Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller S140 - PERC S140
User’s Guide
Page 1: ...Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller S140 PERC S140 User s Guide ...
Page 2: ... to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem WARNING A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage personal injury or death Copyright 2017 Dell Inc or its subsidiaries All rights reserved Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc or its subsidiaries Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners 2017 09 Rev A01 ...
Page 3: ...ort 12 Physical disk write cache policy for SATA drives 13 Linux RAID 13 3 Virtual Disks 14 Virtual disk features 14 TRIM for SATA SSDs 14 Disk initialization 15 Background Array Scan 15 Checkpointing 15 Virtual disk cache policies 16 Virtual disk migration 16 Expanding virtual disk capacity 17 4 Cabling the drives for S140 18 Disk connectivity for AHCI devices 19 5 BIOS Configuration Utility 20 E...
Page 4: ...0 Virtual disk management 31 Configuring Windows RAID 31 Configuring Linux RAID 31 Manage virtual disk properties 33 Viewing virtual disks properties and policies 34 Deleting a virtual disk 35 Physical disk management 35 Viewing physical disk properties 36 Managing the physical disk write cache policy for SATA drives 37 Assigning the global hot spare 38 Unassign a global hot spare 38 Assigning the...
Page 5: ...ARNING Found virtual disks that are degraded and failed 47 Other errors appearing on the BIOS screen 48 S140 does not display greater than ten virtual disks in the BIOS Configuration Utility or CTRL R 48 Unable to delete virtual disks when there are more than ten virtual disks present in the system 48 Virtual disk rebuild status in the BIOS Configuration Utility or CTRL R 48 Physical disk related ...
Page 6: ...ks 54 Cannot perform an Online Capacity Expansion or Reconfigure on a virtual disk 55 Unable to configure RAID on NVMe PCIe SSD using a third party RAID configuration utility 55 9 Getting help 56 Contacting Dell EMC 56 Locating your system Service Tag 56 Related Documentation 56 Documentation feedback 56 6 Contents ...
Page 7: ... PERC S140 Specification PERC S140 SATA SSD technology Yes NVMe support Yes SAS connectors No Dell compliant SAS compatibility No Direct connected end devices Dell compliant HDDs and SSDs SMART error support through management applications Yes Backplane supported systems Yes Support for internal tape drive No Support for global hot spare Yes Support for 512 native and 512e drives Yes Support for 4...
Page 8: ...ons Table 4 Virtual disk specifications for PERC S140 with SATA configuration Specification PERC S140 Maximum number of physical disks supported 12 Maximum number of virtual disks supported 16 Minimum virtual disk size 102 MB Maximum number of physical disks per virtual disk 12 Maximum number of virtual disks per physical disk 16 Maximum number of physical disks in a volume 1 Maximum number of phy...
Page 9: ...inimum number of physical disks in a RAID 0 2 Minimum number of physical disks in a RAID 1 2 Minimum number of physical disks in a RAID 10 4 Supported operating systems The S140 controller supports the following operating systems Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 RHEL 7 3 RHEL 7 4 SLES 12 SP2 NOTE For the latest list of supported operating systems and driver installati...
Page 10: ...aintenance Management applications for PERC S140 include BIOS Configuration Utility This is also known as Ctrl R and is a storage management application that configures and maintains RAID disk groups and virtual disks See BIOS Configuration Utility Unified Extensible Firmware Interface UEFI RAID Configuration Utility This storage management application is integrated into the System BIOS accessible...
Page 11: ... normal functions The following requirements must be met before hot swapping a physical disk The system backplane or enclosure must support hot swapping for the PERC S140 The replacement disk must be of the same protocol and disk technology For example only a SATA hard drive can replace a SATA hard drive and only a SATA SSD can replace a SATA SSD NOTE Disk hot swapping is not supported in UEFI mod...
Page 12: ...ogy The Self Monitoring and Reporting Technology SMART feature monitors certain physical aspects of all motors heads and physical disk electronics to help detect predictable physical disk failures Data on SMART compliant physical disks can be monitored to identify changes in values and determine whether the values are within threshold limits Many mechanical and electrical failures display some deg...
