Lenovo ThinkServer - Configuring RAID Using the Thinkserver Easystartup Program

•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”onpage80.
Note:TheThinkServerEasyStartupprogramsimpliestheprocessofconguringsupportedRAIDand
installingsupportedoperatingsystemsanddevicedrivers.
BeforeconguringRAIDforyourserver,observethefollowingprecautions:
1.UseharddiskdrivesthathavethesamecapacitywithinasingleRAIDarray.
2.Useharddiskdrivesthatareofthesametype(SATAorSAS)withinasingleRAIDarray.
3.Dependingontheoperatingsystem,theprimaryRAIDmightbelimitedto2TBtotaldrivecapacity.
ConguringRAIDusingtheThinkServerEasyStartupprogram
TheThinkServerEasyStartupprogramsimpliestheprocessofconguringsupportedRAIDandinstalling
supportedWindowsandLinuxoperatingsystemsanddevicedriversonyourserver.Theuserguideforthe
programcanbeaccesseddirectlyfromtheprograminterface.
TheThinkServerEasyStartupprogramhasthefollowingfeaturesforRAIDconguration:
•ForusewithallsupportedRAIDcontrollers
•AutomaticallydetectshardwareandlistsallsupportedRAIDcongurations
•Conguresoneormorediskarrayspercontrollerdependingonthenumberofdrivesattachedtothe
controllerandtheRAIDlevelselected
•Supportshot-sparedrives
•CreatesaRAIDresponselethatcanbeusedtocongureRAIDcontrollersonsimilarlycongured
Lenovoservers
See“UsingtheThinkServerEasyStartupprogram”onpage69
andviewtheuserguidefromthemain
interfaceoftheprogram.
SomeRAIDmanagementsoftwareisalsoprovidedontheThinkServerEasyStartupDVDtohelpyoumanage
RAIDarraysandRAIDcontrollersinanoperatingsystemenvironment.Afteryouentertheoperatingsystem,
inserttheThinkServerEasyStartupDVDintotheopticaldrive.Theinstallationpackagesfortheprogramsare
locatedintheUtilitiesandOthersfolderintherootdirectoryoftheDVD.TheThinkServerEasyStartupDVDis
designedfordifferenttypesofserversandtheUtilitiesandOthersfoldermightcontainadditionalinstallation
packagesthatarenotrequiredtobeinstalledintoyourserver.Formoreinformation,see“Installingand
usingtheMegaRAIDStorageManagerprogram”onpage80
and“ConguringtheadvancedSATAorSAS
hardwareRAID”onpage80
.
74ThinkServerUserGuide