Super Micro SBI-7125W-S6 Blade Module RAID Setup Procedure PDF

SBI-7125W-S6 Blade Module RAID Setup Procedure The information in this User’s Manual has been carefully reviewed and is believed to be accurate. The vendor assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be contained in this document, makes no commitment to update or to keep current the information in this manual, or to notify any person or organization of the updates. Please Note: For the most up-to-date version of this manual, please see our web site at www.supermicro.com . Super Micro Computer, Inc. (“Supermicro”) reserves the right to make changes to the product described in this manual at any time and without notice.

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Any disputes arising between manufacturer and customer shall be governed by the laws of Santa Clara County in the State of California, USA.. The State of California, County of Santa Clara shall be the exclusive venue for the resolution of any such disputes. Super Micro's total liability for all claims will not exceed the price paid for the hardware product. FCC Statement: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment.

This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instruction manual, may cause harmful interference with radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case you will be required to correct the interference at your own expense. California Best Management Practices Regulations for Perchlorate Materials: This Perchlorate warning applies only to products containing CR (Manganese Dioxide) Lithium coin cells. Perchlorate Material-special handling may apply. See www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate for further details. WARNING:

HANDLING OF LEAD SOLDER MATERIALS USED IN THIS PRODUCT MAY EXPOSE YOU TO LEAD, A CHEMICAL KNOWN TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS AND OTHER REPRODUCTIVE HARM. Manual Revison 1.0 Release Date: March 31, 2008 Unless you request and receive written permission from Super Micro Computer, Inc., you may not copy any part of this document. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders. Copyright © 2008 by Super Micro Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ii

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Installing via PXE Boot

SBI-7125W-S6 RAID Setup Procedure 1. Installing the Operating System An operating system (OS) must be installed on each blade module. Unlike most blade systems, blades with Microsoft Windows OS and blades with Linux OS can both occupy and operate within the same blade enclosure. Refer to the Supermicro web site for a complete list of supported operating systems. There are several methods of installing an OS to the blade modules. Installing with an External USB CD-ROM Drive The most common method of installing the OS is with an external USB CD-ROM drive. Take the following steps to install the OS to a blade module: WARNING:

Installing the OS from an external CD-ROM drive may take several hours to complete. 1. Connect an SUV cable (Serial port/USB port/Video port cable) to the KVM connector on the front of the blade module. You will then need to attach a USB hub to the USB port on this cable to provide multiple USB ports. 2. Connect the external CD-ROM drive, a USB keyboard and a mouse to the USB hub. You will also need to connect a monitor to the video connector on the SUV cable. Turn on the blade module. 3. Insert the CD containing the OS into the CD-ROM drive. 4. Follow the prompts to begin the installation. Installing via PXE Boot PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) is used to boot a computer over a network.

To install the OS via PXE, the following conditions must be met: 1. The PXE B OOT option in BIOS must be enabled. 2. A PXE server has been configured (this can be another blade in the system). 3. The PXE server must be connected over a network to the blade to be booted. 4. The blade has only non-partitioned/unformatted hard drives installed and no bootable devices attached to it. 1

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4. MegaRAID Storage Manager Software Overview

SBI-7125W-S6 RAID Setup Procedure Once these conditions are met, make sure the PXE server is running then turn on the blade you wish to boot and/or install the OS to. The BIOS in the blade will look at all bootable devices and finding none will connect to the PXE server to begin the boot/ install. Installing via Virtual Media (Drive Redirection) You can install the OS via Virtual Media through either the IPMI or the Web-based Management utility. With this method, the OS is installed from an ISO image that resides on another system/blade.

Refer to the appropriate Appendix in the SuperBlade User’s Guide for the Virtual Media (CD-ROM or Drive Redirection) sections in either of the two utility programs. 2. Management Software System management may be performed with either of two software packages: IPMI or a Web-based Management utility. Both are designed to provide an administrator with a comprehensive set of functions and monitored data to keep tabs on the system and perform management activites. Refer to Chapter 8, SuperBlade User’s Guide for details on the various functions provided by these management programs. 3.

RAID Setup for the SBI-7125W-S6 Blade Module RAID setup for the SBI-7125W-S6 blade module is done using the MegaRAID Storage Manager software utility. MegaRAID Storage Manager software is a configuration and monitoring utility used with the Embedded MegaRAID Software. This section provides a brief overview of the MegaRAID Storage Manager software and explains how to install it on the supported operating systems. 4. MegaRAID Storage Manager Software Overview MegaRAID Storage Manager software enables you to configure, monitor, and maintain storage configurations created under Embedded MegaRAID Software.

The MegaRAID Storage Manager graphical user interface (GUI) makes it easy for you to create and manage storage confi gurations. NOTE: MegaRAID Storage Manager software can be used to manage a wide range of MegaRAID controllers. Some MegaRAID Storage Manager software features are not applicable for Embedded MegaRAID Software. 2

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Hardware and Software Requirements

SBI-7125W-S6 RAID Setup Procedure Creating Storage Configurations MegaRAID Storage Manager software enables you to easily confi gure the controllers, disk drives, and virtual disks on your workstation or server. The Configuration Wizard greatly simplifies the process of creating arrays and virtual disks. You can use the Configuration Wizard Auto Configuration mode to automatically create the best possible configuration with the available hardware. You can use the Guided Configuration mode, which asks you a few brief questions about the configuration, and then creates it for you.

Or you can use the Manual Configuration mode, which gives you complete control over all aspects of the storage confi guration. Monitoring Storage Devices MegaRAID Storage Manager software displays the status of virtual disks, physical disks, and other storage devices on the workstation or server that you are monitoring. System errors and events are recorded in an event log file and are displayed on the screen. Special device icons appear on the screen to notify you of disk failures and other events that require immediate attention.

Maintaining Storage Configurations You can use MegaRAID Storage Manager software to perform system maintenance tasks such as running consistency checks on arrays that support redundancy. Hardware and Software Requirements The hardware requirements for MegaRAID Storage Manager software are as follows: PC-compatible computer with an IA-32 (32-bit) Intel Architecture processor or an EM64T (64-bit) processor and at least 128 Mbytes of system memory (256 Mbytes recommended) The supported operating systems for the MegaRAID Storage Manager software are as follows:

Hard disk drive with at least 50 Mbytes available free space Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, and Microsoft Windows XP. Red Hat Linux (3.0 or 4.0) SUSE SLES 9 with latest updates and service packs Refer to your server documentation and to the operating system documentation for more information on hardware and operating system requirements. 3

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