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Lenovo RAID Management Tools and Resources

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4 Oct 2022
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Abstract

Lenovo offers a suite of management tools to simplify the configuration and management of the RAID controllers for ThinkSystem, ThinkServer, and System x servers. These tools enable Lenovo RAID controllers to be managed through a user interface or command line interface in the pre-boot environment, during the deployment of an operating system, and after the operating system is deployed.

This guide introduces the RAID management tools and their capabilities, along with the links to download these tools and the respective user guides, for use on ThinkSystem, ThinkServer, and System x servers with the supported RAID controllers.

Introduction

This page is no longer maintained. Alternative resources:

Lenovo offers a suite of management tools to simplify the configuration and management of the RAID controllers for ThinkSystem, ThinkServer, and System x servers. These tools enable Lenovo RAID controllers to be managed through a user interface or command line interface in the pre-boot environment, during the deployment of an operating system, and after the operating system is deployed.

This guide introduces the RAID management tools and their capabilities, along with the links to download these tools and the respective user guides,for use on supported ThinkSystem, ThinkServer, and System x servers with the following RAID controllers:

  • ThinkSystem:
    • Onboard SATA RAID for Intel processor-based servers (Intel VROC SATA RAID, formerly known as Intel RSTe)
    • Onboard NVMe RAID for Intel processor-based servers (Intel VROC NVMe RAID)
    • ThinkSystem M.2 with Mirroring Enablement Kit
    • RAID 530-8i
    • RAID 730-8i 1GB Cache (not available in USA or Canada)
    • RAID 730-8i 2GB Flash
    • RAID 930-8i 2GB Flash
    • RAID 930-16i 4GB Flash
    • RAID 930-16i 8GB Flash
    • RAID 930-24i 4GB Flash
    • RAID 930-8e 4GB Flash
    • RAID 940-8i 4GB Flash
    • RAID 940-8i 8GB Flash
    • RAID 940-16i 8GB Flash
    • RAID 940-16i 8GB Flash Internal Adapter
    • RAID 940-32i 8GB Flash
  • System x:
    • ServeRAID C110
    • ServeRAID M1210
    • ServeRAID M1215
    • ServeRAID M5210 and M5210e
    • ServeRAID M5225-2GB
  • ThinkServer:
    • ThinkServer RAID 110i AnyRAID
    • ThinkServer RAID 121i
    • ThinkServer RAID 510i AnyRAID
    • ThinkServer RAID 520i PCIe
    • ThinkServer RAID 720i AnyRAID
    • ThinkServer RAID 720i PCIe
    • ThinkServer RAID 720ix AnyRAID
    • ThinkServer 9286CV-8e
    • ThinkServer 9380-8e

Lenovo RAID controllers

Topics in this section:

Controller positioning

The following table positions the Lenovo RAID controllers based on the interface and category.

Table 1. RAID controller positioning
Interface Server Internal storage External storage
expansion
Embedded
software RAID		 Basic
hardware RAID		 Advanced
hardware RAID		 Advanced
hardware RAID
ThinkSystem RAID controllers
NVMe PCIe
  • Onboard NVMe
    (Intel VROC
    NVMe RAID)
  
  • 940-8i 4GB Flash
  • 940-8i 8GB Flash
  • 940-16i 8GB Flash
  
12 Gbps SAS
PCIe 4.0		    
  • 940-8i 4GB Flash
  • 940-8i 8GB Flash
  • 940-16i 8GB Flash
  • 940-32i 8GB Flash
  
12 Gbps SAS
PCIe 3.0		  
  • 530-8i
  • 730-8i 1GB Cache*
  • 730-8i 2GB Flash
  • 930-8i 2GB Flash
  • 930-16i 4GB Flash
  • 930-16i 8GB Flash
  • 930-24i 4GB Flash
  • 930-8e 4GB Flash
6 Gbps SATA
  • Onboard SATA
    (Intel VROC SATA
    RAID, formerly RSTe)
      
