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We have purchased two stock HP ML350e Gen8 servers. Ubuntu 12.04 is to be installed in those. The stock, base unit have provision for 6 hard disks for creating RAID in which, one is filled with 500GB Hard disk and others with blank plates. We are planning to buy hard-disks and hard-disk bays for creating RAID array.

I am confused with software RAID, hardware RAID and RAID levels. Kindly help me. Which RAID level is commonly used in IT firms and is most reliable.

Kindly guide me with what all steps are there for creating RAID in HP Proliant ML350e Gen8 server? I am new to RAID configuration. Kindly answer in detail.

user237817
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3 Answers3

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Ubuntu is not a good match for the HP ProLiant ML350e server hardware. Ubuntu is not supported for use with the hardware RAID controller on that system.

Please see the following question for more detail: Installing Ubuntu 12.04 on HP Proliant DL380e with 1TB SAS Drive

Ubuntu is certified for the ProLiant ML350e only if the Dynamic Smart Array controller is disabled. Please see the Ubuntu certification notes.

HP Dynamic Smart Array System is certified with Dynamic Smart Array disabled. To disable Dynamic Smart Array: * Press F9 to boot into RBSU * Navigate to System Options -> HP Dynamic Smart Array B320i and select disable * Go to System options -> SATA Controller options and select Legacy SATA or AHCI * Reboot the machine and now you will be able to install the OS.

Community
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ewwhite
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  • Thanks for the answer. But it is for Ubuntu 12.04, there is no such note for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64-bit. Kindly see [http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201206-11148/]. I will switch to that. Which RAID level is commonly used. How many SAS drives needed? Kindly guide me with steps to configure RAID. – user237817 Oct 08 '14 at 06:56
  • These servers aren't supported with newer versions of Ubuntu either. – ewwhite Oct 08 '14 at 06:57
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Regarding the question about RAID I would advise you to read about the different types of it in Wikipedia, go through the pros and cons and decide which one you want and which ones the system allows you to implement (for example I have seen servers that only allows you to implement RAID 0 and RAID 5 through the BIOS).

Keep in mind that there is no "commonly used" type since the necessities varies not only among IT firms but through projects within IT firms too.

Isaac
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To configure RAID for HP ProLiant Servers download the newest SPP (Support Pack for ProLiant). It is an iso File. Boot from this iso (burn on dvd, put on usb drive, or connect via ILO) and there you can configure the RAID.

You shouldn't configure a RAID without knowing the differences between the RAIDs.

Have a look at this: https://www.icc-usa.com/raid-calculator/

There you can Calculate the raid and have a short over-view about the differences.

Also don't forget if you have choosen RAID 5 for example, to configure a spare-Drive! (so if one hdd has a crash, the rebuild of the raid will be done automaticaly on the spare-hdd) Hope this helps you. Maybe you also have a look at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

frupfrup
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  • Thank you very much. I will go through those and will query here, in case of doubts. – user237817 Oct 08 '14 at 09:17
  • you're welcome. If this was "the solution" for you. Pls. mark the post as answer, so the question is closed. – frupfrup Oct 08 '14 at 09:45
  • @user237817 This server uses a binary RAID driver that is not compatible with Ubuntu. There's no option to use the RAID controller with that OS. – ewwhite Oct 08 '14 at 12:07