Page 13: ...cal disk write cache policy see Managing the physical disk write cache policy for SATA drives NOTE You can use UEFI or Option ROM OPROM to configure the physical disk write cache policy NOTE You cannot configure a physical disk write cache policy on a non RAID disk NOTE Linux RAID does not support configuring physical disk write cache policy or virtual disk write cache policy Linux RAID The Linux ...
Page 14: ...ks NOTE A virtual disk can be created from several physical disks the operating system considers it a single disk The capacity of a virtual disk can be expanded online for any RAID level without rebooting the operating system Virtual disk features TRIM for SATA SSDs The TRIM command allows an operating system to delete a block of data that is no longer considered in use from the SATA SSDs TRIM res...
Page 15: ... set is assumed to be the correct data and is written to the secondary physical disk mirror set The CC operation reports data inconsistencies through an event notification A CC cannot be user initiated in the BIOS Configuration Utility Ctrl R However CC can be initiated using OpenManage Server Administrator Storage Management For more information see OMSA user s guide at dell com openmanagemanuals...
Page 16: ...c virtual disk migration from one PERC S140 to another CAUTION The virtual disk is lost if you perform a virtual disk migration during an Online Capacity Expansion OCE Reconfigure NOTE Back up the virtual disk data before migrating virtual disks NOTE Ensure that all physical disks that are part of the virtual disk are migrated Virtual disks in optimal and degraded states are automatically migrated...
Page 17: ...existing virtual disk In most cases additional storage capacity can be added without taking the system offline NOTE If an additional physical disk is required and the system does not support hot swapping the system must be turned off OCE Reconfigure enables you to increase the total storage capacity of a virtual disk by integrating unused storage with the virtual disk Data can be accessed while th...
Page 18: ...CIe SSDs for S140 see your system owner s manual at dell com poweredgemanuals 1 Turn off the system including any attached peripherals and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet and peripherals NOTE It is recommended that you always use a static mat and static strap while working on components in the interior of the system 2 Remove the system cover 3 Locate the connectors J_SATA A and J_...
Page 19: ...wo AHCI devices the first AHCI device connects the drives from ports 0 5 and the second AHCI device connects the drives from ports 6 13 The following table provides information about the disks connectivity to the AHCI devices supported on the 14th generation PowerEdge systems Table 7 Disk connectivity for AHCI devices Chipset Platform AHCI device 1 AHCI device 2 Intel C621 C620 series chipset Powe...
Page 20: ...PCIe SSDs see Setting the NVMe PCIe SSDs to RAID mode NOTE RAID configuration using OPROM is not supported on systems with the NVMe PCIe SSD The following sections provide information about using the Ctrl R For more information see the online help option by pressing F1 in the Ctrl R The table below indicates the tasks that are supported or not supported by the PERC S140 at the Ctrl R Table 8 BIOS ...
Page 21: ... disk the controller configuration information is written to the physical disk Physical disks with the following status can be initialized Non RAID A physical disk that was configured by a non PERC S140 Ready Contains no stored data but has PERC S140 configuration information NOTE Physical disks that are online cannot be converted to Non RAID or RAID capable disks 1 Enter the BIOS configuration ut...
Page 22: ... physical disk to be included in the virtual disk press Enter 4 In the User Input field use the arrow keys to select a virtual disk type RAID level and press Enter 5 Select a size for the virtual disk depending on the available free space of the physical disks and press Enter 6 In the User Input field select a Caching Mode Press Enter 7 Press C to confirm that you want to create the virtual disk S...
Page 23: ...gn a global or dedicated hot spare s 1 Enter the BIOS Configuration Utility See Entering the BIOS configuration utility 2 In the Main Menu screen use the arrow keys to select Manage Hot Spare s and press Enter The Manage Hot Spare s screen display global hot spare disks dedicated hot spare disks Assigning the global hot spare disks A global hot spare disk is a backup physical disk that can be used...
