Cisco UCS C200 Installation and Service Guide
RAID Controller Considerations
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Table Of Contents

RAID Controller Considerations

Supported RAID Controllers and Required Cables

Enabling the Integrated Intel ICH10R RAID Controller in the BIOS

Enabling the Mezzanine Card RAID Controller in the BIOS

RAID Controller Cabling

Cisco UCS C200 LFF Server Cabling

Cisco UCS C200 SFF Server Cabling

How to Determine Which Controller Is in Your Server

How to Disable Quiet Boot For CIMC Firmware Earlier Than Release 1.2(1)

How To Launch Option ROM-Based Controller Utilities

Restoring RAID Configuration After Replacing a RAID Controller

For More Information


RAID Controller Considerations

This appendix contains the following sections:

•Supported RAID Controllers and Required Cables

•Enabling the Integrated Intel ICH10R RAID Controller in the BIOS

•Enabling the Mezzanine Card RAID Controller in the BIOS

•RAID Controller Cabling

•How to Determine Which Controller Is in Your Server

•How to Disable Quiet Boot For CIMC Firmware Earlier Than Release 1.2(1)

•How To Launch Option ROM-Based Controller Utilities

•Restoring RAID Configuration After Replacing a RAID Controller

•For More Information

Supported RAID Controllers and Required Cables

The Cisco UCS C200 Large Form-Factor (LFF) and C200 Small Form-Factor (SFF) server models support the RAID controller options and cable requirements shown in Table C-1 and Table C-2.

Note Do not mix controller types in the server. Dual controllers are not supported.

Table C-1 Cisco UCS C200 LFF RAID Options (Up to Four 3.5-Inch Internal Drives)

Controller
Style
Max. Internal Drives
SAS
SATA
Opt. BBU
RAID Levels
Required Cables
Intel ICH10R1

Integrated

4

No

Yes

No

0, 1

1 SATA
R200-SATACBL

LSI 1064E

Mezzanine

4

Yes2

Yes

No

0, 1, 1E

1 SAS
R200-SASCBL

LSI MegaRAID 9260-4i

PCIe

4

Yes3

Yes

Yes

0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60

1 SAS
R200-SASCBL

LSI MegaRAID 9280-4i4e

PCIe

4

Yes

Yes

Yes

0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60

1 SAS
R200-SASCBL

1 The integrated ICH10R controller must be enabled in the BIOS. This controller is not compatible for use with VMWare ESX/ESXi Server software in any generation or version of the Cisco UCS C200 server.

2 You cannot mix SAS and SATA drives when using a 1064E-based controller.

3 You can mix SAS and SATA drives when using an LSI MegaRAID card. However, you cannot mix SAS and SATA drives within a volume.


Table C-2 Cisco UCS C200 SFF RAID Options (Up to Eight 2.5-Inch Internal Drives)

Controller
Style
Max. Internal Drives
SAS
SATA
Opt. BBU
RAID Levels
Required Cables
Intel ICH10R1

Integrated

4

No

Yes

No

0, 1

1 SATA
R200-SATACBL

LSI 1068E

Mezzanine

8

Yes2

Yes

No

0, 1, 1E

4 drives: 1 SAS

8 drives: 2 SAS
R200-SASCBL3

LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i

PCIe

8

Yes4

Yes

Yes

0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60

4 drives: 1 SAS

8 drives: 2 SAS
R200-SASCBL

LSI MegaRAID 9280-4i4e

PCIe

4

Yes

Yes

Yes

0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60

1 SAS
R200-SASCBL

1 The integrated ICH10R controller must be enabled in the BIOS. This controller is not compatible for use with VMWare ESX/ESXi Server software in any generation or version of the Cisco UCS C200 server.

2 You can mix SAS and SATA drives when using a 1068E-based controller. However, you cannot mix SAS and SATA drives within a volume.

3 Two SAS cables (R200-SASCBL) are shipped with the Cisco UCS C200 SFF server.

4 You can mix SAS and SATA drives when using an LSI MegaRAID card. However, you cannot mix SAS and SATA drives within a volume.