System x ServeRAID controllers
12 Gbps SAS
PCIe 3.0		  
  • M1210
  • M1215
  • M5210
  • M5210e
  • M5225-2GB
6 Gbps SATA
  • C110
      
ThinkServer RAID controllers
12 Gbps SAS
PCIe 3.0		  
  •  520i
  • 720i
  • 720ix
  • 9380-8e
6 Gbps SAS  
  • 510i
  
  • 9286CV-8e
6 Gbps SATA
  • 110i
  • 121i
      

* ThinkSystem RAID 730-8i 1GB Cache adapter is available worldwide except US and Canada

ThinkSystem RAID controllers

The following tables summarize features of ThinkSystem RAID controllers. For an online comparison of ThinkSystem controllers, see the following:

Lenovo ThinkSystem RAID Adapter and HBA Reference
https://lenovopress.com/lp1288

Table 2. Advanced hardware RAID controllers
Feature RAID 930-8i RAID 930-16i 4GB / 8GB RAID 930-24i RAID 940-8i 4GB / 8GB RAID 940-16i 8GB / Int RAID 940-32i 8GB
Part number 7Y37A01084 7Y37A01085
4Y37A09721		 7Y37A01086 4Y37A09728
4Y37A09729		 4Y37A09730
4Y37A09735		 4Y37A09733
Form factor PCIe low profile PCIe low profile PCIe FHHL PCIe low profile PCIe low profile
or Custom		 PCIe FHHL
Controller chip LSI SAS3508 LSI SAS3516 LSI SAS3508 + LSI SAS35x36R Broadcom SAS3908 Broadcom SAS3916 Broadcom SAS3916 + SAS35x36R
Broadcom equivalent MegaRAID 9460-8i MegaRAID 9460-16i MegaRAID 9460-24i MegaRAID 9560-8i 4/8G MegaRAID 9560-16i 8G MegaRAID 9367-32i 8G
Host interface PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 4.0 x8 PCIe 4.0 x8 PCIe 4.0 x8
Port interface 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS
Number of ports 8 16 24 8 16 32
Port connectors 2x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643) 4x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643) 6x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643) One x8 SFF-8654 Two x8 SFF-8654 Four x8 SFF-8654
Drive interface SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA
Drive type HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SED, SSD
Hot-swap drives Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Max devices 8 16 24 8 16 32
RAID levels 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60
JBOD mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cache 2GB (Standard) 4GB or 8GB (Standard) 4GB (Standard) 4GB or 8GB (Standard) 8GB (Standard) 8GB (Standard)
Flash cache protection (CacheVault) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Performance Accelerator (FastPath) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SSD Caching (CacheCade) No No No No No No
SED support (SafeStore) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Consistency check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Patrol read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online capacity expansion Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online RAID level migration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Global Hot Spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auto-rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Table 3. Embedded and Basic hardware RAID
Feature Intel RSTe Intel VROC NVMe RAID 530-8i RAID 530-16i RAID 730-8i 1GB* RAID 730-8i 2GB
Adapter type Software RAID Software RAID RAID controller RAID controller RAID controller RAID controller
Part number None None 7Y37A01082 4Y37A09727 7Y37A01083 4Y37A09722
Form factor Onboard Onboard PCIe low profile PCIe low profile PCIe low profile PCIe low profile
Controller chip Intel PCH (RSTe) Intel PCH (VROC) LSI SAS3408 LSI SAS3416 LSI SAS3108 LSI SAS3108
Vendor equivalent Not applicable Not applicable MegaRAID 9440-8i MegaRAID 9440-16i MegaRAID 9361-8i MegaRAID 9361-8i
Host interface Not applicable Not applicable PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8
Port interface 6 Gb SATA PCIe NVMe 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS
Number of ports Varies Varies 8 16 8 8
Port connectors 2x onboard SATA Varies 2x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643) 4x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643) 2x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643) 2x Mini-SAS HD x4 (SFF-8643)
Drive interface SATA NVMe SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA
Drive type HDD, SSD SSD HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SED, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SED, SSD
Hot-swap drives Yes (system dependent) Yes (system dependent) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Max devices Varies Varies 8 16 8 8
RAID levels 0, 1, 10, 5 0, 1, 10, 5‡ 0, 1, 10, 5, 50 0, 1, 10 0, 1, 10, 5, 50 0, 1, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60
JBOD mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Cache None None None None 1GB (Standard) 2GB (Standard)
Flash cache protection (CacheVault) No No No No No Yes
Performance Accelerator (FastPath) No No Yes Yes No Yes
SSD Caching (CacheCade Pro 2.0) No No No Yes No No
SED support (SafeStore) No No Yes Yes No Yes
Consistency check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Patrol read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online capacity expansion Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online RAID level migration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Global Hot Spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auto-rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

