Proliant DL20 Gen10 Plus missing SW RAID controller

[acs613083]

Hi Folks,

I have been using Proliant servers (both DL20 and - more recently - DL325) of various Gen's with Windows Server 2016 Standard (originally 2012) for several years. I recently received a shipment of new DL20 Gen10 Plus servers (product number P44113-B21), and I'm unable to create a RAID array via the Smart Storage Administrator (no controllers detected). This is a new issue - all previous (dozens of) Proliant servers which I've purchased/received have been RAID-able out-of-the-box.

Having read through previous related threads on this forum, I confirmed that the drives are SATA/RAID-able (HPE Model MB001000GWFWK, 1TB 7200 SATA) and that Boot Mode is set to UEFI. However, when I checked the BIOS/Platform Configuration (RBSU) -> Storage Options -> SATA Controller Options -> Embedded SATA Configuration, there is no 'SW RAID Support' (or similar) option available. The two options I'm seeing are 'SATA AHCI  Support' (factory default setting) and 'Intel VROC SATA Support'. I've tried both options, but neither enables Smart Storage Administrator for RAID configuration (no controllers detected with either option).

I did locate the latest version of HPE Smart Array Gen10 and Gen10Plus Controller Driver for Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022 (8 April 2022) on HPE Support site and dowloaded it. However, it's not clear to me how to install this controller driver on the new servers prior to having loaded a Windows OS and associated file system. Thus, at present, I'm stuck.

Is this solveable? Have others who have recently purchased/received DL20 Gen10 Plus servers (P44113-B21) encountered this as well? Any guidance would be much appreciated.

[support_s]

System recommended content:

1. HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Plus Server User Guide

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[msobers22 · Accepted solution]

Hello,

The Intel VROC SATA SW RAID included with your server is disabled by default. The VROC can be enabled in BIOS/Platform (RBSU) for SW RAID.. You will need to download the Intel VROC drivers and GUI specific to your OS. The Intel VROC cannot be configured with SSA.  For direct download links, see the OS-specific VROC guide: https://www.hpe.com/support/IntelVROC-Gen10Plus-docs

Hope this helps

[acs613083]

Thank you. The linked document did - indeed - get me up and running with VROC RAID on my new DL20 Gen10 Plus servers.

I had (via hunting around in the BIOS menus after having set the BIOS/Platform Configuration (RBSU) -> Storage Options -> SATA Controller Options -> Embedded SATA Configuration option to 'Intel VROC SATA Support') discovered how to create a VROC RAID array. What I hadn't yet discovered was the driver needed for the Windows OS install wizard to discover the VROC array so that the OS had a logical drive/volume on which to run. All of that is covered in the document found at the link you provided: https://iam.support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docLocale=en_US&docId=a00112943en_us

A couple of specific things worth noting:

• After having run through the Windows OS installer wizard, after the first reboot, the system boot order does not automatically detect that Windows Server 2016 has been (partially) installed on the VROC array and the boot should run off of that. Thus, when rebooting, the system attempts to start the Windows installation anew (from our network WDS server). In order to have the system continue the Windows install from where the wizard left off, one needs to enter the Boot Options screen (F11) and explicitly put the VROC array at the top of the boot order.
• The Windows OS compatibility matrix at https://techlibrary.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/supportmatrix/windows.aspx lists only Windows Server versions 2019 and 2022 as runnable on the DL20 Gen10 Plus. Windows Server 2016 is absent. Thus, I was concerned that - even after having gained an understanding of how to create and configure the VROC array for use on the Gen10 Plus servers - I would be unable to install our preferred Windows OS. However, based on my experience, it appears that 2016 is useable on the DL20 Gen10 Plus hardware.

In general, it seems that the Smart Storage Administrator SW RAID is more seamlessly integrated into the system than is the VROC SW RAID (or, at least for a Windows server install). Thus, I'm a bit curious as to why VROC is used on the DL20 Gen10 Plus servers (rather than the Smart Storage Administrator SW RAID as is used in the DL20 Gen10/9/8). Anyone have insight into that?

In any case, thanks again for your assistance.