Dell EMC H745P MX, H740P, H840 User Manual

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Dell EMC PowerEdge RAID Controller 10 User’s Guide

H740P, H745P MX, and H840

Regulatory Model: UCPA-1001, UCPB-1000, UCPE-1000 and UCPJ-1000

Notes, cautions, and warnings

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.

WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

2018 - 11

Rev. A03

Contents

1 Overview........................................................................................................................................................8

Supported operating systems...........................................................................................................................................8

PERC card specications..................................................................................................................................................9

Management applications for PERC cards..................................................................................................................... 9

Comprehensive embedded management ...............................................................................................................10

Dell OpenManage Storage Management................................................................................................................ 10

Related documentation....................................................................................................................................................10

2 Getting Started.............................................................................................................................................11

3 Features....................................................................................................................................................... 13

Controller features............................................................................................................................................................13

FastPath.......................................................................................................................................................................13

Disk roaming................................................................................................................................................................13

1 MB IO.........................................................................................................................................................................14

Physical disk power management.............................................................................................................................14

Secure rmware update.............................................................................................................................................14

Enhanced HBA mode................................................................................................................................................. 14

Non-RAID disks...........................................................................................................................................................15

Auto Congure RAID 0...............................................................................................................................................15

PERC H745P MX enclosure support....................................................................................................................... 15

PERC H840 enclosure support.................................................................................................................................17

Prole Management...................................................................................................................................................19

Virtual disk features..........................................................................................................................................................19

Virtual disk write cache policies............................................................................................................................... 20

Virtual disk read cache policies.................................................................................................................................20

Virtual disk migration..................................................................................................................................................21

Virtual disk initialization.............................................................................................................................................. 21

Reconguration of virtual disks................................................................................................................................22

Background operations..............................................................................................................................................24

Hard drive features.......................................................................................................................................................... 24

Self-Encrypting Disks................................................................................................................................................ 24

Instant Secure Erase..................................................................................................................................................25

4 KB sector disk drives..............................................................................................................................................25

Fault tolerance..................................................................................................................................................................25

The SMART feature...................................................................................................................................................25

Patrol Read................................................................................................................................................................. 26

Physical disk failure detection...................................................................................................................................26

Using persistent hot spare slots...............................................................................................................................26

Physical disk hot swapping....................................................................................................................................... 27

Using replace member and revertible hot spares...................................................................................................27

Controller cache preservation...................................................................................................................................27

Contents

Battery Transparent Learn Cycle..............................................................................................................................28

4 Deploying the PERC card............................................................................................................................ 29

Removing the PERC H740P adapter............................................................................................................................ 29

Installing the PERC H740P adapter...............................................................................................................................30

Removing the PERC H740P mini monolithic.................................................................................................................31

Installing the PERC H740P mini monolithic.................................................................................................................. 32

Removing the PERC H745P MX adapter card............................................................................................................ 33

Installing the PERC H745P MX adapter card...............................................................................................................34

Removing the PERC H840 card.................................................................................................................................... 35

Installing the PERC H840 card.......................................................................................................................................36

Part replacement of a PERC card in eHBA mode........................................................................................................36

5 Driver installation.........................................................................................................................................37

Creating the device driver media................................................................................................................................... 37

Downloading drivers from the Dell support website..............................................................................................37

Downloading drivers from the Dell systems service and diagnostic tools media ..............................................38

Windows driver installation.............................................................................................................................................38

Installing the driver during a Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation........................................................38

Installing the driver after Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation ............................................................ 38

Updating PERC 10 driver for existing Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer............................................................39

Linux driver installation....................................................................................................................................................39

Installing or updating the RPM driver package with KMOD support..................................................................40

Installing or updating the RPM driver package with KMP support.....................................................................40

Loading the driver during operating system installation........................................................................................40

6 Firmware......................................................................................................................................................42

Installing the rmware using DUP..................................................................................................................................42

7 HII conguration utility.................................................................................................................................43

Entering the HII conguration utility.............................................................................................................................. 43

Exiting the HII conguration utility.................................................................................................................................43

Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.......................................................................................................... 43

HII Conguration utility Dashboard View options.........................................................................................................44

Conguration management............................................................................................................................................45

Auto Congure RAID 0..............................................................................................................................................45

Creating virtual disks................................................................................................................................................. 45

Conguring virtual disk parameters......................................................................................................................... 45

Creating prole based virtual disk............................................................................................................................46

Viewing Disk Group Properties.................................................................................................................................47

Deleting Congurations.............................................................................................................................................47

Controller management...................................................................................................................................................47

Clearing controller events......................................................................................................................................... 47

Saving controller events............................................................................................................................................48

Saving debug log........................................................................................................................................................48

Managing link speed.................................................................................................................................................. 48

Contents

Restoring factory default settings........................................................................................................................... 48

Manage controller mode...........................................................................................................................................49

Changing prole using HII Conguration Utility......................................................................................................49

Advanced controller properties................................................................................................................................ 50

Virtual disk management.................................................................................................................................................52

Virtual disk numbering...............................................................................................................................................52

Viewing virtual disk properties..................................................................................................................................52

Viewing physical disks associated with a virtual disk.............................................................................................53

Conguring virtual disk policies................................................................................................................................54

Conguring Virtual Disks...........................................................................................................................................54

Performing break mirror operation.......................................................................................................................... 55

Performing expand virtual disk operation............................................................................................................... 55

Performing consistency check.................................................................................................................................55

Physical disk management..............................................................................................................................................56

Viewing physical disk properties.............................................................................................................................. 56

Cryptographic erase.................................................................................................................................................. 58

Physical disk erase.....................................................................................................................................................58

Assigning global hot spare........................................................................................................................................ 58

Assigning dedicated hot spare................................................................................................................................. 59

Convert to RAID capable.......................................................................................................................................... 59

Convert to Non-RAID disk........................................................................................................................................59

Hardware components....................................................................................................................................................60

Viewing battery properties....................................................................................................................................... 60

Viewing physical disks associated with an enclosure............................................................................................ 60

8 Security key and RAID management............................................................................................................ 61

Security key implementation...........................................................................................................................................61

Security key management in the HII conguration utility............................................................................................ 61

Local Key Management....................................................................................................................................................61

Creating security key.......................................................................................................................................................62

Changing Security Settings............................................................................................................................................62

Disabling security key...................................................................................................................................................... 62

Creating secured virtual disk.......................................................................................................................................... 63

Securing pre-existing virtual disk...................................................................................................................................63

Importing secure virtual disk...........................................................................................................................................63

9 Troubleshooting........................................................................................................................................... 64

Adapter at baseport not responding error message....................................................................................................64

BIOS disabled error message..........................................................................................................................................64

Congured disks removed or not accessible error message......................................................................................65

Dirty cache data error message.....................................................................................................................................65

Discovery error message................................................................................................................................................ 65

Drive Conguration Changes Error Message............................................................................................................... 65

Windows operating system installation errors .............................................................................................................66

Firmware fault state error message...............................................................................................................................66

Extra enclosure error message.......................................................................................................................................66

Contents

Foreign conguration found error message..................................................................................................................66

Foreign conguration not found in HII error message.................................................................................................66

Degraded state of virtual disks.......................................................................................................................................67

Memory errors..................................................................................................................................................................67

Preserved Cache State................................................................................................................................................... 67

Security key errors...........................................................................................................................................................67

Secured foreign import errors...................................................................................................................................67

Failure to select or congure non Self-Encrypting Disks non-SED..................................................................... 68

Failure to delete security key....................................................................................................................................68

Failure of Cryptographic Erase task on secured physical disks............................................................................68

General issues...................................................................................................................................................................68

PERC card has yellow bang in device manager.....................................................................................................68

PERC card not seen in device manager..................................................................................................................68

Physical disk issues..........................................................................................................................................................69

Physical disk in failed state....................................................................................................................................... 69

Unable to rebuild a fault tolerant virtual disk.......................................................................................................... 69

Fatal error or data corruption reported................................................................................................................... 69

Physical disk displayed as blocked...........................................................................................................................69

Multiple disks become inaccessible......................................................................................................................... 69

Rebuilding a failed physical disk................................................................................................................................70

Virtual disk fails during rebuild using a global hot spare.........................................................................................70

Virtual disk fails during rebuild using a dedicated hot spare..................................................................................70

Physical disk fails during reconstruction on redundant virtual disk......................................................................70

Virtual disk fails rebuild using a dedicated hot spare..............................................................................................70

Physical disk takes a long time to rebuild.................................................................................................................71

SMART errors................................................................................................................................................................... 71

Smart error detected on a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk..................................................................... 71

Smart error detected on a physical disk in a non-redundant virtual disk.............................................................71

Replace member errors...................................................................................................................................................72

Source disk fails during replace member operation............................................................................................... 72

Target disk fails...........................................................................................................................................................72

General disk fails.........................................................................................................................................................72

Linux operating system errors........................................................................................................................................ 72

Virtual disk policy is assumed as write-through error message............................................................................72

Unable to register SCSI device error message.......................................................................................................73

Disk carrier LED indicators..............................................................................................................................................73

HII error messages........................................................................................................................................................... 74

Unhealthy Status of the Drivers...............................................................................................................................74

10 Appendix RAID description......................................................................................................................... 75

Summary of RAID levels..................................................................................................................................................75

RAID terminology............................................................................................................................................................. 76

Disk striping.................................................................................................................................................................76

Disk mirroring..............................................................................................................................................................76

Spanned RAID levels..................................................................................................................................................77

Parity data...................................................................................................................................................................77

Contents

11 Getting help................................................................................................................................................ 78

Contacting Dell EMC....................................................................................................................................................... 78

Documentation feedback................................................................................................................................................78

Contents 7

Overview

The PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 Series of cards consist of the H740P, H745P MX, and H840 cards. The PERC 10 family of storage controller cards has the following characteristics:

• Complies with serial-attached SCSI (SAS) 3.0 providing up to 12 Gb/sec throughput.

• Supports Dell-qualied serial-attached SCSI (SAS) hard drives, SATA hard drives, and solid-state drives (SSDs).

NOTE: Mixing SAS and SATA drives within a virtual disk is not supported. Also, mixing hard drives and SSDs within a virtual

disk is not supported.

NOTE: Mixing disks of dierent speed (7,200 rpm, 10,000 rpm, or 15,000 rpm) and bandwidth (3 Gbps, 6 Gbps or 12 Gbps)

while maintaining the same drive type (SAS or SATA) and technology (HDD or SSD) is supported.

• Oers RAID control capabilities which include support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60.

• Provides reliability, high performance, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem management.

Topics:

• Supported operating systems

• PERC card specications

• Management applications for PERC cards

• Related documentation

Supported operating systems

The PERC 10 series cards support the following operating systems:

NOTE

: For more information on the supported operating systems supported by a specic server, see www.dell.com/support

• Microsoft

– Windows Server 2012 R2

– Windows Server 2016

– Windows Server 2019

• VMware

– ESXi 6.5 Update 2

– ESXi 6.7 Update 1

NOTE

: The PERC 10 driver for VMware ESXi is bundled with the VMware ISO image available from Dell. For more information,

see Dell.com/virtualizationsolutions.

• Linux

– Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 6.10

– Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 7.5

– SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15

– XenServer 7.1.1

– Ubuntu 18.04.1

8 Overview

PERC card specications

The table below lists and describes the dierent PERC cards that comprise the PERC 10 series and their specications:

Table 1. PERC cards

Feature PERC H740P PERC H745P MX PERC H840

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

Enclosures per port Not applicable Not applicable 4

Processor Dell Adapter SAS RAID-on-Chip,

8-port with LSI 3508 chipset

Battery Backup Unit Yes Yes Yes

Non-Volatile cache Yes Yes Yes

Cache memory 8 GB DDR4 2133 Mhz cache 8 GB DDR4 2133 Mhz cache 8 GB DDR4 2133 Mhz cache

Cache function Write Back, Write Through, No

Read Ahead, and Read Ahead

Maximum number of virtual disks, RAID mode

Maximum number of disks, Enhanced HBA mode

Maximum number of virtual disks per disk group

Hot swap devices supported Yes Yes Yes

Hardware XOR Engine Yes Yes Yes

Online capacity expansion Yes Yes Yes

Dedicated and global hot spare Yes Yes Yes

64 240 240

240 - combination of virtual disks and Non-Raid disks.

16 16 16

Dell Adapter SAS RAID-on-Chip, 16-port with LSI 3516 chipset

Write Back, Write Through, No Read Ahead, and Read Ahead

240 - combination of virtual disks and Non-Raid disks.

Dell Adapter SAS RAID-onChip, 8-port with LSI 3508 chipset

Write Back, Write Through, No Read Ahead, and Read Ahead

N/A

Drives Types 3 Gbps SATA, 6 Gbps SATA/

SAS, and 12 Gbps SAS

PCIe Support Gen 3 Gen 3 Gen 3

NOTE: Enhanced HBA mode is supported from rmware version 50.5.0-1750 (or later).

NOTE: 240 virtual disks can be created only in PD240 prole, for more information see Prole Management.

3 Gbps SATA, 6 Gbps SATA/ SAS, and 12 Gbps SAS

6 Gbps SAS, and 12 Gbps SAS

Management applications for PERC cards

Dell OpenManage Storage Management applications enable you to manage and congure the RAID system, create and manage multiple disk groups, control and monitor multiple RAID systems, and provide online maintenance. The management applications for all PERC cards include:

• Comprehensive Embedded Management

• Dell OpenManage Storage Management

Overview

• Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Conguration Utility

• PERC CLI

NOTE: The BIOS conguration utility <Ctrl> <R> is not supported on the PERC 10 cards.

Comprehensive embedded management

Comprehensive Embedded Management (CEM) is a storage management solution for Dell systems that enables you to eectively monitor the RAID and network controllers installed on the system using iDRAC without an OS installed on the system.

Using CEM enables you to perform the following:

• Monitor devices without an OS installed on the system.

• Provide a specic location to access monitored data of the storage devices and network cards.

• Allows controller conguration for all the PERC 10 cards (H740P and H840).

NOTE: If you boot the system to HII (F2) or Lifecycle Controller (F10), then you cannot view the PERC cards on the CEM GUI.