‡ Intel VROC NVMe RAID supports Intel-branded NVMe SSDs without any additional license. To enable RAID using non-Intel NVMe SSDs requires VROC Premium which is a Feature on Demand (FoD) license upgrade (part number 4L47A39164, feature code B96G)

System x RAID controllers

The following table summarizes features and specifications of System x RAID controllers.

Table 4. System x RAID controller features and specifications summary
Feature C110 M1210 M1215 M5210 M5210e M5225-2GB
Form factor Onboard Custom PCIe low profile PCIe low profile Onboard PCIe low profile
Controller chip N/A* LSI SAS3004 LSI SAS3008 LSI SAS3108 LSI SAS3108
Host interface N/A* PCIe 3.0 x4 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8
Port interface 6 Gb SATA 12 Gb SAS 12 Gbps SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS
Number of ports 4 4 8 8 8
Drive interface SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA
Drive type HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD
Hot-swap drive support No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Number of drives* 4 4 32 32 192
RAID levels 0/1/10/5 0/1/10;
Optional 5/50		 0/1/10;
Optional 5/50		 0/1/10;
Optional 5/50 and 6/60		 0/1/10/5/50;
Optional 6/60
JBOD mode Yes Yes Yes Yes (Without cache) No
Cache None None None Up to 4 GB (Optional) 2 GB (Included)
Cache protection None None None Flash backup (Optional) Flash backup
(Included)
SED support (SafeStore) No Optional Optional Optional Yes
Performance
Accelerator (FastPath)		 None None None Optional Optional
SSD Caching
(CacheCade Pro 2.0)		 None None None Optional Optional
Consistency check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Patrol read Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online capacity expansion Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online RAID level migration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Global Hot Spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auto-rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

* The number of drives depends on the RAID controller capabilities and supported internal drive bay configurations (including SAS expanders in drive backplanes) or external storage expansion configurations for the server in which the RAID controller is installed.

ThinkServer RAID controllers

The following table summarizes features of ThinkServer RAID storage controllers.

Table 5. ThinkServer RAID controller features and specifications summary
Feature RAID 110i RAID 121i RAID 510i RAID 520i RAID 720i RAID 720ix 9286CV-8e 9380-8e
Form factor Onboard Onboard AnyRAID Low profile Low profile or AnyRAID AnyRAID Low profile Low profile
Controller chip N/A N/A LSI SAS2008 LSI SAS3008 LSI SAS3108 LSI SAS2208 LSI SAS3108
Host interface N/A N/A PCIe 2.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8 PCIe 3.0 x8
Port interface 6 Gb SATA 6 Gb SATA 6 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS 6 Gb SAS 12 Gb SAS
Number of ports 8 6 8 8 8 8 8
Drive interface SATA SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA SAS, SATA
Drive type HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD HDD, SSD
Hot-swap
drive support		 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Number of drives^ 8* 5 8 8 8 26** 192 192
RAID levels 0/1/10;
Optional 5		 0/1/10/5 0/1/10;
Optional 5/50		 0/1/10;
Optional 5/50		 0/1/10/5/50;
Optional 6/60 with any cache upgrade		 0/1/10/
5/50/6/60		 0/1/10/
5/50/6/60
JBOD mode Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (Without cache) Yes*** No No
Cache None None None None Up to 4 GB**** 1 GB 1 GB
Cache
protection		 None None None None Flash backup (Optional) Flash backup
(Included)		 Flash backup
(Required)
FastPath None None None None Yes Yes Yes
CacheCade
Pro 2.0		 None None None None Yes (With flash backup) Optional None
Consistency check Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Patrol read No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online capacity expansion No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Online RAID level migration No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Global Hot Spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Auto-rebuild Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

