Managing Storage Using RAID


Note

The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

This chapter includes the following sections:

RAID Options


Note

The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

You can choose to store the E-Series Server data files on local Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). The following RAID levels are supported:

  • The single-wide E-Series Server supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 levels.

  • The double-wide E-Series Server supports RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5 levels.

  • The double-wide E-Series Server with the PCIe option supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 levels.

RAID 0

With RAID 0, the data is stored evenly in stripe blocks across one or more disk drives without redundancy (mirroring). The data in all of the disk drives is different.

Figure 1. RAID 0

Compared to RAID 1, RAID 0 provides additional storage because both disk drives are used to store data. The performance is improved because the read and write operation occurs in parallel within the two disk drives.

However, there is no fault tolerance, error checking, hot spare, or hot-swapping. If one disk drive fails, the data in the entire array is destroyed. Because there is no error checking or hot-swapping, the array is susceptible to unrecoverable errors.

RAID 1

RAID 1 creates a mirrored set of disk drives, where the data in both the disk drives is identical, providing redundancy and high availability. If one disk drive fails, the other disk drive takes over, preserving the data.

RAID 1 also allows you to use a hot spare disk drive. The hot spare drive is always active and is held in readiness as a hot standby drive during a failover.

Figure 2. RAID 1

RAID 1 supports fault tolerance and hot-swapping. When one disk drive fails, you can remove the faulty disk drive and replace it with a new disk drive.

However, compared to RAID 0, there is less storage space because only half of the total potential disk space is available for storage and there is an impact on performance.

RAID 5

With RAID 5, the data is stored in stripe blocks with parity data staggered across all disk drives, providing redundancy at a low cost.

Figure 3. RAID 5

RAID 5 provides more data storage capacity than RAID 1 and better data protection than RAID 0. It also supports hot swapping; however, RAID 1 offers better performance.

Non-RAID

When the disk drives of a computer are not configured as RAID, the computer is in non-RAID mode. Non-RAID mode is also referred to as Just a Bunch of Disks or Just a Bunch of Drives (JBOD). Non-RAID mode does not support fault tolerance, error checking, hot-swapping, hot spare, or redundancy.

Summary of RAID Options

RAID Option Description Advantages Disadvantages

RAID 0

Data stored evenly in stripe blocks without redundancy

  • Better storage

  • Improved performance

  • No error checking

  • No fault tolerance

  • No hot-swapping

  • No redundancy

  • No hot spare

RAID 1

Mirrored set of disk drives and an optional hot spare disk drive

  • High availability

  • Fault tolerance

  • Hot spare

  • Hot-swapping

  • Less storage

  • Performance impact

RAID 5

Data stored in stripe blocks with parity data staggered across all disk drives

  • Better storage efficiency than RAID 1

  • Better fault tolerance than RAID 0

  • Low cost of redundancy

  • Hot-swapping

  • Slow performance

Non-RAID

Disk drives not configured for RAID

Also referred to as JBOD

  • Portable

  • No error checking

  • No fault tolerance

  • No hot-swapping

  • No redundancy

  • No hot spare

Configuring RAID


Note

The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

Use this procedure to configure the RAID level, strip size, host access privileges, drive caching, and initialization parameters on a virtual drive. You can also use this procedure to designate the drive as a hot spare drive and to make the drive bootable.

Procedure
    Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
    Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID. Do one of the following:

    • If the Configure Virtual Drive dialog box does not appear, proceed to the next step.

    • If the Configure Virtual Drive dialog box appears, and the virtual drives are not configured, complete the fields as shown in Step 5.

    Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
    Figure 4. Virtual Drive Info Tab



    Step 4   In the Actions area of the Virtual Drive Info tab, click Create.

    The Configure Virtual Drive dialog box appears.

    Figure 5. Configure Virtual Drive Dialog Box



    Step 5   Complete the following fields as appropriate:
    Name Description

    Available Drives table

    Displays the drives that are available for RAID configuration.

    Note   

    To move a drive, click and drag a drive to the appropriate table.

    Selected Drives table

    Displays the drives that are selected for RAID configuration.

    Note   

    To move a drive, click and drag a drive to the appropriate table.

    RAID Level drop-down list

    The RAID level options. This can be one of the following:

    • RAID 0—Block striping.