The PERC cards are displayed on the CEM GUI only after the system boot is complete.

Dell OpenManage Storage Management

The Dell OpenManage Storage Management is a storage management application for Dell systems that provides enhanced features for conguring a system's locally-attached RAID disk storage. The Dell OpenManage storage management application enables you to perform controller and enclosure functions for all supported RAID controllers and enclosures from a single graphical or command-line interface. The graphical user interface (GUI) is wizard-driven with features for novice and advanced users, and detailed online help. Using the Dell OpenManage storage management application, you can protect your data by conguring data-redundancy, assigning hot spares, or rebuilding failed physical disks. The command line interface available on selected operating systems to perform RAID management tasks is fully featured and scriptable.

NOTE

: For more information, see the

Dell OpenManage Storage Management User's Guide

Getting Started

The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 Series of cards consist of the H740P, H745P MX, and H840 cards.

• PERC H740P: The PERC H740P is the performance RAID solution card consisting of 8 GB Non-Volatile Cache and is available in the Adapter (low prole and full height) and Mini Monolithic form factors for internal storage.

Figure 1. Features of PERC H740P adapter

heat sink 2 battery

3 battery cable 4 battery-cable connector

5 port B 6 port A

Figure 2. Features of PERC H740P mini monolithic card

heat sink 2 battery

Getting Started 11

3 battery cable

• PERC H745P MX: The PERC H745P MX is the MX7000 RAID solution card consisting of 8 GB Non-Volatile Cache that manages drives internally and in the MX5017 storage enclosure.

Figure 3. Features of PERC H745P MX adapter

1 Mezzanine connector 2 release lever

3 heat sink 4 SAS-cable connector

5 battery-cable connector 6 battery

• PERC H840: The PERC H840 is similar to the H740P solution, except that it supports external storage. The PERC H840 is only available in the Adapter (low prole and full height) form factor.

Figure 4. Features of PERC H840 adapter card

heat sink 2 battery

3 battery cable 4 battery-cable connector

5 port B/1 6 port A/0

12 Getting Started

Controller features

This section lists the following controller features supported on PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 cards in detail:

• FastPath

• Disk roaming

• 1 MB IO

• Physical disk power management

• Auto Congure RAID0

• Secure rmware update

• PERC H840 enclosure support

• Redundant path support for PERC H840

• Prole Management

FastPath

Features

FastPath is a feature that improves application performance by delivering high I/O per second (IOPs) for Solid State Drives (SSD). The Dell

PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 series supports FastPath.

To enable FastPath on a virtual disk the Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 series cache policies need to be set to Write-Through and No Read Ahead. This enables FastPath to use the proper data path through the controller based on command (read/write), IO size, and RAID type.

Disk roaming

Disk roaming is moving the physical disks from one cable connection or backplane slot to another on the same controller. The controller automatically recognizes the relocated physical disks and logically places them in the virtual disks that are part of the disk group. You can perform disk roaming only when the system is turned o.

CAUTION

of the virtual disk.

Using disk roaming

Perform the following steps to use disk roaming:

1 Turn o the power to the system, physical disks, enclosures, and system components.

2 Disconnect power cables from the system.

3 Move the physical disks to desired positions on the backplane or the enclosure.

4 Perform a safety check. Make sure the physical disks are inserted properly.

5 Turn on the system.

: Do not attempt disk roaming during RAID level migration (RLM) or online capacity expansion (OCE). This causes loss

The controller detects the RAID conguration from the conguration data on the physical disks.

Features 13

1 MB IO

The H740P and H840 controllers support 1 MB IO feature. If the capacity of IO frame is greater than 1 MB, the IO frame is broken into smaller chunks.

Physical disk power management

Physical disk power management is a power-saving feature of the PERC 10 series cards. The feature allows disks to be spun down based on disk conguration and I/O activity. The feature is supported on all rotating SAS and SATA disks and includes uncongured and hot-spare disks. The physical disk power management feature is disabled by default. You can enable the feature in the Dell Open Manage Storage Management application or in the Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Conguration utility. For more information on HII conguration and physical disk power management, see Enabling Physical Disk Power Management. For more information on using the Dell Open Manage Storage Management application, see the Dell OpenManage documentation at Dell.com/openmanagemanuals.

Secure rmware update

This feature provides a cryptographic method of updating the rmware using RSA encryption-decryption algorithm.

Only Dell certied rmware is supported on your PERC controller.

Enhanced HBA mode

Enhanced HBA mode (eHBA mode) is a new operating mode available with H740P and H745P MX cards. eHBA provides the following features:

• Create virtual disks with RAID level 0, 1, or 10.

• Present Non-RAID disks to the host.

• Congure a default cache policy for virtual disks is write-back with read ahead.

• Congure virtual disks and Non-RAID disks as valid boot devices

• Automatically convert all uncongured disks to Non-RAID:

– On system boot

– On controller reset

– When uncongured disks are hot-inserted

NOTE

: Creating or Importing RAID 5, 6, 50, or 60 virtual disks are not supported.

NOTE: Older versions of OpenManage Storage Management and Comprehensive Embedded Management do not support

management of the controller in Enhanced HBA mode.

NOTE: In enhanced HBA mode, non-RAID disks are enumerated rst in ascending order, while RAID volumes are enumerated in

descending order.

NOTE: For more information, see the applicable systems management documentation.

14 Features

Table 2. PERC cards with eHBA mode enabled

Feature eHBA mode (H740P and H745P MX only)

RAID levels 0, 1, and 10

Host I/O command queue depth 5120 (H740P)

Maximum supported PDs Max (240)

4KB drives Yes

Write Back caching Yes (VDs only)

SED support Yes, local key management

Battery maintenance Yes

Patrol Read Yes (VDs only)

Controller and battery Diagnostics Yes

Non-RAID disks

A Non-RAID disk is a single disk to the host, and not a RAID volume. The only supported cache policy for Non-RAID disks is write-through.

Auto Congure RAID 0

Auto Congure RAID 0 feature creates a single drive RAID 0 on each physical disk that is in the ready state. For more information, see Auto

Congure RAID 0.

PERC H745P MX enclosure support

The H745P MX is a RAID controller for the PowerEdge MX740c and MX840c compute sleds. It is used as an interface in a multipath topology with the MX5016s storage sled for the MX7000 modular system. The following illustration describes the multipath topology for the MX7000 modular system:

Features

Figure 5. Multipath topology for the MX7000 modular system

In this illustration, the H745P MX resides in the compute sled and functions as an interface to the SAS topology of the MX7000. The H745P MX is used to congure drives that are located in the MX5016s storage sled into RAID volumes. The H745P MX connects to a pair of MX5000s SAS I/O modules (IOMs) that manage connections between the compute and storage sleds in the MX7000. For more information about conguring drive assignments, see the Dell.com/openmanagemanuals > OpenManage Enterprise Modular.

NOTE

: The I/O modules cannot be congured independently.

The H745P MX is connected to the SAS IOM, which in turn connects to one of the SAS expanders in the storage sled. The expander in the storage sled is then connected to all the physical drives in the storage sled, providing one path between the H745P MX and a physical drive in the storage sled. With connections to both SAS IOMs, the H745P MX has two paths to each drive in a storage sled allowing for a multipath conguration. If either a SAS IOM or a SAS expander in the storage sled is removed, then a path to the physical drive is removed from the SAS topology.

Features

PERC H840 enclosure support

The H840 card is an external card. The H840 card supports:

• up to eight enclosures using single path conguration.

• up to four enclosure using multipath conguration.

To set up a conguration with redundant paths, both ports on a controller must be cabled to the ports of a single enclosure.

NOTE: The PERC H840 card supports redundant paths when used with Dell PowerVault MD14XX series disk storage

enclosures.

NOTE: The Enhanced HBA mode is not supported on PERC H840.

Figure 6. PERC H840 card ports — Four enclosures with multipath conguration

To set up an enclosure on the PERC H840 card:

a To connect multiple enclosures, two cables connect the rst enclosure to the second enclosure, then two more cables connect

the second enclosure to the third enclosure.

b To connect a single enclosure, cable the ports so that the enclosure is connected to both the ports on the controller card.

Features

Figure 7. PERC H840 card ports — Eight enclosures with single path conguration

Redundant path support for PERC H840

The PERC H840 adapter can detect and use redundant paths to disks contained in enclosures. This provides the ability to connect two SAS cables between a controller and an enclosure for path redundancy. The controller can tolerate the failure of a cable or Enclosure Management Module (EMM) by utilizing the remaining path. When redundant paths exist, the controller automatically balances I/O load through both paths to each disk. Load balancing increases throughput to virtual disks in storage enclosures and is automatically turned on when redundant paths are detected. To set up your hardware to support redundant paths, see Setting up redundant path support on the

PERC H840 adapter.

NOTE

: This is applicable for PERC H840 only.

NOTE: This support for redundant paths refers to path redundancy only and not to controller redundancy.

18 Features

Setting up redundant path support on the PERC H840 adapter

The PERC H840 card can detect and use redundant paths to disks contained in enclosures. With redundant paths to the same device, if one path fails, another path can be used to communicate between the controller and the device.

To connect single enclosure, cable the ports so that the enclosure is connected to both the ports on the controller card. See Figure 6.

PERC H840 Card ports - Four enclosures with multipath conguration in PERC H840 enclosure support.

Prole Management

PERC 10 introduces the concept of proles. A prole is user selectable. It denes controller queue depth and the maximum number of physical and virtual disks. There are two proles: PD64 and PD240. The H740 supports only the PD64 prole. The H745P MX supports only the PD240 prole. The H840 supports both PD64 and PD240. PD240 is the default prole on H840. For more information see Changing

prole using HII Conguration Utility.

NOTE: When H740 or H840 controller is upgraded to 50.3.0-1022 from an older rmware, prole on the controller is set to PD64.

Table 3. Supported Proles on PERC 10

Feature PD64 PD240

Prole ID 10 12

Maximum physical disk supported 64 240

Maximum virtual disk supported 64 240

Controller queue depth 4096 3072

Maximum enclosure supported

NOTE: In the MX chassis, H745P MX supports seven enclosures using a multipath

conguration.

NOTE: PD64 is supported on internal and external controllers, whereas PD240 is supported on the H840 and H745P MX.

• One enclosure using multipath

conguration

• Two enclosure using single path

conguration

• Four enclosure using multipath conguration

• Eight enclosure using single path

conguration

Virtual disk features

This section lists the following virtual disk features supported on PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 cards in detail:

• Virtual disk write cache policy

• Virtual disk read cache policy

• Virtual disk migration

• Virtual disk Initialization

• Reconguration of virtual disk

• Background operations

Features

Virtual disk write cache policies

The write cache policy of a virtual disk determines how the controller handles writes to the virtual disk.

Table 4. Write cache policies

Feature Description

Write-Back The controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host

when the controller cache has received all the data in a transaction. The controller then writes the cached data to the storage device in the background.

NOTE: The default cache setting for virtual disks is Write-

Back caching. Write-back caching is also supported for single drive RAID 0 virtual disks.

Write-Through The controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host

system when the disk subsystem has received all the data in a transaction.

All RAID volumes are presented as Write-Through to the operating system (Windows and Linux) independent of the actual write cache policy of the virtual disk. The PERC cards manage the data in cache independently of the operating system or any applications.

NOTE: Certain data patterns and congurations perform

better with a Write-Through cache policy.

NOTE: Use the Dell OpenManage storage management application or the HII Conguration Utility to view and manage virtual

disk cache settings.

Conditions under which write-back is employed

Write-Back caching is used under all conditions in which the battery is present and in good condition.

Conditions under which forced write-back with no battery is employed

CAUTION

the system suddenly loses power.

Write-Back mode is available when you select Force WB with no battery. When Forced Write-Back mode is selected, the virtual disk is in Write-Back mode even if the battery is not present.

: It is recommended that you use a power backup system when forcing Write-Back to ensure there is no loss of data if

Virtual disk read cache policies

The read policy of a virtual disk determines how the controller handles reads to that virtual disk.

Features

Table 5. Read policies

Feature Description

Read Ahead

No Read Ahead

Allows the controller to read sequentially ahead of requested data and to store the additional data in cache memory, anticipating that the data is required soon. This speeds up reads for sequential data, but there is slight improvement when accessing random data.

Disables the Read Ahead capability.

Adaptive Read Ahead

Adaptive read ahead is no longer supported. Selecting adaptive read ahead is equivalent to selecting Read Ahead option.

Virtual disk migration

The PERC 10 series supports migration of virtual disks from one controller to another without taking the target controller oine. The controller can import RAID virtual disks in optimal, degraded, or partially degraded states. You cannot import a virtual disk that is oine. Disk migration pointers:

• Supports migration of virtual disks from PERC H330, H730, H730P, and H830 to PERC 10 series

• Supports migration of volumes created within PERC 10 series

• Does not support migration from PERC 10 series to H330, H730, H730P, H830, H310, H710, H710P, H810

• Does not support migration from H310, H710, H710P, and H810 to PERC10 series

NOTE

: The source controller must be oine prior to performing the disk migration.

NOTE: Importing non-RAID drives and uneven span RAID 10 virtual disks from PERC 9 to PERC 10 are not supported.

NOTE: Disks cannot be migrated to older generations of the PERC cards.

NOTE: Importing secured virtual disks is supported as long as the appropriate Local Key Management (LKM) is supplied or

congured.

When a controller detects a congured physical disk, it ags the physical disk as foreign, and generates an alert indicating that a foreign disk was detected.

CAUTION

: Do not attempt disk migration during RLM or online capacity expansion (OCE). This causes loss of the virtual disk.

Virtual disk initialization

PERC 10 series supports two types of virtual disk initialization:

• Full Initialization

• Fast Initialization

CAUTION

Full initialization

Performing a full initialization on a virtual disk overwrites all blocks and destroys any data that previously existed on the virtual disk. Full initialization of a virtual disk eliminates the need for the virtual disk to undergo a Background initialization (BGI). Full initialization can be performed after the virtual disk is created.

: Initializing virtual disks erases les and le systems while keeping the virtual disk conguration intact.

Features

During full initialization, the host cannot access the virtual disk. You can start a full initialization on a virtual disk by using the Slow Initialize option in the Dell OpenManage storage management application. For more information on using the HII Conguration Utility to perform a full initialization, see Conguring virtual disk parameters.

