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RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

 
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Al_56
Regular Advisor

RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

l have a client who is having issues getting RAID working on their RX8620 server running RedHat advance Server 4 (kernel 2.6.22).

They have tried both the Smart Array 6404 and 5304 controllers, neither with any success.

l see from some HP support pages that there is no support for the 5304 controller for Redhat at all on the RX8620, and only support up to Redhat AS 2.1 for the 6404 (http://www.hp.com/products1/serverconnectivity/storagesnf2/raid160/specifications/).

In fact the options page for the RX8620 only shows compatibilty to RedHat AS 3.

So obviously the cards are stacked against it here, but has anyone here been successful running RedHat AS 4 on this server? If so which RAID card have you had success with (if any)?

Thanks very much in advance for any advice you can provide.

Alan
16 REPLIES 16
Sung Oh
Respected Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

HI Alan,

The Smart Array 6404 card is only supported in Windows from RX8620 options list.

http://www.hp.com/products1/servers/integrity/mid_range/rx8620/supplies.html

However, you can try to configure RAID prior to software install from CDs. Also you need to have the latest CCISS driver for 6404 card.

Regards,

Sung
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Shalom Alan,

You are correct, there is no support for that card.

The system you are using is quite expensive. It would be best to use hardware supported both by RedHat and HP.

SEP
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
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Al_56
Regular Advisor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Thanks Sung & Steven,

Is there a card you could recommend for this system?

l had no input into the original hardware spec of the system (and probably would not have selected an Itanium based solution if l had), and have been brought in to help resolve the issue and get them up and running.

l was thinking about an Adaptec card but am not sure which cards are best.

Looking at their current chosen solution, l would think an Ultra 320 RAID card with between 128 - 258 Meg Cache would be the requirements for the card.

Any advice?
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Shalom,

Check with HP

http://partsurfer.hp.com

Find your system, check under controller cards.

Their may be other options, check system documentation at http://docs.hp.com

SEP
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com
Sung Oh
Respected Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Hi Alan,

Here are few options,

HP Compaq Smart Array 5300
HP Smart Array 6402 RAID Controller
HP HP 64-bit/133-Mhz Dual Channel Wide Ultra320 SCSI Adapter
LSI Logic├В┬о LSI53C1010 Ultra 160 SCSI
HP HP Smart Array P600 Controller

Regards,

Sung
Alan_152
Honored Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Though not officially on the compat list, for the rx8620 the 640x series does run on both rhel3u3 (and better) and rhel4u1 (and better) with the native drivers. Make sure that all your firmware (both the system and the card) is completely up to date. you might even want to get a copy of the current Smart Setup CD to assist you with that.

For my work with RHEL, we use the 640x, the 530x, and the P600 every day with the 86xx series.
Al_56
Regular Advisor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Thanks very much for the replies.

l will check the firmware levels, etc for all components Alan.

It seems the client has now got the 5304 to be recognized under RH AS 4, and are trying to migrate from the software raided disks to the hardware raided disks (seems they've invested a few weeks of Oracle configuration, etc).

The migration has proceeded to the stage where he can boot to the initial kernel, but not to the later kernels (not being able to find the root label of the boot disk

Does anyone have any advice on that?
Alan_152
Honored Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

I just thought of something else... most of our testing is with the xx02, not the xx04 cards (2 port versus 4 port). I belive the issue is that the 4 port isn't going to be supported, just the 2 port verisons of these cards.

From your symptoms in the last post, a firmware update will help in being able to find your boot point for the updated kernels. I'd also recommend at this point downloading and using the Smart Setup CD to install the service partition and diagnostic tools -- doing this seems to also make finding the boot partition a bit easier...
Stuart Browne
Honored Contributor

Re: RAID card issues with RX8620 running RedHat Advance Server 4.

Ensuring that the eratta kernels have the updated cciss modules, and that the initrd is recreated properly is about all I can suggest..

By the same token, I've not used any of the Itanium-based servers or elilo..
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