RAID configuration using PERC

PERC stands for PowerEdge Raid Controller. Here we have 3 physical disks present. We will be configuring 2 virtual disks (VD) of RAID 5 using these 3 physical disks.

VD00 - 100 GB

VD01 - 1.7 TB

Once the system starts press Ctrl+R to enter PERC configuration utility and follow the steps as shown below.

No configuration present and 3 disks available

Press F2 and create new VD

VD00 properties

Click OK

VD00 - 100 GB created

Press F2 and add new VD

VD01 properties

VD00 and VD01 created

 Now we have successfully created 2 VDs. Next step is to initialize both VDs.

Initialization of VD00

Start Init

Click OK

Initialization VD00 in progress

Similarly initialize the next VD too. Once its completed you can exit from the PERC utility and reboot the machine.

RAID controller

As RAID controller is responsible for the operations on RAID array drives, it is very important to have an enterprise class controller for enhanced performance, increased reliability and fault tolerance. Considering the business requirement and budget, you can choose a RAID controller. Here I will be explaining about DELL Power Edge RAID Controller (PERC). When choosing a controller, there are few critical hardware features that affect performance to keep in mind :

• Read policy
• Write policy
• Controller cache memory
• CacheCade
• Cut-through I/ O
• FastPath

PERC Series

PERC H810 - high performance RAID controller that can be connected to JBOD

PERC H710P - ideal for implementing hybrid server platforms based on SAS HDDs with high performance and enterprise class reliability

PERC H310 - entry-level RAID controller (no cache)

Reference :
Dell
Microsoft

RAID

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive/ Independent Disks. There are different RAID levels and the level you choose for your system depends on the amount of storage you require and the way you access your data and several other factors like cost, redundancy etc. Common RAID levels are 0, 1 and 5.

RAID 0

-Data stripping

-Improved performance

-No redundancy

RAID 1

-Mirroring

-Redundant

RAID 5

-Data stripping + evenly distributed parity

-Redundancy + improved performance

-Minimum 3 hard disks required

RAID is mostly used in a production setup or where redundancy and performance is a major concern. It is configured by using RAID controllers. For example, in the case of Dell PowerEdge R710 servers, RAID is configured using PERC (PowerEdge Raid Controller). Press Ctrl+R to access the PERC BIOS Configuration Utility after starting or restarting the PowerEdge server.