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Configuring RAID 5 Using MegaRAID WebBIOS

Updated

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Configuring RAID 5 Using MegaRAID WebBIOS

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Affected Roles:  Owner, Administrator

Complexity:  High

Last Edit:  June 26, 2024

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Configuring RAID

In some circumstances, your RAID 5 configuration may need to be rebuilt.  Common reasons for re-configuring the RAID 5 include:

  • Adding storage
  • Multiple drive failures
  • RAID corruption

This article will outline how to configure RAID 5 setup using the MegaRAID WebBIOS of a DW Blackjack® Server with RAID.

 

**NOTE:  Prior to booting up the system, ensure that all drives for the RAID are installed in their bays.  It is highly recommended that all HDDs involved share the same manufacturer and model of hard drive.

 

Supported/Affected Devices

  • DW Blackjack® P-Rack Series
  • DW Blackjack® E-Rack Series

 

Reconfiguring RAID 5 Drive Group

To rebuild the RAID Configuration:

  1. Reboot or turn on the server.

As the server begins to boot up, press the CTRL + H keys on the keyboard when prompted to initiate the RAID configuration.

 

  1. Select the RAID Controller Card, then click the Start button.

 

  1. The MegaRAID BIOS Configuration Utility window will display.

Click on Configuration Wizard.

 

  1. Select New Configuration, then click Next.

You will be prompted to confirm clearance of the virtual drive configuration.  Click the Yes button to proceed.

 

  1. Select the Manual Configuration method.

Leave Redundancy as Redundancy when possible.

Click Next.

 

  1. Select all of the Hard Drives (HDD) in the Drives list.  Do not select the Solid-State Drive (SSD) of the Blackjack unit.

Click the Add To Array button.

 

  1. The selected drives should now display in the Drive Groups list as a group (Drive Group:0 or Drive Group:1).

Click the Accept DG button, then click Next.

 

  1. In the Array With Free Space section, select your drive group, then click the Add to SPAN button.

 

  1. Your drive group array should now display in the Span section.

Click Next.

 

  1.   The Virtual Drive Definition window will display.

Please use the following settings:

  • Raid Level – RAID 5
  • Strip Size – 512 KB
  • Read Policy – Always Read Ahead
  • Write Policy – Always Write Back
  • Leave all other settings as their default values

Confirm that the Select Size option corresponds with the desired RAID level, then click Accept to proceed.

 

  1.   The virtual drive should now display in the Virtual Drives section.

Click Next.

 

  1.   A preview of the virtual drive will display.

Click the Accept button.

Click the Yes button to initialize the drives.

 

  1.   Select Fast Initialize, then click the Go button.

Click the Yes button to proceed with initialization.

 

  1.   Click the Home button.

 

  1.   The Drive Group, Raid Level, Virtual Drives, and Drives will now display in the Logical View.

Click Exit in the Home Menu, then click the Yes button to exit the application.

Reboot the system by pressing the CTRL + ALT + DELETE keys.

 

 

Disk Management

After creating the virtual drive for the RAID configuration, you will need to initialize the Disk Volume.

  1. Open the Windows Start Menu and search for the Computer Management tool.

 

**NOTE:  An alternate way of opening the Computer Management tool is to right-click on Computer, then select Manage.

 

  1. Select Disk Management.

Windows will typically auto-populate with the Initialize Disk menu.  If so, select GPT, then select OK.

 

  1. Right-click on the Unallocated disk, then select New Simple Volume.

 

  1. The New Simple Volume Wizard will display.

Click Next to begin.

 

  1. The Specify Volume Size window will display.

Confirm that the Simple volume size in MB value is the same as the Maximum disk space in MB value.

Click Next to continue.

 

  1. The Assign Drive Letter or Path window will display.

Assign the next available drive letter to the Volume.

Click Next to continue.

 

  1. The Format Partition window will display.

Name the Volume label as DW Media.

Enable Perform a quick format.

Click Next.

 

  1. Once the quick format has completed, a summary of the new simple volume will display.

Click Finish to complete the process.

 

  1. Windows will detect the new drive and display it in the Disk Management tool.  The Virtual Disk can now be accessed and used for DW Spectrum IPVMS.

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