DW Blackjack - LSI Storage Authority Software

LSI Storage Authority Software

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Affected Roles: Administrator, Owner

Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS

Last Edit: March 26, 2024

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LSI Storage Authority

The LSI Storage Authority program can be used to configure and manage drive groups on DW Blackjack Servers that have been equipped with a RAID storage array.

This article will outline how to disable RAID alarms, change unconfigured drives to an “Unconfigured Good” status, and how to create a RAID 5 array using the LSI Storage Authority software program.

Supported/Affected Devices:

DW Blackjack P-Rack 2U w/ RAID
DW Blackjack Rack 2U w/ RAID
DW Blackjack Tower w/ RAID
DW Blackjack Ai P-Rack 2U w/ RAID
DW Blackjack Ai Rack 2U w/ RAID
DW Blackjack Ai Tower w/ RAID

**NOTE: If you are using an older DW Blackjack P-Rack or E-Rack model, you may refer to the “Configuring RAID 5 Using Avago LSI MegaRAID Manager” article for guidance.

Using the LSI Storage Authority

Logging In

To log in to the LSI Storage Authority:

Open a web browser on the server and visit the localhost address:

http://127.0.0.1:2463

Alternatively, you can use the server’s IP address to connect instead of the localhost/loopback address.

Port 2463 is the assigned network port that is associated with the RAID controller for the DW Blackjack Server by default.

Default: dwuser / Dw5pectrum

At the top of the page, click on “Select Controller” then select the LSI MegaRAID controller.

Disable Alarm

In the event of a drive failure or similar issue occurring, the system will emit an alarm to alert users.

Users can respond and deactivate to this alarm by logging in to the LSI Storage Authority, then selecting the controller and unchecking the Alarm setting box.

Unconfigured Drives

When a new storage drive is added to the server, the RAID controller will identify it as a an unconfigured drive. Before it can be incorporated into the RAID array, it will need to be changed to an “unconfigured good” status.

To set an unconfigured drive to the “unconfigured good” status:

Select the LSI MegaRAID Controller then select the physical drives tab.

Select the drive from the Unconfigured Drives section.

In the Element(s) Actions section, select “Make Unconfigured Good”.

A pop-up message will display. Confirm to make the selected drive “Unconfigured Good”. The status of the unconfigured drive will then appear as “Unconfigured Good” in the Unconfigured Drive(s) section.

Importing or Clearing Foreign Drive Configurations

There may be some scenarios where after a storage drive has been replaced or re-seated in a RAID configuration to rebuild but will be detected as a “foreign” drive. A foreign configuration usually refers to a RAID configuration that already exists on a replacement set of drives that you have installed in the server.

This can pose a problem since the drive cannot begin to rebuild until it is registering as “unconfigured good”.

Administrators can choose to clear all foreign configurations to try to change the drive status to “unconfigured good” using the RAID controller.

To import or clear a foreign drive configuration:

From the RAID controller dashboard, in the Controller Actions area, click on “Configure” and select “Foreign Configuration”.

The Foreign Configuration window will appear and will list all detected foreign configurations.

To clear the “foreign drive” status, select “Clear All” to remove the foreign configurations from all foreign drives.

**NOTE: Selecting “Import All” will import the foreign configurations from all foreign drives. DO NOT do this if you do not want to incorporate a foreign RAID configuration. This may have adverse effects on the integrity of your system.

Click the “Re-Scan” button to refresh the window after clearing the foreign configuration.

Creating a RAID 5 Configuration

There may be an occasion where the RAID 5 configuration may need to be rebuilt for your server. Common reasons for re-configuring the RAID may include:

Adding storage
Multiple drive failures
RAID corruption

**NOTE: Prior to booting up the system, ensure that all drives for the RAID are installed in their bays. It is highly recommended that all HDDs involved share the same manufacturer and model of hard drive.

**NOTE: When a physical drive is in the “Prepare for Removal” state, you cannot create a virtual drive using that physical drive.

To create a new RAID 5 array:

From the RAID controller dashboard, in the Controller Actions area, click on “Configure” and select “Advanced Configuration”.

Click on the dropdown for the Raid Level Setting and select “RAID 5”.

Leave the other settings disabled and click the Next button to continue.

**NOTE: RAID 5 includes disk striping at the block level and parity. It is best suited for networks that perform many small I/O transactions simultaneously. RAID 5 addresses bottleneck issues for random I/O operations. Because each drive contains both data and parity, numerous writes can take place concurrently.