ML530 G2 - Setup Raid 5

[Pat_63]

How do I setup raid 5 on my ML530? I have the onboard dual channel scsi adapter and also Smart array 532 PCI card for my tape drive. Currently we have 5 x 72 HDD and 2 x 18Gb HDD. I have used the w2k disk mirror but wish to setup raid 5 using the hardware controller. Is this possible and does any one have any documentation that I can use?

[Colin_29]

Firstly, if it is possible to rebuild this machine then I would in order to get away from that nasty software mirroring. Hardware mirroring is so much quicker as it takes all the load away from your OS.
You need to connect your drive bay to the array controller and run the Rom-Based-Setup-Utility (RBSU). F9 at boot-up gives access to it and follow the instructions.

Make sure you set Win2K as the OS and specify the 532 as the controller you are booting off.

If you can't do a rebuild then I'm not sure about the configuration of leaving your existing mirror on the onboard scsi and creating a separate RAID5 on the 532. Maybe someone else can advise on how you physically configure this (if indeed you can).

[Gert Luyten]

Like Colin already said, get rid of the software RAID and use the SA-532 controller for both RAID-sets.
If you cannot do this, you can put the 5x72GB disks in the other drive cage (the ML530G2 comes with 2 cages) and connect this cage to the SA-532 with a seperate SCSI cable. You can leave the boot order as is (i.e. embedded SCSI as primary boot controller) and configure the RAID5 with Array Configuration Utility.

Again, I would advise anybody that's using a Smart Array controller against any software RAID sets, it's simply
1) a waist of time
2) not performant
3) not easy to recover

Rgds, Gert Luyten.