DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Revision 1.
Revision History DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Revision History Date April 2009 Revision Number 1.0 Initial release. Modifications Disclaimers Information in this document is provided in connection with Intel® products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property rights is granted by this document.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Table of Contents Table of Contents 1. Welcome................................................................................................................................ 1 2. Hardware Components ........................................................................................................ 2 3. Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis Introduction ...........................................................
List of Figures DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper List of Figures Figure 1. Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis ......................................................................................... 4 Figure 2. Intel® Workstation Board S5000XVN Layout ................................................................. 5 Figure 3. Inserting the Intel® RAID Controller SRCSASPH16I into a PCI Express* Slot .............. 9 Figure 4.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper List of Figures Figure 33. RAID BIOS Console Confirmation Page – Initialization ............................................. 42 Figure 34. RAID BIOS Console Virtual Disks Screen ................................................................. 43 Figure 35. RAID BIOS Console Virtual Configuration Screen .................................................... 44 Figure 36.
List of Tables DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper List of Tables Table 1. Hardware Components ................................................................................................... 2 Table 2. Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis Features ........................................................................... 3 Table 3. Major Board Components ...............................................................................................
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 1. Welcome Welcome RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) technology is commonly implemented in server usage models as an option to provide additional data protection. RAID solutions are now also found in other computer environments such as desktops, workstations, and external storage devices that support a large number of hard drives.
Hardware Components 2. DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Hardware Components Table 1. Hardware Components Quantity 1 Item ® Intel Server Board 1 4 GB 2 16 2 Manufacturer Intel S5000XVN Chenbro* Chassis Chenbro RM31616 Memory Any supported memory Please refer to the Tested Memory List at http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/s5 000psl/sb/CS-022924.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 3. Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis Introduction Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis Introduction For additional details on the Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis, visit http://www.chenbro.com. Table 2. Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis Features Generality Design Standard EIA-RS310D Sheet Metal Material SGCC Sheet Metal Thickness 1.2 mm Plastic Material Type ABS-HB Form Factor Extended ATX – 12 x 13 (inches) CEB – 12 x 10.
Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis Introduction Shipping Info DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Cubic Feet 5.22 Net Weight (Kgs) 15.1 Container Information (20') 188 (Single Packing) Container Information (40') 406 (Single Packing) Container Information (40'HQ) 455 (Single Packing) Figure 1. Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis 4 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 4. Set up the Storage Hardware System Set up the Storage Hardware System For additional details on the Intel® Server Board and Intel® RAID Controller, visit http://support.intel.com. 4.1 Server Board Connector and Component Layout The following figure shows the board layout of the Server board. Each connector and major component is identified by a letter.
Set up the Storage Hardware System DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Table 3.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 4.2 Set up the Storage Hardware System Board Front Panel Connector The board provides a 24-pin SSI front panel connector (J1E4) for use with Intel® and third-party chassis. The following table provides the pin-out for this connector. Table 4.
Set up the Storage Hardware System 4.3 DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Connection between Chassis and Server Board The connections from a Chenbro* chassis to the board are listed in the following table. The letters under the server board column correspond to the letters identified in Figure 2 for the server board and the pin numbers correspond to those defined in Table 4. Table 5.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Set up the Storage Hardware System Figure 3. Inserting the Intel® RAID Controller SRCSASPH16I into a PCI Express* Slot 4.5 Backplane Setup and Cable Connection The 16-port mini SAS Backplane with mounting bracket in the Chenbro* Chassis provides the SGPIO function support, which can be used to indicate HDD failure via a fault LED.
Set up the Storage Hardware System DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Intel® RAID Controller SRCSASPH16I provides SGPIO support through the sideband of the SFF-8087 Mini-SAS 36-pin cable by default. To get failure and access LED support, the SW-1 and SW-2 on the backplane must be turned on. 1. Turn on SW-1 and SW-2 on the backplane to enable SGPIO function support 2.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Set up the Storage Hardware System To get the best performance and avoid drive failures for this storage solution, Intel recommends using enterprise drives designed for 24 X 7 operation with a high workload. Please work with your drive vendor to source Enterprise Class SAS or SATA hard drives. Note: SAS and SATA drives should not be mixed in the same enclosure.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 5. Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller Intel is committed to providing customers with stable, high-performance, and highly reliable RAID products.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller Application Remarks Mail Server Users log on to the server and transfer data to/from the server Transaction Server Hospital/Bank: Users randomly access data for creating new files and updating exisitng files.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper The following table provides a quick reference for RAID settings. This information is simplified and may not be accurate with some applications or tests. For detailed performance tuning information, refer to the Intel® RAID Controller Performance Optimization White Paper available at http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/. Table 8.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller The following steps provide detailed instructions for setting up the arrays in the RAID BIOS console with the detailed array settings for optimizing performance: 1. When the host computer is booting, when prompted, hold down the key and press the key when the text ‘Press to enter the RAID BIOS Console’ appears on the screen (see Figure 6).
