Dell Poweredge T110 II - RAID 5 PERC S100/S300

Not quite a full description, but there's information in the following that may help you:  https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28562663/How-to-rebuild-Dell-T410-Perc-S300-RAID-5-Degraded.html

Well, it "helps" in the sense that it says that software is *required*.  
How in the world is a computer initially set up then?  i.e. before there is an OS?

Is there any command prompt or PowerShell approach possible?

As before:
OSMA will not install!!!
So now what?

I have never used the S100/S300 PERC cards before, so I cannot speak from experience.  It is certainly the case that you can rebuild faulting arrays with other PERC cards by going into the the ACU at boot, and selecting Rebuild.  In this case it looks as if all you can do from this ACU is create an array and delete an array and little else.  I would agree that this is less than helpful if the card's manufacturer.

That said, I've just found this:

https://www.puryear-it.com/rebuilding-a-perc-s300-raid-1-set

Not RAID 5 I know, but I may help you a little.

Hi Fred,
Did you get this solved?

I ran across this article:  http://www.ahfx.net/weblog/182

They state the following steps:

Once the rebuild goes to 100% it still showed in degraded state
Clear logs
Clear alert log
Do a global rescan

Have you tried this?

Sincerely,
Terry

I saw that but I don't know what any of these mean:
Clear logs
Clear alert log
Do a global rescan

Clear *what* logs and how?
Clear *what *alert log* and how?
etc.

You have to initialize the replacement drive and assign it as a global hot spare. If you can't get OMSA to install you can do that in BIOS during bootup.
Note that as it is a fakeraid controller it will not start rebuilding until the OS/driver is loaded.

OK.  Well I've made some progress re: OMSA at least.
I went into the file structure for installation C:\OpenManage and found:
\Windows\SYSMGMTX64\SysMgmtx64
I ran THAT one even over the warning about prerequisites.
It worked!
Now I have OMSA running.

I also was a bit more adventurous in the S100 PERC settings and was able to assign the new drive as a Global Spare.

As before, to repeat, In order to make progress, I added:
Drive 3, a 1TB drive
And physically disconnected:
Drive 1 (at least temporarily)

The system still boots into Windows Server but now Drive 3 is shown as "READY" and, of course, Drive 1 isn't listed.
The RAID 5 is still shown as "DEGRADED".
There are the 3 drives: 0,2,3
Drive 0 is shown as part of the RAID array
Drive 2 is shown as part of the RAID array.
0 and 2 are in the virtual drive.
Drive 3 is shown as READY but remains a non-RAID drive.

I tried to fix this using OMSA but so far it isn't working.
The new drive is identified as an SSD drive even though it's an HDD.
The result is that the new drive isn't compatible.
The 2 old drives are DELL 500GB.
The new drive is WD 1TB.

Just in case there was a BIOS setting identifying drive types (I don't recall seeing one),
I changed the drive order so that:
0 is still 0
2 is still 2
that keeps the virtual disk intact regarding which slots they are in.
I moved the new disk from 3 to 1.
But this has done no good and it's still listed as an SSD and not compatible.

Now what?  I'm wondering.....

I used Windows Server Backup to create a backup image of the RAID virtual disk.  This includes a Recovery partition, an OS partition and a Data partition.
Then I Recovered this image onto a 1TB HDD.
I tried booting from this HDD and it didn't work.

So now I'm wondering if there isn't some preferred boot DVD that will allow a repair on this drive?
e.g. Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD??

I don't think the T110 II was delivered with a Windows Server DVD....

Hi Fred,

I also ran across this Spiceworks article (2014).  (Page 2)
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/613156-poweredge-t110-perc-s300-failed-drive?page=2

As I understand it from above, You were able to restore your recovered Raid image to the new single 1TB hard drive.  Then you made this drive the (Non-Raid)  boot drive in your Bios.  Is this correct so far?

Then you tried to boot from this single non-raid 1 TB hard drive and you stated that it did not boot.  
Did it display an error code?  No boot drive found or do you get a Windows 2008 screen with an error listed?  If so, is there an option in the lower left hand corner of the screen for repair?  


If you can get to the command prompt then change directory into the recovery folder and run the StartRep.exe file to do a basic repair to the OS. This is from the following website blog:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/cd3d665f-3d95-4617-946d-55d8c03448fe/windows-server-2008-repair-install?forum=winserversetup


Also, have you tried holding down the F10 key at bootup?  (to install OS)

Sincerely,
Terry




For Reference:

https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/387007-rebuild-a-degraded-raid-1-array-dell-perc-s300?pos=0&referrer=613156&source=related_topic

PERC website: http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/04/campaigns/dell-raid-controllers

Dell PowerEdge T110-II Tech Manual: http://i.dell.com/sites/content/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/PowerEdge-T110-II-Technical-Guide.pdf#35

PERC S300 degraded Raid: https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/405896-perc-s300-degraded-raid

Dell Server Community Website: Perc 300 degraded: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/906/t/19596529

If no boot: (from previous blog): http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4162.windows-server-2008-repair-steps-for-no-boot-issues.aspx

Always show advanced Boot Mode: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/a32711fd-7cc6-4fff-bb95-150edd5dc862/how-to-always-show-advanced-boot-options-in-windows-server-2008-on-startup?forum=windowsserver2008r2general

