ServeRAID C100 and C105 for IBM System x

The IBM® ServeRAID C100 and ServeRAID C105 are integrated SATA controllers with software RAID capabilities. They are a cost-effective way to provide reliability, performance, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem management to help safeguard your valuable data and enhance availability.

Figure 1 shows a screenshot from the configuration utility for ServeRAID C100/C105 that displays information about the controller.


Figure 1. ServeRAID C100/C105 configuration utility: Controller information


Did you know

The IBM ServeRAID C100 and C105 are integral function of the system planar. There is no additional hardware required. They can be enabled and disabled through the system Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Configuration Utility, which is used to configure controllers, drive groups, and virtual drives, and to perform other configuration tasks in a pre-boot environment. Once enabled, the IBM ServeRAID C100 and C105 take control of all devices that are connected to the planar SATA ports of the server, including the SATA optical drive, if present.


Part number information

The ServeRAID C100 and C105 are integrated SATA controllers that come standard with supported servers and cannot be ordered separately. The following table provides the ordering part numbers and feature codes for the additional options.

Table 1. Ordering part numbers and feature codes

Description	Part number	Feature code
ServeRAID C100 for IBM System x	Onboard	Onboard
ServeRAID C105 for IBM System x	Onboard	Onboard
8-pack SATA Enabler for IBM System x*	90Y4349	A2V7

* An FoD upgrade for ServeRAID C105 that enables support for up to eight SATA HDDs.

The 8-pack SATA Enabler option part number includes the following items:

• Upgrade activation key
• Feature Activation Instructions

Features

The ServeRAID C100 and C105 have the following standard features:

• Auto-resume on array rebuild or array reconstruction after loss of system power

  Auto-resume uses non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) to save rebuild progress during a host reboot or power failure to automatically resume from the last checkpoint. Auto-resume ensures that data integrity is maintained throughout the process.

• Fast initialization for quick array setup

  Fast initialization quickly writes zeroes to the first and last sectors of the virtual drive. This function allows you to immediately start writing data to the virtual drive while the initialization is running in the background.

• Consistency check for background data integrity

  Consistency check verifies that all stripes in a virtual disk with a redundant RAID level are consistent. The consistency check will mirror data when an inconsistent stripe is detected for a RAID 1.

• Extensive online configuration options and advanced monitoring and event notification

  Management tools provide convenience for the configuration of logical volumes and alerting when errors have occurred or are about to occur.

• Global Hot Spare support

  A hot spare rebuilds data from all virtual disks within the disk group in which it is configured. ServeRAID provides the ability to define a physical disk as a hot spare to replace a failed drive. A global hot spare allows any physical drive to be designated as a hot spare for all drive groups that are defined on the controller.

• Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Configuration Utility for pre-boot array configuration and management

  HII Configuration Utility is a utility that allows you to configure drive groups and logical drives before installing or booting the operating system.

• MegaRAID Storage Manager management software

  MegaRAID Storage Manager is an easy-to-use advanced RAID management application that is used across the entire family of ServeRAID controllers. It allows you to configure, monitor, and maintain drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features with an intuitive GUI reducing administrative efforts and simplifying troubleshooting.

Technical specifications

The ServeRAID C100 has the following specifications:

• Onboard SATA controller with software RAID capabilities
• Six internal SATA ports with up to 3 Gbps throughput per port
• Six internal 7-pin L-shape SATA connectors
• RAID levels 0, 1, and 10 support
• Support for SATA simple-swap hard drives (solid state drives and hot-swap drives are not supported)
• Support for SATA CD/DVD-ROM
• SATA tape support to allow backups to SATA tape devices
• Connection to up to four internal drives, depending on the server model
• Support for up to two virtual drives
• Support for virtual drive sizes greater than 2 TB
• Fixed stripe unit size of 64 KB
• Support for MegaRAID Storage Manager management software

The ServeRAID C105 has the following specifications:

• Onboard SATA controller with software RAID capabilities
• Eight internal SATA ports with up to 3 Gbps throughput per port
• Two internal Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) x4 onboard connectors
• RAID levels 0 and 1 support
• Support for SATA simple-swap and SATA hot-swap hard drives (solid state drives and SAS hard drives are not supported)
• Support for up to eight internal drives (up to four standard, with an additional four with optional 8-pack enabler FoD upgrade, 90Y4349)
• Support for up to two virtual drives
• Support for virtual drive sizes greater than 2 TB
• Fixed stripe unit size of 64 KB
• Support for MegaRAID Storage Manager management software

Supported servers

The ServeRAID C100 and C105 are supported on the IBM System x® servers listed in the following table.