^ The number of drives depends on the RAID controller capabilities and supported internal drive bay configurations or external storage expansion configurations for the server in which the RAID controller is installed.
* Up to 6 drives can be configured in a RAID array, and the remaining two drives operate in JBOD mode.
** Includes SAS Expander.
*** JBOD mode is supported only with the non-backed cache.
**** A cache upgrade is required for the 720ix AnyRAID adapter operations, and it must be purchased together with the controller.

Controller features

The following table explains the RAID controller features in more detail.

Table 6. RAID controller features explanation
Feature Description
SED support (SafeStore) MegaRAID SafeStore encryption services offer instant secure erase and local key management for self-encrypting drives. This technology secures data on a disk drive from any unauthorized access or modification resulting from theft, loss, or repurposing of drives. Instant secure erase permanently removes data when repurposing or decommissioning SEDs.

SafeStore local key management provides the necessary management and protection of SEDs by using a simple pass phrase, security key identifier, and security key file that can be set and applied to all SEDs that are assigned to a RAID adapter. This feature removes the complexity of managing each SED’s unique encryption key, and it relieves the administrator of most of the daily tasks of securing data.
Performance Accelerator (FastPath) MegaRAID FastPath feature provides high-performance I/O acceleration for SSD-based virtual drives by using a low latency I/O path to increase the maximum I/O per second (IOPS) capability of the controller. This feature boosts the performance of applications with a highly random data storage access pattern, such as transactional databases.
SSD Caching (CacheCade Pro 2.0)* MegaRAID CacheCade read/write software accelerates the performance of HDD arrays with only an incremental investment in SSD technology. The software enables SSDs to be configured as a dedicated pool of controller cache to help maximize the I/O performance for transaction-intensive applications, such as databases and web serving. CacheCade software tracks data storage access patterns and identifies the most frequently accessed data. The hot data is then automatically stored on the solid-state storage devices that are assigned as a dedicated cache pool on a RAID controller.
Consistency check Consistency check verifies that all stripes in a virtual drive with a redundant RAID level are consistent. The consistency check mirrors data when an inconsistent stripe is detected for RAID 1 and re-creates the parity from the peer disks for RAID 5 or RAID 6. Consistency checks can be scheduled to take place periodically.
Patrol read Patrol read is a background sentry service that pro-actively discovers and corrects media defects (bad sectors) that arise normally as a disk drive ages. The service issues a series of verify commands, and if a bad block is discovered, the card's firmware uses RAID algorithms to re-create the missing data and remap the sector to a good sector. The task is interruptible based on controller activity and host operations. The firmware also provides an interface where the patrol read task can be initiated, set up for continuous operation, and terminated from a management application. Patrol read can be activated by a manual command or automatically.
Online capacity expansion** Online Capacity Expansion (OCE) allows the capacity of a virtual disk to be expanded by adding new physical disks or making use of unused space on existing disks, without requiring a reboot.
Online RAID level migration** Online RAID Level Migration, which is also known as logical drive migration, migrates a virtual drive from one RAID level to other RAID level without requiring a reboot. System availability and application functionality remain unaffected.
Hot Spare A hot spare rebuilds data from all virtual drives within the drive group in which it is configured to replace a failed drive. Hot spares can be configured as either global or dedicated. A global hot spare allows any physical drive to be designated as a hot spare. A dedicated hot spare allows the user to assign a hot spare drive to a particular array of the same drive type.
Auto-rebuild Auto-rebuild allows a failed drive to be replaced and the data automatically rebuilt by using the new drive in the same drive bay. The RAID drive group continues to handle requests while the rebuild occurs.