NOTE: If the system reboots during a full initialization, the operation aborts and a BGI begins on the virtual disk.

Fast initialization

A fast initialization on a virtual disk overwrites the rst and last 8 MB of the virtual disk, clearing any boot records or partition information. The operation takes only 2–3 seconds to complete, but it is followed by BGI, which takes a longer time to complete. To perform a fast initialization using the HII Conguration Utility, see Conguring virtual disk parameters.

Reconguration of virtual disks

An online virtual disk can be recongured in ways that expands its capacity and/or change its RAID level.

NOTE: Spanned virtual disks such as RAID 50 and 60 cannot be recongured.

NOTE: Reconguring Virtual Disks typically impacts disk performance until the reconguration operation is complete.

Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) can be done in two ways:

1 If there is a single virtual disk in a disk group and free space is available, the virtual disk’s capacity can be expanded within that free

space. If multiple virtual disks exist within a common disk group, those virtual disk’s capacities cannot be expanded.

2 Free space is also available when a disk group’s physical disks are replaced by larger disks using the Replace Member feature. A virtual

disk's capacity can also be expanded by performing an OCE operation to add more physical disks.

RAID Level Migration (RLM) refers to changing a virtual disk’s RAID level. Both RLM and OCE can be done at the same time so that a virtual disk can simultaneously have its RAID level changed and its capacity increased. When a RLM/OCE operation is complete, a reboot is not required. The source RAID level column indicates the virtual disk RAID level before the RLM/OCE operation and the target RAID level column indicates the RAID level after the RLM/OCE operation.

NOTE

: If the controller already contains the maximum number of virtual disks, you cannot perform a RAID level migration or

capacity expansion on any virtual disk.

NOTE: The controller changes the write cache policy of all virtual disks undergoing a RLM/OCE operation to Write-Through until

the RLM/OCE operation is complete.

See the following table for a list of RLM/OCE possibilities.

Table 6. RAID level migration

Source RAID Level Target RAID Level Number of Physical

Disks (Beginning)

RAID 0 RAID 0 1 2 or more Yes Increases capacity by

RAID 0 RAID 1 1 2 No Converts a non-

Number of Physical Disks (End)

Capacity Expansion Possible

Description

adding disks.

redundant virtual disk into a mirrored virtual disk by adding one disk.

RAID 0 RAID 5 1 or more 3 or more Yes At least two disk

needs to be added

22 Features

Source RAID Level Target RAID Level Number of Physical

Disks (Beginning)

RAID 0 RAID 6 1 or more 4 or more Yes At least three disks

RAID 1 RAID 0 2 2 or more Yes Removes redundancy

RAID 1 RAID 5 2 3 or more Yes Maintains

RAID 1 RAID 6 2 4 or more Yes Two disks required to

RAID 5 RAID 0 3 or more 3 or more Yes Converts to a non-

Number of Physical Disks (End)

Capacity Expansion Possible

Description

for distributed parity data.

need to be added for dual distributed parity data.

while increasing capacity.

redundancy while doubling capacity.

be added for distributed parity data.

redundant virtual disk and reclaims disk space used for distributed parity data.

RAID 5 RAID 5 3 or more 4 or more Yes Increases capacity by

adding disks.

RAID 5 RAID 6 3 or more 4 or more Yes At least one disk

needs to be added for dual distributed parity data.

RAID 6 RAID 0 4 or more 4 or more Yes Converts to a non-

redundant virtual disk and reclaims disk space used for distributed parity data.

RAID 6 RAID 5 4 or more 4 or more Yes Removes one set of

parity data and reclaims disk space used for it.

RAID 6 RAID 6 4 or more 5 or more Yes Increases capacity by

adding disks

RAID 10 RAID 10 Less than 32 32 Yes Increases capacity by

adding disks

NOTE: The total number of physical disks in a disk group cannot exceed 32. You cannot perform RAID level migration and

expansion on RAID levels 50 and 60.

Features 23

Background operations

Background initialization

Background Initialization (BGI) is an automated process that writes the parity or mirror data on newly created virtual disks. BGI does not run on RAID 0 virtual disks. You can control the BGI rate in the Dell OpenManage storage management application. Any change in the BGI rate does not take eect until the next BGI run.

NOTE: You cannot disable BGI permanently. If you cancel BGI, it automatically restarts within ve minutes.

NOTE: Unlike full or fast initialization of virtual disks, background initialization does not clear data from the physical disks.

NOTE: Consistency Check (CC)/BGI typically causes some loss in performance until the operation completes.

Consistency Check (CC) and BGI perform similar functions in that they both correct parity errors. However, CC reports data inconsistencies through an event notication, but BGI does not. You can start CC manually, but not BGI.

Consistency checks

Consistency Check (CC) is a background operation that veries and corrects the mirror or parity data for fault tolerant virtual disks. It is recommended that you periodically run a consistency check on virtual disks.

You can manually start a CC using the HII Conguration Utility or the Dell OpenManage storage management application. You can schedule a CC to run on virtual disks using the Dell OpenManage storage management application. To start a CC using the HII

Conguration Utility, see Performing consistency check.

NOTE

: CC/BGI typically causes some loss in performance until the operation completes.

Consistency Check (CC) and BGI both correct parity errors. However, CC reports data inconsistencies through an event notication, but BGI does not. You can start CC manually, but not BGI.

Hard drive features

This section lists the following hard drive features supported on PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 cards in detail:

• Self-Encrypting Disks (SED)

• Instant Secure Erase (ISE)

• 4KB block size disk drives

Self-Encrypting Disks

The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 series of cards support Self-Encrypting Disks (SED) for protection of data against loss or theft of SEDs. Protection is achieved by the use of encryption technology on the drives. There is one security key per controller. You can manage the security key under Local Key Management (LKM). The security key is used by the controller to lock and unlock access to encryption-capable physical disks. In order to take advantage of this feature, you must:

• Have SEDs in your system.

• Create a security key.

For more information, see the Security key and RAID management section.

Features

NOTE: You cannot enable security on non-optimal virtual disks.

Instant Secure Erase

Instant Secure Erase (ISE) drives use the same encryption technology as SED drives but do not allow the encryption key to be secured. The encryption technology allows the drive to be re-purposed and securely erased using the Cryptographic erase function.

NOTE: ISE drives do not provide protection against theft.

4 KB sector disk drives

PERC H740P, H745P MX, and H840 cards support 4 KB sector disk drives, which enable you to eciently use the storage space.

Before installing Windows on 4 KB sector drives, refer Windows operating system installation errors.

NOTE: Mixing 512–byte native and 512–byte emulated drives in a virtual disk is allowed, but mixing 512–byte and 4 KB native

drives in a virtual disk is not allowed.

NOTE: 4K is only supported in UEFI mode and not legacy BIOS.

NOTE: 4K devices will not appear in the boot select option; see the select boot device section for more information.

Fault tolerance

The PERC 10 series supports the following:

• Self-Monitoring and Reporting Technology (SMART)

• Patrol Read

• Physical disk failure detection

• Physical disk rebuild using hot spares

• Controller cache preservation

• Battery and non-volatile cache backup of controller cache to protect data

• Detection of batteries with low charge after boot up

The next sections describe some methods to achieve fault tolerance.

The SMART feature

The SMART feature monitors certain physical aspects of all motors, heads, and physical disk electronics to help detect predictable physical disk failures. Data on SMART-compliant physical disks can be monitored to identify changes in values and determine whether the values are within threshold limits. Many mechanical and electrical failures display some degradation in performance before failure.

A SMART failure is also referred to as predicted failure. There are numerous factors that are predicted physical disk failures, such as a bearing failure, a broken read/write head, and changes in spin-up rate. In addition, there are factors related to read/write surface failure, such as seek error rate and excessive bad sectors.

: For detailed information on SCSI interface specications, see t10.org and for detailed information on SATA interface

NOTE

specications, see t13.org.

Features 25

Automatic replace member with predicted failure

A Replace Member operation can occur when there is a SMART predictive failure reporting on a physical disk in a virtual disk. The automatic Replace Member is initiated when the rst SMART error occurs on a physical disk that is part of a virtual disk. The target disk needs to be a hot spare that qualies as a rebuild disk. The physical disk with the SMART error is marked as failed only after the successful completion of the Replace Member. This prevents the array from reaching degraded state.

If an automatic Replace Member occurs using a source disk that was originally a hot spare (that was used in a rebuild), and a new disk added for the Replace Member operation as the target disk, the hot spare reverts to the hot spare state after a successful Replace

Member

operation.

NOTE: To enable the automatic Replace Member, use the Dell OpenManage storage management application.

Patrol Read

The Patrol Read feature is designed as a preventative measure to ensure physical disk health and data integrity. Patrol Read scans and resolves potential problems on congured physical disks. The Dell OpenManage storage management application can be used to start Patrol Read and change its behavior.

The following is an overview of Patrol Read behavior:

• Patrol Read runs on all disks on the controller that are congured as part of a virtual disk, including hot spares.

• Patrol Read does not run on physical disks that are not part of a virtual disk or are in Ready state.

• Patrol Read adjusts the amount of controller resources dedicated to Patrol Read operations based on outstanding disk I/O. For example, if the system is busy processing I/O operation, then Patrol Read uses fewer resources to allow the I/O to take a higher priority.

• Patrol Read does not run on any disks involved in any of the following operations:

– Rebuild

– Replace Member

– Full or Background Initialization

– CC

– RLM or OCE

NOTE

: By default, Patrol Read automatically runs every seven days on congured SAS and SATA hard drives. Patrol Read is

not necessary on SSD and is disabled by default.

For more information on Patrol Read, see the Dell OpenManage documentation at Dell.com/openmanagemanuals.

Physical disk failure detection

Failed physical disks are detected and rebuilds automatically start to new disks that are inserted into the same slot. Automatic rebuilds can also occur with hot spares. If you have congured hot spares, the controllers automatically try to use them to rebuild failed physical disks.

Using persistent hot spare slots

: The persistent hot spare slot feature is disabled by default.

NOTE

The PERC 10 series can be congured so that the system backplane or storage enclosure disk slots are dedicated as hot spare slots. This feature can be enabled using the Dell OpenManage storage management application.

Features

Once enabled, any slots with hot spares congured automatically become persistent hot spare slots. If a hot spare disk fails or is removed, a replacement disk that is inserted into the same slot automatically becomes a hot spare with the same properties as the one it is replacing. If the replacement disk does not match the disk protocol and technology, it does not become a hot spare.

For more information on persistent hot spares, see the Dell OpenManage documentation at Dell.com/openmanagemanuals.

Physical disk hot swapping

NOTE: To check if the backplane supports hot swapping, see the Owner’s Manual of your system.

Hot swapping is the manual replacement of a disk while the PERC 10 series cards are online and performing their normal functions. The following requirements must be met before hot swapping a physical disk:

• The system backplane or enclosure must support hot swapping for the PERC 10 series cards to support hot swapping.

• The replacement disk must be of the same protocol and disk technology. For example, only a SAS hard drive can replace a SAS hard drive and only a SATA SSD can replace a SATA SSD.

Using replace member and revertible hot spares

The Replace Member functionality allows a previously commissioned hot spare to revert to a usable hot spare. When a disk failure occurs within a virtual disk, an assigned hot spare (dedicated or global) is commissioned and begins rebuilding until the virtual disk is optimal. After the failed disk is replaced (in the same slot) and the rebuild to the hot spare is complete, the controller automatically starts to copy data from the commissioned hot spare to the newly-inserted disk. After the data is copied, the new disk is a part of the virtual disk and the hot spare is reverted to being a ready hot spare. This allows hot spares to remain in specic enclosure slots. While the controller is reverting the hot spare, the virtual disk remains optimal.

NOTE

: The controller automatically reverts a hot spare only if the failed disk is replaced with a new disk in the same slot. If the

new disk is not placed in the same slot, a manual Replace Member operation can be used to revert a previously commissioned hot spare.

NOTE: A Replace Member operation typically causes a temporary impact to disk performance. Once the operation completes,

performance returns to normal.

Controller cache preservation

The controller is capable of preserving its cache in the event of a system power outage or improper system shutdown. The PERC 10 Series controller is attached to a Battery Backup Unit (BBU) that provides backup power during system power loss to preserve the controller's cache data.

Cache Preservation With NVC

The Non-Volatile Cache (NVC) allows controller cache data to be stored indenitely. If the controller has data in the cache memory during a power outage or improper system shutdown, a small amount of power from the battery is used to transfer the cache data to a non-volatile ash storage where it remains until power is restored and the system is booted.

Features

Recovering cache data

If a system power loss or improper system shutdown has occurred:

1 Restore the system power.

2 Boot the system.

3 Where preserved cache exists on the controller, an error message is shown. For more information on how to recover cache, see

Preserved Cache State.

Battery Transparent Learn Cycle

A transparent learn cycle is a periodic operation that calculates the charge that is remaining in the battery to ensure there is sucient energy. The operation runs automatically, and causes no impact to the system or controller performance.

The controller automatically performs the Transparent Learn Cycle (TLC) on the battery to calibrate and gauge its charge capacity once every 90 days. The operation can be performed manually, if required.

NOTE: Virtual disks stay in Write Back mode, if enabled, during transparent learn cycle. When the TLC completes, the controller

sets the next TLC to +90 days.

Transparent Learn Cycle Completion Time

The time frame for completion of a learn cycle is a function of the battery charge capacity and the discharge and charge currents used. Typical time completion for a transparent learn cycle is between 4-8 hours. If the learn cycle is interrupted mid cycle, it begins at a new cycle.

Conditions for replacing the battery

The PERC battery is marked Failed when the state or health of the battery is declared bad. If battery is declared failed then the rmware runs learn cycles in subsequent reboots until the battery is replaced. After replacing the battery, virtual disk transitions to Write Back mode.

Features

Deploying the PERC card

This document provides a set of high-level installation and removal instructions for the following Dell PowerEdge RAID Controllers (PERC) 10 series:

1 PERC H740P Adapter

2 PERC H740P Mini Monolithic

3 PERC H745P MX Adapter

4 PERC H840 Adapter

NOTE: For detailed information on cabling the PERC 10 cards, see the system documentation at Dell.com/poweredgemanuals.