Page 24: ... screen select the Manage Hot Spare and press Enter 3 Select Assign Dedicated Hot Spare Press Enter 4 Use the up or down arrow key to select a physical disk for use as a dedicated hot spare and press Insert 5 Press Enter to add the dedicated hot spare 6 Press the C key to confirm the action Unassign hot spare disks 1 Enter the BIOS Configuration utility See Entering the BIOS configuration utility ...
Page 25: ...er Options The Controller Options feature helps you to enable the BIOS Stop on Error option The boot process pauses when Pause if is enabled and a virtual disk becomes Degraded or has Failed Press Enter to continue booting View the error message on the window If Pause is OFF the error message is displayed briefly but the system continues to boot 1 Enter the BIOS Configuration Utility See Entering ...
Page 26: ...ot 1 Enter the BIOS Configuration Utility See Entering the BIOS configuration utility 2 In the Main Menu screen use the arrows to select the Continue to Boot The system restarts normally 26 BIOS Configuration Utility ...
Page 27: ...140 Configuration Utility 1 Turn on the system 2 While the system starts up press F2 to enter System Setup The list of menu items in the System Setup Main Menu screen is displayed 3 Click Device Settings Device Settings lists the NIC ports and all the options of the S140 configuration utility To access the management menu for the controller use the arrow keys or the mouse NOTE For more information...
Page 28: ...d return to the System Setup screen click Finish in the bottom right corner on the screen Controller management Viewing the controller properties The View Controller Information screen allows you to view your controller and firmware properties In the System Setup Main Menu click Device Settings Dell PERC S140 Configuration Utility Controller Management View Controller Information The table explain...
Page 29: ...the virtual disks Set Bootable Device allows you to change the boot order of the virtual disks 1 Enter the Dell PERC S140 Configuration Utility See Entering the DELL PERC S140 Configuration Utility 2 Click Controller Management Change Controller Properties 3 Click Set Bootable Device A Change Order dialog box displays the list of virtual disks available 4 Use the arrow keys to set a virtual disk a...
Page 30: ...ty See Entering the DELL PERC S140 Configuration Utility 2 Click Controller Management Convert to RAID Capable Disk 3 Select the RAID type NOTE RAID type will not be available if a RAID is already configured To enable RAID type convert the disk to a non RAID disk see Converting physical disk to Non RAID disk and then convert them back to RAID capable disk 4 Select disk interface type 5 Select the ...
Page 31: ...lick Create Virtual Disks 10 Click Select the Physical Disk 11 Select the interface type media type sector size and the physical disks 12 Click Apply Changes 13 Enter the virtual disk size and select the Virtual Disk Size Unit 14 Select the Read Cache Policy 15 Select the Write Cache Policy 16 Select the Physical Disk Write Cache 17 Click Create Virtual Disk The virtual disk is ready Configuring L...
Page 32: ... Disk Management in the Configuration Options screen and click Create Virtual Disks 9 Select the required Linux operating system NOTE If you select RHEL as the operating system the entire physical disk space is used in the Virtual Disk Size field With RHEL you can create virtual disks only on the entire physical disk space NOTE If you select SLES as the operating system you can create virtual disk...
Page 33: ...ain Menu click Device Settings Dell PERC S140 Configuration Utility Virtual Disk Management Manage Virtual Disk Properties The table explains the Manage Virtual Disk Properties screen details Table 11 Virtual Disk Properties Menu Item Description Select Virtual Disk Allows you to select the virtual disk from the drop down menu Virtual Disk Properties Displays the ID RAID Level Status Capacity and ...
Page 34: ...isted in Manage Virtual Disk Properties screen Virtual Disk Properties Displays the ID RAID Level Status Capacity and the Sector Size of the virtual disk Virtual Disk ID Displays the virtual disk ID RAID level Displays the RAID level associated with the virtual disk Virtual Disk Status Displays the status of the virtual disk Virtual Disk Capacity Displays the capacity of the virtual disk Sector Si...
