HP xw4600, xw6600, and xw8600 Workstations - Setting up SATA RAID

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Setting up SATA RAID on the HP xw4600,

xw6600, and xw8600 Workstations

Introduction

This document details the steps needed to setup RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 disk

configurations on an HP xw4600, xw6600, and xw8600 Workstation using the on—board SATA ports.

Additional information on these RAID modes can be found in the HP Workstation RAID Primer Mini

White Paper at

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00786213/

c00786213.pdf.

The steps are common to all Raid configurations. Raid configuration specific values are given as needed.

Installing Drives

With the power off, physically install the correct number of SATA drives using any combination of the 6

available SATA ports. Table 1 indicates the minimum number of drives needed for each Raid

configuration.

Table 1 Minimum disk required for each RAID array

RAID 0 RAID 1 RAID 5 RAID 10

Min # of Disks 2 2 3 4 & even number of disks

Enabling RAID

1. Boot the system and enter BIOS setup by pressing the F10 key at the startup screen.

ENWW Introduction 1

Summary of content (6 pages)

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Setting up SATA RAID on the HP xw4600, xw6600, and xw8600 Workstations Introduction This document details the steps needed to setup RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 disk configurations on an HP xw4600, xw6600, and xw8600 Workstation using the on—board SATA ports. Additional information on these RAID modes can be found in the HP Workstation RAID Primer Mini White Paper at http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00786213/ c00786213.pdf. The steps are common to all Raid configurations.
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. Using the arrow keys and the Enter key go to “Storage” and then “Storage Options.” SATA Emulation mode must be set to “RAID” or “RAID+AHCI” depending on your system, see Figure 1. Make sure press to press the F10 key to accept any changes you make.
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. Next, arrow over to the “Advanced” tab and select “Device Options.” SATA RAID Option ROM Download” must be set to “Enable” see Figure 2. If you are NOT using eSATA drives skip step 4. and continue with step 5. Figure 2 SATA RAID Option ROM Enable 4. If eSATA drives are used then the speed must be changed to Gen1/1.5Gbps. 5. Leave all other settings as currently set. Exit the BIOS by arrowing over to “File” and selecting “Save Changes and Exit.” Press the F10 keyto accept all changes.
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2. When the system prompts to enter the “Intel Matrix Storage Manager Configuration Utility.” Press -I to enter the utility as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 Entering Intel Matrix Storage Manager Configuration Utility 3. The Intel Matrix Storage Manager Configuration Utility invokes as seen in Figure 4. Figure 4 Intel Matrix Storage Manager Configuration Utility 4 4. Select “Create RAID Volume” 5. ‘Volume Name’ – Enter a name for the RAID volume, default is “Volume0.” 6.
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7. ‘Disk Select’ – If available, press , use the up/down arrow keys to move over the drives in the list. Use the space bar to select the drive for the volume. Make sure that the correct number of drives is selected as per Table 1. 8. ‘Strip Size’ – Use up/down arrow keys to select strip block size (default is 128KB, this is a reasonable value). 9. ‘Capacity’ is based on the drives and the RAID level selected. The default value is the maximum capacity and should be selected. 10.
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Accessing the new RAID volume 6 1. If the RAID volume will also contain the operating system then place the recovery CD into the system and reboot. 2. When the recovery CD boots, follow the instructions to install the operating system onto the newlycreated RAID Volume. 3. If the RAID volume does not contain the operating system then boot in to Windows normally. 4. Once booted, right click on “My Computer” and select “Manage” 5. Initialize the disk when prompted. 6.