Upgrading driver for SmartArray safe?

[JamesH2]

Hello Everyone,

I have configured the raid controller using the ORCA and installed Windows Server 2012 R2 on it. Then I installed Hyper V and restore the VMs. The server is running fine and it's all good. 

My problem is I forgot to install all the proper device drivers because I was rushing to bring the VMs online. Does upgrading the device drivers will break the array? 

Please help, I also need to install the HP Storage Administrator after the drivers.

[sudhirsingh]

Hi,

You should check the release notes of latest smart array driver for 2012 R2 for any known fixes/enhancement,

If current installed version is very low and later versions having valuable fixes then Yes, you should update.

and 

You can use HPE Smart Storage Administrator tool to configure, manage, diagnose, and monitor array/logical drives configured on Smart Array controllers. 

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Sudhir

[JamesH2]

Thank you for response Sudhir.

Microsoft driver has only installed not the proper one (HP), this was automatically done when I installed Windows server 2012 R2. I forgot to install all HP drivers.

Based on your answer, does this mean I will not lose data when I upgrade it?

[sudhirsingh]

Hi,

Driver update does not causes any data loss, however still suggested to keep data backup before updating driver and firmware.

Regards,

Sudhir

[JamesH2]

Thanks for reply Sudhir,

I was so afraid that I did not upgrade the smartarray, everything seems to be working fine anyway.

My server is an HPE ML350p Gen8 server. There are 12 missing device drivers. Most of these devices are Intel Xeon, I could not find the drivers in HPE support website. Also, one of these is for ILO, I'm not sure if needed because ILO is enabled and working. 

It hurts my eye whenever I see those missing drivers in device manager. I probably have to schedule another maintenance window if installing is really needed. But is it okay to leave it like that?

Thanks,

James

[sudhirsingh]

Hi James,

Please download the Gen8.1 SPP from below link then extract and run "launch_hpsum.bat" in windows to update all the driver and firmware.

Interactive mode will let you choose which update you want to install.

Automatic mode will update all the driver and firmware to the latest as per the Gen8.1 SPP release.

https://techlibrary.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/products/service_pack/spp/index.aspx?version=Gen8.1

Note: Its recommended to keep data backup before updating driver and firmware however its not a destructiveprocess.

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!

Regards,

Sudhir