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7254
June 12th, 2008 16:00
Upgrading from SAS5 controller to Perc6/i Controller
Hello everyone, this is my first post.
I have two questions, one for this section and one for the RAM section, whereever that one is.
Dell PE2900 ordered last August with 2gb ram. I just upgraded that to 4gb. Dell, in their wisdom, sent me 2-1GB sticks. When I went to install, that is when I noticed that the 2gb I had were 4-512mb sticks. I now get the error that the RAM is not set optimally. So is it a big deal having 6 ram sticks versus the 8 sticks that would make it "optimal"?
When I ordered the system, I was told that the embedded SAS5 card would be fine. I had to 80 gb hard drives that I put in a RAID 1 (mirror) for the OS. and one 500 gb drive for the data, this is partitioned into two drives, one for data, the other for Exchange Server.
I just bought the Perc6/i upgrade card and 6-1TB HD which I plan to put into 2-3drive Raid 5 arrays. One array for data, the other for backups. I will have a total of 3 arrays, Raid 1 for OS with two 80 gb drives and two Raid 5 arrays, each with 3-1TB drives, so that each array will have 2TB of capacity. I was told that SBS 2003 can only read up to 4TB since it is a 32-bit OS.
I shut down the server. removed the SAS5 card, installed the Perc6/i card, attached the battery that came with it, and reinstalled the cable that was connected to the back plane to the new Perc6/i card. The system would not boot up. Says a cable is missing, but none came with the card. After sweating it out for a few minutes, I put the SAS5 back in and rebooted and then restored the array.
How do I actually remove the original SAS5 controller and install the Perc6/i card? The obvious did not work so obviously. I would prefer NOT to wipe out the OS at this time and reinstall the OS. Is there a step by step pamphlet/pdf for this? Or, did I do it properly but just missed a step.
I appreciate any help you can offer.
Patrick Brewer
PsychoT
62 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 19:00
Do you have 1 or 2 cables going from the PERC 6 to your backplane? I'll wait for your reply before I give you the bad news about having to recreate your mirror for your OS.
PsychoT
62 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 20:00
In order to be able to utilize all the slots in your server (8 different slots) you'll need both cables. 1 cable runs 4 slots and the other cable runs the other 4 slots, so you will need to get the other cable as well if you want to utilize all 8 slots as well as get rid of that error. I believe the PN for the second cable is NC954.
For your RAID concern. You're not only moving up a generation in controller, but also moving to a different controller completely (even though they are manufactured by the same company). They write their header RAID header information differently. I'm almost certain that you won't be able to do this without having to recreate the array and restore. There is one option that you could try, but you'll definately need to have a verified backup before doing so. Once you have the OS backed up, you could try retagging the mirror in the PERC 6/i once you've swapped it into the system to take the place of the SAS 5/iR. I'm 99% sure that if you called support they'd tell you it wouldn't work and you'll have to recreate the array from scratch anyway because of the change in controllers.
***Edit***
What are the ranks of each of the modules you have in the system now, and what slots are they in. Example:
Also, for this to be an "optimal" config you have to have 2, 4, 8, or 12 memory modules. Only having 6 would not provide an "optimal" configuration.
Patrick Brewer
8 Posts
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June 12th, 2008 20:00
one Cable. As you are facing the computer, the cable goes from the left side of the backplane to the current card, SAS5. there is another connector, on the right side, but there is no cable in it. the Perc6/i card has two connectors on top of it (versus the one on the SAS5 card). Not sure if it matters, but the connectors on the back plane, one on each side, are different colors. there are two colors also on the perc6/i card.
To jump ahead and to hopefully have the right solution based on potential (?) bad news on the mirror.
Putting the potential cable problem aside for a moment, would it be that before I shut down the server, to break the mirror. then exchange Perc6/i and the SAS5 cards. Boot with one drive, then add the 2nd drive back, and then set up a new Raid 1?
Just guessing here.
Also did you see the first question on the RAM?
Please advise.
I appreciate your input.
Patrick Brewer
PsychoT
62 Posts
0
June 12th, 2008 21:00
I would highly recommend:
Slot 1: 1024
Slot 2: 1024
Slot 3: 512
Slot 4: 512
If you populate 5 and 6 (for 6 dimms total) you won't be running in Dual Channel mode and that's where the "not optimal" error is coming from. If you're going to be running a 32 bit OS on a 2900 the most memory your OS will "see" is ~3.5GB.
Patrick Brewer
8 Posts
0
June 12th, 2008 21:00
Slot 1: 512
Slot 2: 512
Slot 3: 512
Slot 4: 512
Slot 5: 1024
Slot 6: 1024
the rest of them are empty.
they all appear to be 667Mhz.
Yes, the warning comes on at boot time that it is not optimal. it works, but how much more performance does "optimal" give? is it worth going down to 3gb, putting the config as
Slot 1: 1024
Slot 2: 1024
Slot 3: 512
Slot 4: 512
or
Slot 1: 512
Slot 2: 512
Slot 3: 1024
Slot 4: 1024
I do not think that it is worth going up to 6 Gb of RAM because 32-bit OS cannot see that, right?
I sent an e-mail to Dell asking about the RAM modules and also about the missing cable to the perc6/i card.
Patrick Brewer
8 Posts
0
July 1st, 2008 15:00
Hello, I am back. Still no go. I was able to install the Perc6/i card by installing it in another slot, loading the drivers and then rebooting until there were no errors. at this point, there were no hard drives on the card but the SAS5 and the Perc6/i were both installed. I then removed the SAS5 and put the Perc6/i in the designated slot, hooked up the hard drives and I go into the perpetual reboot after seeing the SBS splash screen.
When changing the boot option to not auto reboot, it shows the BSOD 7B error (which I believe is a driver issue). I cannot seem to get past this spot.
I believe that right now my only two options is to try a repair install of SBS 2003 or a reinstall of SBS 2003. Of course, if the repair fails, the the reinstall is mandatory.
I have done repair installs with XP but not SBS. Is it basically the same? pop the disk in and boot, on the first prompt for repair with control console just hit install. Then on the second prompt, hit r for repair windows installation?
When all completed, do all the updates over to get SBS up to date?
if so, do I need to worry about my Exchange data? i.e. it will leave it alone? Also, I do not have a floppy on this server, during the repair, i assume it will ask for drivers for the Perc6/i card, will it allow for my to browse so that I can have the drivers on a flash drive?
any input is appreciated. Thanks.