How do I check the status of my drives and RAID array through the RAID BIOS?

Sadly, on occasion, errors can occur with the storage components of a server. As we know how frustrating this can be, this FAQ section has been created to help our client’s investigate their server’s storage through their server’s RAID BIOS.

If you believe an error has occurred with either a server’s RAID array or with a server’s physical drives, when a RAID controller is present within the server, one way you can check the status of a server’s storage is through the server’s RAID BIOS menu. You can use the server’s RAID BIOS to identify any failed drives and identify the details required to have them replaced.

Checking a server’s RAID BIOS involves rebooting a server while accessing it through either a KVMoIP device or while having a remote management’s virtual/remote console open, then accessing the RAID controller’s BIOS menu while the server goes through POST. This does require the server and anything the server is hosting to be offline during the entire process. Due to this, it is normally preferable for clients to use either Remote Management software or monitoring tools configured on the server’s operating system to identify any issues with a server’s storage; however, if this not possible then you may have to use the server’s RAID BIOS.

How to boot into a server’s RAID controller’s BIOS menu and check the drives’ and arrays’ health depends on the model of your server and the model of the RAID controller it is using. Below, you will see some examples of how to check the RAID BIOS for some of our combinations of RAID controllers and server models. If your server and RAID controller are not listed below, you can either find material online to help you perform this action, or raise a support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to discuss what we can do to help.

If you are un-sure what model your server and RAID controller is, please see below how to use MyServers to identify this.

If you have a dedicated server hosted with us, you will be able to identify the make and model of your device through our MyServers control panel, on the IS page of the device.

First, log in to the MyServers control panel and then navigate to the IS page of the server you wish to check the model of. A list of servers can be found by clicking on the My Servers tab. Once you are on the IS page of the server, you will be able to find the make and model of the server within the Service Description box, in line with the IS number. In my example below, you can see that the make of my server is a Dell, while the model of the server is a PowerEdge R210 II.

Within the Service Description, you should also be able to see the model of the RAID Controller. If no RAID controller is present in this box, it may mean that either no RAID controller exists in the chassis, the RAID controller is built into the chassis’ motherboard (integrated), or that this device was deployed before we added RAID controllers to this box for every server. If the RAID controller is not present in this box, you can either identify what RAID controller the server is configured during the server’s POST screens, or please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

You should now know what the make and model of your server and RAID controller is. If you have any more questions about your server’s RAID controller, please look through our FAQ for more information. Alternatively, or if you have not been able to identify this information, please feel free to raise a ticket and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of a 13th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R230, R630, R730xd), when it has a H730 raid controller installed (this includes multiple variations, including H730Ps and H730P Minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.

Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the server’s System Setup menu.

The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or the arrow keys, Esc key and Enter key.

Now select the RAID controller.

You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, we’ll check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management.

You will now be presented with a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID arrays) configured in this server. You will also see some of the Virtual Disks’ details, including their statuses. In my example below, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one has a status of Degraded, meaning that there is an error with the RAID array. Click on a Virtual Disks to find more information on the array. You should do this if you identify a Virtual Drive with an error.

Here you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk and can select operations to perform. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now select View Associated Physical Disks to see the status of the drives configured within this array.

You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also be able to see their statuses; which you can use to identify if there are any errors with any drives. As you can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you can use this window to view the details of the physical drive. To do this, tick the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and press View Physical Disk Properties.

You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:

1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

2. Capacity (i.e. Size)

3. Model Number

4. Serial number

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing our technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, set the Operation drop-down box to ‘Blink’ and then press Go. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except setting the drop-down box to ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. You should do this to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking, as this may lead to some confusion if you need other drives replacing in future. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.

Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you did not encounter any issues with the Virtual Disks, you can also check the status of all the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, and then select Physical Disk Management.

You will now see a list of Physical Disks present in the server, along with their current status. In my example, you can see that there are four drives, three are online and one is currently offline. To find out more information about a drive, simply click on it/select it.

You will now be on the physical drive’s page, which lists all of the drive’s details, allows you to run operations (or tasks) on the drive and shows you the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and set the drive to blink.

Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H710 raid controller installed (this includes other variations, including H710Ps and H710 minis), you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP session or how to open an iDRAC remote console.

Once you have either a KVMoIP session or a remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu.

The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or use the arrow, Esc and Enter keys.

Now select the RAID controller.

You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, we will check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. To do this, select Virtual Disk Management, then Manage Virtual Disk Properties.

You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks, one with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of Offline, meaning that there is currently an error.

Below you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. To do this, press View Associated Physical Disks.

