Configuring Xserve RAID Under Windows Server 2003

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Level 1

8 points

Configuring Xserve RAID Under Windows Server 2003

Hello:

I have inherited a project that uses Xserve RAIDs (Xraid?) connected to a Windows Server 2003 box. I am new to Apple's products but have experiense with SANs.

Currently, there is one Xraid with (14 x 500GB drives in two RAID5)connected to the server. This shows as two logical volumes of roughly 3TB each. The client now would like to add a second Xraid with (7 x 250GB and 7 x 500GB). Can someone point me to documentation for configuring this? Is there Apple support for such a configuration?

Also, do the two sets of seven disks need to be seen as separate logical arrays? That is, can the first one instead be configured or viewed as one 6TB or 6.5TB array?

Finally, is there a way to view multiple Xraids as one logical array? I have used such tools elsewhere.

Sorry for all of the newbie questions. If this is not the correct forum for this, my appologies as well. Please point me in the right diretion.

Thanks.

Xraid, Other OS

Posted on Oct 22, 2007 11:56 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 22, 2007 1:24 PM in response to NordicEIS

Hello NordicEIS, and welcome to the Apple boards,

The basic thing to know is that both sides of the Xserve RAID are logically separate as this determines that answers to about all your questions.

You can add a second RAID if:
A) You have four fibre channel ports on your Windows box.
or
B) You add a fibre channel switch and plug everything into it.

Because the "sides" are separate the only way to combine them into volumes is through a software RAID 0 that merges the sides. On the Mac side the supplied utility does it but you'd need to look into similar Windows software. (But I can't believe it couldn't be done the same way.)

The vast majority of people on this board are using Apple's RAID with Mac hardware so you might or might not find answers to Windows-centric questions. The resource for people using Xserve RAIDs on non-Apple hardware is: http://www.alienraid.org

Good luck,

=Tod

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Answer 2

Camelot

Level 9

58,719 points

Oct 22, 2007 1:25 PM in response to NordicEIS

This is the right forum for such a question, so you're set there.

Can someone point me to documentation for configuring this?

There's no specific trick to this - it's mostly plug and play.

do the two sets of seven disks need to be seen as separate logical arrays?

Yes. Each bank of seven drives is managed by a separate controller, so you can't manage the 14 drives as a single hardware-based array, but you can combine them at a software level.
The second XServe RAID will appear as an additional two separate volumes on the host, in addition to the two arrays from the original XServe RAID.

That is, can the first one instead be configured or viewed as one 6TB or 6.5TB array?

Only through software RAID (e.g. RAID 0) to combine the multiple arrays into a logical volume.

Finally, is there a way to view multiple Xraids as one logical array? I have used such tools elsewhere.

The XServe RAID itself will alway present itself as a minimum of two arrays, one per 'side'. There are numerous ways of presenting these to the host as a single array, either using software RAID on the host, or using something like XSAN or ADIC's StorNext which can manage multiple physical boxes.

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Answer 3

NordicEIS Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 24, 2007 3:30 PM in response to Camelot

Thanks for the info. I have connected it and am accessing it via Cygwin. One more question: does the Xsan require Mac OS to operate? Thanks.

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Answer 4

Camelot

Level 9

58,719 points

Oct 24, 2007 3:59 PM in response to NordicEIS

does the Xsan require Mac OS to operate?

XSAN, itself, is Mac-specific, however, it's largely based on Quantum's StorNext SAN product and you can mix StorNext devices with Macs running XSAN and XServe RAIDs to create a heterogeneous SAN infrastructure.

Other SAN solutions may or may not work. I've never used them.

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