IBM RAID Check
Hi EEs,
We have a server, IBM X3200, and its running 2 SATA hard drives.
How do we go about checking to see if its running RAID 0 or RAID 1 or even both?
I checked the BIOS and its appears to be in RAID mode, however not too sure what mode it is running on. I installed ServeRAID manager, and it didnt pick up any controller config for some reason.
Can anyone share some lights on this?
Cheers,
Goraek
We have a server, IBM X3200, and its running 2 SATA hard drives.
How do we go about checking to see if its running RAID 0 or RAID 1 or even both?
I checked the BIOS and its appears to be in RAID mode, however not too sure what mode it is running on. I installed ServeRAID manager, and it didnt pick up any controller config for some reason.
Can anyone share some lights on this?
Cheers,
Goraek
If it did not pick up the config, most likely it is in JBOD mode. (i.e non-RAID)
If it picked up 2 disk drives that represent the actual names of the disk drives, i.e, Seagate STxxxxxx then the controller is not presenting any RAID device. If the O/S says there is only one device, and the size is larger than the individual capacity of either physical drive, then it MUST be RAID0.
That leaves you with possibility of RAID1 if only 1 disk is presented, the make/model does not match Seagate, WD, Hitachi, etc. whatever you have, and capacity is <= 1/2 of the actual total number of blocks found in both disks when added together.
If it picked up 2 disk drives that represent the actual names of the disk drives, i.e, Seagate STxxxxxx then the controller is not presenting any RAID device. If the O/S says there is only one device, and the size is larger than the individual capacity of either physical drive, then it MUST be RAID0.
That leaves you with possibility of RAID1 if only 1 disk is presented, the make/model does not match Seagate, WD, Hitachi, etc. whatever you have, and capacity is <= 1/2 of the actual total number of blocks found in both disks when added together.
ASKER
We have two 160GB SATA drives, and the OS has only picked up one disk at a total of 148GB.
Checked the BIOS but doesnt give a lot of information, I'm not too sure how to check... however it does have RAID on both hard drives - how do you know if its RAID 0 or 1? Even on the ServeRAID manager it doesnt show any disks at all..... have I downloaded the wrong software?
I'm trying to determine whether its the config is in RAID mode or not...
Checked the BIOS but doesnt give a lot of information, I'm not too sure how to check... however it does have RAID on both hard drives - how do you know if its RAID 0 or 1? Even on the ServeRAID manager it doesnt show any disks at all..... have I downloaded the wrong software?
I'm trying to determine whether its the config is in RAID mode or not...
What is the make/model of the disk drive that the O/S tells you that you have? Not the BIOS, your operating system
ASKER
Its weird, it doesnt say what model/make it is, it just says its Logical volumn... its a long name....
Could it be because it has a different software? I know that some software doesnt support the older model controllers...
Could it be because it has a different software? I know that some software doesnt support the older model controllers...
This is exactly what it is supposed to do for a hardware-RAID based solution (had to confirm as your post left it open for interpretation).
It tells the O/S you just have one disk drive, and spares it the gory details on health, configuration, etc.
So now we know that you have either:
1. A broken (hardware-based) RAID1 (where 1 disk failed)
2. A healthy (hardware-based) RAID1
You do NOT have RAID0.
If you want to know if you have a healthy RAID1 vs degraded (i.e. 1 disk failed), you are going to just have to go to the BIOS or look for tell-tale signs like blinking lights on one disk drive, funny sounds, one not spinning up, etc.
It tells the O/S you just have one disk drive, and spares it the gory details on health, configuration, etc.
So now we know that you have either:
1. A broken (hardware-based) RAID1 (where 1 disk failed)
2. A healthy (hardware-based) RAID1
You do NOT have RAID0.
If you want to know if you have a healthy RAID1 vs degraded (i.e. 1 disk failed), you are going to just have to go to the BIOS or look for tell-tale signs like blinking lights on one disk drive, funny sounds, one not spinning up, etc.
ASKER
Thanks for the info.
How exactly do I check if the disk is faulty in the BIOS?
This is an IBM x3200.
I went into the manage array and it doesnt show anything with fail disk.
How exactly do I check if the disk is faulty in the BIOS?
This is an IBM x3200.
I went into the manage array and it doesnt show anything with fail disk.
If the controller failed the disk, then it is bad.
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ASKER
Thanks!
So if you know you have for example two 500 GB drives and windows only shows one 500 GB Logical Drive you can deduce it's running in Mirrored. If it's showing one 1 TB Drive than you can deduce it's running in Striped.
Additionally depending on your RAID Controller the Raid Specific BIOS will have more information. It is usually accessed during the POST process via (Alt+x) (Ctrl+s) (F4) or several other combinations depending on the raid controller manufacturer.