Topics:

• Removing the PERC H740P adapter

• Installing the PERC H740P adapter

• Removing the PERC H740P mini monolithic

• Installing the PERC H740P mini monolithic

• Removing the PERC H745P MX adapter card

• Installing the PERC H745P MX adapter card

• Removing the PERC H840 card

• Installing the PERC H840 card

• Part replacement of a PERC card in eHBA mode

Removing the PERC H740P adapter

CAUTION

repairs as authorized in your product documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service and support team. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that are shipped with your product.

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

CAUTION: To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.

1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals.

2 Open the system.

3 Locate the PERC card on the system board.

4 Lift the card to remove it from the connector on the system board.

5 Disconnect the SAS cables connected to the card:

a Press down and hold the metal tab on the SAS cable connector.

b Pull the SAS cable out of the connector.

6 Replace the storage controller card and connect the cable. For more information on installing the card, see Installing the PERC H740P

adapter.

7 Close the system.

8 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.

: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

Deploying the PERC card 29

Figure 8. Removing and installing the PERC H740P Adapter

1 heat sink 2 battery

3 battery cable 4 SAS cable connectors (2)

5 SAS cables (2) 6 PERC card connector

7 card connector on the system board

Installing the PERC H740P adapter

CAUTION

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

2 Open the system.

3 Align the card-edge connector with the connector on the system board.

To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.

4 Press the card-edge down until the card is fully seated.

5 Connect the SAS data cable connectors to the card.

6 Route the SAS data cable through the channel on the inner side of the chassis to the backplane.

7 Attach the connector labeled "SAS A" to connector SAS A on the backplane, and attach the connector labeled "SAS B" to connector

SAS B on the backplane.

8 Close the system.

9 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.

: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

NOTE

: Ensure that you connect the cable according to the connector labels on the cable. The cable does not function

properly if reversed.

Deploying the PERC card

Removing the PERC H740P mini monolithic

CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

CAUTION: To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.

1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals.

2 Open the system.

3 Locate the PERC card on the system board.

4 Using #2 Philips screw driver, loosen the screws that secure the controller cable to the card connector on the system board.

5 Lift the controller cable away from the card.

6 Lift the connector end of the card and angle it to disengage the card from the card holder on the system board.

7 Lift the card out of the system.

8 Close the system.

9 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.

Deploying the PERC card 31

Figure 9. Removing and installing the PERC H740P mini monolithic card

cable 2 PERC H740P mini monolithic card

3 card connector on the system board 4 card holder

Installing the PERC H740P mini monolithic

CAUTION

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

2 Open the system.

3 Align the end of the card with the card connector on the system board and the other end of the card at an angle with the plastic

bracket on the system board.

4 Lower the connector side of the card into the card connector on the system board.

5 Using a #2 Philips screwdriver, align the screws on the card cable with the screw holes on the connector.

6 Tighten the screws to secure the card cable with the card connector on the system board.

: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

: Ensure that the tabs on the system board align with the screw holes on the card.

NOTE

Deploying the PERC card

NOTE: Ensure that the screws are torqued to 5.5 lb-in (0.60N-m).

7 Close the system.

8 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.

Removing the PERC H745P MX adapter card

CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

CAUTION: To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.

1 Turn o the sled, including any attached peripherals, and remove the sled from the MX chassis.

NOTE: Perform a graceful shutdown of the sled to ensure any data in the cache is ushed to the disk before the controller

is removed.

2 Open the sled.

3 Locate the PERC card on the system board.

4 Using the blue tab, rotate the lever of the controller.

5 Pull the release lever upwards to disengage the controller from the connector.

6 Disconnect the SAS cable from the card. To disconnect the cable:

a Press and hold the metal tab on the SAS cable connector.

b Pull the SAS cable out of the connector.

7 Lift the card from the system board.

8 Replace the storage controller card and connect the cable. For information on installing the card, see Installing the PERC H745P MX

adapter card.

9 Close the sled.

10 Insert the sled into the MX chassis and turn on the system and any attached MX chassis peripherals.

Deploying the PERC card

Figure 10. Removing and installing the PERC H745P MX adapter

bracket notch (3) 2 release lever

3 card bracket 4 tabs on the system

5 system chassis 6 card connector on the system board

7 PERC card connector

Installing the PERC H745P MX adapter card

CAUTION

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

1 Turn o the sled and any attached peripherals, and remove the sled from the MX chassis.

2 Open the sled.

3 Connect the SAS backplane data cable connector to the card.

4 Align the bracket notches with the tabs on the sides of the sled chassis and align the PERC card connector with the connector on the

system board.

5 Press the PERC card into the connector until it is rmly seated.

6 Press the release lever to secure the card to the sled.

34 Deploying the PERC card

: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

: Ensure that you connect the cable according to the connector labels on the cable. The cable does not function

NOTE

properly if reversed.

: To prevent damage to the card, hold the card by its edges only.

NOTE

: The pin on the release lever secures the card to the chassis of the sled.

NOTE

7 Route the SAS data cable through the clip on the card and through the channel on the inner side of the chassis.

8 Attach the connector labeled "BP SAS" to connector SAS A on the backplane, and attach the connector labeled "CTRL SAS" to SAS-

cable connector on the controller card.

9 Close the sled.

10 Insert the sled into the MX chassis and turn on the system and any attached MX chassis peripherals.

Removing the PERC H840 card

CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

CAUTION: To prevent damage to the card, you must hold the card by its edges only.

1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals.

2 Open the system.

3 Locate the PERC card on the system board.

4 Disconnect the SAS cables connected to the card:

a Press down and hold the metal tab on the SAS cable connector.

b Pull the SAS cable out of the connector.

5 Lift the card to remove it from the connector on the system board.

6 Replace the storage controller card and connect the cable. For more information on installing the card, see Installing the PERC H840

card.

7 Close the system.

8 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn the system on, including any attached peripherals.

Figure 11. Removing and installing the PERC H840 adapter

SAS cables (2) 2 SAS cable connectors (2)

3 heat sink 4 battery

5 PERC card connector 6 card connector on the system board

Deploying the PERC card 35

Installing the PERC H840 card

CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certied service technician. You should only perform troubleshooting and simple

NOTE: It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the

system.

1 Turn o the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

2 Open the system.

3 Align the card-edge connector with the connector on the system board.

To prevent damage to the card, hold the card by its edges only.

4 Press the card-edge down until the card is fully seated in the connector.

5 Connect the SAS data cable connectors to the card.

NOTE: Ensure that you connect the cable according to the connector labels on the cable. The cable does not function

properly if reversed.

6 Close the system.

7 Reconnect the system to its electrical outlet and turn on the system and any attached peripherals.

Part replacement of a PERC card in eHBA mode

When replacing a PERC card, verify the controller mode of operation after replacing the card. If a controller mode change is still necessary, you may request the desired mode and reboot. Before changing the mode, ensure that all the physical drives are removed from the system. If the drives cannot be physically removed, then a force mode transition must be performed. Following reboot, foreign virtual disks should be imported.

CAUTION

recommended.

: The force option is for card replacement only. Use of the force option for reasons other than card replacement is not

Perform the following steps to replace the card that is operating in eHBA mode with another in RAID mode:

1 Power on the system.

2 Enter the HII conguration utility. See Entering the HII conguration utility.

3 Change controller to eHBA mode. See Manage controller mode.

4 Reboot the system.

5 Import any foreign virtual disks.

NOTE

: If replacing a card in RAID mode with one in eHBA mode, follow the same steps with the exception of changing to

RAID mode in step 3.

36 Deploying the PERC card

Driver installation

The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 series of cards require software drivers to operate with the supported operating systems.

This chapter contains the procedures for installing the drivers for the PERC 10 cards.

NOTE: The driver for PERC 10 for VMware ESXi is packaged within the VMware ESXi ISO image downloaded from Dell. For

more information, see the VMware documentation at Dell.com/virtualizationsolutions. It is not recommended to have drivers from controllers prior to PERC 10 on the same system.

The two methods for installing a driver discussed in this chapter are:

• Installing a driver during operating system installation: Use this method if you are performing a new installation of the operating system and want to include the drivers.

• Updating existing drivers: Use this method if the operating system and the PERC 10 family of controllers are already installed and you want to update to the latest drivers.

Topics:

• Creating the device driver media

• Windows driver installation

• Installing the driver during a Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation

• Installing the driver after Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation

• Updating PERC 10 driver for existing Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer

• Linux driver installation

Creating the device driver media

Use one of the following two methods to create the device driver media:

• Downloading Drivers From The Dell Support Website

• Downloading Drivers From The Dell Systems Service And Diagnostic Tools Media

Downloading drivers from the Dell support website

To download drivers from the Dell Support website:

1 Go to Dell.com/support.

2 Enter the service tag of your system in the Choose by Service Tag to get started eld or select Choose from a list of all Dell

products.

3 Select the System Type, Operating System, and Category from the drop-down list.

The drivers that are applicable to your selection are displayed.

4 Download the drivers that you require to a USB drive, CD, or DVD.

5 During the operating system installation, use the media that you created with the Load Driver option to load mass storage drivers. For

more information on reinstalling the operating system, see the relevant section for your operating system below.

Driver installation 37

Downloading drivers from the Dell systems service and diagnostic tools media

To download drivers from the Dell Systems Service and Diagnostic Tools media:

1 Insert the Dell Systems Service and Diagnostics Tools media in your system.

The Welcome to Dell Service and Diagnostic Utilities screen is displayed.

2 Select your system model and operating system.

3 Click Continue.

4 From the list of drivers displayed, select the driver you require.

5 Select the self-extracting zip le and click Run.

6 Copy the driver to a CD, DVD, or USB drive.

7 Repeat this procedure for all the drivers you require.

Windows driver installation

Before you install the Windows driver for PERC 10, you must rst create a device driver media.

• Read the Microsoft Getting Started document that shipped with your operating system.

• Ensure that your system has the latest BIOS, rmware, and driver updates. If required, download the latest BIOS, rmware, and driver updates from Dell.com/support.

• Create a device driver media using one of the methods listed below:

– USB drive

– CD

– DVD

Installing the driver during a Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation

To install the driver:

1 Boot the system using the Windows Server 2012 R2, or newer media.

2 Follow the on-screen instructions until you reach Where do you want to install Windows Server 2012 R2 or newer window and then

select Load driver.

3 The system prompts you to insert the media. Insert the installation media and browse to the appropriate location.

4 Select a PERC 10 series card from the list.

5 Click Next and continue installation.

Installing the driver after Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation

Perform the following steps to congure the driver for the RAID controller on a system that already has Windows installed:

1 Turn o the system.

2 Install the new RAID controller in the system.

For detailed instructions on installing the RAID controller in the system, see Deploying the PERC card.

3 Turn on the system.

Driver installation

The Found New Hardware Wizard screen displays the detected hardware device.

4 Click Next.

5 On the Locate device driver screen, select Search for a suitable driver for my device and click Next.

6 Browse and select the drivers from the Locate Driver Files screen.

7 Click Next.

The wizard detects and installs the appropriate device drivers for the new RAID controller.

8 Click Finish to complete the installation.

9 Reboot the system when prompted.

Updating PERC 10 driver for existing Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer

NOTE: Close all applications on your system before you update the driver.

1 Insert the media (CD, DVD, or USB drive) containing the driver.

2 Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > System.

The System Properties screen is displayed.

NOTE: The path to System might vary depending on the operating system family.

3 Click on the Hardware tab.

4 Click Device Manager.

The Device Manager screen is displayed.

NOTE

: The path to Device Manager might vary depending on the operating system family.

5 Expand SCSI and RAID Controllers by double-clicking the entry or by clicking on the plus symbol next to SCSI and RAID Controller.

NOTE

: In Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer, the PERC 10 series of cards are listed under Storage Controllers.

6 Double-click the RAID controller for which you want to update the driver.

7 Click the Driver tab and click Update Driver.

The screen to update the device driver wizard is displayed.

8 Select Install from a list or specic location.

9 Click Next.

10 Follow the steps in the wizard and browse to the location of the driver les.

11 Select the INF le from the driver media (CD, DVD, or other media).

12 Click Next and continue the installation steps in the wizard.

13 Click Finish to exit the wizard and reboot the system for the changes to take place.

NOTE

: Dell provides the Dell Update Package (DUP) to update drivers on systems running Windows Server 2012 R2 and

newer operating system. DUP is an executable application that updates drivers for specic devices. DUP supports command line interface and silent execution. For more information, see Dell.com/support.

Linux driver installation

: PERC 10 series of drivers support PERC 9 family controllers and do not require separate driver installations.

NOTE

NOTE: The driver update disk (DUD) images are created only for those operating system releases in which the native (in-box)

driver is insucient for installation. In the event that an operating system is being installed with a corresponding DUD image, follow the instructions below.

NOTE: To view the complete list of boot loader options, see the installation guide of your operating system.

Driver installation 39

Installing or updating the RPM driver package with KMOD support

NOTE: This procedure is applicable for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x.

Perform the following steps to install the RPM package with KMOD support:

1 Uncompress the gzipped tarball driver release package.

2 Install the driver package using the command: rpm –ihv kmodmegaraid_ sas-<version>.rpm.

NOTE: Use rpm -Uvh <package name> when upgrading an existing package.

3 If the previous device driver is in use, you must reboot the system for the updated driver to take eect.

4 Verify that the driver is loaded with the following system commands: modinfo megaraid_sas.

Installing or updating the RPM driver package with KMP support

NOTE: This procedure is applicable for SUSE Enterprise Linux 12.x.

Perform the following steps to install the RPM package with KMP support:

1 Uncompress the gzipped tarball driver release package.

2 Install the driver package using the command: rpm –ihv kmpmegaraid_ sas- <version>.rpm.

NOTE

: Use rpm -Uvh <package name> when updating an existing package.

3 If the previous device driver is in use, you must reboot the system for the updated driver to take eect.

4 Verify that the driver is loaded with the following system commands: modinfo megaraid_sas.

Loading the driver during operating system installation

1 Navigate to the installer.

2 In the Installation screen, press E.

3 Perform the following operation:

• If the operating system is RHEL 7, the CLI displays the syntax quiet. Enter inst.dd.