You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will be also see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my example below, the second drive in this array (1:03) is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, you check the properties of this drive, by ticking the box in-line with the drive you wish to check and then pressing View Physical Disk Properties.

You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:

1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

2. Capacity (i.e. Size)

3. Model Number

4. Serial number

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this page. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk Operations.

You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to do this, because if you need other drives replacing in future, leaving this drive by blinking may cause some confusion. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.

Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks menu, you can also check the status of the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management, and then select View Physical Disk Properties.

You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than drive is present within this server. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.

To find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a faulty drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.

Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session opened on the server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.

Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu.

The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or the arrow, Esc and Enter keys.

Now select the RAID controller.

You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. Select Virtual Disk Management, then select Manage Virtual Disk Properties.

You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of Failed, meaning that there is currently an error.

Below you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. Press View Associated Physical Disks.

You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also be able to see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, now tick the box in-line with the drive and press View Physical Disk Properties, to view more information about the physical drive.

You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:

1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

2. Capacity (i.e. size)

3. Model Number

4. Serial number

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this menu. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk Operations.

You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking; so that if you need other drives replacing in future, there is no confusion. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.

Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu. Now select Physical Disk Management and then select View Physical Disk Properties.

You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than one is present in this server. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.

To find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.

Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of a 12th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R320, R420, R720), when it has a H310 raid controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session opened on the server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.

Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the System Setup menu to appear; then press F2 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below; however, it is always F2 to enter the System Setup menu.

The System Setup screen will now appear. You now need to select Device Settings. To navigate through the System Setup menu, use either the mouse, or the arrow, Esc and Enter keys.

Now select the RAID controller.

You are now in the RAID controller’s menu. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should check both the Virtual Disk’s and Physical Disk’s health. First, check the Virtual Disks’ health, to check the status of any RAID arrays configured within the server. Select Virtual Disk Management, then select Manage Virtual Disk Properties.

You will now be presented with the details of the first RAID array configured on this controller. You can use the Select Virtual Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different RAID arrays, if more than one is configured on this device. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disk(s). In my example below, you can see that there are two Virtual Disks; one with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of Failed, meaning that there is currently an error.

Below you can now see some details about the Virtual Disk selected in the drop-down box. You can also choose to see a list of the physical drives configured within this array. If you have come across a Virtual Disk with an error, you should now do this to see the status of the drives. Press View Associated Physical Disks.

You will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks configured within this array. You will also be able to see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with a drive. As you can see from my example below, the only drive in this array is currently offline. If you do come across a drive with an error, now tick the box in-line with the drive and press View Physical Disk Properties, to view more information about the physical drive.

You will be now be a on a screen which displays the physical drive’s details; including its current status and all the details needed by our technicians to replace a drive. If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:

1. Physical Drive Bay Number (i.e. Physical Disk ID)

2. Capacity (i.e. size)

3. Model Number

4. Serial number

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also set the drive bay to blink using this menu. Setting the drive bay to blink will set the LED lights on front of the drive’s caddy to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, return to the RAID Controller’s main menu, then select Physical Disk Management. Then click on Select Physical Disk Operations.

You now need to select the drive you wish to be set to blink in the Select Physical Disk drop-down box. Then press Blink. The drive bay should now be blinking. Once the technicians have completed the drive swap, you can use this same process, except pressing ‘Un-Blink’, to stop the drive bay from blinking. It is good practice to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking; so that if you need other drives replacing in future, there is no confusion. If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket.

Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you did not encounter any drive issues through the Virtual Disks, you can also check the Physical Disks directly. To do this, keep pressing Back (or Esc) until you return to the RAID controller’s main menu. Now select Physical Disk Management and then select View Physical Disk Properties.

You will now be presented with the details of the first Physical Drive configured on this controller. You can use the Select Physical Disk drop-down box to navigate between the different drives, if more than one is present in this server. Within the drop-down box you will also be able to see the status of each Physical Drive. In my example below, you can see that there are four Physical Disks; three with a status of Ready, meaning that there are no errors, and one with a status of offline.

To find out more details about a Physical Disk, simply select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status. As outlined above, you can use this page to identify all the information needed to get a drive replaced and you can navigate to the operations page to set the drive to blink.

Using the process outlined above, you should be able to identify the current status of all the drives configured within the server and the status of all the Virtual Disks, and you can use this information to have any faulty drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server, or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of an 11th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R210, R210 II, R310, R410), when it has a H200 RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iDRAC remote console.

Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the RAID configuration menu to appear; then press Ctrl+R to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.