* Not all SSDs support CacheCade feature. For details, refer to the following web page:
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/MIGR-5094754.
** RAID 10, 50 and 60 drive groups do not support Online Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration. RAID 0, 1, 5, and 6 drive groups do not support Online Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration if two or more virtual drives are defined on a single drive group.

ThinkSystem RAID management tools

The following table lists the management tools for the following ThinkSystem RAID controllers:

  • RAID 530-8i
  • RAID 730-8i 1GB
  • RAID 930-8i 2GB Flash
  • RAID 930-16i 4GB Flash
  • RAID 930-16i 8GB Flash
  • RAID 930-24i 4GB Flash
  • RAID 930-8e 4GB Flash
Table 7. ThinkSystem RAID controller management tools
Configuration
method		 Pre-boot tool Operating system tool (after the OS is installed)
Windows Linux VMware ESXi
User Interface (UI)
  • F1 Setup: XClarity
    Provisioning Manager GUI /
    UEFI System Setup Text-based Utility User Guide
  • XClarity Controller Web UI
    RAID Setup User Guide
 LSI Storage Authority for Windows LSI Storage Authority for Linux None*
Command Line
Interface (CLI)		 XClarity Controller CLI StorCLI StorCLI StorCLI
Configuration
patterns		 Lenovo XClarity Administrator
(Pro license required) 		None None None

* VMware ESXi hosts running Lenovo Customized images of the ESXi hypervisor version 5.5 Update 1 or later can be managed remotely via the LSI Storage Authority tool installed on a supported operating system.

The following table lists the management tools for the following controllers:

  • Onboard Intel RSTe-based SATA RAID controller
  • ThinkSystem M.2 with Mirroring Enablement Kit

Note: Onboard SATA RAID feature is not supported by VMware ESXi and other hypervisors.

Table 8. Onboard SATA and M.2 RAID management tools
Configuration
method		 Pre-boot tool Operating system tool (after the OS is installed)
Windows Linux
User Interface (UI)
  • F1 Setup: XClarity
    Provisioning Manager GUI /
    UEFI System Setup
    Text-based Utility User Guide
GUI Utility for Windows None
Command Line
Interface (CLI)		 XClarity Controller CLI RSTCLI MDADM
  • Native Linux utility

The following table briefly describes the management tools for the ThinkSystem RAID adapters.

Table 9. ThinkSystem RAID management tools overview
Management tool Purpose
Lenovo XClarity Controller (XCC) Web UI A browser-based user interface for accessing the IMM II features to perform remote server management (system information and inventory, system configuration, firmware management, and other tasks), including configuring RAID volumes.
XCC Command Line Interface (XCC CLI) A command line interface program for XClarity Controller-based ThinkSystem servers for gathering system information and inventory; viewing, creating, and changing configuration settings, including RAID volumes; managing firmware; performing miscellaneous tasks, such as power control.
Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager / F1 UEFI System Setup An installation assistant that simplifies the process of installing and configuring Lenovo x86 servers, including hardware configuration, RAID configuration, and operating system installation with minimal user intervention.
Provisioning Manager F1 UEFI System Setup A Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Utility user interface for configuring controllers, physical disks, and virtual disks, and for performing other configuration tasks in a pre-boot, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) environment.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator A centralized resource management solution that automates discovery, inventory, tracking, monitoring, and provisioning for server, network, and storage hardware in a secure environment.
LSI/Avago Storage Authority (LSA) An easy-to-use web-based user interface in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features) locally and remotely.
Storage Command Line Tool (StorCLI) An easy-to-script command line interface in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features).
RSTe GUI Utility A GUI application in the Windows operating system for managing and monitoring RAID arrays and volumes on the onboard SATA RAID controller.
RSTCLI A command line application in the Windows operating system that provides basic support for creating and managing RAID arrays and volumes on the onboard SATA RAID controller.
MDADM A native Linux command line interface tool for managing and monitoring RAID arrays and volumes on the onboard SATA RAID controller.

