User Guide

Configuration Manager: PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC

Starting PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager | Menu Tree | Configuring Arrays and Logical Drives | Designating Drives as Hot Spares | Using Auto Configuration | Using Easy Configuration | Using View/Add Configuration | Initializing Logical Drives | Formatting Physical Drives | Rebuilding Failed Disk Drives | Exiting PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager

Starting PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager

To start the PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC (hereafter referred to as "PERC 2/SC") Configuration Manager, make sure the program file is in your file path.

Main Menu Options

If Using PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager

For information about other functions, see the PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC User's Guide.

Menu Tree

See the PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller 2/SC User's Guide for a description of these menu items.

Configuring Arrays and Logical Drives

You can configure physical arrays and logical drives with PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager using one of the following 4 options:

• Automatic Configuration
• Easy Configuration
• New Configuration
• View/Add Configuration

Each configuration method requires a different level of user input. The general flow of operations for array and logical drive configuration is as follows:

1. Choose a configuration method.
2. Designate hot spares (optional).
3. Create arrays using the available physical drives.
4. Define logical drives using the space in the arrays.
5. Save the configuration information.
6. Initialize the logical drives.

Automatic Configuration

With Automatic Configuration, the PERC 2/SC controller examines the physical drives connected to it and automatically configures them into arrays and logical drives.

If logical drives have already been configured when you select Automatic Configuration, the configuration information is not disturbed.

Easy Configuration

With Easy Configuration, each physical array you create is associated with exactly 1 logical drive, and you can modify the following parameters:

• RAID level
• Stripe size
• Cache write policy
• Read policy
• I/O policy

If logical drives have already been configured when you select Easy Configuration, the configuration information is not disturbed.

New Configuration

With New Configuration, you can modify the following logical drive parameters:

• RAID level
• Stripe size
• Cache write policy
• Read policy
• I/O Policy
• Logical drive size
• Spanning of arrays

If you select New Configuration, the existing configuration information on the selected controller is destroyed when the new configuration is saved.

View/Add Configuration

View/Add Configuration allows you to control the same logical drive parameters as New Configuration without disturbing the existing configuration information.

Reserved Disk Space during Configuration

Up to 20.6 MB of disk space is reserved when a hard-disk drive is being configured.

Designating Drives as Hot Spares

Hot spares are physical drives that are started up along with the RAID drives and usually stay in a standby state. If a disk drive used in a RAID logical drive fails, a hot spare automatically takes its place and the data on the failed drive is reconstructed on the hot spare. Hot spares can be used for level 1 and 5 RAID. Each PERC 2/SC controller supports up to 8 hot spares.

Use either of the following methods for designating physical drives as hot spares:

• Press <F4> while creating arrays in Easy Configuration, New Configuration, or View/Add Configuration mode.
• Use the Objects menu.

Pressing <F4>

When you choose any configuration option in the Configure menu, all physical devices connected to the current controller appear.

Press the arrow keys to select a disk drive that has a Ready indicator and press <F4> to designate it as a hot spare. Choose Yes to confirm. The indicator changes to HOTSP.

Using the Objects Menu

Select Objects from the Configure menu and then select Physical Drive. A physical drive selection screen appears. Press the spacebar to select a disk drive, and then press <Enter> to display the action menu for the drive.

Press the arrow keys to select Make Hot Spare and press <Enter>. The indicator for the selected drive changes to HOTSP.

Using Auto Configuration

In Auto Configuration, PERC 2/SC examines the physical drives connected to it and automatically configures them into arrays and logical drives. PERC 2/SC uses the following configuration guidelines in sequence:

1. Gather drives with the same capacity into groups of 5, 4, or 3.
   These groups become arrays associated with RAID level-5 logical drives.
2. Gather pairs of drives with the same capacity together. These pairs become arrays associated with RAID 1 logical drives.
3. Configure any remaining single disk drives as arrays associated with RAID 0 logical drives.

Logical Drive Settings

The following table shows the logical drive defaults.

The write policy, read policy, and cache policy can be changed after configuration is completed.

User Actions

Perform the following steps when using auto configuration:

1. Designate hot spares (optional, but should be done first if chosen).
2. Select Configure from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu.
3. Select Auto Configuration from the Configure menu and respond to the confirmation prompt. The logical drives that result from Auto Configuration are displayed on the screen with a save prompt. Choose Yes to save the configuration.
4. If you choose Yes at the space prompt, initialize the logical drives.

Using Easy Configuration

In Easy Configuration, each array is associated with exactly 1 logical drive. Follow these steps to create arrays using Easy Configuration:

1. Select Configure from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu.
2. Select Easy Configuration from the Configure menu. The array selection menu appears.