Enabling the Integrated Intel ICH10R RAID Controller in the BIOS

Note The integrated ICH10R RAID controller is not compatible for use with VMWare ESX/ESXi Server software in any generation or version of the Cisco UCS C200 server.

When using the integrated RAID, you must enable the ICH10R controller in SW RAID mode.

Step 1 Boot the server and press F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS Setup utility.

Step 2 Select the Advanced tab, then Mass Storage Controllers Configuration.

Step 3 Set Onboard SATA Controller to Enabled.

Step 4 Set SATA Mode to SW RAID.

Step 5 Press F10 to save your changes and exit the utility.

Enabling the Mezzanine Card RAID Controller in the BIOS

When using the supported mezzanine-style RAID controller card, you must enable the ICH10R controller in Enhanced mode.

Step 1 Make sure that a RAID cable is attached between the mezzanine card and the disk backplane.

Step 2 Boot the server and press F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS Setup utility.

Step 3 Select the Advanced tab, then Mass Storage Controllers Configuration.

Step 4 Set Onboard SATA Controller to Enabled.

Step 5 Set SATA Mode to Enhanced.

Step 6 Press F10 to save your changes and exit the BIOS Setup utility.

Step 7 To set up a RAID configuration when using the mezzanine card, boot the server and press Ctrl-C when prompted to start the WebBIOS utility.

RAID Controller Cabling

The possible RAID controller connectors in this server are shown in Figure C-1. The blue line indicates the recommended cable routing path from the backplane to the possible controller locations.

Note The Cisco UCS C200 SFF server is shown, with an eight-drive backplane. The LFF server has a four-drive backplane.

Figure C-1 RAID Controller Connectors

1

Drive backplane

3

Mezzanine card connector(s)

2

Integrated RAID connector on motherboard

4

LSI MegaRAID PCIe card connectors


Cisco UCS C200 LFF Server Cabling

The cable connections required for each type of controller are as follows:

•Integrated ICH10R: Connect one SATA cable from the motherboard connector to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane.

•1064E mezzanine card: Connect one SAS cable from the single connector on the mezzanine card to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane.

•LSI MegaRAID card: Connect one SAS cable from connector 1 on the card to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane.

For all controller types, connect the numbered cable connectors to the corresponding numbered backplane connectors. Connect the cable connector labelled SGPIO to the backplane connector labeled SGPIO.

Cisco UCS C200 SFF Server Cabling

The cable connections required for each type of controller are as follows:

Note Two SAS cables (R200-SASCBL) are shipped with the Cisco UCS C200 SFF server (but not with the LFF version of the server). You can order a set of two spare SAS cables (Cisco PID UCSC-CBL-I2F1).

•Integrated ICH10R: Connect one SATA cable from the motherboard connector to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane. (Controls 4 drives only.)

•1068E mezzanine card: Connect SAS cable 1 from connector 1 on the card to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane. Connect SAS cable 2 from connector 2 on the card to the drives 5-8 connectors on the backplane.

•LSI MegaRAID 9260-8i card: Connect SAS cable 1 from connector 1 on the card to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane. Connect SAS cable 2 from connector 2 on the card to the drives 5-8 connectors on the backplane.

•LSI MegaRAID 9280-4i4e card: Connect one SAS cable from connector 1 on the card to the drives 1-4 connectors on the backplane. (Controls 4 drives only.)

For all controller types, connect the numbered cable connectors to the corresponding numbered backplane connectors. Connect the cable connector labelled SGPIO to the backplane connector labeled SGPIO.

How to Determine Which Controller Is in Your Server

If you do not have a record of which device is used in the server, you can read the on-screen messages that are displayed during system bootup. These messages display information about the devices that are installed in your server.

•Information about the models of card installed are displayed as part of the verbose boot. You are also prompted to press Ctrl-H to launch configuration utilities for those cards. For servers running CIMC firmware earlier than release 1.2(1), see also How to Disable Quiet Boot For CIMC Firmware Earlier Than Release 1.2(1).