The RAID BIOS configuration menu will now appear. To check the status of the server’s storage, you should first select the RAID controller and then select RAID properties. If more than one RAID controller is configured in your server, you will need to repeat this process outlined below for every RAID controller. To navigate through this RAID BIOS, you need to use the arrow keys, the Enter key and the Esc key, as well as the keys shown at the bottom of the window. Select the RAID controller and then RAID properties.

If your server’s RAID array has already been configured, you will now be presented with the first RAID array’s (or volumes) details, a list of drives configured within this array, their details, their status and the details of the RAID array configured on the server. If you have more than one RAID array configured on the server, you can use the keys Alt+N to navigate between the volumes.

Along the top of the page, you will be able to see the details of the RAID array currently selected (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page), including its current status.

Below the RAID array’s details you will be able to see a list of the physical drives configured within the currently select array (press Alt+N to navigate to the next page); including the drives’ details and their current statuses.

You can use the details and statuses shown on the pages described above to identify whether or not there is currently an error with the storage of your server, by checking if there are any errors with either the RAID arrays (or volumes) or the Physical Drives.

If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly:

1. Slot Number

2. Drive Type (i.e. Device + Identifier)

3. Capacity (i.e. Size)

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

Once you have supplied the above information, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has a LSI MegaRAID 9240-4i RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console session on the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP session or how to open an IPMI remote console.

Once you have either a KVM device or a remote console open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the LSI MegRAID configuration menu to appear. Then press Ctrl+H to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.

After you press Ctrl+H, you will be presented with a list of adapters configured on the server. You should now enter the first RAID adapter configured on the server. Most servers will only have one adapter installed, but if your server has more than one controller, you should repeat the below process for every adapter. You can navigate through this menu either using a mouse, or the Tab, Enter, Esc and arrow keys.

You will now be on the WebBIOS page for this RAID controller. On the right hand side panel of this WebBIOS, within the Logical View, you will be able to see a list of Virtual Drives (or RAID arrays) and Physical Drives configured within the controller and their current status. You can use this screen to identify if any of either the Virtual Drives or Physical Drives attached to this controller has any errors. In my example below, you can see that the only Virtual Drive is degraded and one Physical Drive is Offline.

If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:

1. Slot Number

2. Drive Type

3. Capacity

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of a SuperMicro server, when it has an Adaptec RAID controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console opened on the server. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an IPMI remote console.

Once you have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you need to wait for the option to enter the Adaptec RAID Configuration menu to appear. Then press Ctrl+A to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below. Also, the below uses a 5405 RAID controller; however, the RAID BIOS for a 2405 controller is very similar, so the steps set out below should also apply to the 2405 card.

You will now be presented with the RAID controller’s configuration utility. You should now select Array Configuration Utility. To navigate through this utility, use the Enter, Esc and arrow keys, as well as the keys listed at the bottom of the window.

To check the current status of the storage within the server, you should first check the current status of all the RAID arrays configured on the server. Do this by first selecting Manage Arrays. You will then be presented with a list of arrays.

To check the status of the RAID array, press Enter while it is highlighted. You will now be presented with the RAID array’s details, it status, and a list of drives within the array. In my example below you can see the RAID1 array is currently degraded. You can also see the second drive in this array (Dev01) is greyed out; which indicates that it currently has an error.

If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:

1. Slot Number

2. Drive Type

3. Capacity

You can use this current page to find this information. You can also supply a screenshot of this page; as our technicians can use this information to help them locate the correct drive.

If you wish for a drive to be replaced, you can also turn on the Identify Drive function. Turning on the Identify Drive will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. Please note, using the Identify Drive function through this RAID configuration utility will require the server to remain within the Adaptec Utility menu, to keep the drive bay blinking. This means that your server will have to remain offline while the drive bay blinks. To do this, keep pressing Esc until you reach the options menu, then select Disk Utilities.

It will now take a while to load the list of drives. You now need to highlight the drive you wish to set the LEDs to blink and then press enter.

Then select Identify Drive and press Enter.

The caddy’s LED for this drive will now start flashing. To stop the LEDs from flashing, you simply need to press any key. If you have set the drive bay’s LED to flash, please let the support team know in the ticket.

Once you have supplied the above information our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

You should repeat the above mentioned process, checking every RAID array configured on this server.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G9 server (e.g. HP Proliant DL160 G9), when it has a HPE Smart Array P440 Controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP device attached to the server or a remote console with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVM or how to open an iLO remote console.

Once you have either a KVMoIP or remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have.

Once you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to appear, and then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.

After the Systems Utilities menu appears, select System Configuration, then select the Smart Array P440 Controller option, then finally select the Exit and launch HP Smart Storage Administrator (HPSSA) option.

