# Solved: Adding drives to a DELL 2850 Poweredge Server



## don_1953 (Dec 8, 2006)

I work for a small company, we recently had major layoffs, and part of my new responsibilty is dealing with the servers. I currently have a DELL 2850 Poweredge Server that is running Windows 2003 Server, two drives on Raid 1 as the C: drive, (twin 146 GB scsi drives) It had not been properly installed, I just reinstalled Windows on it today, so if I have to do it over, it will be good practice. I installed using DELL OpenManage, seemed simple enough to crerate a Raid 1 and installed relatively smoothly. 
At this point though, we want this to be a File Server, and, we have 2 300GB scsi drives to add, I'd like to set up a second raid array as a raid 0 for these two drives. I just can't seem to figure out where to separate the 2 new drives, and have Windows see them. All 4 drives show up on Channel 0, (tomorrow I'll take my camera to work to take some pictures of the Bios screens) 
Can this be done through the DELL OpenManage, or should I be trying to figure this out from "Control M" while the system is booting up? I'm actually not too concerned with an array for the second two drives as it would double my drive space. I'm considering asking the boss to buy a third 300 gb drive so I can set up a raid 5, but money is tight

I'd appreciate any insight you can share.


----------



## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

I would do it through OpenMange. Go to Virtual Disk > Create Virtual Disk Wizard and create the array type you want with the newly added drives.


----------



## don_1953 (Dec 8, 2006)

the new drives don't appear on the virtual disk, I'd not done things correctly from the Bios. I did however find PERFECT instructions online, Google is amazing. (See Below)

Here are the instructions to set up a Raid Array for the Poweredge 2850 Server. Please be aware that the instructions below are for setting up an array in a new server, not for adding drives to an array.

Step 1: Power on the server. The machine will go through POST (Power On Self Test) at which time hardware components are identified and checked. Step 2: The server will now start to boot. A prompt will come up that says: Dell Poweredge Expandable RAID Controller Copyright © American Megatrends Inc. Press to run configuration utility.

Step 3: After pressing <Ctrl M>, the Management Menu appears. The first item on the Management Menu is Easy Configuration. Select Easy Configuration.

Step 4: A screen now appears with a listing of your hard drives. Press the SPACE bar for each drive you want to configure. Press Enter when finished selecting your drives.

Step 5: Now you will choose your span, which is how many drives you want to configure into your array. Use the spacebar to select your span. Press F10 when finished selecting your span. The reason you select a span is because multiple Raid Arrays can be set up within your drives. For instance, many administrators set up an array with the first two drives for the OS, with a second array for data.

Step 6: A Screen now appears for Choose your Raid Level. Depending on how many drives you have selected in your span, the system will offer you various options of Raid 0, 1, or 5. Arrow up or down and select your Raid level. Press Enter to accept.

Step 7: At the prompt of Escape to Save Configuration, press yes. Your Raid Array is now configured.

From there, Disk Management let me see the new virtual drive, configure and format it.


----------



## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

Once the SCSI controller recognizes the disk they should be available in OpenMange. It is just easier to do it from the GUI for some people. If you went into the GUI now hte changes you made in the controller config will show up in there now.


----------

