Raid 5, Scsi harddrives, IBM x225 question

[christy123]

Hi everyone,

I bought a used ibm eserver that came with 2 hot swappable 18 gig hard drives.

I decided to upgrade it and bought there raid 5 pci module and got 3 135 gb hard drives

I plan to install ubuntu on it . My questions are:

- do i have to setup Raid 5 and install 3 hard drives before I should install ubuntu
-what makes a drive hot swappable...the drive or the tray it is in
- is there a special screw driver that is used to open the screws off the SCSI trays...coudnt get 2 out

 

[DelJo63]

normally, you create the RAID configuration and THEN install the OS.
I would research the IBM eServer config info on the subject.

the hot-swap feature is in the hardware; there's nothing for you to do.

 

[christy123]

I understand that the hot swap feature is in the hardware but is it in the tray or you have to buy a special hard drive...i bought a regular harddrive...just making sure that it will work

normally, you create the RAID configuration and THEN install the OS.
I would research the IBM eServer config info on the subject.

the hot-swap feature is in the hardware; there's nothing for you to do.

 

[DelJo63]

that 'should' be ok

 

[christy123]

that 'should' be ok

thanks

christy

 

[Nodsu]

Hard drives with SCA connectors (singe 80-pin slot-kind of thing) are hot-pluggable by design.

 

[christy123]

Hard drives with SCA connectors (singe 80-pin slot-kind of thing) are hot-pluggable by design.

Ok now I am confused...( never dealt with scsi drives before)...so are all SCSI drives with 80 pin connector hot swappable? If my server came with 2 hot swappable drives, can i just get a drive like you mentioned and add more hot swappable drives to the system?

 

[DelJo63]

noramlly, you would NEVER hot-plug a SCSI drive, but the RAID enclosure
will make it work for you.

>SCA connectors (singe 80-pin slot-kind of thing)

there are three major styles of SCSI cables and plugs. The SCA is a special
one for hot-swapping

overview

SCA connector

SCSI connector styles

 

[Nodsu]

Ok now I am confused...( never dealt with scsi drives before)...so are all SCSI drives with 80 pin connector hot swappable? If my server came with 2 hot swappable drives, can i just get a drive like you mentioned and add more hot swappable drives to the system?

That depends on your server - you need a suitable backplane to connect the drives to and you also need special trays to put the drives into. Read the manual or the product specifications webpage of your server to see how many what kind of drives you can attach.

And of course, you can always get an external enclosure and put virtually infinite numbers of drives in there (may need a separate SCSI or Fibre Channel card).