Configuring RAID 5 Using LSI RAID Manager

Configuring RAID5 Using LSI RAID Manager

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Affected Roles:  Owner, Administrators

Complexity:  High

Last Edit:  June 1, 2021

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Configuring RAID

In some circumstances, your RAID 5 configuration may need to be rebuilt.  Common reasons for re-configuring the RAID 5 include:

• Adding storage
• Multiple drive failures
• RAID corruption. 

This article will outline how to configure a new RAID 5 setup using the LSI MegaRAID that is pre-installed on all DW RAID supported servers.

Supported/Affected Devices

• DW Blackjack® P-Rack Series
• DW Blackjack® E-Rack Series

Reconfiguring RAID 5 Drive Group

To rebuild the RAID Configuration:

1. Launch the LSI MegaRAID Storage Manager. 

On both Windows OS and Ubuntu/Linux OS supported DW Blackjack® Server units, there will be an icon on the desktop.

1. If the icon is not present in Ubuntu/Linux, you can prompt the LSI MegaRAID Storage Manager by opening the Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).
2. In the Terminal, log into the shell as the Super User by entering the following command, then press the Enter key.

Then enter the root Administrator password:

3. Next, access the application’s file path by using the command:

4. Finally, launch the LSI MegaRAID Storage Manager by using:

2. A window requesting the selection of the RAID Card will then display. 

Click on the IP Address.

3. The system will request the login credentials for the machine.

Enter the User Name and Password for the RAID Manager.

By default, all Windows supported Blackjack® Servers use:

• Default User Name:  <the system name of the server>
  • Example:  bjer
• Default Password:  admin

**NOTE:  On the Ubuntu/Linux machines, the LSI RAID Manager login is “root/admin”

**NOTE:  Variations in the System Name (such as “bjer3u48t”) depends on the model and part number of the Blackjack Server.

4. Once logged in, you will see the overview of your machine.

If the machine is sounding an alarm (beeping/chirping), click Silence alarm to stop the alarm.

5. On this page, select Create virtual drive.

6. The next window will prompt you to select simple or advanced.  Select Advanced, then click the Next button.

7. Set the RAID level to RAID 5.

Select all related drives from the unconfigured drives list, then click the Add >> button.

**NOTE:  DW Servers are designed to support only one RAID 5 configuration.  It is best to select all of the available storage drives.  Additionally, all of the drives must be of the same model and storage capacity.

8. The drives should now display under the Drive Group. 

Select the Drive Group, then click the Create Drive Group button.

Click Next.

9. Configure your RAID with the following settings:

• Capacity:  (Leave at default setting)
• Initialization State:  Fast Initialization
• Strip Size:  512 KB
• Read Policy:  Always Read Ahead
• Write Policy:  Always Write Back
• I/O Policy:  Direct IO
• Access Policy:  Read Write
• Disk Cache Policy:  Unchanged

After setting these configurations, select Create Virtual Drive.

**Note:  Any deviation from these settings is not supported by Digital Watchdog’s Technical Support Team.

10.   The RAID Manager will display a confirmation pop-up.

  Select Yes.

11.   Select Finish to create the virtual drives.

12. The RAID Manager will display a confirmation pop-up once the virtual drives have been successfully created.

Click OK to close the pop-up.

Disk Management

After creating the virtual drive for the RAID configuration, you will need to initialize the Disk Volume.

1. Open the Windows Start Menu and search for the Computer Management tool.

**NOTE:  An alternate way of opening the Computer Management tool is to right-click on Computer, then select Manage.

2. Select Disk Management.

Windows will typically auto-populate with the Initialize Disk menu.  If so, select GPT, then select OK.

3. Right-click on the Unallocated disk, then select New Simple Volume.

4. The New Simple Volume Wizard will display.

Click Next to begin.

5. The Specify Volume Size window will display.

Confirm that the Simple volume size in MB value is the same as the Maximum disk space in MB value.

Click Next to continue.

6. The Assign Drive Letter or Path window will display.

Assign the next available drive letter to the Volume.

Click Next to continue.

7. The Format Partition window will display.

Name the Volume label as DW Media.

Enable Perform a quick format.

Click Next.

8. Once the quick format has completed, a summary of the new simple volume will display.

Click Finish to complete the process.

9. Windows will detect the new drive and display it in the Disk Management tool.  The Virtual Disk can now be accessed and used for DW Spectrum® IPVMS.