How to Make Your Server’s BIOS See Your Disks If You Use the Sun StorageTek SAS RAID HBA

A P P E N D I X A

If you Use the Sun StorageTek SAS RAID HBA, Your BIOS Does Not See Disks by Default

Your Sun Fire X4140, X4240, or X4440 Server can use a Sun StorageTek SAS RAID Internal HBA (PCIe card).

The Sun StorageTek SAS RAID Internal HBA does not show any new hard disk drives to the server’s BIOS by default. If you are using this HBA, your server’s BIOS or OS (if installed) will not see any disks until you configure the HBA using the Adaptec BIOS Utility.

The Adaptec BIOS utility can also be used to create a hardware RAID where you can install your OS.

Using the Adaptec BIOS Utility

The Adaptec BIOS Utility can create up to 20 volumes. Each volume can contain a single disk or a RAID (RAID levels 0, 1, 1E, 10, 5, 5EE, 50, 6, or 60--with global or dedicated hot spares).

Configuring Adaptec RAID for Any Operating System from the BIOS

This chapter describes how to use the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility (ARCU) to create a RAID array. You can also use the procedure in this chapter to create single-drive volumes.

Note - On servers equipped with an Adaptec SAS host bus adapter, all drives must be part of a volume before they can be used by the BIOS or the operating system. Adaptec controllers support single-drive volumes that can be used for drives that are not part of a RAID array. This is especially important when you add drives to a system.

To Create a RAID Array

Use the following procedure to create a RAID array.

1. Power-cycle your server.

2. During power up, type Ctrl-A to bring up the ARCU.

A message appears, and then the ARCU opens.

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

3. Select Array Configuration Utility.

The Array Configuration Utility appears.

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

4. Select Initialize Drives.

A list of drives appears.

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

5. Select drives to initialize.

Use the arrow keys to scroll through the list.

Use the space bar to select a drive.

Note - You can select many drives, and initialize them all at once, even if they are going to be in different volumes or arrays.

6. When you have selected all the drives to be initialized, press Enter.

A message warns you that initializing a drive erases array information from it.

7. Type yes.

The utility initializes the selected drives, and the main screen appears.

FIGURE A-1 Adaptec RAID controller main screen

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

8. Select Create Array from the main menu.

A list of drives appears.

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

9. Select the drives to be included in the array or volume.

If you are going to create a volume, select the drive to be included in the volume. If you are going to create an array, select all the drives to be included in the array. Repeat Step 9 through Step 13 for each subsequent array or volume.

Use the arrow keys to scroll through the list.

Use the space bar to select a drive.

10. After you make your selections, press Enter.

The Array Properties view appears.

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

11. Make the following selections:

Array Type - Select an array type from the drop-down list. If you selected a single drive, the array type is “volume.”

Array Label - Type a label.

Stripe Size - Type a stripe size.

Read Caching - Type Y or N.

Write Caching - Select an option from the list.

12. Press Enter or click Done to proceed.

Depending on the Write Caching selection, a number of warnings might appear:

If the Write Caching setting is Enable always, and if you do not have a battery, or if the battery is not charged sufficiently, several warnings might appear. Type Yes to proceed, or type No to return to the Array Properties screen.

If the write cache is enabled, a write cache warning appears.

Adaptec RAID controller utility (ARCU) initial view.

13. Click Enter to proceed.

The utility initializes the array.