ML110 Sata Raid - 3 drives?

[Ken_271]

I have an ML110 G2 SATA model and am trying to configure RAID using the onboard 4 port sata controller.

I have 3 drives and am trying to setup RAID 5.

The post screen recognises the 3 drives, but the sata controller sees 2. Various bits of docmentation seem to suggest I can setup raid 5, with 3 drives - but it doesnt seem to want to work...

Any ideas?

[Igor Karasik · Accepted solution]

For RAID-5 on ML 110 you need to buy
6 port SATA RAID controller.
4 port SATA controller support up to two disks only and only RAID0, RAID1.

[Ken_271]

Thanks for that.

Though I am a bit dissapointed with the hardware!

Cheers.

Ken

[Igor Karasik]

Sorry, wrong answer. I am miss you have G2 model. My answer was about G3 model.

[Ken_271]

According to the scant notes in the bios it has the same behaviour...

Ken.

[Igor Karasik]

We don't have ML 110 G2 servers, only G3 servers.
But when I am looking
"HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller Driver for Windows 2000/Windows Server 2003" for ML 110 G2 on
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/22353.html
I see note:
"Note: When the current version of the HP Embedded SATA RAID Controller Driver is installed, the system only recognizes the two SATA drives with the lowest drive numbers "
It seems to be you case.
So, try to create array from SATA BIOS utility (press Ctrl+A during boot).

Once more sorry for first wrong answer,
I am missing your server generation.

[Ken_271]

I dont think you were wrong...

The BIOS only seems to recognize the first two drives. So the ability to create a raid 5 set is not possible. I would need to create the set at bios level. I can do raid 0 or 1 - but definately not 5 as it only sees drives 0 and 1.

However I have found lots of documentation stating it supports raid 5.

I do have a bios update - I shall see what happens with this, but I am not optimistic!

Thanks.

Ken.

[Oleg Koroz]

ProLiant ML110 G2 with
HP 6-Port SATA RAID Controller (supports RAID levels 0, 1, 10, 5, used in hot plug SATA Models only)

HP 6-port SATA RAID Controller 372953-B21

[Ken_271]

Well I have found the final answer.

The controller is an 4 port adaptec HOSTRAID device. (Adaptec Serial ATA RAID 1210SA)

It only supports raid 0 and 1. When raid enabled it disables ports 2 and 3. ie you can only run 2 drives on the first 2 ports in raid 0 or 1.

This is for the 4 port raid controller - looks like the 6 might be a better option!

Thanks for the help everyone.

Cheers.

Ken

ps - I actually got the most concise and detailed explaination from the ibm website...

Adaptec HostRAID adds RAID functionality to the SATA and/or SCSI controller by supporting RAID levels 0 and 1. HostRAID is a combination of BIOS, device drivers, and utilities to give RAID support in POST and in the operating system.

Entry-level software RAID via system SATA controller, embedded in system BIOS

Supports up to 2 ports with RAID 0 and 1
System BIOS setup has field to enable SATA RAID (HostRAID)
Supported features:
Manual rebuild - If drive dies, you must shut down the server, and replace the drive. After restarting the server, you must use the utilities ServeRAID Manager or Command Line Interface (cannot use DOS CLI for this) to set the new drive to be a hot-spare, then the rebuild will begin.
Drive rearrange (roaming)
Software authentication
Migration â single drive to 2 drive RAID 0 and single drive to RAID 1 via BIOS
16K, 32K, 64K Stripe Unit Size
Data Scrubbing via scheduled Verify command.
SATA HostRAID limitations and non-supported features:
No drive hot-swap
SAF/TE support for Defective Drive Indicator
No Hot-spare because only 2 ports are available