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WebBIOS Configuration Utility

Dell™ PowerEdge™ Expandable RAID Controller 4/SC and 4/DC User's Guide

  Features

  Starting the WebBIOS Utility

  Displaying the RAID Controllers

  Displaying Adapter Properties

  Scanning Devices

  Displaying Logical Drive Properties

  Displaying and Rebuilding Physical Drives

  Configuring Arrays and Logical Drives

  Initializing Logical Drives

  Checking Data Consistency

  Viewing Physical and Logical Configurations

  Resolving a Configuration Mismatch

Features

The WebBIOS Configuration Utility is an HTML-based utility available on the RAID controller that allows you to configure and manage RAID arrays and logical drives. You can use this utility in place of or in conjunction with the <Ctrl><M> BIOS Configuration Utility.

Because the WebBIOS utility resides in the RAID controller BIOS, its operation is independent of the operating systems on your computer. The utility can be used to:

• Display adapter properties
  
  
• Scan devices
  
  
• Define logical drives
  
  
• Display logical drive properties
  
  
• Initialize logical drives
  
  
• Check data for consistency
  
  
• Configure physical arrays
  
  
• Make hotspares
  
  
• Select adapters
  
  
• Display the physical properties
  
  

You can use the Configuration Wizard to guide you through the steps required for configuration of the logical drives and physical arrays.

Starting the WebBIOS Utility

When the system boots, hold the <Ctrl> key and press the <H> key when the following appears:

Copyright© LSI Logic Corporation
Press <Ctrl><M> to Run Configuration Utility
Or press <Ctrl><H> for WebBIOS

If there are multiple RAID controllers, WebBIOS starts at the Adapter Selection screen after you press <Ctrl><H>. You can use this screen to select the adapter that you want to configure RAID arrays and logical drives for. Select an adapter and press the Start button to begin the configuration. If you want to use the BIOS configuration utility instead of WebBIOS, click the Control-M button.

NOTE: If there is a configuration mismatch between the disks and the non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) on the adapter, the Select Configuration screen appears first. This screen is used to perform custom configuration, auto configuration with redundancy (recommended), or auto configuration without redundancy. See Configuring Arrays and Logical Drives for information about selecting configurations, and Resolving a Configuration Mismatch for information about configuration mismatches.

Adapter Selection Screen

Main Menu Screen

The WebBIOS Main Menu screen appears when you select a controller on the Adapter Selection screen and press Start. The Main Menu screen displays a menu of items that you can select to display information and make changes to the RAID arrays and logical drives. The screen also displays the current configuration of the physical and logical drives, and the WebBIOS toolbar icons.

From this screen, you can configure and manage the RAID arrays on the remote server.

WebBIOS Toolbar Icons

The WebBIOS toolbar icons display on the Main Menu screen. Table 6-1 describes the icons.

Table 6-1 WebBIOS Toolbar Icons 

Displaying the RAID Controllers

Select Adapter Selection on the WebBIOS Main Menu screen, to display a list of the RAID controllers in the system. (This screen also appears when you first start the WebBIOS utility.) To begin configuration, select a controller and click Start.

Displaying Adapter Properties

Select Adapter Properties from the WebBIOS Main Menu screen to display the Adapter Properties screen. The Firmware Version and BIOS Version display above the fields described in Table 6-2.

Table 6-2 describes the Adapter Properties menu options.

Table 6-2 Adapter Properties Menu Options 

Check Consistency Option

Scanning Devices

When you select Scan Devices, WebBIOS checks the physical and logical drives to see if there are any changes to the drive status. It displays the results of the scan on the main screen in the physical and logical drives section. For example, if a physical drive has failed, the message Not Responding displays to the right of the drive name under the Physical Drives heading.

Displaying Logical Drive Properties

Select the Properties option on the Logical Drives screen to do the following:

• Display the logical drive properties (such as RAID level, logical drive size, and stripe size.)
  
