Getting Started

C H A P T E R 1

Getting Started

This chapter describes the information you will need to know before installing the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating system on a Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 server. Make sure to read the remainder of this chapter before beginning the Windows Server 2003 installation.

Note - This book applies only to the Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 servers. It does not apply to the Sun Fire X4100 M2 or Sun Fire X4200 M2.

The following sections are included in this chapter:

About Windows Server 2003 Installation

Important Installation Considerations

Supported Windows Operating Systems

Manual Installation on One or More Servers

Sun Fire X4000 Series Platform Notes

Chapter 2 provides the procedures on the SIA tool. This tool assists in installing the Sun-supported drivers and eliminates the need to create a separate Driver CD.

Chapter 7 provides the procedures that you need to follow to complete the Windows Server 2003 operating system installation.

About Windows Server 2003 Installation

The Sun Fire X4000 series servers require additional server-specific drivers that are not included with the Windows Server 2003 operating system. The following chapters in this document describe how to access and install the operating system and drivers. The installation procedures apply to both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003.

Important Installation Considerations

Please note the following important considerations before beginning the Windows Server 2003 operating system installation on a Sun Fire X4100 or X4200 server:

When you install the Windows operating system, any data on the boot drive, including any preinstalled operating system, will be overwritten.

A primary consideration during installation is providing the mass storage drivers for the disk controller used with the Sun Fire X4100 or X4200 server. The Microsoft Windows Server 2003 media does not contain the mass storage drivers needed for operating system installation.

Windows requires that the mass storage drivers be delivered via a diskette. The Windows installation program can only read mass storage drivers from diskette drive A. Other devices such as CD/DVD or USB flash drives are not supported for mass storage driver delivery.

There are three methods that can be used to deliver the drivers for Windows Server 2003 installation:

Use a physical USB diskette drive connected to the Sun Fire server.

Use RKVMS ^[1] to redirect the diskette device to a physical diskette drive on another system that is hosting the JavaRConsole ^[2] (JavaRConsole system).

Use RKVMS to redirect the diskette device to a diskette image file on another system that is hosting the JavaRConsole.

There are also three different methods for delivering the Windows Server 2003 media for installation:

Use the physical DVD/CD drive connected to the Sun Fire server.

Use RKVMS to redirect the CD drive to a physical CD drive on the JavaRConsole system.

Use RKVMS to redirect the CD drive to a Windows CD image on the JavaRConsole system.

The installation procedures described in Chapter 3 will guide you through the process of selecting the installation methods for the mass storage drivers and operating system media.

Note - If you use the RKVMS method for any of these installations, you will need to refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide 819-1160, for details on setting up the hardware needed for the installation.

Supported Windows Operating Systems

The Sun Fire X4000 series server supports 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, Standard x64 Edition (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition (64-bit)

The updated lists of supported operating systems are at the following URLs:

For the Sun Fire X4100 server:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/os.jsp

For the Sun Fire X4200 server:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4200/os.jsp

Manual Installation on One or More Servers

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

Note - If you plan to install Windows Server 2003 using a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) server, go to Chapter 9: Incorporating Sun Fire Drivers Into a RIS Image

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

1. Downloading Server-Specific Driver Packages (see Chapter 3).

2. Selecting the Delivery Methods (see Chapter 4).

3. Preparing for Mass Storage Driver Delivery (see Chapter 5).

4. Configuring the JavaRConsole System, if necessary (see Chapter 6).

5. Installing Windows Server 2003 (see Chapter 7).

6. Updating the Critical System-Specific Drivers (see Chapter 8).

After completing these procedures, you will have successfully installed the Windows Server 2003 operating system.

Sun Fire X4000 Series Platform Notes

This guide is intended for use with Sun Fire X4100 or X4200 servers. Some aspects of the installation will vary among different product platforms.

The terms Tools and Drivers CD and Resource CD are used interchangeably in this guide. The Resource CD 705-1438-11 (or later version) contains drivers for earlier versions of the Sun Fire X4000 series servers.

^{1 (Footnote) RKVMS - Remote Keyboard, Video, Mouse, Storage. Allows redirection of the server keyboard, video output, mouse, and storage devices via a networked system.}

^{2 (Footnote) JavaRConsole - Remote console run from a networked system.}