Configuring Raid; About Raid - Lenovo ThinkServer RD530 Hardware Maintenance Manual

You can do the following when using the ThinkServer EasyStartup program on a Windows operating system.
For detailed information, refer to the help system.
• View a general introduction to your ThinkServer server model and the specific server configuration
information.
• View general guidance on how to use the ThinkServer EasyStartup DVD.
• Download the required device drivers to a removable storage device so that you can easily get the
drivers for server configuration when you need them, especially when you finish installing an operating
system without using the ThinkServer EasyStartup DVD and need appropriate device drivers to configure
your server.
• Install the required device drivers directly on the server on which you are running the ThinkServer
EasyStartup DVD.
• View information about all server models supported by the ThinkServer EasyStartup program and
information about the device drivers for each server model, including the driver versions and driver
locations in the root directory of the ThinkServer EasyStartup DVD.
Note: The most up-to-date device drivers for various server models are always available for download on
the Lenovo Support Web site at:
http://www.lenovo.com/drivers

Configuring RAID

This topic provides information about RAID and the utility programs that are available for you to configure
RAID.
This topic contains the following items:
• "About RAID" on page 56
• "Configuring RAID using the ThinkServer EasyStartup program" on page 58
• "Configuring the advanced SATA or SAS hardware RAID" on page 58

About RAID

RAID, an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a technology that provides increased
storage functions and reliability through redundancy. This is achieved by combining multiple hard disk drives
into a logical unit, where data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways called RAID levels.
When a group of independent physical hard disk drives are set up to use RAID technology, they are in a
RAID array. This array distributes data across multiple hard disk drives, but the array appears to the host
server as one single storage unit. Creating and using RAID arrays provides high performance, such as the
expedited I/O performance, because several drives can be accessed simultaneously.
RAID drive groups also improve data storage reliability and fault tolerance compared with single-drive
storage systems. Data loss resulting from a drive failure can be prevented by reconstructing missing data
from the remaining drives.
The following list describes some of the most commonly used RAID levels:
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ThinkServer RD530 Hardware Maintenance Manual