Intel S5000VSA and Windows 2008 R2

[idata]

I'm resetting an Intel S5000VSA Server with a new Hard Drive : Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM010.

As I've found out with the previous installer, they only used Microsoft 2008 R2 software mirroring.

The company Director Doesn't want me to reload Windows from scratch. So I'm trying to match what they Had.

My problem is, for some unknown reason. When I use Microsoft Dynamic mode for Software Mirroring (RAID 1). The Hard Drive doesn't want to Boot past the BIOS Logo screen. When I change from Dynamic to Basic, the Server Boots in Windows 2008 R2 Server.

Some of the Specs below.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard (x64) Build 6002

Service Pack: Service Pack 2

Processor Name: Intel Xeon L5420

Original Processor Frequency: 2500.0 MHz

Original Processor Frequency [MHz]: 2500

CPU Brand Name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5420 @ 2.50GHz

BIOS Date: 10/17/2007

BIOS Version: S5000.86B.10.00.0084.101720071530

[idata]

Even though this product has reached its end of interactive support with us we always try to help as much as we can on some of the issues you may experience.

Recovering the operative system sometimes gets complicated. As far as we understand you are using the software mirroring from Windows 2008 R2 Server; since it seems that only works with basic instead of dynamic this points to an issue within the Operative System.This could be just a setting that needs to be changed within Windows so it can take the dynamic mode. In this case we highly suggest having Microsoft support involved in this since we do not carry much information about how to troubleshoot Microsoft related issues.Beard in mind that it is always recommended having the latest firmware revision on the server board; you can find the latest version https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19666/Firmware-Update-Package-for-DOS?product=77877 herePlease do not hesitate in contacting us again if you need further assistance. Best Regards, Steven V.

[idata]

On this Raid controller, would it be possible to setup Raid 1 without formating the main Hard Drive.

[idata]

Hello @Linuxrules,

Do you mean the onboard RAID controller? If so, it will be required to format the drive once the volume has been created. Regards,David A.

[idata]

On this website they mention not loosing Data. Is this possible with the onboard RAID controller.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/251396-32-raid-losing-data RAID 1 without losing my data - [Solved] - Storage

[idata]

The article is right. You can create a RAID 1 without losing any data with the Intel Matrix, now called Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology.

However, the RAID solution that we have on this server board is the Intel(R) Embedded Server RAID Technology 2 (ESRT2) which does not offer this option.

Regards,David A.