For example, when you are prompted with the command linuxefi/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz

inst.stage2=hd:LABEL=RHEL-7.3\x20Server.x86_64 quiet

• If the operating system is SLES, the CLI displays the syntax silent. Enter dud=1.

For example, when you are prompted with the command linuxefi/boot/x86_64/loader/linux splash=silent dud=1, enter dud=1.

4 Attach the driver media.

5 Press F10 to boot to the OS.

A screen is displayed prompting you to select the driver media (USB, CD, ISO, and so on).

6 Select the driver.

: Ensure that the driver is selected with an X.

NOTE

7 Press C to load the driver.

8 Disconnect the driver media.

, enter inst.dd.

Driver installation

NOTE: Ensure that you disconnect the driver media so that the drivers are loaded successfully.

9 Press C or exit to continue with the installation.

Driver installation 41

Firmware

This section provides information about downloading and installing the rmware using Dell Update Package (DUP).

Installing the rmware using DUP

1 Navigate to Dell.com/support.

2 Locate your controller.

3 Download the DUP.

a For Window/iDRAC update, download Windows executable le. b For Linux update, download .bin le.

NOTE: For VMware, rmware should be updated through iDRAC or the PERC CLI

utlitily.

4 Install the DUP.

a For Windows, run the executable in Windows environment. b For Linux, run .bin le in Linux environment.

c For iDRAC, navigate to system iDRAC > Maintenance > System Update, upload Windows executable, and then install.

NOTE

: Firmware downgrade from 50.3.0-1022 (or later) to the older version is not supported via DUP.

NOTE: Firmware downgrade from 50.5.0-1750 to earlier versions is not supported while the controller is in eHBA

mode.

42 Firmware

HII conguration utility

The Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) conguration utility is a storage management application integrated into the System BIOS <F2>. It is used to congure and manage RAID disk groups, virtual disks, and physical disks. This utility is independent of the operating system.

Topics:

• Entering the HII conguration utility

• Exiting the HII conguration utility

• Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility

• HII Conguration utility Dashboard View options

• Conguration management

• Controller management

• Virtual disk management

• Physical disk management

• Hardware components

Entering the HII conguration utility

Perform the following steps to boot to the HII conguration utility:

1 Turn on the system.

2 While the system startup, press <F2> to enter System Setup.

3 Click Device Settings.

Device Settings screen lists all the RAID controllers in the system.

To access the management menu for the controller, use the arrow keys or the mouse.

NOTE

: For more information in all the options, click Help that is available on the top right-hand corner of the browser

screen. Help information for individual option menus can also be viewed by scrolling down on each option.

NOTE: Some of the options within the HII conguration utility are not present if the controller does not support the

corresponding feature. Options may also be grayed out if the feature is supported in existing conguration.

Exiting the HII conguration utility

To exit the HII conguration utility, perform the following steps:

1 Click Finish at the bottom-right corner on the System Setup Main Menu screen.

Displays a warning message to conrm your choice.

2 Click Yes to exit the HII conguration utility.

Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility

1 Enter the UEFI conguration Utility. See Entering the HII conguration utility.

The Device Settings screen displays a list of NIC ports and the Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 To enter PERC 10 conguration utility, click Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility.

HII conguration utility 43

The Dashboard view screen is displayed.

HII Conguration utility Dashboard View options

The rst screen that is displayed when you access the HII Conguration Utility is the Dashboard View screen. The following table provides detailed information about the options available on the Dashboard View screen.

Table 7. Dashboard View screen

Dashboard View options Description

Main Menu Displays the following conguration options:

• Conguration Management

• Controller Management

• Virtual Disk Management

• Physical Disk Management

• Hardware Components

Help Provides context sensitive help message.

Properties Displays the following information about the controller:

• Status — displays the status of the controller.

• Backplane — displays information about the number of backplanes connected to the controller.

• BBU — displays information about the availability of Battery Backup Unit (BBU).

• Enclosure — displays information about the number of enclosures connected to the controller.

• Physical Disks — displays information about the number of physical disks connected to the controller.

• Disk Groups — displays information about the number of disk groups connected to the controller.

• Virtual Disks — displays information about the number of virtual disks connected to the controller.

View Server Prole Displays HII Spec version supported on the system and also displays

the following menu options for controller components:

• Controller Management

• Hardware Components

• Physical Disk Management

• Virtual Disk Management

Actions Displays the following options:

• Congure — displays conguration options that are supported by the controller.

• Set Factory Defaults — restore factory default values for all controller properties.

Background Operations Displays if virtual disk or physical disk operations are in progress.

44 HII conguration utility

Conguration management

Auto Congure RAID 0

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > Auto Congure RAID 0.

3 Select Conrm and click Yes to continue.

A RAID 0 Virtual disk is created on all physical disks that are in Ready state.

NOTE: This feature is not supported in eHBA mode.

Creating virtual disks

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > Create Virtual Disk.

The following list of options are displayed for you to dene the virtual disk parameters:

• Select RAID level — allows you to choose the RAID level of your choice.

• Secure Virtual Disk — If you want to create a secured virtual disk, select Secure Virtual Disk.

NOTE

: The Secure Virtual Disk option is enabled by default, only if the security key has been congured. Only SED

physical disks are listed.

• Select Physical Disks From — allows you to select one of the physical disk capacities:

– Uncongured Capacity: creates a virtual disk on uncongured physical disks.

– Free Capacity: utilizes unused physical disk capacity that is already part of a virtual disk.

• Select Physical Disks — If you want to select the physical disks from which the virtual disks are being created, click Select Physical Disks. This option is displayed if you select Uncongured Capacity as your physical disk capacity.

• Select Disk Groups — If you want to select the disk groups from which the virtual disks are being created, click Select Disk Group. This option is displayed if you select Free Capacity as your physical disk capacity.

• Congure Virtual Disk Parameters — allows you to set the virtual disk parameters when creating the virtual disk. For more information, see Conguring virtual disk parameters.

3 Click Create Virtual Disk.

The virtual disk is created successfully.

Conguring virtual disk parameters

1 Create a virtual disk, see Creating the virtual disks.

The CONFIGURE VIRTUAL DISK PARAMETERS section is displayed on the Create Virtual Disk screen.

2 In the CONFIGURE VIRTUAL DISK PARAMETERS section, you can set the following virtual disk parameters:

Table 8.

Conguring virtual disk parameters

Virtual disk parameters Description

Virtual Disk Name Allows you to enter the name for the virtual disk.

HII conguration utility 45

Virtual disk parameters Description

NOTE: Allowed characters are A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore (_),

and hyphen (-) only.

Virtual Disk Size Displays the maximum capacity available for the virtual disk.

Virtual Disk Size Unit Displays the virtual disk storage space in megabytes, gigabytes,

and terabytes.

Strip Element Size Allows you to select the strip element size. The disk striping

involves partitioning each physical disk storage space in stripes of the following sizes: 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1 MB.

By default, the strip element size is set to 256 KB.

Read Policy Displays the controller read policy. You can set the read policy to:

• No Read Ahead — species that the controller does not use read ahead for the current virtual disk.

• Read Ahead — species that the controller uses Read-Ahead for the current virtual disk. Read-Ahead capability allows the controller to read sequentially ahead of requested data and store the additional data in the cache memory, anticipating that the data is required soon.

By default, the read cache policy is set to Read Ahead.

Write Policy Displays the controller write cache policy. You can set the write

policy to:

• Write through — the controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host when the disk subsystem has received all the data in a transaction.

• Write back — the controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host when the controller cache has received all the data in a transaction.

By default, the write policy is set to Write Back.

Disk Cache Allows you to set the disk cache policy to Default, Enable, or

Disable.

By default, the disk cache is set to Default.

Default Initialization Displays the virtual disk initialization options. You can set the

Default Initialization to:

• No — The virtual disk is not initialized.

• Fast — The rst 8 MB of the virtual disk is initialized.

• Full — The entire virtual disk is initialized.

For more information, see Virtual disk initialization.

By default, the default initialization is set to No.

Creating prole based virtual disk

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > Creating Prole Based Virtual Disk.

HII conguration utility

The following list of RAID modes are displayed:

• Generic RAID 0

• Generic RAID 1

• Generic RAID 5

• Generic RAID 6

• File Server

• Web/Generic Server

• Database

3 Based on the RAID mode selected, one or more the physical disk selection criteria is displayed.

4 From the Physical Disk Selection Criteria drop-down box, select a criterion based your requirement.

The Prole Parameters of the selected option is displayed.

5 Click Create Virtual Disk.

6 Select Conrm and click Yes to continue.

The virtual disk is created with the parameters of the prole selected.

Viewing Disk Group Properties

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > View Disk Group Properties.

The list of Disk Group # properties are displayed:

• Capacity Allocation — displays all the virtual disks associated with the specic disk group. It also provides information about the available free space.

• Secured — displays whether the disk group is secured or not.

Deleting Congurations

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > Clear Conguration.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

3 Select Conrm and click Yes to continue.

The virtual disks and hot spare disks available on the controller are deleted successfully.

Controller management

Clearing controller events

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management.

3 Click Clear Controller Events.

A screen is displayed indicating that the operation is completed successfully.

4 Click Ok.

conguration utility 47

HII

Saving controller events

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management.

3 Click Save Controller Events.

A screen is displayed indicating that the operation is completed successfully.

4 Click Ok.

Saving debug log

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management.

3 Click Save Debug Log.

A screen is displayed indicating that the operation is completed successfully.

4 Click Ok.

Managing link speed

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management.

3 Click Manage Link Speed.

You can view/change the physical disk settings for the controller, if required. The possible options are:

• Auto

• 3 Gbps

• 6 Gbps

• 12 Gbps

4 Click Ok to save the changes.

NOTE

: To reect the changes, perform an AC power cycle that is disconnecting and reconnecting the power

source.

Restoring factory default settings

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Set Factory Defaults.

A screen is displayed asking you to conrm the operation.

3 Select Conrm and click Yes to continue.

HII conguration utility

Manage controller mode

NOTE: All existing congurations on the controller must be deleted before proceeding with a controller mode change. Once the

mode transition operation is conrmed, the process can take up to 5 seconds to complete; do not power o or reset the system until the mode transition operation is complete.

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management > Manage Controller Mode.

3 Click Switch to Enhanced HBA mode or Switch to RAID mode.

CAUTION: Only use force switch controller mode as part of a controller replacement operation. Consult with technical

support for assistance.

4 Check the box to Conrm the controller mode change.

5 Click Yes to conrm the selection.

6 Click OK to acknowledge the change.

A reboot is required to complete the mode transition. Until this reboot is performed, avoid requesting any further changes. Prior to the next reboot:

• All conguration commands are blocked

• Controller rmware ash is not allowed

Following the reboot, the mode transition will be complete and the controller will resume normal operation.

Changing prole using HII Conguration Utility

Perform the following steps to change the prole to HII conguration utility:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management > Manage Controller Proles.

Current prole and prole properties are displayed.

3 Change prole using the Choose Prole option.

NOTE

: By default, eHBA mode only supports prole

23_PD240.

4 Select Set Prole.

Click Reboot.

NOTE

: For the changes to reect reboot is required.

NOTE: Prole change fails:

• if new prole supports less number of drives than the number of drives in the current topology.

• if background operations (rebuild, copy back, full initialization, Background Initialization, Patrol Read, CC) are active.

• if background operations start after prole change but before the system is rebooted.

conguration utility 49

HII

Advanced controller properties

Clearing the cache memory

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 Click Cache and Memory > Discard Preserved Cache.

The preserved cache is cleared successfully.

Setting patrol read

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 Click Patrol Read.

The following options are displayed:

• Start — Starts patrol read for the selected controller.

• Suspend — Suspends the ongoing patrol read operation on the controller.

• Resume — Resumes the suspended patrol read operation.

• Stop — Stops patrol read for the selected controller.

4 Set the Mode to Auto, Manual, or Disabled.

5 Click Apply Changes.

Enabling physical disk power management

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 Click Physical Disk Power Management.

The following list of options is displayed:

• Time Interval for Spin Down — allows the user to specify the delay time before a disk is spun down.

• Spin Down Hot Spare — allows you to enable or disable the spin down of hot spare disks.

• Spin Down Uncongured Good — spin down of un-congured disks.

4 Select the applicable options and click Apply Changes.

The changes made are saved successfully.

Conguring hot spare

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 Click Spare.

The following list of options are displayed:

• Persistent Hot Spare — allows you to enable or disable the ability to have same system backplane or storage enclosure disk slots dedicated as hot spare slots.

• Allow Replace Member with Revertible Hot Spare — allows you to enable or disable the option to copy the data form a hot spare disk to physical disk.

HII conguration utility

• Auto Replace Member on Predictive Failure — allows you to enable or disable the option to start a Replace Member operation if a predictive failure error is detected on a physical disk.

4 Select the applicable option and click Apply Changes.

The changes made are saved successfully.

Setting task rates

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 Click Task Rates.

The following options are displayed:

• Background Initialization (BGI) Rate

• Consistency Check Rate

• Rebuild Rate

• Reconstruction Rate

4 You can make the necessary changes and then click Apply Changes.

The task rates operation is completely successfully.

Enabling auto import

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 In the Controller Properties section, set the Auto Import Foreign Conguration option to Enabled.

4 Click Apply Changes.

The auto import is enabled successfully.

Disabling auto import

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 In the Controller Properties section, set the Auto Import Foreign Conguration option to Disabled.

4 Click Apply Changes.

The auto import is disabled successfully.

Selecting the boot mode

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 In the CONTROLLER PROPERTIES section, select the boot mode from the Boot Mode drop-down box.

The following list of boot mode options are displayed:

• Stop on errors

• Pause on errors

• Ignore errors

• Safe mode on errors

: Note: By default, the boot mode option is set to Pause on errors.

NOTE

4 Click Apply Changes.

conguration utility 51

HII

The boot mode operation is completed successfully.

Aborting the consistency check

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Properties.

3 In the Controller Properties section, set the Abort Consistency Check on Error option to Enabled.

4 Click Apply Changes.

The option to abort the consistency check operation on a redundant virtual disk is enabled if there is any inconsistency found in the data.

