How to Configure RAID on the BIOS Page

Impact on the System

You need to restart the server to access the configuration management page, which will interrupt services on the server.

Procedure

1. Access the server desktop using the Remote Virtual Console.
2. Restart the server.
3. During the restart process, press Delete when information shown in Figure 9-3 is displayed.
   Figure 9-3 BIOS boot screen
   

4. Enter the password and press Enter.

   The screen shown in Figure 9-4 is displayed.

   For the initial password, see the device documentation. (Support: https://support.huawei.com/carrier/docview!docview?nid=DOC1100537868; Support-E: https://support.huawei.com/enterprise/en/doc/EDOC1100093459).

   Figure 9-4 Setup Utility page
   

5. Press ← or → to access the Advanced tab page, as shown in Figure 9-5.
   Figure 9-5 Advanced tab page
   

6. Select the Avago <SAS3508> Configuration Utility and press Enter.

   The main screen is displayed, as shown in Figure 9-6 and Figure 9-7. Table 9-4 describes the parameters on the screen.

   Figure 9-6 Avago SAS3508 main screen (1)
   
   Figure 9-7 Avago SAS3508 main screen (2)
   
   Table 9-4 Parameter description

   Parameter	Description
   Main Menu	Specifies the main menu of the RAID controller card. All operations on the RAID controller card are listed here.
   Help	Specifies the help information.
   Status	Specifies the status of the RAID controller card.
   Backplane	Specifies the number of backplanes.
   BBU	Specifies the installation status of the supercapacitor.
   Enclosure	Specifies the number of components.
   Drives	Specifies the number of drives.
   Drive Groups	Specifies the number of drive groups.
   Virtual Drives	Specifies the number of virtual drives.
   View Server Profile	Displays and manages RAID controller card properties.
   View Foreign Configuration	Displays and manages foreign configurations.
   Configure	Deletes the configuration.
   Set Factory Defaults	Restores factory settings.
   Update Firmware	Upgrades the firmware. NOTE: The Avago SAS3508 does not support firmware upgrade through this parameter.
   Silence Alarm	Specifies the status of the onboard buzzer.
   Virtual Drive Operations in Progress	Specifies whether any virtual drive operation is being processed in the background.
   Drive Operations in Progress	Specifies whether any drive operation is being performed in the background.
   MegaRAID xxx	Specifies the status of advanced properties.
   Manage MegaRAID Advanced Software Options	Manages advanced properties.

7. The Create Virtual Drive page is displayed.
   1. Select Main Menu and press Enter.
   2. Select Configuration Management and press Enter.
   3. Select Create Virtual Drive and press Enter.

      The RAID array configuration screen is displayed, as shown in Figure 9-8 and Figure 9-9. Table 9-5 describes the parameters.

      Figure 9-8 Create Virtual Drive (1)
      
      Figure 9-9 Create Virtual Drive (2)
      
