RAID User Guide
© Copyright 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Intel is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Vista are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
Table of contents 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 2 RAID technology overview ............................................................................................................................. 2 RAID terminology ................................................................................................................................. 2 RAID modes supported .
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1 Introduction Until recently, there were limited options for most computer users who wanted to protect their data from loss in the event of a hard drive failure. These options were manually copying files to a backup drive or using cumbersome backup software. If users failed to perform one of these mundane tasks prior to a hard drive failure, they had to spend considerable time and money to recover even a portion of the data on the drive.
2 RAID technology overview This chapter defines the terms used in this guide and describes the RAID technologies supported by select HP Business computers. RAID terminology Some of the terms in the following table have a broader meaning, but they are defined in relation to the RAID implementation described in this guide. 2 Term Definition Fault tolerance The ability of the computer to continue to operate if one drive fails.
RAID modes supported The RAID modes supported by HP Business computers include RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and Flexible data protection (Recovery) as described below. RAID modes 0, 1, and Recovery require two SATA HDDs. RAID mode 5 requires three SATA HDDs.
RAID levels Function/Applications Advantages/Disadvantages RAID 0 Function: Advantages: Data is distributed across both disk drives. Read performance is higher than that of a nonRAID HDD. Applications: ● Image editing Total storage capacity is doubled. ● Video production Disadvantages: ● Pre-press applications The entire array fails if one drive fails; data cannot be recovered.
RAID levels Function/Applications Advantages/Disadvantages RAID Recovery Function: Advantages: Identical (mirrored) data is stored on two drives. Provides high fault tolerance. Boosts the functionality of RAID 1 with valuable features. Users can choose to mirror data continuously or on request. Applications: Data recovery is quick and easy. Any application that requires a simple data protection method. Allows hot-plugging of mirrored drive (with eSATA or docking station HDD).
The advantages of RAID modes supported Fault tolerance and performance are important terms to understand when choosing a RAID mode. Fault tolerance Fault tolerance is the ability of a RAID array to withstand and recover from a drive failure. Fault tolerance is provided by redundancy. Therefore, RAID 0 has no fault tolerance because it does not copy data to another HDD. With RAID 1 and Recovery, one drive can fail without causing the array to fail.
3 Operating systems and devices supported Operating systems supported HP RAID supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista® (SP1 and SP2), and Windows 7 operating systems. NOTE: SP3). HP offers only limited support for Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional (SP1, SP2,and Devices supported This section describes the devices supported for RAID migration, including the SATA drives, computers, and docking station.
RAID configuration. Therefore, for optimal use, it is recommended that both drives have the same capacity. eSATA HDDs (select models only) External SATA, or eSATA, is an external interface that allows a SATA drive to achieve data transfer speeds up to 6 times that of a SATA drive using a standard USB 2.0 interface. The following illustration shows a supported computer with a primary HDD (1) and an eSATA drive (2) connected to the eSATA port (select models only) to allow Recovery.
The following illustration shows a supported computer with the primary HDD (1) and secondary HDD (2), with the third drive in the Upgrade Bay (3) that allows RAID 5. HP Advanced Docking Station Recovery supports docking and undocking. It can be used to implement mirroring between the primary HDD (1) and an optional HDD in the SATA-swappable bay of the HP Advanced Docking station (2).
4 Intel Rapid Storage Technology features Intel Rapid Storage Technology supports the following Recovery features. Advanced Host Controller Interface The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) is a specification that allows the storage driver to enable advanced SATA features such as Native Command Queuing and hot plug capability. AHCI must be enabled in the system BIOS for these features to apply (see Enable RAID through the system BIOS (f10) on page 13).
Intel Rapid Recover Technology Intel Rapid Storage Technology supports the following Recovery features. Mirror update policies With Recovery, you can determine how often the mirror HDD is updated: continuously or on-request. When using the continuous update policy, data on the primary drive is simultaneously copied to the mirror drive as long as both drives are connected to the system.
5 RAID volume setup The following instructions assume that a supported HDD is installed in the computer Upgrade Bay, in the SATA-swappable bay of the docking station, or connected to the eSATA port of the computer (see Devices supported on page 7). The basic RAID migration steps are as follows: ● Enable RAID through the system BIOS. ● Initiate RAID migration using Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Console.
Enable RAID through the system BIOS (f10) NOTE: The following procedures assume that you are using the HDD image that shipped with your computer. If a different image is installed on your computer, you must first enable RAID through the system BIOS (f10), and then install the operating system and all required drivers, including the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver. Next, follow the steps in Initiate RAID migration using Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console on page 15.
4. In the Device Configurations window, select RAID under SATA Device Mode. Click Confirm. The following message is displayed: “Changing this setting may require reinstallation of your operating system. Are you sure you want to proceed?” NOTE: The HDD image supplied with your computer contains drivers that allow you to switch between AHCI and RAID modes without reinstalling the operating system. If you use a different HDD image, you may need to reinstall the operating system.
Initiate RAID migration using Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console ▲ Open the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console by selecting Start > All Programs > Intel Rapid Storage Technology. NOTE: Windows Vista and Windows 7 include the User Account Control feature to improve the security of your computer. You may be prompted for your permission or a password for tasks such as installing software, running utilities, or changing Windows settings. Refer to Help and Support for more information.
Migrating to RAID 1 1. 16 Click Create, click Real-time data protection (RAID 1), and then click Next.
2. Create a volume name (or use the suggested name), select the two HDDs to use for the RAID 1 array, and then click Next.
3. 18 Click Create Volume to begin the migration process.
4. Once the Create Volume button is clicked, you are informed that the array has been created. Click the OK button. The array migration continues to run in the background. The computer can be used normally while the migration continues. 5. When you are notified that the array migration is complete, close all open programs and reboot the computer. 6. When the computer boots up, the operating system detects the newly-created array and requests a reboot. Reboot the computer when prompted.