The following table compares capabilities of the ThinkSystem RAID management tools.

Table 10. ThinkSystem RAID management tool capabilities
Configuration task XClarity
Controller		 XClarity
​Administrator		 F1 UEFI Setup /
Provisioning
Manager		 LSA StorCLI RSTe GUI /
RSTCLI /
MDADM
Creating arrays Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Creating volumes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Assigning hot spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deleting arrays Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deleting volumes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Managing controller settings No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Managing drive settings No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Running consistency check No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Expanding capacity No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Migrating RAID level No No No Yes Yes Yes

* Not available in the UEFI System Setup for the onboard SATA RAID controller.

System x RAID management tools

The following table lists the management tools for the following Avago/LSI chip-based System x RAID controllers:

  • ServeRAID M1210
  • ServeRAID M1215
  • ServeRAID M5210
  • ServeRAID M5210e
  • ServeRAID M5225-2GB
Table 11. M1210, M1215, M5210, M5210e, and M5225-2GB management tools
Configuration
method		 Pre-boot tool Operating system tool (after the OS is installed)
Windows Linux VMware ESXi
User Interface (UI) Manual configuration: Guided configuration: MegaRAID Storage
Manager for Windows LSI Storage Authority for Windows 		MegaRAID Storage
Manager for Linux LSI Storage Authority for Linux 		None*
Command Line
Interface (CLI)		 IMM II CLI StorCLI StorCLI StorCLI
Configuration
patterns		 Lenovo XClarity Administrator
(Pro license required) 		None None None

* VMware ESXi hosts running Lenovo Customized images of the ESXi hypervisor version 5.5 Update 1 or later can be managed remotely via MegaRAID Storage Manager installed on a supported operating system.

The following table lists the management tools for the Intel RSTe-based ServeRAID C110 RAID controller.

Note: ServeRAID C110 is not supported by VMware ESXi and other hypervisors.

Table 12. C110 management tools
Configuration
method		 Pre-boot tool Operating system tool (after the OS is installed)
Windows Linux
User Interface (UI) Manual configuration: Guided configuration: GUI Utility for Windows None
Command Line
Interface (CLI)		 IMM II CLI RSTCLI MDADM
  • Native Linux utility

The following table briefly describes the management tools for the System x RAID adapters.

Table 13. System x RAID management tools overview
Management tool Purpose
Integrated Management Module II (IMM II) Web UI A browser-based user interface for accessing the IMM II features to perform remote server management (system information and inventory, system configuration, firmware management, and other tasks), including configuring RAID volumes.
IMM II Command Line Interface (IMM II CLI) A command line interface program for IMM II-based System x servers for gathering system information and inventory; viewing, creating, and changing configuration settings, including RAID volumes; managing firmware; performing miscellaneous tasks, such as power control.
ServerGuide An installation assistant that simplifies the process of installing and configuring Lenovo x86 servers, including hardware configuration, RAID configuration, and operating system installation with minimal user intervention.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator A centralized resource management solution that automates discovery, inventory, tracking, monitoring, and provisioning for server, network, and storage hardware in a secure environment.
F1 UEFI System Setup A Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Utility user interface for configuring controllers, physical disks, and virtual disks, and for performing other configuration tasks in a pre-boot, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) environment.
LSI/Avago Storage Authority (LSA) An easy-to-use web-based user interface in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features) locally and remotely.
MegaRAID Storage Manager (MSM) An easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) tool in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features) locally and remotely.
Storage Command Line Tool (StorCLI) An easy-to-script command line interface in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features).
RSTe GUI Utility A GUI application in the Windows operating system for managing and monitoring RAID arrays and volumes on the C110.
RSTCLI A command line application in the Windows operating system that provides basic support for creating and managing RAID arrays and volumes on the C110.
MDADM A native Linux command line interface tool for managing and monitoring RAID arrays and volumes on the C110.

The following table compares capabilities of the System x RAID management tools.