  
• Display or change the read, write, and input/output (I/O) policies.
  
  
• Start initialization.
  
  
• Start a check consistency.
  
  

The following is an example of the Properties screen.

Properties Screen

Selecting a Boot Logical Drive

After you select a logical drive to boot, the system boots from that logical drive when you reboot. This field is 0-n, where "n" is equal to the number of logical drives created on the controller minus one. For example, it would be 0-0 for a user when there is only one logical drive on the controller.

Perform the following steps to select a logical drive to boot from:

1. On the Main Menu, select Logical Drives.
   
   

The Logical Drives screen displays.

2. Select Set Boot Drive.
   
   
3. Click Go to complete the action.
   
   

Displaying and Rebuilding Physical Drives

The Physical Drives screen displays when you select Physical Drives on the Main Menu screen. This screen displays the physical drives for each channel.

Displaying Physical Drive Properties

1. Click Properties.
   
   
2. Click Go.
   
   

The Physical Drive Properties screen displays.

Rebuilding Physical Drives

1. Click Rebuild.
   
   
2. Click Go to rebuild the physical arrays.
   
   

You can press Reset to return to the configuration that existed before you made any changes.

Making a Hotspare

1. Click Properties.
   
   
2. Click Go.
   
   

The Physical Drive Properties screen displays.

3. Click Make Hotspare.
   
   

The selected physical drive becomes a hotspare.

Configuring Arrays and Logical Drives

Perform the following steps to configure arrays and logical drives:

1. Select Configuration Wizard on the WebBIOS Main Menu screen.
   
   

The Configuration Wizard screen displays.

2. Select to clear a configuration, create a new configuration, or add a configuration.
   
   
3. After you select an option, click Next to go to the next step (shown as Step 2/5 in the bottom right corner of the screen).
   
   

The next configuration screen displays.

4. Select the type of configuration
   
   

On this screen, you can select custom configuration, auto configuration with redundancy (recommended), or auto configuration without redundancy.

5. After you select a configuration, click Next to go to the next step (Step 3/5).
   
   

The Array Definition screen displays.

6. To add drives to an array, press the Ctrl key while you select ready drives.
   
   
7. Click Accept Array to add the drives.
   
   
8. To undo the changes, press the Reclaim button.
   
   

The following screen displays an example of an array being added.

Array Definition Screen

9. After you define the array, click Next.
   
   

The Logical Drive Definition Screen displays.

Logical Drive Definition Screen

10. Perform the following steps to configure a logical drive.
    
    
    1. Click a logical drive.
       
       
    2. Click the down arrow in the box to the right of RAID Level to display the possible RAID levels for the logical drive.
       
       
    3. Select the RAID level for the logical drive.
       
       
    4. Select the Stripe Size.
       
       

    Stripe Size specifies the size of the segment written to each disk in a RAID 1, 5, or 10 logical drive. You can set the stripe size to 2 KB, 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB (the default), or 128 KB.

    A larger stripe size produces higher read performance, especially if your computer does mostly sequential reads. However, if your computer does random read requests more often, select a smaller stripe size.

    5. Select the Read Policy.
       
       

    The Read Policy (Read-Ahead) enables the IDE read-ahead feature for the logical drive. The options are:

    • Read-ahead: The RAID controller uses read-ahead for the current logical drive.
      
      
    • No Read-ahead: The controller does not use read-ahead for the current logical drive.
      
      
    • Adaptive (the default): The controller begins using read-ahead if the two most recent drive accesses occurred in sequential sectors. If all read requests are random, the algorithm reverts to No Read-ahead; however, all requests are still evaluated for possible sequential operation.
      
      
    6. Select the Write Policy.
       
       

    Write Policy specifies the cache write policy. The options are:

    • 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.
      
      
    • Write-through (the default): The controller sends a data transfer completion signal to the host when the drive s ubsystem has received all the data in a transaction.
      
