DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Hi, I've got 5 300GB SAS drives that I need to format. I've dug out a server (PowerEdge 2950) that was going to be thrown away that has a SAS controller. What is the best method for formatting the drives? I've tried installing Server 2008, it detects 1200GB at install stage, but after booting to the OS it only shows 500GB in Disk Management
webman Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Are the drives configured in any sort of RAID array? That sounds like the most likely explanation of the 500GB reported capacity. 1
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 Sorry I didn't mention it before, yes RAID 0. (I don't have much experience with RAID arrays so go easy )
webman Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 The RAID controller is presenting the disks to the operating system as a single 'virtual' disk. I'm not sure why 1200GB turned into 500GB with RAID0 (it is expected with other levels of RAID) though. Try removing the array, and just have the disks configured as single drives for the purpose of formatting them. Each drive should appear as its own disk in Windows once installed. 1
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 That sounds about right, I used the Dell configuration CD and configured it as a RAID (Maybe it wasn't RAID 0). I've tried numerous bootable CDs to wipe the disks but nothing detects the drives. I've tried Seagate DIskwizard, mini Linux. Are there any you can suggest that would detect the SAS drives?
webman Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 What about installing Windows Server on the first disk, and once installed, it might detect the rest of them on their own?
3s-gtech Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) You were going to throw away a 2950?! Reconfigure the RAID to 1 or 5 for best results, the RAID utility may have a function to wipe the drives in the process. Edit: there are two types of SAS controller for the 2950, SAS 5/i which is non-RAID (possible this is used causing some weirdness) or the PERC 5/i. Edited April 12, 2011 by 3s-gtech
mac_shinobi Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 You were going to throw away a 2950?! Reconfigure the RAID to 1 or 5 for best results, the RAID utility may have a function to wipe the drives in the process. Edit: there are two types of SAS controller for the 2950, SAS 5/i which is non-RAID (possible this is used causing some weirdness) or the PERC 5/i. not sure myself but just as a long shot / thought ( correct me if I am wrong ) but generally the raid controllers normally have a bios type menu system you can go into, can you not setup / change the raid config in here and also erase drives etc ??
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 You were going to throw away a 2950?! Reconfigure the RAID to 1 or 5 for best results, the RAID utility may have a function to wipe the drives in the process. Edit: there are two types of SAS controller for the 2950, SAS 5/i which is non-RAID (possible this is used causing some weirdness) or the PERC 5/i. I wasn't personally trying to throw it away, the powers that be were! When you say configure the RAID, I presume you mean using the original Dell disk? I think it says PERC 5/i or something during boot up. I'll give it a go anyway
3s-gtech Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 Shouldn't need a disk, will just be a Ctrl+A at startup or similar (get confused between Dell and HP). Will then go into a graphical menu.
webman Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 It's Ctrl+C on our PE2950s. Can't remember if it has a disk format option though.
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 Ctrl-R brings up a PERC 5i Configuration utility, it had 1 Virtual disk listed, of which I have removed. There isn't an option to format though, I'll try installing Server 2008 then adding the remaining disks and try to format through disk management
plexer Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 You will still need to initialise the disks on the controller. Ben
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 You will still need to initialise the disks on the controller. Ben Ben, how do I initialise the disks on the controller :s sorry, like I said earlier, I have no knowledge of RAID arrays etc.
jamesfed Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) Im sorry but are you 'formatting' the drives to erase the data from them? When I say erase I mean securely the destory the data so that no one can read whatever was on them ever again because if so a simple format won't cut the chase and you need to use something like Eraser to properly destory the data. If not do ignore this post! Edited April 12, 2011 by jamesfed
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 There isn't any sensative data stored on the drives so it wouldn't matter either way. I've done some 'Googling' and read through some forums, apparently I need to configure each drive individually as a RAID 0.
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 I'm just wiping the drives of any data, thanks anyways jamesfed
jamesfed Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 I'm just wiping the drives of any data, thanks anyways jamesfed No problem Do keep the whole formatting dosn't destory data thing just incase you ever need to do some more serious burning
DLW13 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Posted April 12, 2011 Starting to give up on this.. I can't figure out how I configure the disks as RAID 0
mister_z Posted April 12, 2011 Posted April 12, 2011 What purpose are you formatting the drives for ? Typically, when I hear "SAS" I think "server," and that server's disk controller should do it for you. Use the server's controller setup utility (usually in the controller BIOS) to do it for you. For example, the old Adaptec controllers popped a message during boot to "Press Ctrl-A for SCSI configuration utility." Doing that brought up a menu. Our HPs have something similar, though I don't know what the current Dell PERC controllers look like or what key combo they use. If you configure them for RAID, Redundant Array of Independent Disks, see RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and if you don't understand that after reading it, post a question and I'll try to answer it. With 5 disks, I recommend RAID 5, either 4+P or, if you can spare the space and the controller supports it, 3+P+hotspare for the best resiliency. AFTER you configure the RAID group, the RAID controller will typically present the RG as one big "disk" to the operating system. The O/S will see this as one big volume for you to use as you wish. Hope this helps
DLW13 Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 Thanks for the reply mister_z, I have tried the BIOS RAID Config utility, but it doesn't allow me to create a new RAID array, it only lists the Physical disks and gives the ability to configure virtual disks. See this link: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/storage/RAID/PERC5/en/UG/PDF/ug_en.pdf As the server was going to be disposed of (As it was no longer needed) I thought I would use it for study purposes. Getting the disks formatted will just allow me to start with clean disks before installing an OS.
36Degrees Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 Is it just simply a case of a Virtual Disk being a Raid array in Dell speak? So 3 physical disks become 1 virtual disk 1
DLW13 Posted April 13, 2011 Author Posted April 13, 2011 (edited) Done! Thanks you so much lads! Now showing 1.5TB! I'll either use it for study purposes or sell it on. Anyone interested in buying a Poweredge 2950, 2 x 1.6Ghz Dual Core, 10GB RAM, 6 x 300GB SAS drives Edited April 13, 2011 by DLW13
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