joy_tutt
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IBM xSeries 345 W2K installation
I just got an IBM xSeries 345 server and need to install W2k server with mirrored disks. Should I use the hardward RAID controller or Windows? I have three 36G drives -- I am planning for two mirrored and one for data. I have never installed W2K and am not sure how to evern start. Help. Thanks.
ASKER
Thanks for your quick response. I am still not sure which CD to start with. Do I boot from the W2K CD or the ServerRAID CD?
Thanks.
Thanks.
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ASKER
So, I use the ServeRAID cd or just power up the server without any CD in the drive? How do I get the drives installed?
Without any cd-rom. You'll get a message like "Adaptec SCSI RAID controller BIOS" and something like "Press XX to enter SCSI BIOS" where XX is the key you should press.
>How do I get the drives installed?
Just follow the instructions given by the SCSI BIOS.
>How do I get the drives installed?
Just follow the instructions given by the SCSI BIOS.
ASKER
Thanks for your help. This makes sense now.
Glad to help, If you need more info, just ask...
All IBM xSeries servers come with several CDs - ServerGuide, ServeRAID and Documentation.
The ServerGuide CD that simplifies Windows OS installation by generating a custom unattended installation. This avoids the whole 'press F6' stuff. ServerGuide will also launch ServerRAID prior to the OS installation so you can create a mirror.
The ServeRAID CD often isn't used as the tool is on the ServerGuide CD. However you can use it to run ServeRAID directly at boot or to install ServeRAID Manager onto Windows
The x345 comes with an on-board ServeRAID by LSI (as opposed to the normal PCI based IBM ServeRAID) and the manual way of creating the arrays is different/tricky.
There are a lot a 'relgious' arguements of RAID1 versus RAID5 but with three disks i'd rather not sacrifice redundancy of the data disk for the sake of a 'faster' boot disk.
Having said that RAID5 would only be available if you had a ServeRAID 5i or 6i card.
The ServerGuide CD that simplifies Windows OS installation by generating a custom unattended installation. This avoids the whole 'press F6' stuff. ServerGuide will also launch ServerRAID prior to the OS installation so you can create a mirror.
The ServeRAID CD often isn't used as the tool is on the ServerGuide CD. However you can use it to run ServeRAID directly at boot or to install ServeRAID Manager onto Windows
The x345 comes with an on-board ServeRAID by LSI (as opposed to the normal PCI based IBM ServeRAID) and the manual way of creating the arrays is different/tricky.
There are a lot a 'relgious' arguements of RAID1 versus RAID5 but with three disks i'd rather not sacrifice redundancy of the data disk for the sake of a 'faster' boot disk.
Having said that RAID5 would only be available if you had a ServeRAID 5i or 6i card.
If you can affort it, go for hardware Raid, it's much faster and more fail-proof.
Installing windows shouldn't be that much of a problem, if you're using a raid controller wich is recognized by windows setup. If you use another one, it should come with a 3.5 inch disk. At the beginning of the setup, you're asked "Press F6 to install a thirth party SCSI or Raid driver" do it then and use the disk that came with the controller.
Greetings,
LucF