Avamar ® SolVe Generator

Solution for Validating your engagement

Topic
ADS RAID Reconfiguration

Selections
Select the Avamar Data Store Version: ADS Gen4S
Select ADS Node Type: M2400 Storage Node
Service Provider: Authorized Service Partner

Generated: January 22, 2024 7:53 AM GMT

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If you find any errors in this procedure or have comments regarding this application, send email to
SolVeFeedback@dell.com

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Publication Date: January, 2024

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 Contents
Preliminary Activity Tasks .......................................................................................................3
Read, understand, and perform these tasks.................................................................................................3
Service provider, project information and customer contact form.................................................................4

ADS Gen4S RAID Reconfiguration Procedure .......................................................4

Connecting to an Erased Gen4S Node.........................................................................................................4
Time Required to Complete This Procedure.................................................................................................5
Task 1: Enter Raid Configuration Utility and Prepare for RAID Reconfiguration ..........................5
Task 2: Update Controller Properties............................................................................................6
Task 3: Configure RAID Drive Groups ..........................................................................................9
Task 4: Create Virtual Disks........................................................................................................13
Task 5: Complete and Save RAID configuration.........................................................................18
Task 6: Perform Slow Initialization on Virtual Drives...................................................................23
Task 7: Day 2 - Complete RAID configuration ............................................................................25
Task 8: Rekickstart the Node ......................................................................................................26
Appendix A: Connect to node via RMM port with default settings....................................27
Avamar Partner Notification Tool ..........................................................................................29

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Preliminary Activity Tasks
This section may contain tasks that you must complete before performing this procedure.

Read, understand, and perform these tasks

1. Table 1 lists tasks, cautions, warnings, notes, and/or knowledgebase (KB) solutions that you need to
be aware of before performing this activity. Read, understand, and when necessary perform any
tasks contained in this table and any tasks contained in any associated knowledgebase solution.

Table 1 List of cautions, warnings, notes, and/or KB solutions related to this activity

2. This is a link to the top trending service topics. These topics may or not be related to this activity.
This is merely a proactive attempt to make you aware of any KB articles that may be associated with
this product.

Note: There may not be any top trending service topics for this product at any given time.

Avamar Top Service Topics

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Service provider, project information and customer contact form
This form is automatically populated based on the information that is provided in the Avamar Solve
Desktop questionnaire prior to generating the procedure. This information is collected and used for
reference purposes when referring back to this procedure at a later date and time.

Table 1 Service provider information

What is your name:

What is your email address:

Table 2 Dell EMC project information

Dell EMC CSI SR#:

Dell EMC Project/PAS ID (or partner company name):

Table 3 Customer account information

Customer site name:

Customer contact name:
Customer site street address:
Customer site city:
Customer site state/country:

ADS Gen4S RAID Reconfiguration Procedure

The following procedure provides instructions to reconfigure RAID on Avamar Data Store nodes. The
main use case for this procedure is for repurposing nodes after an Avamar Data Erasure activity. This is
because the Avamar Data Erasure process clears the RAID configuration and leaves the nodes in an
unusable state.
To get more information on drive location and raid configuration check Knowledge Base Article: 468012

Connecting to an Erased Gen4S Node

This procedure requires access to the console. This can be done by either connecting a keyboard and
monitor to the node or by connecting to the node using RMM.
If RMM was previously configured, you will need to obtain the RMM IP address from the customer. Even
though the data on the nodes has been erased, the RMM configuration remains intact. If the customer
does not have the RMM IP, then your only choice for connection will be with a keyboard and monitor.
If RMM was not previously configured and is still in the default state, refer to the appendix for details on
connecting to RMM with default settings.

Note: The start of this procedure assumes that you are already connected to the console.

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Time Required to Complete This Procedure
The RAID Reconfiguration for Gen4S nodes includes a slow initialization of the disks. This step is done
at the end of this procedure and it requires 12 to 24 hours to complete. As such, you need to plan on 2
days to complete this procedure.

WARNING: You MUST perform the slow initialization of the virtual drives. Failing to do this can result in
performance issues and data corruption!

Note: Gen4S Utility Nodes and Accelerator nodes take less time to complete the imitialization. Plan on 1
to 3 hours of initialization time for these nodes.

Task 1: Enter Raid Configuration Utility and Prepare for RAID Reconfiguration
1. [ ] Boot the node.
2. [ ] During boot, the following message will appear at the bottom of the screen.:

Figure 1 Boot Message

3. [ ] Hit Ctrl-G to enter the RAID Configuration Utility. The boot message will update to show:

Figure 2 Boot Message after Ctrl-G

The boot will continue and eventually the RAID Confiuration Utility Appears:

Figure 3 RAID Configuration Utility

4. [ ] The Start button is highlighted by default. Hit Enter to continue.

5. [ ] The RAID BIOS Console screen appears. The following example shows the node without a
RAID configuration present:

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 Figure 4 RAID BIOS Console Main Menu

IMPORTANT: If there is still a RAID Configuration present on this node, verify you are connected the
correct node before proceeding.

