ML350 G4 RAID Options

[Noah Eiger]

Hi - At one of our remote offices, I have an ML350 G4, currently with 2 x 73GB drives. I have never seen the machine but looking at the specs from the purchase order, it does not appear to have a RAID card. What are my options for upgrading to RAID? Is it possible to install a 3rd party SATA RAID card and drives? (This was an ill-advised purchase by a former admin; we are trying to milk some life out of it.)

Many thanks.

[Brian_Murdoch]

Hi Noah,

Your ML350 G4 will probably have a 6-slot hot-plug SCSI backplane so you can't add SATA drives to that.

You can add non-hotplug SATA drives above the CD-ROM in the media bay area and use something like an Adaptec 2410SA or 2420SA controller as a fairly cheap solution for two SATA drives (maybe more if you have space).

Be aware that the Adaptec (and other) controllers, when installed may change the boot order so that it attempts to boot from the Adaptec first, instead of your existing system disks on the embedded SCSI.

If you simply want more storage you can add SCSI drives to the existing empty bays but as you indicate, these are not controlled by a raid controller. If you want SATA raid disks but don't want to boot from them you will have to disable the BIOS on the Adaptec (or other) controller (Sometimes called Disable BIOS or INT 13). This will allow you to have additional large storage.

If you want to update the existing embedded controller to a Smart Array controller you must be aware that creating a raidset on your existing disks will wipe them. It is possible to take a backup and restore this data to a new mirrored set for example using several tools.

You have a fairly good choice for updates but check to see if you do have a Smart Array already installed as this will simplify things. If you have Insight Manager installed on the remote system then have a look in there. Or use Remote Desktop or whatever to run ACU - Start-Programs-HP System Tools- Array Configuration Utility. If you don't have a Smart Array installed it will inform you.

I hope this helps,

Brian

[Brian_Murdoch]

Noah,

Sorry I meant to add the ML350 G4 quickspec link to my previous reply to assist you with the system layout.

Here it is...

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12009_na/12009_na.HTML

Brian