   The hot-key information appears at the bottom of the screen. The hot-key functions are:

   • <F2> – Displays the manufacturer data and PERC 2/SC error count for the selected drive
   • <F3> – Displays the logical drives that have been configured
   • <F4> – Designates the selected drive as a hot spare

3. Press the arrow keys to select specific physical drives. Press the spacebar to associate the selected physical drive with the current array. The indicator for the selected drive changes from Ready to ONLIN A[array number]-[drive number]. For example, ONLIN A2-3 means disk drive 3 in array 2.

Add physical drives to the current array as desired. Try to use drives of the same capacity in a specific array. If you use drives with different capacities in an array, all the drives in the array are treated as though they have the capacity of the smallest drive in the array.

The number of physical drives in a specific array determine the RAID levels that can be implemented with the array. RAID 0 requires 1 or more physical drives; RAID 1 requires 2, 4, 6, or 8 physical drives; and RAID 5 requires at least 3 physical drives.

4. Press <Enter> when you are finished creating the array. The logical drive configuration screen appears.

The window at the top of the screen shows the logical drive that is currently being configured as well as any existing logical drives. The column headings are:

• LD – The logical drive number
• RAID – The RAID level
• Size – The logical drive size
• #Stripes – The number of stripes (physical drives) in the associated physical array
• StrpSz – The stripe size
• Drive-State – The state of the logical drive

5. Set the RAID level for the logical drive. Highlight RAID and press <Enter>. The available RAID levels for the current logical drive are displayed. Select a RAID level and press <Enter> to confirm.
6. Set the stripe size, cache write policy, read policy, and I/O (cache) policy from the Advanced menu.

7. When you are finished defining the current logical drive, select Accept and press <Enter>. The array selection screen appears if any unconfigured disk drives remain.

8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 to configure another array and logical drive. PERC 2/SC supports up to 8 logical drives per controller. If you are finished configuring logical drives, press <Esc> to exit Easy Configuration. A list of the currently configured logical drives appears. Respond to the Save prompt.

9. Initialize the logical drives you have just configured.

Using New Configuration

The New Configuration option allows you to associate logical drives with partial and/or multiple physical arrays (the latter is called "spanning of arrays").

Use the New Configuration option to erase the existing configuration information about the selected controller, as follows.

NOTE: To use the spanning feature and keep the existing configuration, use View/Add Configuration.

1. Select Configure from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu.
2. Select New Configuration from the Configure menu. An array selection window showing the devices connected to the current controller is displayed.

   Hot-key information appears at the bottom of the screen. The hot-key functions are as follows:

• <F2> — Displays the manufacturer data and PERC 2/SC error count for the selected drive
• <F3> — Displays the logical drives that have been configured
• <F4> — Designates the selected drive as a hot spare
• <F10> — Displays the logical drive configuration screen

3. Press the arrow keys to select specific physical drives. Press the spacebar to associate the selected physical drive with the current array. The indicator for the selected drive changes from Ready to ONLIN A[array number]-[drive number]. For example, ONLIN A2-3 means disk drive 3 in array 2.

Add physical drives to the current array as desired. Try to use drives of the same capacity in a specific array. If you use drives with different capacities in an array, all the drives in the array are treated as though they have the capacity of the smallest drive in the array.

The number of physical drives in a specific array determine the RAID levels that can be implemented with the array. RAID 0 requires 1 or more physical drives per array. RAID 1 requires 2, 4, 6, or 8 physical drives per array. RAID 5 requires at least 3 physical drives per array.

4. Press <Enter> when you are finished creating the current array. To continue defining arrays, repeat step 3. To begin logical drive configuration, go to step 5.
5. Press <F10> to configure logical drives. The logical drive configuration screen appears.

The window at the top of the screen shows the logical drive being configured as well as any existing logical drives. The column headings are:

• LD — Logical drive number
• RAID — RAID level
• Size — Logical drive size
• #Stripes — Number of stripes (physical drives) in the associated physical array
• StrpSz — Stripe size
• Drive-State — State of the logical drive

6. Highlight RAID and press <Enter>. The available RAID levels for the current logical drive are listed. Select a RAID level and press <Enter> to confirm.
7. Highlight Span and press <Enter>. The choices are as follows:

• CanSpan – Array spanning is enabled for the current logical drive. The logical drive can occupy space in more than one array.
• NoSpan – Array spanning is disabled for the current logical drive. The logical drive can occupy space in only one array.

Highlight the spanning option and press <Enter>. For 2 arrays to be spannable, they must have the same stripe width (that is, they must contain the same number of physical drives) and the arrays must be consecutively numbered. For example, assuming array 2 contains 4 disk drives, it can be spanned only with array 1 and/or array 3, and only if arrays 1 and 3 also contain 4 disk drives. If the 2 criteria for spanning are met, PERC 2/SC allows spanning. If the criteria are not met, the Span setting makes no difference for the current logical drive.

