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This appendix contains the following sections:
This server supports the RAID controller options and cable requirements shown in Table C-1 .
Note NVMe PCIe SSDs cannot be controlled with a SAS RAID controller.
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Maximum Drives Controlled |
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(PCH SATA) |
The embedded RAID option is not available with the large form factor drives, 4-drive version of the server at this time. |
0, 1, 51, 10 |
|||
This controller can be ordered with modular flash-backed write cache (FBWC) options: 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4 GB. Note: See also Cisco 12G SAS Modular RAID Controller Considerations. |
Yes2 |
||||
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Note: See also Cisco UCS SAS 9300-8e HBA Considerations. |
8 external SAS+SATA ports, controlling up to 1024 non-RAID external drives |
NOTE: This HBA does not support optical cables for connection to external storage (copper only). |
1.Embedded RAID 5 support requires an optional RAID 5 key module. |
Firmware on the RAID controller must be verified for compatibility with the current Cisco IMC and BIOS versions that are installed on the server. If not compatible, upgrade or downgrade the RAID controller firmware accordingly using the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU) for your firmware release to bring it to a compatible level.
See the HUU guide for your Cisco IMC release for instructions on downloading and using the utility to bring server components to compatible levels: HUU Guides
This controller can be ordered with several modular flash-backed write cache (FBWC) options: 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4 GB.
For this server and other Cisco Generation M4 servers, the default write-cache policy for the Cisco Modular RAID controller is Write Through (irrespective of the presence of a charged Supercap power module or “good BBU”). This utilizes the optimal performance characteristics of the controller.
If you have Cisco IMC 2.0(5) or later firmware installed to the M4 server, the write policy can be set to Write Back, if preferred.
You can set the write policy using the following methods:
This section contains the following topics:
The 9300-8e HBA does not support optical cables for connection to external storage (copper only).
Mixing the Cisco UCS 9300-8e HBA in the same server as the Cisco UCS 12G SAS Modular HBA requires the following firmware levels:
The bad drive and predictive failure behavior for the Cisco UCS SAS 9300-e HBA cards is different than that for LSI MegaRAID cards. The list below compares behavior for these HBA cards and LSI MegaRAID cards.
– MegaRAID: The bad drive is marked BAD in the GUI/CLI interfaces and the fault LED on the drive is solid amber.
– HBA: The bad drive is not shown in the GUI/CLI and there is no LED indication.
– MegaRAID: If the drive is part of a RAID volume with a spare, the software performs an auto-copy backup and then marks the drive failed/BAD with the fault LED on the drive solid amber.
– HBA: There is no error handling and there is no LED indication. The operating system must handle the fault.
Currently, the boot device order for these HBAs does not map to a physical slot as seen in the Boot Option dialog of the server BIOS Setup Utility. This makes it difficult to differentiate between multiple devices.
Use the following procedure to select the preferred boot device in the LSI BIOS CU SAS Topology screen. When you select the preferred boot device in the BIOS CU SAS Topology screen, it is displayed at the top of the list in the server BIOS Setup Utility Boot Option dialog, making it easy to identify.
Step 1 In the LSI SAS BIOS CU, navigate to the SAS Topology screen.
Step 2 Press Alt+B to select or deselect a device as the preferred boot device. On this screen, you can identify the device by slot number.
Step 3 Press Alt+A to select or deselect a device as the alternate boot device. On this screen, you can identify the device by slot number. The alternate boot device is used if the preferred boot device is not detected.
Step 4 Return to the BIOS CU SAS Topology screen.
The Device Info column shows which devices you selected with the designators Boot
and Alt
.
Step 5 In the server BIOS Setup Utility, open the Boot Option dialog.
The preferred device that you selected in the LSI BIOS CU is listed at the top of the list.
Step 6 Select the device at the top of the list as your boot option.
Table C-2 lists the technical capabilities for mixing hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state drive (SSD) types in a RAID group. However, see the recommendations that follow for the best performance.
in RAID Group |
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This server supports installation of one SuperCap Power Module (SCPM). The unit mounts to a bracket in-line with the fan modules (see Figure 3-23).