    • RAID 1—Mirroring.

    • RAID 5—Block striping with parity.

    Note   

    The single-wide E-Series Server supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 levels. The double-wide E-Series Server supports RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5 levels. The double-wide E-Series Server with the PCIe option supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 levels.

    Name field

    The name of the virtual drive.

    Enter a maximum of 15 characters. The characters can have numbers and upper- or lower-case letters. Special characters are not supported.

    Strip Size drop-down list

    The strip size options. This can be one of the following:

    • 64 KB

    • 32 KB

    • 16 KB

    • 8 KB

    Initialization drop-down list

    How the controller initializes the drives. This can be one of the following:

    • Quick—The controller initializes the drive quickly. This is the default and recommended option.

    • Full—The controller does a complete initialization of the new configuration.

      Note   

      Depending on the size of the drives, full initialization can take several hours to complete. To view the progress, see the Initialize Progress and Initialize Time Elapsed fields in the General area.

    • None—The controller does not initialize the drives.

    Drive Cache drop-down list

    How the controller handles drive caching. This can be one of the following:

    • Disable—Caching is disabled on the drives.

      Note   

      This is the default and recommended option.

    • Unchanged—The controller uses the caching policy specified on the drive. This is the default and recommended option.

    • Enable—Caching is enabled on the drives. This option minimizes the delay in accessing data.

      Caution   

      Enabling Drive Cache, voids all warranty on the hard disk drives. This configuration option is not supported. Use this option at your own risk.

    Access Policy drop-down list

    Configures host access privileges. This can be one of the following:

    • Read-Write—The host has full access to the drive.

    • Read Only—The host can read only data from the drive.

    • Blocked—The host cannot access the drive.

    Set this Virtual Drive Bootable check box

    How the controller boots the drive. This can be one of the following:

    • Enable—The controller makes this drive bootable.

    • Disable—This drive is not bootable.

    Note   

    If you plan to install an operating system or hypervisor into the RAID array, we recommend that you check this check box.

    Use the Remaining Drive as Hot Spare check box

    Designates the drive that is in the Available Drives table as a hot spare drive.

    Note   

    Applicable for RAID 1 only. This check box is greyed out for other RAID levels.

    Applicable for double-wide E-Series Servers.

    Step 6   Review the RAID configuration, and then click Confirm to accept the changes.

    Modifying the RAID Configuration


    Note

    The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

    Use this procedure to enable or disable auto rebuild on the storage controller.

    Procedure
      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
      Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
      Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
      Figure 6. Virtual Drive Info Tab



      Step 4   In the Actions area of the Virtual Drive Info tab, click Edit.

      The Modify RAID Configuration dialog box appears. Modify the following as appropriate:

      Name Description

      Enable or Disable Auto Rebuild button

      Whether the rebuild process starts on the new drive automatically when a virtual drive becomes degraded. This can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—If a drive becomes degraded and a new drive is plugged in, the rebuild process starts automatically on the new drive.

        Note   

        The rebuild process overwrites all existing data; therefore, make sure that the drive that is plugged in does not contain important data.

      • Disabled—If a drive becomes degraded and a new drive is plugged in, the new drive is ignored. You must manually start the rebuild process on the new drive.

      Important:

      The Disable Auto Rebuild button indicates that auto rebuild is enabled.

      Deleting the RAID Configuration


      Note

      The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

      Use this procedure to clear all RAID or foreign configurations.

      Procedure
        Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
        Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
        Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
        Figure 7. Virtual Drive Info Tab



        Step 4   In the Actions area of the Virtual Drive Info tab, click Delete.

        The Clear Configurations dialog box appears. Do the following as appropriate:

        Name Description

        Clear All RAID Config radio button

        Deletes all RAID configuration.

        Caution   

        When you click this radio button, all existing data in the drives is deleted.

        Clear Foreign Config radio button

        Deletes all foreign configuration.

        If you plug in a drive from another E-Series Server, you must clear its foreign configuration to make it usable.

        Note   

        When you click this radio button, only the configuration in the new plugged-in drive is deleted, while the configurations in the existing drives stay untouched.

        Proceed button

        Continues with the delete operation.