Configuring RAID 10 or RAID 50 Logical Drives

Configure RAID 10 by spanning 2 contiguous RAID 1 logical drives. The RAID 1 logical drives must have the same stripe size.

Configure RAID 50 by spanning 2 contiguous RAID 5 logical drives. The RAID 5 logical drives must have the same stripe size.

8. Get the logical drive size. Move the cursor to Size and press <Enter>. By default, the logical drive size is set to all available space in the array(s) being associated with the current logical drive, which includes the Span setting and partially used array space. For example, if the previous logical drive uses only a part of the space in an array, the current logical drive size is set to the remaining space by default.
9. Choose the Advanced menu (see below) to set remaining options.

10. After the current logical drive is defined, select Accept and press <Enter>. If space remains in the arrays, the next logical drive to be configured appears. Repeat steps 6-9 to configure another logical drive. If all array space has been used, a list of the existing logical drives appears. Press any key to continue and respond to the Save prompt.
11. Initialize the logical drives you have just configured.

Using View/Add Configuration

View/Add Configuration allows you to associate logical drives with partial and/or multiple physical arrays. This is called array spanning.

The existing configuration is left intact, so you can also use View/Add Configuration simply to look at the current configuration.

1. Select Configure the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu.
2. Select View/Add Configuration from the Configure menu. An array selection window showing the devices connected to the current controller is displayed.

Hot-key information appears at the bottom of the screen. The hot-key functions are as follows:

• <F2> – Displays the manufacturer data and PERC 2/SC error count for the selected drive
• <F3> – Displays the logical drives that have been configured
• <F4> – Designates the selected drive as a hot spare
• <F10> – Displays the logical drive configuration screen

3. Press the arrow keys to select the physical drives. Press the spacebar to select physical drives to be associated with the current array. The indicator for the selected drive changes from Ready to ONLIN A[array number]-[drive number]. For example, ONLIN A2-3 means disk drive 3 in array 2.

Add physical drives to the current array as desired. If possible, use drives of the same capacity in a specific array. If you use drives with different capacities in an array, all drives in the array are treated as if they have the capacity of the smallest drive in the array.

The number of physical drives in a specific array determine the RAID levels that can be implemented with the array. RAID 0 requires 1 or more physical drives per array. RAID 1 requires 2, 4, 6, or 8 physical drives per array. RAID 5 requires at least 3 physical drives per array.

4. Press <Enter> to end the selection process. To continue defining arrays, repeat step 3. To begin logical drive configuration, go to step 5.
5. Press <F10> to configure logical drives. The logical drive configuration screen appears.

The window at the top of the screen shows the logical drive that is currently being configured as well as any existing logical drives. The column headings are as follows:

• LD – Logical drive number
• RAID – RAID level
• Size – Logical drive size
• #Stripes – Number of stripes (physical drives) in the associated physical array
• StrpSz – Stripe size
• Drive-State – State of the logical drive

6. Highlight RAID and press <Enter>. The available RAID levels for the current logical drive are displayed. Select a RAID level and press <Enter> to confirm.
7. Highlight Span and press <Enter>. The choices are:

• CanSpan – Array spanning is enabled for the current logical drive. The drive can occupy space in more than one array.
• NoSpan – Array spanning is disabled for the current logical drive. The drive can occupy space in only one array.

Highlight a spanning option and press <Enter>. For 2 arrays to be spannable, they must have the same stripe width (that is, they must contain the same number of physical drives) and must be consecutively numbered. For example, assuming array 2 contains 4 disk drives, it can be spanned only with array 1 and/or array 3, and only if arrays 1 and 3 also contain 4 disk drives. If the two criteria for spanning are not met, the Span setting makes no difference for the current logical drive.

Configuring RAID 10 or RAID 50 Logical Drives

Configure RAID 10 by spanning 2 contiguous RAID 1 logical drives. The RAID 1 logical drives must have the same stripe size.

Configure RAID 50 by spanning 2 contiguous RAID 5 logical drives. The RAID 5 logical drives must have the same stripe size.

8. Move the cursor to Size and press <Enter>. By default, the logical drive size is set to all available space in the array(s) being associated with the current logical drive, accounting for the Span setting and for partially used array space. For example: if the previous logical drive uses only a part of the space in an array, the current logical drive size is set to the remaining space by default.
9. Open the Advanced menu to set the remaining options.

10. When you are finished defining the current logical drive, select Accept and press <Enter>. If space remains in the arrays, the next logical drive to be configured appears. Repeat steps 6-9 to configure another logical drive. If the array space is used, a list of the existing logical drives appears. Press any key to continue. Respond to the Save prompt.
11. Initialize the logical drives you have just configured.

