One of the core focuses for my IT work is to determine how to implement very low cost, yet high functionality and reliable solutions for churches and non-profit organizations. The focus of resources for these type organizations should be people and ministry, not I.T. I hope I can help some of you do this. I recently configured an Adaptec 1430SA RAID controller for a system that already had Win2K3R2? installed and running. If you've ever done this, you know how easy it is to lose everything if not done correctly. This particular RAID controller uses 4x SATA-II connections and a 4 lane PCI-e bus. It has RAID 0, 1 and 10 capability, and it only cost $110 on newegg.com. So far, it seems extremely fast, possibly faster than the on board SATA-II controller.

Prerequisites :: two drives of the same size, PCI-e 4 lane slot

Note :: I took extra care to not lose data during this process, so you may notice some "just checking" steps that aren't 100% required.

- backup all data on the server. confirm the backup by performing a restore of some random files.

- install the RAID card into the PCI-e 4 lane slot, but do not connect the drives to it yet.

- boot Win2K3R2? and install the drivers when the OS detects the new hardware. run Windows Update afterwards just for good measure.

- shutdown the OS and connect the OS drive to port 0 on the RAID controller. do not install the 2nd drive yet.

- on boot, enter the BIOS to make sure the new controller is in the proper location of the boot priority.

- after the BIOS setup, enter the controller utility to initialize the drive. you will receive a warning that you could lose all data. mine worked fine. this is not formatting the drive, but simply allowing the controller to add a signature to the drive so it can properly manage it going forward.

- boot the system and confirm Windows functionality. during the boot, confirm that the controller reports that the drive is actually connected to port 0. this is critical!

- shutdown and connect drive 2 to port 1 on the controller.

- on boot, confirm drives connected to port 0 and 1

- boot Win2K3R2? but do not enter the controller utility to setup the RAID.

- enter disk mgmt in Windows and make sure there are no partitions on the second drive. If so, delete them.

- reboot and enter the controller cfg utility by pressing CNTL-A when prompted.

- the utility is fairly straightforward. setup a RAID 1 config by selecting the two drives from the list presented. when prompted, MAKE SURE you specify the drive in port 0 as the "source".

- the "BUILD" process for the RAID will take several hours. Once completed, you will receive a "completed successfully" message.

- reboot and all is well. you now have hardware RAID 1 configured.

[ adding management utility to Win2K3R2? in later post ... this allows users to periodically validate the status of the RAID ... will check on SNMP capability ]

-- BryanBell - 13 Aug 2007