Migrating to Recovery Recovery offers more control over how data is copied from the primary drive to the recovery drive. When the secondary HDD is in the SATA-swappable bay of the HP Advanced Docking Station or connected to the eSATA port of the computer (select models only), Recovery is the only RAID option available. 1. 20 Click Create, click Flexible data protection (Recovery), and then click Next.
2. Create a volume name (or use the suggested name). The two HDDs to use for the Recovery array are already selected. Click Next.
3. 22 Click Create Volume to begin the migration process.
4. Once the Create Volume button is clicked, you are informed that the array has been created. Click the OK button. The array migration continues to run in the background. The computer can be used normally while the migration continues. 5. When you are notified that the array migration has completed, close all open programs and reboot the computer. When the computer reboots, the operating system detects the newlycreated array and requests another reboot. Reboot the computer when prompted.
Migrating to RAID 0 NOTE: When using an HP supplied image, migrating to RAID 0 requires you to perform additional advanced steps, including copying data to an additional external USB HDD. Please read the entire RAID 0 migration procedure before you begin. 1. 24 Click Create, click Optimized disk performance, and then click Next.
2. Create a volume name (or use the suggested name), select the two hard disk drives to use for the RAID 0 array, and then click Next.
3. Click Create Volume to begin the migration process. 4. A message displays, notifying you that the array has been created. Click the OK button. NOTE: The array migration continues to run in the background. The computer can be used normally while the migration continues.
5. When you are notified that the array migration has completed, close all open programs and restart the computer. When the computer is restarted, the operating system detects the newlycreated array and prompts you to restart the computer a second time. 6. After you have restarted the computer a second time, the RAID migration is complete.
2. 28 Create a volume name (or use the suggested name), select the three HDDs to use for the RAID 5 array, and then click Next.
3. Click Create Volume to begin the migration process. 4. Once Create Volume is selected, you are informed that the array has been created. Click the OK button. The array migration continues to run in the background. The computer can be used normally while the migration continues.
5. When you are notified that the array migration has completed, close all open programs and restart the computer. When the computer is restarted, the operating system detects the newlycreated array and prompts you to restart the computer a second time. 6. After you have restarted the computer a second time, the RAID migration is complete.
2. In the left pane under Storage, click Disk Management. The Disk Management window displays the existing partitions and unallocated space—(C:), HP_TOOLS, and HP_RECOVERY. Write down the size displayed for the HP_RECOVERY partition (for example, 11.76GB), and retain this information for an upcoming step. NOTE: The drive letters shown in Disk Management may vary depending on your system configuration. 3. Connect an external USB drive with at least 40 GB of free capacity to a USB port on the computer. 4.
14. The amount of unallocated capacity (in MB) available to extend the (C:) drive is displayed next to Select the amount of space in MB (for example, 494098 MB). Subtract the value for the reserved space to restore the HP directories (calculated above) from the amount of unallocated capacity (in MB) available to extend the (C:) drive. For example, 494098 MB – 17169 MB = 476929 MB.
Administrator mode. It is recommended that a batch file (*.bat) be created with these commands and run, rather than typing them in individually. NOTE: The commands assume that the HP_RECOVERY partition is drive (E:). If it is different, replace E: with the correct drive letter. BCDEDIT.EXE -store E:\Boot\BCD -create {ramdiskoptions} -d "Ramdisk Options" BCDEDIT.EXE -store E:\Boot\BCD -set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice partition=E: BCDEDIT.EXE -store E:\Boot\BCD -set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdipath \boot
Using Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console Recovery features Modifying the volume update policy When using Recovery, you can select how often the recovery HDD is updated: continuously or onrequest. Continuous Updates is the default update policy (see Mirror update policies on page 11). The steps to change the update policy to on-request are as follows: 1. 34 Click Manage, and click the Recovery Volume to select it.
2. Click the Advanced link in the left pane.
36 3. Update mode displays the current setting. To change the current setting, click the Change Mode link, and then click Yes. When using the on-request update policy, you can manually update the recovery volume by selecting the Update Data link. 4. You can restore the continuous update policy at any time by selecting the Change Mode link, and then clicking Yes.
6 Resetting RAID drives to non-RAID You can reset a RAID 1 or Recovery volume to two non-RAID drives using the following instructions to access the Intel Option ROM and reset both drives to non-RAID status. You must also reset both drives to non-RAID if you need to move the RAID recovery drive from the computer's upgrade bay to the docking station's bay.
38 3. Press the space bar to select the first drive, and then press the down arrow key and the space bar to select the second drive. 4. Press enter, and then press Y to confirm the selection. 5. Use the down arrow key to select Exit, and then press enter and Y to boot the system.
7 Frequently asked questions Can more than one RAID volume be installed on a computer? No, there can only be one RAID volume on a computer. Is RAID supported to allow both RAID 0 and RAID 1 on a single RAID volume? No. Can the computer be undocked if the recovery HDD is in the docking station SATA-swappable bay? Yes. If the “Continuous update” policy is selected, data is automatically copied to the docking station's recovery drive when the computer is re-docked.
Index A Advanced Host Controller Interface 10 automatic HDD switching and rapid recovery 11 modifying the volume update policy 34 D devices supported 7 O operating systems supported option ROM 2, 37 N Native Command Queuing E enabling RAID 13 eSATA HDDs 8 9 I initiating RAID migration 15 Intel Rapid Recover Technology 10, 11 Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console Recovery features 34 M migrating to RAID 0 24 migrating to RAID 1 16 migrating to Recovery 20 mirror update policies 11 mirroring 6 modes