        Changing the Physical Drive State


        Note

        The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

        Use this procedure to change the state of the physical drive. Options are hotspare, jbod, or unconfigured good.
        Procedure
          Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
          Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
          Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Physical Drive Info tab.
          Figure 8. Physical Drive Info Tab



          Step 4   From the Actions column in the Physical Drives pane, choose one of the following from the Change State To list:

          • hotspare—The drive is designated as a spare drive.

          • jbod—The drive is not configured as RAID.

          • unconfigured good—The drive is ready to be assigned to a drive group or hot spare pool.

          Step 5   Click OK to confirm.

          Rebuilding the Physical Drive


          Note

          The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

          Use this procedure to manually start the rebuild process on the physical drive.

          Procedure
            Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
            Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
            Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Physical Drive Info tab.
            Figure 9. Physical Drive Info Tab



            Step 4   From the Actions column in the Physical Drives pane, choose Rebuild from the drop-down list, and then click OK to confirm.

            The Rebuild process takes a few hours to complete.

            Note   

            The Rebuild option appears in the drop-down list when the state of the physical drive is Failed or Offline.

            Step 5   To view the progress of the Rebuild process, see the Rebuilding Progress and the Rebuilding Time Elapsed fields in the General area.
            Step 6   To stop the Rebuild process, click the Abort button, which is located next to the Rebuilding Progress field in the General area, and then click OK to confirm.

            Erasing the Contents of a Physical Drive


            Note

            The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

            Use this procedure to erase all of the contents of a physical drive and set it to zero.

            Procedure
              Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
              Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
              Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Physical Drive Info tab.
              Figure 10. Physical Drive Info Tab



              Step 4   From the Actions column in the Physical Drives pane, choose Erase from the drop-down list, and then click OK to confirm.

              The Erase process takes a few hours to complete.

              Step 5   To view the progress of the Erase process, see the Erasing Progress and the Erasing Time Elapsed fields in the General area.
              Step 6   To stop the Erase process, click the Abort button, which is located next to the Erasing Progress field in the General area, and then click OK to confirm.

              Enabling Auto Rebuild on the Storage Controller


              Note

              The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

              Use this procedure to rebuild a disk drive automatically. If one of the disk drives that is configured with RAID becomes degraded, and a new drive is plugged it, the rebuild process on the new drive starts automatically.

              Procedure
                Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
                Step 3   In the Storage Adapters area, select the storage card.

                If the server is powered on, the resources of the selected storage adapter appear in the tabbed menu in the Storage Cards area.

                Step 4   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
                Figure 11. Virtual Drive Info Tab



                Step 5   In the Actions area of the Virtual Drive Info tab, click Edit.

                The Modify RAID Configuration dialog box appears.

                Step 6   If the Enable Auto Rebuild button appears, click the button to make the Disable Auto Rebuild button appear.

                The Disable Auto Rebuild button indicates that auto rebuild is enabled.

                Caution   

                The rebuild process overwrites all existing data; therefore, make sure that the drive that is plugged in does not contain important data.

                Deleting the Virtual Drive


                Note

                The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

                Procedure
                  Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                  Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
                  Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
                  Figure 12. Virtual Drive Info Tab



                  Step 4   From the Actions column in the Virtual Drives area, choose the Delete option.
                  Step 5   Click OK to confirm.

                  Performing a Consistency Check on Virtual Drives


                  Note

                  The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

                  Use this procedure to perform a consistency check on virtual drives. This can be one of the following:

                  • For RAID 1—Checks if the data in both drives is identical.

                  • For RAID 5—Checks if the data in all of the parity stripe blocks is correct.

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                    Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
                    Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
                    Figure 13. Virtual Drive Info Tab



                    Step 4   From the Actions column in the Virtual Drives area, choose the Consistency Check option, and then click OK to confirm.

                    The Consistency Check process takes a few hours to complete.

                    Step 5   To view the progress of the Consistency Check process, see the Consistency Check Progress and the Consistency Check Time Elapsed fields in the General area.
                    Step 6   To stop the Consistency Check process, click the Abort button, which is located next to the Consistency Check Progress field in the General area, and then click OK to confirm.

                    Reconstructing the Virtual Drive Options


                    Note

                    The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

                    To migrate (reconstruct) the virtual drive to a new RAID level, you might need to add or remove physical drives. When you add or remove physical drives, the size of the virtual drive is either retained or increased.