The optional SCPM provides approximately three years of backup for the disk write-back cache DRAM in the case of a sudden power loss by offloading the cache to the NAND flash.
For SCPM replacement instructions, see Replacing the Supercap Power Module (RAID Backup).
This server supports hardware RAID (PCIe controller card) and embedded software RAID. See Table C-3 for which migrations are allowed and a summary of migration steps.
This section includes the following topics:
The RAID controller connectors in this server are shown in Figure C-1.
Figure C-1 RAID Controller Connectors
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Cisco modular RAID controller riser (dedicated internal riser) |
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The cable connections required for each type of controller are as follows:
This option can control up to eight SATA drives.
The required UCS-220CBLSR8= cable kit has two mini-SAS cables (mini-SAS HD to mini-SAS iPass connectors).
Step 1 Connect mini-SAS cable 1 from the PORT A motherboard connector to the PORT A connector on the backplane.
Step 2 Connect mini-SAS cable 2 from the PORT B motherboard connector to the PORT B connector on the backplane.
This option can control up to eight SAS/SATA drives.
The required UCS-220CBLMR8= cable kit has one Y-cable with a mini-SAS HD double connector on one end and two mini-SAS HD single connectors on the other end.
Step 1 Connect the mini-SAS double connector to the modular RAID controller card.
Step 2 Connect single connector PORT A to the PORT A connector on the backplane.
Step 3 Connect single connector PORT B to the PORT B connector on the backplane.
This option can control up to eight SAS/SATA drives (non-RAID).
The required UCS-220CBLHBA8= cable kit has one Y-cable with a mini-SAS HD double connector on one end and two mini-SAS HD single connectors on the other end.
Step 1 Connect the mini-SAS double connector to the HBA card.
Step 2 Connect single connector PORT A to the PORT A connector on the backplane.
Step 3 Connect single connector PORT B to the PORT B connector on the backplane.
The cable connections required for each type of controller are as follows:
Note The embedded RAID option is not available with the large form factor drives, 4-drive version of the server at this time.
This option can control up to four SAS/SATA drives.
The required UCS-220CBLMR4= cable kit has one Y-cable with a mini-SAS HD double connector on one end and two mini-SAS HD single connectors on the other end.
Step 1 Connect the mini-SAS double connector to the modular RAID controller card.
Step 2 Connect single connector PORT A to the PORT A connector on the backplane.
Step 3 Connect single connector PORT B to the PORT B connector on the backplane.
Note The VMware ESX/ESXi operating system is not supported with the embedded SATA MegaRAID controller in SW RAID mode. You can use VMWare in AHCI mode.
Note The Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V hypervisor is supported for use with the embedded MegaRAID controller in SW RAID mode, but all other hyperviors are not supported. All Hypervisors are supported in AHCI mode.
This server includes an embedded MegaRAID controller that can control up to eight SATA-only drives.
This section contains the following topics:
The embedded SATA RAID controller hub requires the following items:
This optional module can be installed to a motherboard header to add SATA RAID 5 support.
The embedded RAID Patsburgh controller hub (PCH) is split into two controllers: SATA and sSATA (secondary SATA). These two controllers are seen as separate RAID controllers in the Cisco IMC interface and are configurable separately.
– The first SATA controller can control a RAID group of up to four drives, comprised only of drives 1–4.
– The secondary sSATA controller can control a RAID group of up to four drives, comprised only of drives 5–8. See Figure C-2.
Figure C-2 Embedded RAID Controller Drive Groups
Note To set boot order for virtual drives, use the LSI Embedded RAID Configuration Utility. See Launching the LSI Embedded RAID Configuration Utility.
Note the following considerations:
The software RAID 5 key module contains a chip on a small circuit board. This module attaches to a two-pin motherboard header. This chip upgrades support to add embedded SATA RAID 5 support.
To install a RAID 5 key module, see Installing a Software RAID 5 Key Module for Embedded RAID 5 Support.
Note The default setting in the BIOS for the embedded controller is disabled.
When you enable this controller, both the primary (SATA) and secondary (sSATA) controllers are enabled.
