Sun Fire X4140, X4240 and X4440 Servers Windows Operating System Installation Guide

This chapter describes the information you will need to know before installing the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 operating system on a Sun Fire X4140, X4240 or X4440 server.

The following sections are included in this chapter:

• About Windows Server Installation
• Important Installation Considerations
• Supported Windows Operating Systems
• Assisted Installation Using Sun Installation Assistant (SIA)
• Manual Installation

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About Windows Server Installation

The Sun Fire X4140, X4240 and X4440 servers require mass storage drivers that are not included with the Windows Server 2003 operating system. For Windows Server 2008, required mass storage drivers are included with the Windows Server 2008 distribution media.

The following chapters in this document describe how to install the Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 operating systems. The installation procedures apply to both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.

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Important Installation Considerations

Please note the following important considerations before beginning the Windows Server operating system installation on your Sun Fire server:

• When you install the Windows operating system, any data on the boot drive, including any preinstalled operating system, will be overwritten.
• If your server ships with an integrated RAID controller and you want to include your boot drive as part of a RAID configuration, you will need to configure a RAID volume(s) using the controller’s BIOS configuration utility (accessible during server boot) before you install the Windows operating system.
• If you have an Adaptec-based integrated RAID controller (standard on the X4440), you must create an array volume using the controller’s configuration utility on any disk you want Windows to be able to access. If you are performing an initial installation of Windows and want to boot from mass storage connected to the controller (even if do not want it part of a RAID), use the controller’s BIOS configuration utility (accessible during server boot) to create an array volume on the disk before you install the Windows operating system. Details on doing this can be found in Appendix B.
• A primary consideration during installation is providing the mass storage drivers for the disk controller. Windows Server 2008 provides the mass storage drivers required for the Sun Fire X4140 and X4240 servers, but not for the Sun Fire X4440 server. Windows Server 2003 media does not contain the mass storage drivers needed to install the operating system.
• If you install Windows using the Sun Installation Assistant, all required drivers are supplied at the time of installation. SIA can install Windows via a local or remote CD/DVD. For more about SIA, see Assisted Installation Using Sun Installation Assistant (SIA).
• If you install Windows manually, using the Microsoft Windows installation media, Windows 2003 requires that the mass storage drivers be delivered from a floppy disk. The Windows 2003 installation program can only read mass storage drivers from a floppy disk.

• For a manual installation, there are three methods that can be used to deliver the drivers for Windows Server installation:
• Use a physical USB floppy drive connected to the Sun Fire server.
• Use a remote KVMS (remote Keyboard, Video, Mouse, Storage--allows redirection of the server keyboard, video output, mouse and storage devices via a networked system) to redirect the floppy drive to a physical floppy drive on another system that is hosting the JavaRConsole (JavaRConsole system--a remote console run from a networked system).
• Use a remote KVMS to redirect the floppy to a floppy image file on another system that is hosting the JavaRConsole.

• For a manual installation, there are also three different methods for delivering the Windows Server distribution media for installation:
• Use the physical CD/DVD drive connected to the Sun Fire server.
• Use a remote KVMS to redirect the CD/DVD drive to a physical CD/DVD drive on the JavaRConsole system.
• Use a remote KVMS to redirect the CD/DVD drive to a Windows CD/DVD image on the JavaRConsole system.

The installation procedures described in this document will guide you through the process of selecting the installation methods for the mass storage drivers and operating system media.

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Supported Windows Operating Systems

The Sun Fire X4140, X4240 and X4440 servers support the following Microsoft Windows operating systems at the time of publication of this document:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, SP1 or later, Standard Edition (32-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, SP1 or later, Enterprise Edition (32-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, Standard x64 Edition (64-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, Enterprise x64 Edition (64-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Standard Edition (32 or 64-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Edition (32 or 64-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Datacenter Edition (32 or 64-bit)

The updated list of supported operating systems is at the following server-specific URL:

For the Sun Fire X4140: http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4140/os.jsp

For the Sun Fire X4240: http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4240/os.jsp

For the Sun Fire X4440: http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4440/os.jsp

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Assisted Installation Using Sun Installation Assistant (SIA)

The Sun Installation Assistant (SIA) is a tool supported for use with x64 Sun Fire and Sun Blade servers that assists in the installation of supported Linux and Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems (OS). With SIA, you can install the OS, the appropriate drivers, and if necessary, additional system software by simply booting the SIA media and following the prompts.

SIA does not automate the OS installation process. You still need to follow the installation procedures for your OS, but you do not have to inventory your system hardware, search out and download device drivers most recently supported by Sun, nor will you need to create a separate driver CD. SIA does that work for you.

SIA Media Availability, Updates and Documentation

The Sun Installation Assistant CD/DVD ships with most new Sun servers that support the x64 processor architecture. For a complete list of supported Sun server platforms, refer to the SIA information page at:

http://www.sun.com/systemmanagement/sia.jsp

In addition, an ISO CD image of the Sun Installation Assistant is available for download from the Sun Download page at:

http://www.sun.com/download/index.jsp

Updates to the SIA program can be obtained easily during the SIA installation by using the Remote Update option in the SIA.

Documentation describing how to use SIA can be found with the rest of the documentation for your server on the Sun documentation web site:

http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/server.x64

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Manual Installation

This method is for more advanced users that are planning to manually install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 locally, or remotely, on one or more servers.

To install Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 from CD media onto a your server, complete the following procedures in order:

1. Download Server-Specific Driver Packages (see Chapter 2).

2. Select the Delivery Methods (see Chapter 3).

3. Prepare for Mass Storage Driver Delivery (see Chapter 4).

4. Configure the JavaRConsole System, only required if you are planning to install Windows from a remote console (see Chapter 5).

5. Install Windows Server 2003 (see Chapter 6).

6. Install Windows Server 2008 (see Chapter 7).

7. Update the Critical Server-Specific Drivers (see Chapter 8).

After completing these procedures, you will have successfully installed the Windows Server operating system.

Sun Fire X4140, X4240 and X4440 Servers Windows Operating System Installation Guide

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Copyright © 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.