Table 2. Supported System x servers

Product description

ServeRAID C100 for IBM System x

Y

N

N

Y

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

ServeRAID C105 for IBM System x

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

Y

N

N

N

N

Y

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

8-pack SATA Enabler for IBM System x

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

Y

N

N

N

N

Y

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

See IBM ServerProven® for the latest information about the System x servers that support each adapter: http://ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/


Supported operating systems

The ServeRAID C100 and C105 support the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Foundation
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Enterprise x86 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Standard x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Standard x86 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Web x64 Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Web x86 Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server x64 Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server Edition
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Server x64 Edition
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for AMD64/EM64T
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for x86
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for AMD64/EM64T
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for x86

See the IBM ServerProven website for the latest information about the specific versions and service levels supported and any other prerequisites:
http://www.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/nos/matrix.shtml


Supported drives

The ServeRAID C100 supports the SATA simple-swap hard drives that are supported in the servers listed in Table 2. The maximum number of drives that can be connected to the C100 controller is limited by the maximum number of internal drive bays for a supported server (either two or four). Supported 3.5" simple-swap (SS) hard disk drives (HDDs) and the ServeRAID C100-based servers with which they are supported are listed in the following table.

Table 3. ServeRAID C100: Supported hard disk drives

Part number	Product description
3.5-inch NL SATA Simple-Swap HDDs
39M4508*	250GB 3.5" Simple-Swap SATA II HDD	Y	Y
43W7750	IBM 250GB 7.2K SATA 3.5" Simple-Swap HDD	Y	Y
39M4514	500GB 3.5" Simple-Swap SATA II HDD	Y	Y
81Y9802	IBM 500GB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	N	N
81Y9806	IBM 1TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	N	N
43W7622	IBM 1TB 7.2K SATA 3.5" Simple-Swap HDD	Y	Y
81Y9810	IBM 2TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	N	N
42D0787	IBM 2TB 7200 NL SATA 3.5" SS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9814	IBM 3TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	N	N
81Y9778	IBM 3TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" SS HDD	Y	Y

* Withdrawn, not available for ordering.

The ServeRAID C105 supports SATA simple-swap and hot-swap hard drives that are supported in the servers listed in Table 2. The maximum number of drives that can be connected to the C105 controller is eight. Supported simple-swap (SS) and hot-swap (HS) SATA hard disk drives (HDDs) and the ServeRAID C105-based servers with which they are supported are listed in the following table.

Table 4. ServeRAID C105: Supported hard disk drives

Part number	Product description
2.5-inch NL SATA Hot-Swap HDDs
81Y9722	IBM 250GB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 2.5" SFF HS HDD	Y	N
81Y9726	IBM 500GB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 2.5" SFF HS HDD	Y	N
81Y9730	IBM 1TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 2.5" SFF HS HDD	Y	N
3.5-inch NL SATA Hot-Swap HDDs
81Y9786	IBM 500GB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2HS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9790	IBM 1TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2HS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9794	IBM 2TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2HS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9798	IBM 3TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2HS HDD	Y	Y
3.5-inch NL SATA Simple-Swap HDDs
81Y9802	IBM 500GB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9806	IBM 1TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9810	IBM 2TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	Y	Y
81Y9814	IBM 3TB 7.2K 6Gbps NL SATA 3.5" G2SS HDD	Y	Y

Related publications

For more information, see the following documents:

• User's Guide for ServeRAID C100:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5089055
• System x RAID products home page:
  http://www.ibm.com/systems/storage/product/systemx/scsi_raid.html
• IBM ServeRAID software matrix:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1SERV-RAID
• IBM System x Configuration and Options Guide:
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1SCOD-3ZVQ5W