Configuration

Dell PowerEdge Servers RAID

BSU’s SOC environment consists of Dell PowerEdge servers (no iDRAC license), so set-up steps are mostly identical across servers aside from varying hardware generations and Local or Network (NAS)

The pictures used in this guide are specific to the PERC H730P Raid Controller (Other servers will be very similar) :

• Connect a display and keyboard (and mouse if preferred) to the server.
• Power on the server and wait until the boot menu on the top of the screen is displayed - at this point press F10 (Life Cycle Manager) on the keyboard and wait for the screen to load.
• Once in Lifecycle Manager we need to navigate to the RAID configuration
  1. Select System Setup on the sidebar and then choose “Advanced Hardware Configuration”
  2. The next screen will have an option for “Device Settings” to select.
  3. In “Device Settings” you will be presented with a list, ensure you select the raid controller

Local Storage Configuration

• Overview
  • For local storage we will be creating raid 1 virtual disk storage out of two drives for the Proxmox boot. A second virtual disk will also be created with the remaining drives raid 5 if greater than one drive, else raid 0. This virtual disk will be utilized for local virtual machine storage.
• Creating boot storage
  1. From the main menu of the raid controller, navigate to “Configuration Management”, then select, “Create Virtual Disk”
  2. In this menu, select the raid level in accordance with desired usage for boot storage, choose raid 1. Next, choose “Select Physical Disks” and select two drives for the storage and apply changes.
  3. Finally, set the Virtual Disk Name appropriately and click on “Create Virtual Disk”
• Creating Virtual Machine Storage
  1. From the main menu of the raid controller, navigate to “Configuration Management”, then select, “Create Virtual Disk”
  2. In this menu, select the raid level in accordance with desired usage for virtual machine storage, choose raid 0 (or raid 5 if multiple drives remaining). Next, choose “Select Physical Disks” and select the remaining drives for the storage and apply changes.
  3. Finally, set the Virtual Disk Name appropriately and click on “Create Virtual Disk”

     Network Storage Configuration (NAS)

• Overview
  • RAID configuration for network storage is very similar to local raid configuration. The primary difference being that the SSDs were used for the boot storage virtual disk for linux server [raid 1], while the rest of the drives on the machines were selected for raid 5 storage.

Creating and Booting Proxmox

This guide will use balenaEtcher and a usb drive to create a bootable drive for proxmox. It will then cover booting from the drive using the dell boot manager.

Creating a bootable Proxmox

1. Navigate to Proxmox’s list of ISO Images and download Proxmox VE 6.4 ISO Installer
2. Acquire balenaEtcher by browsing to balenaEtcher’s homepage and downloading the installer that corresponds to your OS.
3. Follow the installation wizard and open the installed application.
4. Choose the proxmox ISO that was downloaded in step 1, then select the usb inside your machine and finally choose flash.

Booting a Dell Server with Proxmox

• Connect a display and keyboard (and mouse if preferred) to the server.
• Power on the server and wait until the boot menu on the top of the screen is displayed - at this point press F11 (Life Cycle Manager) on the keyboard and wait for the screen to load.
• Choose the One-shot UEFI Boot Menu and then select the usb device as the boot option.

  Next Section: Proxmox Install