Page 35: ...o continue The selected virtual disk is deleted NOTE When a degraded or a failed virtual disk from one system is added to another system and if the number of virtual disks exceeds the maximum limit of 16 you cannot delete the virtual disks that are in the Normal or Ready state Physical disk management This section allows you to view select and manage physical disks NOTE NVMe PCIe SSDs may not be s...
Page 36: ...sion Device Type Displays the device type Certified SATA Drives only Displays if the physical disk is Dell certified or not Connector Port SATA Drives only Displays the port number in which the SATA physical disk is installed Disk Write Cache SATA Drives only Displays if the disk cache is enabled or disabled Hot Spare Displays if the physical disk is assigned as a hot spare Available Space Display...
Page 37: ...l Disk Operations 3 Click the link Manage Physical Disk Properties The Manage Physical Disk Properties screen is displayed 4 Select one or multiple physical disk to apply the write cache policy 5 Choose from the following physical disk write cache policies Physical disk write cache policies Description Default The physical disk write cache feature is enabled for SSDs 3 Gbps HDDs The physical disk ...
Page 38: ...the drop down menu 4 Click the link Assign Global Hot Spares NOTE A global hot spare disk cannot be created if you have Linux RAID configured on the system Unassign a global hot spare NOTE Unassigning a hotspare may place the data at risk in the event of a disk failure 1 Enter the Dell PERC S140 Configuration Utility See Entering the DELL PERC S140 Configuration Utility 2 Click Physical Disk Manag...
Page 39: ...2 Click Physical Disk Management Select Physical Disk Operations 3 Select the Interface Type The options are SATA and NVMe 4 Select the physical disk from the drop down menu 5 Click Cryptographic Erase 6 Click Yes to start the cryptographic erase Viewing global hot spares The View Global Hot Spares screen displays the physical disk assigned as global hot spare In the System Setup Main Menu click D...
Page 40: ...s operating system Ensure that your system has the latest BIOS firmware and driver updates If required download the latest BIOS firmware and driver updates from dell com support Create a device driver media USB drive CD or DVD Setting the SATA controller to RAID mode 1 Turn on the system 2 When the Dell Power On Self Test POST screen is displayed press F2 3 When the Dell PowerEdge System window is...
Page 41: ...a virtual disk see Creating the virtual disks Checking PERC S140 options and the boot list priority 1 In the Virtual Disks field ensure the bootable virtual disk is the first virtual disk listed If the bootable virtual disk is not the first virtual disk listed see Swapping two virtual disks NOTE If Non RAID virtual disks are used and appear in the Virtual Disks list the Swap Two Virtual Disks opti...
Page 42: ...onment NOTE During the Windows OS installation using the onboard optical disk drive while loading the S140 driver a warning message may appear No new device drivers were found Make sure the installation media contains the correct drivers and then click OK when SATA is in RAID mode Perform the following steps to proceed with the installation a Click OK b Close the warning window c Click Install Now...
Page 43: ...onfiguring RAID using the Option ROM Utility is disabled Warning Messages Other errors appearing on the BIOS screen Physical disk related errors Virtual disks Related errors Unable to configure Linux RAID using UEFI Configuration Utility Likely Cause Option to select Linux RAID in Configuring Linux RAID page will be disabled if RAID is already configured Corrective Action To resolve this issue 1 I...
Page 44: ...ature settings in UEFI or OPROM Likely Cause You cannot modify the settings in UEFI or OPROM if the number of virtual disks exceeds than 16 Corrective Action To resolve this issue 1 Start the operating system 2 Use OpenManage to ensure that the maximum number of virtual disks does not exceed 16 Extra reboot during OS installation Description The system may reboot one extra time during the OS insta...
Page 45: ... BIOS screen 2 Scroll to SATA Settings Press Enter and ensure that the SATA Controller is set to RAID mode WARNING While switching from RAID Mode to ATA Mode or AHCI Mode there may be data loss Boot mode boot sequence and or boot sequence retry are set incorrectly 1 Turn on the system 2 When the Dell POST screen is displayed press F2 to enter the system BIOS screen 3 Scroll to Boot Settings Press ...