Table 14. System x RAID management tool capabilities
Configuration task IMM II ServerGuide XClarity F1 UEFI Setup LSA MSM StorCLI RSTe GUI /
RSTCLI /
MDADM
Creating arrays Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Creating volumes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Assigning hot spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deleting arrays Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deleting volumes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Managing controller settings No No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes
Managing drive settings No No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes
Running consistency check No No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes
Expanding capacity No No No Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes
Migrating RAID level No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Configuration wizard No No No No No Yes No No

* Not available in the UEFI System Setup for the C110.

ThinkServer RAID management tools

The following table lists the management tools for the following Avago/LSI chip-based ThinkServer RAID controllers:

  • RAID 110i
  • RAID 510i
  • RAID 520i
  • RAID 720i
  • RAID 720ix
  • 9286CV-8e
  • 9380-8e

Note: ThinkServer RAID 110i is not supported by VMware ESXi and other hypervisors.

Table 15. Avago/LSI chip-based RAID controller management tools
Configuration
method		 Pre-boot tool Operating system tool (after the OS is installed)
Windows Linux VMware ESXi
User Interface (UI) Manual configuration: Guided configuration: MegaRAID Storage
Manager for Windows 		MegaRAID Storage
Manager for Linux 		None*
Command Line
Interface (CLI)		 None StorCLI StorCLI StorCLI

* VMware ESXi hosts running Lenovo Customized images of the ESXi hypervisor version 5.5 Update 1 or later can be managed remotely via MegaRAID Storage Manager installed on a supported operating system.

The following table lists the management tools for the Intel RSTe-based RAID 121i controller.

Note: ThinkServer RAID 121i is not supported by VMware ESXi and other hypervisors.

Table 16. RAID 121i management tools
Configuration
method		 Pre-boot tool Operating system tool (after the OS is installed)
Windows Linux
User Interface (UI) Manual configuration: Guided configuration: GUI Utility for Windows None
Command Line
Interface (CLI)		 None RSTCLI MDADM
  • Native Linux utility

The following table briefly describes the management tools for the ThinkServer RAID adapters.

Table 17. ThinkServer RAID management tools overview
Management tool Purpose
EasyStartup A tool that simplifies the process of configuring RAID and installing Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems, VMware hypervisors, and device drivers on a single-socket (1P) ThinkServer system.
ThinkServer Deployment Manager (TDM) A tool in the server firmware that simplifies the process of updating firmware, configuring UEFI system settings, configuring RAID, and installing Microsoft Windows or Linux operating systems or VMware hypervisors and associated device drivers on a dual-socket (2P) ThinkServer system.
F1 UEFI System Setup A Human Interface Infrastructure (HII) Utility user interface for configuring controllers, physical disks, and virtual disks, and for performing other configuration tasks in a pre-boot, Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) environment.
MegaRAID Storage Manager (MSM) An easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) tool in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features) locally and remotely.
Storage Command Line Tool (StorCLI) An easy-to-script command line interface in the operating system for creating, modifying, monitoring, and maintaining storage configurations (controllers, drives, drive groups, virtual drives, and advanced features).
RSTe GUI Utility A GUI application in the Windows operating system for managing and monitoring RAID arrays and volumes on the RAID 121i.
RSTCLI A command line application in the Windows operating system that provides basic support for creating and managing RAID arrays and volumes on the RAID 121i.
MDADM A native Linux command line interface tool for managing and monitoring RAID arrays and volumes on the RAID 121i.

The following table compares capabilities of the ThinkServer RAID management tools.

Table 18. ThinkServer RAID management tool capabilities
Configuration task EasyStartup /
TDM		 F1 UEFI Setup MSM StorCLI RSTe GUI /
RSTCLI /
MDADM
Creating arrays Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Creating volumes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Assigning hot spare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deleting arrays No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deleting volumes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Managing controller settings No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Managing drive settings No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Running consistency check No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Expanding capacity No Yes* Yes Yes Yes
Migrating RAID level No No Yes Yes Yes
Configuration wizard No No Yes No No

* Not available in the UEFI System Setup for the RAID 121i.

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:

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