Windows 2008 Bootmanager: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/d876e113-abde-49dd-be7f-8e4119bfa644/windows-server-2008-r2-bootmgr?forum=winserverfiles

Is your Bootmanager missing: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/0e6a7b6a-70de-41af-b2c8-5f8f3c86cef7/bootmgr-is-missing-in-windows-server-2008-r2?forum=winservergen

Windows 2008 Repair Install:  https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/cd3d665f-3d95-4617-946d-55d8c03448fe/windows-server-2008-repair-install?forum=winserversetup

Use Bootrec.exe: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/927392

Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation & Dell T110 Recovery Notes: http://www.mojocode.com/content/windows-server-2008-r2-foundation-dell-t110-recovery-notes

Server Driver software downloads: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=1N1KH

Dell Support for PowerEdge T110 II: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/poweredge-t110-2/research

Windows Server: How to Repair the Boot Files in Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2 if the Server Won't Boot:
   http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN167714/en

How to Install an Operating System on Dell PowerEdge Servers:  http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN129177

Setting Up Your Dell PowerEdge Server Using Dell Lifecycle Controller:  
http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN167714/en

Server & Storage Operating System Support:  http://www.dell.com/support/contents/us/en/04/article/Product-Support/Self-support-Knowledgebase/enterprise-resource-center/server-operating-system-support

Support for Microsoft Windows 2008 Server R2:  http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/ms-win-srvr-2008-r2/manuals

Terry Meisen:  Thanks for all the references!

I was trying to get the single drive to boot to the Windows Server 2008 R2 OS INTACT.  i.e. with all the app's, etc.  Not just to start over.
There was no opportunity to get to a command prompt.
I believe it said "OS not found" ... something like that.
I don't believe the BIOS gives much opportunity to identify the boot drive.

Now I have couple of these T110 II systems and would like to send emails re: the RAID status or at least when there's a RAID issue.
I'm not having much luck.
I *was* able to use Intel RST for emailing reports on a couple of newer Dell machines with RAID.
But these T110 II systems don't seem to provide for Intel RST email.
OMSA maybe?  The email interface there seems strange and I'm not sure what it's going to do once working.
No *test* emails?

As above, the new hard drive was a 1TB drive whereas the originals are 500GB.  This isn't supposed to matter.
The new HDD was identified as an SSD and as "it is the wrong kind" can't be integrated into the array.
So, then I tried a new 500GB HDD.  Same result: it comes up as an SSD.  Still not compatible.

I may still try to boot to the single drive with the image on it but first:

In view of the slot ID, the simple-minded BIOS, etc. this can't be a BIOS issue.
Somewhere I read about this being a driver issue but I can't find the reference.
No matter what, I need to preserve this system as it's in production.
I can work on it over the weekend but can't afford to "lose" its functionality.
So, if it's a driver issue then I have to be convinced that whatever is recommended won't blow away the array which is still working in DEGRADED mode.
Any thoughts or references on this HDD as an SSD issue?

You are right to think that usually a larger drive of the same type will be useable in such situations, but some RAID cards can be difficult when it comes to this.  What type of drives are in the Array ( manufacturer and model ) and what are the details of the drives you tried to use?

The original drives are Dell / Western Digital 500MB and the new drive is Western Digital 500MB.
The exact model numbers are different.
The original that I removed is WD5003ABYX
The new one that I installed is WD5000AZLX

Terry:  Once more very helpful!  I see where it mentions "a bootable device has not been detected" which is exactly what I recall seeing when I put the new 1TB disk in all by itself (having put an image onto it first).
According to the Western Digital info: The new hard drive is recognized "most of the time" but not always.
It looks like a jumper on the new 500GB  drive on pins 5 an 6 could make the difference so it will be a 3GB/s drive instead of 6GB/s.  I'll try that.

Well, I tried that and still not doing what's needed.
The Windows environment doesn't see the disk at all.
The PERC BIOS sees it OK and identifies it still as an SSD.

I wonder if the array failed because of a. controller controller, rather than a disk failure?

I have ordered a WD5003ABYX.  Same thing as was taken out.

Hi Fred,

Sorry.  I think that is a good choice. For some reason,  I thought you were trying to just get it to boot on a single drive that you had on hand.
Thank you Rindi.

The WD Blue drive (WD5000AZLX) is only recommended in a Raid 0 or 1 in a consumer Raid application.  For instance, Raid 1 (Mirror) for the C drive.    

The following is from the WD5000AZLX specification:
 https://www.wdc.com/content/dam/wdc/website/downloadable_assets/eng/spec_data_sheet/2879-771436.pdf
2879-771436.pdf

• Desktop / Consumer RAID Environments - WD Blue PC Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications (RAID 0 and RAID 1).*

* Business Critical RAID Environments – WD Blue PC Hard Drives are not recommended for and are not warranted for use in RAID environments utilizing Enterprise HBAs and/or expanders and in multi-bay chassis, as they are not designed for, nor tested in, these specific types of RAID applications. For all Business Critical RAID applications, please consider WD’s Enterprise Hard Drives that are specifically designed with RAID-specific, time-limited error recovery (TLER), are tested extensively in 24x7 RAID applications, and include features like enhanced RAFF technology and thermal extended burn-in testing.

Sincerely,
Terry

Thank you all!!