IBM eX5 Implementation Guide

Chapter 8. IBM BladeCenter HX5 389

4. Select Legacy Only, as shown in Figure 8-21, and press Enter. The selection disappears

when selected. If this option is not available, the Legacy Only option might already be part

of the boot list.

Figure 8-21 Legacy Only option in the boot list

5. When the system reboots, the LSI boot information displays. Press Ctrl-C when prompted,

as shown in Figure 8-22.

Figure 8-22 Cntrl-C option for LSI on boot

You can now create a RAID array. We describe creating a RAID-1 array in the next section.

8.4.2 Creating a RAID-1 mirror using the LSI Setup Utility

After you have started the LSI Setup Utility, you see the choices that you have to create RAID

arrays, as shown in Figure 8-23 on page 390.

390 IBM eX5 Implementation Guide

Figure 8-23 LSI array creation options

You can use one of the following options to create arrays:

򐂰 Create IM Volume: Creates an integrated mirror (IM) RAID-1 array

RAID 1 drives are mirrored on a 1 to 1 ratio. If one drive fails, the other drive takes over

automatically and keeps the system running. However, in this configuration, you lose 50%

of your disk space because one of the drives is a mirrored image.

The stripe size is 64 Kb and cannot be altered.

This option also affects the performance of the drives, because all data has to be written

twice (one time per drive). See the performance chart in Figure 5-23 on page 207 for

details.

򐂰 Create IME Volume: Creates an integrated mirrored enhanced (IME) RAID-1E array

This option requires three drives. This option is not available in the HX5, because the HX5

only has two drives on each node.

򐂰 Create IS Volume: Creates an integrated striping (IS) RAID-0 array

The RAID-0 or IS volume, as shown in LSI, is one of the faster performing disk arrays,

because the read and write sectors of data are interleaved between multiple drives. The

downside to this configuration is immediate failure if one drive fails. This option has no

redundancy.

In RAID-0, you also keep the full size of both drives. We recommend that you use drives of

identical sizes for performance and data storage efficiency.

The stripe size is 64 Kb and cannot be altered.

In our example, we create a RAID-1 array with two drives. Follow these steps:

1. Select Create IM Volume and press Enter. Figure 8-24 on page 391 appears.

Chapter 8. IBM BladeCenter HX5 391

Figure 8-24 Creating an IM volume

2. In Figure 8-24, click No under RAID Disk to form the array. For each disk, you are

prompted to confirm by pressing D, as shown in Figure 8-25. Pressing D ensures that you

understand that all data on this disk will be deleted.

Figure 8-25 Overwriting existing data

3. Repeat this deletion for the other drive. After you finish, you see Figure 8-26 on page 392.

The RAID Disk column now lists each drive as Yes.

LSI Logic MPT Setup Utility v6.04.07.00 (2005.11.03)

Create New Array – SAS1064

Esc = Exit Menu F1/Shift+1 = Help

Enter=Select Item Alt+N=Next Array C=Create an array

Slot

Num

1

0

Device Identifier

RAID

Disk

Hot

Spr

Drive

Status

Pred

Fail

Size

(MB)

IBM-ESXSMAY2036RC T106 [No] [No] -------- No 34715

IBM-ESXSMAY2036RC T106 [No] [No] -------- No 34715

Array Type: IM

Array Size (MB) ------

LSI Logic MPT Setup Utility v6.04.07.00 (2005.11.03)

Create New Array – SAS1064

Esc = Exit Menu F1/Shift+1 = Help

Enter=Select Item Alt+N=Next Array C=Create an array

M - Keep existing data, migrate to an IM array.

Synchronization of disk will occur.

D - Overwrite existing data, create a new IM array

ALL DATA on ALL disks in the array will be DELETED!!

No Synchronization performed