      Table 9-5 Parameter description

      Parameter	Description
      Select RAID Level	Select the RAID level.
      Protect Virtual Drive	Whether the data protection function of a virtual disk is enabled.
      Select Drives From	Source of the member drive of the virtual drive. Member disks are classified into the following types: Unconfigured Capacity: Idle hard drives that have not been added to virtual drives. Free Capacity: Remaining space of the existing virtual disks.
      Select Drives	Select member disks.
      Virtual Drive Name	Name of a virtual drive.
      Virtual Drive Size	Capacity of the virtual drive. The default value is the maximum capacity supported by the system.
      Virtual Drive Size Unit	Capacity unit.
      Strip Size	Strip size of the virtual drive. Options include 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1 MB.
      Read Policy	Read policy of the virtual drive. The following policies can be configured: No Read Ahead: The read-ahead function is disabled. Read Ahead: The read-ahead function is enabled. The controller reads ahead sequential data or the data predicted to be used and saves it in the cache. The default value is Read Ahead. NOTE: For HDDs, you are advised to set the read policy to Read Ahead to achieve better performance. For SSDs, you are advised to set the read policy to No Read Ahead.
      Write Policy	Write policy of the virtual drive. The following policies can be configured: Write Back: After the RAID controller card cache receives all data, the RAID controller card sends the host a message indicating that data transmission is complete. Write Through: After the subsystem of a virtual disk receives all transmitted data, the controller sends the host a signal indicating that data transmission is complete. Always Write Back: If the RAID controller card has no capacitor or the capacitor is damaged, the Write Back mode is forcibly used. The default value is Write Back. NOTE: In Always Write Back mode, if the capacitor is not detected or is being charged, the data written to the DDR (cache) in the RAID controller card will be lost. This mode is not recommended.
      I/O Policy	I/O policy for reading data in special virtual disks. This policy does not affect the read-ahead cache. The following policies can be configured: Direct: This value has different definitions in read and write scenarios. In the read scenario, data is directly read from the hard disks. (If Read Policy is set to Read Ahead, the read data is processed by the cache of the RAID controller card.) In write scenarios, data write requests are processed by the RAID controller card cache. (If Write Policy is set to Write Through, data is directly written to hard disks without being processed by the cache of the RAID controller card.) Cached: All the read and write requests are processed by the RAID controller card cache. Use this value only when CacheCade 1.1 is configured. This value is not recommended in other scenarios. The default value is Direct.
      Access Policy	Data read policy. The options are as follows: Read/Write: Data can be read and written. Read Only: Data can only be read. Blocked: Data access is rejected.
      Drive Cache	Cache policy of the physical drive. The options are as follows: Unchanged: The current drive cache policy remains unchanged. Enable: Data is written to the cache before being written to a drive, which improves the write performance. However, data will be lost if there is no protection mechanism when power failures occur. Disable: Data is written to a drive without caching. Data is not lost if power failures occur.
      Disable Background Initialization	Whether backend initialization is enabled.
      Default Initialization	Default initialization mode. The options are as follows: No: No initialization. Fast: Fast initialization. Full: Full initialization.
      Emulation Type	Sector reported by the logical disk in the operating system. Default: The sector size is displayed as 512e (4 KB) if there are 512e member drives. If there are no 512e member drives, the sector size is displayed as 512n. Disable: If there are no 512e member drives, the sector size is displayed as 512n. Force: The sector size is still displayed as 512e (4K) even if there is no 512e member drive.
      Save Configuration	Save the configuration.

8. Select a RAID level.
   1. Use ↑ and ↓ to select Select RAID Level and press Enter.
   2. Select RAID 1 and press Enter.

9. Add member drives.
   1. Use ↑ and ↓ to select Select Drives From and press Enter.
   2. Select the source of member drives and press Enter.

      In this example, Unconfigured Capacity is selected.

   3. Use ↑ and ↓ to select Select Drives and press Enter.

      The screen for adding member drives is displayed, as shown in Figure 9-10. Table 9-6 describes the parameters on the screen.

      Figure 9-10 Adding member drives
      
      Table 9-6 Parameter description

      Parameter	Description
      Select Media Type	Selects the type of a drive medium.
      Select Interface Type	Selects a drive interface type.
      Logical Sector Size	Specifies the size of a logical sector.
      Check All	Selects all drives.
      Uncheck All	Deselects all drives.
      Apply Changes	Saves the settings.

   4. Use ↑ and ↓ to select the drive to be added and press Enter.
      • A drive is selected if its state is ×.
      • A RAID 1 array supports an even number of drives, ranging from 2 to 32.
      • If the total number of drives in all RAID arrays under a RAID controller card exceeds 32 or 240 (depending on the RAID key specifications), no drive can be added to RAID arrays.
   5. Set the filter criteria based on Table 9-6.
   6. Select Apply Changes and press Enter.

      The message "The operation has been performed successfully" is displayed.

   7. Select OK and press Enter.

10. Configure other properties of the virtual disk according to Table 2.
11. Save the configurations.
    1. Use ↑ and ↓ to select Save Configuration and press Enter.

       A confirmation screen is displayed.

    2. Select Confirm and press Enter.
    3. Select Yes and press Enter.

       The message "The operation has been performed successfully" is displayed.

    4. Select OK and press Enter.

12. Check the configuration result.
    1. Press Esc twice to return to the Main Menu screen.
    2. Select Virtual Drive Management and press Enter.

       The current RAID information is displayed.