The HPE Smart Storage Administrator will now load; this can take a couple of minutes. Once it has loaded, you can use this menu to check the current status of the server’s storage. When checking the status of a server’s storage, you should check the status of the server’s Arrays and the Physical Drives.

First, select the RAID controller of your server within the left hand side panel. In my example below, you can see that I have two controllers. One is the on-board, integrated RAID controller - the Dynamic Smart Array B140i RAID - and the other is a PCI-e RAID controller - the Smart Array P440. The storage of my server is currently only utilising the PCI-e RAID controller; which will be the case of most servers which display both; however, you should check every controller present for arrays and drives.

Once you have clicked onto the RAID controller, press Configure.

Now press Logical Devices on the left hand side panel.

You will now be presented with a list of Arrays configured on this controller and a list of the drives configured within this array. You can use this page to identify the current status of your server’s storage.

If there are any errors with either an array or with a drive, there will be one of two warning symbols next to the device’s symbol. There are two warning symbols within the HPESSA; the symbol represents a critical error which needs urgent attention, while the symbol represents a less crucial error which you should address as soon as possible. In my example below, you can see that one array and one drive within this array have errors.

If you do encounter an error, you can click on the device and then press View more Details, to identify what the error is and to see more details about this device.

The device details will now appear at the top of the window appears, while the Status Message appears at the bottom of this window. This will provide you with more information on the error.

If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:

1. Capacity (Size)

2. Drive Type

3. Drive Model

4. Drive Serial Number

You can use the ‘View more details’ page to identify this information; as demonstrated below.

If you wish for a drive to be replaced you can also turn on the Identify Device function. Turning on the Identify Device will set the LED lights on the drive bay to blink, allowing the local technicians to identify the drive bay with greater ease. To do this, click close on the ‘View more details’ window and then click Identify Device while the drive you wish to be swapped is still selected under the list of devices.

Then select how long you wish for the drive bay to blink for or when you wish for it to turn off. We would suggest setting the LED to stop blinking after 4 hours. Then press OK and then Finish.

If you do set the drive bay to blink, please let our technicians know in the support ticket. Once you have supplied the above information and set the drive bay to blink, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

To check the RAID BIOS of an HP ProLiant G7 server (e.g. HP Proliant DL360 G7), when it has a HP Smart Array P410 Controller installed, you should first have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session with the server opened. Please see our FAQ section on how to request a KVMoIP request or how to open an iLO remote console.

Once you have either a KVMoIP or a remote console session open, you now need to reboot the server. Please note that this means that the server and everything it is currently hosting will go offline, and will remain offline throughout the duration of this process. Also, the decision to reboot the server must be your own. iomart and any company within the iomart group are not responsible for any effects rebooting your server may have. Once you have rebooted your server, you will need to wait for the option to enter the System Utilities to appear. Then press F9 to enter it. Please note, depending on the BIOS settings of your server, your screen may look slightly different to the one below.

You now need to make sure that Power-On Logo is disabled; as this allow you to see more options during POST, including the one for entering the RAID menu. First select Advanced Options. You can use the arrow, Enter and Esc keys to navigate through the BIOS menu.

Then select Advances System ROM Options.

Now select Power-On Logo and make sure it is set to Disabled.

Once you have set the Power-On Logo to disabled, you can now exit the BIOS menu by pressing Esc multiple times and then pressing F10 to Confirm Exit Utility. The server will now start to reboot. When the option to enter the HP Smart Array P410 controller appears, you should now press F8, to enter the controller’s utility menu.

You will now be in the main menu for the RAID controller’s utility. To check the current status of your server’s storage, you should check each array configured on your server’s status and the status of each physical drive configured within these arrays. To do this, first select View Logical Drive.

You will now be presented with a list of Logical Drives (or arrays) configured on the server. You will be able to see their details and their statuses. In my example below you can see that I have two RAID Arrays; one with a status of OK and one with a status of Degraded. Once you have checked the status of the RAID arrays, you should now check the status of the Physical Drives within these arrays, especially if there is an error with a RAID array. To do this, highlight an array and press Enter.

You will now be presented with a list of Physical Drives configured within this array. You will also be able to see their status and their details. In my example below you can see that one drive has a status of OK and one drive is degraded.

If you do identify a drive with an error and wish for it to be replaced, you will need to supply the following information about the failed drive to our technicians in a support ticket, so that our technicians can identify the drive correctly and replace it:

1. Bay Number

2. Capacity

3. Drive Type

You can use this current page to identify this information, as demonstrated below. You can also supply a screenshot of this page in a support ticket.

Once you have supplied the above information in a ticket, our support team will be happy to help get your drive replaced.

If you have any more questions about the storage of your server or your RAID BIOS menu, please read through our FAQ section or raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.