Re: Installing Adaptec 1420SA SATA RAID controller

Hi Aart,

Have now tried booting from Acronis CD but unfortunately that cannot see
anything on the Adaptec controller, neither disk nor RAID array. However it
can see disks on the onboard VIA or Promise RAID controllers so why not the
Adaptec? Do you think Acronis will get round to supporting the Adaptec in
future versions.

Nick


"Nick" <NoSpam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OP%23hoGZEIHA.3332@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aart,

Will try creating array from two new drives, then biit from Acronis CD and
see how that views the new array, if at all. However, this will have to
wait until the weekend when I can shut down the server.

What about returning the Adaptec controller and replacing it with some
other RAID controller, can anyone suggest another manufactures RAID
controller which will allow creation of an array from an existing drive?

Cheers,
Nick

"Aart Jansen" <aart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:62A284A2-68E2-40E9-917B-D130F67258E5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have used dynamic disks on lots of server installs. (one I even did the
nasty hex edit to make it basic again, but I had a backup plan)

One version of Acronis has a known issue when you uninstall it leaves a
registry entry for a something.sys driver that creates a bluescreen
error. it's a pain to fix, but I thought it was only in vista.

Anyway I'm not sure about the boot cd's they seem pretty good at
detecting stuff, you would almost be sure they shouldn't be able to. And
theres no risk in trying because if it doesn't see them you just pull out
the disk and boot the server up again.


"Nick" <NoSpam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:efbNHgOEIHA.748@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Aart,

I seem to recall looking into dynamic disks before and we decided that
there were way too many drawbacks and too much risk to use them on a
production server. Also I am very reluctant to install Acronis on this;
it is a live Production server, again way too many people have reported
serious problems after installing Acronis. I don't mind booting from an
Acronis CD and mirroring using that but I don't think that would be
likely to see the Adaptec array correctly would it?

I find it quite amazing that the Adaptec controller has no facility for
creating an array from an existing disk. Both VIA and Promise RAID
controllers that I have used previously have been able to do this so why
can Adaptec not do it!

Any suggestions for a clean/simple/safe disk cloning/imaging utility?

Cheers,
Nick

"Aart Jansen" <aart@*remove*hayes.co.nz> wrote in message
news:uZAU$M2DIHA.1208@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Presuming you can boot with both raid controllers active, you could
create a mirror between the 2 volumes, then once it's synced, shutdown
& remove the original disks, reboot and remove the mirror. The downside
being you'll have to convert the volumes to dynamic disks. Otherwise
you'll probably have to use a 3rd party disk cloning/imaging utility.
"Nick" <NoSpam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23QIgp81DIHA.5228@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So having recreated RAID on a pair of fresh disks how do I copy the
existing SBS and other partitions onto the RAID array.

"SBS Rocker" <noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uWwTVa1DIHA.4836@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
you just can't move two drives from a RAID controller to another,
plug it in and expect it to work. The new RAID controller knows
nothing about the array. Sounds like you need to recreate the RAID
container on the new controller.


"Nick" <NoSpam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23oOanP0DIHA.1204@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Further to earlier advise here and elsewhere we decided to install
an Adaptec 1420SA SATA RAID controller card on our Server as an
alternative to the onboard VIA RAID controller we have been using.

Problem is I do not seem to be able to create the Mirror Array using
an existing disk! I did think about doing this and then using
Acronis (boot from CD) to mirror the existing drive onto the new
array but I don't know if Acronis would see the new mirrored array
correctly? Also would that not overwrite the boot sector preventing
the Adaptec controller from detecting that the new drive is part of
a disk array?

Anyone suggest how to do this?

Nick














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