      

    Write-through caching provides better data security than write-back caching, and write-back caching offers higher throughput than write-through caching. You should not use write-back for any logical drive to be used as a Novell® NetWare® volume.

    7. Select the Cache Policy.
       
       

    Cache Policy applies to reads on a specific logical drive. It does not affect the Read-ahead cache. The options are:

    • Cached I/O: All reads are buffered in cache memory.
      
      
    • Direct I/O: (the default) Reads are not buffered in cache memory. Direct I/O does not override the cache policy settings. Data is transferred to cache and the host concurrently. If the same data block is read again, it comes from cache memory.
      
      
    8. Enable or disable the spanning mode for the current logical drive.
       
       

    If enabled, the logical drive can occupy space in more than one array. If disabled, the logical drive can occupy space in only one array.

    For two arrays to be spannable, they must have the same stripe width (they must contain the same number of physical drives) and must be consecutively numbered. For example, assuming Array 2 contains four hard drives, it can be spanned only with Array 1 and/or Array 3, and only if Arrays 1 and 3 also contain four hard drives. If the two criteria for spanning are met, the RAID controller automatically allows spanning. If the criteria are not met, the Span setting makes no difference for the current logical drive.

    9. Select the size of the logical drive in MB in the Select Size field.
       
       
    10. Click Accept to accept the changes or Reset to delete the changes and return to the previous settings.
        
        
    11. Click Next.
        
        

    The Configuration Preview screen displays.

11. Preview the configuration on the Configuration Preview screen.
    
    

Configuration Preview Screen

12. Click Accept to save the configuration or Back to return to the previous screens and change the configuration.
    
    

You are prompted to save the configuration.

13. At the prompt, select Yes to save the configuration.
    
    

You are prompted to initialize the logical drives.

14. At the prompt, select Yes to initialize the logical drives.
    
    

The screen used to initialize logical drives displays. See Initializing Logical Drives in this section for more information about initializing logical drives.

Configure RAID 10 and 50 Arrays

To configure RAID 10 and RAID 50 arrays, you must select RAID 1 or RAID 5 arrays and span them. Perform the following steps to configure a RAID 10 or RAID 50 array:

1. Select Configuration Wizard on the WebBIOS Main Menu screen.
   
   

The Configuration Wizard screen displays.

2. Select Add Configuration and click Next.
   
   

The next configuration screen displays.

3. Select Custom Configuration and click Next.
   
   

The Array Definition screen displays.

4. Hold the <Ctrl> key down and select two hard drives for a RAID 1 array or at least three hard drives for a RAID 5 array.
   
   
5. Click Accept Array.
   
   
6. Hold the <Ctrl> key down and select two hard drives for another RAID 1 array or three hard drives for a RAID 5 array.
   
   
7. Click Accept Array.
   
   
8. After the drives are listed under the Arrays heading, click Next.
   
   

The Logical Drive Definition screen displays.

9. Perform the following steps to configure a logical drive.
   
   
   1. Hold the <Ctrl> key down as you click and highlight the arrays that you want to span.
      
      
   2. Click the down arrow in the box to the right of RAID Level to display the possible RAID levels for the logical drive.
      
      
   3. Select the RAID level for the logical drive.
      
      
   4. Select the Stripe Size.
      
      

   Stripe Size specifies the size of the segment written to each disk in a logical drive.
   
   

   5. Select the Read Policy.
      
      

   The Read Policy (Read-Ahead) enables the IDE read-ahead feature for the logical drive.

   6. Select the Write Policy.
      
      

   Write Policy specifies the cache write policy.

   7. Select the Cache Policy.
      
      

   Cache Policy applies to reads on a specific logical drive. It does not affect the Read-ahead cache.

   8. Enable or disable the spanning mode for the current logical drive.
      
      

   If enabled, the logical drive can occupy space in more than one array. If disabled, the logical drive can occupy space in only one array.

   For two arrays to be spannable, they must have the same stripe width (they must contain the same number of physical drives) and must be consecutively numbered. For example, assuming array 2 contains four hard drives, it can be spanned only with array 1 and/or array 3, and only if arrays 1 and 3 also contain four hard drives.

   If the two criteria for spanning are met, the RAID controller automatically allows spanning. If the criteria are not met, the Span setting makes no difference for the current logical drive.

   NOTE: The WebBIOS utility does not display the size of the spanned RAID arrays after you enable spanning. You need to calculate the size of the spanned arrays.

9. Select the size of the logical drive in MB in the Select Size field.
   
   
10. Click Accept to accept the settings or Reset to delete the changes and return to the previous settings.
    
    
11. Click Next.
    
    

The Configuration Preview screen displays.

10. Preview the configuration on the Configuration Preview screen.
    
    
11. Click Accept to save the configuration or Back to return to the previous screens and change the configuration.
    
    

You are prompted to save the configuration.

12. At the prompt, select Yes to save to save the configuration.
    
    

You are prompted to initialize the logical drives.

13. At the prompt, select Yes to initialize the logical drives.
    
    

The screen used to initialize logical drives displays. See Initializing Logical Drives for more information about initializing logical drives.

Initializing Logical Drives

You should initialize each new logical drive that you configure. You can use the Initialize option on the Logical Drives screen to initialize logical drives. Perform the following actions to initialize a logical drive:

1. Select the Logical Drives option on the WebBIOS main screen.
   
   
2. On the Logical Drives screen, select the logical drive to be initialized.
   
   
3. Click in the box next to Initialize, then click Go.
   
   

The progress of the initialization appears as a graph on the screen.

4. When initialization completes, click the Back button to display the previous menu.
   
   

Fast Initialization

When Fast Initialization is enabled, zeros are written to the first sector of the logical drive so that initialization occurs in 2 – 3 seconds. When disabled, a full initialization takes place on the entire logical drive. On a larger logical drive, it is best to set fast initialization to Off, then initialize. Otherwise, the controller will run a background consistency check within five minutes of reboot or RAID 5 creation.

Perform the following steps to enable the Fast Initialization option:

1. Select Objects—> Adapter from the BIOS Configuration Utility Management Menu.
   
   

A list of the current logical drives appears.

2. Press the spacebar to select a logical drive.
   
   

The list of controller options displays.

3. Select Fast Initialization and set the mode to On at the prompt.
   
   

Checking Data Consistency

Select the Check Consistency option on the Logical Drives screen to verify that the data on a logical drive is correct. This option is available only if RAID level 1 or level 5 is selected. The RAID controller automatically corrects any differences found in the data.

1. Click Logical Drives on the main menu screen.
   
   

The Logical Drives screen displays.

2. Click Check Consistency.
   
   
3. Click Go.
   
   

a progress chart displays on the left side of the screen to show how much of the consistency check has been completed. There is also an option to abort the check for any or all logical drives.

Viewing Physical and Logical Configurations

The Main Menu screen displays the physical and logical views when you select Physical View or Logical View. The option toggles between Physical View and Logical View. For example, if you select Physical View on the screen below, the option changes to Logical View. If you then select Logical View, the option changes back to Physical View. That way, you can go back and forth between physical and logical views.

Physical View/Logical View

Resolving a Configuration Mismatch

A configuration mismatch occurs when the configuration data in the non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) and the configuration data on the hard drives are different. The drive roaming (configuration on disk) feature saves configuration data on the NVRAM and the hard drives attached to the system so that it is always available in case of controller failure.

The NVRAM/DISK Configuration screen provides three ways to resolve a configuration mismatch:

• Select Create New Configuration to delete the previous configuration and create a new configuration.
  
  
• Select View Disk Configuration to restore the configuration from the hard disk drive.
  
  
• Select View NVRAM Configuration to restore the configuration from the NVRAM.
  
  

Configuration Mismatch Screen

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