How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 12th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_20), with a H310 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?

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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 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 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.

Once you have pressed F2 at the prompt and waited a minute or two, the System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device Settings. You can navigate this menu by either using the mouse or the arrow, Tab, 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 status of the Virtual Disks and the status of the Physical Disks. 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, 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. 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 with this Virtual Disk, and one with a status of ‘Failed’, meaning that there is currently an error with this Virtual Disk.

Under Virtual Disk Policies 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 check the status of the physical drives configured within this array. 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 also see their status; which you can use to identify if there any errors with any drives. 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, you can now navigate to a page to view the physical drive’s details. 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:

Physical Drive Bay Number
Capacity
Model Number
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 flash, 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 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; to make sure the drive bay is no longer blinking 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 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, 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 one is configured on this device. 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 they currently do not have any errors, and one with a status of ‘Offline’.

To find out more details about a Physical Disk, select it in the drop-down box. You will now see all of the drive’s details and see the drives’ status under Physical Disk Properties. 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.