                    You can retain or increase the size of the virtual drive, but you cannot decrease its size. For example, if you have two physical drives with RAID 0, you cannot migrate to RAID 1 with the same number of drives. Because with RAID 1, a mirrored set of disk drives are created, which reduces the size of the virtual drive to half of what it was before, which is not supported.


                    Note

                    The virtual drive reconstruction process might take several hours to complete. You can continue to use the system during the reconstruction process.

                    Options for Retaining the Size of the Virtual Drive

                    See the following figure and the table that follows for options that retain the size of the virtual drive when you migrate the virtual drive to a new RAID level.
                    Figure 14. Retaining the Virtual Drive Size Options



                    The following table lists the options that retain the size of the virtual drive and provides information about how many physical drives you must add or remove to migrate the virtual drive to a specific RAID level.

                    Table 1  Retaining the Virtual Drive Size

                    From:

                    Migrate to:

                    		Add or Remove Disks

                    One physical drive with RAID 0

                    Two physical drives with RAID 1

                    Add one disk.

                    Two physical drives with RAID 1

                    One physical drive with RAID 0

                    Remove one disk.

                    Two physical drives with RAID 0

                    Three physical drives with RAID 5

                    Add one disk.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 5

                    Two physical drives with RAID 0

                    Remove one disk.

                    Options for Increasing the Size of the Virtual Drive

                    See the following figure and the table that follows for options that increase the size of the virtual drive when you migrate the virtual drive to a new RAID level.
                    Figure 15. Increasing the Virtual Drive Size Options



                    The following table lists the options that increase the size of the virtual drive and provides information about how many physical drives you must add or remove to migrate the virtual drive to a specific RAID level.

                    Table 2  Increasing the Virtual Drive Size

                    From:

                    Migrate to:

                    		Add or Remove Disks

                    One physical drive with RAID 0

                    See the red arrows in the figure.

                    Two physical drives with RAID 0

                    Add one disk.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 5

                    Add two disks.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 0

                    Add two disks.

                    Two physical drives with RAID 1

                    See the green arrows in the figure.

                    Two physical drives with RAID 0

                    —

                    Three physical drives with RAID 5

                    Add one disk.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 0

                    Add one disk.

                    Two physical drives with RAID 0

                    See the black arrow in the figure.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 0

                    Add one disk.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 5

                    See the purple arrow in the figure.

                    Three physical drives with RAID 0

                    —

                    Reconstructing the Virtual Drive


                    Note

                    The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

                    Use this procedure to migrate (reconstruct) the virtual drive to a new RAID level.

                    Before You Begin

                    See Reconstructing Virtual Drive Options.

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                      Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
                      Step 3   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
                      Figure 16. Virtual Drive Info Tab



                      Step 4   From the Actions column in the Virtual Drives area, choose the Reconstruct option.

                      The Reconstruct Virtual Drive dialog box appears.

                      Figure 17. Reconstruct Virtual Drive Dialog Box



                      Step 5   Complete the following as appropriate:
                      Name Description

                      Migrate RAID Level radio button

                      Select this option to migrate the virtual drives to the specified new RAID level.

                      Add Drives radio button

                      Select this option, and then choose the drives to add from the Add from Available Drives table.

                      Remove Drives radio button

                      Select this option, and then choose the drives to remove from the Remove from Configured Drives table.

                      Add from Available Drives table

                      Lists the physical drives that you can add to migrate to the new RAID level.

                      Note   

                      This table is active after you select the Add Drives radio button.

                      Remove from Configured Drives table

                      Lists the physical drives that you can remove to migrate to the new RAID level.

                      Note   

                      This table is active after you select the Remove Drives radio button.

                      From Current Level: RAID x Migrate To: drop-down list

                      The new RAID level to which you want to migrate the drives. Starts the reconstruction process after you click Confirm.

                      Note   

                      You can retain or increase the size of the virtual drive, but you cannot decrease its size.

                      See Reconstructing the Virtual Drive Options.

                      The Reconstruct process takes a few hours to complete.

                      Step 6   To view the progress of the Reconstruct process, see the Reconstruct Progress and the Reconstruct Time Elapsed fields in the General area.

                      Making the Virtual Drive or Physical Drive Bootable


                      Note

                      The RAID feature is applicable to E-Series Servers and the SM E-Series NCE. The RAID feature is not applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE.