Initializing Logical Drives

You should initialize each new logical drive you configure. You can initialize the logical drives in two ways:

• Batch Initialization – The Initialize option in the main menu lets you initialize up to 8 logical drives simultaneously.
• Individual Initialization – The Objects/Logical Drive action menu for an individual logical drive has an Initialize option.

Batch Initialization

1. Select Initialize from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu. A list of the current logical drives appears.
2. Press the arrow keys to select all drives to be initialized. Press the spacebar to select specific logical drives for initialization. Press <F2> to select or deselect all the logical drives.
3. When you have selected the logical drives, press <F10> and choose Yes at the confirmation prompt. The progress of the initialization for each drive is shown in bar graph format.
4. When initialization is completed, press any key to continue.

Press <Esc> to display the main menu.

Individual Initialization

1. Select the Objects option from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu. Select Logical Drive option from the Objects menu.
2. Select the logical drive to be initialized.
3. Select Initialize from the Action menu. The progress of the initialization appears as a graph on the screen.
4. When initialization is completed, press any key to display the previous menu.

Formatting Physical Drives

You low-level format SCSI drives using the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager. However, because most SCSI disk drives are low-level formatted at the factory, this step is usually not necessary. You typically must format a SCSI drive under the following circumstances:

• The disk drive was not low-level formatted at the factory.
• An excessive number of media errors have been detected on the disk drive.

Media Errors

Check the Properties screen for the drive you wish to format. You can check this screen by choosing Objects from the Physical Drive menu, pressing the arrow keys to select the selected drive and pressing <F2>.

The error count appears at the bottom of the Properties screen. If you feel that the number of errors is excessive, you should probably format the disk drive. If more than 32 media errors were detected, PERC 2/SC automatically puts the drive in fail state. In cases such as this, formatting the drive can solve the problem.

You do not have to use the Format option to erase existing information on your SCSI disks, such as a DOS partition. That information is erased when you initialize logical drives.

You can format the physical drives using:

• Batch Formatting. Choose Format option in the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu to format up to 8 disk drives simultaneously.
• Individual Formatting. Choose the Format option from Objects on the Physical Drive Action menu for an individual disk drive.

Batch Formatting

1. Select Format from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu. A device selection window showing the devices connected to the current controller is displayed.
2. Press the arrow keys to select all drives to be formatted. Press the spacebar to select the selected physical drive for formatting. The indicators for selected drives flash.
3. When you have selected the physical drives, press <F10> and choose Yes at the confirmation prompt to begin formatting. The indicators for the selected drives change to FRMT[number], where number reflects the drive selection order. Formatting can take some time, depending on the number of drives you have selected and the drive capacities.
4. When initialization is completed, press any key to continue. Press <Esc> to display the main menu.

Individual Formatting

1. Select Objects from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu. Select the Physical Drive option from the Objects menu. A device selection window showing the devices connected to the current controller is displayed.
2. Press the arrow keys to select the physical drive to be formatted and press <Enter>.
3. Select the Format option from the action menu and respond to the confirmation prompt. Formatting can take some time, depending on the drive capacity.
4. When formatting is completed, press any key to display the previous menu.

Rebuilding Failed Disk Drives

If a disk drive fails in an array configured as a RAID 1 or 5 logical drive, you can recover the lost data by rebuilding the drive. If a rebuilding spare fails, a new rebuild is started using a second spare, if available. The capacity of the second spare must be equal to or greater than the failed drive.

Manual Rebuild – Rebuilding an Individual Drive 

1. Select the Objects option from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu. Select Physical Drive from the Objects menu. A window appears that shows the devices connected to the current controller:
2. Press the arrow keys to select the physical drive to be rebuilt and press <Enter>.
3. Select the Rebuild option from the action menu and respond to the confirmation prompt. Rebuilding can take some time, depending on the drive capacity.
4. When rebuild is completed, press any key to display the previous menu.

Manual Rebuild – Batch Mode

1. Select Rebuild from the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager main menu. A device selection window is displayed showing the devices connected to the current controller. The failed drives have fail indicators.
2. Press the arrow keys to select all drives to be rebuilt. Press the spacebar to select a specific physical drive for rebuild.
3. After selecting the physical drives, press <F10> and type Yes at the confirmation prompt. The indicators for the selected drives change to REBLD. Rebuilding can take some time, depending on the number of drives you have selected and their capacities.
4. When rebuild is completed, press any key to continue. Press <Esc> to display the main menu.

Exiting PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager

To exit the PERC 2/SC Configuration Manager, press <Esc> from the main menu and choose Yes at the prompt. A message appears if uninitialized logical drives remain in the system.