Task 2: Update Controller Properties

6. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Controller Properties and hit Enter. The following screen
appears:

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 .

Figure 5 Controller Properties Screen

7. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Next and hit Enter

8. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Next and hit Enter. This will bring you to the following screen:

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 Figure 6 Raid Controller Properties Screen 2

9. [ ] Use the Tab key until Patrol Read Rate is selected and set the value to zero.
10. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Next and hit Enter. The next screen appears:

Figure 7 Raid Controller Properties Screen 3

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11. [ ] Use the Tab key until Maintain PD Fail History is selected then set to Disabled.
12. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Submit and hit Enter
13. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Home and hit Enter. You will be returned to the Main screen.

Task 3: Configure RAID Drive Groups

14. [ ] From the RAID BIOS Main Menu, use the Tab key to select Configuration Wizard and hit
Enter. The following screen appears:

Figure 8 RAID Configuration Wizard Screen

15. [ ] Use the Tab key to select New Configuration, then hit spacebar to enable it. Use the Tab
key again until Next is selected, then hit Enter. The next popup appears:

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 Figure 9 Confirm Clear Config

16. [ ] Use the Tab key to select YES, then hit Enter to confirm. The next screen appears:

Figure 10 Config Wizard Select Method

17. [ ] Manual Configuration should be selected by default. Use the Tab key to select Next and
hit Enter. The next screen appears:

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 Figure 11 Config Wizard Drive Group Definition

18. [ ] Create the drive group by performing the following steps:

Use the following RAID criteria to complete this step:
RAID CONFIGURATION FOR GEN4S M2400 NODE
Disk Group RAID Physical Disk 1 Physical Disk 2 Virtual Disk NOTES
Level
Drive Group0 RAID 1 Drive 0, Slot 0 Drive 3, Slot 3 Virtual Disk 0
Drive Group1 RAID 1 Drive 1, Slot 1 Drive 4, Slot 4 Virtual Disk 1
Drive Group2 RAID 1 Drive 2, Slot 2 Drive 5, Slot 5 Virtual Disk 2
Drive Group3 RAID 1 Drive 6, Slot 6 Drive 9, Slot 9 Virtual Disk 3
Drive Group4 RAID 1 Drive 7, Slot 7 Drive 10, Slot 10 Virtual Disk 4
Drive Group5 RAID 1 Drive 8, Slot 8 Drive 11, Slot 11 Virtual Disk 5
Drive Group6 RAID 0 Drive 12, Slot 12 None Virtual Disk 6 SSD

a. On the Drive Group Definition screen, use the Tab key until the Drives section is selected,
then use the down arrow to select the disk drives. Select the first drive for the device group then
use Tab key to select Add to Array and hit Enter.

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 b. Use the Tab key until the Drives section is selected again, then use the down arrow to select the
disk drives. Select the second drive for the device group then use Tab key to select Add to
Array and hit Enter. The next screen appears:

Figure 12 Config Wizard Drive Group screen 2

c. Use the Tab key to select Accept DG and hit Enter. This will create the first drive group,
Drive Group0 and prepare for the creation of the next drive group, Drive Group1. See next
screen:

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 Figure 13 Config Wizard with Drive Group 0 created

Note: If you add the incorrect drive to the Drive Group, use the Tab key to select the drive in the
Drive Groups menu and then use Tab to select Reclaim and hit Enter. This will remove the drive
from the Drive Group and make it selectable in the Drives menu.

d. Repeat steps a through c to create the remaining drive groups.

Task 4: Create Virtual Disks

19. [ ] After all Drive Groups have been created, use the Tab key to select Next and hit Enter. The
next screen appears:

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 Figure 14 Config Wizard – Span Definition

20. [ ] Use the Tab key until the pull down under Array With Free Space is selected. Use the
arrow key to select the first Drive Group, then use the Tab key to select Add to SPAN and hit
Enter. The Drive Group will be added to span list. See next screen:

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 Figure 15 Config Wizars, Drive Group in Span list

21. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Next and hit Enter. The next screen appears:

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 Figure 16 Config Wizard – Virtual Drive Definition

22. [ ] Use the Tab key to navigate between the various settings and the up or down arrow to select
values. Update these settings as follows:
• RAID level = RAID1 for RAID1 pairs of 2TB drives
• RAID level = RAID0 for SSD
• Stripe Size = 64 KB
• Access Policy = RW
• Read Policy = No Read Ahead
• Write Policy = Write Back with BBU
• IO Policy = Direct
• Drive Cache = Disable
• Disable BGI = No
• Select Size = 1.818 TB for each RAID1 pair of 2TB drives
• Select Size = 92.200 GB for SSD

Here is an example of the appropriate settings for the first virtual disk:

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 Figure 17 Virtual Disk values populated

23. [ ] After the values have been set, use the Tab key to select Accept and hit Enter. The next
screen appears:

Figure 18 Confirm Write Back with BBU

24. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Yes and hit Enter. The next screen appears showing the creation of
Virtual Disk VD0.