                      When you configure RAID, the Configure Virtual Drive dialog box has a check box that allows you to make the disk drive bootable. If you did not check the Set this Virtual Drive Bootable check box during the RAID configuration process, you can use this procedure to make the disk drive bootable.

                      Procedure
                        Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
                        Step 2   On the Server tab, click RAID.
                        Step 3   To make a virtual drive bootable, do the following:
                        1. In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
                          Figure 18. Virtual Drive Info Tab



                        2. From the Actions column of the appropriate virtual drive, choose Set Bootable from the drop-down list.
                        3. Click OK to change the boot drive to this virtual drive.
                          Note   

                          After you set the drive to be bootable, the Bootable column displays a checkmark against the configured drive.

                        Step 4   To make a physical drive bootable, do the following:
                        1. In the tabbed menu of the Storage Card area, click the Physical Drive Info tab.
                          Figure 19. Physical Drive Info Tab



                        2. From the Actions column of the appropriate physical drive, choose Set Bootable from the drop-down list.
                        3. Click OK to change the boot drive to this physical drive.
                          Note   

                          The physical drive must be in non-RAID mode to be bootable. After you set the drive to be bootable, the Bootable column displays a checkmark against the configured drive.

                        Installing W2K12 to Support RAID Volumes Larger than 2TB

                        On a UCS-E160D-M2 series server, if you want to run Windows with more than 2 TB of hard drive space installed, follow the procedure explained in this section. There are two ways you can install W2K12: Using Legacy BIOS or using UEFI:

                        Installing W2K12 Using Legacy BIOS to Support RAID Volumes Larger than 2TB

                        This workaround shows how to install W2K12 using legacy BIOS to support RAID volumes larger than 2TB. The workaround involves the following major tasks:

                        1. Configure all the drives in ‘Unconfigured Good’ state.

                        2. Configure a Virtual Drive 0 (VD0) using the first hard disk and put it in RAID 0. W2K12 will be installed on VD0.

                        3. Configure a Virtual Drive 1(VD1) using the remaining hard disks and put it in RAID 0. Use W2K12 to convert this volume to GPT so that it can access the entire storage.

                        The detailed procedure is explained below:

                        Procedure
                          Step 1   Configure all the drives in ‘Unconfigured Good’ state. Refer Changing the Physical Drive State
                          Step 2   In the tabbed menu of the Storage Cards area, click the Virtual Drive Info tab.
                          Figure 20. Virtual Drive Info Tab



                          Step 3   In the Actions area of the Virtual Drive Info tab, click Create. The Configure Virtual Drive dialog box appears:
                          Figure 21. Configuring Virtual Drive 0



                          Step 4   Select drive 1 from the Available Devices and drag to Selected Devices.
                          Step 5   Click Confirm. You have now created Virtual Drive 0.
                          Step 6   In the Actions area of the Virtual Drive Info tab, click Create. The Configure Virtual Drive dialog box appears.
                          Step 7   Select the remaining drives from the Available Devices and drag to Selected Devices.
                          Figure 22. Configuring Virtual Drive 1



                          Step 8   Click Confirm. You have now created Virtual Drive 1. Verify the Virtual Drives.
                          Figure 23. Verifying Virtual Drives



                          Step 9   Use Host Image Mapping or vKVM to install W2K12 on Virtual Drive 0.
                          Figure 24. Installing W2K12 on Virtual Drive 0



                          Step 10   After W2K12 installation, log in and check the status of volume.
                          Figure 25. Status of Volume



                          Step 11   Check the storage size of C drive.
                          Figure 26. Storage Size of C Drive



                          Step 12   Go to Disk and create a new volume using the Virtual Drive 1. Select Virtual Drive 1 and right click on it. Click New Volume. The New Volume wizard appears. This wizard helps you create a volume, assign it a drive letter, and then format it with a file system.
                          Figure 27. Creating a New Volume



                          Figure 28. New Volume Wizard



                          Step 13   Select the server and disk, and click Next. You will be prompted with a dialog box.
                          Figure 29. Server and Disk



                          Step 14   Click OK.
                          Figure 30. Server and Disk



                          Step 15   Specify the size of the disk volume.
                          Figure 31. Size of the Disk Volume



                          Step 16   Assign the volume to a drive letter.
                          Figure 32. Drive Letter or Folder



