SevOne Physical Appliance Pre-Build BIOS and RAID Configuration Guide
About
When you have purchased the hardware and are going to install SevOne product(s) on it, a few configuration settings are required. This manual is intended to describe the steps you are required to follow.
Hardware Configuration
Execute the steps below to successfully configure your hardware.
- Power on your appliance
- When prompted, press F2 to enter BIOS System Setup.
- Select Device Settings.
- Select Integrated RAID Controller.
- Select Configuration Management.
- Select Clear Configuration.
- Select the Confirm check box and then click on Yes.
- Select OK.
- Click on the ESC key to return to the Main Menu.
- Select Configuration Management.
- Select Create Virtual Disk.
- Ensure Select RAID Level is set to RAID6.
- Select Select Physical Disks.
- Ensure Select Media Type is set to Both.
- Scroll-down and select Check All.
- Scroll-down to the bottom of the page. Select Apply Changes and click on OK.
- You are now on Create Virtual Disk page.
- Ensure the following fields are set to:
- Virtual Disk Name = Slash
- Default Initialization = Fast
- Select Create Virtual Disk.
- Select Confirm check box and click on Yes.
- Click on OK.Note: If you receive the message Additional Virtual Disks cannot be created due to insufficient capacity or absence of configurable Physical Disks, you may ignore it.
- Continue to click on the ESC key until you return to System Setup Main
Menu.
- Select System BIOS.
- Select Memory Settings.
- Ensure that Memory Operating Mode is set to Optimizer Mode.
- Click on the ESC key to return to System BIOS Settings page.
- Select Boot Settings.
- Ensure that Boot Mode is set to BIOS.
Important:- A reboot will be required if Boot Mode was previously set to UEFI. In this case, click on the ESC key until you receive a warning of Saving Changes.
- Select the Yes option.
- Confirm OK upon saving changes, and then click on the ESC key again.
- You should be prompted to Confirm Exit and reboot the appliance.
- Select Yes and then repeat Step 2, Step 23, and Step 27 to continue.
- Select BIOS Boot Settings.
- For Boot Sequence, confirm that Hard drive C: is the top
option.
- Click on the ESC key twice to return to System BIOS Settings menu.
- Select Integrated Devices.
- Scroll-down to the bottom of the page and confirm that OS Watchdog Timer is set to
Enabled.
- Click on the ESC key to return to the System BIOS Settings menu.
- Select Serial Communication.
- Ensure the following fields are set to:
- Serial Port Address = Serial Device1=COM1,SerialDevice2=COM2
- Failsafe Baud Rate = 19200
- Click on the ESC key to return to System BIOS Settings menu.
- Scroll-down to the bottom of the page and select Miscellaneous Settings. Ensure the
F1/F2 Prompt on Error is Disabled.
- Click on the ESC key until you receive Saving Changes warning.
- Select the Yes option.
- Confirm OK upon saving changes, and then click on the ESC key again.
Note: Your appliance is now pre-configured for RAID and BIOS!
Troubleshooting
How to fix a RAID Puncture
This section describes how to rebuild the RAID array if there is a puncture that has been identified by Dell. There are two types of initializations available in PERC (PowerEdge RAID Controller) - Fast and Full. For punctures, always swap the disks with one position and a Full initialization must be performed.
CAUTION:
When following the steps below, you will encounter loss of all data on the
array. Please use caution so that you do not impact any other arrays.
Important: The process is borrowed from Dell's official website. For details, please
refer to the link mentioned in the References section for topic PERC -
How to Fix a RAID Puncture.
- Discard Preserved Cache (if it exists).
- Clear foreign configurations (if any).
- Delete the array.
- Shift the position of the drives by one. For example, if you have 3 disks, move Disk-0 to Slot-1, Disk-1 to Slot-2, Disk-2 to Slot-0.
- Recreate the array as desired.
- Perform a Full initialization of the array. Do not use Fast initialization.
- Perform a Check Consistency on the array.
Note: If the check consistency completes without any errors, you can safely assume that the array is
now healthy and the puncture has been removed.
Generation 14
Please refer to section Hardware Configuration for details.