Step 1 Set the SATA mode for managing the two boot drives:
a. Boot the server and press F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS Setup utility.
b. Choose the Advanced tab, and then choose LOM and PCIe Slots Configuration.
c. Select PCH SATA Mode and then choose one of the options from the dialog:
– Disabled—The embedded RAID controller is disabled.
– LSI SW RAID—In supported server versions, you can manage the internal SSD boot drives or the front-facing drives by using the server’s embedded SATA RAID controller.
Note Before you change from LSI SW RAID mode to AHCI mode, delete all the RAID volumes configured in the connected physical drives.
d. If you selected LSI SW RAID mode and you want to set the option ROM mode, continue with the next step. If not, skip to Step 3.
Note There is no option ROM mode setting in AHCI SATA mode.
Step 2 Optional: Set the SATA option ROM mode for the two boot drives (only with LSI SW RAID SATA mode):
a. Choose the Advanced tab, and then choose LOM and PCIe Slots Configuration.
b. Select PCH SATA OPROM Mode and then choose one of the options from the dialog:
– Enabled—You can boot from these boot drives. You can use the UEFI management interface or the free-standing legacy management utility.
– Disabled—You cannot boot from these boot drives.
– UEFI Only—Select this to enable booting but manage RAID only by using the UEFI version of the LSI utility that is built into the server BIOS. See Launching the LSI Embedded RAID Configuration Utility.
– Legacy Only—Select this enable booting but manage RAID only by using the free-standing version of the LSI utility. See Launching the LSI Embedded RAID Configuration Utility.
Step 3 Press F10 to save your changes and exit the utility.
Step 1 Boot the server and press F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
Step 2 Select the Advanced tab, and then select LOM and PCIe Slots Configuration.
Step 3 Set PCH SATA Mode to Disabled.
Step 4 Press F10 to save your changes and exit the utility.
Launch the LSI utility by pressing Ctrl-M when you see the prompt during system boot.
For information about using the Embedded MegaRAID software to configure your disk arrays, see the LSI Embedded MegaRAID Software User Guide.
Note The required drivers for this controller are already installed and ready to use with the LSI software RAID Configuration Utility. However, if you will use this controller with Windows or Linux, you must download and install additional drivers for those operating systems.
This section explains how to install the LSI MegaSR drivers for the following supported operating systems:
For the specific supported OS versions, see the Hardware and Software Interoperability Matrix for your server release.
The MegaSR drivers are included in the C-Series driver ISO for your server and OS. Download the drivers from Cisco.com.
Step 1 Find the drivers ISO file download for your server online and download it to a temporary location on your workstation:
a. See the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/navigator.html
b. Type the name of your server in the Select a Product search field and then press Enter.
c. Click Unified Computing System (UCS) Drivers.
d. Click the release number that you are downloading.
e. Click the Download icon to download the drivers ISO file.
Step 2 Continue through the subsequent screens to accept the license agreement and then browse to a location where you want to save the drivers’ ISO file.
This section describes how to install the LSI MegaSR driver in a Windows installation.
The Windows operating system automatically adds the driver to the registry and copies the driver to the appropriate directory.
Step 1 Create a RAID drive group using the LSI Software RAID Configuration Utility before you install this driver for Windows. Launch this utility by pressing Ctrl-M when LSI SWRAID
is shown during the BIOS POST.
Step 2 Download the Cisco UCS C-Series drivers’ ISO, as described in Downloading the LSI MegaSR Drivers.
Step 3 Prepare the drivers on a USB thumb drive:
a. Burn the ISO image to a disk.
b. Browse the contents of the drivers folders to the location of the embedded MegaRAID drivers:
c. Expand the Zip file, which contains the folder with the MegaSR driver files.
d. Copy the expanded folder to a USB thumb drive.
Step 4 Start the Windows driver installation using one of the following methods:
Step 5 Launch a Virtual KVM console window and click the Virtual Media tab.
a. Click Add Image and browse to select your remote Windows installation ISO file.
b. Check the check box in the Mapped column for the media that you just added, and then wait for mapping to complete.
