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# 1  
Old 09-05-2012
Question SPARC T4-1/Solaris 11/Add 2 new HDDs in RAID 0 configuration


Couple of sentences for background: I'm a software developer, whose task was to create a server software for our customer. Software is ready for deployment and customer has a new T4-1 SPARC, but somehow it also became my task also to setup the server. I have managed to get the server is up and running (Solaris was pre-installed), and software works on it.
Our server is SPARC T4-1 running Solaris 11. There are 2 HDDs in the system now (in HDD0 and HDD4 slots), and now we would like to add another two in raid 0 configuration (striped) for better performance.
I'm fairly proficient in Linux, so unix environment doesn't feel out of place for me, but configuring and administering Solaris is all new to me (this is my first time to touch one)

Can someone help me with some concrete step-by-step instructions how to
- Choose which slots I should populate with the new HDDs ?
- How can I configure & format, to mount them in raid 0 configuratin ?

I'm sure in proficient hands, this should be walk in the park, but for me unfortunately I'm not even sure where to start. If this was a clean system, I could easily start trial and error setup, but I don't want to mess-up customers server, as it's now working as hoped..
Thank you for any help!

Current configuration:

$ prtconf -l |more
ORCL,SPARC-T4-1 location: /dev/chassis//SYS/HDD0/disk
scsi_vhci, instance #0 location: /dev/chassis//SYS/HDD0/disk
disk, instance #4 location: /dev/chassis//SYS/HDD0/disk
disk, instance #6 location: /dev/chassis//SYS/HDD4/disk

$ diskinfo
D:devchassis-path c:occupant-compdev
/dev/chassis//SYS/HDD0/disk c0t5000CCA0259D2B78d0
/dev/chassis//SYS/HDD4/disk c0t5000CCA0259C678Cd0

$ cfgadm -al
Ap_Id Type Receptacle Occupant Condition
c2 scsi-sas connected configured unknown
c2::dsk/c2t6d0 CD-ROM connected configured unknown
c4 scsi-sas connected configured unknown
c4::w5000cca0259d2b79,0 disk-path connected configured unknown
c5 scsi-sas connected unconfigured unknown
c6 scsi-sas connected configured unknown
c6::w5000cca0259c678d,0 disk-path connected configured unknown
c7 scsi-sas connected unconfigured unknown
-- USB stuff from here... --

# 2  
Old 09-05-2012
You obviously know Linux and RAID so I won't go into huge detail. Just post back any questions.

1. With Solaris running enter "format" and write down what volumes you can see (eg. c0t0d0, etc). These are disks already configured. Shutdown the system.
2. I don't think it matters which slots you put the new drives into.
Configure a new 2-disk RAID0

Configuring Hardware RAID - SPARC T4-1 Server HTML Document Collection

3. Boot up Solaris again. Run the format command and you will have a new disk volume (as compared to (1) above). This is the one to format, newfs, and mount. Don't touch the originals as you will screw your existing O/S.

Hope that helps.
# 3  
Old 09-05-2012
Hi hicksd8,

Thanks for your reply!

So, I have been trying to gather some information, can you please correct me if I'm wrong in the following:

1. I need to login back to ILOM somehow. How can I prevent Solaris from booting ? I mean if I shutdown Solaris with shutdown command, I can't login to the system, right ? Or, will ILOM run if I don't press the power button to turn the system on ? (I havent tried that)

2. In ILOM, I need to use FCode utility, to select proper scsi controller, to which my new hdd's are connected

3. With show-children, I should now see the new HDDs, and then, I need to select the new hdds (say I have a (old), b (old), and new c & d): c d create-raid0-volume.
show-volumes for verification, and unselect-dev to release the controller..

4. Now I can turn the Solaris back on

5. After bootup, format utility should show one more disk (I had 2 disks before).. Or how should the format see the drive ?
When should I run the cngadm -c to configure my new disks ?

6. After this just do as you suggest, format, make filesystem and mount

I hope you can understand my thinking here, and I'm not writing to cryptically...
# 4  
Old 09-06-2012
why so hard and not just a ZFS mirror? it's one command to create a new filesystem with the 2 disks and there is no need for a reboot...
# 5  
Old 09-06-2012
Yes, that's a great idea DukeNuke2. Forget what said, that should be easier. Do you know whether your O/S is on UFS or ZFS? Doesn't matter if you don't mind mixing it up. It will give you a result.
This User Gave Thanks to hicksd8 For This Post:
# 6  
Old 09-09-2012
Hmm, does that mean a software raid in that case ? That would hurt the performance, somewhat, no ?
I need to check whether the current disk is ZFS, or what... Im not sure. Why is that important in this case ? Sorry for such elementary questions..
# 7  
Old 09-09-2012
Yes, I suppose you could call that a software RAID, however, being on modern hardware it's still pretty fast. Okay, I take your point about performance and hardware RAID should be better.

I was making the point that your O/S volumes might be UFS so creating a ZFS with these new drives would be "mixing it". Some purists just like a system to be all one or the other but if it gives you a quick result, so what.

If however you would like me to continue by answering your #3 post then I can do that.

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