATA Controller on your HP ProLiant MicroServer

Article by SiRu in the category: Server 106 Comments

HP ProLiant MicroServer is an entry level Server which provides basic functionality of a Server. As per HP, ProLiant MicroServer gives you basic server performance but at a PC price. This is a single processor server and it supports RAID 1 and 0. It can support up to 4 Large Form Factor (LFF) Non-hot plug SATA hard disks and up to 8GB of RAM. Earlier, HP ProLiant MicroServer were shipped with 150W power supply but now HP sends only 200W power supply with this Server.

HP ProLiant MicroServer is shipped with AMD SATA RAID controller. As it is SATA, it wont support SAS HDDs, also RAID 5 is not supported with AMD SATA controller. Moreover, it can support only 2 logical drives. Another important thing to notice here is, to create RAID 0, you need minimum 2 HDDs where as HP Smart Arrays will support RAID 0 with 1 HDD.

Before we create RAID on a MicroServer, we need to ensure that we have enabled RAID in BIOS. Please check our article Enable Embedded SATA RAID Controller in HP Microserver to enable the RAID on your Server.

As the AMD SATA RAID controller is not a Smart Array controller, you could not use HP Array Configuration utility (ACU) to create hardware RAID on your Server. Here, we need to use the AMD Option ROM Utility. This utility can be activated by pressing Ctrl+F at Option ROM Utility prompt. This Option ROM Utility will allow you to see the HDDs installed on Server, create/view RAID volume and delete the RAID volume when needed.

Today, we will see how to create a RAID Array using AMD Option ROM Utility. I have already enabled RAID in BIOS. We have 2 HDDs installed on this server and we will try to create a RAID 1 Logical drive on our HP ProLiant MicroServer.

Setup RAID using AMD Onboard SATA Controller:1. Turn ON Server, at Server POST, press Ctrl+F to open the Option ROM Utility (ORCA).

2. It will open Option Rom Utility as shown below3. Press Number 1 on keyboard to select View Drive Assignments

Note: Before you create a RAID array, we need to check how many HDDs are available to us. So that you can plan how to proceed with RAID creation.

4. We have 2 HP HDDs (Model: GB0160EAFJE) available on this Server (as shown below)

5. Press Esc key to come back to the Main screen of Option ROM Utility (ORCA)6. At the Main screen of ORCA, press 2 to access LD View/LD Define Menu7. Here, we have no Logical Drive (LD) created. To create a new one, press Ctrl+C8. Now you are at LD Define Menu. Press the Space bar to change RAID level to RAID 1.

Note: You can use arrow down and up keys to navigate through options and press Space bar if you need to change the options/value

9. Leave rest of the settings at default (as shown below):

Stripe Block : NAInitialization : FastGigabyte Boundary : ONCache Mode : WriteThru

10. Now we need to select the HDDs which should be part of the RAID Array.

11. Under Drive Assignments, change Assignment values to YNote: here, we have 2 HP GB0160EAFJE HDDs listed. Now we need to select the HDDs by changing the drive Assignment value to Y so that these HDDs will be part of the Array. Once you select 2 HDDs by putting Y under Assignment, press the Ctrl+Y to save/Create the RAID volume.12. Now press Ctrl+Y to Save/Create the logical drive in RAID 1 configuration.

13. Press Ctrl+Y again to give a name for the Logical drive.

14. Press Ctrl+Y as we need to Initialize the HDDs (All the existing data will be lost).

15. Do Not press Ctrl+Y as we are using maximum size for Logical Drive. Press any other key on your keyboard!

Note: If you wish to create more than one RAID 1 logical drive on above said array, then you need to press Ctrl+Y and enter the size of logical drive. This controller only supports a maximum of 2 logical drives.

16. Congrats, you have successfully created a RAID 1 logical drive on your Server.

17. Press Esc to Exit Option Rom Utility.

It is observed that we need to always select Fast Init (Initialization as Fast) option. Even if we select No for Initialization, it is prompting us to perform fast init!. So I would recommend to use fast init and continue with RAID creation.

- See more at: http://www.tricksguide.com/setup-raid-with-amd-onboard-sata-controller-on-your-hp-microserver.html#sthash.SQ2dvHW6.dpuf