Enabling boot support

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management.

3 From the Select Boot Device drop-down box, select the primary bootable device.

NOTE: Select Boot Device is only applicable in legacy BIOS mode.

NOTE: 4K boot support is only available in UEFI mode and managed by the boot loader.

NOTE: In Select Boot Device, you will not be able to view 4K devices. To view all the virtual disks created, navigate to the

Virtual Disk Management screen in HII. For more information, see Virtual disk management.

NOTE: If no boot device is selected, the rst virtual disk will be set as the boot device on the next reboot. A Non-RAID disk

will not be auto-selected as the boot device.

4 Click Apply Changes.

Boot support is enabled for the selected controller.

Virtual disk management

Virtual disk numbering

Virtual disks are numbered in ascending order beginning with zero in RAID mode, whereas in eHBA mode they are numbered in descending order beginning with 239.

Viewing virtual disk properties

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

All the virtual disks associated with the RAID controller are displayed.

3 To view the properties, click on the virtual disk. You can view the following properties of the Virtual disk:

Option

Operation List of operations you can perform on the selected virtual disk. The options are:

Description

• Blink

• Unblink

• Delete Virtual Disk

• Recongure Virtual Disks

52 HII conguration utility

Option Description

• Fast Initialization

• Slow Initialization

• Secure Virtual Disk

NOTE: The Secure Virtual Disk option is only supported on SED physical disks. The security key must be

congured to enable the feature.

• Break Mirror

• Expand Virtual Disk

• Consistency Check

Name Indicates the name of the virtual disk. Status Property Indicates the status of the virtual disk. The possible options are:

• Optimal

• Degraded

• Oine

• Failed

RAID level Indicates the RAID level of the virtual disk. Size Indicates the size of the virtual disk.

4 Click Advanced....

You can view the following additional properties of the virtual disk:

Table 9. Advanced properties of the virtual disk

Option Description

Logical Sector Size Indicates the logical sector size of this virtual disk.

Strip Element Size Indicates the strip element size for the virtual disk.

Status Indicates the status of the virtual disk.

Secured Indicates whether the virtual disk is secured or not.

Bad Blocks Indicates whether the virtual disk has corrupted blocks.

Viewing physical disks associated with a virtual disk

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

All the virtual disks associated with the RAID controller are displayed.

3 Click on a virtual disk.

The properties of the virtual disk are displayed.

4 Click View Associated Physical Disks.

All the physical disks that are associated with the virtual disk are displayed.

5 From the Associated Physical Disks section, select the physical disk.

6 Click View Physical Disk Properties to view the physical disk properties.

conguration utility 53

HII

Conguring virtual disk policies

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

All the virtual disks associated with the RAID controller are displayed.

3 Click Advanced....

You can view the following virtual disk policies:

Table 10. Virtual disk policies

Option Description

Current write cache Indicates the current write cache policy for the virtual disk.

Default write cache Allows selection of the write cache policy for the virtual disk. The

possible options are:

• Write Through

• Write Back

• Force Write Back

Read Cache policy Allows selection of the read cache policy for the virtual disk. The

possible options are:

• No Read Ahead

• Read Ahead

Disk Cache Allows selection of the disk cache policy for the virtual disk. The

possible options are:

• Default (Disk Default)

• Enable

• Disable

Click Apply Changes.

The changes made are saved successfully.

Conguring Virtual Disks

When conguring the virtual disks, you should consider the workload intended; RAID1: for simple boot disk; RAID5 or 6: for le or web servers (sequential reads/writes of les); RAID10: for transactional database (small random reads and writes).

Virtual disks congured on hard drives should use the controller default cache setting of Write Back and Read Ahead.

Virtual disks congured on SSDs can use the same controller defaults settings as hard drives. Most users perform a copy of OS les or a data base to the new array. This setting provides optimum performance in this conguration.

Once the copy is complete, the array can be used as it is depending on the number and type of SSDs. It is recommended to enable FastPath by changing the controller's Write cache policy to Write Through and the Read cache policy to No Read Ahead. FastPath is developed to achieve the best random read/write performance from SSDs.

Only IO block sizes smaller than the virtual disk's stripe size are eligible for FastPath. In addition, there should be no background operations (rebuild, initialization) running on the virtual disks. FastPath is disabled if there is active background operation.

: RAID 50, and RAID 60 virtual disks cannot use FastPath.

NOTE

54 HII conguration utility

NOTE: The Physical Disk Power Management feature is not applicable to FastPath-capable virtual disks.

Performing break mirror operation

The RAID 1 virtual disk to be split must be in an optimal state, and it cannot be running any other background tasks.

To use the Break Mirror feature from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

The list of virtual disks is displayed.

3 Select the RAID 1 virtual disk.

NOTE: The Break Mirror operation can be performed only on RAID 1 virtual disks.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Break Mirror.

5 Click Go.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

The break mirror operation is completed successfully.

Performing expand virtual disk operation

To enable expand virtual disk feature from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

The list of virtual disks is displayed.

3 Select the virtual disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Expand Virtual Disk.

NOTE

: You can view the Expand Virtual Disk feature only if there is free space available in the associated disk group.

5 Click Go.

6 To expand virtual disk, enter the percentage of available capacity, and then click Ok.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

7 Select the Conrm option.

8 Click Yes.

The expand virtual disk operation is completed successfully.

Performing consistency check

To enable consistency check from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

The list of virtual disks is displayed.

3 Select the virtual disk.

conguration utility 55

HII

NOTE: Consistency check cannot be run on RAID 0 virtual disks.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Check Consistency.

5 Click Go.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

The consistency check operation is completed successfully.

Physical disk management

Viewing physical disk properties

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

All the physical disks associated with the RAID controller are displayed.

3 To view the properties, click on the physical disk. The following properties can be viewed on the physical disk:

Table 11. Physical disk properties

Option Description

Operation List of operations you can perform on the selected physical disk. The

options are:

• Blink

• Unblink

• Force Oine

• Replace Member

• Erase Options

• Global and Dedicated hotspare

• Convert to RAID Capable

• Convert to Non-RAID Disk

Device ID Unique identier of the physical disk.

Connection Number of paths and how wide the paths are to the physical disk.

Indicated if a physical disk is in a multipath conguration for H745P MX and H840.

Backplane ID Backplane ID in which the physical disk is located in for H740P, H740 mini,

and H745P MX.

Enclosure Position The enclosure in which the physical disk is located for H840.

Chassis Slot Value The chassis slot value of the chassis slot in which the physical disk is

located when the physical disk is in a MX 5016s storage sled for the controller H745P MX.

Slot Number The drive bay in which the physical disk is located for the corresponding

backplane or enclosure to which the controller is connected.

Status Status of the physical disk.

Size Size of the physical disk.

56 HII conguration utility

Option Description

Type Type of the physical disk.

Model Model of the physical disk.

Part Number Part number of the physical disk.

Serial Number Serial of the physical disk.

Manufacturing Date Date on which the physical disk has been manufactured.

Associated Virtual Disks Virtual disks associated with the physical disk.

4 Click Advanced....

You can view the following additional properties of the physical disk:

Table 12. Advanced physical disk properties

Option Description

Logical Sector Size Logical sector size of the selected physical disk.

Physical Sector Size Physical sector size of the selected physical disk.

SMART Status SMART status of a physical disk.

Revision Firmware version of the physical disk.

SAS Address SAS address of the physical disk.

Physical Disk Power State Power condition (On or Power Save) of the physical disk.

Disk Cache Settings Disk cache settings.

NOTE: Disk cache for SATA Gen3 drives is disabled by

default.

Hard Disk Drive RPM RPM of the hard drive.

Available Space Available size of the physical disk.

Used Space Congured space of the physical disk.

Disk protocol Type of hard disk used.

Device Speed Speed of the physical disk.

Negotiated Link Speed Negotiated link speed of the device.

Encryption Capable Encryption capability of the physical disk.

Secured Security status of the physical disk.

Cryptographic Erase Capable Cryptographic erase capability of the physical disk.

NOTE: When you select the Patrol Read option in the Advanced... section, an error message may be displayed. The error

message can be safely ignored.

HII conguration utility 57

Cryptographic erase

NOTE: The Cryptographic erase feature is supported only on ISE and SED drives.

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

The list of physical disks is displayed.

3 Select a physical disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Cryptographic Erase.

NOTE: If the drive installed is ISE or SED capable, then only the Cryptographic erase option is displayed.

5 Click Go.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

The Cryptographic erase operation is completed successfully.

Physical disk erase

To use the Physical Disk Erase feature from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

The list of physical disks is displayed.

3 Select a physical disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Physical Disk Erase.

NOTE

: If the drive installed is neither SED or ISE capable, then only the Physical Disk Erase option is displayed.

5 Click Go.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

The physical disk erase operation is completed successfully.

Assigning global hot spare

To assign a global hot spare from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

The list of physical disks is displayed.

3 Select the physical disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Assign Global Hot Spare.

5 Click Go.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

HII conguration utility

7 Click Yes.

The global hot spare disk is created successfully.

Assigning dedicated hot spare

To assign a dedicated hot spare from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

The list of physical disks is displayed.

3 Select the physical disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Assign Dedicated Hot Spare.

5 Click Go.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

The dedicated hot spare disk is created successfully.

Convert to RAID capable

To assign a dedicated hot spare from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

The list of physical disks appears.

3 Select the physical disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Convert to RAID capable.

5 Click Go.

A screen appears asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

The dedicated hot spare disk is created successfully.

Convert to Non-RAID disk

To assign a dedicated hot spare from the HII Conguration Utility, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Physical Disk Management.

The list of physical disks appears.

3 Select the physical disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Convert to Non-Raid disk.

5 Click Go.

A screen appears asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

6 Select the Conrm option.

7 Click Yes.

conguration utility 59

HII

The dedicated hot spare disk is created successfully.

Hardware components

Viewing battery properties

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Hardware Components > Battery Management.

The battery and capacity information are displayed.

3 You can view the following properties of the battery:

Field Description

Type Displays the type of battery available. Status Displays the current status of the battery. Temperature Displays the current temperature of the battery and also indicates whether the temperature is Normal or High. Charge Displays the available charge of the battery in percentage.

4 DisplaysClick Advanced....

The additional advanced properties of the physical battery are displayed.

5 You can view the following advanced properties of the battery:

Field Description

Status Displays whether the current status of the battery is Learning, Degraded, or Failed. Voltage Displays whether the voltage status of the battery is normal or high. Current Displays power consumption of the battery in milliamps (mA). Full Capacity Displays the maximum charge capacity of the battery. Remaining Capacity Displays the current charge capacity of the battery. Expected Margin of Error Displays expected margin of error. Completed Discharge

Cycles Learn Mode Displays the condition of the battery. The learn cycle is a periodic operation that calculates the charge

Displays the completed discharge cycles.

that is remaining in the battery to ensure there is sucient energy.

Viewing physical disks associated with an enclosure

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Hardware Components > Enclosure Management.

3 From the Select Enclosure eld, choose the enclosure for which you need to view the physical disks.

All the physical disks that are associated with the virtual disk are displayed.

4 Click the Attached Physical Disks drop-down box.

All the physical disks that are associated with the selected enclosure are displayed.

HII conguration utility

Security key and RAID management

Security key implementation

The Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 series of cards support Self-Encrypting Disks (SED) for protection of data against loss or theft of SEDs. Protection is achieved by the use of encryption technology on the drives. There is one security key per controller. You can manage the security key under Local Key Management (LKM). The key can be escrowed in to a le using Dell OpenManage storage management application. The security key is used by the controller to lock and unlock access to encryption-capable physical disks. In order to take advantage of this feature, you must:

1 Have SEDs in your system.

2 Create a security key.

Security key management in the HII conguration utility

The Dell OpenManage storage management application and the HII Conguration Utility of the controller allow security keys to be created and managed as well as create secured virtual disks. The following section describes the menu options specic to security key management and provide detailed instructions to perform the conguration tasks. The contents in the following section apply to the HII Conguration Utility. For more information on the management applications, see Management applications for PERC cards .

• The Controller Management screen displays controller information and action menus. You can perform the following security-related actions through the controller management menu:

– Security Key Management—Creates, changes, or deletes the security settings on a controller.

• The Virtual Disk Management screen displays physical disk information and action menus. You can perform the following security related actions through the virtual disk management menu:

– Secure Disk Group—Secures all virtual disks in disk group.

– Create secure virtual disk—Creates a new virtual disk that is secured with the security key on the controller.

• The Physical Disk Management screen displays physical disk information and action menus. You can perform the following securityrelated actions through the physical disk management menu:

– Cryptographic Erase—Permanently erases all data on the physical disk and resets the security attributes.

For more information on the Physical Disk Management screen and the Virtual Disk Management screen, see Physical disk management and Virtual disk management.

Local Key Management

You can use Local Key Management (LKM) to generate the key ID and the passphrase required to secure the virtual disk. You can secure virtual disks, change security keys, and manage secured foreign congurations using this security mode.

: Under LKM, you are prompted for a passphrase when you create the key.

NOTE

Security key and RAID management 61

Creating security key

NOTE: There is no passphrase backup option when you create a security key; you need to remember your passphrase.

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management > Enable Security.

3 Select the Security Key Management mode as Local Key Management.

4 Click Ok.

5 In the Security Key Identier eld, enter an identier for your security key.

NOTE: The Security Key Identier is a user supplied clear text label used to associate the correct security key with the

controller.

6 If you want to use the passphrase generated by the controller, click Suggest Passphrase.

Assigns a passphrase suggested by the controller automatically.

7 In the Passphrase eld, enter the passphrase.

NOTE: Passphrase is case-sensitive. You must enter minimum 8 or maximum 32 characters. Ensure that the characters

contain at least one number, one lower case letter, one upper case letter, and one non-alphanumeric character.

8 In the Conrm eld, re-enter the passphrase to conrm.

NOTE: If the Passphrase entered in the Passphrase and Conrm elds do not match, then you are prompted with an error

message to enter the passphrase again.

9 Select the I recorded the Security Settings for Future Reference option.

10 Click Enable Security.

The Security Key is created successfully.

Changing Security Settings

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management > Change Security Settings.

