Smart Array 5i external raid set

[Olaf Hamann]

Configuration:
DL380 G3 with SmartArray 5i
internal 2 disks raid0/1 on channel 1
external 4 disks raid5 on channel 2

in difference to most common installations we want to install the operating system on the external raidset and create a data area on the
internal mirror set.
How should we do this ??
The W2K installation found the mirror set as first disk device and installs only there.
The use of SmartStart CD points also only to the internal channel of the Smartarray Controller !!
any ideas ??
regards Olaf

[Leon Rosier]

Hi,

You could try to configure the raid 5 set on channel 1 and the mirror set on channel 2 by swapping the cables internally and see if this does the job. What also is an option which is easier: configure your external raid 5 set and install w2k, when this is done configure your mirror set.

Leon

[Jorge Pons]

Hi

Try to install only with the external disk plug. when you have installed the operating system complete, plug the internal disk, and add to the system.

Regards

[Olaf Hamann]

Hi

thanks for the quick response, but that??s not the solution.
First, the cables of internal and external storage could not be changed, because the
external connector is embedded in the mainboard
Second, if we activate an internal mirror after
successfull w2k installation (on the external
raidset) the systems attempts to boot from the
mirror set (first drive w2k finds).
So we have to change the "internal" boot order of the SmartArray 5i controller, but there is no option available.
Does anybody know an advanced (hidden) mode of
SmartArray 5i to do this ??

Kind regards, Olaf

[Ruslan_2 · Accepted solution]

Hi,

There is no advanced mode in SmartArray controllers to configure the boot order. The strict hardware rule is that SA boots from Array A, Logical drive 0. So you need to configure your external disks as Array A, LD 0 and internal ones as Array B, LD 0. Then both the OS and SmartStart will attempt to install on your external RAID set. As for the physical positions of the drives, wheather they are internal or external, it does not matter for SA of any model.

Regards,

[Olaf Hamann]

That's it, thanks Ruslin !!

Solution:
- deleting all storagesets and creating the
"boot" set at first.

Our customer makes the mistake to delete only
the mirrorset (array A), so the raidset changes
temporarly from "array B" to "array A" and the
w2k installation was possible.
The creation of a new mirrorset shifted the
raidset back to "array B" and the bootblock could not be found.
Regards