Generation 13
How to delete / recreate a RAID Virtual Disk
Occasionally, you may run into a situation where there may be a double fault in a RAID array and the array is no longer viable. This can happen when enough drives fail, that parity is lost or when there is a puncture. When this happens and the disks have been replaced, you will need to rebuild the RAID array and perform a partial rebuild.
Warning: If the RAID array is not failed, following the sections below can result in a
total loss of data on the peer.
Boot to RAID Configuration Utility
While rebooting the appliance, press CTRL+R to enter PERC Configuration Utility when you see the options below.
Delete Failed RAID Array
Warning: By following the steps below, you will delete all contents of the partition and
does not allow recovery.
- Use the arrow keys to select the virtual disk to delete.
- Virtual disk 0 is the slash (/) partition.
- Virtual disk 1 is the data (/data) partition.
- Navigate to the RAID Virtual disk you wish to delete. Press F2 for operation and
scroll-down to Delete VD.
- Click YES to confirm you want to delete the selected Virtual disk.
Create a new RAID Array
- Navigate to the PERC Controller at the top and press F2. Use the arrow keys to navigate
to Create New VD and press <Enter>.
- Navigate this menu using TAB.
- Select RAID Level: RAID-5 or RAID-6
- Navigate to Physical Disks and hit <Enter> until all unclaimed physical disks are shown.
- Under Basic Settings, VD Name must be slash or data depending on Virtual disk 0 or 1. If virtual disk 0, then this field must be set to slash.
- TAB over to Advanced button and hit <Enter>.
- TAB through all settings until you reach [ ] Initialize. Select it by using
<Enter> so that an X appears. TAB to OK and hit <Enter> to confirm that
the initialization will delete the data on the drives.
- TAB over to OK on the Virtual Disk Management page and hit <Enter> to
initialize. This may take time depending on the size and number of disks in each
array.
- Press OK and click ESC (escape) key followed by
Control+Alt+Delete to reboot.
RAID Arrays
SevOne's modern Generation 14 appliances utilize RAID 6 configurations. Prior generations utilize a combination of RAID 1 and RAID 5 configurations. For additional details, please refer to the link mentioned in the References section for Dell Servers - What are the RAID levels and their specifications? topic.
RAID Array Sizes by Model
Generation 14
| Model | Data Array |
|---|---|
| PAS20k | RAID 6: 5 Drives |
| PAS60k | RAID 6: 5 Drives |
| PAS300k | RAID 6: 8 Drives |
| DNC200 | RAID 6: 5 Drives |
| DNC600 | RAID 6: 5 Drives |
| DNC1000 | RAID 6: 8 Drives |
| DNC1500HF | RAID 6: 6 Drives |
Generation 13
| Model | Slash Array | Data Array |
|---|---|---|
| PAS20k | RAID 1: 2 Drives | RAID 5: 3 Drives |
| PAS60k | RAID 1: 2 Drives | RAID 5: 3 Drives |
| PAS200k | RAID 5: 3 Drives | RAID 5: 7 Drives |
| DNC200 | RAID 5: 2 Drives | RAID 5: 3 Drives |
| DNC600 | RAID 5: 2 Drives | RAID 5: 3 Drives |
| DNC1000 | RAID 5: 3 Drives | RAID 5: 3 Drives |
| DNC1000HF | RAID 5: 6 Drives | RAID 5: 6 Drives |
References
| SevOne Build / Rebuild for Physical Appliance using ISO | Please refer to SevOne Build / Rebuild for Physical Appliance using ISO for details. |
| Dell Servers - What are the RAID levels and their specifications? | https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln292050/dell-servers-what-are-the-raid-levels-and-their-specifications?lang=en |
| Double Faults and Punctures in RAID Arrays | https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln111497/double-faults-and-punctures-in-raid-arrays?lang=en |
| How to initialize and create a virtual disk with a Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) | https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln132533/how-to-initialize-and-create-a-virtual-disk-with-a-dell-poweredge-raid-controller-perc?lang=en |
| PERC - How to Fix a RAID Puncture | https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln156726/perc-how-to-fix-a-raid-puncture?lang=en |