                          Step 17   Select the File System Settings.
                          Figure 33. File System Settings



                          Step 18   Confirm the selections and click Create. A completion message appears. Click Close.
                          Figure 34. Confirm Selections



                          Figure 35. Completion



                          Step 19   Verify the new volume created and W2K12 recognizes the remaining storage.
                          Figure 36. Verifying the New Volume



                          Installing W2K12 using UEFI to Support RAID Volumes Larger than 2TB

                          This workaround shows how to install W2k12 using UEFI to support RAID volumes larger than 2TB. The workaround involves the following major tasks:

                          1. Configure all the drives in ‘Unconfigured Good’ state.

                          2. Configure a Virtual Drive 0 (VD0) using all the hard disks and put it in RAID 0. W2K12 will be installed on VD0 and the OS will recognize the entire storage capacity.

                          3. Enter BIOS setup and configure it to boot using UEFI.

                          4. Map W2K12 ISO using Host Image Mapping or Virtual Media using vKVM.

                          5. Boot UCS-E module into EFI shell.

                          6. From the EFI shell, navigate to the ISO and boot BOOTX64.EFI.

                          7. Install W2K12. During W2K12 installation, the server will reboot.

                          8. Enter BIOS setup and change the 'UCSM boot order rules' from 'Strict' to 'Loose'. This change disallows CIMC to override the BIOS boot order. The BIOS boot order will be used instead of the CIMC boot order.

                          9. Move 'Windows Boot Manager' to top of the boot order. W2K12 should now automatically boot and recognize the entire storage.

                          The detailed procedure is explained below:

                          Procedure
                            Step 1   Configure all the drives in ‘Unconfigured Good’ state. Refer Changing the Physical Drive State
                            Step 2   Configure a Virtual Drive 0 (VD0) using all the hard disks and put it in RAID 0. W2K12 will be installed on VD0 and the OS will recognize the entire storage capacity. Refer the procedure explained in Installing W2K12 Using Legacy BIOS to Support RAID Volumes Larger than 2TB
                            Step 3   Enter BIOS setup and change storage to 'UEFI only'.
                            1. On a Cisco UCS-E180D-M2 server, go to Boot > Launch Storage > OpROM and, select 'UEFI only'.
                              Figure 37. Configuring BIOS Setup



                            Step 4   Map ISO using virtual media or use the host image mapping. Configure 'CD/DVD' as the first bootable device using CIMC GUI.
                            Step 5   Power cycle the server. Press F2 while booting up. Enter BIOS setup and select one time boot to EFI shell.
                            Step 6   Boot from the EFI shell. Locate the file system number (fs#) that contains the 'Removable CDRom'.
                            Figure 38. Booting from EFI Shell



                            Figure 39. Booting from EFI Shell



                            Step 7   Choose W2K12 Standard Evaluation Server with GUI. Click Next
                            Figure 40. Installing Windows Server



                            Step 8   Select the drive you want to install Windows. Click Next.
                            Figure 41. Installing Windows Server



                            Step 9   Wait till the installation completes.
                            Figure 42. Installing Windows Server



                            Step 10   After the installation, enter BIOS setup ( press F2) or BIOS Boot Menu (press F6) and boot using Windows Boot Manager. You may find several Windows Boot Manager. Select the one that works.
                            Figure 43. Booting Using Windows Boot Manager from F2 Bios Setup



                            Figure 44. Booting Using Windows Boot Manager from F6 BIOS Boot Menu



                            Step 11   After W2K12 boots up, verify the GPT volume using the diskpart command.
                            Figure 45. Verifying the GPT Volume



                            Step 12   Verify W2K12 recognizes the entire volume.
                            Figure 46. Verifying the Volume



                            Step 13   Verify W2K12 recognizes the full storage of C drive.
                            Figure 47. Verifying the Storage Capacity



                            Step 14   To make W2K12 boot automatically, enter BIOS and make the following changes:
                            1. Change 'UCSM boot order rules' from 'Strict' to 'Loose'. This change disallows CIMC to override BIOS boot order. The BIOS boot order will be used instead of CIMC boot order.
                            2. Move 'Windows Boot Manager' to top of the boot order.
                            Figure 48. BIOS Settings



                            Step 15   Finally, save your changes and exit BIOS setup.