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Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

 
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Moe Abdelwahid
Advisor

Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Folks;
1. We have a few P400 disk array & i'm not sure how to update the firmware on it without having OS installed.
I have iLo on these servers but still not sure how to do so without any operating system installed.

2. How can i enable write cache on these disks?

3. I was able to create logical drives using F8 and go to the configurations for all servers using RAID 6 except for one, it didn't have RAID 6 option, only RAID5. any idea why?
9 REPLIES 9
V├нctor Cesp├│n
Honored Contributor

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

1) To update firmware offline you can use Firmware Maintenance CD:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=1121586&prodNameId=3279711&swEnvOID=1005&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-8141ddd7398a47ba87134a90dd

2) The disks are SAS or SATA? In any case, enabling internal write cache is dangerous, can lead to data loss.
>> SATA Drive Write Cache is disabled by default to minimize the risk of data loss in case of power loss and cannot be enabled for SATA drives attached to all HP Smart Array controllers and HP 8 Port internal SAS/SATA HBA with RAID. <<

3) How many disks are on that server? You need at least 4 for RAID ADG. Also, the P400 needs the BBWC to be able to create a RAID ADG array.
>> Addition of the battery backed cache upgrade enables BBWC, RAID 6 with ADG, array expansion, logical drive extension, RAID migration, and stripe size migration. <<
Katkota
New Member

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Thanks for your quick response.
1. I do have this CD but it has a lot of updates & it's not clear which is which.
Also; My question is how to update disk array without OS?

2. The write cache enabling is required for some upcoming training and although i agree about the risk by doing so, I want to see if i can do that without installing battery? i see from iLo that these disks are SATA

3. Each server has 12 disks (2 for OS & 10 for RAID).
every server gave me the option to create RAID 6 except for one, only gave me option for RAID 5.
Is this could be a firmware issue? If so, how can i fix that.

Thanks in advance

Katkota
New Member

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Thanks for your quick response.
1. I do have this CD but it has a lot of updates & it's not clear which is which.
Also; My question is how to update disk array without OS?

2. The write cache enabling is required for some upcoming training and although i agree about the risk by doing so, I want to see if i can do that without installing battery? i see from iLo that these disks are SATA

3. Each server has 12 disks (2 for OS & 10 for RAID).
every server gave me the option to create RAID 6 except for one, only gave me option for RAID 5.
Is this could be a firmware issue? If so, how can i fix that.

Thanks in advance
Moe Abdelwahid
Advisor

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Thanks for your quick response.
1. I do have this CD but it has a lot of updates & it's not clear which is which.
Also; My question is how to update disk array without OS?

2. The write cache enabling is required for some upcoming training and although i agree about the risk by doing so, I want to see if i can do that without installing battery? i see from iLo that these disks are SATA

3. Each server has 12 disks (2 for OS & 10 for RAID).
every server gave me the option to create RAID 6 except for one, only gave me option for RAID 5.
Is this could be a firmware issue? If so, how can i fix that.

Thanks in advance
Phillip Thayer
Esteemed Contributor
Solution

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Moe,

You need to boot your server from the Maitenance CD and then select the firmware upgrade. It will go through a process of inspecting your system to determine what hardware needs to be upgraded. I would suggest selecting all upgrades it wants to do. Once you select the upgrades then click on install and it will update all the firmware that you selected. There is no OS required for this to work.

Phil
Once it's in production it's all bugs after that.
Moe Abdelwahid
Advisor

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

my servers don't have CD bay. I'm using my local through iLo but The Maintenance CD has the iso image on it & is not bootable CD.

Any idea?
Moe Abdelwahid
Advisor

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Phillip Thayer
Esteemed Contributor

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

That CD image should be bootable. I would check the utility your using to create the CD and make sure it is setup right. I downloaded this and it booted off my system when I put it in the local CDROM and when I used it via the Virtual Media CD-ROM.

Phil
Once it's in production it's all bugs after that.
Moe Abdelwahid
Advisor

Re: Three questions about p400 disk array. Help folks

Thanks, but when i looked at the page (Installation Instruction) you would see the comments saying "creating an iso image is not enough to create a usable CD & saying that HP recommend using MD5 check tool"
First i don't understand how come creating an iso image on a CD will not create a usable CD? Also, how can using MD5 tool to check the iso image will help create a working iso image?
Any idea?