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 Figure 19 Config Wizard – VD0 created

25. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Back and hit Enter. This takes you back to the Span Definition
screen.
26. [ ] Repeat this task until all Virtual Drives have been created.

Task 5: Complete and Save RAID configuration

27. [ ] After all Virtual Drives have been created, you will be at the following screen:

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 Figure 20 Config Wizard – VD Definition Completed

28. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Next and hit Enter. The next screen appears:

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 Figure 21 Config Wizard - Preview

29. [ ] Use the Tab key to review the configuration. Make sure all Drive Groups and Virtual
Drives are included to match the configuration table earlier in this procedure. Once you have
confirmed the configuration is correct, use the Tab key to select Accept and hit Enter. The next
screen appears:

Figure 22 Confirmation Screen

30. [ ] Use the Tab key to select YES, then hit Enter to confirm. The next screen appears:

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 Figure 23 Confirmation Screen 2

31. [ ] Use the Tab key to select YES, then hit Enter to confirm. The next screen appears:

Figure 24 Virtual Drive Initialization Progress

Note: The screenshot above will only appear for a few seconds while the drives perform a fast initialize.

After the initialization completes, the following screen appears:

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 Figure 25 Virtual Drives Screen

32. [ ] Use the Tab key to select VD0, then use the Tab key again to select “Set Boot Drive” and hit
Enter to enable it. Then use Tab again to select Go and hit Enter. See next screen::

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 Figure 26 Virtual Drives with VD0 set as Boot Drive

Task 6: Perform Slow Initialization on Virtual Drives

The next task will start the Slow Initialization of the Virtual Drives. Once the slow initialize is started, it will
take up to 24 hours to complete. You must perform this task for all Gen4S nodes. Failure to do this task
can result in corrupted data.
33. [ ] Use the Tab key to select VDO then use the Tab key again to select “Slow Initialize” and
hit Enter to enable it. Then use Tab again to select Go and hit Enter. The next screen appears:

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 Figure 27 Confirm Slow Initialization

34. [ ] Use the Tab key to select YES then hit Enter to confirm. The next screen appears:

Figure 28 Virtual Drives – Slow initialization progress

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35. [ ] Repeat the previous steps in this task to start the Slow Initialize for all Virtual Drives. See
next screen that shows all Virtual Drives initializing:

Figure 29 Virtual Drives – all drives initialization

IMPORTANT: The Slow Initialization process will take 12 to 24 hours to complete. You must allow the
initialization to complete before continueing on with this procedure. Do NOT exit the RAID BIOS, leave
the node in this state and return tomorrow to complete this procedure.

Task 7: Day 2 - Complete RAID configuration

36. [ ] Upon returning to this node the next day, after the slow initialization has complete, you will see
the following screen::

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 Figure 30 Slow Initialization Complete

37. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Home and hit Enter. You will be brought to the main RAID BIOS
menu.
38. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Exit and hit Enter. An exit confirmation screen appears.
39. [ ] Use the Tab key to select Yes and hit Enter. A screen will appear that says to reboot the
system.
40. [ ] Reboot the node.

Task 8: Rekickstart the Node

Now that the RAID configuration is complete, you need to rekickstart the node. The rekickstart procedure
is available in the Avamar Procedure Generator under Miscellaneous Procedures.

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Appendix A: Connect to node via RMM port with default settings
The following task provides instructions to connect to a Gen4S node.
1. [ ] Configure your laptop as follows:

a. From Start, open Settings > Network and Dial-up Connections and select Local Area Connection.
b. Select Properties.
c. Double-click Internet protocol (TCP/IP).
d. Click Use the following address.
e. Set IP address to 192.168.0.100.
f. Set netmask to 255.255.255.0.
Setting a gateway is not necessary.
g. Click OK.
h. Click OK again.
i. Connect the laptop to the node’s RMM network interface with a Cat6 Ethernet cable.
j. At a Windows command prompt, type ipconfig to ensure the new IP address is active.
If not, disable and re-enable the Ethernet connection in the Local Area Connection dialog box.
2. [ ] On your laptop, open a web browser to http://192.168.0.120.
See next image.

Figure 31 Intel BMC Login

3. [ ] Log into the node BMC interface as user root with root password (calvin) and click Login.
The BMC System Information screen appears. See next image.

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 Figure 32 BMC System Information

4. [ ] Select the Remote Control tab. See next image.

Figure 33 BMC Remote Control Tab

5. [ ] Click the Launch Console button. A virtual console window appear:

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 Figure 34 BMC Virtual Console

6. [ ] Log in to the node as root user.

When prompted, enter the root password (default: changeme) and press Enter.

Avamar Partner Notification Tool

Click the hyperlink below to open the Avamar Partner Notification Tool Form. Save a copy of the form for
each Avamar System to be reported.
Complete the form according to the instructions on the form. Email the completed form to
CSHelpdesk@emc.com

Note: Completion of this form is a mandatory requirement to closing the CSI Service Request you are
working on.

Click the this link to open the Avamar Partner Notification Tool Form

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