3 Select security identier:

a To change the Security key Identier enter a new key identier in Enter a New Security Key identier text box. b To keep existing key identier, select Use the existing Security Key Identier check box.

4 Enter the existing passphrase.

5 Set passphrase:

a To change the security passphrase, enter a new passphrase in the Enter a New Passphrase text box. Re-enter the new

passphrase to conrm.

b To keep the existing passphrase, select Use the existing passphrase.

6 Select I recorded the Security Settings for Future Reference.

7 Click Save Security Settings.

8 Select Conrm and then click Yes.

Security settings changed successfully.

Disabling security key

NOTE

: Disabling Security Key is active if there is a security key present on the controller.

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Controller Management > Advanced Controller Management > Disable Security.

You are prompted to conrm whether you want to continue.

Security key and RAID management

3 Select the Conrm option.

4 Click Yes.

The security key is disabled successfully.

Creating secured virtual disk

To create a secured virtual disk, the controller must have a security key established rst. See Creating security key.

NOTE: Combining SAS and SATA hard drives within a virtual disk is not supported. Also, combining hard drives and Solid-State

Drives (SSDs) within a virtual disk is not supported.

After the security key is established, perform the following steps:

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > Create Virtual Disk.

For more information, see Creating the virtual disks.

3 Select the Secure Virtual Disk option.

4 Click Create Virtual Disk.

The secure virtual disk is created successfully.

Securing pre-existing virtual disk

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Virtual Disk Management.

The list of virtual disks is displayed.

3 Select a virtual disk.

4 From the Operations drop-down menu, select Secure Virtual Disk.

NOTE

: The virtual disks can be secured only when the virtual disks are in Optimal state.

Importing secure virtual disk

: The controller must have an existing security key before importing secured foreign virtual disk.

NOTE

1 Enter the Dell PERC 10 Conguration Utility. See Navigating to Dell PERC 10 conguration utility.

2 Click Main Menu > Conguration Management > Manage Foreign Congurations > Preview Foreign Congurations.

3 Click Import Foreign Conguration.

A screen is displayed asking if you are sure you want to perform the operation.

4 Enter Passphrase if importing virtual disk with a dierent passphrase.

5 Select the Conrm option.

6 Click Yes.

The foreign conguration is imported successfully.

Security key and RAID management

Troubleshooting

To get help with your Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) 10 series of cards, you can contact your Dell Technical Service representative or see Dell.com/support.

Topics:

• Adapter at baseport not responding error message

• BIOS disabled error message

• Congured disks removed or not accessible error message

• Dirty cache data error message

• Discovery error message

• Drive Conguration Changes Error Message

• Windows operating system installation errors

• Firmware fault state error message

• Extra enclosure error message

• Foreign conguration found error message

• Foreign conguration not found in HII error message

• Degraded state of virtual disks

• Memory errors

• Preserved Cache State

• Security key errors

• General issues

• Physical disk issues

• SMART errors

• Replace member errors

• Linux operating system errors

• Disk carrier LED indicators

• HII error messages

Adapter at baseport not responding error message

Error Message:

Corrective Action: Contact Dell Technical Support.

Adapter at Baseport xxxx is not responding, where xxxx is the baseport of the controller.

BIOS disabled error message

Error Message:

Probable Cause: This warning message is displayed after you disable the ROM option in the conguration utility. When the ROM

64 Troubleshooting

BIOS Disabled. No Logical Drives Handled by BIOS.

option is disabled, the BIOS cannot boot to Int 13h and cannot provide the ability to boot from the virtual disk. Int 13h is an interrupt signal that supports numerous commands that are sent to the BIOS and then passed to the

physical disk. The commands include actions you can perform with a physical disk, such as reading, writing, and formatting.

Corrective Action: Enable the ROM option.

Congured disks removed or not accessible error message

Error Message:

Probable Cause: The message indicates that some congured disks were removed. If the disks were not removed, they are no

Corrective Action: Check the cable connections and x issues if any. Restart the system. If there are no cable problems, press any key

Some configured disks have been removed from your system or are no longer accessible. Check your cables and ensure all disks are present. Press any key or ’C’ to continue.

longer accessible. The SAS cables for your system might be improperly connected.

or <C> to continue.

Dirty cache data error message

Error Message:

Probable Cause: The controller preserves the dirty cache from a virtual disk if the disk becomes oine or is deleted because of

The following virtual disks are missing: (x). If you proceed (or load the configuration utility), these virtual disks will be removed from your configuration. If you wish to use them at a later time, they will have to be imported. If you believe these virtual disks should be present, please power off your system and check your cables to ensure all disks are present. Press any key to continue, or 'C' to load the configuration utility. The cache contains dirty data, but some virtual disks are missing or will go offline, so the cached data cannot be written to disk. If this is an unexpected error, then please power off your system and check your cables to ensure all disks are present. If you continue, the data in cache will be permanently discarded. Press 'X' to acknowledge and permanently destroy the cached data.

missing physical disks. This message indicates that some congured disks were removed. If the disks were not removed, they are no longer accessible. The SAS cables for your system might be improperly connected.

Corrective Action: Check the cable connections and x any problems. Restart the system. Use the HII conguration utility to import

the virtual disk or discard the preserved cache. For the steps to discard the preserved cache, see Clearing the

cache memory.

Discovery error message

Error Message:

Probable Cause: This message indicates that discovery did not complete within 120 seconds. The SAS cables for your system might

Corrective Action: Check the cable connections and x any problems. Restart the system.

A discovery error has occurred, please power cycle the system and all the enclosures attached to this system.

be improperly connected.

Drive Conguration Changes Error Message

Error Message:

Entering the configuration utility in this state will result in drive configuration changes. Press 'Y' to continue loading the configuration utility

Troubleshooting 65

or please power off your system and check your cables to ensure all disks are present and reboot.

Probable Cause: The message is displayed after another HII warning indicating there are problems with previously congured disks

and you have chosen to accept any changes and continue. The SAS cables for your system might be improperly connected.

Corrective Action: Check the cable connections and x any problems before restarting the system. If there are no cable problems,

press any key or <Y> to continue.

Windows operating system installation errors

Ensure to perform the following steps before installing Windows on 4 KB sector drives:

1 Read and understand about the updates to the version of Windows that you have installed. You can nd this information in the

Microsoft help.

2 Refer Release Notes: Important Issues in Windows Server.

Firmware fault state error message

Error Message:

Corrective Action: Contact Dell Technical Support.

Firmware is in Fault State.

Extra enclosure error message

Error Message:

Probable Cause: This message is displayed when the HII detects more than four enclosures connected to a single SAS connector.

Corrective Action: You must remove all additional enclosures and restart your system.

There are X enclosures connected to connector Y, but only maximum of 4 enclosures can be connected to a single SAS connector. Please remove the extra enclosures then restart your system.

Foreign conguration found error message

Error Message:

Probable Cause: When a controller rmware detects a physical disk with existing foreign metadata, it ags the physical disk as

Corrective Action: Press <F> at this prompt to import the conguration (if all member disks of the virtual disk are present) without

Foreign configuration(s) found on adapter. Press any key to continue, or ’C’ to load the configuration utility or ’F’ to import foreign configuration(s) and continue.

foreign and generates an alert indicating that a foreign disk was detected.

loading the HII Conguration Utility. Or press <C> to enter the HII Conguration Utility and either import or clear the foreign conguration.

Foreign conguration not found in HII error message

Error Message:

Corrective Action: Ensure all your PDs are present and all VDs are in optimal state. Clear the foreign conguration using HII

66 Troubleshooting

The foreign configuration message is present during POST but no foreign configurations are present in the foreign view page in HII configuration utility. All virtual disks are in an optimal state.

conguration utility or Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management.

CAUTION: The physical disk goes to Ready state when you clear the foreign conguration.

If you insert a physical disk that was previously a member of a virtual disk in the system, and that disk’s previous location has been taken by a replacement disk through a rebuild, you must manually remove the foreign conguration ag of the newly inserted disk.

Degraded state of virtual disks

A redundant virtual disk is in a degraded state when one or more physical disks have failed or are inaccessible. For example, if a RAID 1 virtual disk consists of two physical disks and one of them fails or become inaccessible, the virtual disk become degraded.

To recover a virtual disk from a degraded state, you must replace the failed physical disk and rebuild it. Once the rebuilding process is complete, the virtual disk state changes from degraded to optimal.

Memory errors

Memory errors can corrupt cached data, so the controllers are designed to detect and attempt to recover from the memory errors. Singlebit memory errors can be handled by the controller and do not disrupt normal operation. A notication is sent if the number of single-bit errors exceeds a threshold value.

Multi-bit errors are more serious as they result in corrupted data and data loss. The following are the actions that occur in the case of multibit errors:

• If a multi-bit error occurs while accessing data in the cache when the controller is started with dirty cache, the controller discards the cache contents. The controller generates a warning message to the system console to indicate that the cache was discarded and generates an event.

• If a multi-bit error occurs at run-time either in code/data or in the cache, the controller stops.

• The controller logs an event to the controller’s internal event log and a message during POST is displayed indicating a multi-bit error has occurred.

NOTE

: In case of a multi-bit error, contact Dell Technical Support.

Preserved Cache State

The controller preserves the dirty cache from a virtual disk if the virtual disk goes oine or is deleted because of missing physical disks. This preserved dirty cache is called pinned cache and is preserved until you import the virtual disk or discard the cache.

1 Import the virtual disk—Power o the system, re-insert the virtual disk and restore the system power. Use the HII Conguration

Utility to import the foreign conguration.

2 Discard the preserved cache—See Clearing the cache memory.

Security key errors

Secured foreign import errors

A foreign conguration is a RAID conguration that already exists on a replacement physical disk that you install in a system. A secured foreign conguration is a RAID conguration that was created under a dierent security key.

There are two scenarios in which a secured foreign import fails:

• The passphrase authentication fails—A virtual disk secured with a security key dierent from the current controller security key cannot be imported without authentication of the original passphrase used to secure them. Supply the correct passphrase to import the secured foreign conguration. If you have lost or forgotten the passphrase, the secured foreign disks remain locked (inaccessible) until the appropriate passphrase is entered or if they are erased.

Troubleshooting

• The secured virtual disk is in an oine state after supplying the correct passphrase—You must check to determine why the virtual disk failed and correct the problem.

Failure to select or congure non Self-Encrypting Disks non- SED

A virtual disk can be either secured or unsecured depending on how it was congured when created. In order to create a secured virtual disk, the controller must have a security key present and must contain SEDs only. In order to select/congure non-SED, you must create an unsecured virtual disk. You can create an unsecured virtual disk even if there is a security key. Select the Secure VD option as No in the

Create New VD menu. For steps on how to create an unsecured virtual disk, see Creating virtual disks.

Failure to delete security key

A security key is used to lock or unlock access to a security-enabled component. This key is not utilized in the actual encryption of data. If a security key is present, both secured and unsecured virtual disks may exist.

To delete the security key, you must have a previously established security key present on the controller and there cannot be any congured secured disks. If there are congured secured virtual disks, remove or delete them.

Failure of Cryptographic Erase task on secured physical disks

Cryptographic Erase is the process of securely erasing all data permanently on an encryption-capable physical disk and resetting the security attributes. It is used in a couple of scenarios such as deleting a foreign conguration in the event of a forgotten or lost passphrase or unlocking a disk that had been previously locked.

Cryptographic Erase can be executed only on encryption-capable disks as long as the disks are not hot spares and are not congured or part of a virtual disk. Ensure that the conditions are met and see Cryptographic Erase.

General issues

PERC card has yellow bang in device manager

Issue:

Corrective Action: Reinstall the driver. For more information on reinstalling drivers, see Driver installation.

PERC card not seen in device manager

Issue:

Corrective Action: Turn o the system and reseat the controller.

The device is displayed in Device Manager but has a yellow bang (exclamation mark).

The device does not appear in the Device Manager.

For more information, see Deploying the PERC card.

68 Troubleshooting

Physical disk issues

Physical disk in failed state

Issue: One of the physical disks in the disk array is in the failed state.

Corrective Action: Update the PERC cards to the latest rmware available on Dell.com/support and replace the drive.

Unable to rebuild a fault tolerant virtual disk

Issue: Cannot rebuild a fault tolerant virtual disk. For more information, see the alert log for virtual disks.

Corrective Action: The replacement disk is too small or not compatible with the virtual disk. Replace the failed disk with a compatible

good physical disk with equal or greater capacity.

Fatal error or data corruption reported

Issue: Fatal error(s) or data corruption(s) are reported when accessing virtual disks.

Corrective Action: Contact Dell Technical Support.

Physical disk displayed as blocked

Issue:

Corrective Action: Update the PERC cards to the latest rmware available on Dell.com/support. Replace the drive and ensure not to

One or more physical disks is displayed as Blocked and cannot be congured.

use the blocked drive.

Multiple disks become inaccessible

Issue:

Corrective Action: Multiple physical disk errors in a single array typically indicate a failure in cabling or connection and could involve the

CAUTION: Follow the safety precautions to prevent electrostatic discharge.

1 Turn o the system, check cable connections, and reseat physical disks.

2 Ensure that all the disks are present in the enclosure.

3 Turn on the system and enter the HII Conguration Utility.

4 Import the foreign conguration.

5 Press <F> at the prompt to import the conguration, or press <C> to enter the HII Conguration Utility and either import or clear

the foreign conguration.

Rebuilding the physical disks after multiple disks become simultaneously inaccessible.

loss of data. You can recover the virtual disk after multiple physical disks become simultaneously inaccessible. Perform the following steps to recover the virtual disk:

Troubleshooting

If the virtual disk is redundant and transitioned to Degraded state before going Oine, a rebuild operation starts automatically after the conguration is imported. If the virtual disk has gone directly to the Oine state due to a cable pull or power loss situation, the virtual disk is imported in its Optimal state without a rebuild occurring.

NOTE: You can use the HII Conguration Utility or Dell OpenManage storage management application to perform a manual

rebuild of multiple physical disks.

Rebuilding a failed physical disk

Issue: Rebuilding a physical disk that is in a failed state.