Step 6 Power cycle the server.
Step 7 Press F6 when you see the F6 prompt during bootup. The Boot Menu window opens.
Step 8 On the Boot Manager window, choose the physical disk or virtual DVD and press Enter. The Windows installation begins when the image is booted.
Step 9 Press Enter when you see the prompt, “Press any key to boot from CD.”
Step 10 Observe the Windows installation process and respond to prompts in the wizard as required for your preferences and company standards.
Step 11 When Windows prompts you with “Where do you want to install Windows,” install the drivers for embedded MegaRAID:
a. Click Load Driver. You are prompted by a Load Driver dialog box to select the driver to be installed.
b. Connect the USB thumb drive that you prepared in Step 3 to the target server.
c. On the Windows Load Driver dialog that you opened in Step a, click Browse.
d. Use the dialog box to browse to the location of the drivers folder on the USB thumb drive, and then click OK.
Windows loads the drivers from the folder and when finished, the driver is listed under the prompt, “Select the driver to be installed.”
e. Click Next to install the drivers.
Step 1 Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Step 2 Double-click System, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager. Device Manager starts.
Step 3 In Device Manager, double-click SCSI and RAID Controllers, right-click the device for which you are installing the driver, and then click Properties.
Step 4 On the Driver tab, click Update Driver to open the Update Device Driver wizard, and then follow the wizard instructions to update the driver.
This section explains the steps to install the embedded MegaRAID device driver in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation or a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation.
See Downloading the LSI MegaSR Drivers for instructions on obtaining the drivers. The Linux driver is offered in the form of dud-[ driver version ].img, which is the boot image for the embedded MegaRAID stack.
Note The LSI MegaSR drivers that Cisco provides for Red Hat Linux and SUSE Linux are for the original GA versions of those distributions. The drivers do not support updates to those OS kernels.
This section describes how to prepare physical Linux installation disks from the driver image files, using either the Windows operating system or the Linux operating system.
Note This procedure requires a USB thumb drive.
Note Alternatively, you can mount the dud.img or dd.iso file as a virtual floppy disk, as described in the installation procedures.
Note For RHEL 7.1 and later, there is no dud.img file--the driver is contained in a dd.iso file.
Preparing Physical Installation Disks with the Windows Operating System
Under Windows, you can use the RaWrite floppy image-writer utility to create disk images from image files.
Step 1 Download the Cisco UCS C-Series drivers ISO, as described in Downloading the LSI MegaSR Drivers and save it to your Windows system that has a diskette drive.
Step 2 Extract the dud.img or dd.iso file:
a. Burn the ISO image to a disc.
b. Browse the contents of the drivers folders to the location of the embedded MegaRAID drivers:
c. Expand the Zip file, which contains the folder with the driver files.
Step 3 Copy the driver update disk image dud-[driver version].img and your file raw write.exe to a directory.
Note RaWrite is not included in the driver package.
Step 4 If necessary, use this command to change the filename of the driver update disk to a name with fewer than eight characters: copy dud-[ driver version ].img dud.img
Step 5 Open the DOS Command Prompt and navigate to the directory where raw write.exe is located.
Step 6 Enter the following command to create the installation diskette: raw write
You are prompted to enter the name of the boot image file.
Step 8 Enter: dud.img or dd.iso
You are prompted for the target disk.
Step 10 Insert a floppy disk into the server and enter: A:
Step 12 Press Enter again to start copying the file to the diskette.
Step 13 After the command prompt returns and the floppy disk drive LED goes out, remove the disk.
Step 14 Label the diskette with the image name.
Preparing Installation Disks with a Linux Operating System
Under Red Hat Linux and SUSE Linux, you can use a driver disk utility to create disk images from image files.
Note The driver image is too large for a floppy disk, so use a USB thumb drive instead.
Step 1 Download the Cisco UCS C-Series drivers ISO, as described in Downloading the LSI MegaSR Drivers and save it to your Linux system that has a disk drive.
