I have a Dell Poweredge 1750 with 2 scsi 36GB 15k drives. I need to install Windows 2003 on this server. The server came with Dell software, an install disk and Open Manage or something like that. Given I only have two drives, Raid 5 is out of the question. What would be the best way to configure this server? Should I mirror the drives, or should I install OS on drive 1 and data on drive 2? Also I have never set up a Dell out of the box before, could someone provide step by step instructions for setting up the disks so that I may install the OS? I also have to set up a 2650 with 3 drives, same type. What would be the best config for that server? Again step by step would be great, thanks.
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations IamaSherpa on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
Setting up Dell Servers for W2003 Server Please Help 3
- Thread starter valicon
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #2
-
2
- #3
I build 1750 2600 2650 6600 5560 Servers all the time so
1) For a 2 disk model, set up Raid-1 mirror across the 2 disks. For 2003 we generally use a C: partition of 16GB and the remainder as a D: drive. You can usually set up the RAID logical disks by pressing (I think Ctrl M) on the boot screen (youll see a message during boot)
2)For a 5 disk model, 2 choices. 2 Disks in a Raid-1 configuration (C,D) , plus 3 disks in a Raid-5 config (E)or (my preference) 4 disks in 2 Raid-1 Arrays + 1 Hotspare).
3) In either case boot from the DOSA (Dell OPenmanage Server Assistant) CD to start configuration.
1) For a 2 disk model, set up Raid-1 mirror across the 2 disks. For 2003 we generally use a C: partition of 16GB and the remainder as a D: drive. You can usually set up the RAID logical disks by pressing (I think Ctrl M) on the boot screen (youll see a message during boot)
2)For a 5 disk model, 2 choices. 2 Disks in a Raid-1 configuration (C,D) , plus 3 disks in a Raid-5 config (E)or (my preference) 4 disks in 2 Raid-1 Arrays + 1 Hotspare).
3) In either case boot from the DOSA (Dell OPenmanage Server Assistant) CD to start configuration.
-
1
- #4
NickFerrar
MIS
Gabby's advice is good, although it does also depend what you are using the servers for and how much capacity you need.
If I were building a web server on the 1750 and 36GB would be all the capacity I ever needed then I'd do a RAID-1 container and a single C: volume on it (using all the 36ish GB available space).
If it's going to be used as soemthing like a database server where it may eventually exceed 36GB required disk space I'd buy another disk now and build it as a single RAID-5 container with a C: of about 12GB and the rest as D:
For the 2650 I'd agree with Gabby that a RAID-1 container + 3 disk RAID-5 container is the best set up however it does depend again on what you're using them for. I have a few general file servers here that are just single RAID-5 containers with 5 or more drives and they work just fine. If it's not a database or performance-critical application server and you needed more than 64GB available initially then I'd build the 2650 as a single RAID-5 container with all 5 disks (giving 120ish GB usuable data area) and then have a 12GB C: and the rest as D:.
As Gabby says build the server using the DOSA CD. You boot it from that and it takes you through a wizard to build the server (even set up the RAID), it prompts you for the operating system CD when required. I have found it generally ignores the regional options it prompts for at the start so if you're in a non-US country you'll likely have to set the region stuff again once the build has finished.
If I were building a web server on the 1750 and 36GB would be all the capacity I ever needed then I'd do a RAID-1 container and a single C: volume on it (using all the 36ish GB available space).
If it's going to be used as soemthing like a database server where it may eventually exceed 36GB required disk space I'd buy another disk now and build it as a single RAID-5 container with a C: of about 12GB and the rest as D:
For the 2650 I'd agree with Gabby that a RAID-1 container + 3 disk RAID-5 container is the best set up however it does depend again on what you're using them for. I have a few general file servers here that are just single RAID-5 containers with 5 or more drives and they work just fine. If it's not a database or performance-critical application server and you needed more than 64GB available initially then I'd build the 2650 as a single RAID-5 container with all 5 disks (giving 120ish GB usuable data area) and then have a 12GB C: and the rest as D:.
As Gabby says build the server using the DOSA CD. You boot it from that and it takes you through a wizard to build the server (even set up the RAID), it prompts you for the operating system CD when required. I have found it generally ignores the regional options it prompts for at the start so if you're in a non-US country you'll likely have to set the region stuff again once the build has finished.
- Thread starter
- #5
- Thread starter
- #6
One more question. I set up the PE1650 with Raid 1, but Windows 2003 does not see it, it only sees the 6GB partition. When I went into Disk Management, the rest of the space is unalloctaed. So what I did was format it to NTFS. Do I have to setup the mirror in Windows disk management also?
- Thread starter
- #7
Nick / Gabby,
I am having a terrible time at this. Could you provide step by step instructions? I used the DOSA to boot and I went through the wizard to set up raid 1, it asked for a size so I put in 6GB thinking that would be my C drive and that it would give me the opportunity to configure the rest of the drive. But after that it asked for the Windows 2003 server disk and installed server. I then went into My Computer and saw only 1 drive, C drive and it was 6GB. I went into disk management and it said I had a c drive of 6GB and unallocated space of 32GB. I then went into array manager and was completely lost! How do I set this up?
I am having a terrible time at this. Could you provide step by step instructions? I used the DOSA to boot and I went through the wizard to set up raid 1, it asked for a size so I put in 6GB thinking that would be my C drive and that it would give me the opportunity to configure the rest of the drive. But after that it asked for the Windows 2003 server disk and installed server. I then went into My Computer and saw only 1 drive, C drive and it was 6GB. I went into disk management and it said I had a c drive of 6GB and unallocated space of 32GB. I then went into array manager and was completely lost! How do I set this up?
Confusion reigns......hard to work out exactly what you've done, but you seem to mix up partitions and logical drives. You need to set up 1 logical drive, which is a Raid-1 mirror across both disks. You can do this using CTRL-M during the boot when it says, or using the DOSA CD. I prefer the former. When you go to install the OS, it should see this logical drive (36GB) and ask you for a size for your system partition (C
. I would specify 16GB here, but you can make it 36GB if you want. Assuming you select 16GB, Windows 2003 Server will then install and you will have a C: drive of 16GB and unused space of 20GB. Use Disk Administrator to set up a new NTFS D: partition of 20GB. You do NOT need to set up any mirroring in Disk Administrator, the PERC controller looks after that. You can mail me gomara at vodafone.ie with specific questions if you are stuck.
. I would specify 16GB here, but you can make it 36GB if you want. Assuming you select 16GB, Windows 2003 Server will then install and you will have a C: drive of 16GB and unused space of 20GB. Use Disk Administrator to set up a new NTFS D: partition of 20GB. You do NOT need to set up any mirroring in Disk Administrator, the PERC controller looks after that. You can mail me gomara at vodafone.ie with specific questions if you are stuck.- Status