Corrective Action: If you have congured hot spares, the PERC card automatically tries to use one of the hot spares to rebuild a

physical disk that is in a failed state. Manual rebuild is necessary if no hot spares with enough capacity to rebuild the failed physical disks are available. You must insert a physical disk with enough storage in the subsystem before rebuilding the physical disk.

NOTE: You can use the HII Conguration Utility or Dell OpenManage storage management application to perform a manual

rebuild of an individual physical disk.

Virtual disk fails during rebuild using a global hot spare

Issue: A virtual disk fails during rebuild while using a global hot spare.

Description: The global hot spare reverts to Hotspare state and the virtual disk is in Failed state.

Virtual disk fails during rebuild using a dedicated hot spare

Issue:

Description: You must manually rebuild or add a new drive to system and start rebuilding.

A virtual disk fails during rebuild while using a dedicated hot spare.

Physical disk fails during reconstruction on redundant virtual disk

Issue:

Description: The dedicated hot spare reverts to Ready state and the virtual disk goes to Failed state.

A physical disk fails during a reconstruction process on a redundant virtual disk that has a hot spare.

Virtual disk fails rebuild using a dedicated hot spare

Issue:

A virtual disk fails during rebuild while using a dedicated hot spare.

Description: The dedicated hot spare is in Ready state and the virtual disk is in Failed state.

70 Troubleshooting

Physical disk takes a long time to rebuild

Issue: A physical disk is taking longer than expected to rebuild.

Description: A physical disk takes longer to rebuild when under high stress. There is only one rebuild I/O operation for every ve

host I/O operations.

Corrective Action: If possible, reduce stress on the physical disk.

SMART errors

SMART monitors the internal performance of all motors, heads, and physical disk electronics and detects predictable physical disk failures.

NOTE: For information about where to nd reports of SMART errors that could indicate hardware failure, see the Dell

OpenManage storage management documentation at Dell.com/support/manuals.

Smart error detected on a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk

Issue: A SMART error is detected on a physical disk in a redundant virtual disk.

Corrective Action: Perform the following steps:

1 Back up your data.

2 Force the physical disk oine.

NOTE: If a hot spare is present, the rebuild starts with the hot spare after the disk is forced

oine.

3 Replace the disk with a new physical disk of equal or higher capacity.

4 Perform the Replace Member operation.

NOTE: The Replace Member operation allows you to copy data from a source physical disk of a

virtual disk to a target physical disk that is not a part of the virtual disk. For more information about the Replace Member feature, see the topic Conguring hot spare.

Smart error detected on a physical disk in a non-redundant virtual disk

Issue:

Corrective Action: Perform the following steps:

A SMART error is detected on a physical disk in a non-redundant virtual disk.

1 Back up your data.

2 Use Replace Member or set up a global hot spare to replace the disk automatically.

NOTE: For more information about the Replace Member feature, see the topic Conguring hot

spare.

3 Replace the aected physical disk with a new physical disk of equal or higher capacity.

4 Restore from the backup.

Troubleshooting 71

Replace member errors

NOTE: For more information about the Replace Member features, see Conguring hot spare.

Source disk fails during replace member operation

Issue: The source disk fails during the Replace Member operation.

Corrective Action: If the source data is available from other disks in the virtual disk, the rebuild begins automatically on the target disk,

using the data from the other disks.

Target disk fails

Issue: The target disk fails.

Corrective Action: If the target disk fails, the Replace Member operation aborts.

General disk fails

Issue:

Corrective Action: If the target disk fails and the Replace Member operation aborts but the source data is still available, then the

A general disk fails.

Replace Member operation continues as Replace Member.

Linux operating system errors

Virtual disk policy is assumed as write-through error message

Error:

Corrective Action: The error message is displayed when the Linux Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) mid-layer asks for

<Date:Time> <HostName> kernel: sdb: asking for cache data failed<Date:Time> <HostName> kernel: sdb: assuming drive cache: write through

physical disk cache settings. The controller rmware manages the virtual disk cache settings on a per controller and a per virtual disk basis, so the rmware does not respond to this command. The Linux SCSI mid-layer assumes that the virtual disk's cache policy is Write-Through. SDB is the device node for a virtual disk. This value changes for each virtual disk.

For more information about Write-Through cache, see Virtual Disk Write Cache Policies.

Except for this message, there is no eect of this behavior on normal operation. The cache policy of the virtual disk and the I/O throughput are not aected by this message. The cache policy settings for the PERC SAS RAID system remain unchanged.

72 Troubleshooting

Unable to register SCSI device error message

Error:

Corrective Action: This is a known issue. An unsupported command is entered through the user application. User applications attempt

smartd[smartd[2338] Device: /dev/sda, Bad IEC (SMART) mode page, err=-5, skip device smartd[2338] Unable to register SCSI device /dev/sda at line 1 of file /etc/smartd.conf.

to direct Command Descriptor Blocks to RAID volumes. The error message does not aect the feature functionality. The Mode Sense/Select command is supported by rmware on the controller. However, the Linux kernel daemon issues the command to the virtual disk instead of to the driver IOCTL node. This action is not supported.

Disk carrier LED indicators

Each hard drive carrier has an activity indicator and a status indicator. The indicators provide information about the current status of the hard drive. The activity LED indicates whether hard drive is currently in use or not. The status LED indicates the power condition of the hard drive.

Figure 12. Hard drive indicators

activity LED 2 status LED

3 hard drive

NOTE: If the hard drive is in the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) mode, the status indicator (on the right side) does

not turn on.

Table 13. Hard drive indicator codes

Drive status indicator pattern Condition

Flashes green twice per second Identifying drive or preparing for removal.

O Drive ready for insertion or removal.

Flashes green, amber, and then turns o Predicted drive failure.

Troubleshooting 73

Drive status indicator pattern Condition

Flashes amber four times per second Drive failed.

Flashes green slowly Drive rebuilding.

Steady green Drive online.

Flashes green for three seconds, amber for three seconds, and then turns o after six seconds

Rebuild stopped.

HII error messages

Unhealthy Status of the Drivers

Error:

Probable Cause: This message might indicate that the cables are not connected, the disks might be missing, or the UEFI driver

Corrective Action:

One or more boot driver(s) have reported issues. Check the Driver Health Menu in Boot Manager for details.

might require conguration changes.

1 Check if the cables are connected properly, or replace missing hard drives, if any and then restart the system.

2 Press any key to load the driver health manager to display the congurations. The Driver Health Manager

displays the driver(s), which requires conguration.

3 Alternately, if the UEFI driver requires conguration, press any key to load the Conguration Utility.

74 Troubleshooting

Appendix RAID description

RAID is a group of independent physical disks that provides high performance by increasing the number of disks used for saving and accessing data.

CAUTION: In the event of a physical disk failure, a RAID 0 virtual disk fails, resulting in data loss.

A RAID disk subsystem oers the following benets:

• Improved I/O performance and data availability.

• Improved data throughput because several disks are accessed simultaneously. The physical disk group appears either as a single storage unit or multiple logical units to the host system.

• Improved data storage availability and fault tolerance. Data loss caused by a physical disk failure can be recovered by rebuilding missing data from the remaining physical disks containing data or parity.

Topics:

• Summary of RAID levels

• RAID terminology

Summary of RAID levels

Following is the RAID levels supported by PERC 10 series of cards:

• RAID 0 uses disk striping to provide high data throughput, especially for large les in an environment that requires no data redundancy.

• RAID 1 uses disk mirroring so that data written to one physical disk is simultaneously written to another physical disk. RAID 1 is good for small databases or other applications that require small capacity and complete data redundancy.

• RAID 5 uses disk striping and parity data across all physical disks (distributed parity) to provide high data throughput and data redundancy, especially for small random access.

• RAID 6 is an extension of RAID 5 and uses an additional parity block. RAID 6 uses block-level striping with two parity blocks distributed across all member disks. RAID 6 provides protection against double disk failures, and failures while a single disk is rebuilding. If you are using only one array, deploying RAID 6 is more eective than deploying a hot spare disk.

• RAID 10 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1, uses disk striping across mirrored disks. It provides high data throughput and complete data redundancy.

• RAID 50 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 5 where a RAID 0 array is striped across RAID 5 elements. RAID 50 requires at least six disks.

• RAID 60 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 6 where a RAID 0 array is striped across RAID 6 elements. RAID 60 requires at least eight disks.

The following table lists the minimum and maximum disks supported on each RAID levels.

Table 14. Minimum and maximum disks supported on each RAID levels

RAID Level Minimum disk Maximum disk

0 1 32

1 2 2

5 3 32

6 4 32

Appendix RAID description 75

RAID Level Minimum disk Maximum disk

10 4 240

50 6 240

60 8 240

NOTE: Maximum number of virtual disks is currently limited to 192, because of the supported enclosure conguration.

RAID terminology

Disk striping

Disk striping allows you to write data across multiple physical disks instead of just one physical disk. Disk striping involves partitioning each physical disk storage space in stripes of the following sizes: 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1 MB. The stripes are interleaved in a repeated sequential manner. The part of the stripe on a single physical disk is called a stripe element.

For example, in a four-disk system using only disk striping (used in RAID 0), segment 1 is written to disk 1, segment 2 is written to disk 2, and so on. Disk striping enhances performance because multiple physical disks are accessed simultaneously, but disk striping does not provide data redundancy.

Figure 13. Example of disk striping (RAID 0)

Disk mirroring

With mirroring (used in RAID 1), data written to one disk is simultaneously written to another disk. If one disk fails, the contents of the other disk can be used to run the system and rebuild the failed physical disk. The primary advantage of disk mirroring is that it provides complete data redundancy. Both disks contain the same data at all times. Either of the physical disks can act as the operational physical disk.

Disk mirroring provides complete redundancy, but is an expensive option because each physical disk in the system must be duplicated.

NOTE

: Mirrored physical disks improve read performance by read load balance.

Figure 14. Example of Disk Mirroring (RAID 1)

Appendix RAID description

Spanned RAID levels

Spanning is a term used to describe the way in which RAID levels 10, 50, and 60 are constructed from multiple sets of basic, or simple RAID levels. For example, a RAID 10 has multiple sets of RAID 1 arrays where each RAID 1 set is considered a span. Data is then striped (RAID 0) across the RAID 1 spans to create a RAID 10 virtual disk. Similarly, RAID 50 and RAID 60 combine multiple sets of RAID 5 or RAID 6 respectively with striping.

Parity data

Parity data is redundant data that is generated to provide fault tolerance within certain RAID levels. In the event of a disk failure, the parity data can be used by the controller to regenerate user data. Parity data is present for RAID 5, 6, 50, and 60.

The parity data is distributed across all the physical disks in the system. If a single physical disk fails, it can be rebuilt from the parity and the data on the remaining physical disks. RAID level 5 combines distributed parity with disk striping. Parity provides redundancy for one physical disk failure without duplicating the contents of the entire physical disks.

RAID 6 combines dual distributed parity with disk striping. This level of parity allows for two disk failures without duplicating the contents of entire physical disks.

Figure 15. Example of Distributed Parity (RAID 5)

NOTE

: Parity is distributed across multiple physical disks in the disk group.

Figure 16. Example of Dual Distributed Parity (RAID 6)

: Parity is distributed across all disks in the array.

NOTE

Appendix RAID description 77

Getting help

You can get help with your Dell product by contacting Dell, or send feedback on product documentation.

Contacting Dell EMC

Dell EMC provides several online and telephone based support and service options. If you do not have an active internet connection, you can nd contact information about your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell EMC product catalog. Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your area. To contact Dell EMC for sales, technical assistance, or customer service issues:

1 Go to Dell.com/support/home.

2 Select your country from the drop-down menu on the lower right corner of the page.

3 For customized support:

a Enter your system Service Tag in the Enter your Service Tag eld. b Click Submit.

The support page that lists the various support categories is displayed.

4 For general support:

a Select your product category. b Select your product segment. c Select your product.

The support page that lists the various support categories is displayed.

5 For contact details of Dell EMC Global Technical Support:

a Click Global Technical Support. b The Contact Technical Support page is displayed with details to call, chat, or e-mail the Dell EMC Global Technical Support

team.

Documentation feedback

Click the Feedback link in any of the Dell EMC documentation pages, ll out the form, and click Submit to send your feedback.

78 Getting help

Dell EMC H745P MX, H740P, H840 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Overview

Supported operating systems

Management applications for PERC cards

Comprehensive embedded management

Dell OpenManage Storage Management

Related documentation

Getting Started

Controller features

FastPath

Features

Disk roaming

1 MB IO

Physical disk power management

Enhanced HBA mode

Non-RAID disks

PERC H745P MX enclosure support

PERC H840 enclosure support

Virtual disk features

Virtual disk write cache policies

Virtual disk read cache policies

Virtual disk migration

Virtual disk initialization

Background operations

Hard drive features

Self-Encrypting Disks

Instant Secure Erase

4 KB sector disk drives

Fault tolerance

The SMART feature

Patrol Read

Physical disk failure detection

Using persistent hot spare slots

Physical disk hot swapping

Using replace member and revertible hot spares

Controller cache preservation

Battery Transparent Learn Cycle

Deploying the PERC card

Removing the PERC H740P adapter

Installing the PERC H740P adapter

Removing the PERC H740P mini monolithic

Installing the PERC H740P mini monolithic

Removing the PERC H745P MX adapter card

Installing the PERC H745P MX adapter card

Removing the PERC H840 card

Installing the PERC H840 card

Part replacement of a PERC card in eHBA mode

Driver installation

Creating the device driver media

Downloading drivers from the Dell support website

Downloading drivers from the Dell systems service and diagnostic tools media

Windows driver installation

Installing the driver during a Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation

Installing the driver after Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer installation

Updating PERC 10 driver for existing Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer

Linux driver installation

Installing or updating the RPM driver package with KMOD support

Installing or updating the RPM driver package with KMP support

Loading the driver during operating system installation

Firmware

Creating virtual disks

Viewing Disk Group Properties

Controller management

Clearing controller events

Saving controller events

Saving debug log

Managing link speed

Restoring factory default settings

Manage controller mode

Advanced controller properties

Virtual disk management

Virtual disk numbering

Viewing virtual disk properties

Viewing physical disks associated with a virtual disk

Performing break mirror operation

Performing expand virtual disk operation

Performing consistency check