Step 2 Extract the dud.img or dd.iso file:
a. Burn the ISO image to a disc.
b. Browse the contents of the drivers folders to the location of the embedded MegaRAID drivers:
c. Expand the Zip file, which contains the folder with the driver files.
Step 3 Copy the driver update disk image dud-[driver version].img or dd.iso to your Linux system.
Step 4 Insert a blank USB thumb drive into a port on your Linux system.
Step 5 Create a directory and mount the dud.img or dd.iso to that directory:
mount -oloop <driver_image> <destination_folder>
Step 6 Copy the contents in the directory to your USB thumb drive.
Note This server supports Red Hat Linux 6.5 or later.
For the specific supported OS versions, see the Hardware and Software Interoperability Matrix for your server release.
This section describes the fresh installation of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux device driver on systems with the embedded MegaRAID stack.
Step 1 Before starting driver installation: Create a RAID drive group using the LSI Software RAID Configuration utility before you install this driver for the OS. Launch this utility by pressing Ctrl-M when LSI SWRAID
is shown during the BIOS POST.
Note For RHEL 7.1 and later, there is no dud.img file--the driver is contained in a dd.iso file.
Step 2 Prepare the dud.img or dd.iso file using one of the following methods:
Step 3 Extract the dud.img or dd.iso file:
a. Burn the Cisco UCS C-Series Drivers ISO image to a disc.
b. Browse the contents of the drivers folders to the location of the embedded MegaRAID drivers:
c. Copy the dud-< driver version >.img or dd.iso file to a temporary location on your workstation.
d. If you are using RHEL 7.x, rename the saved dd.iso to dd.img.
Note If you are using RHEL 7.x, renaming the dd.iso file to dd.img simplifies this procedure and saves time. The Cisco UCS virtual drive mapper can map only one.iso at a time, and only as a virtual CD/DVD. Renaming the file to dd.img allows you to mount the RHEL installation ISO as a virtual CD/DVD and the renamed dd.img as a virtual floppy disk or removable disk at the same time. This avoids the steps of unmounting and remounting the RHEL ISO when the dd.iso driver file is prompted for.
Step 4 Start the Linux driver installation using one of the following methods:
Step 5 Launch a Virtual KVM console window and click the Virtual Media tab.
a. Click Add Image and browse to select your remote RHEL installation ISO image.
Note An.iso file can be mapped only as a virtual CD/DVD.
b. Click Add Image again and browse to select your RHEL 6.x dud.img or the RHEL 7.x dd.img file that you renamed in Step 3.
Note Map the.img file as a virtual floppy disk or removable disk.
c. Check the check boxes in the Mapped column for the media that you just added, then wait for mapping to complete.
Step 6 Power cycle the target server.
Step 7 Press F6 when you see the F6 prompt during bootup. The Boot Menu window opens.
Note Do not press Enter in the next step to start the installation. Instead, press e to edit installation parameters.
Step 8 On the Boot Menu, use the arrow keys to select Install Red Hat Enterprise Linux and then press e to edit installation parameters.
Step 9 Append one of the following blacklist commands to the end of the line that begins with linuxefi:
Note The noprobe values depend on the number of drives. For example, to install RHEL 6.5 on a RAID 5 configuration with three drives, enter
Linux dd blacklist=isci blacklist=ahci nodmraid noprobe=ata1 noprobe=ata2
Step 10 Optional: To see full, verbose installation status steps during installation, delete the Quiet parameter from the line.
Step 11 On the Boot Manager window, press Ctrl+x to start the interactive installation.
Step 12 Below Driver disk device selection, select the option to install your driver.img file. (Type r to refresh the list if it is not populated.)
Note The installer recognizes the driver file as an.iso file, even though you renamed it to dd.img for mapping.
Type the number of the driver device ISO in the list. Do not select the RHEL ISO image. In the following example, type 6 to select device sdb:
5) sr0 iso9660 RHEL-7.6\x20Server.x
6) sdb iso9660 CDROM
# to select, ‘r’ - refresh, or ‘c’ -continue: 6
The installer reads the driver ISO and lists the drivers.