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper The RAID BIOS Console starts after POST completes and the Adapter Selection screen appears as displayed in figure 7. Figure 7. Adapter Selection Screen 2. If the system has multiple RAID controllers, select a controller, and click Start to continue. If the system has only one RAID controller, just click Start to continue. 16 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller The main screen of the RAID BIOS console appears (see Figure 8). Figure 8. RAID BIOS Console Main Screen 3. Click Configuration Wizard to start the RAID Configuration Wizard for creating the RAID array. Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper The Configuration Wizard screen appears (see Figure 9). Figure 9. Configuration Wizard Screen 4. Select New Configuration and click Next. 18 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller A dialog box appears to warn you that data will be lost (see Figure 10). 5. Click Yes to continue. Figure 10. RAID BIOS Console Confirm Page Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 6. On the next screen that appears (see Figure 11), select Custom Configuration and click Next to continue. Figure 11. RAID BIOS Console Configuration Wizard 20 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 7. On the DG Definition screen (see Figure 12), first select any two hard drives to make RAID 1. Figure 12. DG Definition Screen Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 8. Hold down the key and using the mouse to click on two unconfigured good hard drives in the Physical Drives panel on the left (see Figure 13), and click AddtoArray to move the drives to a proposed drive group configuration in the Disk Groups panel on the right (see Figure 14). Figure 13. DG Definition Screen – Selecting Devices 22 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller Figure 14. DG Definition Screen – Device added Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 9. Click Accept DG. Figure 15. DG Definition Screen – Disk Group 0 Added 24 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 10. Hold down the key while you select six unconfigured good hard drives in the Physical Drives panel on the left, and click AddtoArray to move the drives to a proposed drive group configuration in the Disk Groups panel on the right (see Figure 16). Figure 16. DG Definition Screen – Adding Devices to Device Group 1 Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 11. Click Accept DG to accept the changes. Figure 17. DG Definition Screen – Disk Group 1 Added 26 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 12. Hold down the key while you select the next six unconfigured good hard drives in the Physical Drives panel on the left, and then click AddtoArray to move the drives to a proposed drive group configuration in the Disk Groups panel on the right (see Figure 18). Figure 18. DG Definition Screen – Adding Devices to Disk Group 2 Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 13. Click Accept DG to accept the changes. Figure 19. DG Definition Screen – Disk Group 2 Added 28 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 14. Click Next to continue. 15. On the Span Definition screen (see Figure 20), select DG:0,Hole:0,R0,R1,952720MB, and click Add to SPAN. Figure 20. Span Definition Screen – Adding an Array Hole Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 16. Click Next. Figure 21. Span Definition Screen – Array Hole Added 30 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 17. On the VD Definition screen (see Figure 22), select WBack for the Write Policy and click Accept to finish RAID1 configuration. Figure 22. VD Definition Screen – Configuring RAID 1 Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 18. On the next screen (see Figure 23), click Back to start RAID50 configuration. Figure 23. VD Definition Screen – RAID 1 Configured 32 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 19. On the Span Definition screen (see Figure 24), select DG:1,Hole:0,R0,R5,R6,952720M and click Add to SPAN. Figure 24. Span Definition Screen – Adding an Array Hole Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 20. Then, select DG:2,Hole:0,R0,R5,R6,952720M and click Add to SPAN. Figure 25. Span Definition Screen – Adding Second Array Hole 34 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 21. Click Next to continue. Figure 26. Span Definition Screen – Array Holes Added Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 22. On the VD Definition screen, select RAID50 for the RAID Level (see Figure 27), and select 512 KB for Strip Size, WBack for the Write Policy (see Figure 28), and modify the Select Size value to 9527200 MB (see Figure 29). Figure 27. VD Definition Screen – Configuring RAID 50 36 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller Figure 28. VD Definition Screen – Configuring RAID 50 Write Policy Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Figure 29. VD Definition Screen – Configuring RAID 50 Size 23. Click Accept to finish a RAID 50 configuration. 38 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 24. On the next screen, click Next to continue. Figure 30. VD Definition Screen – RAID 50 Configured Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 25. On the next screen (see Figure 31), click Accept to save this RAID configuration. Figure 31. Configuration Wizard Preview Screen 40 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 26. On the next screen (see Figure 32), click Yes in the warning dialog that appears to save this configuration. Figure 32. RAID BIOS Console Confirmation Page – Save Configuration Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 27. On the next screen (see Figure 33), click Yes in the warning dialog that appears to initialize. Figure 33. RAID BIOS Console Confirmation Page – Initialization 42 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 28. Wait until the initialization completes (see Figure 34), and Click Home. Figure 34. RAID BIOS Console Virtual Disks Screen Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 29. Confirm the RAID1 and RAID50 configuration on the next screen (see Figure 35). Figure 35. RAID BIOS Console Virtual Configuration Screen 44 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 30. Click any one of the two remaining UNCONF hard drives in the Physical Drives section (see Figure 36). Figure 36. RAID BIOS Console Virtual Configuration Screen – Selecting UNCONF Hard Drives Revision 1.
Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 31. On the next screen (see Figure 37), select Make Global HSP and click Go to continue. Figure 37. RAID BIOS Console Physical Drive Screen – Making Global HSP 46 Revision 1.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper Setup Array using an Intel® RAID Controller 32. On the next screen (see Figure 38), confirm that you made a global hot spare for your RAID configuration. Figure 38. RAID BIOS Console Physical Drive Screen – Global HSP Configured 33. Use the remaining UNCONF hard drive to make another Global hot spare by repeating steps 30 through 32. The system is now ready for Operating System and application installation.
Advanced Data Integrity Protection DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 6. Advanced Data Integrity Protection 6.1 Using a RAID Controller Battery A RAID controller battery should be used whenever virtual drive write-back cache is enabled and data is mission critical. Cache-to-cache I/O is much faster than any other type of I/O operation occurring on the data bus.
DIY Storage System Guidance Using Intel® Server RAID Controllers Deployment Practices White Paper 7. Summary Summary Intel is committed to providing customers with a stable product that offers both high performance and high reliability. In this document, we provided guidance on how to set up a storage hardware system with enhanced data safety and high performance using Intel® server boards and Intel® RAID controllers in a Chenbro* RM31616 Chassis. Revision 1.