•If the mezzanine-style card is enabled, you are prompted to press Ctrl-C to launch the configuration for these cards. See also Enabling the Mezzanine Card RAID Controller in the BIOS

•If no models of card are displayed but there is a RAID configuration, your server is using the onboard ICH10R controller. You are also prompted to press Ctrl-M to launch the configuration utilities for this controller (see graphic below). See also Enabling the Integrated Intel ICH10R RAID Controller in the BIOS.

How to Disable Quiet Boot For CIMC Firmware Earlier Than Release 1.2(1)

For CIMC firmware and BIOS release 1.2(1) and later, Quiet Boot has been removed. If you are running CIMC firmware and BIOS earlier than release 1.2(1), you can use the following procedure to disable Quiet Boot.

To disable quiet boot so that the controller information and the prompts for the option ROM-based LSI utilities are displayed during bootup, follow these steps:

Step 1 Boot the server and watch for the F2 prompt during bootup.

Step 2 Press F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS Setup utility.

Step 3 On the Main page of the BIOS Setup utility, set Quiet Boot to Disabled. This allows non-default messages, prompts, and POST messages to display during bootup instead of the Cisco logo screen.

Step 4 Press F10 to save your changes and exit the utility.

How To Launch Option ROM-Based Controller Utilities

To alter the RAID configurations on your hard drives, you can use your host-based utilities that you install on top of your host OS, or you can use the LSI option ROM-based utilities that are installed on the server.

When you boot the server and you have quiet boot disabled (see How to Disable Quiet Boot For CIMC Firmware Earlier Than Release 1.2(1)), information about your controller is displayed along with the prompts for the key combination to launch the option ROM-based utilities for your controller.

Watch for the prompt for your controller during verbose boot:

•The prompt for LSI controller card utility is Ctrl-H.

•The prompt for the mezzanine-style controller cards is Ctrl-C.

•The prompt for the onboard Intel ICH10R controller utility is Ctrl-M.

Note Cisco has also developed the Cisco Server Configuration Utility for C-Series servers, which can assist you in setting up some RAID configurations for your drives. This utility is shipped with new servers on CD. You can also download the ISO from Cisco.com. See the user documentation for this utility at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/ucsscu/user/guide/20/SCUUG20.html

Restoring RAID Configuration After Replacing a RAID Controller

When you replace a RAID controller, the RAID configuration that is stored in the controller is lost. Use the following procedure to restore your RAID configuration to your new RAID controller.

Step 1 Replace your RAID controller. See Replacing an LSI MegaRAID Battery Backup Unit.

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 If Quiet Boot is enabled, disable it in the system BIOS. See How to Disable Quiet Boot For CIMC Firmware Earlier Than Release 1.2(1).

Step 4 Reboot the server and watch for the prompt to press F.

Step 5 Press F when you see the following on-screen prompt: 

Foreign configuration(s) found on adapter.

Press any key to continue or `C' load the configuration utility,

or `F' to import foreign configuration(s) and continue.

Step 6 Press any key (other than C) to continue when you see the following on-screen prompt: 

All of the disks from your previous configuration are gone. If this is 

an unexpected message, then please power of your system and check your cables

to ensure all disks are present.

Press any key to continue, or `C' to load the configuration utility.

Step 7 Watch the subsequent screens for confirmation that your RAID configuration was imported correctly.

•If you see the following message, your configuration was successfully imported. The LSI virtual drive is also listed among the storage devices. 

N Virtual Drive(s) found on host adapter.

•If you see the following message, your configuration was not imported. This can happen if you do not press F quickly enough when prompted. In this case, reboot the server and try the import operation again wen you are prompted to press F. 

0 Virtual Drive(s) found on host adapter.

For More Information

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, see the
Cisco UCS Servers RAID Guide.

Full LSI documentation is also available:

•LSI MegaRAID SAS Software User's Guide (for LSI MegaRAID)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/3rd-party/lsi/mrsas/userguide/LSI_MR_SAS_SW_UG.pdf

•LSI SAS2 Integrated RAID Solution User Guide (for LSI SAS1064E)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/3rd-party/lsi/irsas/userguide/LSI_IR_SAS_UG.pdf