Step 13 Under Select drivers to install, type the number of the line that lists the megasr driver. For example, type 1 and press Enter:
1) [ ] /media/DD-1/rpms/x86_61/kmod-megasr-18.01.2010.1107_e17.6-1.x86_61.rpm
# to toggle selection, or ‘c’ -continue: 1
Your selection is displayed with an x in brackets.
1) [X] /media/DD-1/rpms/x86_61/kmod-megasr-18.01.2010.1107_e17.6-1.x86_61.rpm
Step 15 Follow the Red Hat Linux installation wizard to complete the installation.
Step 16 When the wizard’s Installation Destination screen is displayed, ensure that LSI MegaSR is listed as the selection. If it is not listed, the driver did not load successfully. In that case, select Rescan Disc.
Step 17 After installation completes, reboot the system.
For the specific supported OS versions, see the Hardware and Software Interoperability Matrix for your server release.
This section describes the installation of the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) driver on a system with the embedded MegaRAID stack.
Step 1 Before starting driver installation: Create a RAID drive group using the LSI SWRAID Configuration utility before you install this driver for the OS. Launch this utility by pressing Ctrl+M when LSI SWRAID
is shown during the BIOS POST.
Step 2 Prepare the dud.img driver file using one of the following methods:
Step 3 Extract the dud.img file that contains the driver:
a. Burn the Cisco UCS C-Series drivers ISO image to a disc.
b. Browse the contents of the drivers folders to the location of the embedded MegaRAID drivers:
c. Copy the dud-< driver version >.img file to a temporary location on your workstation.
Step 4 Start the Linux driver installation using one of the following methods:
Step 5 Launch a Virtual KVM console window and click the Virtual Media tab.
a. Click Add Image and browse to select your remote SLES installation ISO file.
Note An.iso file can be mapped only as a virtual CD/DVD.
b. Click Add Image again and browse to select your dud.img file.
Note Map the.img file as a virtual floppy disk or removable disk.
c. Check the check box in the Mapped column for the media that you just added, and then wait for mapping to complete.
Step 6 Power cycle the server.
Step 7 Press F6 when you see the F6 prompt during bootup. The Boot Menu window opens.
Step 8 On the Boot Manager window, select the physical or virtual SLES installation ISO and press Enter.
The SLES installation begins when the image is booted.
Step 9 When the first SLES screen appears, choose Installation.
Step 10 Enter one of the following in the Boot Options field:
Step 11 Optional : To see detailed status information during the installation, add the following parameter to the line that begins with linuxefi : splash=verbose
Step 12 Do one of the following actions:
Step 13 Do one of the following actions:
dud-<driver version>.img
file that you provided. With verbose status messages, you see the driver being installed when LSI MegaRAID SW RAID Module
is listedStep 14 Follow the SLES installation wizard to complete the installation. Verify installation of the driver when you reach the Suggested Partitioning screen:
a. On the Suggested Partitioning screen, select Expert Partitioner.
b. Navigate to Linux > Hard disks and verify that there is a device listed for the LSI - LSI MegaSR driver
. The device might be listed as a type other than sda. For example:
If no device is listed, the driver did not install properly. In that case, repeat the steps above.
Step 15 When installation is complete, reboot the target server.
When you replace a RAID controller, the RAID configuration that is stored in the controller is lost.
Step 1 Replace your RAID controller. See Replacing a PCIe Card.
Step 2 If this was a full chassis swap, replace all drives into the drive bays, in the same order that they were installed in the old chassis.
Step 3 Reboot the server and watch for the prompt to press F.
Note For newer RAID controllers, you are not prompted to press F. Instead, the RAID configuration is imported automatically. In this case, skip to Step 6.
Step 4 Press F when you see the following on-screen prompt:
Step 5 Press any key (other than C) to continue when you see the following on-screen prompt:
Step 6 Watch the subsequent screens for confirmation that your RAID configuration was imported correctly.
The LSI utilities have help documentation for more information about using the utilities.
For basic information about RAID and for using the utilities for the RAID controller cards that are supported in Cisco servers, see the Cisco UCS Servers RAID Guide.
Full Avago Technologies/LSI documentation is also available: