Small Business is installed, can I now add a RAID pci
card to setup a RAID configuration?

RAID & Small Business Server 2000 by Mark

Mark
Thu Aug 21 06:16:25 CDT 2003

If you are using SBS 4.5 then yes, you simply add the
driver into the SCSI devices in control panel, BEFORE you
stick the PCI card in and mirror the disk. If you are
using SBS 2000 no, with one exception. If you installed
the PCI card and 1 disk then installed SBS you can then
add a second disk and mirror away. Otherwise you will just
get "device not accessable errors" on boot up.


>-----Original Message-----
>Small Business is installed, can I now add a RAID pci
>card to setup a RAID configuration?
>
>
>.
>

Re: RAID & Small Business Server 2000 by Mark

Mark
Thu Aug 21 08:00:14 CDT 2003

I have never managed to get 2K to boot using an alternate
controller to the one it was installed using, unless it's
the same make or chipset (so the same driver works on
both). The error message I was referring to was the one
where windows begins to boot, seems to be working fine,
then right just at the point where it should get into
windows "Inaccessable boot device" pop's up, not the
bios "cannot find hard disk" error message.

This is one of the banes of my life, where I get called in
to fix a machine with an integrated controler, and the
motherboard is no longer available, half the time if you
can't get a PCI device with the same chipset as the
integrated one.

Under NT it was a breeze, just install the driver before
you reboot :)

>-----Original Message-----
>Some servers have boot order where you can choose what
boots first.
>Sometimes it is based on what slot is being used. Other
times it is a
>bios setting. I just worked on an old dell that would not
boot off the
>Raid 5 controller. I installed an Adaptec 2940 in a slot
before the
>Raid 5 controller and booted off that hard drive. I could
then access
>the Raid 5 and salvage data.
>
>"Mark Barnes" <mark@spam-me-not.advanced-systems.co.uk>
wrote:
>
>>If you are using SBS 4.5 then yes, you simply add the
>>driver into the SCSI devices in control panel, BEFORE
you
>>stick the PCI card in and mirror the disk. If you are
>>using SBS 2000 no, with one exception. If you installed
>>the PCI card and 1 disk then installed SBS you can then
>>add a second disk and mirror away. Otherwise you will
just
>>get "device not accessable errors" on boot up.
>>
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>Small Business is installed, can I now add a RAID pci
>>>card to setup a RAID configuration?
>>>
>>>
>>>.
>>>
>
>Jim B. SBS MVP
>.
>

Re: RAID & Small Business Server 2000 by Hendrik

Hendrik
Thu Aug 21 08:14:59 CDT 2003

What if you just put the PCI card inside, and hook 1 drive on it, but still
leave your boot drive on the same controller?
I think the server would still boot, then find some new hardware, and ask
for some drivers. Then you install the drivers, and powerdown.
Change the bootdrive to the pci card, and boot. Now the server would at
least have the drivers for the controller. Don't know if that will change a
thing, but this might help. Never had to try something like that before...

HC

Mark Barnes wrote:
> I have never managed to get 2K to boot using an alternate
> controller to the one it was installed using, unless it's
> the same make or chipset (so the same driver works on
> both). The error message I was referring to was the one
> where windows begins to boot, seems to be working fine,
> then right just at the point where it should get into
> windows "Inaccessable boot device" pop's up, not the
> bios "cannot find hard disk" error message.
>
> This is one of the banes of my life, where I get called in
> to fix a machine with an integrated controler, and the
> motherboard is no longer available, half the time if you
> can't get a PCI device with the same chipset as the
> integrated one.
>
> Under NT it was a breeze, just install the driver before
> you reboot :)
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> Some servers have boot order where you can choose what boots first.
>> Sometimes it is based on what slot is being used. Other times it is a
>> bios setting. I just worked on an old dell that would not boot off
>> the Raid 5 controller. I installed an Adaptec 2940 in a slot before
>> the Raid 5 controller and booted off that hard drive. I could then
>> access the Raid 5 and salvage data.
>>
>> "Mark Barnes" <mark@spam-me-not.advanced-systems.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> If you are using SBS 4.5 then yes, you simply add the
>>> driver into the SCSI devices in control panel, BEFORE you
>>> stick the PCI card in and mirror the disk. If you are
>>> using SBS 2000 no, with one exception. If you installed
>>> the PCI card and 1 disk then installed SBS you can then
>>> add a second disk and mirror away. Otherwise you will just
>>> get "device not accessable errors" on boot up.
>>>
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> Small Business is installed, can I now add a RAID pci
>>>> card to setup a RAID configuration?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> .
>>>>
>>
>> Jim B. SBS MVP
>> .



Re: RAID & Small Business Server 2000 by aselgat

aselgat
Thu Aug 21 12:50:18 CDT 2003

I use RAID 0/1 on all SBS2000 and the older 4.5 servers without ever
having an error.

This is true because I built the array before loading the OS.
Typivally I set up 4 drives in the RAID 0/1 config for best speed and
mirroring. Then I put a 5th drive in the array as a spare.
Check the specs on your controller card and vendor website, sometimes
you need to install a Windows2000 driver that works with the hard
drive backplane, without it there may be poor communications between
the RAID card and your hot swap drive bay. Of course this is an
unneeded driver iof you are simply chaining drives together on a SCSI
drive.