Page 46: ... the virtual disks and place the bootable Non RAID virtual disk in the first position of the Virtual Disks field The BIOS configuration utility option does not display The BIOS configuration utility Ctrl R option does not display if the PERC S140 mode is set incorrectly in the system BIOS For the correct SATA Setting see Controller mode is set incorrectly at System Setup Configuring RAID using the...
Page 47: ...tual disk is in a Failed state and Pause if Failed is set to ON at the BIOS Configuration Utility Ctrl R The following message is displayed after the warning is displayed Press Enter to continue or Ctrl R to enter setup Press Enter to allow the operating system to continue its boot or press Ctrl R to enter into the BIOS Configuration Utility Ctrl R to investigate the cause of the Failed virtual di...
Page 48: ...rrective Action Remove all physical disks except for the last one s added Then proceed with deleting the virtual disks that are not needed Remember to take account of the virtual disks that are currently being used Unable to delete virtual disks when there are more than ten virtual disks present in the system Likely cause The function is not supported Corrective Action Remove all physical disks ex...
Page 49: ... level of the virtual disk data might be lost 2 Perform a rescan to confirm that the new disk was discovered Cannot initialize a physical disk Check whether or not the physical disk is 1 Already a member of a virtual disk 2 Currently a global or dedicated hot spare 3 Reporting an Offline state Only physical disks that are Ready state can be initialized Status LED is not working Ensure system is bo...
Page 50: ... while SATA is in non RAID mode Corrective Action Ensure that SATA is in RAID mode before installing S140 driver Cryptographic erase fails for ISE capable SATA drives Description An error message Cryptographic erase failed is displayed while performing a cryptographic erase on an ISE capable SATA drive The error message may appear if the cryptographic erase takes longer than expected even though t...
Page 51: ...ne whether the physical disk 1 Is a dedicated hot spare and unavailable for use in another virtual disk 2 Is full or has insufficient available capacity The system already has a maximum of 16 virtual disks Delete unused virtual disks CAUTION Deleting a virtual disk destroys all data on the virtual disk A virtual disk is in a degraded state If the virtual disk is in a degraded state check the follo...
Page 52: ...ge source Cannot assign a dedicated hot spare to a virtual disk If you cannot assign a dedicated hot spare to a virtual disk check the following causes 1 The RAID level does not allow a dedicated hot spare to be created 2 The designated physical disk does not have sufficient capacity to be a dedicated hot spare 3 The physical disk is already part of a virtual disk 4 The physical disk are of differ...
Page 53: ...Capable disks all data on the physical disk is lost NOTE A physical disk with a Non RAID status can be converted to a RAID Capable disk if desired but it is no longer Non RAID Converting to RAID Capable adds PERC S140 configuration information to the physical disk The physical disk is already part of a virtual disk A hot spare cannot be selected if it is already part of an existing virtual disk Th...
Page 54: ... 1 A volume or RAID 0 virtual disk to change to Failed status 2 A RAID 1 and RAID 5 virtual disk to change to Degraded status 3 A RAID 10 virtual disk to change to Degraded status when a physical disk is removed from one of the mirrored sets Re insert the removed physical disk and perform a Rescan of the virtual disk Cannot create a virtual disk on selected physical disks Determine whether these p...
Page 55: ...with mixed RAID levels If so Online Capacity Expansion Reconfigure by adding physical disk on such a set of physical disks is not allowed Unable to configure RAID on NVMe PCIe SSD using a third party RAID configuration utility Corrective Action Ensure that the NVMe is set on Non RAID mode See Setting the NVMe PCIe SSDs to RAID mode Troubleshooting your system 55 ...
Page 56: ...Service Tag number The Express Service Code and Service Tag are found on the front of a physical DR Series system by pulling out the information tag The service tag can also be found on the Support page in the GUI This information is used to route support calls to the appropriate personnel for resolution Related Documentation NOTE For all storage controllers and PCIe SSD documents go to dell com s...
