How do I use the RAID Configuration Menu of my 13th generation Dell PowerEdge server (R_30), with a H730 RAID controller, to check my server’s Storage status?

To check the RAID configuration menu of a 13th generation Dell EMC PowerEdge server (e.g. R230, R630, R730xd), when it has a H730 RAID controller installed (this includes H730Ps and H730P Minis), 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.

After pressing F2 at the prompt, and waiting for a minute or two, the System Setup screen will appear. You now need to select Device Settings. You can navigate through these menus using the mouse or using 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 the status of both the Virtual Disks and 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.

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 details about the Virtual Disks, including their status. In my example below, you can see that one Virtual Disk’s status is ‘Ready’, meaning that it has 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.

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 view the associated Physical Disks 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 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 now navigate to a page which allows you to view the information on 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

2. Capacity

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, 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; 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 (if possible), 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 status of 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.