Adaptec 44300 Choosing a RAID Level, Choosing Installation Options, Basic Installation Steps

Chapter 5: Getting Started l 36

Choosing a RAID Level

Your HostRAID controller supports these RAID levels.

RAID 0 (Non-redundantArray)—Stripes data across multiple disk drives. Improved performance but no redundancy.

RAID 1 Array—Created from two disk drives where one disk drive is a mirror of the other (the same data is stored on each disk drive). Redundancy but reduced capacity.

RAID 10 Array—Built from two or more equal-sized RAID 1 arrays, stripes and mirrors data across multiple disk drives. Redundancy and improved performance.

See page 64 for more information on RAID levels and use the table on page 65 to see how many disk drives you must connect to your HostRAID controller to support the RAID level you want.

Choosing Installation Options

When you install your HostRAID controller, you can choose to create a bootable array and then install both operating system and controller driver on that array. Alternatively, you can complete a standard installation, where you install the controller driver on an existing operating system.

Note: Adaptec 1225SA controller does not support bootable devices, hence install this controller only on an existing operating system.

Basic Installation Steps

This section describes the installation process. Follow the steps for the installation option you’ve chosen.

Installing with an Operating System

You can install your HostRAID controller and the operating system using these steps:

1Install and connect your controller and disk drives (see page 26).

2Set the boot controller (see page 38).

3Make the array bootable (see page 41).

4Install your operating system and the driver (see page 42).

5Install Adaptec Storage Manager and begin to manage your data storage (see page 50).

Installing with an Operating System On a Bootable Disk Drive/Array

When you install your HostRAID controller, you can create a bootable disk drive or an array and then install both operating system and controller driver on that disk drive or array. Alternatively, you can perform the standard installation, and install the controller driver on an existing operating system